Things I’m finding I really like about Siena:
Sunday October 1, 2006
- That you can always find friends in the Campo. No matter what time of day you’re there, 3 in the afternoon or 11 at night, someone you know is going to be there.
- That there’s a white swan named Romeo in the small pond in La Lizza.
- That in the far end of La Lizza there is a little carousal and one small building that has carnival toys for sale. And that on late Sunday afternoon’s parents take their kids there, sit in plastic chairs and watch them go laughing around the carousal.
- That between 1 and 4 in the afternoon almost all the stores in town close to take a siesta. The same thing on Sundays, for the entire day. (Except for the one farmicia that must be open at all times.)
- That when there’s a soccer game in town the entire town walks to the stadium to support their team, which is ranked worst in the top division in the country. You can see white and black (Siena colors) scarves and police (riot control) around all afternoon. There seems to be no in the center of town when one of these games is going on but when its over, everyone is out shopping and eating.
- That at the grocery store you can buy milk chocolate candy bars from Germany for only .66 euro. When they’re on sale for only .6 euro.
- That there are Churches around every corner.
- That the bus station is underground always has a line and always has grumpy women working at it. Today when I asked for three bus schedules I actually made the woman laugh.
- That vespas and cars have the right away. If you hear them coming, move to the side. But at the same time, if you want to cross a busy street, you’d better go for it and stare the car down until it stops.
- That it seems on Sunday afternoons all the old men and women of Siena dress up in their finest clothes and go sit and walk on the park like walls of the Fortress.
- That people sit in the Campo at all times. And that open bottles of wine and hard liquor are always around and permitted.
- That Friday night while sitting in the Campo with friends I saw a guy playing a bagpipe, and a girl and a boy doing Scottish dancing Riverdance style. We dubbed it “only in Italy.”
- That they actually have a kabob place. “Ethnic food.”
- That when you stick with speaking Italian, even when you know the workers speak English, you feel like you accomplished something and that you seem maybe a little less tourist like.
- That Sunday afternoon you are sure to find friends in the Internet train.
- That Siena is located in Tuscany and has gorgeous landscapes surrounding it.
- That nutella exists and I have discovered it. (This applies to something I like about Italy in general.)
- That even though lunch is not included in the deal, when I’m home on Sunday’s my host family expects that I’ll eat with them for lunch and always include me.
- That last Sunday I met their son, his wife and their little daughter while we ate le lasagne (we Americans say lasagna but that is wrong) and then I learned in class the next week that le lasagne is a very typical mean for a Sunday lunch.
- That Friday’s our Italian class combines with the other Italian class and we go out into La Lizza and play games for the last half hour of class.
- That we listen to music in class and sing along. I’m obsessed with “Stop! Dimentica” and “Le Sere Nere” by Tiziano Ferro.
- That you can walk everyone and people do. And that people are always around and sit talking with friends at bars. (Bars are like cafes, not like the American connotation of bar.)
- That you can get a pastry filled with crème for .8 euro at Bar Costa.
- That I get a two course meal, plus bread, plus cheese, plus dessert, plus fruit every night.
- That every Wednesday starting at 9am and ending at 1pm there is a market in the old fortress. It’s HUGE and only lasts a day. Impressive.
- That Mario, my host dad, likes to joke with me. He always asks if I’ve had a gelato for the day and if he doesn’t I tell him.
- That he pinches his mom’s nose during dinner sometimes.
- That every night when I go to bed and every morning when I wake up Laura (my host mom) is there to say “ciao” to and to kiss on each cheek.
I’ve already been here a month!
A Typical Long Monday
September 29, 2006
Last Monday was a long day. Not only did I have school in the morning and afternoon but also directly after class ended at 6:00 we had an excursion. The excursion was actually part of our Italian Food and Wine class and we thought it would be during the actual class, but instead it was directly after (they failed to tell us this important detail until that morning.) The excursion was to a local winery called Enoteca (enoteca actually just means “wine cellar” in Italian, so you can find enoteca’s all over, but this is the most famous and special in Siena.) It is located inside the old fortress and is within walking distance of the school. Our teacher, Antonio (who is also the Director of the Siena Study Center Program as well as heavily involved with our theater class) seems to know everyone in town, especially those connected to wine making, and of course knew the man who was to be our server.
Our group of forty students, all still carrying their backpacks and books, shuffled into the Enoteca and filled up the tables in the back of the room. Each seat had three glasses in front of it and some crackers for palette cleansing between tasting. We were also supplied with this gigantic book listing all the different kinds and qualities of wine designated to be official wines by this Italian wine organization, as well as given a map of where to find all the different kinds of wine in Italy.
Before we could start the tasting we were instructed on how to open a bottle of wine. The key is to not make a “popping” noise or to twist the cork so much that it crumbles into the wine. First the professional guy opened a bottle, flawlessly, then two guys from class tried. The first did ok on his own but the second guy needed help getting the cork out! Both were funny though, because instead of twisting the corkscrew, they twisted the bottle! Then our teacher had to show off his mastery of wine bottle opening.
The wine was good, just like last time, but stronger. We had to take note of the acidity and the different smells the wines triggered in our mind. The last glass was the best; it was some kind of sparkling white wine. It tasted just like sparkling apple cider with a hint of alcohol.
After that was over I had only about an hour until the theater class. The same for the other two guys who were also part of both classes (coincidently, now that I think about it, both Sacco and Bryan were the ones who opened the wine bottles as well, strange…) So Antonio invited us to dinner with him. Thinking it might be fun to eat with our teacher, we agreed. Getting to the restaurant was quite the adventure. He drove us in his little car to what seemed like was a place far out of the city, but in fact wasn’t. To get there though we had to leave the city, and then come back at it from a different direction because most the streets inside Siena’s walls are one way! The little restaurant he took us was really good. We got some kind of pasta type dish, more wine, and he paid for our dessert. It’s always fun when teachers take you out, and its probably a good idea to get to know Antonio. He already remembers me just from these events. He’s a strange guy, likes to talk about his life a lot, but nice. He lived in the US for 13 years and just moved back to Italy to take this job in Siena two years. He studied at UCSB and got a Master’s in Piano Performance. He also has degrees in Philosophy and Musicology. Interesting right?
Dinner made us really late to the theater class though, for which I felt bad, but we were with the teacher so what could we do?
I keep mentioning the theater class and now I’ll explain it. I’m going to be in an Italian play. Six of us students, with the help of our teacher Antonio, are working with an Italian director, Luigina, to put on “la nuova casa” (the new house) a new Italian comedy. The entire show will be in Italian. In order to put on a good show, we have to translate, learn to pronounce everything correctly and most difficult of all, learn where and when to stress our dialogue. It should be difficult but not horrible. My part is pretty small so I’m not too worried. Our rehearsals haven’t been going too well though because we still don’t know what we’re saying and we don’t have a translator most of the time, so things are really tedious. Anyhow, on Monday we had some mini auditions and we got to see the theater we’ll be performing in. It’s beautiful! It’s a cute little thing, in an old building, but the stage, although small, is adorned with carved angels and arches. And the curtains are red! It should be a beautiful performance space.
That said, the day was long. I didn’t get back home until 11:00! Luckily my teacher was able to give me a ride home as well. Then I still had homework, and then Andy called! (Which was a pleasant but unexpected surprise!) What a long day though, out of the house at 8:30 and not back until 11:00!
