This past weekend I went to Perugia with a few friends to celebrate my friend Charlie's birthday, as well as the rest of my friends who have February birthdays (and me). Being back in the city where I studied abroad is always a bit bittersweet for me. I have now been back to Perugia 3 times since Spring 2007 and every time I have a feeling of extreme happiness to be back in the place where I truly fell in love with Italy and made the decision to make a career out of Italian studies. It is also kind of weird though because none of my friends that I was originally there with are with me, so when I go with people who have never been to the city, I want them to be just as excited as I am, which is pretty hard to be. Anyhow, this time I was lucky enough to go with a fellow Umbra Institute Alum. My friend Charlie studied in Perugia 2 years before me and he still loves the city just as much as I do. I feel that he and I both agree it is the perfect setting for study abroad.
While in Perugia we did many of the same things that all students at Umbra do. We went and bought beers at the shady store in Piazza IV Novembre and drank on the steps. We went for a passeggiata down Corso Vanucci. We ate pizza and drank red wine, and then continued on to the awesome bars that are scattered through the center. But the city isn't exactly the same as when I was a student there. For example, after our pizza dinner (which was about a 3 hour adventure, including free prosecco and french fries, as well as birthday pie) we ventured to this bar that Charlie and I had both enjoyed going to called Il Birraio. Back in the day, Il Birraio was a pretty chill bar, dark, with low wooden tables and large cushions to sit on. The menu was in Italian, with horrible English translations, and there was a giant stuffed camel in a corner. Well folks, Il Birraio has now been updated and is probably one of the more trendier bars I have ever been too. The walls are painted a stark white, and there are a lot of blue accents and lighting. There was a spotlight on one wall where the shadows of a mobile reflected people who looked like figures from Dia de los muertos. Super trendy and uber crowded! It was still cool going there, but definitely not the same as when I went for my 21st birthday celebration and ordered a "southorn coumfert" off the menu.
Being in Perugia also brought up the topic that most people currently associate with the city, the Amanda Knox trial. I have found out recently, through my reading of Perez Hilton and many messages from my friends, that there is going to be a Lifetime movie about the murder trial starring Hayden Panettiere. My opinion on this movie: bad idea all around. First of all, Amanda Knox is still trying to appeal her case, even though she has been sentenced to 26 years in Italian prison. Even though the Italian media is trying to prevent this movie being shown in Italy, Italians have the internet and will be able to get access. Italians are heavily influenced by media portrayals, Berlusconi being the perfect example. So this movie could have an effect on the trial. Also, poor Meredith Kirchner's family. I mean, I have seen stills from the movie online and they reenact her entire murder. That is just awful! My last complaint is that the movie will probably put Perugia in a bad light again. Perugia is a safe city, as well as beautiful and friendly. There is a large student population, since it is Italy's closest thing to a college town, so of course there is going to be drinking and drugs, but it is definitely not out of hand. I would still recommend Perugia over studying abroad in Florence any day. I mean, I have been mugged in Florence, which is supposed to be one of the safest cities in Italy. So I hope Americans do not get the impression that Perugia is some shady, low-life town, because it is far from that.
So these are many of the thoughts that have been going through my mind since my trip to Perugia. The weekend was a ton of fun, and I got to visit the new buildings of the Umbra Institute, walk by my old apartment, and eat pizza at Quattro Passi. I will always have fond memories of the city and will continue to think of as the perfect study abroad destination.
Perugia
giovedì 17 febbraio 2011
venerdì 11 febbraio 2011
All she wants to do is dance
For the past week or so I've been in a real funk. I've attributed it to a lot of things, such as living all alone, having been mugged, and being on a new type of medicine/vitamin. I have been a crying mess most days, dreading coming home from school to my empty apartment with nothing to do. People have been giving me lots of suggestions, such as reading new books, going out to eat, watching movies, etc. Nothing had been able to lift my mood though, and I was starting to get desperate. I'm normally a very happy, outgoing person and do not enjoy feeling like a total loser. After having burst into tears in front of my boyfriend, mom, and landlord, I figured I needed to do something fast. Well I have found my new mood-lifter in Florence, and it is Dance Aerobica.
I had joined a gym at the beginning of the semester to give me something to do in my free time. In the US I love to exercise, but it is a bit hard to find places to run in Florence where I won't get hit by a crazy Italian driver, and Italians aren't really as exercise conscience as we are in the US. I mean, they don't really need to be since they walk all over God's creation and eat fresh food daily. For me though, exercise is such a great stress reliever. I love organized group exercise classes because it reminds me of being back in dance class, which was a giant part of my youth. My new gym here in Florence, SWAN, is quite small, but only 5 minutes from my apartment, which is a pretty safe walk alone at night. I have taken a few classes there so far, body sculpt and kick boxing, but they haven't been my favorite. This dance aerobica is fantastic though. First, let me preface this with the fact that Italians (at least the ones that I encounter) are terrible dancers. Just imagine awkward jerking motions in a disco, eyes closed, and singing along to the music in English and getting every word wrong. I was curious to see what kind of moves the instructor would pull out. Well, much to my surprise, she said that she wanted to try to do something "funky" that night and try a new hip-hop approach. I figured this would be hilarious because what do Italians know about hip-hop, other than Fabri Fibra? The teacher ended up being fantastic though and teaching us a whole hip-hop routine that we put together at the end of class. Even better, I felt like I was high on a happy pill. I had gotten my adrenaline flowing, I was sweating, and I was proud to say I looked least ridiculous out of all the people in class. I was able to go home, skype my boyfriend, and not burst into tears upon seeing him. I sometimes forget how important dance is to me and how much I love it. I'm going to try to take every dance exercise class that SWAN offers now so I can keep this good mood going. I am going to turn into an Italian dancing queen and hopefulyy be able to dance away this black cloud that had been lurking over my head the past month.
I had joined a gym at the beginning of the semester to give me something to do in my free time. In the US I love to exercise, but it is a bit hard to find places to run in Florence where I won't get hit by a crazy Italian driver, and Italians aren't really as exercise conscience as we are in the US. I mean, they don't really need to be since they walk all over God's creation and eat fresh food daily. For me though, exercise is such a great stress reliever. I love organized group exercise classes because it reminds me of being back in dance class, which was a giant part of my youth. My new gym here in Florence, SWAN, is quite small, but only 5 minutes from my apartment, which is a pretty safe walk alone at night. I have taken a few classes there so far, body sculpt and kick boxing, but they haven't been my favorite. This dance aerobica is fantastic though. First, let me preface this with the fact that Italians (at least the ones that I encounter) are terrible dancers. Just imagine awkward jerking motions in a disco, eyes closed, and singing along to the music in English and getting every word wrong. I was curious to see what kind of moves the instructor would pull out. Well, much to my surprise, she said that she wanted to try to do something "funky" that night and try a new hip-hop approach. I figured this would be hilarious because what do Italians know about hip-hop, other than Fabri Fibra? The teacher ended up being fantastic though and teaching us a whole hip-hop routine that we put together at the end of class. Even better, I felt like I was high on a happy pill. I had gotten my adrenaline flowing, I was sweating, and I was proud to say I looked least ridiculous out of all the people in class. I was able to go home, skype my boyfriend, and not burst into tears upon seeing him. I sometimes forget how important dance is to me and how much I love it. I'm going to try to take every dance exercise class that SWAN offers now so I can keep this good mood going. I am going to turn into an Italian dancing queen and hopefulyy be able to dance away this black cloud that had been lurking over my head the past month.
martedì 1 febbraio 2011
Ladri, non di biciclette, ma di borse
I feel like I normally start these blog posts off pretty cheerfully, but today I'm a bit down in the dumps. I had a wonderful first day of school here yesterday, great batch of new students, and I actually have a student who is a Phi Mu at College of Charleston, just like I was, whom I took out for coffee. I also helped my friend Charlie with the set-up and take-down of a travel information session he was leading. After a few glasses of wine, we decided to head home, Charlie in one direction, and I off to retrieve my bike. When it is late at night in Florence I usually prefer to ride my bike home so I can make a speedy return and not run into creepers. I was riding along, about two blocks from my apartment, when I heard a car behind me. I turned my head real quickly and saw it was actually a motorino, and that it was coming right towards me, so I started riding closer to the sidewalk. I felt the motorino brush up against me and before I could even realize what was happening, the two men in helmets had my purse and were off without me even having a chance of catching up to them. I was in total shock, but horrible consequences started to enter my mind, such as "oh god, my passport was still in there" and "oh no, my keys, my wallet, my cell phone," etc. I had no way of contacting the police, so I rode over a block to my friend Charlie's place and started ringing his bell like a maniac. He ended up coming down and taking me to the nearest police station, which was of course closed, because this is Italy. There was an emergency number posted to call, and within five minutes I had 2 Carabinieri and 2 undercover policemen at my disposal. I gave them an exact report, that there were two men in black helmets, black jackets, and jeans, they rode a dark scooter that was not a Vespa, my purse was a special edition Longchamp bag with a yellow picture of the Eiffel tower on it, etc. Then they took me to the Carabinieri station, where I had to make my "denuncia" (the official report). This took me about another hour, after which I rode back home in a police car and had a very nice carabinieri check my apartment to make sure the thieves had not entered. Then I spent another few hours canceling everything over skype (since I no longer have a phone here). By then it was after 3 in the morning, I had cried my eyes out and was utterly exhausted.
This semester I am fortunate enough to have a 9 AM TR class. Normally I would not mind this, since it gives me an even longer weekend than my 3-day weekends here. Today it was very difficult to get ready for this class, but I had to go, since it was the first day. After class was over I told my coordinators here what had happened the night before to see if I could get out of tutoring and go to the American consulate here in Florence. They of course let me go, especially since the consulate of course is only open from 9-12:30. I hoofed my way over to the building, which was quite difficult since it is blocked on three of its four sides by construction. I came aimed with all of my documents, ready to get my emergency passport as the web-site had instructed me to do. Of course, being in Italy, the people actually working at the embassy told me something totally different from what the web-site said. I walk up to the policemen guarding the entrance and ask them where I go to report a stolen passport and have an emergency passport issued. The man asked me how long I would be in Italy for and I told him until the end of May. He then told me that I do not need an emergency passport because I have plenty of time to get a new one. I expressed to him that I would feel much better with an emergency passport since I have plans to travel. He told me no, that my case was not an emergency, and that I had to make an appointment, maybe next week, and file for a new passport, which would get to me in hopefully 2 or 3 weeks (which means at least a month here). Frustrated, I went back to school and made my appt. for tomorrow and am now preparing all of my documents so hopefully I have a new passport before Spring Break and can travel at least a little bit while I am still in Italy.
This is all such a humungous and costly nuisance. Even my cell phone provider here, to whom I pay daily insurance, is charging me 35 euro to replace my phone and will not give me a new phone until my new credit card comes, which will take forever because my credit card company refused to mail it to Italy. The cell phone company also told me if I do not have credit card information within a week, they will charge me another 50 euro to terminate my plan. This on top of having to pay for a new passport, pay to have items expedited here, replacing all items lost, such as my wallet and a video camera is really starting to make this day even worse. I am also quite upset over losing some personal items I highly valued, such as a coin purse my sister Claire gave me and the actually purse, which was the only souvenir I bought myself on my fall break trip. If the Carabinieri manage to find the thieves and my purse, which is never going to happen, I hope I get the chance to confront those cowards.
I could really use some cheering up and encouragement friends!
Kate
This semester I am fortunate enough to have a 9 AM TR class. Normally I would not mind this, since it gives me an even longer weekend than my 3-day weekends here. Today it was very difficult to get ready for this class, but I had to go, since it was the first day. After class was over I told my coordinators here what had happened the night before to see if I could get out of tutoring and go to the American consulate here in Florence. They of course let me go, especially since the consulate of course is only open from 9-12:30. I hoofed my way over to the building, which was quite difficult since it is blocked on three of its four sides by construction. I came aimed with all of my documents, ready to get my emergency passport as the web-site had instructed me to do. Of course, being in Italy, the people actually working at the embassy told me something totally different from what the web-site said. I walk up to the policemen guarding the entrance and ask them where I go to report a stolen passport and have an emergency passport issued. The man asked me how long I would be in Italy for and I told him until the end of May. He then told me that I do not need an emergency passport because I have plenty of time to get a new one. I expressed to him that I would feel much better with an emergency passport since I have plans to travel. He told me no, that my case was not an emergency, and that I had to make an appointment, maybe next week, and file for a new passport, which would get to me in hopefully 2 or 3 weeks (which means at least a month here). Frustrated, I went back to school and made my appt. for tomorrow and am now preparing all of my documents so hopefully I have a new passport before Spring Break and can travel at least a little bit while I am still in Italy.
This is all such a humungous and costly nuisance. Even my cell phone provider here, to whom I pay daily insurance, is charging me 35 euro to replace my phone and will not give me a new phone until my new credit card comes, which will take forever because my credit card company refused to mail it to Italy. The cell phone company also told me if I do not have credit card information within a week, they will charge me another 50 euro to terminate my plan. This on top of having to pay for a new passport, pay to have items expedited here, replacing all items lost, such as my wallet and a video camera is really starting to make this day even worse. I am also quite upset over losing some personal items I highly valued, such as a coin purse my sister Claire gave me and the actually purse, which was the only souvenir I bought myself on my fall break trip. If the Carabinieri manage to find the thieves and my purse, which is never going to happen, I hope I get the chance to confront those cowards.
I could really use some cheering up and encouragement friends!
Kate
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