Six week mark?!
Where has the past 6 weeks gone?! I am sitting here realizing that I am half way through the program, and it is very bittersweet. I guess the saying really is true, “Time flies when your having fun.” Because I am having the time of my life here! Yes it has its ups and downs. The homesick part definitely hit me last week when I found out my cat, marshy had passed away 🙁 but I always remind myself that I am in Italy and being able to travel to so many places in Europe, which I’m sorry but its pretty awesome. So when I put it into perspective the homesick part starts to fade away. This has been an amazing experience living with an italian family and really being immersed in the culture. I hope the next 6 weeks dont fly by as fast as the first 6 did! Now onto my recent travels and life in Italy!!
On the weekend of October 24th I stayed in Torino and finally took the time to explore the city not just by shopping 🙂 On Thursday night Heather and I met up in Piazza Vittorio for an apericena, where the spread of foods was so delicious per usual. Then on friday we met up with some italian friends we made through my host family for another apericena. What can I say I think I’m obsessed with apericena. After apericena they showed us the entire city and told us all about its history. Heather and I thought there is no way we could get lost anymore since we just had a whole guided tour, but once we left them we of course got lost for 30 minutes. The story of our lives. Then on Saturday we went to the Cinema Musuem in Torino, it is located in the Mole Antonelliana, which is a symbol of the city of Torino for those of you that dont know. I have never been a fan of going to musuems but I have to say this musuem was so interesting. It featured pre cinematography devices, earlier and current film technologies, as well as stage items from previous italian movies. They had stages for certain movies such as dracula as well as honoring Sergio Leone a famous italian film director who started doing western films also known as “Spaghetti Western.” He is also known for a “Fistful of Dollars,” which made Clint Eastwood famous. I really enjoyed going through this musuem and seeing how much film technology has improved and how many great movie stars and film directors have changed the way we see movies today. We also had an amazing lunch at Eatly in the museum. I had a hamburger with buffalo mozzerela and potato wedges. Sounds American but the way it was seasoned with herbs and olive oil made it to die for. (I am adding the food stuff just for you ange!)
On Sunday we saw Palazzo Madama. It was the first Senate of the Italian kingdom, where Duke Charles Emmanuel II, Christine Marie of France resided. Then Marie Jean of Savoy lived in the palace, she then acquired the nickname of Madama. She asked architect Filippo Juvara to design a new Baroque palace in white stone, but it was never finished completely. It was extremely beautiful especially to see so many different styles of architecture, from old Roman ruins to the Baroque style.
To finish of the weekend in Torino we went to this restaurant for lunch where I had the best raviolis of my life. They were stuffed with fig and dressed in sage butter and oil with Parma proscuito slices covering them. Mouth watering.
Onto Barcelona! Where do I begin to explain our travels through Barcelona. To start we decided to basically have a farewell italian dinner in the airport which consisted of proscuito and mozzerela paninis and cannolis. We got their late Thursday night around 11:30pm. We checked into our hostel, which was a room with all men. Two were 29 year olds with no future and the other group of 4 were study abroad students, which were of course like every other study abroad student we have met obnoxiously loud and annoying. No offense to study abroad students, its just been the ones we have encountered so far. Anyways other than the hostel life which really wasn’t that bad I’m just being dramatic, we had an amazing time in Barcelona. We started our Saturday with a quest to find some American breakfast and failed and ended up having sandwiches and pastries. Not complaining. Then we went to Sagrada Familia. I absolutely LOVED it!!! Some say it isn’t that great on the inside….and well I think they are crazy. It was completely different from any other church I have ever seen. For those of you that don’t know it is not completely finished and the people of Barcelona donate to the construction to finish it. Gaudi died tragically by getting hit by a train. When he died he had left his plans for the Sagrada Familia. Inside the columns look like trees, it makes you feel as if you are in a forest. They say that it is estimated to be finished in 2020, which is the perfect age for me to get married there and after touching Juiet’s boob in Verona I think I have a chance of falling in love by then. Even though that sounds impossible, I mean I think I’m worth it.
Gaudi’s architecture is all throughout the city. We also saw Park Guell and Casa Batallo. Later that night we celebrated Halloween at the bars by the beach and dressed up as the three blind mice, and just pretended we lost the third. I have no recollection of the name of the bar we went to but it was lots of fun!
The next day we finally found an American breakfast!! Thanks to my friend Cara who told me about this place called Milk. We did have to wait about an hour but it was worth it. On Saturday we had a series of unfortunate events. First we went to La Boqueria, which is this awesome outdoor market that was closed for All Saints Day. Then Heather had a sinus infection and ear infection so we decided to spend our Saturday night in the Hospital of Barcelona where they proceeded to be useless, and she ended up having to go to the doctor again when we got back to Torino. We still managed to have a great time, by eating our way through Barcelona. That night after the mexican dinner we had in Spain we went and got hot chocolate and churros, and I opted for a crepe instead. It was amazing. The next day we explored the beach area and Las Ramblas, as well as going to see Montjuic at night that overlooks all of Barcelona. Barcelona was without a doubt a memorable trip!
This weekend I am switching families which is also bittersweet, because first of all I do not want to pack up all of my stuff again in fear it will not fit, secondly my host family has been so welcoming and nice to me it will be sad to leave. On the other hand I am excited to explore a new school and get to know a new family. Today I said bye to a few of the classes that I may see briefly on Friday, but the little kids are just so adorable I don’t want to leave them! Last week a few of the little boys wanted my phone number and at first I said no then I gave in cause I figured it doesnt work here anyways. So far I haven’t received any random italian phone calls/texts. I am also going to miss all the girls in this one class who take me around the school teaching me italian everyday.
The new town I will be in is about a ten minute drive from Chieri, its called Riva Presso Chieri. I will be teaching primary and secondary school, but they are both in the same building. For the secondary school I will be making lessons about American holidays and culture.
I still cannot believe I only have 6 more weeks here! So much more to look forward to. I will be going to Florence next weekend then Rome after for Heathers birthday! The rest is to be continued…
Xo,
Sarah