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! 

Museo di Naturale & Acquario di Porto Antico! A Day of Walking and Looking.

Buenosera, ragazzi! 

Sorry in advance that I don't have a lot of pictures to post today; I've spent a lot of the day filming because I plan on putting together a travel log video of my time in Italy before I go home. So I was busy doing that and then my camera died before I could get a lot of pictures. So I'm sorry, but you'll get an awesome video when the program is over! :)

Anyway, today was a fun day! Natasha and I left the apartment around noon and went wandering through the city, looking for footage for her project. After her good camera died, we started to head home, but we got turned around and somehow ended up right in front of the Museo di Naturale, or the Natural History Museum. We decided to go in and take a look, because what the heck, right? 

The museum employees didn't speak a lick of English, but I managed to communicate to them that we were students so we got a discounted rate of only 3 euros to go inside! It was a lot of different kinds of animals that were stuffed, so it was pretty interesting! All of the info plaques were in Italian, but from what I gathered, they talked a lot about evolution and fossilization and all sorts of other really cool things that museums are supposed to talk about. 

 

Here's some footage I got while we were in there (I wasn't sure if we were supposed to have cameras so I was being sneaky)

Oh and inside the museum there was randomly a little space exhibit. So of course we had to take our pictures as astronauts. 

(Natasha took that picture so blame her that I'm really small!)

After we finished at the museum, we wandered in the direction of home and ran into everyone from our class. They were all going to the aquarium so we decided to tag along to that as well. 

The aquarium in Porto Antico is supposedly the largest in Europe. It was a little pricey (20 euros) but it was so worth it! I loved it! They had lots of different kinds of sea creatures and we got to watch them feed some of them! We spent a good 2 hours in there and it was such a cool experience. They even had most of the signs in English as well, so that was helpful. 

After the aquarium, we went to the port's movie theater and we got to meet the director of the local student film festival that happens to start next week. He told us that 120 student films will be having screenings all during the film festival next week, it's free to get in, and there are even some in English! He was a really nice guy. 

After that, we were trying to find a place to eat, but it was only 6 o'clock and it is IMPOSSIBLE to find somewhere to eat that early. Italians don't eat dinner until 8 or later. All the cafes and ristorantes were closed, but after we did some wandering we finally found a cafe that was serving apperitivi. Apperitivi (I probably butchered that spelling) is really common here in Italy, and a lot of the time it replaces dinner. Basically you go to a restaurant or cafe and you order drinks. (Alcohol is big here. HUGE. But you can order non-alcoholic drinks for this as well). With your drink, you get a whole buffet of little appetizer items that come in courses. For example, tonight with our drinks, first we got peanuts and olives and some weird flavor of doritos. Then he came out with carrots and dipping sauce. And then we got this little platter of a bunch of different kinds of sandwiches. There were mini tuna sandwiches, ham sandwiches, focacchia (bread with cheese), and even little ham quesadillas! And the drink I ordered was this weird blueberry banana fruit drink that was DELICIOUS. The whole thing was delicious!! 

Anyway, that was my adventurous day today. Again, I'm sorry I don't have more pictures to illustrate this. If my camera hadn't died, I would've been all over it. Ah, well, maybe next time! 

Thanks to everyone who is still actually reading this. It's nice to know that people care that I'm gone and are interested in what I'm doing over here. Let me tell you, if you ever get the chance to study abroad, DO IT! It's so hard but it's so worth it in the end. 

Love and miss you all! 

Mwah! 

Ciao!

A Day At The Beach, Karaoke, And More!

Hey everyone!

So I have lots of stories from today to tell you about. Today was our first class "excursion". We went by train to Camogli, a small fishing village about 40 minutes away from Genova.

Our Italian guide, kind of our foster mom while we're here, told us that Camogli is actually short in Italian for "Home of the Wives". Basically, back in the old days, Camogli was a very important fishing town. So all the fishermen would leave for the day and leave their wives at home. The wives build their homes on the coast in a bunch of bright colors so that their husbands would always know which town on the coast was their home. Camogli is famous for its bright buildings on the coast even now. Here's a picture:

Anyway, after we got to Camogli, we caught a ferry to a place called the Pirate's Den. Giulliana told us that the Pirate's Den (it has another name in Italian but I can't remember it, let alone spell it) is a small cove nestled in the Ligurian coast. There aren't any roads that lead to it; you can only get to it by boat. A long time ago, a famous noble family bought the cove. They built tall towers so they could see any enemies approaching and since the sea was the only way to reach the cove, it was really easy to keep the family safe. Before the noble family bought it, pirates used to stash their ships in the cove to hide them. Here's a picture of the cove:

 This is a picture of the cove as we were approaching. You can see the tower to keep an eye out for enemies, and also the castle/monastery that sits on the beach.

This is a picture of the cove itself. The water is crystal blue and completely clear. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. 

We spent most of the day on the beach (which is all pebbles, by the way. No sand.), sunbathing and swimming. Although the water was beautiful, it was SO COLD. It took my breath away when I jumped in the first time. You can kind of see it in the picture above, but we actually did a little cliff jumping while we were there. We saw some Italian kids doing it and thought, "Why not?" So we spent most of the day with a water-proof camera, jumping off the cliff and videoing ourselves and each other. When I get a copy of that video, maybe I'll post it here. :) 

We also got pizza at a small restaurant that looked out over the cove. My first real Italian pizza, and it was delicious! I wish I had a picture to show you but I ate it too fast. 

Here are a few more pictures:

After we were finished at the beach, we caught the ferry back to Camogli and got some gelato before we headed home. Everyone took a siesta (when in Italy, do as the Italians do) and took a nap and relaxed for a while, then we headed out again. We wanted to go to a little cafe that Giulliana knows that plays live music on Wednesday nights, but they were closed. So we wandered around and found a small Turkish restaurant that served kabobs. Although they weren't kabobs like you're thinking. They were actually wraps and they had lamb and beef and french fries and this weird spicy sauce in them. They were pretty good! 

While we were standing outside eating our kabobs, the owner/chef of the restaurant was standing in the doorway, watching us and making sure we were enjoying it. Then these two other guys came up and were mad that we were standing in their way, so they rudely elbowed through us and said something mean in some foreign language (Giulliana said it wasn't Italian.). They tried to get into the Turkish restaurant but the owner/chef wouldn't let them in. An argument ensued and it got REALLY heated. The owner/chef and his coworker ended up forcing the other two guys to leave. Giulliana told us that the owner/chef had told the other guys that we were his customers and it was rude to treat us that way and refused to give them service. We thanked the Turkish restaurant workers before we left. 

To end the night, we ended up at a karaoke bar. I ordered this weird drink called a lolla (non-alcoholic; I checked) with some foreign fruit. It was really strong, but really delicious. We listened to the Italians karaoke, and I have to say, they don't karaoke like they do in the states. Everyone who got up to sing was AMAZING. They all had these beautiful voices. And I have to say, there's something sexy about an Italian man singing. (Sorry Grady!!) Even if the Italian man is in his 40s and balding. Haha! 

Anyway, that was my eventful day today!! Tomorrow is our last official day of class, so from here on out, it's hard work all the way! We have 2 weeks to get our films done and ready to be shown. Ahhh! 

Thanks for reading, everyone! Sorry for the super long post. I just had a lot to say about today. 

Arrividerci! Ciao ciao!

Landmark! First weekend in Genoa

Hi everyone!

I don't really have much to say today, except that we have successfully completed our first full week here in Italy! On one hand, I feel like the time has flown by, but on the other, I feel like I have been here for a year already.

We didn't end up going to Cinque Terre, like I mentioned in my last post. Everyone decided it would be best to hang out locally this weekend, get settled in and really explore the city. I think it was a great idea because I don't think I'm fully adjusted to the time difference yet. I still somehow end up awake until 3:00 in the morning!

We spent the weekend exploring and shopping for souvenirs for our friends and family back home. We live right next to the pier, so it's a really busy area. They have little tents set up every day and they sell all sorts of goodies! In fact, this weekend was some kind of cultural festival, so we've been hearing music from all over the world 24/7. As I'm typing this, I'm listening to someone playing Native American... flutes, I think? They're beautiful. The great thing about being right next to the pier is that we get to hear all the noise! It's also a bad thing though.

Today was mostly a day to catch up on homework for our assignments due this week. I also did a little exploring on my own, on orders from my professor. I ended up wandering through some side streets by myself. It was fun, until some girl and her boyfriend started hassling me for money. I just kept walking and eventually they left me alone. Scary!!

On that subject, there are a LOT of people on the streets trying to sell you stuff. Over by the pier you have to be really careful because there are guys who will come up to you and ask if you want a friendship bracelet, then they tie it on your wrist before you can say no and they won't take it back, refusing until you pay an outrageous price for it. They do the same thing with flowers and a few other things too. I have been followed and one guy tried to physically force it into my hands!! You have to be very firm with them to get them to go away.

Also, funny story for today: Natasha and I went to get gelato at a little shop down the street from our apartment. Obviously everything is in Italian, so I just pointed to a flavor that looked good and asked the lady for one scoop. She put it on a cone for me and started saying something to me in Italian, and of course I couldn't understand her. So I just nodded and she gave me the cone. After we paid for them, I went outside and took a taste of mine. It wasn't even gelato: it was literally frozen nutella! Not nutella-flavored gelato... ACTUAL nutella. What a waste of 3 euros!! I'm pretty sure the lady was trying to warn me. Man, I need to learn some Italian.

Anyway, that's all I have for updates today!

(P.S.... I JUST HEARD THUNDER!!! I have a feeling it's gonna be a good night. Anyone who knows me should know that I LOVE a good thunderstorm. Mmm mm mm!!)

Here are some random pictures from my adventures this weekend:

We walked down the coast to Boccadasse last night and the moon was so beautiful!

This is the only beach within 20 miles that you don't have to pay to swim at. All the beaches are rock, not sand! So weird!!

Me and Natasha! On our walk down the coast.

 Just a beautiful view of the signs on the big pier building.

If I remember correctly, this is a statue of Genoa's patron saint, San Georgio! Either that or it's Christopher Columbus. He was born here, in case you didn't know.

A beautiful lighthouse on the coast.

This picture doesn't do this building justice, but it was an ENORMOUS palace that we passed. I wanted to go inside so badly!

To be honest, I don't know what the heck this thing is. But it's a landmark of the area. I think it's like architectural decoration or something. Either way, it's beautiful! Especially right after the sun sets like in this picture.

Ciao for now!! Arrivederci! :)

Exploring Genoa! Pictures galore.

Ciao ragazzi! 

It's day 4 here in Genoa, Italy, and the first day of my first weekend! We were up until four o'clock this morning (the rest of the girls were out clubbing and I was reading a book because I couldn't sleep - nerd alert), so we all slept in until almost 1 in the afternoon!! 

When I woke up, my roommate Sahar came into our bedroom to tell us that there was a 5.1 magnitude earthquake here this morning!! All I have to say about that is it was a good thing I was sleeping because earthquakes are one of my top two biggest fears (the other being tornadoes). If I had been awake when it happened, I probably would've dropped dead of a heart attack. 

After we got ready for the day, we decided to head out and explore unknown territory. So we set out through Old Genoa and started picking random side streets to follow. We ended up finding a beautiful palace/cathedral and a really gorgeous park along the way. 3 hours of walking!! I think in the past 4 days, I have walked a combined total of something like 15 hours! Sooo much walking!

Anyway, long story short, Natasha and I ended up getting lost trying to find our way back to Portofino, the area we live in. We ended up on the wrong side of the aquarium (the area of town where our Italian guide told us to avoid at all costs). Of course, neither of us speaks italian so we couldn't exactly ask anyone for directions. Eventually I caught a glimpse of something that looked familiar and WHAM! We popped out literally right next door to our apartment building. Haha. We were proud of ourselves for successfully finding our way home! 

I think tomorrow we are going to make a little group trip to Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is a group of colorful villages along the coast of Italy. Nobody owns cars there, from what our Italian advisor told us. You can only get there by foot or by ferry. So I think we're planning on taking a boat along the coast to see all the beautiful villages and maybe do a little hiking. Giulliana said that there is nothing more beautiful in the world than Cinque Terre, so I am really excited! I'll be sure to post lots of pictures when I get home. 

For now, enjoy the pictures I've taken in the past couple days! 

Natasha and I went to the supermarket and bought a bunch of food to eat, including this delicious Italian frozen pizza! A lot different from the frozen pizza back home.

While on our exploration, we found this beautiful park that wound up a huge hill, complete with caves and waterfalls and breathtaking views of the city.

This picture and the next picture are of an Italian public watercloset! Or bathroom, whichever you prefer. Anyway, I was so impressed by it!! Basically you push a green button and the door slides open for you. Then you go inside and the toilet is already running. You have 15 minutes to do your business. Motion-sensored water, soap, and air dry your hands. And then you push another button, the door slides open for you, and you step out. Then the watercloset cleans and sanitizes everything before the next person can go inside. GENIUS!!!

This picture was actually to send to Grady, but I decided to post it anyway because that palace is so beautiful!! 

We saw this guy yesterday. And then today we were walking and he was pretending to be a statue in the middle of the square! We watched him scare the crap out of quite a few passersby. He didn't have those awesome shoes on today though. Haha

Yeah, they sell octopus in the frozen food aisle here. *gag*

A beautiful arc we found in the center of New Genoa. I'm in the picture too! Waaaaaaaay down there at the bottom. See me?

The view from the terrace of our classroom. Simply beautiful!

Here's another picture of that arc we found. I don't know what it's called. But you can see a good chunk of Genoa stretching out into the hills behind it. The picture really doesn't do it justice. 

Thanks to anyone who is actually reading this! Grazie! 

See you all soon! Ciao!

First Week: Planes, Trains and Automobiles. And Jetlag.

Buongiorno!

Well, we finally made it to Italy. It is now just the end of day 2. And I gotta tell you.... I'm just exhausted.

It has been a blur of activity since we got here. I can honestly say that I underestimated how scary it is to be in a foreign country and not be able to speak or understand the language. As a matter of fact, just today Natasha and I went to the grocery store and bought a bunch of stuff since our bags are still lost. And we spent forever in line and we finally got to the front. I went first and the cashier started going off in italian, angrily gesturing at the bag of apricots I had bought. Finally I understood that he needed me to weigh them. So I ran back to the produce section and had to enlist the help of an impatient man and his son using hand gestures to help me with the measuring machine. I held up the entire line for a good ten minutes and I don't think they were happy. I felt bad!!

All in all, though, it's beautiful here!! And although I'm a little homesick, I'm so glad I took the opportunity to come on this trip.

Here are a few pictures of my adventures so far:

The Piazza De Ferrari. It's the center of Old Genoa and our group's main meeting point.

The HUGE calzone we had for lunch. So delicious!!

The awesome key to our apartment!!

On our way to a fancy restaurant for our welcome dinner with our Italian foster mom.

Actually, the restaurant we ate in was housed in a building that was built in yhe 15th century! It was gorgeous. Giuliana (our italian foster mom) told us a story about how they found the building and restored it. There is a room called the anniversary room. It's built over a 15th century well and the floor is glass. The room is actually in a little cave and all that fits is a little 2 person table, lit by candlelight. It is simply gorgous!! I wanted to get a picture of it, but it was occupado. :(

Anyway, it's one in the morning here so I'd better get some sleep.

Talk to you guys soon! Ciao ciao!

Things I Have Learned From 4 Days At The Airport

This is day 4.

Four days spent at airports.  Here are a few things I have learned:

1. Pack 3 pairs of clothes in your carry-on. And for heaven's sake.... PACK EXTRA UNDERWEAR.

2. Just because a hotel is cheap on expedia does not mean you should book it when you are stranded overnight. (Below is a picture of the window in our seattle motel room.  Broken and duct-taped back together.)

3. Every airport should have free wifi. GOOD free wifi.

4. Airport food is overpriced and it makes you sick after a while.

5. Delta customer service people can be VERY rude. Especially when you have gone to see them 8 times.

6. Of course your bags will get lost as you bounce from airport to airport. Don't count on them to follow you.

7. Bring a pillow. You will need it.

8. It's okay; snore away on the floor in the corner of the airport. Nobody will spare you a second glance.

9. Nothing is more exhausting than sitting in an airport all day doing absolutely nothing.

10. Hydrate. Even if you think the water tastes gross. Or you will regret it later.




The good news is, there's a pretty good chance we will get out on a flight to Milan this afternoon! After that it's only a short 90 minute train ride to Genoa. The bad news? Our bags are in Amsterdam.

Wish us luck!

The Truth About Flying Standby

...... IT SUCKS.

As I type this, I should be getting ready to get on a plane to Rome. In reality, however, Natasha and I are sitting in the Detroit airport, contemplating the fact that we will NOT make it to Italy (or even anywhere in Europe) today. In fact, we may not even make it tomorrow.

Flying standby is extremely cheap, but sometimes the other costs are pretty high. Like high stress levels, hopping airports all over the US, and maybe being days late for your trip, all because the flights fill up at the last minute.

That's what happened to us today. We thought if we didn't make it to Rome, we would still have two chances to get to Amsterdam and one chance to get to Paris. Then at least we could buy a "cheap" ticket to Italy.

Instead, every single flight over-booked and it has had a snowball effect.

So Natasha and I will most likely be spending the night in the Detroit airport tonight and flying to Boston tomorrow morning to try it all again. If we don't make it out tomorrow, we'll be late for the program.

Saw this one coming!

Flying standby is tricky, people.

Just a warning for those who want to get a buddy  pass!

Adventures await!

Hellos, Goodbyes, and Pre-departure Preparations!

Buon giorno, everyone! 

As is obvious by this blog's existence, I'm going to Italy to study abroad for a month this summer. Starting in 3 days, actually. So soon! 

Since everyone and their dog blogs about their study abroad experience, I figured I should hop on the bandwagon as well. Besides, it's a cool way for everyone to keep in touch with me and my goings on while in Italy without me having to email the same story a million times to a million different people.

Anyway, like I said, I leave in 3 days, and I feel like I'm more stressed than excited. There's so much to do before I leave! I have the majority of everything packed. 

Here's a picture of my bag as it was half-packed. :)

I used a tip from Grady's mom and used vacuum-seal bags to pack my clothes. I fit like 10 million times more stuff than I would have otherwise. I was actually really impressed! Although my friend pointed out that because I wasn't necessarily careful putting all my clothes into the bags, they are probably going to be REALLY wrinkled by the time I get to Italy. Eh, whatever.

I have so much to do before I go. Tomorrow is my last day of work, then I'm going to get a final mani/pedi with a friend tomorrow night. The calm before the storm.

Thursday, the day before I leave, is going to be the craziest. Let me just tell you my whole schedule: a farewell breakfast in the morning, run home to finish packing/clean my room, drive to Bountiful to visit family visiting from out of state, drive to Stansbury to visit/say goodbye to Grady's family, drive to Tooele to visit/say goodbye to my family, drive to Sandy to go to the midnight premiere of Man of Steel, drive back to Tooele, sleep for a few hours, and then leave for the airport at 6:00 Friday morning so we can catch our flight at 9:00. 

It is going to be a crazy couple days!! We are flying standby, so there's a good chance we will end up bouncing all over Europe before we actually make it to our final destination. We have a reservation at a hotel in Rome Saturday night, and then we have to get up early Sunday morning and catch a 4-hour train to Genoa so we can meet the rest of our group. 

 I've been having nervous nightmares for the past few days, imagining everything that could possibly go wrong. Fingers crossed that everything somehow goes smoothly. 

Arrivederci! Talk to you soon!