Film Screening, Adventure Back To The States, and Final Thoughts

Ah, my last post!!

Right now I'm sitting in the JFK airport in New York, waiting for my final flight back to good ole Utah. I can honestly say that the past 24 hours have been a blur!

So let's start with yesterday. It was my last day in Genova, and it was spent in a flurry of final editing/rendering. I was feeling pretty proud of myself because I was the only person in the whole group who finished her project when we were supposed to finish it. Everyone else was literally panicking until the very last second.

Anyway, while everyone else was freaking out, I leisurely finished everything up and finished packing my bags. Then I hung out at our professor's apartment, where everyone was frantically editing, for a little bit. We went and got lunch (BBQ chicken - yeah!) and then I went back to our apartment. I was up until 3 am the night before because Gabriella, one of the girls in our group, wanted me to be the narrator for her film. So we were up until 3am the night before, recording sound. That was a fun/stressful experience! I wanted so badly to get the lines exactly how she wanted them, but it was really hard. I think it turned out really nice though! I don't normally like my voice, but it sounded pretty cool.

Aaaaaanyway. I went to the store and bought a bunch of chocolate to bring home for people, and then I took a little nap until it was time to leave for the screening.

I don't know if I mentioned this before, so I'll just recap: over the course of the past 5 weeks, everyone in the group has made a lot of friends in Italy and made a lot of connections. We were also in the paper for the entire region of Liguria, which is a HUGE area. AND on top of all that, our program director Giuliana did an interview with the biggest news station in Liguria.

Our little group has gotten quite a bit of media attention, so the screening was a really big deal. Giuliana rented a theater in the oldest cinema in Genova. We opened the event up to the public, mentioning it to all of our friends, and in the newspaper, and on the local news. We sent out invites to everyone we had met in Italy.

So all of us got all dressed up (pictures to come - check Facebook!!) and headed over to the theater. That was stressful in itself because we were running super late because our professor was trying to finish up the videos so they would be ready to be shown on the big screen. We all jumped into taxis and headed over to the theater.

I honestly hadn't thought much about the screening because I had been so focused on just getting my project done. But guys, I walked into that theater and watched it fill up until there were no empty seats left. We had a completely full house! All these people came to the theater specifically to watch our films. I cannot even tell you how nervous I was! All the filmmakers sat in the front row and I just wanted to sink into the ground.

Andrea, the director of the Genova Film Commission (a REALLY big contact that we made this trip) did a little introduction, and then Giuliana talked a little bit. And then the lights dimmed, and WHAM! The films started.
This was it; the culmination of 5 weeks of work, 5 weeks of filming, editing, crying, exploring, pondering, and imagining. It was probably one of the coolest experiences of my life so far to see my film on the big screen. I think we all got a little emotional about it, actually.

When all the films were over, they brought each one of us to the front of the theater and our professor introduced us and our films to the audience, who applauded us like we had just won a grammy. I think they were honestly excited about our little amateur films; this wasn't courtesy clapping.

We did a Q&A for each of our films and then, after a few more thank-yous and speeches, it was over.

SOO many people came up to congratulate us and take pictures with us. People we had met along the way, and even people who we didn't know, but who had heard about us and wanted to come see what we were all about. Everyone had come out to support us. I felt like a total celebrity. We took so many pictures that we might as well have been on the red carpet. It was so crazy!

After the screening, we all walked over to this beautiful garden restaurant. We ate on the patio, under the shade of some beautiful umbrellas and to wonderful live Italian music. It was magical!

Unfortunately, for me it ended too soon. I only got to be there for the appetizers and the salad, and then I had to catch a taxi to the train station. I didn't think I would, but I actually found myself getting really emotional when I was saying goodbye to everyone. Of course I didn't show it, but I actually will miss everyone that I've spent the last 5 weeks with. The sad part is that it wasn't until my last night there that I FINALLY felt like I was starting to mesh with everyone and finally growing closer to everyone.

Giuliana walked me to the taxi and said her goodbyes. I can honestly say that she has been my favorite person in the past 5 weeks. It's really rare to find someone as genuinely beautiful and kind as Giuliana is. I will never forget what she did for me on this trip!

Anyway, I hopped into the taxi and away I went, off to the train station! I caught the train to Milan, and then I had to catch a taxi from the train station to a hotel. Spending a night by myself in a foreign hotel in a foreign country and navigating the public transportation system (at 11 o'clock at night, no less!) without freaking out was what really proved to me that I've grown a lot in the past 5 weeks.

This morning, I walked back to the train station bright and early, at 6 am! When I got to the train station, I found out that I had missed my train by like 5 minutes. So I bought a ticket for the next one, but then realized that the train left from a different Milan train station. So I would have to ride a regional train. After wandering around the train station (which is quite large!) for 45 minutes without finding what I was looking for, I finally gave up and bought a ticket for a bus that goes directly to Malpensa, the Milan airport. I was freaking out because I didn't think I would have enough time to make it through security and catch my flight!

Someone was looking out for me, though, because I managed to get through customs and security in less than 20 minutes (a miracle in itself) and catch my flight. I even got business class! :)

And now, here I am, less than an hour away from my flight back to Utah.

While I'm really happy to be back in the United States and ready to see my friends and family, I know that I'm going to have a little bit of homesickness for Italy. To anyone who talked to me in the past 5 weeks, they know I had a hard time because I missed home a lot. But looking back on it now, the good far outweighed the bad.

In the past 5 weeks, I've had experiences that I may never be able to have again, and I know that I've changed for the better because of it. Italy changed my life.

If any of you are still reading this and you get the chance to study abroad, please do it. It's one of the hardest and most rewarding things you'll do in your life.

Thanks for reading, everyone. I hope you enjoyed my journey as much as I did! :)


(I don't have any pictures to post right now because I'm in an airport... but check Facebook. Pictures will be posted soon!! )

3 Days Left: The Newspaper, The Screening, and Lots of Frantic Editing

Hi everyone!

Yep, I have three days left before I'll be heading back to the good ole U.S. of A! It is still so unreal to me.

Yesterday I went over to our program director/Italian foster mom Giuliana's house to interview her for my project. She kindly let me eat breakfast with her family and when we were done with the interview, we started talking about the study abroad experience. She told me that she has done this program for 5 years now (and other similar programs before that) and she has seen countless different kinds of students that come through the program. She's seen students who are flamboyant and greet Italy with open arms, flirting with the locals and spending every night out with new friends. And she's seen students who never say a word to anyone the whole trip. She told me that even though all the students have been different, she doesn't worry as much about their outward appearances during the trip; she only cares about how they internalize Italy and the study abroad experience. One girl from this Sienna trip (the foreign language trip that goes right before ours) never spoke to anyone the whole time they were there, but she's been emailing Giuliana and telling her about all the ways that Italy has changed her life, and how she has taken a piece of Italy home with her.

I'll admit I'm probably more similar to the latter student than the former. I'm not exactly an outgoing person myself. And although I've struggled with quite a bit of homesickness on this trip, after talking with Giuliana, I feel a lot more proud of what I've done here. And I can honestly say that I will be taking a piece of Italy home with me too, whether it's in the fact that I will take the time to sit down and enjoy my meals more, or I'll have a greater appreciation for public transit, or even if I attempt to make a really good panini at home, I will carry a part of Italy with me for the rest of my life.

Anyway, on a side note, our little Italy group made the newspaper!! It's called the Secolo, and it's one of the top three largest newspapers in the world. Our story got a whole PAGE for our feature article! :) Obviously I can't read it because it's in Italian, but Giuliana says it's a huge accomplishment and we should all be really proud of it.

In other news, the Italy screening for our projects is on Thursday. THREE DAYS AWAY. So close!! Giuliana rented a space at the oldest theater in Genova, which is going to be really really cool. She's also inviting every Italian we have ever met in the past month (including all the new friends everyone has made while bar hopping and such) to the event, so it's going to be HUGE. We're supposed to dress up and everything. We will view all of the movies and then there will be time for Q&A afterwards. And then, after all of that, we are going out to a really fancy dinner at the pier. It's gonna be magical!

Well, except for the fact that I'll have to leave dinner pretty early. My flight leaves at 9:30 Friday morning, but of course with my luck there's no train that leaves Genova early enough to get me to Milan in time to catch a flight. So I'll have to catch a train to Milan on Thursday night, get there around 11 pm, and then find my way to a hotel for the night. I have a feeling it's gonna be CRAZY. Just like my trip here. So I guess it will all come full circle.

Anyway, that's all the updates for now! Currently I'm in a deep haze of editing editing editing (I swear my eyesight is getting worse from squinting at my laptop screen all day). I think my project is coming together quite nicely. I'm excited to get it done and COME HOME!!

I'll miss Italy, but I'm so excited to get back and see all my family and friends that I've missed so much during the past 5 weeks. It's gonna be awesome!!

3 days left. BRING IT ON!

The Day I Conquered The Italian Mountain

..... Or, I guess a more accurate thing to say is that the Italian mountain conquered me. 

Let me start from the beginning. We have a week left in the program. A week from today, we will be doing our farewell dinner, screening our projects, and I will be catching a train to Milan so I can come home next Friday morning! 

With only a week left, it's kind of crunch time as far as our projects are concerned. And mine isn't in very good shape right now. So this morning, while everyone else was gone, I got up and got ready to head out on my own to do some filming. 

I wasn't really thinking about where I wanted to go, so my feet just picked a direction and off I went. I ended up taking the furniculare, which is basically a little tram that takes you to the very top of the mountain. (Let me clarify: here they call it a mountain. In Utah, we would call it a REALLY big hill.) Besides that, though, the furniculare takes you to the very top and there's a panoramic viewpoint where you can see the entire city laid out below you. It's breathtaking. (Unfortunately, it was kind of a gross smoggy day today, so that kinda sucked). 

I had already been up to the viewpoint once, so I hung around and took some video and pictures, and then decided that since I had paid 1.50 to get up there, I wanted to take some time to look around. Last time we were up there, it was for our class project and we were busy filming, so we didn't get a chance to explore at all. 

I found a little park area and took some awesome pictures (which I will post below - my internet is slow so hopefully they upload correctly). After sitting around at the park, I picked a random road and started walking to see where it went. Since Genova is a REALLY big city and we live right next to the port, there aren't any trees and it's always really noisy. So walking down that mountain road by myself, surrounded by trees and the sound of birds singing above me, was SO relaxing. Living in Genova has convinced me that I'm not a city girl at all. I love the peace and quiet of the countryside and the mountains, and I would much rather live there than a really busy city. 

Anyway, after I went for a ways and didn't see much, I turned around and found a hiking trail that went down the other side of the mountain. I took that for a ways (pictures below), and then got a little scared that some psycho would kidnap me, so I turned back towards civilization. 

When I finally made it back to the furniculare station, I decided I didn't want to take it back down the mountain. Someone had mentioned that we could walk back down to the bottom, so I picked a road that looked like it was heading in the right direction and started walking. That was my first mistake. 

Long story short, I got horribly lost and ended up on the wrong side of the mountain with only a vague idea of which direction I needed to go to get home. It's the furthest I've ever been from the apartment by myself, and as I was wandering little alleyways between apartments and climbing over broken cobblestone paths and jumping down ledges, I honestly wasn't even very nervous. 

It was, however, a VERY long walk back home. And yes, I did walk the whole way. I swear it was like 10 miles. (I don't think I'm exaggerating for effect either). 

My professor told me at the very beginning of the program that I needed to spend some time alone and wander around by myself, and I would see Italy in a totally different way. I don't know if that's true (except for the fact that I saw Italy MILES away from where I should have been), but I did see a different side of myself today. It's nice to know that I can get so utterly and completely lost and not freak out, and be able to find my way home without too much difficulty. In a foreign country where I can't ask anyone for directions. 

Anyway, today was an adventure! I hope these pictures show up below so you can see what I mean. 

(Oh, and the random picture of the kids in the rappelling gear? Yeah, a freakin' summer camp that's like an obstacle course through the tops of the trees. COOLEST THING EVER. Why was I so deprived in my childhood? Haha)

An Adventurous Weekend: Cinque Terre!

Buenosera, everyone! 

So this past weekend has been a really good one! Brady (a friend of mine from ballroom) came down to visit from Prague, where is he currently doing his own study abroad. He came in on Friday night and we took him out for true Italian pizza at this little pizzeria we found in an alleyway that no tourists (that we know of) have heard about. It's a little establishment with a HUGE pizza menu, and the owner of the shop is there every day, making his pizzas from scratch with fresh ingredients right in front of you. We got pesto pizzas (fresh pesto is a local specialty here, and sinfully delicious) and chowed down. 

On Saturday morning, we got up early to catch a 10 a.m. train to the Cinque Terre area. For those of you that don't know, "Cinque Terre" translates to something like "Five Cities". And, true to its name, it is an area in which 5 little cities are nestled into little inlets and coves along the Ligurian coast. (From what I understand, pirates used to stash their ships in these coves.) The whole area has become a national park, and it is now protected by UNESCO as a world heritage site. 

We bought a ticket for the ferry that travels along the coast and visits 4 of the 5 cities. I don't think I'll ever forget the moment when we caught sight of the first town along the coast. It was beautiful. The Ligurian coast is green, and a lot of it is actually sheer cliff. But then there were a hint of a few brightly colored buildings. As we got closer, we entered an inlet and all of a sudden there was a bustling little town climbing the mountainside. It's like it appeared out of nowhere. The buildings are bright and beautiful colors, and there were even some old bunkers from World War II nestled into the cliffside and some old medieval turrets from ancient castles. It was definitely a sight I'll never forget! 

We spent the day wandering through the towns, going in all the little tourist shops and wandering down narrow, winding alleyways to see where they led. When we finished at one town, we would wait for the ferry and travel to another. As you can imagine, all of them were crawling with tourists. And while it was kind of crazy, it was also comforting to hear people speaking English around me again. Ha! 

There was one notable moment during the whole trip, and that was at the last town we visited, Riomagiorre. It was the most peaceful of all the towns we visited. Its main street was quiet, and most of the town climbed up a really steep mountain, meaning lots of stairs and really steep paths. We were standing on Via Dell'Amore. It's this beautiful pathway that has been carved out of the rock above the town. After quite an exhausting climb, you're rewarded by the most breathtaking view of all the multi-colored rooftops and, beyond that, a stretching glimpse of the coastline on either side of you and the expansive ocean that seems to go on forever. Via Dell'Amore (translated to "the road of love" ) travels along the mountain and eventually connects you to another Cinque Terre town. Anyway, it's lined by a small chainlink fence and, much like the famous bridge in Paris (I can't remember the name right now), couples have carved their initials into locks, locked them to the fence, and thrown the key into the ocean. Legend says that in doing so, it will seal your love for eternity. 

Regardless, it is an extremely romantic and peaceful place. There's no sound but the sound of the waves hitting the rocks beneath you and the chirping of birds. As I stood there, looking at the amazing view of the coastline, I couldn't help but feel blessed. It was one of those perfect moments where I was content to stand there and listen to the birds chirping and feel the ocean breeze ruffling my skirt. 

Ah, the writer in me was getting carried away. :) 

Anyway, after that, we caught the ferry and then eventually the train home. After such a long day, we were all sunburned and exhausted, but it was worth every moment. 

To be honest, that was probably my favorite moment of this whole trip so far. Since I've been living in Genoa, which is a thriving port city, sometimes I forget that not all of Italy is bustling and noisy at all hours of the day. If I had the time and money, I would love to spend a week driving through the Italian countryside. 

I wish I had some dazzling pictures to upload for all of you, but unfortunately, the internet here in Italy is rather archaic, and it seems to be getting worse the longer we use it. So I'm unable to upload any pictures for you guys. 

Two weeks left. One weekend left. I'll admit that I've had quite a few moments of homesickness and doubt since I got here 3 weeks ago, but I can honestly say that it has all been worth it. And I hope to make every remaining day count. 

Ciao for now, folks!

Big Opportunities And A Fun Day!

Happy 4^th of July, everyone!

It's still weird to me that such a big holiday in the US is just another day here in Genoa. This is the end of week 3 of the program. As of tomorrow, I have 2 weeks left. I can't believe how fast time has flown by! It still feels like I just got here a few days ago.

At this point, everyone in the program is buckling down and working hard on their projects so we can get them finished and looking good before the screening. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that part. At the end of the program, we are renting out a movie theater and having a private screening of all of our videos. We will get to invite all of the friends we've made here in Italy and everyone will come together to watch our videos. It's really amazing, but also puts a lot of pressure on us to make something that will make everyone proud!

I also have some other big news! Giulliana (our program leader/foster mom) met with the director of the Genoa Film Commission yesterday to tell him about our program. He was so impressed with all the obstacles we went through to get here that he called a friend of his at a newspaper. I can't remember what the newspaper is called, but basically it covers the whole region of Liguria (which is the part of Italy we are in) and it's one of the top 3 newspapers in the WORLD. Anyway, his friend is going to write a full-length feature article on us!! She is coming tomorrow and she is going to interview all of us about our experience and take pictures. This is HUGE. Our names will be in the article and Giulliana says it's a great thing to put in our portfolios and resumes for later. It's such an amazing opportunity. I still can't believe it!!

The director of the Genoa Film Commission also invited all of us over to his house for apperitivi (drinks and appetizers) next week. Again, this is HUGE! It's not every day you get to talk with someone so powerful in the film industry.

In other news, yesterday was a fun day! We got up kind of early and Natasha, Alex and I packed up all the equipment and went over to a little shop in a side alley to interview a guy named Daniel for Natasha's movie. He's an old friend of Giulliana's and he owns one of the oldest shops in Genoa. The interview was actually a disaster. Our sound equipment ran out of batteries, and then our camera ran out of battery. Daniel was so patient with us, even though he was laughing at us. Haha!

After that, we went back to the apartment for a small siesta (afternoon break). Then we all went over to the Museum of the Sea. We got a 4 euro discount to get in so we thought it was worth taking a look. And let me tell you, it was SO COOL. It was this huge building with 5 floors, and it was basically all about the history of ships in Genoa. It had 2 full-scale replicas of ships built in the early days of the port. We got to walk through them. And it had a ton of artifacts from the early forms of navigation and equipment and all sorts of things. I'm such a nerd, but I LOVED it. Unfortunately, though, only about 1/3 of the signs were in English, so I couldn't read a lot of the history of all the items. But still, it was really cool to look at everything. They even have books that were printed as far back as 1602! I mean, can you imagine how much history those books have seen?

Probably my favorite part of the whole museum was the Immigration Exhibit. It was so awesome! When you walk up, they give you immigration papers and a passport. Then you walk into the exhibit and you go through an orientation video (all in Italian, of course), and stand in line to board the ship to your new home! The ship was built just like they would've been in the past and you got to walk through the dorms for men and women, the dining hall, the hospital, the jail. It was so interesting to read about life aboard the ship. Then you got to go to the office and scan your passport and it told you who you were. For example, Natasha was an 18 year old boy. Then it gives you your bio, but it was all in Italian so we couldn't understand it. Anyway, we got to explore the whole ship. Then, when you get to the end of the ship, you get to your new home. A lot of immigrants moved to... shoot, I can't remember. I think it's somewhere like Brazil? Anyway, they built their homes in the jungle. So we got to walk through a little cabin in the jungle, and when we walked around the back of the house, of course a big cat (I honestly don't remember what it was, but I think it was a Cheetah or Leopard) was chillin on a branch right in the back of the cabin. Haha. Seriously, though, wild animals were a danger to people living in the jungle like that.

Anyway, the whole exhibit was really cool! Scattered throughout, they had lots of hands-on stuff to do and even letters from immigrants that left their spouses, parents, families, etc, for us to read. It is amazing what people went through to start their lives over somewhere new.

After the museum, we went and had dinner at a restaurant called Wild Wild West. It was, of course, cowboy themed. It was very American. Haha. We all got burgers. And, actually, I couldn't even eat mine because it was soooo greasy. Is this what it's gonna be like when I come home? All of the food here is so fresh. There aren't any weird chemicals in it. No wonder the US is having so many health problems. I'm gonna starve when I come home!

And then, after we ate dinner, we went to the movie theater for the Genoa Film Festival. They had some screenings for some short films, so we went to watch. All of the movies were less than 10 minutes long. Most of them were in Italian, so we had to guess what was going on, but a couple of them actually had subtitles, so that was nice. It was really cool to sit in the theater with a lot of other students and watch their work. I actually learned a lot. :)

Well, that's pretty much been my life lately. I only have 2 weeks left, so I'm trying to live it up and enjoy it!! Tomorrow, my friend Brady is coming to visit from Prague (he's studying abroad there right now) for the weekend. So Natasha and I are planning all sorts of fun things to do while he's here! Cinque Terre is number 1 on our list right now. It should be a fun weekend!

I hope all of you back home have an awesome 4^th of July weekend and that everyone stays safe! I'm glad I'll be home by the 24^th so I can join in on the festivities! ;)

Talk to you all soon! Ciao!  

Copy of my immigration papers and passport! ;)

This is a book published in 1602. Sooo cool!

Commander and Servant aboard a 16th century ship. Haha

Replica of a 16th century slave ship!