May 22 2017

Friday afternoon, Giogio and I headed down to Ibla. One of the Rotarians was hosting a typical Sicilian lunch for a Rotary group from Bologna in his little tourist shop.

Along with the Arancine, there was Ragusa's typical dish/street food Scaccia. We also had typical almond and carob cookies, and chocolate from Modica.

A quick picture out the car window coming back up from Ibla.

Friday night, the girls rugby team hosted an end of the year party, to help raise money for our tournament in Lombardia. We've been working really hard to find sponsors in Ragusa, and we raised money at the party by selling sandwiches, mini pizzas and drinks.

It was a really fun party with a good turn out and lots of support. 

We even hired a DJ who played and we had fun dancing at the end of the night when we were done with the sandwich dinner rush.

One of the best events was the beer pong table. (Don't worry Rotary, I know the rules, and was solely a supportive spectator)

Bright and early saturday morning Giogio, Pino, Anna and I headed out for a short two day trip in Malta!

Pino had to work in the morning, so the Gigio Anna and I explored around a bit. Our first stop was walking around La Valeta. Malta is really simular to Sicily but there is a lot more arab influence especially in the architecture. 

Whenever I see a cute street cart, I get excited. I bought a nice little slice of fruit cake, that made a good breakfast sunday morning. 

We decided to take a double decked bus tour.

The view from the bus.

We got off the bus in Mdina to take a walk around, and look in one of the museums (no photos aloud). 

I thought the purple window shutters were really cute.

The view from the walls of Mdina.

The three of us.

In the afternoon we drove across Malta and then took the ferry to Gozo, where our family friends live. Giogio and Pino had to run some errands or go to a meeting (Even between me and Anna we never really figured out what they were doing), and they left the two of us at the house. In the evening we got a little dressed up and went out for a nice dinner with the group.

The next morning the parents abandoned us again with out explanation and Anna and I slept in. They came back with groceries and the group and we had a nice lunch at the house.  I spent a lot of time with this group around the holidays, and they come to visit every now and then. They're kind of like extended family. In this last little period, I'm never sure when I will see people again, so I said goodbye just in case.

I thought this dad selfy was really funny.

We took a little drive around Gozo before heading to the Ferry. It's a small island with only about 45,000 inhabitants but during the tourist season it more than triples in the number of people.

The port.

After heading back with the Ferry and recrossing Malta we went straight to the airport even though we had about four hours before our flight. We passed through the lines and security really quickly, but luckily because Pino is such a frequent traveler we had a comfortable place to hang out in in the VIP Lounge. It was my first time in a VIP lounge and there was a buffet of free food, including some typical Maltese rolls. Anna had introduced me to a new show called "Reign", so we comfortably watched and drank tea before having to catch the plane (only about 45 minutes in the air).

Today, life is back to normal, at least for a bit. Zia Graziella Anna and I got a nice lunch at Le Tre Vie.

May 17 2017

Tuesday, I thought it was a normal day at school, but being the exchange student I always seem to be out of the loop. After first hour, fifth year students and guest offered a range of lesson that people could pick and choose from. I ended up going to "Legalization of Marijuana/Dread Making" "Is Beauty Important?" and the "The Discovery of Harmony". In the picture above my friend Dario is explaining some very complex musical concepts about harmony, that I wouldn't have understood even if it was in english.

Yesterday, for reasons I still don't understand I found Anna's scooter in the hallway.

For thanksgiving, my lovely, Auntie Anna sent me a package that unfortunately arrived a bit late. In the package was a little bag of Minnesotan wild rice, that for some reason intimidated me a bit and has been sitting on my desk for over 6 months. Yesterday I finally looked up some recipes, and got a few ideas. For Giogio, Zia Graziella, Anna and I, I made wild rice salads with arugula, beats, feta cheese and toasted almonds. 

Yesterday I gave a presentation to my Rotary Club about my experience this year. It really made me realize that the year is quickly coming to an end. 

Especially for the fifth year students, these last few weeks of school are an intense and stressful period. Thankfully I have found one other person who has free time and Natasa and I have started meeting up all the time. It's really interesting to hear how different her life in Serbia is from mine in Minnesota. We always meet at the same cafe and after a month of ordering cappuccino's, today I asked if there was hot tea. I was pleasantly surprised by the tea menu the waitress gave me and even happier when I saw there was chai tea! 

Today I thought the bridges looked particularly pretty and felt inspired to even try to take a selfy. 

May 15 2016

This week I made my favorite cherry cheese cake for mothers day! I turned out really well and I was able to have a little mothers day celebration with Giogio, Zia Graziella and Anna.

Saturday night, I did what all the cool kids do and went out with Zia Graziella and Luisa (Martina's mom, Anna and Martina are best friends and so are the moms). We had a great dinner at my favorite sandwich shop.

Sunday I spent the whole day in Caltanisetta with rugby team. It was a hot and sunny day and despite being the only person to bring/use 50spf sunscreen and reapply it three times, I still got badly burnt. 

This week my Auntie Syl passed away. This picture is from her 95th birthday party and the last time I saw her. When I left I knew there was a chance that I wouldn't see her again but was hoping otherwise. She was the kindest and sweetest person in the world, with a a huge heart. It was her time and she was ready to go. We will also miss her tons, but in a way I get to have her with me and show her everything for my last few weeks in Italy.

May 11 2017

Friday night, after our dance lesson the class threw our teacher a surprise birthday party.

Saturday afternoon, Anna and I went to visit her uncle who has a 5 month old puppy.

Sunday the boy's varsity rugby team was playing n Ragusa.

A few girls from the team went to the game to watch but also to sell drinks. We are raising money to go to the final Tournament in Lombardia in June!

The rugby social also had the added celebration of one of the players passing the age limit (of 42 years old!) for the team and playing his last game. 

Yesterday with my school I went to Siracusa to see a tragedy in the ancient greek amphitheater! The tragedy was called "Seven against Thebes", it was very artistic and interesting to watch. The whole experience was amazing.

My friend Olga and I before the show.

May 4 2017

This weekend Bruno was in town because he was preforming in a May day show in Catania. He also did a little show in Ragusa Saturday night so Anna, a few friends and I went to see him.

May 1st there wasn't any school so I went with Giogio and Pino to a country side restaurant that makes fresh Ricotta. In this picture you can see that (after the appetizers but before pasta, sausage and dessert) each person gets their own bowl of hot, fresh ricotta. So far I still haven't been able to eat the whole thing and Giogio and I always split one. 

Cannoli with fresh ricotta filling.

It is now spring in Ragusa, and it is beautiful. On my way to and from school, there is this empty field, about the size of a small parking lot, that has overflown with wild flowers. 

Tuesday I decided to get some fresh air, and sit downstairs at Cafe Roma. Tourist season is starting and I had a lot of fun listening to all the languages. An american man started talking to Maurizio and when I looked up he started talking to me too so I invited him to sit with me. His name was Reed, he's from Michigan and was very talkative. 

Yesterday I got coffee with Natasha, my favorite Serbian girl.

Today Giogio and Zia Graziella were taking their elementary school classes on a field trip, so Anna and I went out for lunch. We always go to "Le Tre Vie" the restaurant owned by the family of Anna's friend Rachele (on the left).

May 1 2017

Happy May day everyone!!!! In Italy there is no school, so I productively used the morning to organize all my photos. This afternoon I will soak up the beautiful sunny day, but I thought it was necessary to get this off my to do list first.

We arrived in France Friday April 14th. We rented a house in a little tourist complex about 20 minutes for Paris Disney. It looked a lot like living in a disney village and was very cute and calm. Our house was the one with the red door.

Anna and I had our own little apartment upstairs. After setting down all our stuff we went to the giant (normal American sized) grocery store to stock up for the week and picked up sushi for lunch.

In the afternoon we drove through the beautiful french country side to the town of Provins. 

"Caesar's Tower (12th Century) 

Built on a hill dominating Provins, the tower symbolises the authority if the Counts of Champagne over Provins and its region...during the 13th and 14th centurie, it served mainly as a prison... since 1693 it has served as the bell tower for St Quiriace collegiate church."

Eglise St Quirance church constructed in 1160.

A little exploration in the country side. (The first few days it was just Giogio, Anna, Davide and I). Continuing our cultural food adventure we went out for Indian food for dinner. 

Day 2 we explored Paris, and Perry was able to meet us!

We spent the whole morning at the Orsay Museum. I saw painting by Van Gogh...

Monet...

Renoir...

and sculptures by Degas!

In the afternoon we saw the Eiffel Tour, even though it was a little gray and rainy.

We saw Napoleon's Tomb (A very big tomb for a physically small man), and decided that the trees outside looked like Sicilian arancine. 

In the evening we went to Montmartre and saw the Eiffel tour light up. 

On our way home we picked up a box of Macaroons which were as delicious as they look!

Easter Sunday was very relaxed. Anna and I spent the morning at the pool. Pino and Luca arrived for lunch and Giogio made some very good lamb (sorry I forgot a photo). In the afternoon we went to a little outdoor outlet to do some shopping. Neither Anna or I are very big shoppers but we both love food, and were really excited by all the things we couldn't find back in Ragusa. We found and split a Bagel and Rhubarb Crisp (Anna's first time trying Rhubarb). 

Monday we were invited to Perry's house in Noyon for an Easter lunch (Once again I forgot to take a group photo, I think Perry took one). Her parents were extremely generous and prepared a million different things. For appetizers we had toast with foie gra! I thought the salad plate was so pretty I had to take a photo.

After a plate of lamb and potatoes we each had a martini glass of vodka and lemon ice cream. Perry's parents are both originally from Poland. They introduced us to a few typical polish traditions, and we connected a bit over the fact that I also have easter european origins). We then decided to take a break and take a little tour of the church.

When we came back to the house there was still more food! We had a delicious french cheese course, and then a million desserts including homemade, typical, Polish pound cakes baked in the shape of animals. 

Even more desserts! 

Tuesday, Anna and I went to Disney Land!

Once again it was a little gray and rainy, and some of the lines were a little long but we had a ton of fun!

We saw Cinderella and a fire breathing dragon. 

April 19th I came back to Sicily. Instead of heading all the way back to Ragusa, I went to Siracusa for the night. Andrea also came up from Modica and we were very generously hosted. One of our friends Nicolas (from Germany) invited us to go with him and some of his friends to the bike path. Not really knowing what the bike path was we went along. About 20 minutes outside of the city there is a long open road and at the end there is an abandoned tuna factory on the edge of the ocean.

The next morning we got on the bus with all the exchange students from Siracusa, and made the journey all the way up to Palermo where we met everyone else. From there we all got on a sort of cruise ship, and spent the night on the boat. 

In the morning we arrived in Napoli but got on the bus to go to Rome.

Our first stop in Rome was Piazza Navona. The piazza was originally a horse racing track and still has the shape of a stadium. The piazza was constructed by the Pope. He chose the Architect Boromini to design Chiese St Agnese. Boromini's Rival Bernini was jealous. Sneakily Bernini gifted a mini sculpture to a wealth women who happened to be a friend of the Pope. The women loved the statue and begged the Pope to let Bernini build a fountain. So Bernini also got to add some of his touch to the Piazza.

 

Next we went to church San Agostine full painted by the famous Italian painter Caravaggio. He was hired to paint the church before he was famous and was paid very little. He was only given 6 month to finish but he took the job because he knew that after his work was in display everyone would realize his genius. Despite being an amazing artist, Caravaggio was know for having a terrible personality and being an overall bad person. His art was very controversial because he painted important religious figures using real models (including the prostitutes he often visited).

Our next stop (and I think one of my favorites of the trip) was the Pantheon! It's amazing that it has survived so many trials when so much of Rome has not. 

"The exact age of the pantheon remains unknown... Most historians claim that Emperor Augustus right hand, Agrippa, built the first Pantheon in 27 BC. It burned in the great fire of 80 AD, was rebuilt by Emperor Domitian, but was struck by lightning and burned again in 110 AD. The Pantheon as we know it today was built in 120 AD by Emperor Hadrian."

Our next stop was the Trevi Fountain!

We started off the morning of the 22nd at the Colosseum! 

"The massive stone amphitheater known as the Colosseum was commissioned around A.D. 70-72 by Emperor Vespasian of the Flavian dynasty as a gift to the Roman people. In A.D. 80, Vespasian’s son Titus opened the Colosseum–officially known as the Flavian Amphitheater–with 100 days of games, including gladiatorial combats and wild animal fights. After four centuries of active use, the magnificent arena fell into neglect, and up until the 18th century it was used as a source of building materials. Though two-thirds of the original Colosseum has been destroyed over time, the amphitheater remains a popular tourist destination, as well as an iconic symbol of Rome and its long, tumultuous history."

Piazza Spagna.

Castel San'Angelo and the Angel bridge.

The vatican! The outer edges were constructed in a curve to represent arms hugging the population.

We had a bit of free time, and with some of the girls I walked to another piazza with an amazing view. 

Sunday Morning we packed up our things and made our way to the Palace of Caserta.

 

The palace was constructed in 1752 and has many rooms solely for visitors to walk through before meeting the king. Each one had it's own theme and is full of art.

In the afternoon we went to Pompei! The streets are full of public water fountains(right photo) installed by politicians encouraging people to vote for them.

The explosion of 79 really conserved everything exactly the way it was. In the left photo there is original red paint, promoting different politicians, and in the left photo original tiles of in a bar. 

"The bodies of victims of the pyroclastic surges had a different fate. For the fine ash fall encased their bodies, hardening to form a porous shell. As the soft tissues of the bodies decayed, they leached away through this later. But by then, the hardened ash had captured and preserved their final postures at the moment of death...Instead of digging through the ash to remove them, Fiorelli instructed the diggers to pour plaster into the hollow.They left the plaster to harden for a few days, then chipped off the outer layers of hardened ash. What was revealed was a detailed plaster cast  of the body of a citizen of Pompeii at the moment of death."

I spent almost the whole trip with Nina.

Our last day was in Napoli, a very big and busy city.

We didn't go to as many historical site but we had fun walking around and looking at everything. 

In Napoli we got back on the ship and headed back to Palermo. The next morning was our last together and we spent some time looking around Palermo. By chance we ended up meeting the Mayor Leoluca Orlando. 

I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to have experienced all these trips, and know I will cherish these moment the rest of my life! For now it is back to like in Ragusa.  I really don't have much time left but I am planning to take full advantage of it.