The Perks of a Home Stay

When I chose to do a home stay when I studied abroad, I’m not going to lie, I was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing. I interrogated several of my friends who had done a home stay when they studied abroad, which left me with mixed reviews. Either they had a great host mom who cared about their experience abroad or had a host mom that only cared about the money they were getting for hosting. I weighed the pros and cons and decided to go ahead and do it. This was also a nerve racking decision for me because I knew zip Italian except “pesto” and “ciao.” I can honestly tell you that at the end of the semester, I am leaving Italy with no regrets, especially about my home stay. I had a wonderful experience living with a loving Italian couple and was lucky enough to have a great roommate (Rachel!). If you’re thinking of studying abroad and debating a homestay, I can’t tell you what would work best for you because not everyone’s experience is the same. But I can tell you what I loved about my homestay so you know what you could possibly get out of it.

 1) Residential Area. I’m pretty sure my apartment is in the retirement area of Florence. Elderly folks are constantly walking their primped dogs and old men use their canes to get to the bus stop. I love it. It’s a very comfortable area and I feel completely safe in the neighborhood. It’s an “upper class” residential area with about a 20-minute walk into the city center, which I love. It gives me a chance to meditate and listen to music.

2) My Host Parents. Franco and Maria Grazia. The most anticipated thing for me when first getting to Florence was meeting my host parents. I didn’t know if the spoke any English, if they would like me, if they were old and inhospitable. basically my mind was making up what they were going to be like. My doubts disappeared instantly after meeting them. Although Maria Grazia doesn’t speak great English, we get by. She urges me to speak Italian, but in a loving way. I’m still terrible, but I know much more than I would living in an apartment without any Italian. She always greets me saying, “Ciao, tesoro!” For the longest time I had no idea what she was saying until I found out it means “my treasure.” She is so loving to all her host students. She constantly asks me if I need something and gives me seconds at dinner. She knows me well. Franco is intelligent and gives us occasional Italian history lessons and political updates at dinner. All these months I’ve been trying to figure out what he does for a living and it’s still a mystery to me.

 3) Foooood. For breakfast Maria puts out coffee, biscotti (breakfast cookies), muffins, fruit, and juice. Italians typically eat a light breakfast, but it’s usually quite sugary, like cookies and cake. Nevertheless, I look forward to breakfast every day. Maria Grazia prepares dinner five nights a week for us. We start with pasta or soup. My favorite is tartufo pasta or pesto gnocchi. Then she makes meat or fish, two vegetables, and bread. She goes to the market regularly; so all the food is fresh and healthy. For that I am truly blessed. For dessert it’s fruit, and occasionally gelato. As the season changes, so does the food. It’s wonderful to live in a home stay during this time because you get to experience the seasonal foods, like fresh mozzarella and bacciole in the spring, or the special cake at Easter. But food is a whole other topic; just know that I’m getting fed insanely well.

 4) Laundry. Maria Grazia is on top of everything all the time. She does my laundry once a week, folds it and lays it on my bed. I make my bed every day, but I always come home to a freshly tucked bed and folded pajamas. She’s such a peach.

5) I am so glad I had a roommate here. We provided support for each other so we didn’t feel completely separated from the other students living in cool apartments in the city center. Rachel also helped me out whenever I didn’t understand an Italian word Maria Grazia would say. I just give Rachel a quick glance and she ould say, “I think it’s_____.” So thanks for the support and for being so cool, Rachel. You’re the best.

It’s so nice to have the homey feel when living in a different country, so I was very blessed to have such a positive experience in a home stay.

Cinque Terre

The spring weather has finally decided to grace Florence with its presence. You can now easily sight Americans because many of them will be wearing shorts. Be warned, though, when choosing to wear shorts in April in Florence, you are ensured to get at least two up-downs. Apparently Italians continue to wear jackets and scarves in 70-degree weather. The perfect weather came just in time for my weekend in Cinque Terre. It was a gorgeous Saturday and Sunday in para..para…paradise, and I am so glad I will experience it again with my parents when they visit in May. It was a great foretaste of what is to come.

 Cinque Terre consists of five colorful fishing towns (Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore) on the coast of the Mediterranean. On Saturday we explored all five towns by way of the train that connects the “lands,” and it’s only about a four-minute ride to each town. Every town had its own feel and was different from each other. I would say Vernazza and Riomaggiorre were my favorite.

 We had lunch in Vernazza at the incredible Belforte Restaurant. You walk up these stairs that lead you to the restaurant that looked like it was in a little stone tower. We ate on the top overlooking the gorgeous blue sea. A straw roof protected us from the sun and a cool breeze kept us refreshed. They serve incredible local seafood and homemade pasta. Cara and I split the Tagliatelle pasta with zucchini and shrimp. It was divine. Our waiter was quite nice and gave us several refills of bread as well as some complementary wine and a shot of something (I don’t even know what it was haha). Every meal is better when something free is included! We definitely felt like we were living the high life.

 We watched the sun set in Riomaggiore. If you’ve ever seen pictures of the colorful houses on the coasts of Italy, it was more than likely taken in Riomaggiore. Definitely postcard worthy.

Sunday was spent taking a super cool hike with Laurel and Cara. We started walking a paved biking/running path that used to be a railroad. It had lots of tunnels. Dark cool tunnels. It was beautiful because it followed the coastline to another beachy town. There we did a short hike up along the rocky coast. It reminded me a lot of the Californian coast.

The rest of the day was spent on the beach in Monterosso. We weren’t about to spend 18 euro on a bottle of sunscreen so…. I am now the hue of a cherry tomato and I’m pretty sure I crunch when I walk. #worthit.

 My editing system has been acting wacky, so none of these photos have been edited, but I wanted to share them with you so you can see the natural beauty of the Italian coast.

Vernazza

Lunch time

Breathtaking views from the restaurant

Vernazza

The not-so-secret beach

Riomaggore

Sunset at Riomaggiore

Such a fun hike

Finding Normalcy

     

As life continues to speedily move by, I search for things in Florence that give me a sense of comfort, a sense of home. I have found a couple of things that remind me of my life back home, or things that humanize the lives of people who live here. For example, I was walking to class early in the morning when I walked past these two boys about the age of 9. One was crouched on the ground, using the bench as a table as he scribbled something into a notebook as the other kid stood next to him. As I got close enough to see what he was doing, I realized the boy was copying the homework answers from his friend. I thought to myself, so they do it in Italy to, eh? It brought me back to Mr. Forshey’s 8th grade math class. 

             

        When I start feeling distant from my homeland, I enjoy walking through the park when the kids get out of school. The parents are picking them up from the school across the street, hugging them while the kids show them their recent accomplishment in art class. It’s such a joy to see the parents with their little Italian tater tots, running around, screaming Italian gibberish, which sounds a lot like English gibberish. I’m not a creep, who just stands there and watches the children. I walk with a purpose and glance over every now and then. 

  

      I’ve also been reverting back to my childlike tendencies of “sickness descriptions.” The point-to-where-it-hurts tendency. I have strep throat, so I’ve been trying to explain to my host mom where the pain is. We’re becoming very good at charades. 

     Another way I find normalcy here is the Bible study. There’s nothing quite like a group of Christians meeting together to bring a sense of comfort and common ground. We’re all studying abroad in a new country, and we all love Jesus. There’s nothing too complicated about it.

       The last way I like to get into my comfort zone is listening to music on my way to class. One thing I really miss here is driving in the car, by myself, with my music of choice (I miss my alone time.). Because I walk everywhere here, I have a lot of time to listen to my jams. I enjoy secretly swaying my arms to the beat of Ben Rector. No one has to know, although I sometimes feel like my cadence walking is a bit too obvious, because I begin feeling like I’m on a catwalk. 

      It’s things like these that help me adjust to my life here. I love Italian culture, but there are just some habits that I can’t give up from the good ol’ U-S-of-A.

The Umbrella Parade

You would have thought that Carnivale had continued on through this weekend with the colorful umbrella processional we had going on today.

 Today we went to Siena. From hearing all the great things about Siena, I was really excited to check it out for myself. We knew the weather was going to be somewhat crummy, so we all brought our umbrellas, two layers of socks, and comfy shoes. Although my shoes were comfortable, they were quite soggy by the end of the day. It rained, and believe it or not, snowed the whole time we were in Siena. It did not help that our tour was mainly an outdoor walking tour. The wind was blowing, the temperature was about 23 below zero (ok, not that bad, but it was in the thirties). I’m not exactly sure of all that our tour guide said. To be honest, I zoned out 90% of the time, because I was trying to transport blood circulation into my toes by wiggling them to create friction. I’m not sure I was actually wiggling them though, because my toes were too numb to tell.

 Once the tour was over, a couple of us ran into a restaurant to eat. As we were eating, we looked out the window at the snow that was coming down pretty hard. Apparently, snow hardly ever happens in Siena, so I noticed a couple Italians with their noses pushed up against the window at the snowy spectacle. Although the snow was beautiful, we were all eager to make a dash to the bus to warm our little toesies.

 When Rachel and I were walking back to the apartment after the day was over, my cheap red umbrella began developing a mind of it’s own. Whenever the wind blew, without missing a single gust, would either pop out like all the nannies’ umbrellas in Mary Poppins, or do a little dance, making me look like an idiot who can’t hold an umbrella still. I couldn’t help but laugh at everyone else who were having the same difficulties with their strong-willed umbrellas. My umbrella died that night. It’s lying in the umbrella graveyard with all the other 3-euro parasols.

 Despite the yucky weather, Siena was beautiful, especially in the snow. But I am very happy that I will going back in May when my parents come. We’ll probably have to do another walking tour, because I only listened 10% of the tour guide’s information. Perhaps I’ll learn something next time. I Lord willing, I won’t have to use an umbrella.

The Piazza

Making the most of it

Staying warm and enjoying some tiramisu 

Ten Things

       Kathleen Kelly is to New York City as I am to Florence, for all you “You’ve Got Mail” aficionados. Except instead of the smell of bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils, it’s the aroma of cigarettes and wine. Which leads me to the first installment of “Ten Things I love About Florence”

 1. The smell of leather and secondhand smoke down every street.

2. The concaved cobblestone streets around Santa Croce from all the wear and tear over the years. It’s really funny to watch people trip over themselves and walk like they’re drunk. By “people,” I mean “me.”

 3. Maria Grazia’s Tartufo Pasta.

4. The creepy guys on the streets that try to sell you umbrellas…..

5. The little Italian boys playing soccer in the Piazza de Santa Croce.

6. Old men wearing fedoras, oversized glases, and London Fog.

 7. The river walk.

 8. The Oil Shop. The. Best. Sandwiches. Number 4 is my kryptonite.

9. The quiet streets at 7:30 in the morning, when all the stores are just opening and the old women are walking their dogs that have their own sweaters.

10. The military guy in the glass triangle display-thingy that’s protruding out of a military building I pass by every day. I’m pretty sure he recognizes me by the two scarves I alternate every other day and the same pair of jeans I’ve worn for the last four days. One day I know we’ll be friends.

Ciao from the Terrace

        I am currently sitting on the terrace with Rachel, gazing out over the rooftops. I can see the Duomo on one side and Piazzele Michelangelo on the other. There is a slight breeze and the sun peaks through the clouds every so often. It’s about 58 degrees here, so a light sweater is all I need to be in heaven. The birds are chirping an Italian song, and the clothes are hanging out from the windows to dry. My croissant with prosciutto and fresh mozzarella is giving my fingers a shine from the butter and a satisfaction in my stomach. I brush the crumbs from my lap cause the croissant is so flakey and light. It’s times like these I lock into my memory for years to come when I remember the semester I was in Florence.

Learning My Way Through Florence

On the bus ride from Rome to Firenze

           I have officially been in Italy for a total of one week. Crazy crazy. It feels like I’ve done so much and been so many places already; I hardly know where to begin. Normally a vacation to Italy would require spending maybe a day or two in a city, but it’s crazy to think that I’ll be living in Florence for the next three months. I don’t want to bore you with intricate details on what I’ve done so far, so I’ll try to give you an overview as best I can. I landed in Rome where we were met by the ISA staff. Thankfully, I was flying with about 20 other ISA students, so we all herded together. We stayed in Rome for the first three days, touring the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, the Vatican and its museums, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and the magic of Rome at night. My favorite part of Rome was probably walking through the ancient ruins of the forum. To think of people roaming the streets in 700 BC, and there I am, walking on the same ground, it was just really awesome to think about.

Jenn and I at the Coliseum 

           We arrived in Florence on Thursday where we, my roommate Rachel and I, met our host mom, Maria Gazia. She waited patiently by our bags that arrived earlier and greeted us with a kiss on the cheeks. Our apartment is situated a little bit outside of the center of the city, which I like because it gives us a little more of a homey feel in this part of the neighborhood. The flat is located on the third floor with a beautiful terrace that wraps around part of the building. The apartment is very spacious and Maria Grazia has decorated it well. She makes us breakfast every morning and dinner on the weekdays, so we get a taste of Italy without having to make it or go out for dinner. One of the many perks of a homestay! Rachel and I both settling in well to our room with our pictures of home next to our beds.

View of the terrace

Beautiful view from the terrace                                    

                I’m starting to learn my way around the city slowly but surely. I mentally run through the streets and demographics in my head before I approach them so it actually looks like I know where I’m going. If I can get to the Duomo, I can basically get anywhere. Basically. I can’t wait until going to the market becomes second nature to me. I’m also working on my “walking face,” which requires looking at the sidewalk and not smiling. Apparently, smiling is not mandatory when walking in Florence. But I know in everyone of the people’s hearts I walk by, they’re smiling inside. The locals are very nice, and I do my best at trying out my Italian, though they quickly figure out I’m a lousy American. I was proud of myself the other day when I did some finagling for a scarf for about 10 seconds in Italian, until he said something I couldn’t understand and I had to blow my cover as an American. Sigh, it didn’t last long. Eventually, my goal is to order something without them replying in English.

At Piazzale Michelangelo