Traces of Christmas

Via del Corso

Il Vittoriano in Piazza Venezia

Although Christmas is only three days away it doesn’t really feel like it here. For one, it’s not cold (which I love) but it’s also because there aren’t a lot of decorations. Little by little traces of Christmas popped up, especially after the Immaculate Conception (Dec.8^th), but the decorations are sparse compared to New York. What’s funny is that I was talking to a resident who was telling me that he had never seen so many decorations in Rome before. The city is extra decorated to celebrate Italy’s 150^th birthday (Italy was unified as a nation in 1861). 

Cultural Notes: 1. Panettone and pandoro are traditional Christmas breads. They are eaten either for breakfast or dessert. Dried figs, dates, and torrone are also traditional Christmas dessert.

                         2. The stores have recently gotten crowded with people trying to finish (or start) their Christmas shopping. The store clerks wrap the presents at the register as the line continues to get longer and longer. It would be a lot more efficient if there were a separate wrapping station. I think we have a separate wrapping area in America, right? Maybe I’m forgetting.        

Highlights of My Week: 1. The other day there was a transportation strike…no buses, trams, or metros were in service. It was really nice being able to use it as an excuse to take a taxi everywhere for the day. The annoying part was when I went to the bank and found out that the workers had been inspired by the transportation strike and decided to go on strike as well.

                                        2. I went out with my first group of Italian girlfriends last Monday. We went out for Japanese food. It was funny seeing Japanese people speaking Italian because I’m used to seeing them speak English.

                                        3. I had Indian food for the first time and completely fell in love with it. The next day my host mother had an Indian cooking class at the house, which was fantastic, and three days later I went out again for Indian food. Who knew I would come to Italy and fall in love with Indian food.   

Impara con me!  caccia al tesoro- scavenger hunt

                            fiochetti- ribbon (for a gift)                

Vuoi cambiare la vita?

A cappuccino/biscotto break

I was on my way to work and there was a man selling lotto tickets on the street. He held in front of me a possible winning ticket and he asked me, “vuoi cambiare la vita?” (do you want to change your life?) I continued walking at my brisk New Yorker pace, but I still responded to his question in my head…“no.” I don’t want to change my life…la vita è bella.      

Cultural Note: I’ve noticed that when you are walking toward someone, he/she moves to his/her left instead of to his/her right. In America we move to our right.

Highlights of My Day: 1. Shopping!!! I started Christmas shopping and I have so much more fun shopping in Italy than I do in America even though the city isn’t very festive. There are a few decorations here and there, but it’s nothing like how it is at home. 

                                      2. I bought myself a red mug that says Buon Natale in white script. I also bought the movie Elf with Will Ferrell (which I watch every year with my mom). My host mother has never seen it before so we are going to watch it together sometime before Christmas. Twenty-two more days until Giannis and my sister are here!!!

Impara con me! 1. pennica- Roman for pisolino (nap)

                            2. succursale- branch (as in a branch of a bank or a business)

                            3. è il tuo genere- it’s your style              

An American Thanksgiving in Italy

Natalie and Francesca (both Fulbrighters in Rome)

Turkey...Italian Style: Turkey leg stuffed with guanciale, pecorino cheese, and sage

Natalie trying to do the metric math

Last Friday my friend Natalie (another Fulbrighter here in Rome) came over and we did the prep work for an extravagant, very American Thanksgiving that we celebrated the following day. We had spent a good two hours in a small supermarket that you would think was the size of a warehouse due to our persistence on finding things that don’t exist here (i.e. canned creamed corn and brown sugar). On our way home we stopped for a panino and as we ate outside on a bench we laughed hysterically over our latest experiences as expats in Rome. Once home and in the kitchen we uncorked a bottle of wine, put on the Christmas music, and got to cookin’! We faced quite the challenge trying to convert our American recipes into the metric system…how many grams in a pound?...how many ounces in a cup?...what about tablespoons and teaspoons? Ahhhh! After some time we abandoned the math and the scale and added ingredients as they seemed fit. All of the food was even better than home. It turns out that you don’t need your mom to make the best traditional Thanksgiving dishes…all you need are Italian products and everything will be guaranteed delicious (no offense mom). We shared the feast with my host family and the occasion was definitely fulfilling the Fulbright mission of "linking minds across cultures."

Cultural Notes: 1. I feel like I’m beating a dead horse in expressing for the millionth time how flavorful the food is, but I think everyone can appreciate this note. Back home clementines are a total hit-or-miss type of fruit. Sometimes they’re juicy and sweet, but other times they are hard, or sour, or too seedy, or bitter, or just downright gross. It doesn’t even depend on the batch. You can have a single carton with this whole range of clementine consistencies and flavors. In America I hastily reach for a clementine. In Rome I dig my hand into that bag knowing that every one is sweet, juicy, and the type I hope for.

                         2. The traffic and the drivers: Rome is known to have horrible traffic. Being from Long Island and spending a lot of time in Manhattan, it is definitely not worse. As for driving/the drivers: if you can drive in Rome, you can drive anywhere. There are no lines in the streets. They follow the free-for-all, create-your-own-lane approach. Motorini and Vespas whiz around as their names imply (Vespa means whasp), and I still sometimes guess if the bus driver is going to crash into the driver in front of him. In terms of pedestrian friendliness, the driver does stop…just a little closer than what the typical American is used to.  

Highlight of My Evening: My cooperating teacher was taking one of our year 5 classes to see a movie because it was parallel to what they were learning in class. The students had asked her if she could invite me to join them in seeing the movie, and of course, I accepted. It was so nice. I didn’t understand most of it, but it was nice to have that experience. I enjoyed watching them all drive away on their motorini at the end of the night. 

Ultimate Sound: When I was walking in Trastevere the other day I was looking down at the cobblestone streets taking calculated steps in an effort to not twist my ankle. From above I heard a familiar Italian aria streaming out from one of the windows. At first I just stopped to listen and then I looked up to try and identify the window it was coming from. I followed my senses, which lead me to a rusty orange palazzo with brown shutters. The sun was shining right into the window and in that moment, I literally felt as if I were living out a scene in a movie.   

Impara con me! Jetlag- fuso orario          

TESOL-Italy Convention

This past Friday and Saturday there was a convention here in Rome for all of the TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) teachers throughout Italy. Between the two days, I attended a bunch of conferences dealing with different teaching related topics. It turned out that I was the only ETA Fulbrighter that attended even though we were all invited (and all of the expenses were paid for by the US Embassy). The Cultural Affairs Assistant from the US Embassy asked me if I wouldn’t mind doing an interview for the Embassy’s website to also be posted on YouTube. I eagerly agreed and she took me into a back room where there was a legitimate cameraman and interviewer, complete with a microphone that showed off its ‘Embassy of the United States of America’ seal. I see them speaking to each other in Italian and then I question which language the interview is going to be in. When they told me it will be in Italian I felt a rush of heat run through my body. I asked to take a peak at the question she would be asking me, and what had started out as just a rush of heat turned into an elevated heart rate and a little bit of perspiration; I literally had no idea how to respond to the question...there was absolutely nothing that came into my mind. I have no idea if what I said even made sense and I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t even post it on their website. If they end up posting it, I will add the link in this post. To those of you who understand Italian, we will be able to laugh at my attempt to produce a remotely educated response to a question that wasn’t the easiest to respond to. 


Here it is: The TESOL Interview          

Cultural Notes: 1. Before I left for Italy I received multiple warnings from people telling me to “watch out for those Italian men” and to “keep your belongings close because gypsies are everywhere.” After being here for a complete two months I have not had any issues with either and have realized that Americans view Italian men as these woman harassing machines…something that just isn’t true. And gypsies do not lurk at every corner waiting to steal from a distracted tourist. You have to be just as careful here as in any city, but from a personal viewpoint I feel safer here than I do in Manhattan.  

                          2. Immigration in Rome: 9.5% of the population is non-Italian, mainly composed of Romanians, Albanians, Ukrainians, and Polish. There are also groups of Filipinos, Chinese, Africans, and Bangladeshis. Some make their living selling clothing and shoes at street-side stands while others walk around trying to sell roses, umbrellas, or little plastic toys. Of course they work in other sectors as well but those are the most visible on a daily basis.  

Highlight of My Day: I have never haggled before and it has always been something I wanted to do. I felt guilty that I would be taking money from someone who is trying to make a living. Putting my feelings of guilt aside I decided to make my first attempt at a haggle…it was a success! I was at the TESOL-Italy convention and there was a room for all of the publishing companies to advertise their books. There was a specific series that I really liked and I bought (at full price) two books. I then saw a third book that I wanted and I thought this would be a good opportunity to try and get it for free since I had already bought two. The vendor agreed and I got the book for free. When I returned home and told the story to my host mother she asked me to tell her exactly what I said in Italian to the vendor. She laughed and told me that the vendor probably gave me the book because how I expressed myself was in a very sweet and proper manner. I’m definitely not a natural at the skill of haggling.    

Impara con me! He’s hitting on you- Ci sta provando con te

A Street in Trastevere

My Long-Lost Family in Italy

I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to the news that I actually have family that I never knew about in Italy. It was the type of thing where you can’t help but put your hand over your heart, shake your head, and well up with tears…well, that’s what happened to me after my host mother helped me locate the exact town my great grandparents were from only to discover that there are many people with the same last name still living there, meaning they are most likely my relatives. My emotions were flowing and I swallowed back the lump in my throat and managed to get out some words to explain to her what this means to me: for as long as I could remember I wanted to be closer to my Italian roots. I envied those Italian-Americans who still had family in Italy and were able to experience their heritage in a way I only dreamed of. By finding existing family I have the opportunity to repair a link that has been broken for so many years. 

It turns out I’m not even from the city I thought I was from. All of these years I was told that my great grandparents came from Naples, so that made me napoletana…wrong!!! After some research, it turns out that my great grandparents were from Maranola, a very small town in the region of Lazio (the same region as Rome). Maranola is all the way in the south of Lazio and it ends up being closer to Naples than to Rome. Although Naples is in a completely different region, the legal documentation simply indicated the closest major city (Naples). My host mom was telling me that Maranola is only an hour and a half away from Rome by car, so we are going to go together and start knocking on some doors to hunt down my family. I’m going to look like some lunatic when they open their door and I blurt out “we’re cousins!!!”    

Cultural Notes: 1. Have to be 16 years old to buy alcohol and cigarettes.

                           2. Wine/alcohol is sold in supermarkets and it’s so cheap! I paid €3 for a really good bottle of wine at the supermarket.

                           3. Have to be 14 years old to drive a motorino (motorbike) or macchinetta (small car). Have to be 18 to drive a regular car.

Highlights of My Day: 1. I started private English conversation lessons with an 11-year-old boy. He is one of the most adorable kids ever with the cutest little personality. I would ask him one question and he would go on and on for 10 minutes, Italian gestures and everything.

                                     2. Teaching!!! My students are respectful, responsive, interested, motivated, fun. It’s almost too good to be true. I wake up excited on Monday mornings…I’ve replaced TGIF with TGIM. 

                                    3. I made myself cacio e pepe (a typical Roman pasta dish) for lunch today after work. It came out so good and as I was eating alone in the kitchen I smiled to myself after realizing that I have been eating pasta almost everyday. When in Rome…you finish the rest.    

Highlight of My Evening: My host mother and I were eating dinner together the other night. I was describing to her a really good chicken dish that my dad makes and I wanted to say “chicken leg” so I said “la gamba del pollo,” a literal translation. Her eyes bulged out of her head as she looked at me with both a perplexed and stupefied expression before bursting out into laughter. She explained to me that based on what I had said, she envisioned a chicken with two dangling human legs. The correct thing to say was “la coscia del pollo.” I will now never forget how to say chicken leg.    

Impara con me! 24 hours straight- 24 (ventiquattro) ore di fila

My Schedule Is Picking Up

I’m starting to get into the full teaching schedule and I’m loving it. On Mondays I teach three classes. Two English classes (both of which are year 5 students- 18 years old) and one Geography class (year 2 students- 15 years old). I am loving the year 5 students because since they are older it takes out the babysitting element of teaching and I’m left to actually just teach. I am so impressed with how they don’t give up when speaking in English. Even when they are having difficulty expressing themselves they manage to get around it and still make themselves understood. Tuesdays I teach two English classes (one year 4- 17 years old- and the other year 2- 15 years old) and Fridays I teach three English classes (one year 4 and two year 5). Wednesdays and Thursdays I will be teaching in Aquila, Abruzzo.

Cultural Notes: 1. It’s nice how the mood isn’t as frenetic between classes. The teachers are a lot more laid back. In America the teachers are in such a rush to get their materials together and get everything prepared and in place for the next period. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but it was nice to experience a calmer transition between classes. 

                         2. Italy’s Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is forced to resign due to his incapacity to help the Italian market during this economic crisis. He was short by 8 votes to win the majority.

 

Highlights of My Day: 1. I enjoy being a part of Rome in the early morning. It’s a time before the tourists have arose; the piazzas are quite, the Romans are on their way to work, and shops are just opening as shopkeepers sweep in front of their stores and get everything in order. I have found the caffè that I go to two hours before work to enjoy my four sips of a macchiato, read The NY Times, and reflect upon this experience. This is how I start my day and I am conscious as to thoroughly enjoy every minute because I am so content in these moments.

                                      2. Entering the classroom and all of the students standing up. In Italy the students stand when a teacher enters as a sign of respect. It was so cool!

                                      3. Receiving my very own cassetto (drawer) and key in the teachers’ lounge (sala professore). Teachers get their own drawer and key to keep their belongings and materials in because the teachers travel from room to room and the students stay in one classroom. 

                                      4. Getting a tessera (club card) today for the organic store that I shop at.

Impara con me! Roman Phrase: to slack off- battere la fiacca

                           to resign- dimettersi (Berlusconi si è dimesso- Berlusconi resigned)

                            

My First Time at the Trevi Fountain

The Best Weekend of My Life

What's that in the background???

Showing my love to one of the Pantheon pillars. 

The Pantheon. Both me and Giannis' favorite monument.

At the Rome Film Festival. We saw an Australian comedy. 

My boyfriend, Giannis, came to Rome for the first time to visit me. Rome is so much better with him and I was able to appreciate it on a deeper level. The city took on a completely different dimension having him with me. Everything became even more alive and enchanting than before. This city is the place to be with the person you are in love with; it is so romantic. Paris may have the Eiffel Tower, but Rome has passion, charm, and even more breathtaking sights. I can’t help but point out that ROMA spelt backwards is AMOR.   

Cultural Note: Giannis was saying how he admires that Italy continues to produce amazing work. It’s not the type of culture that had their high day and then stopped contributing to society. Italians continue to create, build, and share their work with the world. I would even say that they are one of the most inspirational countries in the world. 

Highlights of My Weekend: 1. I had been waiting until Giannis arrived to see the Trevi Fountain because that is what I wanted to see the most. It did not disappoint me in the least. I’m so glad it’s not the high season for tourists because we were able to get close to it without pushing through a crowd. What I loved about it the most was that you were able to hear the cascading waters even before seeing it with your own eyes. The sound builds up your excitement and then when you turn the corner to see it the only word you can mutter up is wow…or at least that’s all I was capable of.   

                                             2. Sharing delicious food with amazing wine while laughing and having the type of conversations I’ve been missing.

Ultimate Sights: 1. Seeing Giannis’ face when he saw all of the ancient monuments for the first time. Saying that he has an appreciation for ancient history would be an understatement. It was special for me to share those moments with a person who holds a degree in Classical Studies. 

                           2. When I was 15 years old I saw Hillary Duff’s Lizzy McGuire movie when she goes to Rome. In one of the scenes she was standing in front of this monument, and I remember thinking to myself that I really wanted to go to Rome to see that monument. Since I’ve been here I’ve kept my eyes open for it but didn’t stumble across it until yesterday with Giannis. It ended up being the Roman Forum and I was finally seeing it with my own eyes.  

Impara con me! Phrase: pull yourself together- rimettiti in sesto.     

Fulbright Orientation Day Three

Today was dedicated to the ETAs and their cooperating teachers. It was a day to get to know each other, share our goals and teaching ideas for the coming year, establish expectations, and other things of that nature.

Cultural Notes: 1. The Italian Ministry of Education is pushing to enforce a methodology called Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). It aims at teaching a content course using 40% Italian and 60% English. In this way, the Italian student will have the opportunity to be exposed to English in one other subject aside from his English language class. At my school in Rome I will be assisting in a geography class and possibly a science class later in the year.

                          2. After middle school the Italian student must choose what type of liceo or high school he wants to attend. There is a range to choose from: liceo classico (classic high school- focuses on latin, greek, and literature), liceo scientifico (scientific high school- focuses on math and science), liceo linguistico (linguistic high school- focuses on the study of foreign languages), liceo artistico (art high scool), and the list goes on. Historically there is a hierarchy among the different schools, some breeding better students than the other. For example, a liceo tecnico (technical high school) is typecast as being on the lower end, but according to what many of the Italian teachers were saying, there is no longer this large differentiation. It comes down to the individual student and not the school.

Highlight of My Day: Being around teachers who are interested in delivering quality education and enthusiastic about working with us.

Impara con me! stiamo divagando- we’re getting off track/ off topic 

Fulbright Orientation Day Two

The silver pod in the background was my favorite structure we saw during the tour. It is one of three pods, each one a music hall varying in size and known for their excellent acoustics. The structures were designed by the Genovese architect Renzo Piano and were inaugurated in 2002. The Italians are preparing for the International Rome Film Festival (Oct.27-Nov.4) hence the red carpet.               

Another great day of informative lectures and worthwhile conversations. One of the lectures was on the Italian University system, and another on the process of art collectionism to museums. The speaker had described Italy as un museo diffuso, meaning a museum everywhere: just standing in the streets is like being in a museum. I have already experienced this from my one month in Rome. The churches, the piazzas, the fountains, the statues, the monuments, the bridges: each one is a gem with a story behind it. It’s almost as if there is a surprise at every corner, and you amble from one street to the next just as you do through each room in a museum.  

At the end of the day we had a two-hour guided tour of contemporary architecture in Rome. At first I was disappointed that it was on contemporary architecture and not ancient, but it ended up being better because the things that we saw and learned about weren’t pieces that I would have known to check out myself. The tour guide was a former Fulbrighter who attended Princeton and has been living in Rome as an architect for the past 20 years.   

Highlight of My Day: Receiving my Fulbright museum card. I now have free entry to all state-run museums and galleries in Rome…so cool! 

Highlight of My Evening: There was a dinner for the five English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) and our cooperating teachers. I have already met my cooperating teacher in Rome (who I absolutely adore) but I will also be teaching two times a week in the city of Aquila. I met the two teachers from Aquila for the first time at dinner. The first time I saw them I felt as if I had been reunited with two long-lost aunts. They literally walked up to me with open arms and gave me these motherly hugs and a kiss on each cheek. Italians really are the most welcoming people ever.

Cultural Note: As I’m sure everyone knows, Italians greet each other with one kiss on each cheek. What you may not know is that there is an intuitive order that they kiss on first. They always go to the right first, and for some reason I naturally go to the left first. I’ve been finding myself almost kissing the lips of each Italian I greet because I am going to the wrong cheek first. I need to make a permanent mental note to go to the right first.   

Impara con me! accogliente- welcoming              

Fulbright Orientation Day One

The first day of orientation further drove home my sentiments of how honored I feel to be a part of a program that promotes culture and the exchange of ideas in such a dignified manner. One of the speakers explained to us that we are building another brick towards bi-lateral relations between the USA and Italy and we are continuing to strengthen the existing amicable relationship between the two countries. Furthermore, we serve as on-land ambassadors of America in our quest to promote the exchange of ideas and culture. As I was sitting among great scholars, thinkers, and fellow Fulbrighters I thought to myself how every essay written, every moment studying, every occasion I declined to dedicate to my studies was all worth it in order to be living in that moment.

            Part of the orientation was dedicated to researchers and English Teaching Assistants to share what our project proposals are for the coming year. It was so interesting to listen to what each person had to contribute and to hear about the different topics that people are passionate about. There were so many topics of study that I never would have even thought of, and it was very eye opening to be exposed to the different possibilities. The study of identity development among young migrants compared to their Italian counterparts, testing the Equivalence Principle with the Galileo Galilei Project by using satellites, the oil relationship between Russia and Italy, the Italian policies on herbicide use in agriculture and the impact it has on the environment, and the study of the past and present of Italian jewelry are just a sample of the wide variety of projects for this year. 

Cultural Notes: 1. Italy has deservingly been known for its rich contribution to art, architecture, literature, cuisine, and fashion. It’s contribution to technology and science has always been (and continues to be) semi-neglected. Italy was home to great scientific minds like Alessandro Volta (where the word ‘voltage’ comes from since he invented the electric battery), Galileo Galilei, Enrico Fermi etc. Italy continues to house great scientific minds but aesthetics seems to have dominated through the years.   

                           2. One of the speakers urged us to speak Italian regardless of how embarrassed or self-conscious we may feel. She noted how Italians are extremely “gracious and forgiving” of whatever mistakes we make. This is something I completely agreed with. Italians are willing to help you along while you try to express yourself and they are delighted when we try to communicate in their language.

Highlight of My Day: At one point in one of the lectures, the Executive Director of the Fulbright Commission told us to use our title because it will open up a lot of doors. She told us to say sono una borsista Fulbright meaning I’m a Fulbright Scholar. It was funny because it made me feel like I am now part of some sort of secret society or something…where’s my badge???

Highlight of My Evening: There was a cocktail event at the home of the US Embassy’s Minister Counselor for Public Affairs. It was nice to further chat with fellow Fulbrighters and further discuss our topics of interest.

Impara con me! patrocinio- sponsorship            

  

One-Month Mark in Rome

It is exactly one month ago from today that I arrived in this destined location. Although I have only been here for one month, I feel like I have been here for six months; so much has happened within this short period of time and there were a lot of things to get done and to get used to, but up to this point I love Roma.   

High Points: 1. Just being here. Being aware that I am living out one of my life long dreams, and knowing that this is not something I will regret not having done in my life.

                      2. My first (and so far only) day teaching. My full teaching schedule starts in 2 weeks.

                      3. Cooking and eating. I haven’t eaten out much because I love to cook and I love to go grocery shopping. Thus far, nothing I have made has come out bad; not because I am a good cook but because the products are so delicious it seems impossible for something not to come out tasting good. The produce is beyond. I basically eat romaine lettuce plain…that’s how good it tastes.

                      4. Exploring the city. So far my favorite area of the city is Trastevere and my favorite place is Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere. My favorite monument is the Pantheon, which I was not expecting to be my favorite. The most romantic spot is the Passeggiata Gianicolo.

                      5. Using my Italian. This is still a working progress. I feel like my linguistic skills have plateaued which has been very frustrating.

                      

Low Points:  1. Experiencing all of these great things by myself.

                      2. Terribly missing my family and my boyfriend.

                      3. Dealing with Italian bureaucracy.

                      4. Adjusting…or should I say, not adjusting…to the glacially slow pace. This is something I really just can’t get used to. The funny this is, is that I don’t even consider myself a fast-paced New Yorker and still everything is just way too slow. Waiting on line at the grocery store for 20 minutes when all of the lines are moving at the same rate is just not okay in my book.

                      5. Watching my money vanish before my eyes when I’m barely even spending. 

Dining Out

                                       Typical bar scene. Unfortunately the espresso maker is blocked.

Yesterday I spent the day with another Fulbrighter who was also placed in Rome. She is here on a research grant studying Italy’s political asylum policy and she happens to be from Buffalo, New York. It was nice to spend an entire day with someone. Since I haven’t made friends yet, I’ve been pretty lonely over here. For dinner we ate at a trattoria in Trastevere. I love eating out in Italy because you are never rushed. You can take a break from eating and know that your plate won’t be snatched up by some waiter who wants to keep a steady flow of customers. I also love how you don’t have to tip the waiters. It’s nice not having to do math at the end of a meal in order to figure out what 20% of the bill is…it’s good for the digestion ;) Waiters in Italy make an actual salary so it is not obligatory to leave a tip. Tips are given when the service was exceptional, but I have not yet received exceptional service. My standards are pretty high on that one, having always frequented the best restaurants around.

Cultural Notes: 1. It is completely abnormal to ask for a doggie-bag at the end of the meal. It’s something that just isn’t done here.

                           2. Tap water is not given. If you want water you buy bottled water for the table. I am very impressed with the tap water in Rome. I was reluctant at first to drink the tap water because I am very picky with my water. I even packed a Brita filter but I don’t need to use it.

                           3. When dining out you have to pay a cover charge. It is usually about €1 and it covers the cost of the bread, the tablecloth, and perhaps any flowers that may be on the table.

Highlight of My Day: I went to a different caffè today for my coffee. I ordered a caffè macchiato and it was absolutely delicious. I love how wherever you go in Italy you are guaranteed great coffee. A caffè macchiato is espresso with a little bit of frothed milk on top. The drink gets its name from the word macchia which means stain. It’s coffee (caffè) stained (macchiato) with milk. The froth was so creamy and full; it wasn’t foamy air like it usually turns out in America.

Highlight of My Night: Watching Keeping up with the Kardashians (Al passo con i Kardashian) dubbed in Italian.

Impara con me!    Phrase: figure it out- vedi un po’ tu.  

My First Day at Liceo Scientifico John F. Kennedy

It felt so good to be back in the classroom and having that interaction that I love. The students were great. Not only were they extremely respectful and well behaved, but I was very impressed by their language skills. Their teacher does not allow them to use Italian in the classroom and she does not speak in Italian when teaching. I know that this is not the case in many English classrooms throughout Italy, and even throughout Rome for that matter, but this school happens to be one of the best schools in Rome and it is extremely evident. The classes I taught were year five students (they are in their last year of high school), so if I were in America they would actually be first year college students based on their age. Since today was my first day, I introduced myself and then they asked me any questions they had. The types of questions they asked me ranged from “What is school like in America?” to “What are the major social and political problems in America?”  

Cultural Notes: 1. The expected attire of a teacher in Italy is not formal. There were many teachers wearing jeans and a basic top. It’s like casual Friday everyday.

                           2. Students have the same exact courses every year. They do not have electives. There are slight changes from year 1-2 than from year 3-5 but not major. For example, at this school they take geography only in year one and philosophy only in year 3,4,5. When talking to the students about the differences between school systems, they found the flexibility in the American school system to be the most interesting.

                          3. Each lesson lasts one hour; not 40 minutes.

                          4. Americans call each class a ‘period.’ Italians call each class an ‘hour.’ It’s not “first period, second period, third period,” it’s “first hour, second hour, third hour.”

                          5. When a teacher enters the room all of the students stand. It doesn’t happen in all schools, but it happens in the one I am teaching at.

                          6. It’s very interesting how, on a whole, the youth in Italy are very aware of the political climate and many of them get involved in political affairs. In America teenagers don’t really pay that much attention to politics. This really interests me because I don’t know the reason behind it. I asked the students about it today, and got a few different responses. One student said that when there is a lot to be fixed, you get involved. Another student said that the youth don’t actually know, they just root for politics like they root for sports. An adult said that it may be a historical factor in the sense that Italians always congregated in a piazza to discuss issues and it lead to a sense of communication among people that lasted through the years.   

 Highlight of My Day: My cooperating teacher doesn’t want the students to know that I speak/understand Italian, let alone that I am an actual Italian teacher in the States. If the students were to know, they would not push to speak English and this would defeat the purpose of me being there. My cooperating teacher and I had decided to say that I am an American literature teacher. When the students asked the inevitable question of what I do for a living in America I basically had to lie to their faces. It was pretty funny because I am so not an American literature teacher and it was strange hearing it come out of my mouth. They then started to ask me who my favorite American authors are and I had to dig deep into my memory to think about classic American authors I learned about in high school. The first person who popped into my head was J.D. Salinger. My cooperating teacher and I were laughing over the whole situation afterwards.

Ultimate Sound: The school bell (la campanella). I was in the teacher lounge when it when off the first time and I thought it was a fire alarm. It lasted a good 30 seconds and I was wondering why no one was evacuating the building. 

Impara con me!  pagellino- progress report   

Andréa Saves the Day...or maybe not

I was on the bus the other day going into town (it’s an hour bus ride from the house I am living at to the city center) and there was a young couple in the front of the bus fighting over something. It was entertaining to watch because even though they weren’t being loud, their body language and gestures went beyond words. They ended up getting off at the same stop as me and they were walking behind me continuing their fight. Naturally, I was listening to what they were fighting over and couldn’t help but interrupt since I was able to help the situation. They were fighting because this girl, who wants to improve her English speaking skills, met a native English speaking guy who wants to improve his Italian speaking skills. They agreed to meet up for a language exchange and the girl’s boyfriend didn’t like this whole idea. I actually thought it was pretty comical so I turned around and told them that I am a native English speaker and I would be more than happy to meet up for a language exchange. The boyfriend was elated over my offer and I exchanged numbers with the girl. The girl on the other hand wasn’t into the idea at all. As I walked away I thought that maybe this was her way of breaking up with him and I just ruined her whole plan.  

Cultural Note: The shopping in Rome is unbelievable. Although I haven’t bought anything, I could have easily dropped €5.000 by now. In stores in Italy, returns are not allowed. The salesman (il commesso) was telling me that most stores will allow an exchange, but due to some Italian law, returns are not allowed. Even in the large stores like Zara and H&M returns are not accepted. They will give you something called un buono, which is a store credit.

Highlight of My Day: I found a drycleaner to frequent. It was exciting for me because I feel like I’m building a life over here.

Impara con me! lavasecco- drycleaner (the place) 

Sunday Lunch

This past Sunday my host mother and I made lunch together. We made a classic Roman dish called Rigatoni all’amatriciana. The dish is more commonly prepared with bucatini, but we were in the mood for rigatoni. We went to the grocery store first (yes, the one that you need both agility skills and flexibility to move around in) to pick up the ingredients. The star ingredient of the dish is guanciale. Guanciale is unsmoked pork and it comes from the cheek of the animal. In Italian, guancia means cheek. My host mother told me a secret to making this sauce and this meal was, by far, the best thing I’ve eaten since my arrival.

Cultural Note: Many schools have classes on Saturdays. The school that I am teaching at has class on Saturdays, but luckily I get my weekends off…phew!      

Highlight of My Evening: Helping my host brother with his Italian homework. He was studying verb tenses and I was able to help him study since I know all of the verb tenses. It was pretty cool being able to help an Italian with Italian J 

Impara con me!  soffriggere- to sautée 

Pasta Everyday

Since I’ve been living with this Italian family, I’ve learned that Italians eat pasta literally every single day. When I was asking them about it, they were telling me how some Italians even eat it twice a day…at lunch and at dinner. How are they not fat? It’s all about the portion. The amount of pasta they actually eat would be considered a tease to the average American. For example, during dinner one night my host mother made ¾ lb. of pasta for five people. In America we usually make 1 lb. for four people. Italians make just the right amount so that your appetite and taste buds are both satiated. Finally, Italians don’t drench the pasta in sauce. It’s just a little bit to add depth to the dish, but never taking away the flavor of the actual pasta. Although pasta is hands down my favorite food, the fear of simple carbs has been ingrained in my American mind and I don’t think I can ever fully give in to this custom.    

Cultural Note: Why do Italians eat salad at the end of the meal? All other food comes first so that you eat it while it’s still hot. In the case of pasta, not only does it have to be eaten hot, but if you wait until after you eat the salad the pasta becomes sticky. There is complete logic behind all of the Italian culinary “rules.”                

Impara con me! I learned how to say the phrase 'it's a gamble': è un terno al lotto.

Meeting My Future Cooperating Teacher

Yesterday I had a meeting with the one of the teachers I will be working with. When I walked into the school, it was so strange how different it was from an American school. The walls in the hallways and in the classrooms were completely barren and void of color. I’m used to seeing schools with student art work on display and decorated classrooms. I am very excited to start working with my cooperating teacher…she was really great. I also met some of the other teachers in the school and everyone was very nice.

Cultural Notes: 1. High school lasts 5 years. When the student graduates from high   school, he is 19 years old.

                          2. Students stay with the same exact class of peers for all 5 years of high school. They don’t switch classmates like in America. By the end of high school, the class is like a family because they had every course together throughout their entire high school career.

                          3. Students don’t switch classrooms…the teachers do!

                          4. Students don’t have every subject everyday for 40 minutes. The length of each class varies from school to school, but at the school I will be teaching at each subject lasts one hour. Each day the students follow different courses. In America, it can be compared to block scheduling.   

Highlight of My Day: I tried a new coffee drink. I wanted to try something new aside from the usual espresso and cappuccino so I had the barista surprise me with something. The drink was called a caffe bistro. It was okay. I wouldn’t order it again, but it was fun to try something new.

Ultimate Sight: I saw the Colosseum today while I was on the bus. At first I said to myself, “Oh my God is that the Colosseum?” For some reason I didn’t believe it, and I quickly looked at the street sign to validate what I was seeing. Sure enough the sign read Via del Colosseo. As I looked at it in awe it was funny to also observe the other passengers on the bus completely unfazed. It’s completely normal considering that they probably see it all the time, but I was looking around as if to capture someone else’s gaze of amazement. Even after seeing the Colosseo my biggest awe struck moment was seeing the Pantheon. That was even more amazing for me.    

Impara con me!    stampelle- hangers (for clothes)               

Culture Shock at the Grocery Store

I went to the grocery store with the woman I am living with and when I first entered it seemed to be pretty large; comparable to a King Kullen or another smaller grocery store in America. I told her that I have my cell phone and to call me if we can’t find each other. She started laughing and told me that it is not huge like an American grocery store, and if we lose each other I can just call her name and she will hear me. Once I started doing my shopping I realized not only how narrow the aisles are and how small the wagons are, but how the wagons only move forward and backward. They are really hard to maneuver. At check out, there is absolutely no space whatsoever to move. Directly behind me were all of the wagons, practically touching my back, and to my side was another woman packing her grocery bags because two customers pack at the same time in the same space. There is a small divider the separate your items from the person next to you. Between taking the bus, going grocery shopping, and doing other little things throughout the day, I am quickly learning that personal space is hard to find.

Impara con me! The weather here in Rome has been absolutely beautiful…80s and sunny everyday. It is unseasonably warm and when this happens it is called ottobrata romana. It is equivalent to what Americans call an Indian summer.            

Feelings of a Near Death Experience

I have been busy getting a lot of beaurocratic things done which takes forever here because everyone is so slow. One of the things I had to do was obtain a codice fiscale. A codice fiscale is a tax payer’s number and it can be compared to an American social security number. When I arrived at the agency they had just started closing for their afternoon break (another factor that makes getting things done a lot longer), but I received a number so that when I returned I would be taken care of. Luckily I was number four. I went to a bar (in Italian a bar is a café) to kill some time and when I returned there was a line of about 50 people. Since I was number four I went straight to the front of the line, and was waiting in front of the glass doors. As soon as the agency was about to re-open everyone started circling around, pushing, trying to cut each other…it was a mess. Since I was at the front of the line I felt myself getting closer and closer to the glass doors and I felt like as soon as the doors opened I would be completely trampled on. I kept thinking of the horrible incident that happened two years ago at Walmart when a man got trampled to death on Black Friday.

Cultural Note: It’s cute how this 15-year-old boy makes espresso for himself in the morning. It comes as naturally as an American kid pouring himself a glass of orange juice in the morning.

Highlight of my Week/ Cultural Note: I now have my very own Italian bank account! I was talking to the banker, and Italians don’t pay their bills by check like Americans. They either pay their bills online or they go to the post office and pay them in person at the post office. To pay for rent they do money transfers. 

Ultimate Sight: I walked along the Passeggiata Gianicolo, which looks over the entire city of Rome. Since it is up on a hill, it is very cool and it receives a refreshing breeze called il vento Ponentino. I was chatting with this man in his 70s for two hours and he was lecturing me on the different monuments. I was literally taking notes as he was speaking because he was telling me such interesting information. There is a specific fountain along the walk that his dog, Red, always drinks from.          

Thirsty, anyone?

Piazza/Basilica di San Pietro by night

Ho trovato casa!

I am not going with the apartment I had originally had in mind. As of Friday Sept.30^th I will be living in an area called Parioli with a woman and her 15-year-old son. She had invited me over for dinner this past Saturday night, and from the moment I met her and walked into her house I felt completely at home. She is such a warm, vibrant, and funny woman. That was the best night I have had here yet. She had three of her girlfriends over and the five of us had so much fun together (the rigatoni alla carbonara was delicious). At the end of the night she drove me back to my hotel and we ended up getting lost. We turned down Via della Conciliazione and there it was…the Basilica San Pietro by night. I was completely consumed by the sight and had no power to take my eyes off of it. It is 100x more beautiful at night than during the day. Actually, Rome itself is amazing by night.

Cultural Note: At the post office, you don’t just walk up to the counter for service. There is a ticket machine that gives you a number and when your number is announced you can go up to the counter.

Ultimate Sight: As I was standing at the bus stop waiting for the bus to arrive for the past 30 minutes, I thoroughly enjoyed watching men in tailored suits and women in high heels and skirts driving on their scooters to work.       

A bit stressed

I haven’t really had the chance to enjoy the beauty of the city yet because my first priority is finding an apartment. I’ve stopped going to real estate agencies because their offers are too out of my price range on top of agency fees. I found a cute place in a part of the city called Gianicolo that I really like, although the landlord was a bit too particular about things. Finding housing has been quite stressful. I spent most of my day yesterday walking around that area to get acquainted and see if it’s a place I would like to live. The area is very quite and it definitely has more of a residential feel to it. I would prefer to have a place in a more exciting part of town like Trastevere (which is where I would ideally like to be), but Trastevere is only a short bus ride away. Today I walked from the school I will be teaching at to the apartment in Gianicolo and it is only a 10-15 minute walk. I feel like I’m on that HGTV show House Hunters International only with a lot less options.

In the midst of being totally confused by different directions people were telling me (I took three different buses and two trams) I stumbled across the Basilica di San Pietro/Piazza di San Pietro, the Vittoriano, a really beautiful fountain in Piazza della Repubblica, and great shopping on Via Nazionale. If I hadn’t taken the wrong bus I wouldn’t have seen most of it. I take for granted the ingenuity of the way Manhattan was designed. It is so easy to navigate; it’s a literal grid. Rome is so complicated with tiny side streets and piazzas all intertwining…it doesn’t even make sense on a map. I guess that’s how it maintains its charm while still being so vast.  

Cultural Note: A ticket to use public transportation (bus, tram, and metro) costs 1€. When you get on the bus you have to validate the ticket in a little yellow box. The ticket is valid for 75 minutes from the time you activate it, and you can use it as many times as you need to within that time frame. If the carabinieri (police) come onto the bus to check tickets and your ticket has either timed out or was never activated, you must pay a fine.

Highlight of my Day: As I was exploring Trastevere I passed by a store that said alimenti biologici (organic food). One of the places I knew I was going to miss while being in Italy is Whole Foods, but now I found a shop where I can buy my almond milk, sheep’s milk yogurt, and quinoa! I was so excited.  

Ultimate Sight: I passed by a middle school yesterday that had all its windows open with no screens. On the top floor there were three girls sitting on the windowsill practically halfway out of the window. In the front of the classroom the teacher was ruthlessly banging on the desk as the students’ screams were flooding into the street. My best guess is that she was either trying to kill a bee or quite down a group of unruly kids.    

Sono arrivata!!!!

I’m in Rome!!! I’m so excited over the fact that wherever I go I will be speaking Italian. I haven’t used English once yet for the entire 11 hours I’ve been here…I love it!!!!! Even hearing Italian being spoken on the street as I lugged my baggage into the hotel made me realize how much I missed hearing it on a regular basis. Another sound I had missed were sirens. The sirens in Italy sound so cool. I’m ready to wake up and attack the day tomorrow. I have a feeling I’m going to get so lost in the midst of my errands.   

 Check out what an Italian siren sound like:Italian Siren

Introduction

It’s interesting how life pans out. Italian started off as an interest, and furthermore, as a quest to gain back a language that had been lost in my family. It ended up becoming a passion that kept me wanting to learn more and made me want to push myself to see how far I could go. I was recently looking back at my agenda from last year. On September 8, 2010 I had written Organize plans for moving to Italy in Sept. 2011. Although I had already applied for the Fulbright grant at that time, a large part of me didn’t think I would actually get it due to its competitive criteria. I was mentally set on moving to Rome regardless of receiving the award. When I looked back at that day in my agenda I said out loud in utter disbelief, “What is my life? I can’t believe this happened.” God has blessed me even down to the details of the Fulbright Commission placing me in Rome. I could have been placed anywhere throughout Italy, but I was placed in the exact city I wanted to be. Being accepted as a Fulbright scholar has further proven to me how a certain aspect of our outcome in life is determined by our own actions and daily decisions, but the rest is pure destiny. Through my university studies I have gained a deep appreciation of academia and the opportunity Fulbright has given me will be more encompassing in experience than what I could have done on my own. I feel honored to call myself a “Fulbrighter” and I am excited to see what this next chapter in my life has in store for me.