Catching up

Thursday January 10
Breakfast this morning consisted of prepackaged toast and really interesting jelly and tea. I must say, for a country that has such amazing food they are definitely missing out on breakfast. And since our days are so packed with walking I definitely could have used that extra energy! We started off looking at some historical landmarks of Macerata, such as different churches and shrines and piazza’s (a piazza is like town square, but there a multiple piazza’s here). I learned that in a church you can tell what saint a town focuses on. It is located on your right when looking at the altar, there will be a painting and the saint that is in it tells a story about what is important to the town. We also saw a Shrine to the Virgin Mary. After the black plague, those who survived wanted to create a shrine to her to thank her for sparing their lives. The towns people got a Lord to cover the expenses and created a beautiful shrine for the Virgin Mary (or as they call it, Madonna). In the hallways of the shrine there are also places of specific worship where people give a silver heart when praying. It represents that although you cannot give your real heart because you would die, you give a symbol of your heart to her.

We also found out our housing placement today. I am living with Bridget, Jill and Amanda- she’s the girl who is from Allendale. We live on Manzoni, which is outside the city walls and fairly close to the SuperMarcado. We also have a pretty nice view of the city and it isn’t too far from school.

For dinner tonight we went to La Volpe e l’Uva on Via Berardi, I guess that means something about a wolf and a grape… I’m not sure, but I’ll let you know once I learn some Italian. Oh, apparently at dinners pasta isn’t the main course. That’s a little fact that would have done me some good to know. As I loaded up on seconds of the pasta for dinner, I then found out that we had another course coming. During dinners they first serve you bread, then a pasta dish, then some meat, then some salad. They also gave us some sweet bread for dessert and the option for some coffee (which is actually cappuccino) at the end of dinner. I must say, they sure do know how to stuff us full here! While I had always heard the wine “flows like water” here, I have now seen this first hand. They constantly refill glasses with wine that is so fresh your teeth, tongue and lips are stained purple from the red wine. Which, of course, makes taking anything you say seriously next to impossible.

After dinner tonight we decided to head out to experience the night life of Macerata. Thursday’s are the most popular night to go out, and as we left dinner we saw café’s everywhere just packed with people. Another side note: bars and cafés are nearly the same thing. They both serve pastries, coffee and the like. There really are no places that exclusively serve alcohol or anything like that. Our Professor Filiberto told us that no one here really drinks to get drunk, that alcohol flows so freely because people are responsible with it, unlike Americans. So, we decided to go to Café Centrale in one of the main Piazza’s in town. I had been there yesterday during the day to get a latte (which was delicious might I add), so tonight it was much different than what I had experienced earlier there. They have a loft so we all went up there to hang out. It was really fun for all of us to get a chance to sit and get to know each other, and they were playing some American music which was very nice to hear.
Another interesting thing I learned while visiting different cafés here is that you order, and then either drink standing up right at the bar there, or they serve it to you at your seat. But they don’t have any coffee’s to go like a Starbucks would, and you don’t pay them until after you’ve finished your drink. There is also a charge for sitting at some places, so it’s always interesting to find out when you aren’t expecting that. But everything here is at a much more relaxed pace. People aren’t always rushing from one place to the next, but rather enjoy their time socializing with one another. A very nice change of pace from America!

Friday January 11th we started off the morning with an interesting little breakfast pastry pie and then packed up our stuff to leave the hostel later in the day. I also decided to take a shower this morning… which was anything but pleasant. Although I was no longer a smelly mess, it was a bit of a task to shower in a room where the sink, toilet and shower are all part of the same room. Let’s just say, things got a little wet and I’m not even sure if I got all the shampoo out of my hair.

We left the hostel this morning and explored some more of town, but mainly focused on areas outside of the city walls. There is this magnificent structure that has five of the main poses of statues and is sometimes referred to as the “Jackson Five.” We also got teas, cappuccino’s and tea at this little bus stop café. It was kind of chilly outside today so it really helped to warm us up! And we got to move into our apartments today!!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Bonjourno!

After some airport stress, I have made it to Macerata! I left Tuesday from Detroit to Chicago, but of course the flight was delayed 2.5 hours. After finally landing in Chicago, I freaked out that we were landing at the time that my flight to Munich was supposed to be taking off! So, I became the person who was sprinting across the terminals while other people take their time and laugh at my struggle to run while carrying an oversized purse bounding from side to side and threatening to break. But by some miracle of God, I made it to my plane in time! They were just about to close the gate when I came running up to them. Then making my way down the endless aisles of people in an enormous jet, I found my seat and proceeded to sweat profusely after my airport workout.

The flight to Munich was not that bad, we had individual screens in front of us that we could either watch movies on (I watched Ratatouille) or we could watch a map with our plane flying its route. It was pretty cool; it gave the time left, miles traveled, altitude and whatnot. I tried to sleep on the plane, but probably only got a couple of hours. We were fed twice: dinner and then breakfast right before landing. The man I sat next to was with his daughter and they were going to Germany to visit family. He is originally from Germany and met his wife while she studied abroad there- she's from America. He was nice and recommended I visit more than just the Munich airport if I got a chance to travel.

Once at Munich I had some time to kill before my flight to Ancona, Italy. The airport in Munich was totally in the middle of nowhere, but then once you got inside you felt like you were at a mall! There were so many stores and shops and cafès, it was crazy. Then I was able to get some money from an ATM, which was a little difficult at first since I don't know German.

My flight to Ancona was farely short. We got a little box of snacks during the flight. Mine had this pretzel type circle bisquit thing, but was seasoned with what they use on sausages.... it was weird. Then there was also a chocolate chip biscotti, not so bad. And then they also gave us 3 slices of meat and a thing of cheese, toppped off with a Italian flag. Rather funny looking. The woman who sat next to me spoke Italian to the flight attendant as I fumbled for a simple thank you- "grazie." Then, unexpectantly, the woman next to me turned to me and said "Are you American?" A little embarressed I said yes and then she went on to tell me that she is from Great Britain. Yipppeeeee, finally a person that speaks english! Then we spokesome more and I learned that she met her husband in Italy while she was studying abroad there...(weird, two people already have married people they met while studying abroad). So she has lived in Italy for a while, in a town on the coast just south of Ancona. And she has two daughters who also both married men from different countries. Then, and here's the best part: she then asked if I was going to go skiing and I was like uhh maybe. And I asked her if she skiied. She then told me that yes she does and that her and her husband own a chalet in the French Alps and are going there in a few weeks to spend a couple months there. (holy moly!) So, I was like, well then you must be able to ski a lot then. And she goes, "Oh not that much any more now that I'm older. I only ski about an hour or two a day.

Um.....are you kidding me? Talk about living the dream!

So we landed in Ancona and I got my luggage and said goodbye to my new baller friend and got a taxi to take me to the train station. While fumbling with my luggage I purchased a train ticket to Macerata... which I then found out that it actually stops in Civitanova and I have to hop onto a different train. So I validated my ticket and then went outside to find what platform I needed to pick the train up at. From what my ticket said, I had about 30 minutes until my train was to arrive, but it failed to mention what platform to pick it up at. And not being able to decipher to schedule posted outside I went to the help desk. Banging my oversized luggage thru the door I desperately tried to ask the worker for help and where to pick up my train. She told me it was on platform 8 and I better hurry. Panicking, I walk outside only to realize my platform is waaaaay across from the station beyond a bunch of other railroad tracks. Looking to my right I realized I had to take stairs downstairs and underneath the tracks to get to my platform.

Boooom, boooom, boooom went my luggage and my sanity down the stairs. Heaving it down the tunnel I was for sure I could hear my train leaving. Then I realized that although I thought going down the stairs was rough, going UP the stairs was going to be next to impossible. Lifting my three bags I went up one step at a time with aching muscles . Thank God a man was coming up the stairs as I was about to give up and offered his help. We hurdled it up the rest of the stairs and I managed another "grazie." Rushing to the train I hoped was mine, I dragged my luggage up the stairs into the train and plopped my bags on the nearest seat available. Unsure of my luck, I asked a man if the train was going to Civitanova. He said yes it was- YIPPEEE!!!! I sat back and tried to relax, only to feel the glares from the locals with thoughts that were probably like, "Stupid American, so much luggage!"

I got off at Civitanova and then tried yet again to read the schedule of arriving trains. Of course- I had to go down stairs and thru a tunnel an up stairs again to reach the correct platform. A train came rather quickly and pretty sure I had read the schedule correctly I climbed into the new train. Taking up another 2.5 seats with my crap, I had to make sure I was on the right one because the time on the ticket an the time it had shown up was waaaay off. I asked a girl across from me and she said I was on the right train.

Looking out the window as we rode through the countryside I was a little skeptical about what I was getting myself into. While it was gorgeous, the towns we were passing weren't was I was hoping for in Macerata so I began to get a little discouraged. But then the little towns we were passing disappeared for a while and all there was was amazing hillsides and mountains.

Then, there it was!!!! We arrived in Macerata. The train station was a little small, but after exiting it and getting a taxi we began to drive around the city to get to the hostel. AMAZING! The walled in city is gorgeous and has so much history. The rich texture of the walls and creative architecture was breathtaking. The people drive absolutely insane and get around curves that I have never even seen attempted before. The winding roads kept leading to something new until YAY we arrived at the hostel- Osilo Ricci. I got checked in, was given a key to my room (where 2 others from my group are staying in too), sheets, blanket and a towel. I got settled in and then waited for one of my teachers to come get me to lead me to where the rest of the group was. Since I arrived a little bit later than everyone else, they had started on a tour of Macerata. Dom Carisit, the visiting professor from Ball State University, came to get me and took me to the rest of the group. I met everyone and fit right into the bunch.

Everyone is so nice and we are all astounded at how beautiful it is here. It is foggy outside so we aren't able to see past the city walls, but I hear that we are surrounded by mountains and rolling hills and it is breathtaking. And we can see the Adriatic Sea from the city too- I can't wait until this fog goes away so I can see it!!!

counting down the days

Hello! I've heard that some of you are not familiar where Macerata is located. So a website you can visit for a map is here: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=Macerata,+Italy&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=il
And here are some pictures I've gathered while counting down the days until I'll be in Italy!

yenny's new blog

Greetings everyone! I've just created this new blog so that all of you can stay up-to-date on my latest European adventures! My plane leaves January 8th, so make sure to say goodbye before I leave the States :)