Well, I had bunches of things to report on from last week, but I forgot them all/ they are all overshadowed by my amazingly perfect weekend to Sicilia (that's Sicily, folks).
Let me start by saying that no class at Mount Saint Charles or Stonehill has compared to how great this Italian class is. It's really just because of my friends in the class- every single one if them. We were all pretty close beforehand, making our own little jokes and such, but the weekend just brought us together in a whole new way.
First, we met at 4:45 FRIDAY MORNING. Disgusting. I proceeded to have the most terrifying taxi ride of my life. Our driver looked at stop lights as mere suggestions. It is supposed to take 45 minutes to get to the airport. We got there in 20. Anywho, when we finally arrived in Sicilia and got to the hostel we were all pretty tired, but we only had one room with a bed and a futon. Our genius solution was to fit 6 people in the bed, and 4 on the futon. It was a giant spooningfest. Except feet were spooning with backs and heads were cuddling with legs. When I couldn't fall asleep I decided to go meet some friends who I knew had went out to walk around for a bit. I was still slightly sleepy, so I got a espresso. For those of you who know me, you know I hate coffee. The flavor is too strong and bitter. American espresso, or at least the one's I've had at home are about 10x worse than coffee. Well let me tell you, ITALIAN espresso was about a million times worse than the ones at home. I almost spit it out. Though I am sure my sister, my mom or Wayne would love it. They all enjoy the Italian caffeinated beverages.
Later on, when everyone was dressed and ready to go, we went to this place called Libera. It is an organization dedicated to stopping the mafia. The building we went to holds the Sicilian branch of Libera. The coolest/ most difficult thing was that the man who gave us a presentation on Libera only spoke to us in Italian. That was the point of course, because even in class my Professor doesn't speak English. Regardless, my Professor did stop him at points to make sure we were understanding everything he was saying. We found out there was a law passed that forced any convicted mafia to hand over all of their possessions. The possessions, in turn, go to helping those who need jobs, home or land. They do pretty amazing work there.
Afterwards we went to dinner where Mor and I got the MOST amazing eggplant I have ever feasted on (don't tell Grandma I said that)! We had a four course meal with the rest of the class which was sinfully delicious. The only sad part was that no cannoli was included. Saturday my mission became to get a cannoli.
Saturday when we woke up we were greeted to a yummy, complimentary croissant. We walked over to the theater to get Opera tickets for later that night, and spent the rest of the day touring Sicilia in on and off rain. We visited this castle in which we tried so hard to talk Italian to the tour guides. We understood most of what they said. Then we watched as Greg tried his hardest to record a phrase in Italian in front of the castle. Rola, Mor an Alex did theirs in one try, but Greg had three takes. It was quite funny to watch. We also stopped by arguably the most beautiful church I have ever seen. (And yes, I've been in St. Peters several times.) If you ever go to Palermo, you HAVE to stop in this cathedral. Oh! I almost forgot about the pastry. We stopped in this pastry shop and I swear we bought half the bakery. I got this sandwich thingy and then a piece of Sicilian cassata. It is this traditional cake that has a sweetened ricotta cheese filling covered in sponge cake with a hint of sweet liqueur. YUM! It was dusted with powered sugar. I actually didn't speak at all when I was eating it, just a slight nod to the question, "Is it good?" I found heaven in those few bites. Anyways, still no cannoli. (How does an Italian bakery not sell cannoli's?!)
Later that night we went to the Opera. I had never been to one before so I didn't know what to expect, but it was actually pretty cool. We had the script beforehand so we would know what was going on, but as I was looking around, even the Italians had them out! I thought they might be able to understand what was going on, but apparently not. Afterwards we went to this little restaurant specializing in traditional sicilian cuisine. I got baked beans as an appetizer, and sardine balls as a meal. Why, you ask, would I get sardine balls when I hate sardines? I don't even know. They just called to me. When in Rome, right? Except when in Palermo I guess... For dessert we FIIIIIIIIIINALLY got cannoli's!! *pause for effect* They were quite amazing, but mini, so I still vowed to get a big one on Sunday. Apparently though, I was the only one who enjoyed them... Sad day. Only because everyone still finished them even though they didn't like them. My belly would have made room for them.
Sunday rolled around and we woke up to the pleasant smile of Giuseppe, the guy at the front desk. NOT. We argued with him for an hour about the bill. He was trying to charge us an extra $100 just because of a miscommunication. He should have been more organized, if you ask me. Giovanni, however, was a much nicer employee. He was my boyfriend for the weekend even though he didn't know it because he didn't speak English. It was quite interesting when he would try to talk to us and we would stare at him blankly. His solution was to speak slower. Oh thanks, Giovanni, that's going to help us understand the words we don't know. After we checked out we walked outside to a pleasantly sun shiny day. NOT. It was dreary and rainy. But Christina found her cannoli's so the day instantly perked up. We walked around the beach where Alex and I found the 2 islands from LOST. Or at least they looked a lot like them. We also went on top of a mountain to get an absolutely BREATHTAKING view of Palermo. Even with the grouchy hostel employee and the rain, it was a phenomenal day.
Later that night we flew home. After I tried my hardest to calm Hillary down from the shakiest takeoff ever, we were bonding over not wanting to leave. Wait, Hillary and I bonding? STOP it! Ok fine, we're secret friends but don't tell anyone, we have to keep up appearances of not liking one another :P:P
Honestly, the city overall was kinda of dirty and partly scummy looking, but at the same time it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It was so raw. No tourist traps, no overly commercialized places. Just Italy, as the locals see it. That is what I have been trying to find here in Rome. Spending the weekend with the coolest people on the world was a pretty great perk as well :):)
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