So I have been ranting and raving about all of the cool things in Italy in these blog posts; the sights, the food, the people. But I have received some questions about what it is like on a typical day on exchange. Surely every day can't be a great adventure? Well first off, it is. Even the most basic days are filled with new experiences and adventures, however mundane it may seem. Thats one of the great things about studying abroad! I feel like a little kid sometimes. Just getting on the right bus, or discovering a jar of peanut butter at a new grocery store can make my day! It's kind of an exciting way to live life, and I think it will really make me appreciate the simple things in life when I get back to the US. Given the fact that everyday is an adventure, I thought I would give you guys a play by play of what an average day in my life looks like. Here goes nothing..
8:30am: Wake up to the incessant sound of children crying through the very thin walls of my Italian apartment. (Advice: bring earplugs when you study abroad, then you can sleep anywhere) Even though the walls are thin, I have a room all to myself, that is surprisingly large for European standards so that is really nice.
8:50am: Make myself the best semblance of a breakfast I can put together with my limited cooking skills. Italians usually only have a cappuccino and a croissant for breakfast, which is very different from a large American breakfast, so I usually eat cold pasta or a granola bar on the way out the door, and look forward to lunch.
9:00am: Take the shuttle over to campus. One of the problems with living in a large city is that the school campus isn't all connected like it is at USC. If you have ever visited NYU or Northeastern, our campus is more like that. I live about a thirty minute walk from the building where my classes are, but luckily I live only about 10 minutes away from the political science and law campus, and the University offers a free shuttle from building to building. I have been exposed to a lot of Italian music from riding the shuttle!
9:30am-12:00pm: Class. I was warned many times that classes would be very different in Europe than in the US, but I am not sure that I fully heeded those warnings. They are not bad, or any harder, which I was worried about, they are just very different. First off, classes are extremely long. Like two and a half hours long. I have a huge problem paying attention that long, because I get very restless, but usually we get a 15 minute espresso/cigarette break during class, as that's a big part of Italian culture. Also, our classes are not nearly as interactive as classes in the US. Even if there are only 15 people in the class, the whole thing is a lecture. There is a big relationship gap between professors and students, and they are not nearly as conversational or casual as student-professor relationships are in the US. Finally, the last challenge is the language barrier. Even though my classes are in English, both my professors and classmates are Italian, so sometimes understanding what is going on can be really challenging. Overall, I still get to see a completely different perspective on education, and they have not been too difficult, so even though I would rather be traveling, class is not too bad.
12:00-1:30pm: Lunch. One of my favorite parts of the day. After not eating much breakfast and sitting through a long morning lecture, I really look forward to eating again. Our school canteen is really good and for only 2 euro you can have bread, fruit, a drink, pasta, a vegetable, a main course, and sometimes free pudding! We usually are confused about what exactly the foods are, because the lunch ladies do not speak English, but it doesn't really matter because the food never disappoints! You can't get anything for that good of a deal at restaurants around here, so we get really excited about this everyday. Also due to varying class schedules I get to eat lunch with different friends, both international and Italian students, everyday, so there is always good conversation.
2:00-4:00pm: Class #2. One thing that is also interesting about classes is that they have many different levels of credit hours so the length and frequency of my classes varies a lot. There is also no standard time that classes must be every day (i.e.: class begins at 8:05, 9:30, 10:45) but the professors can choose when they would like class to be. This leads to a lot of clashes when trying to schedule classes, but we figured it out pretty quickly. I also have many international friends that take clashing courses and just rotate which class that they have to skip 15 or 30 minutes of each day.
5:00pm: After taking the shuttle back to the law campus, I stop by the grocery on the way home. You can only buy as much as you can carry, so I have to go grocery shopping a lot more frequently than I do in the US, where I can load up my SUV at Publix every two weeks. The grocery stores are also very small, so there is much less variety of products offered. No Walmart superstores here, folks. Reading product labels has been a high challenge, because the label does not always make it clear what a food is, let alone the instructions of how to cook it. I often Google translate a lot before I leave the house/school (where I have wifi) so I can find what I am looking for.
6:00pm: After arriving home, I spend some time cooking dinner for my roommates and we all eat together. Due to the problems described above, most of our meals are just variations of pasta and sauce, but about once a week we try and make something a little more creative! Like chicken. Exciting, I know. The food isn't quite as good as the cafeteria, but I can always eat some Nutella or gelato for dessert which makes everything better.
7:00pm-8:00pm: I usually spend at least an hour a night Skyping with someone. My parents, my sister, my roommates, my friends. The 6 hour time difference makes this really tricky, because when it is nighttime for me, it is the middle of the afternoon back home. My parents have to come home from work early, and I have to stay up late often to find time that works. The good thing about college is that my friends have more flexible schedules so they can talk to me in the middle of the day!
9:00pm-???: My nighttime routine varies a little bit. Sometimes I have to study for class, sometimes I am planning my next trip, sometimes we go out and have dinner and meet up with friends, it just depends on the night!
It may not seem exciting to read through, but study abroad isn't all about visiting museums and partying around the world. Most of my days are spent more like the one described above, but with that comes many different challenges. Thinking about all the systems I have to figure out, all of the people I interact with everyday that don't speak English, it's a lot more overwhelming than you may imagine! The good news is it gets easier every day and soon these challenges are not challenges any more!
Monday, March 17, 2014
Monday, March 3, 2014
turista.
This week I surpassed my 2 week anniversary of living in Rome! Woohoo! This may not sound like very long, but when you think about the fact that most people vacation in places like Rome for 3-7 days at a maximum, my trip feels like it has been extraordinarily long. In these two short weeks I have been to all the tourist spots: the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum, the Sistine Chapel. I have walked down streets that were built before the birth of Christ, and I have seen the building where democracy was invented. Yeah that's right, democracy. As in the foundation of all modern government. Pretty cool, if you ask me. I have traveled previously to other parts of the world, seen historical sites, gone to art museums, but nothing compares to Rome. Literally every corner of the city is overflowing with incredible art and architecture and the amount of history at every turn is too overwhelming to process. Words are not doing it justice, so I will stop this little diatribe now. In summary: come to Rome, its unlike any other city in the world, and its wonders are ceaseless.
Having been here for two weeks, besides visiting many tourist attractions, I have also learned a lot about what it is like to live in Italy, and more importantly what Italian people are like. Our culture is filed with stereotypes and generalizations about Italy and its people, so I thought that I would take this time to shed some light on some of these things with a little game of "Fact or Crap: Italy Edition." **DISCLAIMER: All stereotypes came from a quick internet search, and are not my personal opinions. However, everything else that follows are entirely my personal commentary**
1. Italians talk with their hands. FACT. Not only do they talk with their hands, but with their entire bodies. This is something I love about the way Italians speak. I may not understand the words coming out of their mouths (update: my Italian vocabulary has now increased to about 13 words), but they are incredibly expressive with their faces and their bodies and body language is universal. (*cue Jesse McCartney song*)
2. Italians are incredibly well-dressed. FACT. I am not an effortlessly chic person. Anyone who knows me knows that this is true. Unfortunately, everyone that lives in Europe happens to be. That is why it is all the more distressing that literally everyone looks great all the time. Even when its cold or raining, Italians rock the sidewalks like its a NYC runway. I just rush home and put on sweatpants as soon as possible. #reasonswhyeveryoneknowsimanamerican
3. All Italians are in the Mafia. CRAP. Movies and television programs like The Godfather and The Sopranos have created a mindset that all Italians have some sort of mobster connections. This is far from the truth, and in fact insulting to all of the incredibly kind, fun-loving, and hospitable people in this country. Sicily is more well-known for seedy behavior than Rome, but as far as illegal activity goes, jaywalking is the biggest crime I've witnessed so far.
4. Italians eat spaghetti every day. FACT (ish.) It may not be spaghetti, but a day has not passed that I have not consumed pasta. Maybe Italians somehow mix up their diet more than I have witnessed, but it is served every single day in the school cafeteria, it is on every single restaurant menu (even Chinese take-out)!, and there are literally multiple aisles of the grocery store dedicated strictly to pasta. This is saying a lot when there are only 8 aisles at the grocery store. Fortunately, there are many different varieties of pasta and every single one of them are delicious, so who cares if I eat it every day?
5. Italians are very romantic. FACT/CRAP I'm not sure if romantic is the right word for it. More like affectionate. Extremely affectionate. If complete strangers kiss you on both cheeks when they meet you, you can imagine what couples in the street (and at school, and restaurants, and on every park bench, etc. etc. etc.) are like. Hopefully no further explanation is needed. My roommates and I have been advised multiple times that the only true way to learn Italian is to get ourselves Italian boyfriends, so I will let you know if we learn anything more about the romance department. Due to the language barrier, I'm guessing that will be a 'no', but ho knows, love is the universal language right?
6. Italians are poor drivers. FACT/CRAP Poor is probably not a very accurate description. In fact most drivers in Italy are probably much more skilled than anyone that I know. They just happen to drive extremely aggressively through the most confusing maze of streets that I have ever seen. Also, everyone, LITERALLY EVERYONE, drives a SmartCar or a Vespa. I have never seen so many tiny vehicles in my life. I have no idea how real humans fit inside them. But these incredibly tiny vehicles lead to people parking in the most incredibly tiny spots ever. I will have to post some pictures because it really is an unbelievable sight. There also seems to be no stoplights. Or street signs. Or turning signals. I'm still currently trying to figure out how everyone knows who gets to go and who doesn't. I may never figure it out. All I know is that I am getting really good at human Frogger. And that I am never getting on the back of a Vespa (all Lizzie McGuire fantasies put aside.)
7. The Pope is everything. FACT/CRAP Vatican City does happen to be located inside Rome. So that makes it a bit hard to ignore. And millions of Catholic believes make their way to Rome as a religious pilgrimage every year. Flags with Pope Francis' face on it and rosary beads are sold on almost every corner. All these things should not be a surprise to anyone. But even though almost every single Italian identifies as being Roman Catholic, very few of them are actually practicing believers who attend church every week. Because I live in a modern society, this should not surprise me, but Catholic culture is extremely ingrained in everyday life (i.e.: pretty much nothing is open on Sundays) that I guess I would expect it to be more important to the average Italian than it seems to be. On another note, even for a completely non-religious person, the Vatican Museums may be the coolest collection of art ever. Add it to your agenda for your next Rome.
8. Italians are not very reliable. FACT/CRAP Again, reliable may not be the best word for it. Reliable has a negative connotation, and implies that this characteristic bears negatively on peoples lives. I think laid-back might be a better way to describe it. Timeliness just isn't very important here. Buses, classes, meetings, nothing starts on time, and no one seems bothered by it. Except me, because efficiency and timeliness is valued extremely highly in the US, so it is against my nature to be unaffected by tardiness. I am trying to embrace the Italian lifestyle a little more, but it still irks me a little bit every time my professor shows up twenty minutes late for class when I got there ten minutes early. I just hope my professors at USC don't get upset when after this semester I roll into class fifteen minutes after it starts because I needed to grab a cappuccino first.
So most of them, I didn't even choose a clear answer. Sue me. Life doesn't have clear answers. All I know is that the longer I live in Europe the more questions I have! This week I have a London trip coming up and will also be celebrating my birthday abroad so there will be a lot to look forward to in the next post! Ciao for now!
Having been here for two weeks, besides visiting many tourist attractions, I have also learned a lot about what it is like to live in Italy, and more importantly what Italian people are like. Our culture is filed with stereotypes and generalizations about Italy and its people, so I thought that I would take this time to shed some light on some of these things with a little game of "Fact or Crap: Italy Edition." **DISCLAIMER: All stereotypes came from a quick internet search, and are not my personal opinions. However, everything else that follows are entirely my personal commentary**
1. Italians talk with their hands. FACT. Not only do they talk with their hands, but with their entire bodies. This is something I love about the way Italians speak. I may not understand the words coming out of their mouths (update: my Italian vocabulary has now increased to about 13 words), but they are incredibly expressive with their faces and their bodies and body language is universal. (*cue Jesse McCartney song*)
2. Italians are incredibly well-dressed. FACT. I am not an effortlessly chic person. Anyone who knows me knows that this is true. Unfortunately, everyone that lives in Europe happens to be. That is why it is all the more distressing that literally everyone looks great all the time. Even when its cold or raining, Italians rock the sidewalks like its a NYC runway. I just rush home and put on sweatpants as soon as possible. #reasonswhyeveryoneknowsimanamerican
3. All Italians are in the Mafia. CRAP. Movies and television programs like The Godfather and The Sopranos have created a mindset that all Italians have some sort of mobster connections. This is far from the truth, and in fact insulting to all of the incredibly kind, fun-loving, and hospitable people in this country. Sicily is more well-known for seedy behavior than Rome, but as far as illegal activity goes, jaywalking is the biggest crime I've witnessed so far.
4. Italians eat spaghetti every day. FACT (ish.) It may not be spaghetti, but a day has not passed that I have not consumed pasta. Maybe Italians somehow mix up their diet more than I have witnessed, but it is served every single day in the school cafeteria, it is on every single restaurant menu (even Chinese take-out)!, and there are literally multiple aisles of the grocery store dedicated strictly to pasta. This is saying a lot when there are only 8 aisles at the grocery store. Fortunately, there are many different varieties of pasta and every single one of them are delicious, so who cares if I eat it every day?
5. Italians are very romantic. FACT/CRAP I'm not sure if romantic is the right word for it. More like affectionate. Extremely affectionate. If complete strangers kiss you on both cheeks when they meet you, you can imagine what couples in the street (and at school, and restaurants, and on every park bench, etc. etc. etc.) are like. Hopefully no further explanation is needed. My roommates and I have been advised multiple times that the only true way to learn Italian is to get ourselves Italian boyfriends, so I will let you know if we learn anything more about the romance department. Due to the language barrier, I'm guessing that will be a 'no', but ho knows, love is the universal language right?
6. Italians are poor drivers. FACT/CRAP Poor is probably not a very accurate description. In fact most drivers in Italy are probably much more skilled than anyone that I know. They just happen to drive extremely aggressively through the most confusing maze of streets that I have ever seen. Also, everyone, LITERALLY EVERYONE, drives a SmartCar or a Vespa. I have never seen so many tiny vehicles in my life. I have no idea how real humans fit inside them. But these incredibly tiny vehicles lead to people parking in the most incredibly tiny spots ever. I will have to post some pictures because it really is an unbelievable sight. There also seems to be no stoplights. Or street signs. Or turning signals. I'm still currently trying to figure out how everyone knows who gets to go and who doesn't. I may never figure it out. All I know is that I am getting really good at human Frogger. And that I am never getting on the back of a Vespa (all Lizzie McGuire fantasies put aside.)
7. The Pope is everything. FACT/CRAP Vatican City does happen to be located inside Rome. So that makes it a bit hard to ignore. And millions of Catholic believes make their way to Rome as a religious pilgrimage every year. Flags with Pope Francis' face on it and rosary beads are sold on almost every corner. All these things should not be a surprise to anyone. But even though almost every single Italian identifies as being Roman Catholic, very few of them are actually practicing believers who attend church every week. Because I live in a modern society, this should not surprise me, but Catholic culture is extremely ingrained in everyday life (i.e.: pretty much nothing is open on Sundays) that I guess I would expect it to be more important to the average Italian than it seems to be. On another note, even for a completely non-religious person, the Vatican Museums may be the coolest collection of art ever. Add it to your agenda for your next Rome.
8. Italians are not very reliable. FACT/CRAP Again, reliable may not be the best word for it. Reliable has a negative connotation, and implies that this characteristic bears negatively on peoples lives. I think laid-back might be a better way to describe it. Timeliness just isn't very important here. Buses, classes, meetings, nothing starts on time, and no one seems bothered by it. Except me, because efficiency and timeliness is valued extremely highly in the US, so it is against my nature to be unaffected by tardiness. I am trying to embrace the Italian lifestyle a little more, but it still irks me a little bit every time my professor shows up twenty minutes late for class when I got there ten minutes early. I just hope my professors at USC don't get upset when after this semester I roll into class fifteen minutes after it starts because I needed to grab a cappuccino first.
So most of them, I didn't even choose a clear answer. Sue me. Life doesn't have clear answers. All I know is that the longer I live in Europe the more questions I have! This week I have a London trip coming up and will also be celebrating my birthday abroad so there will be a lot to look forward to in the next post! Ciao for now!
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