Slowly but surely, I'm becoming American once more

I have a small confession to make...

I've been back in the US for over 2 weeks. I came back as planned on May 10, thankfully dodging any interference from the volcanic ash that I was so worried about.

No longer can I use the lack of internet as an excuse to not update my blog. I am constantly connected to the internet - even more so than before due to my new Blackberry.

So my updates will become more regular and I will bring this blog up to date on all my traveling that transpired over the last 6 months or so.

Until then, I'm planning on making a half-hearted effort to find a summer job and readjusting to life in my native country.

I've already been made painfully aware of the fact that I am no longer in Italy by many different events. I miss the blunt approach the Italians have to life - when I spoke to my friends here, they initially found me to be brutally honest. Needless to say both parties had some adjusting to do.
I can't look at the "Italian food" served in the US, let alone eat it. No pizza for the next few months until I can forget what authentic pizza tastes like. And don't get me started on how dismayed I am that I can't buy alcohol for myself yet. How am I supposed to get my wine?!

But for all the cultural differences, I love my home country. And I can't complain that I no longer have to worry about communication errors when going to the doctors or ordering at restaurants. Plus, seeing my friends and family again continues to be a treat each day.

Now that I'm back I can clearly see huge changes in who I am and what I want out of life - all for the better, I think. But more on that later. And more pictures and stories of my travels.

So here's what I've been up to in Siena for the past few months...

Aside from my travels to other part of Italy, I’ve been having some small adventures here in Siena. A few weeks ago, I went to my first European football (soccer) game. The game was Siena vs. Lazio and it was played here in Siena. In Siena, women pay 6 or so euro less (almost 10 dollars) then men for football tickets. That, plus the fact that the football stadium is only a two minute walk from my apartment, meant that I had no reason not to go to the game.

It was a good game that ended up in a 1-1 tie. I particularly enjoyed the diehard Sienese fans that yelled at the refs when they made questionable calls. Here are some photos from my first football game in Italy.





My class recently took a small field trip to one of the many contrada’s (neighborhoods) of Siena. There, in the Tortuga (tortoise) contrada, we visited the contrada’s church and museum. Each contrada has its own church, museum, and fountain. Tortuga, being one of the winners of this summer’s Palio, has their current Palio painting (which the winners of the Palio receive each year) on display in the church. The museum holds many artifacts and past Palios from the contrada. Here are some photos of it all:






In my free time a few weeks ago, I ventured outside the walls of Siena to a nearby middle school where I tutored some 7th graders in English. I prepared a game about American pop culture in which they guessed the names of American celebrities. I was surprised how much of American culture is present in Italy, seeing as they not only knew who Beyonce and Lady Gaga were, but they were also very familiar with figures such as Obama and George Clooney. There is so little Italian pop culture that I see in America. This makes me feel a little guilty – why is America so isolated and seemingly unwilling to learn from other countries?

About 2 weeks ago I headed down to the center of Siena at the Piazza del Campo to find that there was a huge outdoor market taking place there. I’ve never seen this in the two months I’ve been here, but it was so exciting to see so many people out in this colder weather. The stalls at the market had a huge variety of merchandise including contrada memorabilia, knick-knacks, clothing, accessories, food and wine. I purchased a slightly pricey bottle of Chianti wine (my personal favorite). In the evening, I returned to the Campo and was surprised that the market was still in full swing, now accompanied by beautiful sparkling lights lining all the rooftops of the Campo. It was a very gorgeous sight. Unfortunately I left my nice camera at home so I couldn’t capture the extent of the beauty with my little point-and-shoot, but here are some photos anyways.




My Italian class took a day off from language learning to learn how to cook traditional Italian food! We learned to make rice stuffed tomatoes, a tomato and bread soup, pici (thick traditional Sienese pasta that we rolled by hand!), a tomato sauce, and tiramisu! Then we ate everything we made. So good!

FINALS WEEK: The Final Hurtle

Finals are in full swing now so it's been a while since I posted.

I'm currently sitting in the library, taking a break from a huge take-home final for my Teaching English as a Second Language class (TESOL). I just wrote 6 pages (of pure brilliance constructed from bullshit) and am now chugging an energy drink in an attempt to gain back enough energy to write at least another 3 pages.

There's no question that the library is the least distracting place for me to study (no TV, no beds to nap in, no food to eat) and I am at the peak of my productivity here...but it is so depressing. At least around finals time.

The stress from all the students cramming for finals is palpable. The person beside me is nervously typing away at the computer and some people across the room are frantically flipping through pages of textbooks that look like they have to be at least 500 pages thick.

Alright, back to discussing the importance of motivation in language students and how one can incorporate the internet into lesson plans.
Wish me luck - I need it.

Languages are my passion

I have a goal to learn 7 languages by the time I’m 30. I know, I know…that seems like a bit of a lofty goal, but I’m part way there!

If I put a lot of effort into it (but knowing me and my lazy ways, I won’t) I could quite possibly have those 7 languages down by the time I’m 25.

I’ve studied French since freshman year of high school and am now conversationally fluent, I’m currently taking German classes, I’m in the process of learning American Sign Language (which does count as a language in my mind), and next year I’ll be learning Italian. So there’s 4 languages. Add my native language, English, and you have 5. After returning from Italy next year, I plan on taking some Spanish classes (language #6). Finally I’ll attempt to pick Portuguese or Japanese – I’m still undecided about which one to learn – to achieve my goal of 7 languages.
Now many people ask, as you may, what I plan on doing with all these languages. To that question I reply: I have no idea.