My Home Away from Home

On December 1st, Siena became a winter wonderland. Although the sun sets early here, this only means that our medieval city turns into a twinkling Christmas paradise that much sooner. Via Montanini, where I live, is now completely covered in lights. Piazza Salimbeni somehow grew a giant Christmas tree overnight, and the streets are always filled with bustling shoppers chattering away in Italian. Even the smell of chesnuts roasting adds to the perfect ambiance of this place I get to live in.

Stella, my home-stay hostess, aka mia madre italiana, even put up a tiny Christmas tree! She now knows that I am "matta per Natale," or crazy for Christmas! However, I don't just love Siena during the holiday season. This Tuscan city has felt like a dream world since September when I arrived. However, it recently hit me that the Sienese celebrate Christmas at the same time the Americans do. Unfortunately, this means I am going to be saying goodbye to Siena much sooner than I would have hoped. I am currently having a bit of trouble juggling my emotions regarding how I feel about leaving what has become my home away from home. Although I am so excited to see my family and friends back in the States, it is going to be a hard adjustment leaving my bella italia lifestyle.

It was summer when I arrived in Italy, and as the seasons have changed, so have I. It seems like yesterday that I excitedly arrived in Siena. I couldn't wait to begin my adventure! Little did I know how much this incredible semester would impact me. Not only did I learn the Italian language, what I think is one of the most beautiful languages in the world; I also have found myself slipping into the Italian culture. I remember it took me about the first full month to understand how to order an Italian coffee. If you order a caffe', you get a teeny espresso. If you order a latte, you are handed a glass of hot milk. If you ask for a macchiato, don't expect something similar to a beverage you'd receive at Starbucks. Finally, if you request your coffee to go, be ready for a cocked eyebrow, and don't expect a Venti sized take away cup!

I think it was once I mastered the art of ordering at an Italian coffee bar (note: "bar" in Italian refers to coffee, NOT alcohol, contradictory to the American connotation of the word), that I really started to feel like I was a part of Siena. The delicious cappuccinos that I frequently treated myself to have only been the icing on the cake to a wonderful semester. I sit here today happy, well travelled and full of almost four months worth of pasta. I am going to leave Siena in a few days knowing that I will definitely return. I could never really say goodbye to this place. The Italians have become my family, and I know some of the streets like the back of my hand. Yet there is still so much about this city that I want to be a part of! Although I will never be quite Sienese enough to get into an official Contrada, I at least need to come back for the Palio (the legendary horse race that takes place in the Piazza del Campo every summer)! Although I will be clear across the world back in Nashville, TN in just a few weeks, there will always be a magical place waiting for me in Italy. A presto Siena!

Kira Burke

CET Siena Student Correspondent

A Typical Day in Siena

Every morning I wake up around 9am. I immediately throw open my shutters and gaze out the window at a backdrop of medieval buildings and Tuscan countryside. I live in a 12th century building that used to be part of a palace, inhabited by some great noble family back from the Middle Ages. It is strange to imagine who stood looking out the very same window hundreds of years ago. After one quick glance at the flowers happily growing in their boxes on my windowsill, I quickly get ready for class. Erika (my roommate), Stella (our Italian "mother"), and I always sit down to breakfast together. Our meal times are some of my favorite parts of the day. Stella is so full of life and it is always a treat to get to spend time with her. Class generally flies by pretty quickly, especially since we always have a coffee break in the middle. I am considering trying to bring back this habit to Vanderbilt. I think students and professors alike would all be a lot happier if they got their midmorning caffe', caffe' latte, or cappuccino. Usually after class, we all head to the University of Siena Mensa (aka the student cafeteria) for lunch. Most often we run into some of our other Italian or European friends that we have met over the course of the semester. Although the mensa is just a cafeteria, it isn't every day you sit at a table speaking a mix of English and Italian with people from all over the world. Some of the other students here are people that I will definitely try to keep in touch with. It is so fun making friends with the French, Swiss, Spaniards, Germans, etc. Now I forever have more places and people to visit!
After lunch it is common here to have another coffee, so we often head to our favorite spot, Meet Life Cafe'. This gem of a coffee shop also happens to be a wonderful place to socialize and study. It is conveniently near La Universita' per Stranieri (University for Foreigners) where we take our Italian classes. The rest of my afternoons are always filled with a new and exciting avventura. Sometimes I will go running around the Fortezza (Siena's upscale version of a track). Actually, now it is going to be hard for me to ever run anywhere else. I am quite accustomed to jogging along the top of an ancient medieval fortress that overlooks much of Tuscany as well as the Siena skyline. Going back to running around the neighborhood is going to be less than exciting.

If a run isn't in my agenda for the afternoon, stopping for gelato might be! There are countless gelaterias in Siena, but the best spots are worth looking for. Make sure you get your gelato fill before winter hits though, because sometimes the tastiest gelato shops close when the cold weather hits.

As the sun sets, dinner quickly consumes my thoughts. If you want to truly feel like an Italian, you've got to learn to eat like an Italian. Stella, our host mother, has fostered our Italian eating habits with exceptional expertise. Her cooking has the potential to make me crazy, and I don't know that I will be ever satisfied by an American meal again. The good wine and the delicious pasta puts Italian food in the States to shame.

It is after dinner when Siena really comes alive. Young people are always out and about. We have a lot of favorite night destnations, but the Tea Room probably ranks most highly on my list. This place is definitely a spot worth finding, and is tucked away in one of the far corners of the city. I refuse to say too much about this local gem, because those who come to Siena should discover and experience its ambiance on their own.

During my time here, I have found that Italians like to have a good time, and they like foreigners to have a good time with them. The people here are so friendly and are so eager to know you. They don't mind if you butcher their language while attempting to speak, but are happy that you are trying. Italians also never see you as an American barging in on their fun, but treat you like a special guest. They are proud of their culture and are proud of being Italian. Nothing makes them happier than showing us why they love their country so much. All in all, Siena is an easy place to love. Even the most ordinary day is an exciting, magical and authentic experience.

Kira Burke

CET Siena Student Correspondent

Throughout this semester abroad I remained baffled by the idea of traveling for 21 out of the 30 days of November. I couldn't perceive such a prolonged absence from Siena, and I knew that it would only allow time to slip away more easily and undetected. Then it actually happened. Next thing I know I am standing underneath the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and following our Imagery and Public Space professor, Peter, around the streets of Rome as a part of the CET traveling seminar. Although I loved how Peter took us into the smaller churches around the city - each revealing a distinct beauty and history, having been to Rome twice in the past eight years, I wasn't as excited initially about having to do the touristy activities all over again. However, aside from what I would like to call my maturity over the course of this semester, there was a major impression made that allowed me to see Rome with fresh eyes and an open mind during my third trip. Thinking back to the first IPS class when Peter talked about the importance of knowledge when it comes to interpretating and appreciating art, I realized how meaningful it would be to really take in Raphael's "School of Athens" and Caravaggio's "The Calling of St. Matthew" now that I understand the subject matter - the story and implications behind it - and can recognize the artist's style, rather than simply admiring a pretty canvas. Thus, I discovered that some of my favorite places were actually ones I revisited. After spending so much of my time abroad being bombarded by new things, it was refreshing to form new memories on top of past experiences. I walked through the falling autumn leaves in the Villa Borghese and unwittingly stumbled across the Roman Forum at two in the morning - each moment unfolding a new chapter in a story that could have been predictable.

Directly after the traveling seminar, I ventured outside of this beautiful country for the first time in three months to Spain. After reluctantly leaving behind my Let's Go: Italy - which was deemed the "Book of Knowledge" after it got us through La Spezia (the group's first independent weekend trip) - I boarded my AirEuropa flight a little restless, but with high spirits. However, the second I landed in Madrid I knew I was in a different world: all of our baggage came to us right away, and everything was so, well, efficient. After so much time with the Italian standards of proficiency, it seemed almost eeire how the metro system was actually connceted to the airport (almost too convenient) - and was nearly spotless. Additionally, considering the several days I had just spent on Rome's virtually useless, graffiti covered metro and my whole semester with Italy's unpredictable buses and trains, I felt a little out of place amongst Madrid's pristine arrangement. However, once we met some of our good friends who are studying there, they first directed us to our hostel and then immediately brought us out for a night of La Vida Espana, making our integration into the Spanish culture and lifestyle a bit more manageable. The Prado was a dream - I was so impressed by the extent of the art collection there - and all over Madrid for that matter. I was blown away by Picasso's "Guernica" and fell in love with the incredibly soft impressionist works in La Casa Sorolla. Everything we came across in our tour was fascinating and made the trip so worthwhile, especially the surprise awaiting us outside of the Reina Sofia: Starbucks. I am a coffee fanatic so, needless to say, I was completely overcome with joy after a three month drought. We were all thrilled actually, and the vanilla lattes and blueberry muffins gave us sanity once again to venture on through the city, exploring and soaking it all up.

Somewhere throughout the seemingly flawless day, I got to the point where I thought - if I had done it all over again - maybe I could have studied in Madrid. I mean, why not? I would still be in a home stay, could run in Retiro Park, be trendy and eat tapas, take lots of siestas - the workload wouldn't be a problem - and still have the time and energy to go out with some of my best friends every night. However, amongst all the glitter and hype I also realized that my experience in Madrid would be less authentic than the semester I am spending in Siena. Madrid is a wonderful place, but the appeal of its refreshing modernity was a little deceiving since it strongly coincided with my excited to be in a big city after such a long time. Barcelona, on the other hand, was far more chaotic than Madrid, with its outrageous nightlife and infamous pickpockets - it was all so foreign to me - and thus, I did not grow as attached to it. Although I will never forget dancing on the tabletops at Razzmatazz, a five-story discotheque, until the wee hours of the morning, in terms of growth and experience, I'm not sure I would get very much out of that lifestyle. Siena is a gem because it doesn't have to be over the top to be special. Although my semester in Siena is very different from my life back in America, it's still the place where I feel the most connection and comfort. It's the place I am dying to come back to after a stressful weekend of traveling. It's my city that I know and love, but more than anything else now, it's home, and that is always what brings me back.

CET Siena Student Correspondent
Erika Bush