Ciao!
Has it just been a week? I feel as though I've been here at least a month. I think that every day at least ten times I admit to myself that something is much more difficult or much more complicated than I expected it to be - but you simply have to keep going until you figure it out. For example, the markets. Shopping for groceries in Italy is a completely different experience from shopping in the states. Fresh meat and cheese and produce is in one market, and then smaller convenience stores have a random assortment of other items - but you may need to go to two or three of these before you find everything you're looking for, and even then you probably didn't find anything you were looking for (and annoyed quite a few shopkeepers in the process). However, the abundance of fresh food and the lack of processed food is a refreshing change for me.
What's challenging for me at the moment is culture shock - something that I truly did not think existed or that I would experience, but I'm willing to admit that it's real now. It's not the culture itself that shocks me; it's my placement in this culture and away from my own world, and the realization that this disconnect will last for another four months. There's just nothing to prepare you for that feeling, and even though it's incredibly freeing, it's also somewhat constricting, because you can't escape this freedom for a moment. The best way to fight it, though, is to get involved - and so I have.
Last weekend, another student and myself took a short bus trip to Siena. While on the bus, we got a firsthand tour of the Tuscan countryside. Even though it's winter, the country was so calm and beautiful. In Siena, we walked around and saw the Siena Duomo (cathedral), the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo, and the outside of the Medicean Fortress. I wanted to go see St. Catherine of Siena's disembodied head (preserved in one of the churches, if you'll believe that), but we ran out of time. Siena was smaller and quieter than Florence, with lots of very lovely shops and families and children milling all about. There was a park with a carnival going on in it, and a lot the children were ice skating there. Siena felt a bit homier and less urban than Florence to me, which was a nice change of pace.
Sunday I had the opportunity to witness one of Florence's signature events - the parade of the Magi as a part of the Epiphany celebration. For those who don't know, according to Catholic tradition January 6 is Epiphany, the celebration of three kings or Magi presenting gifts to the child Jesus. This celebration took place all over Florence last weekend. When we got to the Duomo, a children's choir lined the front steps and were singing Christmas songs (in Italian, of course). Then we lined the streets for the parade, which included over 600 people marching in full historic costumes. I'm still doing research on the significance of the costumes - I'm not sure if they represented region or era or what exactly, but it was other-worldly to see them marching through the streets. There were also drum players, brass players, famous flag-throwers, and even a few random camels.
Cavalcata dei Magi
Yesterday, my beginner Italian class had our first cooking session. On Monday evenings, our instructors Irene and Francesca meet us at school for special cooking classes. Class is all in Italian, including the recipes that we're reading from. However, our instructors are probably the sweetest people in the world (they're currently my favorite part of this whole experience), and they helped us make some incredible dishes. On the menu was rose di speck (antipasto or appetizer with a bacon-like meat wrapped in dough), sugo alla carbonara (pasta with eggs, cheese, and bacon), torta salata agli spinaci (a spinach and cheese torte), and for dessert or dolce we had baci di amaretti al mascarpone (the most amazing bite-sized sweets in the world) and torta al cioccolato (thin chocolate cake). My instructor also showed me how to use an espresso press (called a mocha) to make coffee, which was awesome. These instructors are amazing - I love every second that I spend learning from them, both in the classroom AND the kitchen!
Our beautiful baci.
No comments:
Post a Comment