Venice baby!

Notice the firend I made in the photo with the sheets hanging from the clothes lines. I'm determined to make at least one animal friend now in each city/country I go to!
The next picture is my pre-haloween meal setting, with my pre-glass of red wine!

Venice baby!

I apologize for the lag in blog postings! It has been a busy busy weekend spent in...Venice!!! Our three days in Venice were amazing, there is really no other word to describe it. I will say, however, that Venice is not for the weak stomach-ed individuals (cough cough Mom/Jessica).This is because the mode of any and all forms of transportation there is via water! Good thing boats don’t bother me…although I think this is different for Sarah, she actually still hasn’t even gotten over the plane ride over here! Anyways, Venice aka, “city of water”, “city of bridges”, “city of masks”, or “the floating city” is most renowned for its amazing architecture, which I experienced in the form of San Marco’s Basilica, it’s beautiful artwork, which I was able to see firsthand on the island of Murano with Murano glass, and lastly its striking beauty, which I saw around me the entire weekend. I was sad to find out afterwards that Venice is in the process of sinking, and no one is sure how long it has until it sinks completely! So for everyone out there…go and see Venice before this happens!! Or, read my blog, and look at my pictures, and I’ll illustrate it for you the best I can!
We left for Venice at 5am Friday morning, the plane ride was short and sweet, and we took a half hour bus ride into the mainland, then took about a fifty minuet fairy, to the island our hotel was on…Lido. From there, we were given a walking tour of our island, then afterwards we took a fairy to San Marco’s square (probably what Venice is most known for). This is where you see pictures of the thousands of pigeons, and sometimes pigeons sitting on people’s hands, head, and shoulders. Let me say…I wanted to be one of those people…to be able to feed the pigeons, and have them sit on my hands and arms…but 1. It is illegal now, and you will get fined if you get caught doing it, and 2. I’m pretty sure I would be rejected by my group for the rest of the trip because they all seemed to be completely disgusted with the idea. Regardless, I we spent the day wandering Venice and shopping. Venice is a very wealthy city, it had hundreds of high end stores… of which I shopped in to buy Christmas presents for my siblings.
We went to dinner that night with our whole group, and afterwards enjoyed the Venice night life. On Sunday, we were lucky enough to celebrate mass in San Marco’s Basilica, it is a church that upon first glance seems completely out of place being in Italy. It looks as though it belongs in a palace in India…I later learned it was designed by Arabs who were ruling when it was built. Every day we were there we saw huge lines of people wrapping around the Basilica, waiting to go in to take pictures and see the amazing architecture inside. Sunday morning, we had front row seats to mass, our seats were the envy of everyone in Venice! Although the entire mass was in Latin, I was still able to follow along…one of the beauties of the Catholic faith I realized, it really is universal. The art work and architecture inside it were incredibly remarkable…that’s really the only way to put it. The statues are beyond life size, and the paintings almost come to life when you look at them. I found myself with my head tilted completely upwards the first twenty minutes of entering because of the intricately designed ceilings, plastered with gold and ornamented with hanging candles. It seemed as though angels were singing throughout the mass…because the choir was completely hidden, but their voices echoed throughout the entire basilica, making it seem as if I was entering the gates of heaven! Venice was an awesome experience and I will never forget the views I saw while there.

PS. Tonight we had a Halloween dinner, and afterwards dressed up in our costumes and had a bonfire where we roasted marshmallows and told creepy ghost stories..here are some of those pics!

...a day of homework...

Every Wednesday is a free day for us, we can decide to go out wandering, sleep, or catch up on homework. Because all of us had many journals to write, responses to follow up on, and Italian skits to memorize, AND we are flying to Venice this weekend, everyone spent the entire day, inside, doing homework. It was exhausting, and a little frustrating having to spend the day doing homework, as I have become accustom to going out and exploring Rome, or a foreign country, on a daily basis. However, despite the fact that we are over 5,000 miles away from our usual Walsh campus, we are still in school, and work needs to be done. Besides, the professor that came over with us is probably one of my all time favorites- Dr. Ron Scott. He is a huge white water rafter, loves to rock climb, and we raced each other up 124 stairs to the top of a church in Rome the other day! He kind of reminds me of my both my brother TJ, and my godfather, Uncle Mike…which is good because it gives me a little sense of being home. This is the first time I have had him in class, at first I was a little apprehensive about having him as a professor while in Rome because he is an English professor…and English and reading are not, by any means, my strong points. I was nervous about the content of the books we would have to read, the amount of papers we would have to write, and how the classes would be run.
However, my fears have been quickly dismissed. Although there are several books we need to read, which aren’t the most riveting, and the courses do require a lot of writing, the work load is manageable. We have a few “journals” due every week, but they are to be written about personal stories we have experienced here, or in our lives in general, and relate them back to the books we have read. Class is run completely different from any other class I have been in. The majority of the classes consist of the students talking and discussing certain topics of the day, while Ron chimes in occasionally as a figure of wisdom. He encourages discussions, debates, and working as a group to solve problems, because this is the best way to learn. I am actually excited, for once, to take these classes because I have already learned so much from only being in them for a week.
That is all for today, tomorrow we are having a guided tour of the city walls museum, and the rest is free time in Rome! I will update you tomorrow on how this went. Ciao!

PS...becasue I know everyone was worried. We got to carve pumpkins after dinner today, so I was able to continue my annual tradition of carving ridiculously amazing figures into the side of a pumpkin :)The picture is a little blurry, but mine is the creepy looking one of the left!

Short Post

This one will have to be a short post, here are just a few pictures to update you on the sites I have been seeing! The first is a gigantic door we went to see yesterday, it is the only door still surviving from ancient Roman times. We also went to visit the catacombs, where over a half million bodies were buried from Roman times...this picture is of the Alpha and Omega (a little shout out to my tattoo :) ). i hope all is well with everyone, miss you all!

Greece Pics!

Greecian Weekend

Finally, we are back safe and sound at our home away from home...Castel Gandolfo, Getting here was not easy, comfortable, or the least bit safe. But we made it back in one piece, with many stories and lessons learned, and that is all that counts!
Our weekend started Saturday morning at 6:00AM. Because of the strike here in Rome, we were not able to take the train to the airport, and had to resort to a 70 dollar (55Eruo) taxi ride to the airport. We got into the airport and to our gate with about two and a half hours to spare. While waiting, we met with another group of American students who were studying in Tuscany. To our surprise, they weren't the friendliest bunch...but I guess that is how some Americans can be. It didn't bother us, too much, because we were set to have an adventure on our own, without the help of anyone else. We landed in Greece at about 3pm, from the airport we had to find a bus that would take us into "the center" (downtown in American terms). The bus ride to the center was very crowded, smelly, long, and we weren’t exactly sure which stop to get off at. Luckily, however, our guardian angels were watching out for us. We ended up talking to this man named Pallo, who knew his way around Greece, and was staying in the same hotel as us! We followed him off the bus, and to our hotel, he told us the good places to eat, safe places to walk, and nice site seeing locations.
Once into the hotel, we asked the man at the front desk for a list of places that were worth seeing in Thessaloniki. He drew out a map for us, with about five or six places highlighted to go see. Being the intelligent women we are, we found every spot he suggested to see (this was mostly with my help, Sarah is not the best with directions…she admits it herself!) Saturday morning, we had breakfast at a little pastry shop, and set out to site see for the day. Our first stop was a farmers/flea market type thing. It was quite the experience to say the very very least. The market was filled with people shopping, and selling their products, from purses, shoes, coffee, peanuts, olives, fish, crabs, pig heads, pig hooves, pig skin, pig hearts, and a wide variety of butchered and skinned animals hanging from their feet. It is completely different from any markets at home; the butchers were chopping their meat right out on tree stumps in front of everyone. It was a little intimidating, with Greek men screaming at us to come and buy their meat, after a while, however, we got used to it and actually decided to go back through and take video of everything (thanks to Tj lending me his video camera).
WARNING- to my fellow people who love animals this may be hard to read- while walking through the market, I saw a skinned animal hanging by its feet -I knew it wasn’t a sheep, cow or pig- I saw fluffy white paws, and a skinny long torso. I was too busy gagging from the awful smell, however, to really get a good look at it. After we decided to go back through and take video, we asked what kind of meat this particular animal was, the Greek man replied “Meow!”…it was cat. It was hard to hear, but, I have to accept others cultural differences!
The rest of the day went fairly smoothly, despite a shady bus ride up to the top of the city, with a smelly Greek man, visibly under the influence of many many kinds of drugs) that Sarah had the pleasure of sitting next to. It was well worth the trip up, because we were able to see an amazing view of the city…I think Sarah has an opposite opinion, however.
So the trip home was one I will never forget, for the rest of my life. Sunday morning we got up at 6AM, packed out bags, and went down to the front desk to ask directions to the bus stop that will take us to the airport. The language barrier was hard to get past, but we managed to get a general location of the bus stop. After asking several people along the way, we were finally able to find it, but were unable to get breakfast for fear of missing the bus. The bus ride there was about an hour, and we got to the airport five hours before our flight left. Despite being so early for our flight, we still found ourselves running across the airport to catch our flight. We forgot to get our boarding passes stamped and had to leave security and run to the other side of the airport to get it stamped. Getting back through security was a huge struggle; and three girls running and yelling trying to get in did not help the language barrier either. After getting sternly patted down, they let us go, and we made it to our plane..a little sweaty..but on time.
We landed in Rome, and needed to then find the bus station that would take us to the train station, that would take us to our final destination. I suggested calling our guide who knows Italy like the back of his hand, to ask him where we could find the station, but this idea was quickly shot down (don’t ask me why). After asking a police officer at the police station where we could find the bus, he directed us to walk down the highway until we found it (we later learned never to take directions or advice from police officers in Italy). Now, let me cut in here and say I was NOT FOR walking down the side of a highway busier than 77, in a foreign country, with no sidewalk. Regardless-my opinion was thrown out, and we walked…a mile and a half down the side of a highway. Finally, I stopped and called our guide myself an asked where the station was, he told us it was directly outside of the airport, right outside of the police station. We then walked another mile and a half, against traffic, to the bus stop.
Eventually, we made it back…the stories could go on forever, and I will detail them in person when I get back, but the most important thing is we made it home safe, with many stories to tell!

Greece=Dangerous

No, don't worry! Greece is not dangerous because of the protests and strikes, just smelly because the garbage men decided to go on strike, its dangerous becasue of the massive amount of clothing,shoe,and jewlery shops that are on every street corner. Its hard not to buy everything you see and like! This post is coming from the computer I found in the hotel were staying in, so it will be a short one. As for now, I am enjoying my time in Greece and have been very successful at roaming the streets without getting lost (or too lost). I will be coming home with so many pictures, souvineers, and stories to tell. See you all!

PS i was also not able to spell check this becasue I am on a Greek computer...so you get to see my true spelling abilities..sorry!

the ending to my free day....

the way I was able to end my free day...with this view, and a glass of red wine......or two :)

Free day!

So, I can assume one of two things... 1. my blog is being weird and not letting anyone post, or 2. no one is reading/commenting on my blog because it is just THAT boring. I think I'll go ahead and assume option 1.
Anyways, yesterday we had a free day, every Wednesday we actually have free days to either catch up on homework, sleep, or explore Rome by ourselves. I decided to catch the train and go to the town over called Albano, where I shopped around and explored. It is nice, I think, how this program lets us explore, they actually encourage it, rather than sitting in the dorms behind our computer screens, or even sticking with the large group. Being independent is important to me, I like possibility of being lost, and finding my way back, because it is then when I will gain the most experiences. I learn more about the country of Italy, and even myself, when I am under pressure.
Today, we had a church visit scheduled, but because of the mass amounts of rain we received, the terminal was flooded and sewage lines were backed up. Needless to say, I stayed in Castel Gandolfo for the sake of the hygiene of my new boots, and everyone else did the same. Things happen for a reason, though; tomorrow Sarah, Catie (another girl in our group) and I are going to Greece for the weekend. Today gave us a day to catch up on homework, blogs, rest, and get our plans solidified for the weekend. I have heard that there have been recent riots in Greece due to its poor economy, I want to tell everyone not to fear! 1. I still have some residual crossfit strength left, so if there are any problems I will be sure to ward them off 2. I have two different cell phones, which are guaranteed to work. 3. We can pass for Greek, so we won’t have to resort to any of these options :) .
Alright, I am off to explore the town of Castel Gandolfo, I will not be bringing my laptop to Greece, so this means my next posting will most likely be Sunday night (Sunday afternoon for you), and will be all about our adventure to Greece… αντίο!!

Alyson

Finding Rome

Ciao all! I hope everyone is doing well, I had the chance to skype with nana, and grandpa, my brother TJ, brother-in-law Mike, my mom, and Jessica, Frances, and Melissa.
This morning we had Italian class for the first time. Seeing as I am a Spanish minor, I thought it would be easy to pick up another language. However, this is very far from the truth. I actually think it may be more difficult, I find myself speaking in Spanish, instead of Italian when people talk to me. Though the words sound similar, it is hard to speak because of different pronunciations. It is a challenge. However, I believe if we never step outside of comfort zones, and never challenge ourselves, it limits our minds simply to what we are used to. We end up delaying emotional, spiritual, and physical growth. It is for this reason I gladly welcome the challenge of language barriers.

We also visited the Spanish steps today, and shopped along fashion street in stores such as Gucci, Dior, Prada, Dolce and Gabana, Armani, Loui Vitton, and tons more. (Frances, I was thinking of you the entire time. You should be super jealous:) ) I felt so completely and incredibly out of place in every store I went into. The store workers would open doors for us (because that’s what they do in those kinds of stores) and kind of roll their eyes, and speak in Italian slang about the “Americans” disrupting their stores. But again, I accepted this as yet another learning/growing experience. It is good to feel uncomfortable sometimes....what good is there in always having the feelings of acceptance or belonging? I discover different life perspectives, gain a more open mind, and become stronger as a person because of it. Every single event has an outcome, yet the decision remains with me on whether or not to take that outcome, and learn from it.

Rome, sweet Rome

Today we went into Rome for the first time. We have to walk (about ten minuets) up to the train station and take a 47 minuet train ride to the terminale. The terminlae is kind of like a mall/subway station combined,always full of people. From the terminale we have to go to the "underground" and take the metro into Rome. Walking out of the metro, I looked up and saw the beautiful and historical colleseum. It was crazy to me, walking right out of the metro and seeing this hugehistorical figure right in front of my eyes. After touring the collesuem we went to the Roman Forums and saw the remains of this ancient gathering place for Romans. The sightseeing was awesome, but how can it not be...I see momumental building most people can only view through the pages of a book, on a dail basis.
Though sightseeing is great, my favorite part is being a part of the Italian culture. After our site visits we were able to walk around Rome freely. I could spend hours just peoeple watching and listening to the Italian language. Though I don't usually understand what people are saying, I like the challenge of trying to understand what peoeple are communicating to me.
It is far too late past my bedtime, its past 12AM here...and I am getting up early tomorrow! Ciao all, I will talk to you later!!

Alyson

First day in...

We are finally settled into our "home" for the next two months in the beautiful city of Castel Gandolfo. It was a long, sleepless trip, that began with my family sending us off at Walsh, and ended at the beautiful Rome campus. This morning, Sarah and I left at 7:30AM Canton time, and arrived here at 10:00AM Rome time,(4:00AM Canton time).
This morning started out a little shaky. Before leaving, I had my adored pillow in hand, and was about ready to leave when my "world traveler" brother TJ told me I couldn't bring my pillow with me. "You're not going on a road trip Alyson, leave your pillow here!". Being away from home for two months and having never slept a single night without my pillow, I was reluctant to leave it. Before I could say anything my sister Mary Frances said "I bet I know what you have in your pillow." I slowly pulled out my favorite bear and blanket I have had since I can remember, "Can I bring these?" I said, as I tried so hard to swallow the lump in my throat I get right before I crying. All in unison, my siblings started laughing and cracking jokes about my precious comfort items. My eyes filled up with tears, as I had feared and I said with spite, "Stop I am going to start to cry!!!". It was a pitiful moment, I must admit, being twenty years old and still needing a dingy blanket, and old bear wearing a Christmas sweater to help me sleep at night...but I eventually got over that fact and insisted on stuffing them in my suitcase.
The remainder of the trip was pretty much smooth sailing, our first flight to Atlanta was short and sweet, and the five hour layover went fairly quickly. The plane ride to Rome was long, but trouble free. This, however, was a little different for my sister Sarah who woke up from a deep sleep grabbing my arm and yelling my name after she felt a little turbulence. She spent the rest of the plane ride with her eyes covered praying the rosary, while I spent it fidgeting around and mastering the game of “bejeweled” on the back of the plane seat. Eventually, however, our patience...and prayers...paid off and we finally reached our desired destination of Castel Gandolfo.
Once on the campus, we ate lunch, and headed up to the town of Castel Gandolfo. The little ten minuet hike up to the town was the most beautiful walk I have taken in my short life. Prior to coming to Rome I had always envisioned what it would look like. The only thing I had to go off on was past movies I had seen which were set in Italy. After this walk, I can easily say that it is exactly like the movies...but better. Old ladies shaking their sheets out of their window, cobblestone sidewalks, motorcycles dangerously weaving in and out of tiny cars, and the absolutely breathtaking views. I took pictures, which of course can't do any of it justice, but it at least gives a little taste of the wonders I am experiencing over here. I would spend twenty hours crammed onto a plane if it meant I could spend two months here...it is just that amazing.

Ciao (chow) for now!

Finally, my summer days spent serving Sicilian salads, and pistachio gelato has paid off, and I am on my way to being served, and eating it myself in the authentic heart of Italy. Despite the hurdles it took to make it to this point, I realize it was not all in vain. When I look back on this opportunity in years to come, the money it took to make it out here will be lost and forgotten, however the memories and experiences made will remain. I understand I am so unbelievably blessed be able to have this opportunity and for that, I am forever grateful. Though I am happy and excited to embark on this journey of a lifetime, I am sad to leave my family and friends in Canton; and I am sure these feelings of sadness are mutual… at least I hope :)

I put together a little list for my family, in case any of them would forget the personality I bring our household…
1. This year you won’t have the premature feelings of Christmas cheer in your hearts, because I won’t be home to play and sing Christmas Carrols in the middle of October!
2. Halloween will be less spooky this year, seeing as I am the only one to ever carve jack-o-lanterns every October. Someone may have to step up and take over this annual duty of mine.
3. Frances will have to resume her former duty of feeding my precious children every day; Scout, Rascal, Buddy, and my sweet Shiloh 
4. Our beloved chore list will grow two smaller; mine and Sarah’s weekly chores will have to be fairly divvied up between the remainder of the household….sorry guys!
5. The Thanksgiving turkey will not be up to par this year, because I won’t be there to inject it with my creation of herbs, and the animals eaten at Thanksgiving meal will have one less prayer, because I won’t be at the table to offer up my annual petition for the all of the animals eaten during Thanksgiving day.
6. Putting up Christmas won’t be as fun without me there, getting sidetracked and distracted by the musical snow globes, or stockings that have left over year old candies still inside them.
7. Black Friday won’t be the same without Sarah and I there to ‘line cut’ extreme shoppers in Target at 3AM, or get thrown out of the line at Joann Fabrics for saving spots in line.
I will miss you all, and until I see you next…CIAO!!