Mafia, Cannoli's and Cooking, Oh My!

Last week Thursday we left Siena and went to Sicily for our Italian Cultural History class. It was quite the trip! We had to leave early Thursday morning to catch a bus to Florence, hopped on a bus to the airport, flew into Rome, sat in the Rome airport for a couple hours, flew from Rome to Catania. However, the Catania airport is closed due to construction on the runway so we flew into the Military base then took a bus to the airport, then another bus from the airport to the hotel. It was a hassle but we did it and all got there in one piece! It was a grand total of 11 hours traveling time. Once we arrived at the hotel my suitcase, the one dad and I had to buy when going to London, completely broke... it was not funny. All the wheels went rolling down the steps and it was a disaster, really embarrassing actually... so I had to buy ANOTHER suitcase. Let’s hope this one holds up! That night we went to dinner with the other CET students that are studying in Florence. After dinner we went right to bed! We were really tired!

Friday morning we walked to the WWII museum, which I really liked. We got to see the uniforms, we sat in an anti-raid shelter and felt what it would have been like during the bombings, wax figures of Roosevelt, old guns used, we heard stories from men that were alive during this time period, etc... It was really neat to learn about the invasion of Sicily during WWII. Of course, we had a worksheet to fill out during the tour... school. ;) We went to lunch at a little restaurant we found and it was DELICIOUS! After lunch I had a chocolate cannoli...I couldn't get over how good it was, oh my word!! After lunch we had a two hour class, a 15 min break after, then a 2 hour meeting with an Anti-Mafia Organization. That was really neat to hear how they prevent the Mafia from taking over all the shops in Sicily. Fact: over 80% of the shops in Sicily pay money to the mafia. Also, every $10 I spent there, $8 of it went to the Mafia in some sort of way! Unbelievable isn't it?! That night we went to dinner and found dessert with some of the girls from the Florence group. We had a blast with them! They were a great group of girls! I'm bummed we met them so late into the program because we would have been able to take trips with them if we had known them beforehand!

Saturday morning we were back in the classroom for another 2 hour lecture about food and how most of the Italian traditions come from the Arabic culture. After class we went to the fish market with a lady and her family. They own a bed and breakfast in Sicily and let us come and have a tour and have a cooking class with them! It was great! Then we had a little bit of free time to eat lunch so the same girls from Florence and us Siena girls went to find the famous Sicilian dish, arancino. It's a big ball of rice that's fried but has other mixings inside. So yummy!! Oh my goodness! I think I gained 15 lbs there! Then of course I had to try the pistachio cannoli... ;) After lunch we hopped on a bus and went to the bed and breakfast! This was a really neat place. It was family owned for many years, dating back to the 1600's. It was absolutely beautiful. The cooking lesson was great. They use sardines in EVERYTHING!!! Not a fan. I did try them but meh... so nasty!! A fun fact is that Oprah Winfrey stayed at this Bed and Breakfast once. Like anyone really cares... 

Sunday morning we had another lecture in the morning then the rest of the day was free. We flew back home (aka "Siena") Monday but we didn't get back until late that night. 

DIECI

We don't get weekends in Siena very often because we travel so much (I'm not complaining),  so last weekend we had a roommate dinner that Sunday night, which was a blast! We made homemade gnocchi in a sage and butter sauce and in a vegetable concoction! Yummyyy!
 

 
This weekend Frances invited me to go with she and her mom to Lake Como (where George Clooney owns a home). I was so excited because this weekend was an Italian holiday so we had a four day weekend and I was going to be alone in Siena. Literally every person I knew was leaving town!! Thank goodness for Frances!! We had a great time! We stayed in this beautiful villa overlooking the lake. The mountains in Switzerland were just to the left of the villa! Literally absolutely beautiful and breathtaking! We arrived in Milan Friday morning and toured around Bellagio for a bit then headed to Lake Como. Saturday we toured the towns and shopped. We had lunch in Lake Como where I was proposed to by the waiter... super awkward yet hilarious. He tried putting his ring on my finger but I declined. The language barrier wouldn't have worked ;) Then we headed back to Bellagio and made dinner at home. Frances and I tried a sauna for the first time and we both hated it. We lasted for about 5 minutes then got out as fast as we could! It hurts your face and I couldn't breathe... I don't know how people find that enjoyable at all. Sunday morning we packed up and headed back to Siena! It was a great time! 
   
Next week Thursday we head to Sicily for five days for class! I'm really excited for that because that's actually where I wanted to study but the program didn't run this semester due to lack of interest. Other than that, not much else is new here. Yesterday marked the 6 weeks left in Italy. So sad! I can't believe time has gone by so fast! I am excited to go home and be with my family over the holidays though, there’s nothing better than that! 

I decided to put together my top ten everything thus far. I haven’t gotten to go everywhere and see everything I’ve wanted to but I think this will give everyone a good look at what there is here and how much I’ve loved being here.

We only have six weeks left… I cannot believe it. Where did the time go?! Time certainly does fly when you’re having fun!

Here are my three top ten lists!

Places:

1. London
2. Lake Como
3. Siena
4. Cinque Terre
5. Barga
6. Castiglione
7. Florence
8. Montalcino
9. Arezzo
10. Pisa

Food:

1. Pizza
2. Gelato
3. Biscotti
4. Gnocchi
5. Pesto
6. Pasta
7. Risotto
8. Upside down chocolate cake
9. Cheese
10. Meat platters

Things To Do In Siena:

1. Visit the piazza
2. Visit the Duomo
3. Visit the Piazza Pubblico
4. Walking and exploring
5. Shopping
6. Trying out all the ristoranti possible
7. Trying out all the gelaterias possible
8. Night life… get to meet Italians our age
9. Contrada parties
10. Climb the Tower (Torre del Mangia)

(There’s so much more but I only choose my top 10!)

Aimee Crouch, University of Iowa

CET Siena Student Correspondent

Vacation...while on vacation!

Well, we’re back in the swing of things here in Siena! My dad was able to come two weeks ago and it was so nice seeing him. He arrived Saturday evening. I picked him up at the Florence airport and we took a bus back to Siena. That night we had dinner at my favorite pizza restaurant, Nonno Mede. Sunday we walked all around Siena. I had a blast showing him where I’ve been living the past few months and he then figured out why I don’t want to leave in December! He really enjoyed Siena and the vibe here. It’s not a big city but it takes all day to tour and site see! 

Monday morning we flew to London. London may be on my top 2 places in Europe now. I strongly suggest a visit to London to those who can! It’s expensive but worth every penny spent! The first day, Monday, we went at saw Big Ben, The Eye, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, and 10 Downing Street (where the Prime Minister lives). It was absolutely beautiful. We did stroll down Oxford Street as well. Being I was with my dad, no shopping happened! That night we went to a British Pub for dinner. That was a blast! The staff was so nice and fun. The next day we went and saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. That was really neat to see as well…everything was actually! Then we went and saw London Bridge and London Tower. The area where they are located is very pretty and modern. The skyscrapers are very unique. Then we went and saw St. Pauls Cathedral, and I quote my dad “which is where the fateful marriage of Charles and Diana took place. Cool place”!! That night we went to an Italian Ristorante… my dad thought I would go through withdrawals if we didn’t… HA! 

The next morning our plane left to take us back to Italy but we were able to walk around Hyde park first. Just like in the movies! It’s beautiful! The cars in London are just like you see in the movies, too. Needless to say, we had a blast in London. We flew into Pisa Wednesday afternoon and rented a car. I don’t recommend this to anyone unless you are REALLY REALLY good at reading signs that point you in the wrong direction! We went to the Leaning Tower and then headed off to Barga. Barga is close to Lucca. We stayed in a beautiful hotel there right outside of Barga. That night for dinner we went into town and had a nice meal at a ristorante inside the walls. Again, the staff was so kind. We went and explored Barga after dinner. It is so small it only took us an hour or so to walk every street there! Thursday morning we enjoyed breakfast then sat on our balcony and answered emails from our family and enjoyed the beautiful view and weather. Then we took off back to Siena. We rented a car so we could drive the countryside. I have no complaints about that, Tuscany is unbelievably beautiful to drive around, lost or not! Friday night we were in Florence because my dad’s plane left early Saturday morning. I was sad to see him go but we had such an amazing time together and made memories I will never forget!

This past week was fun to see everyone again. It’s nice to be back at school and speaking Italian more and more! I have the greatest teachers here so that makes learning fun and engaging for me. It’s really nice to have someone pay attention to each person’s needs individually and take the time to teach them one on one if need be. I can’t believe I only have seven more weeks left in Italy. Time has literally flown by. Everyone kept telling me, “the first couple weeks are the hardest, then the time just flies by”…and they weren’t kidding!

Home Sweet Home

I can’t believe we’re over ¼ of the way done with the semester already!! We are having so much fun and the time is flying by! The girls and I decided to go to Florence for a weekend and tour around the city. It is so big and there is so much to see. We are going to go back another weekend to see things we didn’t have time to see this time! We had a blast, probably the best weekend yet! It made me appreciate Siena so much more than I did before. Florence is full of people all the time. It can be overwhelming but we were able to find a hostel out of the crowds, which was nice. Siena is a lot more laid back with less tourism and though you can find a good amount of people who speak English here, Florence is very “Americanized” compared to Siena. I personally came to learn the Italian language and in Siena this is possible. Florence is a beautiful city, the buildings are unbelievable and you would never be bored there. However, everyone speaks English there. When we arrived back in Siena it felt like home. We had such a great time but we all decided this is what we considered “home”. We have become partial to Siena and the people here.

While in Florence we went and saw the Duomo and Baptistery. Words cannot explain how beautiful they are. We spent most of the day on Saturday at the leather market! What a great place to get gifts for family and friends- even yourself! We had lunch at the food market for a great price and the food was so fresh and delicious! For dinner we went to a bar and had “aperitivo” and we were so full! It was a great mini-vacation for us and it’s such a great time to visit other cities in Italy and see what else is out there. You learn so much from traveling.

Earlier on in the week we took a cooking class, paid for by CET! That was also an amazing experience! The chef was so nice and we were able to get the recipes to take home so we could make the food ourselves. This was a great experience for all of us. My roommate had been talking about wanting to learn how to cook since we got here and she finally was able to learn some tricks and has been making food more and more. We all are excited to get home to cook a true Italian feast for our families now!

We also got to meet our Italian Language Partners this week! We are partnered up with an Italian student who wants to learn English and it’s up to us to see each other again. You can speak Italian for 30 minutes then English 30 minutes…it’s up to you two. It’s great because it’s a one on one and you learn Italian as they learn English. It is great for both parties involved! I can’t wait to hang out more with my partner and get to know her better!

Overall this month has flown by. We have classes every day but I don’t feel overwhelmed with homework and reading. We have time to go travel on the weekends and meet up for dinner together at least once a week. I personally am staying in an apartment but two of the girls are doing a home stay. I feel so welcome to go visit them any time I want which is nice to feel so welcome in someone else’s home! Having free time and feeling welcome by the Italian people mean a lot to me. It has helped the adjustment of leaving my family and everything back in the States. Siena is a smaller city, it’s not as big as Florence but I truly feel as if I’m apart of the community here now. We’ve met a lot of people and see them on the streets and they always stop to say hi!

I was told to say how I feel both positive and negative in my blogs; however, thus far I haven’t had a complaint yet. If I ever needed anything I know I could ask anyone corresponded with CET and if that person couldn’t help or didn’t know the answer to my question, they would find out or direct me to the person I needed to speak with. I have strongly been thinking about staying another semester in Italy and one thing I really appreciated was receiving an email from a CET worker that was a graduate from my college back in the States. He was so helpful and told me things, both positive and negative, about staying in Italy. It meant a lot to have everyone go out of their way to give me one more person to help me make this major decision in my life.

Aimee Crouch, University of Iowa
CET Siena Student Correspondent