Project Serve!

The weekend before we started our EFT (Educational FieldTrip) in Sicily, those who wanted were able to give back to our "community" in Italy. We went and worked for an Anti-Mafia organization reclaim produce fields in Corleone, Sicily! We left form Bologna on Friday, October 8th and flew to Palermo, Sicily! Sicily is so different from mainland Italy. Even their dialect of Italian is different. That night we got to meet who we working with and ate dinner. The next morning, we woke up early and went to work on the fields. We spent from 7am to 1pm cleaning up the fields. We were working on grape fields. That afternoon and night we went and heard stories from people who fought the Mafia back in the day! It was very interesting. The next day we were supposed to work in the fields again but it rained the night before and the fields were very muddy. Instead, we visited the surrounding areas of Corleone. Its very beautiful. And that afternoon we went to the Anti-Mafia Museum in Corleone. It was very eye-opening. And we had some really good pizza! On Monday morning, we left Corleone to go back to Palermo to meet the rest of our group for our EFT! It was such a cool weekend; I enjoyed being able to give back!

Shortest week of my life.

This week has felt like it has flown by! Its been really busy. I had a test in Sociology and Italian this week. SO it was a lot of studying and reading. But it has been nice. Humanities was really interesting. We are learning about the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. Which the nerd inside of me LOVES. I had the best Florence morning on Wednesday. I went to the Academia! I love seeing the David. I forget how massive that thing is. And it was carved out of ONE solid piece of marble. CRAZY! And then I went and got gelato and walked around the Duomo. It was fantastic. And this weekend I am going t Sicily and helping on farms that have been reclaimed from the Mafia. And then I'm spending all next week in Sicily with our group traveling. I am so excited!

Week of Hell to a Weekend of Heaven.

The week after Como was the worst week ever. It was good because it was short. Only 4 days. But we had our first Humanities reading test. Which I was dreading more that the SAT. Not really. I just hate to study really long periods of time for a test. And i studied A LOT for this one. It was 10 questions on the 4 chapters we had read so far. That doesn't sound that bad right. WRONGO! If you knew Leonardo, our Hum212 teacher, you would have so much pity on me right now. He is the kind of teacher who really wants to trick you. Its just awful. I mean you have 57 students all freaking out on Wednesday night trying to read and make 11 page study guides and drink more soda and espresso than should be legally allowed. It was harder than I thought it was going to be. But we all made it through! And I passed! But it was a rough week. I'm glad it is over. And then it is the weekend! And the weekend was great! On Friday we relaxed all day. I woke at 10:07am to the fire alarm going off. Which was not very nice, especially since it was a false alarm. At least I didn't have to go outside. So I got up and took a shower. Then Anna, Madi and myself all went to the grocery store and bought food. Mostly junk food. They have the BEST chocolate muffins at the supermercato! So I ate muffins and coke that morning. Oh and peaches. I love it. And all day we watched movies. We watched Roman Holiday, Sabrina and then finished it off with The Holiday! It was the best movie day ever! Then for dinner we had Spera. Which is a super yummy pizza place! I ate a whole pizza. All by myself. After I had snacked all day. I feel like such a fatty when I eat in Florence. But for my gym class I'm in I have to go to the gym 22 times this semester. And we are walking everywhere. So I'm getting my exercise. The next day we went to Assisi! Which is absolutely beautiful! The word beautiful doesn't even really do it justice. Its breathtaking. The church that is there, Saint Francis of Assisi, is ginormous and just wonderful. I just adore Roman architecture and the frescos are amazing! The colors that are used are so vivid. It was a perfect day trip. Sunday was another crazy day in the life of Kate Ham. I got up and went to the gym. On my way to the gym I thought I would have a pastry at Cafe Lib. So I ate breakfast and went to the gym. Halfway through my workout I had an allergic reaction. The gym is a 20 minute walk from the Villa and I didn't have any benedryl. So I got back to the house. I'm crying on the phone with Pam trying to figure out what to do. My throat was tight and I my tongue was tingly and wasn't sure what to do. So i get back to the villa take 2 bendryl and pass out for FOUR hours. Then I did some homework and fell asleep for another 8 hours. I woke up and it was Monday.

My first real week in Firenze!

My first real week in Florence was a full five days of classes and a crazy weekend in Lake Como! My first week of classes were crazy and stressful! My Italian teacher is AMAZING! I love him so much. He is hilarious. My sociology teacher is great. But his class is just not my forte. Humanities 212 will be the death of me. My teacher is kind of a snob. He has a very elitist attitude. But that is life. And my Humanities 295 class, enriching Italian culture, is going to be so much fun! Elizabeth, the program director is just the sweetest person in the whole world. And the class is quite interesting. So the week was one of the three long week we have each semester. SO we had class on Friday and only had Saturday and Sunday to travel that weekend. So Anna, Bud and I picked somewhere close. Lake Como! This place is so beautiful! It like the French Rivera, Hong Kong and Germany all rolled into one! You have palm trees and the Italian Alps in the same place. It is just so quaint and precious. We only spent about 27 hours there, but it was so nice. In this weekend we went on 4 trains, 2 buses and 3 ferries. Just splendid. I would recommend it to anyone who likes to relax. There isn't a whole lot to do. But there is great food and wine. The perfect place to relax after a hard week. Unfortunately on the way back we got onto the wrong train from Milan to Florence. And we were charged 100 euro because they thought we were trying to stowaway. This train went from Milan to Florence but was a bullet train. So faster=more expensive. I will never make that mistake again. But we got home safe and sound and all in all it was a fantastic weekend.

Grapes Galore!

After that fantastic fashion show, Pepperdine took us out for pizza! And I ate about 8 slices. It was so amazing. I had about 5 different kinds. So yummy. After all of that pizza, some friends and I went to the local pub. And we had some fun. Here in Italy they put an average of three shots in any cocktail. Mine had four shots. And I had two. Then I came back and skyped my parents. It was interesting. I think i played it pretty cool. The next morning all who wanted to got to go grape picking! It was SO much fun! We actually got to eat some of the grapes we picked and we each get a bottle of wine using the grapes we picked! I am so excited. It was a lot of hard work but quite delightful! After a full morning of grape picking we had lunch at the vineyard and then came back to the villa for a rest. That night I went to my first SOCCER MATCH! Firenze played Lazio. We lost which was sad. But I had a BLAST! The fans are so amusing. I enjoyed every minute. The match lasted until about 8:30 or 9. So when we got back to the villa we were starving! We literally walked around for 45 minutes looking for a place to eat. We ended up at Cafe Deluxee because it was the only place open and without a wait. Its so yummy! They out the cheeseburgers on bagels! I love it. And the guys that work there are so sweet. After that fun filled day I went back to the villa and crashed. Until 11am the next morning. There was a BBQ at Elizabeth's house. Some BBQ. It was a FIVE course meal. The best food I have ever had! It was just amazing. Her house is precious. We had bruchetta and perciutto for the appetizer. Then we had pasta (pesto and meatsauce)! Then a pizza course, a meat course and then finally dessert. Which was strawberry cheesecake! I about died! We spent almost all day at her house. It was so nice and relaxing. It was just a great Italian weekend!

Intensive Italian. TANTO TANTO TANTO.

This pass week we had Intensive Italian. Which is us, the students, sitting in a classroom learning about the italian language and then going out with guides to use what we just learned in real life situations. It was the most intense week of my life. We were always just going and going. Speaking Italian. I remembered more Italian than I thought I would. But I hit a wall on Thursday. I felt like everyone was just talking at me in gibberish. I had no idea what to do. But we all made it through.

The time of the day where we went out and applied our learning was called Uscita. Which translated means "to go out". The uscitas we went on were the music store, bookstore, a farmers market, supermarket, post office, bar/cafe, and pharmacy. The things we learned were very helpful and applicable for our time in Florence. My favorite uscita was to the Farmer's Market and Supermarket, in Italian, Mercato e Supermercato. I love food. So it was really interesting to me to learn all about their food and how they buy it. The mercato was a lot like any other farmer's market. There were venders with their yummy and beautiful fruit. My partner and I ended up getting ginormous grapes, apples and peaches. Funny Story: At the mercato I was trying to order a half kilo of peaches, which in Italian is un mezzo chilo di pesche. However, I ordered un mezzo chilo do pesce. Which translates to a half a kilo of fish. The man was very nice and told me(in italian) that they were peaches and not fish. We all giggled and he was very sweet about it, but i was so embarrassed. I was trying so hard to speak their language and I butchered it.

Our last Uscita on Friday was to go to a department store and our group of three had to put together an outfit, we all had to dress up like an Italian stereotype. Our group had "B-Boy" which is dressing ghetto, like a rapper. My group consisted of Jody, Cody and Myself. I was the one who got to dress up. So I wore all of Cody's clothes and the accessories we got at the store. Not to toot my own horn but I would be a sexy rapper! It was really funny and a great way to let loose after the week we all had.

Six long days and Five restless nights to fall in love.

It actually only took one restless night to fall in love with Firenze. One look at the Duomo from the Piazzale di Michelangelo. But the days feel long here. But in the good way. If they were any shorter I wouldn't be able to soak it all in. But the nights are restless. I still can't sleep through the night. But it will come. It took me 30 hours to get from doorstep to doorstep. A little too long for my taste. But totally worth it. It still hasn't sunk in that I live here now. It hits me at different times and i just giggle.

The first full day which was Thursday, we had a walking tour of our neighborhood and orientation things. Also that night we got Gelato and walked around the Duomo, which gives me chill bumps every time I see it. The size and beauty is unparalleled.

On Friday we had our first day of classes! I cannot wait for Humanities 212. I'm such a nerd. But it's all about the Renaissance and other things in that time period. Italian will/is giving me panic attacks. But it will come back to me. That night we went to Cafe Liberta. Which is where we eat breakfast on the weekends. The creme puffs are unreal! I was in heaven. And after Cafe Lib we hit up HOPS which is a pub not too far from our villa.

Saturday morning we had our last bit of Orientation. And that afternoon we went to Piazzle di Michelangelo! I had yummy gelato at VIP's Bar. Which was recommended to me by a friend. And I would recommend it to you. After that we went to see an ancient Etruscan village and roman ruins at Fiesole. My inner Art Historian and Nerd was geeking out. I was in love. I got to touch Roman Ruins! Things that existed before the time of Christ! I'm still freaking out.

Yesterday, Sunday, We took a day trip to Siena and San Gimignano! Which were beautiful. The pictures don't do it justice. The city of Siena is definitely in my top 10 favorite cities. I felt a connection. I had some really yummy pizza as well. I love the Italian food! OhMy! In Siena we got to see where the major horse races go on and the Duomo in Siena. The Tuscan countryside is just breathtaking. It makes me want to drop out of school and own a vineyard. I think I could be content. Well. That's all for right now. BigHugs!

K.