Final thoughts on Italy...

This was written at La Pievuccia the morning before we left. This trip was the most amazing thing that has happened in my life so far and I can't wait to continue sharing stories and pictures from the past couple months on here but I thought I would just post this for now.

I woke up this morning to tears and the realization that I am going "home" tomorrow. Only, home to me is now Castiglion Fiorentino, but that is not where I am going. They say home is where the heart is but can your heart be in two places at once? If not, then I am not sure my heart will ever leave this place. That may be the hardest part about leaving ... knowing there won't be a day that goes by that I won't think of this experience. My father studied abroad for two years in Munich and I grew up listening to stories about his time there. He even took me to Munich while I was in high school and showed me his school, where he lived, and the places he and his friends used to go. At the time, I didn't appreciate or understand the passion he had for that place or the time that he spent there. Now I do. While I was packing, he called me and I asked him how long it took him to get over leaving Munich. Years. That was his answer. The truth is, I still don't think he is over it, and I know I probably won't ever be either.

I have traveled my whole life, and even lived abroad before, but this trip was unlike any other experience I have ever had. I learned so much about another culture, life, respect, friendships, and more than anything, myself.

I will miss the Italian way of life. They really know how to live, and live well, here. There are things about the States that I have learned to not take for granted, like free water at restaurants and free public toilets. However, there are things here that I have learned to not take for granted either. For starters, natural beauty. Everywhere I look here is breathtaking. You can't find this sort of raw, natural, abundant beauty in a place like Houston. The children at the local park don't have a clue how great they have it when they overlook a valley surrounded by tuscan hills from their swing set. I also envy their simplistic lifestyle. They take life at such a slow, wonderful pace - making sure not to miss a single moment. The thought alone of "take away" coffee being virtually unheard of is a testimony to this.

If I walk away learning one thing from this trip, let it be this: Life is a blessing, a gift. We can spend it being miserable and discontent, or we can live it like the Italians taught me to. Live in every single moment. Never try to speed things up, but slow them down. Enjoy meals because the food tastes as good as the company feels. Don't just rush through them to get to the next item on your to-do list. Love everyone. And I mean everyone. Know that it's okay to miss a train or forget to pack something because life is much bigger than it's little throwbacks. Don't freak out when your camera dies in Venice because even the most expensive camera in the world could not do the beauty of Italy justice. Appreciate everyones differences because at the end of the day, all the odds and ends somehow balance out. After all, a harmony wouldn't sound as beautiful if it were the same as the melody.

Going back to Texas will be a harsh reality, and probably more of a culture shock than it was coming to Italy. I know I am not going to fit right in when I go back, but I'm not sure that I want to. Italy, and this trip, has had such an impact on my life. When I leave tomorrow, I won't just be leaving a place. I will be leaving the biggest and grandest experience of my life thus far. And although Italy can't come back with me, I am comforted by the fact that my memories and friendships I made there can. This may be my final morning waking up in Italy for this trip, but it won't be my last.

Weekend/Day Trips

Since I have been so terrible at keeping up with my blog, I decided I would at least post some pictures of all the places I have taken weekend or day trips so yall could at least have a visual tour of what has been going on over here! Happy viewing :)

Assisi

Cortona

Lucca

Montepulciano

Orvieto

Pisa

Siena

Detailed posts and more pictures to come but just wanted to keep you as updated as I could!

Home sweet Castiglion Fiorentino

I didn’t think it was possible to love a city as much as I do Castiglion Fiorentino. It is my new favorite city in the world and it is going to be really hard to leave come May. 

Ten reasons why I love this city so much:

1.     The views

2.     The arches

3.     The random dogs & cats that play on the streets

4.     Our students at Dante

5.     The Historic Group of Castiglion Fiorentino

6.     Velvet Underground

7.     Alberto

8.     Roggi’s Pizza

9.     The park

10. Coco Palm Gelato

The Views

This town has the most incredible views I’ve ever seen in my life. Every morning on my way to school, I get to see something beautiful that God created … not man made buildings and skyscrapers, but natural beauty at it’s finest. The view still takes my breath away every time, and I know that sounds cheesy, but I hope that feeling never goes away.

The Arches

Easily one of my favorite spots in the world .. The arches overlook the view I have every morning on my way to school. A few of us go up to the arches and read or journal when we have free time. Caroline was reading through Philippians when we were up there one day and Paul wrote that everything else was “garbage” compared to knowing the Lords glory (Philippians 3:8).  Hearing that while seeing the view we were seeing was indescribable. Knowing that what we were looking at was GARBAGE compared to His glory. Unreal! Next time you think you are in the most beautiful place you’ve ever been, read that verse and it will rock you.

The random dogs & cats

There are so many of them! It’s awesome. There is one little cat that sits in the same spot every morning on our way to school and it is so funny to see her waiting there every day. I can’t help but pet every dog I see and I think Ashlyn has an embarrassing amount of photographic proof.

Our students at Dante

Joy. That’s all I can say. Pure joy fills my heart every time I see these kids. I love every single one of them … even the ones I want to hate. They are all  6^th, 7^th, and 8^th graders. Teaching them has been such a blessing and I am going to hate leaving them to teach another group of kids. I wish they could be my students forever!

We are doing a bilingual version of the Wizard of Oz with the 6^th and 7^th graders and we will be performing at the community theater the last night we are in town. The preparation for the play has been SO fun! All of the students finally have their parts and have been practicing lines and learning all the dances. We have play practice every Monday and Wednesday after school and it has to be one of my favorite parts of the day. I absolutely ADORE the group of kids I work with for the play. They probably think I am a joke because all we do is goof around but they are just so much fun to be with.

One day a week, after play practice, a group of us tutor the 8^th graders for the Trinity test (an English test they must pass).  So far I have only been with the Wednesday group, about 20 boys, and I LOVE every single one of them! They are stereotypical middle school boys: rowdy and troublemakers but they make me laugh and are so fun to be around.  The boys I have tutored have all been so sweet – and one of them is Polish so it was fun getting to meet him!

Yesterday, we went to a poetry/music recital that they had at the theater and they were all so happy to have us there. They act up in class but I think they really enjoy us coming to their school to work with them. They sang We Are the World and it was wonderful … brought tears to people’s eyes. 

The Historic Group of Castiglion Fiorentino

Our first day in town, Caroline, Claire, Ashlyn and I decided to go exploring the streets of our new home. We were walking up the main street and heard what we thought sounded like a high school marching band. We were confused because this town is the last place we expected to hear that. Claire ran up ahead to check it out and she turned back with her jaw virtually dragging on the ground and mouthed, “OH MY GOSH!” … so naturally, we all went into a sprint and as we came around the corner we saw a group of about 40 people dressed in renaissance clothes with trumpets and drums and flags. We sat down and watched them for a couple minutes with huge smiles on our faces because we had made such a great discovery. The director came over to talk to us and told us that they were the Historic Group of Castiglion Fiorentino and they travel around and compete. He then invited us to follow them to the next square for their photo shoot. We managed to jump in a couple photos at the end and even got a “gig em” picture!  After that ended, he looked at us and said, “alright, now we go get gelato!” …. We officially felt like groupies following them everywhere. It was so fun though and we met a lot of great people who we are still friends with and see around town.

Velvet Underground

For whatever reason, we always accidentally end up calling this place “red velvet”. It is a bar in town that has great live music. It has an Austin vibe to it and is so much fun! Every Thursday a new band comes in and does a set, and lately they have been hosting a Battle of the Bands, which we got to go to last night. There is a lot of great talent here in Italy. They close down soon and move down to this outdoor park with an amazing view (of course) when the weather gets better.

Alberto

My toy shop friend! My first day in town I really wanted a rubiks cube because the stickers came off on my old one so I ventured into a little toy/book store in town and this is where I met Alberto. He works there and is as friendly as can be! He now knows almost all of the A&M students because we all run in there for notebooks and pens … or just to say hi! He is very sweet and is always good about remembering our names and saying hi whenever he sees us around town.

Roggi’s Pizza

Roggi’s & Rigeras pizza are to die for. They are both restaurants that we find our way into regularly. If you’re ever in town .. these are some delicious places to go.

The park

There are two and they both have completely different but beautiful views. One has a playground that is usually scattered with children and the other has a great fountain in the middle. I really love going to the one with the playground because it is just so peaceful and quiet. It also over looks a soccer field so you can watch games if they are happening. This is the park where the outdoor park is when the weather is nicer!

Coco Palm Gelato

Enough said. Stracciatella, biscokrok, nocciola …. It’s all just so very good.

Soaking in my new home with Caroline, Delaney, Ashlyn, & Claire 

(part of the view I see every morning)

The Historic Group of Castiglion Fiorentino + us towards the top

The Historic Group of Castiglion Fiorentino

The arches

My awesome roommates Caroline, Ashlyn, & Claire.

Sorry Claire, I didn't have a picture of the castle by itself.

When in Florence .... shop in the markets!

How do I even begin describing a city as wonderful as Florence? Well, I can start off by saying that one day wasn't definitely long enough. We started off our morning with a tour of the Medici houses and tunnel – which was cool, but I was so distracted by all the sights and people in Florence that I didn’t really follow as well as I should have … Especially when we got to the duomo. The duomo is the cathedral church, and it is absolutely gorgeous. It is in a popular square where tons of people hang out, and Claire had me so worried about our purses because there were gypsys walking around everywhere.

After our tour and lunch, we had the rest of the day off to explore Florence (aka go shopping in the markets). Ashlyn, Claire, and I made our way to the markets and made our respective purchases. The markets in Florence are so much fun! They have anything you could imagine – scarves, purses, belts, bracelets, antiques, journals, jewelry .. you name it. Florence is known for it’s leather, so naturally Claire and I had to get leather purses.

Our next stop? Gelato. We heard that Grom was the best gelato place in town, and it was. There was a line curled around the outside of the building but it was so worth it.  On our way back to the train station, Stephen suggested we head to a pub and grab a beer to celebrate St. Patricks day, which was the perfect way to end the day.

So if you’re ever in Italy …. Florence is the place to go!

Top of the duomo (you can climb to the top).

Ground view of part of the duomo.

Grom Gelato

A section of the markets.

When in Rome ... do as the Romans do.

"... and I hope that's how they do it!"

On the airplane, Ashlyn and I decided our first mission was to get gelato & pizza - in that order. I looked at her and said, "When in Rome ... do as the Romans do!" and her reply was "and I hope that's how they do it!" It soon became our catchphrase for the rest of our stay in Rome.

Sorry I forgot to post day 2 of Rome earlier but it completely slipped my mind once we got to La Pievuccia. We had another early morning (I'm starting to get used to these) and started off with the Colosseum. They still had a lot of the old artifacts that were there back in the day. It was just so neat being in a place where so much history happened. I also couldn't stop thinking about how it was built. It was constructed so well, is still standing is beautiful, and they didn't even have a fraction of the tools we have today .. crazy! We also got to see the forum, which was the old downtown. Some of the structures are still there, or at least pieces of them. 

Right outside of the forum was the prison where Paul and Peter were held. This was one of my favorite parts of the day. We got to go down to the chamber where he stayed and see the storm drain where he was fed through. I got to touch walls that PAUL touched! It was really moving. Only about 7 of us went down there and we were all silent as we took it in. It's hard to believe that I was in the place where Paul wrote encouraging letters to people, like the Romans, while he was imprisoned. It was really encouraging and now I am more excited to go back and read through his letters.

The prison chambers under the Colosseum floor.

We found A&M carved in the Colosseum wall! (Claire & Sam)

Building in the Forum.

Paul's Prison

Touching things at the Colosseum ... go figure.

When in La Pievuccia ... drink a lot of wine.

La Pievuccia. How do I even begin describing the beauty of that place? I don't because it's impossible, but I am going to try to give it a shot. La Pievuccia is a vineyard resort right outside of Castiglion Fiorentino and is better than any google image or postcard you have ever seen. Not to mention, the hospitality of the family who owns it is just as appreciated. The minute we got there, bachelor jokes started like rapid fire. Can you blame us? 23 girls and 1 boy walking around a Tuscan vineyard as the sun is setting over the surrounding hills ... don't worry, we all got a rose. We explored around the rest of the night and met a very violent hissing goose, chickens, dogs, and four cats which we learned to love for the rest of our stay.

There were little casitas for all of us to stay in and they were all so homey. True to Italian culture, we received three course meals every night - four the last. The food was by far the best we have had yet. Although, on our last full day we only had a two course lunch and by then I had learned to try to ration for the following courses. Needless to say, I regretted not finishing our first course when they brought out the dessert. We all laughed at how back home this would be normal but we had gotten so used to three courses that we were so surprised at just two! Each night, they gave us two bottles of their own wine and a bottle of their olive oil - both to die for. The staff, as well as the family who lives there, really made us feel like part of their family.  I am so excited to go back in May for our last weekend in Italy.

During the two days we were there, we went over all of our lesson plans, had them organized, and presented them to the head English teacher and she loved all of them! We figured out all of our teaching schedules and begin teaching Monday -- I can't believe it!

The casita that Rachel, Kirsten, Delaney, Kelsey, and I shared.

Our first glimpse of the vineyard.

A giant wine barrel we found while exploring.

A small part of the vineyard at La Pievuccia.

Wait, that wasn't the main course?

Alright, so food in Italy rocks. Let me just throw that out there. I'll do my best to not make this entire blog about how amazing Italian food is ... mainly because I have run out of adjectives to describe it, so that could be a problem seeing as it's only day two. Oops?

When we got off the train in Rome we immediately met Jean-Carlo, our tour guide, who we would soon discover to be quite a character. He is a true Roman man - in every way possible. Wonderful, but completely Roman. He led us from the train station to the Hotel Colosseum ... which was a much longer walk with our suitcases than any of us expected but we were in Rome so we couldn't really complain.

Our first dinner was a surprise to us all. The waiters brought out plates of lasagna, and naturally we scarfed them down because, well, we are American, and we had been traveling for a good 15 hours and in dire need of some real food. This lasagna was hands down the best lasagna I have ever eaten in my life. The noodles were so soft and it was just unreal ......... Then, the waiter brings out roasted chicken with salad and steak fries. Clearly, the lasagna was not the main course like we all thought. To top it off, we had a wonderful lemon sorbet. This isn't your standard lemon sorbet though. It was like someone dropped a lemon chill in vanilla frozen yogurt. That might sound gross, but goodness it was so delicious. I was so amazed at just how fantastic the food was. After dinner, we grabbed all of our extra bottles of wine from the meal and took them up to the garden roof of our hotel and talked and enjoyed the beautiful scenery from up top.

This morning we started early (real early .. too early) and immediately started touring the city on foot. This lasted for a good 12 hours. We saw virtually every church in Rome, the Colosseum, the Vatican (including the Sistine Chapel), Trevi Fountain, tomb of the unknown solider and SO much more. We virtually saw all of Rome in just one day. Jean-Carlo was our tour guide for most of the city, with the exception of the Vatican where Carlo took over. Needless to say, I fell in love with Carlo. He was born here in Italy but moved to Texas as a teenager. Unfortunately, he wound up at  UT, but we can work on that later. Nobody is perfect, right?

Every single part of this city is just breathtaking. I will try to post pictures as much as I can! Not to mention, we made two gelato stops ... sorry? Not really. Lunch, as usual, was just as grand and delicious as dinner. I finally got my pizza- praise the Lord! There isn't one single thing NOT to love about this city.

Tomorrow morning we are heading to tour the Colosseum (we didn't get to go inside today) and then a group of us are going to see the prison where Paul and Peter were held. Afterwards, we head to La Pievuccia, a vineyard resort, where we will have a teacher workshop and present all of our lesson plans to the school board we are teaching for. We won't have internet there so this will probably be my last post/internet interaction until Sunday or Monday when we arrive in Castiglion Fiorentino.

This first blog was so long because it covered so many days - sorry! I'm loving every part of this experience so far and still feel so blessed that I am even here. I don't think the fact that I am in Italy for the next couple months has actually sunk in yet. I'll let you know when it does.


My words just cannot do this amazing country justice, and I fear the pictures will not either.

The Colosseum

Jean-Carlo ... words cannot describe.

One of the many beautiful churches we saw.

Trevi Fountain

St. Peter's Basilica

Hall of Maps in the Vatican

Carlo (My first real love. Just kidding...........)

Bruschetta & salad appetizer - so delicious