Ciao!
So get this--last weekend I went to Venice. In other words, dreams of frolicking the narrow cobblestone alleys near Marco Polo's Villa and gazing up at "The Bridge of Sighs" while afloat in a gondola (equipped with a gorgeous singing Italian Stallion, might I add) became a reality. I even saw ‘Casanova's Casa’ (house), 23 bedrooms and all. Even better yet, “Il Carnevale”, a huge Venetian Festival resembling the American tradition of Mardis Gras, is taking place at this time of year.
While I forgot my velvet Venetian costume at home by mistake, I did partake in some of the traditional ornamental activities, getting my face painted and keeping some paper confetti handy at all times.
Naturally, the weekend flew by in a blaze of great food, many laughs, extraordinary sights and (duh) vino. I dare to say that the hangover of this weekend still lingers graciously, evident in the remnants of confetti and glitter still adorning my boots and scalp.
Cliché, but true, it wouldn't be an excursion to Venice without some romance. My love affair with Italy, my new favorite "paese" (country), crowned the trip. I kept it on my arm the entire time.
This weekend I am off to Verona, land of Romeo and Juliet. Look for updates soon!
-K
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
veramente, un buon compleanno
Tanti Auguri a Me!
Well, the day finally came. I have twenty one years under my belt. I made it out of the danger zone with a clean slate, hurrrrrrayy! The celebration for the big day couldn't have been more perfect for me, as it was euro-style.
At school, my newfound friends and classmates sang to me and treated me to a mid-morning dolce. Naturally, when local shop-owning Italians discovered that it was the "americana's" big 2-1, champagne was on the house. This trend seemed to last all day, ending with my house-mother's extra sweet, homemade chocolate cake and, yet another bottle.
Italians laughed at the idea of not being legally allowed to consume alcohol before twenty one years in age. One man even asked me why we were allowed to kill another in war by law, yet not enjoy a warm shot of grappa. Maybe it was because I am still shaky in my language skills, or maybe it was the excessive vino/champagne, but I was speechless. Another man joked, "We start drinking vino at 10 years, liqueur at 15 and we stop drinking at 27!"
Questo "punto di vista" (point of view) regarding alcohol saturates Italian culture. Perhaps this is inevitable as vino is a leading export for the country's survival, but people approach drinking quite differently. Drinking to get "smashed" happens here, of course, but it is a rare animal. Furthermore, it is legal to drink on the street, as my parents will verify after our New Year's Eve experience. I have also discovered a phrase reflecting this relationship: "Lo ha bevuto?" (did he/she drink it?) This expression correlates to, "did he/she buy it?" in English when attempting to convince someone of something that may be gray with truth.
That's all for now.
Love your (finally) legal friend,
Kelsey
Well, the day finally came. I have twenty one years under my belt. I made it out of the danger zone with a clean slate, hurrrrrrayy! The celebration for the big day couldn't have been more perfect for me, as it was euro-style.
At school, my newfound friends and classmates sang to me and treated me to a mid-morning dolce. Naturally, when local shop-owning Italians discovered that it was the "americana's" big 2-1, champagne was on the house. This trend seemed to last all day, ending with my house-mother's extra sweet, homemade chocolate cake and, yet another bottle.
Italians laughed at the idea of not being legally allowed to consume alcohol before twenty one years in age. One man even asked me why we were allowed to kill another in war by law, yet not enjoy a warm shot of grappa. Maybe it was because I am still shaky in my language skills, or maybe it was the excessive vino/champagne, but I was speechless. Another man joked, "We start drinking vino at 10 years, liqueur at 15 and we stop drinking at 27!"
Questo "punto di vista" (point of view) regarding alcohol saturates Italian culture. Perhaps this is inevitable as vino is a leading export for the country's survival, but people approach drinking quite differently. Drinking to get "smashed" happens here, of course, but it is a rare animal. Furthermore, it is legal to drink on the street, as my parents will verify after our New Year's Eve experience. I have also discovered a phrase reflecting this relationship: "Lo ha bevuto?" (did he/she drink it?) This expression correlates to, "did he/she buy it?" in English when attempting to convince someone of something that may be gray with truth.
That's all for now.
Love your (finally) legal friend,
Kelsey
Sunday, January 13, 2008
la mia scuola nuova
Ciao!
School started a week ago and being the geek that I am I must say attending "Dante Alighieri" is the highlight of my days. I love my teacher-Marco, he's such a hoot. There is one catch: he teaches only in Italian. Therefore, I must being getting somewhere with this language because I actually understand most of it! Go figure.
My grammar and conversation classes are comprised of the same group of students, about ten all together. They are from Brazil, Venezuela, Switzerland, Canada, Sweden, Japan, Iran and Turkey. I am the minority; this is only my first "second language". My culture lectures are in the afternoon, Monday and Thursday's with a classroom lecture and Fridays are for fieldtrips.During the evenings, I either read or go and grab a bottle of vino with some friends before returning for dinner. Dinner at Dolores' is typically around 9 p.m.
Yesterday, I spent the day trekking in the rain, or should I say the tsunami. Something I really don't understand--the streets here are all very narrow. Yes, this sounds quaint and dear, but this smallness makes the sidewalks even thinner. Should there be any rain, which is frequent, tutti gli italiani bring out their umbrellas. Navigation gets to be an even wetter, messier escapade when passing on these narrow, cobblestone sidewalks with large umbrellas bumping and stabbing everything in sight. There must be some kind of trick that I am missing to handling this task gracefully and with class. ANYWAY, giving up trying to discover this trick, I finally I parked it at a lovely little trattoria and splurged for a 1/2 carafe of vino, rosso--naturalmente, and some "torta" (cake) and wrote in my trusty journal for about two hours. I really have taken a strong liking to this activity.
Stay tuned. There is sun today so I am on a mission to find some boots. There are sales "saldi" all over town! Yeah!
Kels
School started a week ago and being the geek that I am I must say attending "Dante Alighieri" is the highlight of my days. I love my teacher-Marco, he's such a hoot. There is one catch: he teaches only in Italian. Therefore, I must being getting somewhere with this language because I actually understand most of it! Go figure.
My grammar and conversation classes are comprised of the same group of students, about ten all together. They are from Brazil, Venezuela, Switzerland, Canada, Sweden, Japan, Iran and Turkey. I am the minority; this is only my first "second language". My culture lectures are in the afternoon, Monday and Thursday's with a classroom lecture and Fridays are for fieldtrips.During the evenings, I either read or go and grab a bottle of vino with some friends before returning for dinner. Dinner at Dolores' is typically around 9 p.m.
Yesterday, I spent the day trekking in the rain, or should I say the tsunami. Something I really don't understand--the streets here are all very narrow. Yes, this sounds quaint and dear, but this smallness makes the sidewalks even thinner. Should there be any rain, which is frequent, tutti gli italiani bring out their umbrellas. Navigation gets to be an even wetter, messier escapade when passing on these narrow, cobblestone sidewalks with large umbrellas bumping and stabbing everything in sight. There must be some kind of trick that I am missing to handling this task gracefully and with class. ANYWAY, giving up trying to discover this trick, I finally I parked it at a lovely little trattoria and splurged for a 1/2 carafe of vino, rosso--naturalmente, and some "torta" (cake) and wrote in my trusty journal for about two hours. I really have taken a strong liking to this activity.
Stay tuned. There is sun today so I am on a mission to find some boots. There are sales "saldi" all over town! Yeah!
Kels
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
il mio sogno
Please excuse me--This was supposed to be posted a couple of days ago.
Auguri!
Yesterday was the big move-in with my host-madre, and I have got to say, what a day! My parents dropped me off at 1:00, my dad acting “come un Americano pazzo”, (like a crazy American), with the car. My adorable little house mom, talking to me in Italian at the speed of lightning, kept saying “Mamma Mia!” in relation to his driving skills as he tried to figure out a place to park and to all of my luggage. I hate it when my mother is right, but I probably over-packed. How spoiled I am… It’s a good thing I have my own room in her house!
So, my weeping parents left and I faked bravery, lugged my billions of suitcases into my room. I began to get organized. I’m already friends with Dolores’s cat Paulo. (Dolores, my new mom-away-from-home). I felt confident, but exhausted. I decided to take an afternoon nap.
The following passage is my dream. You can decide for yourself if you are bored enough to read it.
In my sogno (dream) I was obviously conscious that I was sleeping in the exact setting of my new room. Suddenly, I was possessed by something and it felt as if the insides of my body were on fire (probably a minor anxiety attack while I was snoozing). Whatever force was possessing me lifted me off the bed and I dropped to the floor. Unable to resist, it drug me over to the wall, where I shattered the mirror and I rose up to the ceiling where I smacked my head. Then, somehow back safely in my bed and unpossessed, I looked to the window and outside were my mom and dad. (Dolore’s house is on the 5th floor of the building so apparently my parents have attended some of Hogwart’s flying lessons behind my back, those selfish jerks). They are holding Maggy and Sophee. I make strong eye contact with Maggy, who is smiling at me with her faithful eyes. I look into the room and I see that it is suddenly flooded with domestic pets. Panicked, I look back to the window at my waving parents and Maggy breaks the glass of the window to enter the room, and they vanish, leaving me all alone. All of the animals begin talking to me in Italian and once Maggy sits next to me on the bed, I suddenly have the power to converse with them, except I speak in English. A gigantic, fat, black cat kindly told me that I was sleeping in his bed and to please move. I told him I’ll never do this again and I courteously apologize. Then, they all begin to hiss in a frenzy and all of them leave except for “fatty black” and Maggy, of course. I hear voices so I fake being asleep again. When I look up, I notice that several students and a huge table have materialized in the room for a formal dinner. I screamed but the people tell me that I shouldn’t bother because they have already muted my voice to the human ear. No one can hear me. I ask them what they are having and they told me--spaghetti with lamb and octopus meatballs. I pull up a chair and begin to dine with them. “Hold the cheese!” I said. “Give it to my dog, Maggy. She is already dead so it won’t upset her stomach.” Maggy turns to me and thanks me, indicating that she has only been dining on cheese and roast beef since dying. (A real difference from her celibacy in the Hooker household). She talks to me in Italian. I ask the party who they are and they inform me that they were all former foreign students in Italy. All of them had, at one point or another, inhabited this room. AND, all of them had died in there.
I woke up shivering, probably because I had left the window open. The mirror on my wall was a tad ajar. Do you think maybe I am a little scared? Probably, but it’s a good feeling. Paulo the cat was shut into the room with me during my nap. I wonder if he is a wizard in disguise. The book I’m currently readying, “The Alchemist”, says that witches and wizards influence dreams.
I start school tomorrow. Wish me luck!
kels
Auguri!
Yesterday was the big move-in with my host-madre, and I have got to say, what a day! My parents dropped me off at 1:00, my dad acting “come un Americano pazzo”, (like a crazy American), with the car. My adorable little house mom, talking to me in Italian at the speed of lightning, kept saying “Mamma Mia!” in relation to his driving skills as he tried to figure out a place to park and to all of my luggage. I hate it when my mother is right, but I probably over-packed. How spoiled I am… It’s a good thing I have my own room in her house!
So, my weeping parents left and I faked bravery, lugged my billions of suitcases into my room. I began to get organized. I’m already friends with Dolores’s cat Paulo. (Dolores, my new mom-away-from-home). I felt confident, but exhausted. I decided to take an afternoon nap.
The following passage is my dream. You can decide for yourself if you are bored enough to read it.
In my sogno (dream) I was obviously conscious that I was sleeping in the exact setting of my new room. Suddenly, I was possessed by something and it felt as if the insides of my body were on fire (probably a minor anxiety attack while I was snoozing). Whatever force was possessing me lifted me off the bed and I dropped to the floor. Unable to resist, it drug me over to the wall, where I shattered the mirror and I rose up to the ceiling where I smacked my head. Then, somehow back safely in my bed and unpossessed, I looked to the window and outside were my mom and dad. (Dolore’s house is on the 5th floor of the building so apparently my parents have attended some of Hogwart’s flying lessons behind my back, those selfish jerks). They are holding Maggy and Sophee. I make strong eye contact with Maggy, who is smiling at me with her faithful eyes. I look into the room and I see that it is suddenly flooded with domestic pets. Panicked, I look back to the window at my waving parents and Maggy breaks the glass of the window to enter the room, and they vanish, leaving me all alone. All of the animals begin talking to me in Italian and once Maggy sits next to me on the bed, I suddenly have the power to converse with them, except I speak in English. A gigantic, fat, black cat kindly told me that I was sleeping in his bed and to please move. I told him I’ll never do this again and I courteously apologize. Then, they all begin to hiss in a frenzy and all of them leave except for “fatty black” and Maggy, of course. I hear voices so I fake being asleep again. When I look up, I notice that several students and a huge table have materialized in the room for a formal dinner. I screamed but the people tell me that I shouldn’t bother because they have already muted my voice to the human ear. No one can hear me. I ask them what they are having and they told me--spaghetti with lamb and octopus meatballs. I pull up a chair and begin to dine with them. “Hold the cheese!” I said. “Give it to my dog, Maggy. She is already dead so it won’t upset her stomach.” Maggy turns to me and thanks me, indicating that she has only been dining on cheese and roast beef since dying. (A real difference from her celibacy in the Hooker household). She talks to me in Italian. I ask the party who they are and they inform me that they were all former foreign students in Italy. All of them had, at one point or another, inhabited this room. AND, all of them had died in there.
I woke up shivering, probably because I had left the window open. The mirror on my wall was a tad ajar. Do you think maybe I am a little scared? Probably, but it’s a good feeling. Paulo the cat was shut into the room with me during my nap. I wonder if he is a wizard in disguise. The book I’m currently readying, “The Alchemist”, says that witches and wizards influence dreams.
I start school tomorrow. Wish me luck!
kels
Sunday, January 6, 2008
a Firenze con la famiglia
Buongiorno!
So Florence with the family has been a delight, duh. We have pretty much trekked down every alley and cobblestone street, at least once--probably ten times. I'm glad to have such a familiarity with the citta' before school even starts!
New Year's Eve was truly charming! We dined along the "Arno River" at la Nanamuta. It was great! I even chimed in with the Italian countdown. What a way to bring in 2008. My resolutions:
1. stop the hair twirling (as always)
2. no more gum chewing (save me money, too!)
3. and become fluent in italian! (I’m already improving ogni giorno)
We saw the Statue of David at l'Academia Galleria. The energy surrounding this magnificent piece so thoroughly studied and globally pondered truly left us gasping for oxygen. We also made some side trips to Siena and San Gimingnano. Quaint towns, indeed. Siena's brick square was so unique and our Capetown-raised tour guide was a treat.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Hooker family vacation without my mom getting sick. But, she is better now. Sorry she had to miss some of the action.
All for now!
Kelsey
So Florence with the family has been a delight, duh. We have pretty much trekked down every alley and cobblestone street, at least once--probably ten times. I'm glad to have such a familiarity with the citta' before school even starts!
New Year's Eve was truly charming! We dined along the "Arno River" at la Nanamuta. It was great! I even chimed in with the Italian countdown. What a way to bring in 2008. My resolutions:
1. stop the hair twirling (as always)
2. no more gum chewing (save me money, too!)
3. and become fluent in italian! (I’m already improving ogni giorno)
We saw the Statue of David at l'Academia Galleria. The energy surrounding this magnificent piece so thoroughly studied and globally pondered truly left us gasping for oxygen. We also made some side trips to Siena and San Gimingnano. Quaint towns, indeed. Siena's brick square was so unique and our Capetown-raised tour guide was a treat.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Hooker family vacation without my mom getting sick. But, she is better now. Sorry she had to miss some of the action.
All for now!
Kelsey
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