Italy and Beyond: My First Weeks in Italy

To start of my first week in Siena, we had an orientation where they tested our language ability, talked to us about the city, showed us the important places, and gave us a short run down of how the net few weeks would be. The first part of the program is intensive language classes for the first three weeks. I normally have Italian class about 5 hours a day with home work at night and tests on Friday. Although Italian class is really long, our teacher Fiora gives us plenty of breaks and she is super nice and very helpful. She answers all of our questions and has a great sense of humor. I feel like I am learning so much so quickly and I can already communicate a little better. It has been hard reverting back to the "toddler" stage of not being able to communicate with the people around me, but I'm excited that I can see the improvements.

Our teacher also has had us to projects where we have to answer questions on a worksheet that are written in Italian where we have to write in Italian and occasionally ask locals for help. There are super awkward because not only are people staring at us because we are running around the city writing things on paper, but then we also don't speak Italian well and it gets even worse. One time we had to go to this store and describe it and what it sells and such and who I think was the manager came up to us and as like "What are you guys doing?" and one of my classmates had to explain to him that we were doing a school assignment and he was okay after that.

This past Friday was a great day. To start off we had our first Italian exam which I was super scared about, but I'm pretty sure I did really well. Then, my class and the high level class went to a beautiful museum called Santa Maria della Scala which used to be a hospital since the early times of the city. The art work that is there is amazing and there is one room where the artist painted the history of the place on the walls. Plus it has a section about the history of the Cantradas which was awesome to see. It is definitely something you should check out of you come to Siena. I learned so much from that museum. Then as away to relax after a rough two weeks of hard work in our Italian classes and adjusting to a new way of life, we went to the Terme which is a thermal bath where they pump water from a natural hot springs into a pool and it was wonderful. The water was so warm and it was nice to just sit and enjoy the company of others. The water also made my skin so smooth from all the natural minerals dissolved in the water. The only down side is that the sulfur smell is very strong.

The fourth day of our trip we went on a little hike around the city and they showed us some of the different buildings and architecture. One important thing to know about Siena is that they are very much into Il Palio or horse racing. They race on July 2nd and August 16th every year since like 1200 AD and it is a huge deal. There are 17 neighborhoods or Contradas and each one has an animal that represents a neighborhood. Each neighborhood also has a museum where they display their trophies which are amazing works of art done from all different artists from all over the world. Each neighborhood also has a fountain that is supplies from underground pockets of water that the city has been using since early in their history and these fountains still run today without any help from machinery. We also saw churches and were shown the importance of the names of streets. The city has tried to keep the look of how it did back during the reissuance and so the street names are usually named after what kind of stores or services were on that street.

I also started the (long) process of getting my permission to stay ID. I went at my scheduled time to the post office and dropped off my documents and signed some papers and now I have to wait for my appointment at the police office where I begin to finalize all the paper work. So. Much. Paperwork...

In my free time, I have explored the city with friends and eaten a lot of wonderful food. I don't think I will ever be able to eat any food in the US again because the quality and taste of the food here is so good. Plus, a bottle of good wine is like 5 euros and a great bottle of wine is like 9 euros. I have gone out a few times with friends. We mostly just go to bars or sit in the Piazza del Campo and hang out. I haven't met a lot of Italians yet but there is still plenty of time for that. Everyone here is really nice and they are pretty understanding that our language skills aren't very established yet. There isn't a whole lot to do here, but there is so much to look at. Every street is just so beautiful and picturesque. I love just being able to walk around the city and finding new architecture to look at. Everything is so ornate and there are so many crests all over the city. I have also found plenty of laces to look out over the Tuscan landscape and just stand in awe of its beauty. The only struggle of living in the city is the hills. I come from Northeast Ohio, which as my Pittsburgh friend complains about, we have rather flat land which is great for farming and such, but it does not prepare you for walking up and down the hills. Even after two weeks I am still struggling with this. I'm hoping my body will adjust soon and be able to walk around the city without huffing and puffing. As of right now, the struggle is real!!!

My host family is really great. They have been very helpful and they cook delicious food. It is nice to sit down for dinner around the table with my family and roommate and we just talk. My roommate, Melissa, and I get along really well and we clicked since the first day we met. I can say that we are pretty different people, but we work really well together and hangout often. We have taken to this one show that comes on after dinner that is similar to Deal or No Deal except with boxes and a lot more suspense. The show host also talks a lot and is very animated and it is very helpful with learning Italian. My host parents even watch it with us even though dinner is over. Overall, coming home is enjoyable and relaxing.

So far my experience has been really rewarding and exciting. My group is great and we all mesh very well together. I am really enjoying the city, the food, the people, and the language. Stay tuned for future posts of my adventure in Italy and thanks for reading!

-Cori