Uptick in Antics

Ah, so here I am again skipping days with my posts! We shall begin the catch-up where I left off last time: the World Cup!

We gathered for a big dinner around 10 p.m. on Saturday for the match between England v. Italy. We had pizza, cured meats, vegetables, and plenty of Moretti beer. When we were stuffed, we were joined by more guests where we each took a seat in the living room. We were supposed to watch the game outside, with the projector, but my cousins couldn’t get the audio to work.

It was exhilarating to have people around me so invested in this match. I have always enjoyed the sport, and have been a fan of the Azzurri team ever since I could remember, but it was a special moment for me in that room. I was surrounded by electricity, the intrinsic passion for the team. It was intoxicating. If you watched the match you know that it was a nail-biter. But the Azzurri came out on top for their first 2014 World Cup victory.

The game ended at 2 in the morning here, and although very tired I stayed up until 3, which made for a very sleepy Sunday.

Monday morning my cousin took me to the Abbey in Casamari. Casamari is a neighboring town and the abbey there is almost a thousand years old. It was built in 1035. The church was preparing for some festival this weekend. Gorgeous church, vastly different from the ornate churches that sprinkle Italy’s big cities. I enjoyed seeing it.

After visiting the Abbey, I asked my cousin if we could stop at a bookstore. I am a big Harry Potter fan and the idea occurred to me that it might help me learn Italian faster/better if I read the first book in Italian. I know Harry Potter so well that I could add context to the words and focus on the grammar and technique of the translation. The first bookstore we tried didn’t have the first book, so we went over to neighboring Carnello (the town my dad was born in) and I found the first book there. From there we stopped at the school my aunt teaches at. The school year just finished so the elementary school was being cleaned out. It was so tiny! What an interesting thing to see in a foreign country.

I then spent most of my afternoon translating words from the Harry Potter book. It’s taking longer than i thought because when books are written in Italian they use a special tense, and I’m not too familiar with the rules of the tense. I hope to complete the first chapter and then reread the first chapter fluidly. It’s still enjoyable and that air of whimsy that J.K. Rowling is perfect at seeps through even in the translation.

In the late afternoon we brought the white kitten who I’ve posted plenty of pictures about, to the vet. Another place you wouldn’t find yourself as a tourist going to. There was no receptionist, and the office just had dogs hanging about in corners and whatnot. The wait was quite long. We brought the kitten to the vet because he has a cold. The vet examined him, took his temperature, gave him a shot, and told us to come back on Wednesday for a second shot and check-up on his condition.

Later in the evening we watched the Ghana v. USA game. I was so tired that I decided to get ready for bed 15 minutes before the game finished, so essentially I missed most of the action. At least I kept checking Twitter for the updates. USA won 2-1.

As today is Tuesday, in the morning my cousin and I visited the market again. I bought some souvenirs for my friends and because I’ve accumulated so much change I offered to pay for the ciambella. I still have plenty of change.

After lunch I helped my cousins wrangle the other set of kittens, the smaller ones. I believe they were giving them away.

So that’s it for now. I heard talk that I may be going to Monte Cassino soon, but I am uncertain. Enjoy the pictures as always!

The front of the Abbey
The front of the Abbey
Inside the Abbey
Inside the Abbey
The sky outside of the vet clinic
The sky outside of the vet clinic
Where we got the ciambelle from! You can see one in the left corner.
Where we got the ciambelle from! You can see one in the left corner.

Italy and the World Cup.

I’ve been quiet the past few days because there’s not much to say when you are living a home-life. It’s just been wake-up, breakfast, study my Italian, eat lunch, aid with chores, eat dinner, shower and sleep. It’s much like it is at home for me.

The interesting part of this experience is I’ve learned how Italians lead their lives everyday. The mail here is delivered by vespa. They have several different types of trash to separate to and they bring it to a community dumpster. To use the shopping cart at the supermarket they have to get a key from the information desk to unlock it from the rack. They don’t eat sandwiches but rather wrap cheese around a piece of fresh bread.

I could continue as there are plenty of little tidbits about everyday life. It’s really a gift being here, to learn and to live.

It’s also exciting to be in a country that is so invested in the World Cup. Tonight is the first match for Italy against England. It airs here at midnight. We’ve been watching the matches at the house which has been fun. I enjoy the sport even if I can’t determine all the plays at hand and when exactly something is a foul and such, but it is a beautiful game to watch.

I hope Italy does well tonight, I’ve already got my Italia jersey on!

#ForzaAzzurri!

World Cup team!

Shop Shop Shop!

In Isola del Liri there is an outdoor market every Tuesday, and I finally got the chance to check it out.  This week has been very hot in Italy, ranging from the low to middle 90’s, so while my cousin and I rolled into town via SmartCar with the top down and windows open we were still fanning at our necks. I knew we wouldn’t be held up long at the market due to the excessive heat.

The outdoor market was really nice, mostly clothes and shoes, which is perfect for me. My cousin was looking for shoes to match a dress for a wedding she’s attending. She had no such luck but I turned up with a pretty pair of white floral combat boots for 15 Euro. That’s about $20 in U.S., I believe. I had a very good shopping experience.

Before leaving the market she bought a ciambella. The literal translation is doughnut, but it’s not at all what you would find at Dunkin Donuts. It’s a ring shaped bread seasoned with fennel. The vendor gave us a separate piece to eat on the go and it was warm and delicious. Just how most delicious food is (not all because that would exclude ice cream and other frozen/cold treats!).

We stopped at a shoe store called Max that was very reminiscent of the DSW’s we have in America. She really liked this one pair but it was more than she wanted to spend so the store let her take home one shoe to try on with the dress. After trying it on with the dress when she got got she picked up and paid for the other shoe later in the day with us.

As mentioned early, it’s a very hot week in Italy, so during the day I’m committed to staying indoors and staying cool, which I guess has been coming off as laziness. I’m also slightly under the weather with a stomachache so I’m just trying to keep from it dictating how I feel.

The cool thing about it being so hot is the rain that comes in the afternoon. Around 5 or 6 every day the clouds roll in dark over the mountains, loud thunder shatters the silence and a few minutes later a downpour has us scrambling to take the laundry off the line.

It’s a short downpour, lasting no longer than 20 to 30 minutes. After, the sun is back out, the ground slurps up the water and the vibrant perfumes of all the different flowers fills the air. And there are many flowers so the smell is divine. It’s one of my favorite moments of the day.

Sorry no pictures!

 

Sperlonga

Yesterday was beach day and what a more than perfect day it was.

We left after ten in the morning for the little over an hour drive to the beach city of Sperlonga. Sperlonga is located about halfway between Rome and Naples, so it is not drowning in tourists and resorts. But it does have substantial  amenities for the prospective out-of-town beach-goer.

Upon arrival I was nearly floored by the beauty. Where was I and how blessed was I to be here? Amidst the curving shoreline (litorale) filled with umbrellas and cabananas, stretched into a high cliff and perched on top was a quaint off-white stone painted town. Shutters were drawn open, laundry hung from balconies, and the sun warmed everything it touched. I thought these places only existed in Disney movies and Buzzfeed Top 13 Places to See Before You Die lists.

But no, behold, my feet were firmly planted (or sinking) into the sand. My eyes marveled at this natural and man-made vista. I told my company that this was surely a dream (sogno). They shrugged and remarked it was alright. Alright?! Well this ‘alright’ is perfect for me.

My company also agreed on that the water was cold. They dipped their toes in, wrapped their hands around their folded arms and retreated back to our setup. When I tested out the water with my toe I turned to look at them as if they were crazy. The water was the temperature of bath-water. But I suppose that is after a life-long rendezvous with the frigid and dark New York Atlantic Ocean anything 10 degrees warmer would surely feel like a different world.

How could I ever see the beaches at my home as beautiful?

The water was divinely clear. I waded all the way to my waist and could still see my feet as if I was looking at them in the shower. There was no seaweed to send shivers down my spine when it brushed on the back of my leg, no shells to cut into the bottoms of my feet, and the only rocks were big boulders clustered together in one section. Little tiger-striped fish swam by my toes, and if I neared the rocks I could see little crabs (granchi) scuttling around them. The waves were gentle and the sky was clear. I spent long periods of time in the water after laying out in the sun.

One of my favorite parts of the day was just going for a swim by myself. I am a little scared of swimming in ocean water by myself, but I did it anyway. It was wonderful to dive (tuffarsi) under the surface, the immersion made me feel as if I was a part of the ocean.

After a few hours at the beach we ventured up to a little look-out point. It gave us a great view of the beach, the city, and the serenity of this little world. It’s difficult to put into words the feeling I got when looking out into the vastness. I suppose sometimes we don’t have words to describe what we see and what we feel because it’s just meant for us. And I will cherish my little moment of paradise standing at the tip of the cliff for as long as I live.

Now enjoy a few pictures so I can really punch you in the face with jealousy.

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Some of the view from the cliff.
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Here I am looking pensively out into the void.
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I waded to my waist with my camera to take this picture of the town perched on the cliff.

 

Wrap up of Week 2

My, my, another week bites the dust. Time is such a silly thing, the days feel slow for me here, which is something I thought I’d never experience again.

The day was spent helping with the chores as usual.  I also binge-watched a television series on my laptop. Sometimes you still need to stay connected to your daily routines to feel normal.

Last night my family threw a surprise graduation party for my cousin at a restaurant with just his friends. It was a lovely evening, and I cannot believe how much food there was. The amount of antipasti alone just filled me up. There were plates of carrots, rice, prosciutto, mortadella, croquettes, peppers, zucchini, salad, bruschetta, and I’m definitely missing a few. The pizzas came after and they were just as fulfilling.

After the dinner he opened his presents and we took a stroll around the streets of Sora to help walk off the extra pounds. Mamma mia, I am still bloated today!

Some hooligans lighting firecrackers next to the church
Some hooligans lighting firecrackers next to the church

 

What day is it now?

We’re at the tail-end of my second week here, and this week has been very consistent. I’ve fallen into a light routine of wake-up, make breakfast for myself, study italian for a few hours, eat lunch, and then help with some of the chores. Today I was supposed to go for a walk with one of the neighbors but she never showed up. That’s fine with me, it’ll happen eventually. I was able to help my aunt in their little farm, I watered rows and rows of vegetables (vedura) and helped remove rocks from a planter. There were so many ants (formiche) in that planter I thought  I was going to be eaten alive by them.

I washed up a bit before dinner and lounged for an hour or so then helped with dinner preparation. We don’t eat until almost 8 or 9 o’clock every night which is much later than I’m used to. But I enjoy it all the same.

I help clean up after dinner and enjoy my twice, sometimes thrice daily espresso.

I never understood the delight (delizia) of espressos until drinking them here. It’s not even a thought to have one or not because you’re never in a state where it’s a bad time for one.

All aside I mentioned yesterday that my italian is starting to string along. I’m able to reciprocate in mini-conversations with my aunt which is great for us bonding. I spend a lot of time helping her so it’s nice to have a little chat.

The wonderful (meraviglioso) thing about learning a new language is it forces you to think differently. Creatively. I can’t form all the sentences in the way I would normally do I have to find some interesting ways to construct them. The best way to describe it is viewing the world as a child again. Of course, a child would have a better grasp of the language them me, but some of the phrases that have spewed from my mouth have resulted in pretty poetic pairings.

In addition to the child-like wonderment of learning a new language, I’ve been trying to force myself to think in italian. It isn’t going so bad but it does take up a lot of energy. I think that’s why I’m so tired at times.

I can expect tomorrow to be pretty much the same, but we shall see. No pictures today, unless you want another version of the sunset (tramonto) I take a picture of every night.

Paradiso

Nothing out of the ordinary I’ve come to known for the time being occurred yesterday. I woke up early, 8:30 am, lounged around for a bit. There’s plenty of sunshine to soak in and fresh air to breathe. In the afternoon I helped with the chores (lavoretti) and helped my aunt bake a cake (which I wrote down the recipe). As I was helping my aunt prepare the cake I watched my uncle go into the barn empty-handed, and come back out with a less than alive chicken, he then proceeded to pluck the feathers in the backyard. All the cats and kittens were crying like crazy at his feet for a piece. He gave them the innards.

We had the cake after dinner when a neighbor came over to chat. It’s an apple-lemon cake and i was delicious. Watching my aunt cook is magical. The way she sweeps over the kitchen, nothing boils over, nothing burns, everything is cooked to perfection. She could lave a pot heating up on the stove and go run an errand in the backyard and come back with time to spare before the flame (fiamma) would need to be lowered. She doesn’t need to exactly measure ingredients. Everything comes together so naturally, and the food is delicious. The neighbor and I made plans to go for a walk tomorrow, which will be really nice because I need the exercise from having carbs three meals a day.

I'm completely enchanted by the sunset here.
I’m completely enchanted by the sunset here.

Today was spent similarly. I took my shower in the morning and spent several hours refining my italian. In the afternoon I once again aided with the chores. Their neighbor that lives in the house behind there’s came over and me and her went on a bike ride. We stopped at her house on the way and she gave me a slice of fresh, still warm, oozy-gooey delicious pizza rustica. Mouth-wateringly good.

It was so nice to bike around. The breeze in my hair, getting to look at the mountainside at a slow pace. I also got to practice some of my italian with her. When we got back to the house she made a fishtail braid in my hair and then we all went out to run a couple errands for my aunt. I then spent the next hour outside writing in my notebook and watching the sunset. The scribbles (scarabocchi) in my book you might get to see in the next couple of days if I decide to upload them.

We also looked at the weather forecast (previsione) and this weekend it is supposed to be almost 90 degrees. My cousin informed me on Sunday we are going to the beach. ANDIAMO!

 

A full week!

I left for Italy from America on the States’ Memorial Day Holiday, a full week later and I am still here on an Italian holiday. Today was Festa della Repubblica in Italy. We celebrated by pretty much doing the same thing we did yesterday, so as far as recanting a magical experience in the bucolic countryside, well, none of that today. But as long as your concerned, it feels magical to be up here in the mountains, under the Azzurre sky, and enjoying the company of family and new friends.

I helped with chores, sat in the sun, changed my Facebook and phone language to Italian, and overall had another restful day.

One thing I really love about life here is the informality of it. A lot of Italian food is messy, and you know this if you’ve ever sat down to eat a bowl of spaghetti and slurped the strands of sauce covered yumminess so that half of it ended up on the corners of your mouth instead. No one judges you for using your hands to help grasp a piece of meat. It’s relaxing.

Anyway, that is all for tonight, I’m aiming to wake up at a decent time!

Lunchtime for the kittens
Lunchtime for the kittens
Ho circondato da bellezze!
Ho circondato da bellezze!

 

 

Sunday Snoozeday

I love how in most countries Sunday is the day for ultimate relaxation. Sundays always have a quietness about them, the timid day of the week. And in Italy, a quiet Sunday after a late night Saturday was well received.

Few people who travel get to actually experience it like the locales. Travel guides will always tell you to check out the local spots and visit local places, but that is not the same as returning to a home filled with family. Oftentimes, we romanticized the places we dream about going to. We imagine them as fairytales and as we wander through the storybook streets we miss out on our individual experience.

This trip, thus far, has given me a great insight to the lives my family here live. It’s not always that romanticized version, it’s similar to my life at home, the house chores and errands. And that’s what mostly this Sunday was about.

I woke up late again since my cousin, his friends and I had a late night. We went bowling, which is something a tourist (especially from America) would never do in Italy. As explained to me, Italians do like to bowl, especially in the winter when there’s little else to do. I’ve noticed my family spends a lot of time outdoors, which makes perfect sense since it is ridiculously beautiful. The wonderful (meraviglioso) thing about going bowling is that there is no explanation needed and the universal enjoyment precedes the language barrier. After a game, we went upstairs to the arcade. I played foosball which is something I’ve maybe played twice in my life. My skills were pretty bad but I started to get a better grasp at the end of the second match. We moved on to air hockey and to be honest I am quite dope at it. I can handle an air hockey table like no one’s business.

My cousin and his friends played a few other arcade games, from a sorry attempt of a DDR-like game and also a shooting game. I noticed all the arcade games were in English. Take note Italian companies, create Italian-language arcade games could be an untapped market!!

We left the arcade/bowling alley and headed back to Sora which has quite an abundant nightlife for young people. We grabbed a table in a piazza, ordered beers, and people-watched. There was a lot of people-watching to do because there were, of course, a lot of people. If there’s any generalization I can make accurately about Italians it is that they are born with two things: natural impeccable fashion sense and a built-in GPS for traversing the multitude of narrow windy roads.

Our drive last night was lovely. It was a bit foggy (nebbioso) and the clouds masked the mountains, but you could still see the little villages (borghi) lights. They looked as if they were floating in the night sky. A little piece of heaven.

We got back to the house just after 2 in the morning and even though I tried to wake up early, I couldn’t.

Sunday was spent meandering around the house, helping with laundry and other small chores, and plenty of time playing with the kittens. I also Skyped with my dad to wish him a happy birthday. My aunt and uncle took me to visit some other family, their house was even higher on the mountain. I regret not taking a picture but I’ll probably be back there in the next few weeks anyways.

Two things about this Sunday: No church and we had 3 meals. Now, personally I’m not very religious and consider myself more spiritual, but I know religion is big in the family so I was surprised when we didn’t put on our Sunday best and be on our merry way. And also, I ate 3 meals today, which every Sunday of my life I’ve had 2 because “that’s what we Italians do.” Well, perhaps no. I had breakfast; cereal, yogurt, and of course an espresso. Lunch was fettucini with mushrooms (i fungi) and meat, and for dinner we ordered pizza.

I want to wrap this post up because it’s getting too long, but I did want to make a quick mention of a conversation I had at lunch. Now, at every meal it is insisted that I just keep piling food on my plate, so today when I tried and failed to communicate that I was full and I didn’t want to gain weight, my aunt told me not to worry. She told me no one is going to judge you if you gain weight. That was nice. Hand me over those seconds (and thirds!).

 

Italians have welcomed the sport with open arms. My cousins tell me they bowl often in the winter when it's cold and there's nothing else to do, sounds familiar.
Italians have welcomed the sport with open arms. My cousins tell me they bowl often in the winter when it’s cold and there’s nothing else to do, sounds familiar.
Woo second place!
Woo second place! And clearly the girls got this down.

The Crazy Day.

Yesterday (Friday 5/30) I was supposed to start my WWOOF. And you even got a sneak peak of my experience there with my last post, which is now completely irrelevant. And here’s the story (il racconto) of what happened soon after I wrote that and why I’m not at that farm anymore.

After my cousin left my host showed me my room and then we went to eat lunch. We chatted a bit about who we were and she ate quickly and then apologized. She’s an older lady and explained she needed to take a nap because she wasn’t feeling well and that she would be back in two hours. Before going to take a nap (fare a pisolino), she helped me set up my room and gave me the device to connect my laptop to the internet (which I was told only to use briefly).

I checked in with my family and told my mom how nervous I was to be here, because it felt strange. The lady was the only one at the farm. I had expected more people to be there and working, but there was absolutely no one. I couldn’t imagine this elderly lady doing all the work.

I explored the place a little bit, not straying too far in case she woke up early and needed me. I took  a few pictures, played with the cats, and sat down in the shade to attempt some creative writing.

Three hours pass by and I felt something really wrong was happening. My host woke up and the first thing she says to me is that she needs to go to the hospital and that I need to leave. So we call my cousin and make plans for him to pick me up at a train station in Rome. I felt so bad for this, but what was I to do? My host explains she has a heart condition and she asked me what I would do if she were to die. It was a bit surreal. She brought me to the train station in town, bought me a ticket, and explained when my train would come and when it would arrive in Rome and where I would meet back up with my cousin. Then she left for the hospital.

A little over two hours I was back in Rome and then we drove the hour back to their house. When I walked in the door, my family could tell I felt bad and they reassured me that I shouldn’t worry about it.

I ate dinner, showered, and checked in again with my family back at home to let them know I was safe and sound.

The host contacted us again to tell us that she was back from the hospital and if I wanted to I could spend a week there. But I’m not so sure, what if she gets sick again?

I woke up pretty late today, and felt bad for it, but sometimes a long sleep is all you ned to feel like yourself again. After my very late breakfast I helped out at my cousins farm with watering vegetables. I collected the eggs from the chickens after lunch, just in time because the clouds rolled in and the sound of tuono heralded a hail storm.

Oh, I forgot to mentioned what we did Thursday night, the night before we trekked to Viterbo and that fiasco. On Thursday night we visited the medieval town of Boville Ernica. We gazed at the overlook as it is one of the highest villages in the area. At first I thought I saw a shooting star, but it’s erratic flight pattern had me guess again. I pipistrelli, bats! Very cool. We walked around a little bit admiring the medieval walls and buildings before returning to Frosinone to drive around the downtown area and sit at a salsa bar and enjoy cocktails and music. I didn’t take any pictures of Boville Ernica because it’s a memory I wanted to preserve in my mind. Taking too many pictures ruins your visual memory, so I have to remember not to be such a shutterbug all the time.

Lago di Posto Febrano, from Thursday.
Lago di Posto Febrano, from Thursday.