Espresso, Gelato...

Sun 27th

Today was a lot to take in, but it was awesome. I got up around 8 am and was hoping to learn how to make a cappuccino from prof doll, but settled for some hot water and Nescafe. It was so weird rolling out of bed and looking out my window down at the Italian countryside and thinking…wow I am in Italy and I get to be here for 4 months! I get to wake up to that beautiful scenery every single morning. Out the window from the sala(living/dining room) you could see the morning mist settling in around the trees across the valley…yeah, it was sweet. At 9 we left for a little mini tour of Orvieto. Our Italian teacher, native Italian connection dude, who has been a long friend of the program was our tour guide Alessandro. We first walked down to the edge of town and walked out the fortress (looks like a medieval castle) gate to outside the town walls. We learned about the meshing of the traditional and the modern…nature and the man made….we could look out and see the beautiful valley…look up and see the cliff walls(la rupe) and see the man made brick built into the Cliffside and then the fortress…later as we walked around the city on the cobblestone path along the outer edge we then entered the city again and walking down the street we entered the piazza Duomo and saw the massive cathedral that dominated the cityscape. It is so crazy to see how all of it blends together. The green things growing out of people’s roofs…everything is blended together. We then walked to a café Montenucci and had delicious pastries and I had the world’s best coffee ever…a legit legit Italian cappuccino. So so good. After that I experienced my first Catholic mass in the Cathedral de San Giovenale(sp?) It was definitely an experience. It didn’t feel too stuffy to me like I was expecting. The worship was led with an acoustic guitar and the people seemed to sing and stuff. It was all in Italian so I didn’t really understand much of it, but it was pretty cool. The Cathedral was built in 1004 and had been used in worship continually ever since until present day. It definitely had some character. After a little walk around the town more we went up the bell tower in the center of the city. The view from the top of the tower was breathtaking. The Duomo dominated the cityscape. Next came the governmental building and also some other building I can’t think of right now. Anyway, it was so cool and Prof. Doll read us a passage from a book that was pretty sweet. For lunch we had some awesome salad with vinaigrette and salt. We had some cheese that was out of this world. Fresh bread. And a delicious soup that had a bunch of herbs in it…rosemary was one of the strongest flavors. We added parsley to it as well…Prof. Doll made it all…it was great. Wow. Learned how to make cappuccinos and espressos…we have a few makers here in San Paolo…so I will be making myself one every morning and possibly more every single day. :) Very cool just like a pot on bottom where you put the water…then some filter/funnel thing where you put the Espresso and then a little mini pitcher thing where the center has a column with an opening on top for the coffee to come out the top and falls into the pitcher…it is very simple but makes an excellent espresso…I had a straight espresso shot and it was strong…robust…delicious. We also learned how to make the frothed milk for a cappuccino. Had another meeting with prof. Doll…talked about our life here together…it was really special. Read a lot of passages from several books that will define our semester. Learned a little more about him…this semester has the potential to be an amazing experience. The balance between solitude and community that could be developed would be sweet. I was just so happy and excited to hear everything about how this whole thing could be. Anyway it was sweet.

28th
Today was my first morning of making some cappuccino, which was nice. This morning there was soo much mist in the valley – Bellissimo(gorgeous). It was also my first morning of classes. It was kind of like, oh I actually have school while I’m here in Italy…not just a vacation. Ha. Dr. Skillen teaches this first month class called Cultural History of the Renaissance. It is basically field trip around Italy class w/ a classroom portion as well. This morning we had a half hour of class time and then we all took the walk to the Duomo and actually got to go inside today. Dr. Skillen was just giving us the very brief wet your appetite version in one side chapel. I first was amazed at the grandeur and size inside the cathedral. When I first saw the frescoes I was able to discern that there were some scenes from the Bible and identify a few of them, but after hearing Dr. Skillen just scratch the surface of the meaning behind the frescoes… I was overwhelmed. So he went into the architecture, the history, the literature, the art, and related all of it to the theology. Wow, it was so cool and I know we just barely got into it. There was so much depth and complexity in the frescoes that you miss at first glance. I am not much of an art history person and really don’t know that much about architecture (but want to learn more about it all), but still this was all very interesting to hear about how it related to the theology. I know that I will feel very overwhelmed with the wealth of knowledge that will be thrown at us especially this month, but I am excited to see what all we will learn. After a quick stop at Bar San Paolo (a café about a minute walk down the road from San Paolo (monastery) on the way back for a cappuccino we went back for a little wrap up in the classroom before class ended at noon. Oh, by the way if you didn’t know…classes are from 9-12 Mon-Thurs and then Italian is on Mondays from 3-430. A little funny side note to stop at the bar…there were like 6 of us that went in including Dr. Skillen and he was explaining to us that one person generally paid and then the others would pay later so that it would go more quickly. First you pay at the register and then stand at the bar after you place your receipt on the bar and then you drink your coffee while standing at the bar very quickly…almost chugging it. If you decide to sit down at most cafes they will charge you extra. Anyway, back to the story…so we all kind of assumed that Dr. Skillen had paid for all of us in there because we saw him paying. As we had walked almost half a block down the street I got out my 1 Euro coin to try and pay Dr. Skillen back for my cappuccino and he was like you guy didn’t pay in there? Ha, so evidently you are supposed to have one person out of every group of three or so to pay and he had just paid for himself and two of the other students. Soo, three of us walked back and tried out the little Italian we knew to reconcile our debt. It was very confusing and both the cashiers and us were very confused, but we eventually got it figured out with them smiling and saying Ciao! I wish I could just flip a switch and know Italian immediately. So, back to San Paolo after class… We had our first chapter meeting from noon to 1 with Prof. Doll which we have everyday after class before pranzo(lunch) to discuss issues in the monastery and do little mini devotions and stuff. Pranzo was meravigliosa(marvelous). Started out with a pasta in sauce and then had pork in sauce and peas. We always have fresh bread from the bakery down the street. After pranzo a few of us decided to take a stroll down to the local Gelati for some gelato. I got the Cioccolato all ‘arancia (chocolate with orange). Yeah, it was pretty much heaven in a cup. Ok, so not lying…everyone says that after you have had gelato from the gelati here in Orvieto, when you go to Rome the gelato there is disappointing compared to Orvieto’s gelati. :) Alright, so from 3-430 we had our first Italian lesson with Alessandro. I am a little sad that we only have Italian once a week, but they say that we are supposed to pretty much just go out and practice (aka look like a fool) in town with the locals if we are really serious about improving our Italian. I really want to learn as much as I possibly can in this semester. We all have internet from 5-630pm here in San Paolo, but it is fairly slow to begin with and then with like all twenty something of us online and using things like facebook and skype it is super duper slow. Even to open a Google page takes forever so I am sure how many pictures I will actually be able to post because of the speed. :/ I have actually only taken like 3 pictures since I have been here and that was just the view from my window when I got here because I felt that since I will be here for four months and plan on having the camera plastered in front of my face for a lot of that time that I wanted to really experience it and digest it all in person before I started sticking a camera in front of my face. So, needless to say I will do my best to get a couple pictures up here when I actually take them, but I can’t guarantee you that many pictures because of the speed :/ Well, Arrivederci (goodbye) for now!

Just Arrived!

Wow. I can't believe that I'm actually here in Italy! Everything seems so surreal. It has definitely not set in that I will be living here for the next 4 months.

All my flights went well.  I met up with the majority of the group at the gate in DC and when I got there, probably 10 or more people were already sitting together.  It was kind of like, oh hey, we are going to be spending the next four months together.  crazy. :) From the the time traveling into Rome and being here today it seems like it will be a really cool group.

We took a two hour bus ride from Rome to Orvieto this morning.  We were passing vineyards, olive groves, valleys, and cliffside towns.  I was just in awe of the beauty of the country and that was just the drive from the airport.  Orvieto is gorgeous.  I can't wait to explore this quaint old town that seems to have so much character.  It is definitely a photographers dream here.  From the cobblestone streets to the laundry hanging over the balconies it is just perfect for taking pictures.

The restaurant we went to for pranzo(lunch) is the Locanda del Lupo.  We are going to be eating there lunch and dinner every day when we are not out traveling for the rest of the four months.  It is definitely no DC. ha.  I anticipated some tiny old mom an pop restaurant that would be worse for wear, but you walk in and it looks like it has been decorated by a designer in New York City as a fancy Italian gourmet  restaurant.  The food is all made with fresh ingredients(olive oil pressed someplace around town, wonderful tomatoes, meat from the local butcher, fruit from the fruit stand down the street, basil from the garden, etc.).  We walked through the town a bit before heading back to San Paolo(the monastery we are staying in).  I was just in shock as to how beautiful it was...mouth open gawking and head looking up and around me at the streets, houses, and Italian people.

I feel like I am just visiting this weekend and will return home soon.  It doesn't feel like I am actually going to be here for 4 months in one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  So we are just meandering along down the main drag in town when from around the bend the Duomo comes into view. Wow. It is a huge cathedral that is just right in among the buildings and houses of Orvieto.  The intricacies of the front of the cathedral were captivating.  The plaza where the Duomo is located is so inviting.  There is a gelati shop(where you can get gelato that is supposedly the best) right there where you can eat your gelato on the steps of the Duomo.  I'm pretty sure that I am going to be enjoying that experience numerous times this semester.

When we got back to San Paolo(monastery for those that didn't catch that up above) we got the full tour of the place.  It is a lot bigger than I thought it would be.  The view from the courtyard(I can see from my window) which has a sweet well in it is a pretty much gorgeous view of the countryside from up here on top of the mountain in Orvieto.

I finished unpacking all of my stuff and put it all in little cubbies that they provided and it feels like home now.  :) Sorry this one is a little here there and everywhere. I am just very excited to be here and this kind of got vomited on the page. ha.