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| The assembly room in the Italian Parliament |
On Wednesday a small number of people from the USAC group
had the opportunity to go to Rome to see the Italian Parliament. The building
was very large from the front with three flags that hung proudly from the
center. It consisted of several
long hallways with very tall ceilings and stairs taking you from floor to floor
and room to room. We had a short tour around which ended with us sitting in on
a session of the deputies. The assembly room was so large and magnificent; it
was exactly like what you see in pictures and on television. The cherry wood walls against the
velvet red of the seating that encircled the room seemed to beckon a sense of
importance, or even royalty for that matter.
The tour guide that brought us around was very scattered and
didn’t seem to know English well so it was difficult to catch most of it, but I
understood the magnitude of what I was having the opportunity to do. While we
sat in on the session, the tour guide pointed out the panels and seats with
buttons with a wall connected to a circuit board that lights up when the board
members vote. The colors were so
bold and elegant that just sitting there you could almost understand the extent
of decisions that were likely made in that very room. Though our visit was very brief, those small moments there
were definitely ones that I’ll appreciate and remember forever. Though my day
in Rome visiting the Italian Parliament was pretty exciting, I think my day in
Assisi was one that definitely topped the list for this past week.
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| Just arriving at the train station! |
After USAC’s visit to Perugia on Saturday the 20th
a small group of people and I had planned to head over to Assisi that same
evening. We found a hostile that
we booked just a few weeks earlier, called “As Easy as it Sounds” right outside
of the train station we were arriving at from Perugia. It was my first ever experience staying
at a hostile, and boy… was that exciting for me. When we arrived I felt like a little kid at Christmas. I’ve heard a lot of crazy hostile
stories but this one was definitely on the nicer end. It seemed closer to an apartment that we just rented out for
the night. It was perfectly clean
and the beds were nicely made all with delicately folded towels on top. The rooms were even color coordinated
and decorated and basically, the hostile was just glorious. I honestly loved it and for a second I
never wanted to leave. I guess it
was just nice to be in a home setting after running around on our feet all day
trying to sample as much chocolate as we could. I ended up staying up pretty late, attempting to have
conversations with my roommates in Italian… not sure how much we were able to
obtain from it… but the conversations were fun regardless.
In the morning the lady in charge of the hostile brought us
our breakfast literally on a silver platter… it was pretty splendid. Of course the croissant wasn’t complete
with its portion size package of Nutella that I just easily smothered on top of
its warm crisp outer layer.
Couldn’t complain after that start to my day. We took a bus from the train station all the way to Assisi,
which ended up only taking about 15 minutes. It took us straight to The Basilica of San Francesco, our
first destination for the morning where we planned to attend mass. Apparently there was supposed to be an
English mass but we didn’t realize it was in the upstairs portion of the
Basilica, so we ended up in the Italian mass in the main portion. I wasn’t
disappointed though as they provided us with pamphlets of the readings and
responses in Italian so I could follow along and participate.
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| Before the pews filled up before morning mass |
The mass was simply beautiful, from the detailed and elegant
church interior to the organ playing in the background to the harmonious voices
of the entire church singing along with every song. I had moments where everything just kind of hit me. St. Francis has been one of my favorite
saints ever since I was little. He
is the patron saint of animals and I even remember in 3rd grade
playing the harmonica for mass at my Catholic elementary school to the prayer
of St. Francis, Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace. I
never would have thought in a million years that of all people I would be one
day walking around the streets where St. Francis once lived and preached. I could just as easily be at home,
looking at the world from my bedroom window. I have to pinch myself sometimes. This is me… here in Italy… and living one of the best
adventures in my life.
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| The Basilica of San Francesco |
After mass we had the opportunity to visit the crypt below
the basilica and see the tomb of Saint Francis. I didn’t know at first that is what we were seeing, so it
was a humble surprise when I realized what was actually happening. My whole
body just kind of went numb and I couldn’t believe that I was actually standing
the same room where the body of St. Francis himself was kept. There were lots of visitors ushering
through but there was such a sense of peace in the room, as everybody seemed to
understand the beauty of what we were experiencing in that moment. The room was quiet and cold; with the
rounded ceilings outline the simple architecture and design of the room. The
tomb was suspended above the ground encircled in brick and adorned with lilies
and candles. Several people just
stopped at the kneelers at the base of the tomb and prayed, paying homage and
honor to the Saint, seemingly overcome with such awe and shock that I could
almost sense tears forming in the corner of their eyes. It was such a beautiful experience, and
never before had I seen people so subservient and overcome with such emotion,
their eyes were even glimmered with amazement and awe.
From the mass I split off from the group because I had some
things I wanted to do besides peruse the shops. I loved Assisi in comparison with other towns because it
seemed a lot quieter and everything was very close. I’m horrible with directions but Assisi had a very straight
forward layout and even though I got lost I found out where I was in a second
just because I could see the top of the Basilica, and all the roads seem to
connect to a main street that is somewhat close. I had a great time just walking around, forgetting that I
had to catch the bus to get to the train station in only a few hours. It was nice just letting that all go
and take in everything a moment at a time.
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| The view from the Basilica of Saint Chiara |
My wandering landed me at The Basilica of Saint Chiara on
the other side of town, which was marvelous with its gallant view just a
stones throw away from the entrance of the church. It was beautiful. There were three layers looking out, first a grove of
olive trees slanted against the wall, then there the cobblestone vias shadowed
by cypress trees and the occasional church. Then, a step even further was the best view of all, the rest
of the city just lying out in the distance like a picture with a heavy cloud of
mist just lightly careening over the tops of the houses and buildings. I decided to just get a gelato and
spend some time just looking out over the view and writing. There was a little cat hiding in the
olive tree looking for a nearby snack and it was fun watching her with her big
blue eyes staring back at me every few moments. It was really then I began to appreciate the extent of
everything. With the beautiful
view in front of me, smacking the last drips of Fior di Latte gelato off my
fingers, I was just so happy words couldn’t exactly pinpoint the feeling. I guess its just those moments that
I’ve fallen in love with, being somewhere so new, so unexpected, and just spending
time thinking and taking in all the sights, sounds, and smells around me.
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| God's Support, Sostegno divino |
Some more wandering landed me at the Assisi Cathedral, or
the Cathedral of Saint Rufino where both Saint Francis and Saint Clair were
baptized. It was a beautiful
church kind of hidden with its close proximately to shops and apartments. I spent some time inside looking around
and found a hallway in the back full of paintings of Pope John Paul II. I sort of just glanced at them at first,
but after noticing a few in particular, I had to literally just stop and admire
them. I could literally feel the
emotions in his facial expressions; the paintings were so well done. It really made me appreciate the art
that people can even create today, even against such high standards of the
past. The church was so peaceful
and quiet that I took the opportunity to spend some time in one of the chapels
adorned with some magnificent frescoes.
In the front sat a flawless gold tabernacle with garden mums and tall
candles outlining the perfect symmetry of the room. It was wonderfully peaceful, a moment I wasn’t going to miss
out on especially against the hustle and bustle of the day.
After looking around I walked past a few shops, but one in
particular caught my eye, a small shop by the name of Oggetti. I
noticed some scarves that I liked and so I decided to go in. There was nobody else in there, just an
older woman folding some dish clothes she was selling. I greeted her than preceded to look around. I was trying to decide on something and
I was going to ask for another color but I didn’t really know how to say
“darker” in Italian. So I asked “Parli
Inglese?” but she shook her head no, with a
slightly disappointed smile. But
she proceeded to help me anyways and realized that I at least new a little bit
of Italian, enough so that we could have some basic conversation. I loved that she was so open to talking
to me, even though it took some time for me to think and respond to her
comments. Some people I have met
act so awkward with the language barrier, but its people like her that really
encourage me to learn more. I was
able to ask her a few basic questions, and tell where and what I was
studying. She told me a little bit
about herself while she proceeded to tie the scarf around my neck, holding up a
mirror that she had lying on her desk.
Not only did I like the scarf, but how could I say no after this lady
had been so friendly and helpful?
So of course I bought it, and now it’s probably my favorite scarf
hanging in my closet because of the story behind it. That was definitely the cherry on top of my day and a lady
that will be difficult to ever forget.
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| Flower pots adorn so many buildings in Assisi |
We only had the morning and early afternoon in Assisi
because we had to catch the bus to get to the train station on time. We ended up having two transfers via
train and the last section of our trip we took a bus back to Viterbo. The last train station was literally in
the middle of nowhere and we had to wait a couple hours for the bus. Even though it was a public bus, it was
quite tiny and everyone almost fit, with the exception of a couple people that
had to stand in the isle on the few stops before we reached Viterbo. And with the night looming, it was
beginning to get quite dark, so the atmosphere on the bus was quite interesting. As we winded through the long country
roads in the Italian countryside with the bus driver just sort of half-hazardly
driving the bus with his cell phone in his hand a quarter of the time, man
handling the gigantic wheel that seemed to take up ½ the front of the bus, I
almost felt like I was dropped in a scene for some sort of mystery or fantasy
novel. It was so odd because
sitting in that bus just traveling through such untouched parts of Italy, with
the radio softly playing in the background and the hush of conversations and
whispers filling in the empty spaces of silence, I felt a sense of awkward
normalcy. Here I was, riding in
this random bus in the middle of Italy with people I’ve never even met, yet I
was completely at peace, and it felt almost usual even though obviously an
experience like this wasn’t exactly the norm for me.
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| Cyclamen leading the way home, Assisi |
After I got home, I clunked into my bed, completely tired
and happy knowing I had some more quiet and peaceful days in Viterbo ahead of
me. I got back into the swing of
my day to day with my classes, internship, and tutor schedule. The tutoring with the 17 year olds is
going really well, and the teacher really uses us to the student’s benefit in
learning and practicing the English language. Because I am in the class with two other USAC students, it’s
a bit more low key and I really enjoy just helping out the students, they are
really so eager and excited to learn and have us there. Also, on Mondays I tutor for two hours
the group of five girls from the elementary school. They are really learning so much in the time I’ve worked
with them and it’s exciting to see their improvement. Motivation I’m learning is really a key thing in getting
students to be successful and enjoy their work. I’ve figured out one of the best ways to motivate them is to
create competition. If they win in
the games we play together, they can earn points to redeem for chocolate. One of them is very stubborn and
sometimes doesn’t want to participate so I figured out that I could just take
points away if they don’t listen.
So, after realizing that she wouldn’t get any chocolate without any
points if she didn’t participate in our next activity she uncrossed her arms
and jumped up, eager and ready as ever.
I kind if just laughed inside… kids are the same anywhere you go,
really.
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| Loving the colors in Assisi |
My latest experience though was the starting of a new
internship at the same high school with a different teacher working with
14-year-old students. Another USAC student had already worked with the class
last week so this time I really had to get the feel for how different the
teacher was using us for her classroom.
I literally arrived and immediately introduced myself, and the teacher
just kind of sat at her desk and expected us to do the teaching. I wasn’t really expecting it, and so we
just lead the classroom in discussions about some upcoming holidays and we
shared some information about school in America, comparing them with the
schools in Italy. Though in
essence it all sounds good, the students were not at all well behaved in
comparison to the 18 year olds that I’ve been interning with. They were so antsy and talkative and
though they seemed interested, their attention was more turned towards their
friends and the fact that they’d rather be enjoying the nice weather that
awaited them when the bell rang.
It got really crazy when a giant moth flew in the room and all the
students almost went ballistic, getting out of their desks and squealing almost
in amusement. For a moment I was
just kind of in shock, kind of surprised that the teacher let them get away
with acting like that. I really
have my work cut out for me in the following weeks. The other student interning in the class and I decided to
come up with a plan, some games, and some assignments to work on with the class
so we could have some better control over the classroom. I’m excited to see where it will go in
the following weeks; I honestly think there is more room for improvement than
there is for failure.
Anyhow, as far as an update for the following weeks… I don’t
even know where to begin. Well, I
guess to start with, today I had another cuisine workshop at the Boscolo
Academy in Tuscania, which was actually a lot better than last time. The chef in charge was a lot more
inclusive and we all had a chance to prepare some of the dishes. We made lots and lots of delicious
pasta!!! We even go to make
homemade gnocchi, which I was really excited to finally learn how to make. Now I don’t have any excuse to not try
it at home! Tomorrow my hill towns
class is headed to Acquapendente and Pienze for a day trip, so I am pretty
excited for that. Next week I have
my Italian final for the first section of Italian and then… on Thursday… I will
be taking the train to my first country outside of America and Italy! I’m going to Innsbruck, Austria for
almost a week with my friend Jessica, where I will be staying with my Uncle so
he can show me around where my grandparents lived and my mom grew up. I’m so excited and I still can’t
believe I’m leaving in less than a week!
Jessica and I also just bought tickets to visit another country… but I
want to keep some sort of suspense so I don’t want to share yet. J
You will find out soon enough!
That trip is scheduled from the 16th of November until the 20th
and we will be in Austria from the first of November until the sixth. So much traveling in so little time, I
can’t even believe this is happening sometimes. Anyways, keep posted, I can’t wait to share about my
upcoming travels.
Ci Vediamo!
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