1,2 Monday Tuesday March
Not much to report, except I still haven't received my replacement debit card, and not one here takes visa!
3,4 Wed Thur March- Alan Parsons Project
Classes both days, Tango Dancing Wednesday night. The Tango's fun. Everytime the owner comes to pick me up he gives me a new italian lesson. He's always correcting my pronnunciation and speeelllling!
Wednesday morning, I spent a while practicing Italian with my friend from Buenos Aires. She had told me the last time that she was interested in this 70s progressive rock band, the Alan parsons project. I'd never heard of them, so on Wednesday she brough in a cd with a bunch of their songs. For one song, "Eye in the sky" I had her try to explain to me in Italian what the English lyrics mean. She was pretty close, but the song is very nuanced. This is the link
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/a/alan+parsons+project/eye+in+the+sky_20005307.html
Do you know for sure what they are talking about and do you think you could explain it to a foreigner. If so, you're one up on me.
Wednesday morning, I spent a while practicing Italian with my friend from Buenos Aires. She had told me the last time that she was interested in this 70s progressive rock band, the Alan parsons project. I'd never heard of them, so on Wednesday she brough in a cd with a bunch of their songs. For one song, "Eye in the sky" I had her try to explain to me in Italian what the English lyrics mean. She was pretty close, but the song is very nuanced. This is the link
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/a/alan+parsons+project/eye+in+the+sky_20005307.html
Do you know for sure what they are talking about and do you think you could explain it to a foreigner. If so, you're one up on me.
5, 6 Weekend March- Beautiful view
Both days I went for a run around town. I haven't run again since. I think it had something to do with the beautiful weather and correspondingly grand homework.
Sunday however was exceptionally magnificent. In the back of the center, on top of the entire mountain there is this little fortress. And by the fortress you get an incredible view. You see the entire walled town sprawled out beneath you, the valleys and mountains, and even on a clear day, the Adriatic coast 20 miles away. I definitely plan on taking some pictures up there.
And it's not only the view that's great, but all the people up there. There's a nearby playground with all the parents and the little kids. There are the old folks slowly walking around and also there are the college kids sprawled out on blankets(some pretend they're studying, but most don't even bother).
ps. I was about to submit that post when I realized that spell check might be fun and I have to admit it was pretty fun to count every "their" I put in place of the other "there."
Sunday however was exceptionally magnificent. In the back of the center, on top of the entire mountain there is this little fortress. And by the fortress you get an incredible view. You see the entire walled town sprawled out beneath you, the valleys and mountains, and even on a clear day, the Adriatic coast 20 miles away. I definitely plan on taking some pictures up there.
And it's not only the view that's great, but all the people up there. There's a nearby playground with all the parents and the little kids. There are the old folks slowly walking around and also there are the college kids sprawled out on blankets(some pretend they're studying, but most don't even bother).
ps. I was about to submit that post when I realized that spell check might be fun and I have to admit it was pretty fun to count every "their" I put in place of the other "there."
4,5 Thursday, F March- A leauge of immigrants
So I lied. That last blog was written Thursday afternoon and the night was pretty exciting, and since not much happened Friday (procrastination) I'll lump the two together.
Thursday night, I had my weekly Italian Studies class, which is an extremely informal class. Some weeks we learn really cool stuff, some weeks we go to a bar, and some weeks we do both. This Thursday night was pretty exciting (even though no one got drunk) because the topic was immigration. Basically, Peter had the brilliant idea of sticking representatives from all the major immigrant groups in the same room and have them answer the question: "what does it mean to be a ...(Romanian) in Italy). I believe the Romanians are actually the largest minority here now and that answer is tough, because "they assume you must speak Russian or something."
We also heard Joseph's story. He's a guitar playing, Bob Marley singing Nigerian who works in the nearby town of Pesaro, because he was scared out of his country. The story goes that he was a very successful musician back in Nigeria and that the government does not support success stories. So one night, 2 armed men entered in the night and demanded all his expensive equipment. But wait, it gets better. Instead of breaking down the door to get in. they threw acid on the wall. Good story.
Thursday night, I had my weekly Italian Studies class, which is an extremely informal class. Some weeks we learn really cool stuff, some weeks we go to a bar, and some weeks we do both. This Thursday night was pretty exciting (even though no one got drunk) because the topic was immigration. Basically, Peter had the brilliant idea of sticking representatives from all the major immigrant groups in the same room and have them answer the question: "what does it mean to be a ...(Romanian) in Italy). I believe the Romanians are actually the largest minority here now and that answer is tough, because "they assume you must speak Russian or something."
We also heard Joseph's story. He's a guitar playing, Bob Marley singing Nigerian who works in the nearby town of Pesaro, because he was scared out of his country. The story goes that he was a very successful musician back in Nigeria and that the government does not support success stories. So one night, 2 armed men entered in the night and demanded all his expensive equipment. But wait, it gets better. Instead of breaking down the door to get in. they threw acid on the wall. Good story.
7-9 Sunday-Tue, March, Yes you can
Sunday?
Monday the only semi interesting conversation to note was the one I had with my aquilone flying friend Claudio (who now, ironically, has moved to the dorm named aquilone). Although his english is very good, I had fun explaining the can I/may I distinction. He was always told just to ask "can I" have something and I told him that was fine, although he should be wary, because the omelette lady back at Villanova will not give you anything unless you ask correctly.
And today is Tuesday(haha I've caught up). What's new, Well: IT'S STINKING SNOWING AGAIN. I mean come on, it's really getting cold...
Monday the only semi interesting conversation to note was the one I had with my aquilone flying friend Claudio (who now, ironically, has moved to the dorm named aquilone). Although his english is very good, I had fun explaining the can I/may I distinction. He was always told just to ask "can I" have something and I told him that was fine, although he should be wary, because the omelette lady back at Villanova will not give you anything unless you ask correctly.
And today is Tuesday(haha I've caught up). What's new, Well: IT'S STINKING SNOWING AGAIN. I mean come on, it's really getting cold...
10, 11, Wed.-T March- SNOW!
That's the story, crazy amounts of snow. It started late Tuesday night, there were 4 inches by Wed Morning and now it's Thursday night, we have at least a foot and it's STILL COMING! All classes were canceled today and I spent every second of the break hunched over my books studying. Well, that is except for the several hour sledding break....
I feel very guilty and I hope none of the lunch ladies here are reading this blog, but I stole two lunch trays in my huge backpack. The hills around hear are absolutely beautiful with the snow and pretty good for sledding. I got my Lebanese roommate and aquilone(kite) flying Italian to join me on my escapade! We sled right by the school so all the other students were watching us. Most cheered us on and two even joined us neer the end. Very productive snowday.
But enough about my sledding. Anyways, I haven't uploaded those silly photos yet, so if you're curious to see me wiping out you'll have to check back in a couple days. What I did upload were pictures of the documents I'm working on in the State Archives. I showed up completely soaked and alone Wednesday morning and I think I truly surprised the nice ladies working there(it might be my beard).
12, Friday March- Food Tasting
Today was interesting.
So I meet up with my professor at ten this morning ready to head to the archives. But instead of going to the archives, he informs me of his plan to go food tasting!? So we while we waited for them to prepare the food we went to a nearby bar, got some drinks (caffe and te) and discussed last weeks readings.
20 minutes later, we headed up the street to this good sized delicatessen/pasta shop(that's the best English description I can come up with). They market them selves as vendors of all natural, traditional Italian food. They have huge hunks of dried meat hanging everywhere and one cut of prosciutto had a little sign on it that said "I'm Italian". You could tell by the classic American pop music that they were marketing their wares for the wealthy and tourists.
However, the presentation they gave was quite good. The owner first brought out a plate full of all the different grains and beans local to Italy. This is how Peter tied it into the class, because I've been studying the grain economy for the last several weeks. After that, he brought out several different slices of cold cuts for us to sample. He explained how each was made, where they came from, and with which wines they went best with. Although I passed on the wine I discovered that peccorino cheese, aged for several months is quite delicious!
After we finished we went to another local bar and talked some more about the reasons why he brought me (Villanova paid) and the rest of the readings. I thought the lesson was very tasteful.
Speaking of food, the lunch ladies went on strike(they must of find out about my stolen sleds!) Thankfully however, there only planning on striking for 1 day. Strikes in Italy are usually very frequent, but also short. My theory is that it just takes them a day to realize that working a couple of hours of a day, with a huge break in the middle, isn't too much to complain about.
So I meet up with my professor at ten this morning ready to head to the archives. But instead of going to the archives, he informs me of his plan to go food tasting!? So we while we waited for them to prepare the food we went to a nearby bar, got some drinks (caffe and te) and discussed last weeks readings.
20 minutes later, we headed up the street to this good sized delicatessen/pasta shop(that's the best English description I can come up with). They market them selves as vendors of all natural, traditional Italian food. They have huge hunks of dried meat hanging everywhere and one cut of prosciutto had a little sign on it that said "I'm Italian". You could tell by the classic American pop music that they were marketing their wares for the wealthy and tourists.
However, the presentation they gave was quite good. The owner first brought out a plate full of all the different grains and beans local to Italy. This is how Peter tied it into the class, because I've been studying the grain economy for the last several weeks. After that, he brought out several different slices of cold cuts for us to sample. He explained how each was made, where they came from, and with which wines they went best with. Although I passed on the wine I discovered that peccorino cheese, aged for several months is quite delicious!
After we finished we went to another local bar and talked some more about the reasons why he brought me (Villanova paid) and the rest of the readings. I thought the lesson was very tasteful.
Speaking of food, the lunch ladies went on strike(they must of find out about my stolen sleds!) Thankfully however, there only planning on striking for 1 day. Strikes in Italy are usually very frequent, but also short. My theory is that it just takes them a day to realize that working a couple of hours of a day, with a huge break in the middle, isn't too much to complain about.
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