Stay Classy, Siena. I'll be back.

 Dear readers,

For my last travels in Italy, after Spring Break, I went to Cinque Terre, Cagliari Sardegna, Catania Sicily, and several smaller towns in Tuscany.

Cinque Terre was breathtaking. It is a series of five small, colorful towns on the coast of Liguria on the northwest coast of Italy. Cinque Terre is not something you really go to simply “see.” You “do” Cinque Terre. And by that I mean you go to Cinque Terre to hike along the coastline through all five of the towns.

When we went, the weather was not perfect; it was maybe 60°F, cloudy, and incredibly humid. The cool air and lack of sun turned out to be a boon when the normal trail was closed and we were required to hike inland and straight up a mountain to get to the next town. The view was still spectacular. The trails were unlike those in national parks in the US, where you would have to make a serious effort to put yourself at risk of falling. Rather, the trail was, for the most part, only wide enough for one person, cut into the side of a veritable cliff with either terraced vineyards or a rocky Mediterranean shoreline below you.

Cagliari, Sardegna also disappointed us with cold, rainy, and windy weather for the most part, although “it NEVER rains in Cagliari!” The beach was fantastic nevertheless, and we got to explore several unique and exotic stores in the city, like MANGO and Nike.

Catania, Sicily was stunning. Mt. Etna loomed in the distance, and even when you couldn’t see it, you had only to look around at the buildings made out of grey lava stone to remember its eternal presence in the city.

I then went to Castiglione di Pescaia on the Tuscan coast for a day, which might have been the most perfect day of beaching I have ever experienced. It was just hot enough for you to bake nicely, but there was still a nice breeze. Enough to cool you off, but not enough to blow sand into your face and iPod. The water was clear, calm, and refreshingly cool. We were about a hundred steps from a strip of restaurants, and a short walk to the bus stop. There was some serious relaxation going on that day.

Going to Monteriggioni with two Italian friends was another day of fun despite less-than-ideal weather. It was Italian Labor Day. On the way, we stopped by a public park so that Pierluigi’s dog, Toby, could stretch his legs. At this park (why on earth don’t they have these in the US??) they had a playground-turned-public-gym. Instead of monkey bars and tic-tac-toe, there were a number of individual exercise machines, like an elliptical, a leg-press, these discs you stand on and twist back and forth, working your obliques, and a number of other strange contraptions. It was awesome. I don’t frequent gyms, but I would totally go to this place all of the time. Did I mention there was also a zipline??

I finished my last exam this morning, and now as I sit here trying to come to terms with the fact that I return home in a little over two days, I am experiencing ALL OF THE FEELINGS.

I don’t have words to describe how happy and thankful I am for the time I have had here in Siena, but I am sad that that time is ending so soon.

I am happy for the friends I have made here, but I am sad to be leaving them for a future in which there is no certainty we will see each other again.

I am happy to be going home, to see my friends and family, to eat a burrito from Chipotle and “real” ethnic food. I am happy I will be going to the beach for the week I return, and that I have an exciting internship lined up for the summer.  I can’t wait to blast music and sing out loud with the windows down and that heavy Virginia air blowing in my face.

But I still can’t say I want to go home...

All I can say is that on the plane ride on the way home, the tears are going to flow. At least it would lend a nice symmetry to my time abroad.

Packing shall commence this afternoon, concluding only at 6am on Sunday morning when I will begin my homeward travels. 

Erin Friedlander

CET Siena Student Correspondent

Ten Tips for a Truly Tremendous Time in Siena

Alas chickens, it would seem that I have pochi giorni left before I must leave the glorious country of Italy! Sunday is the fateful day, and I’m trying not to pay attention to how close that is to today. How is it possible that four months have sped by so quickly? I knew I would love my time abroad, but I didn’t realize quite how attached I would become to everything, whether that means the people, the place, or the experience. So, as someone who can now say that she has lived in Siena for four months, I would like to give y’all a list of my top ten tips for having the best time possible in Siena.

1.      Get to know an Italian family! When people ask me what my favorite part of the program has been, I tell them it was my homestay family. They’ve added immeasurably to my time in Siena, since they helped me learn so much about Italian culture that I wouldn’t have otherwise, and they really helped me with learning the Italian language. Plus they made me feel loved throughout my time here, in a uniquely Italian way!

2.      Embrace Italian! I came to Italy knowing absolutely no Italian, and I was more than a little nervous about living in a small city like Siena, where not many people speak English. However, CET has a great Italian program, and I learned more Italian than I would have thought possible in 4 months. Plus, the Italian people are incredibly receptive to anyone who attempts to speak in Italian, and, more often than not, will be delighted when you try, even if you mangle the sentence horribly ( …not that I would ever do that, of course).  

3.      If you have the opportunity, volunteer! I volunteered through CET, teaching English once a week to some Italian 4^th graders. While this was initially terrifying – “you mean I have to go talk to a bunch of children that don’t know English, while I don’t know Italian??” – it was immensely rewarding in the end. My kids were adorable, they treated me like a rock star, and it was really nice to be doing something productive with my free time. Plus I got to practice my Italian!

4.      Siena is not only charming; it is very interesting, small though it may be. Thus, I think it is very valuable to take the time to thoroughly explore the city! It’s really easy to travel every weekend and not spend much time in Siena, but as much as I love traveling, and even though some of my favorite experiences were had while traveling, I had so much fun simply wandering through Siena’s tiny twisty streets, stumbling upon new things around every corner. You’re in Siena: go gawk at St. Catherine’s head! Go try to find the center of every contrada – even if you get lazy in the middle and eat a gelato instead, you’ll still be in the middle of a medieval city eating gelato. It can’t really get much better than that.

5.      Understand the Italian dress code! This is key to not getting stared at and/or yelled at by old Italian people on the street. Things that are not ok in Siena: wearing flip-flops, pretty much ever. You’ll catch cold and die with your feet all exposed like that! Also, going out in wet hair. Yet another way to catch pneumonia! Moreover, if you wear a sundress sans tights, or even just decide that you are done with wearing your winter coat before April, you will get some very strange looks, because Italians dress for the winter apocalypse until warm weather is thoroughly established. They don’t want any chance of the wind catching them around the throat and giving them a deathly illness. Italians take their health very seriously.

6.      Find a place for lunch where you can be a regular. I have a couple of places that I go to at least once a week, and the people there now recognize me, and smile and talk to me when I come in. The lady who works at the one euro pizza place our whole program goes to for lunch multiple times a week now knows that we most likely want a big piece of margherita pizza, or maybe the nutella kind instead. Besides the perks of being a regular at places this (discounts on already cheap pizza? Yes please!), it’s really fun to get to know the people who work at the bars and pizza places. They won’t really pay much attention to you for the first couple of weeks, because you’ll just be another American tourist, but if you show that you mean to stick around for a while, they’ll have no problem chatting with you, even if you occasionally commit gross grammatical errors.

7.      Don’t worry about getting fat. Eat instead! Realize that you will only be in Italy for four months, and stuff your face whenever possible. Why pass up the best margherita pizza in the world, the creamiest gelato you’ve ever had the pleasure to taste, and the most delectable pasta in the history of the world?

P.S. If you need a good gelato place, I recommend Kopakabana. If you need a good pizza place, I recommend Il Pomodorino. And if you want good pasta… talk to my homestay mother.

8.      Spend a lot of time on Piazza del Campo. It’s the center of Sienese life, and you’ll find everyone there, both tourists and Sienese people. So, grab a book or some picnic food, and go sit on the Campo and people-watch. Some of my friends and I refer to it as Siena’s beach, what with the way everyone sits on it soaking up the sun and people-watching.

9.       Don’t hate on Siena for being small and not having much of a night scene. So what that there’s only about 5 places to go on the weekend? Just go to them all every weekend! Go to the Cuban bar and make friends with the bartender – he might let you go behind the bar and make a mojito! Go to Caffe del Corso (aka shots bar) and make friends with Italians while you stand in the street with your drink. Go to the Campo with some wine and look at the stars (and maybe roll down the Campo if you’re feeling especially adventurous and it’s late enough at night).

10.   Finally, soak up every second you can – the time goes faster than you think it will! Take pictures everywhere you go, no matter how small the occasion. Don’t be afraid to look like a tourist: you are obviously not Italian, so go ahead and ask someone a dumb question. They’ll inevitably be very nice, and if you ask your question in Italian, they’ll be extremely happy.

Siena is a wonderful city, and I’ve enjoyed my time here so much. Leaving is going to be extremely bittersweet – my only consolation is that no matter what, I’m going to come back. Thanks for the amazing adventure, Siena!

Faith Bradham

CET Siena Student Corrspondent