Buona Pasqua!

Or I guess I should say Happy Easter! I hope everything is going well at home because things are going pretty swimmingly here. Not all fun and games, though. I'm sure you've heard about the terremoto in the region of Abruzzo (in southern Italy). It's been quite a disaster and really hard to watch on the news. The television has been inundated with coverage of the earthquake and the effects on the victims and I can't help but be reminded of watching the news of Katrina. Sometimes it's just too much to watch continuously so I let myself tune out when I need to. Thankfully things are moving along, but to imagine all those deaths, especially of those students who were my peers, is heartbreaking.

My internship is going well also. I feel like with all this extra time where I'm forced to hear and speak Italian, things are improving much quicker now. The other day, there was a party for Easter and a small group came to perform for the patrons of Campansi. I was able to meet them during the intermission and we talked a bit. The most interesting part of this story was that they had no qualms about calling me up to the stage in front of tutti to play an American song. What song you may ask? None other than, "Strangers in the Night" and unfortunately I couldn't help them out with all of the words--or fortunately, depending on your punta di vista.

But on to Easter break! I went with my friend Katie to Venezia and had a fantastic time. We stayed outside of Venice at a campsite which worked out pretty well and took the traghetto into the city and back again at night. The first day we got there without any real direction and by a stroke of luck, made our way into Gallerie dell'Accademia with no line and saw some FANTASTIC pieces of art. We spent hours there! After lunch, we also took a stroll through the Ca'd'Oro, or House of Gold--another museum. We met a man that works there who told us he left his heart and soul in America, despite his Florentine name. It made me wonder what it will be like when I'm no longer in Siena because I'm scared I've done the same here.

Comunque, we walked around a bit more in the Venetian labryrinth and found our way to the old Jewish ghetto. I loved the ghetto so much we visited it again...on Easter! A bit interesting, I know, but this section was almost untouched by the masses of tourists and yet had so much character! But after our first visit there, we literally stumbled on St. Mark's Square just before it was time to go home. Since we were under a time-crunch we planned to return for Easter mass.

The next day we started and finished in St. Mark's Square. First, we were in line for Doge Palace. From what I can gather the Doge had a similar function that the Queen of England now has. Doge's Palace served as the doge's living quarters and the seat of the state. There are also dungeons were the acclaimed Giacomo Casanova was held. I found the elaborate rooms to be quite much and couldn't imagine getting much done. In the Grand Council Chamber the first 72 doges are painted around the top border except one. He tried to overthrow the state and, in addition to being sentenced to death, was removed from all memory of the state. In place of his bust, there is a black cloth. That was pretty neat!

After lunch, the second visit to the ghetto and the museum there, Katie and I took some time along the Grand Canal. We met some interesting characters. My favorite moment was when one accused me of having a Tuscan accent! You better believe that I swelled with pride. We ended the day with some music for "the public good" in St. Mark's Square and a great Easter mass in the Basilica. Talk about thrilling! The detail was unbelievable and the music, as Katie said, really pulled you into the experience. Another good visit in a different part of Italy, but as usual, there's nothing like "home, sweet home."

Eccomi!

Salve! Here's your prodigal blogger back to fill in an even longer gap. Two weeks--time's just moving along here, folks. I'm starting to get a bit nervous about returning, but that's a different story for a different post. Today, I have some exciting adventures to share. The first week was just a lot of school. I took my oral and written midterm exams in Italian (which went abbastanza bene) and had my first day "on the job" at Campansi, the nursing home I'm working at for my sociology class. I got to see a large part of the home gather for one of their monthly gatherings. This time the women from the division I'll be working with sang traditional Sianese songs for the other patrons and some visitors to celebrate the coming of spring. You know I loved that! I was also able to interact with some of the guests which is always good for my Italian.

After that busy work week, I had a week in vacanze. Wow! It was so much fun! I can't explain to you the overwhelming feeling of gratefulness that I got, especially during this past week. I am constantly appreciative for the opportunity to be here in Italy and to be having the life experiences here, but as a born planner, I can honestly say that I'm not sure I've ever been so content with my place in life before. To be a young woman in Italy now! I keep having this image of me as an old woman thinking back to this time in my life. But for the low-down, I'll split the stories into two entries. I still have some homework to finish up and there's too much to even write the gist of it all, so here's the first bit:

My friend Elizabeth and I took a night bus to Salerno, arriving there at 7 AM exhausted and unsure where to go. After an unnecessarily long time and several stops for directions, we finally found our hostel where we stayed for three nights and were able to meet some great people. The first day we explored Salerno and planned the rest of our trip. I am glad to report that fortune was our friend this whole trip and even when things seemed to be going poorly, they always turned out for the better. For instance, Saturday night we looked for a place to eat in a ravenous state, finally stumbling on a place after a while of searching that we weren't sure of. We ended up making great friends, returned for our last night, and ate well (for a discount!).

Our second day we spent in Pompei. What a trip! We decided to skip the audioguides and try to discover the best sites on our own--and a little help from Rick Steves. While walking aimlessly, I was lucky enough to make the acquaintance of Vincenzo, a well-informed security guard who had already worked at the ruins for 35 years. Vincenzo took it upon himself to show us the best sites, including those that weren't open to the public! I took in the sun on top of one of the houses, touched an original marble table, and stood in the best preserved houses which, according to Vincenzo, will never be open to the public. Here's a picture of us that Vincenzo took for us; please notice that we are behind a fence that is meant to keep people out from standing next to the completely original fountain! We even got an extra hour of exploration in his company. After sharing a coffee and our goodbyes, Elizabeth and I caught the train feeling that we had just had the best encounter with the ancient city possible.

The next day was split between Paestum and Amalfi. We got up close and personal with the Greek ruins in the morning and missed the first train back to Salerno. As Lady Luck would have it, we found a buffalo farm and tasted fresh mozzarella di bufala--the milkiest cheese and one of the many specialties of the region. After returning, we immediately took the hour-long bus trip to Amalfi. Talk about breath-taking! Not only from the gorgeous view but also the driving. The road clearly wasn't made for buses but somehow we got there. Elizabeth and I sat on the pier taking in the sunset on the coast (which can be seen above), explored a bit of the town, then returned.

The next morning we took a trip to Napoli. What chaos! It was so different than anywhere I had ever been before and have this feeling like I really need to return to understand more of the place. Sadly, we overlooked that we couldn't get into the one museum we had planned on seeing so instead spent a few hours soaking in the city. We sampled some great pizza & svogliatella (a pastry)--more yummy specialties of Campagna. My synopsis of the region: You can get lost quite easily and can meet some wonderful people, but you can NEVER go wrong with the food! We caught a train back to Siena in the afternoon, quite satified and thoroughly drained from our adventures.

I'll stop here for now, but don't forget to check out my pictures and keep looking for the second leg of the trip where I trugged on alone into Umbria, the region next to Tuscany.