Amanda Good: Study Abroad in Italy 2016

Well, we made it.

Our flight landed at about 3:20pm (East Coast time, which feels like 9:20pm to my body, but I’m hardly feeling it!). 

We got off the plan, headed for customs, and made it through in about an hour. Not too shabby at all. After customs, we went through the TSA Pre-Check procedure, which was also pretty easy. After TSA, we found which gate our flight would be boarding from and made our way in that direction.

By the time we got to the foodcourt area, our tummies were rumbling for the American goodies we’ve been missing for the last month. Dr. Tippett left us to go take a nap in the little sleep suite place (I know, I laughed too) and we high-tailed it for a table then into the Starbucks line. The Chick-fil-a was our next stop immediately after.

I am so thankful for that meal.

When we finished eating, we headed to our gate, and that’s where I’m sitting now. It’s 6:45pm. Our flight is at 8:50pm and will start boarding at 8:20pm. Robert Frost’s whole “And miles to go before I sleep” makes a lot more sense now. I am living it. 

I don’t have the energy to write any more about this travel experience because I’m exhausted, but there will be updates to come as I readjust to my life as an American over the next couple of days/weeks!

Another ‘what a day.’ 

I woke up around 9:20am and headed to breakfast in the hotel since it ended at 10:00am. After breakfast, we went back to the room and finished packing ourselves up because check-out was at 11:00am. 

We checked out on 11:00am and walked around the shops for about 45 minutes before heading back to the hotel since our ride to Naples was coming at 12:00pm. 

Our ride came at 12:00pm and the first ¾ of our ride was really traffic-heavy. A 90 minute ride from Sorrento to Naples took us well over 2 hours. Once we (finally) got to the train station, we had about 30 minutes before train to get adjusted and figured our where we were going. We figured out which platform was ours and when it was officially announced, we (and everyone else on our train) high-tailed it for the platform to get to our seats and get our luggage situated on the train. I said a little prayer once we got onto the train and in our seats - thank God we made it this far. Little did I know, this was the easy part.

When we got to Naples, we looked for a taxi. Once we found one, we got loaded up and in the car. We got moving and the driver informed us that the hotel we were headed to was too far for him to drive and he wouldn’t go that far. Instead, he took us to the local train station. By “local train station,” he really meant above-ground metro that was super scary and sketchy. Traveling is about being flexible and confident. Yeah, yeah, easy for you to say. But we did it. We rode that scary train for 35 minutes – 9 stops – to get to the stop where we needed to be. But we made it. Once we got to the local train station nearest our hotel, we walked through the…uhh…hood? It was a neighborhood that we were not comfortable walking in. 

We walked 15 minutes in the blazing heat and through crowds of people, suitcases in tow (so embarrassing), to finally make it to our hotel. Once to our hotel, hot and malnourished, we got checked in and settled then headed out for something to eat. We weren’t too picky since our last meal was 9:30am and it was 6:30pm at this point. I ate a sandwich and fries for dinner. After dinner, we headed to the pub beside the hotel for a drink and hung out there for a while before grabbing some gelato and heading back to the hotel. 

I showered and I’m sitting in bed now. It’s just about midnight and my alarm is going off at 6:45am to get packed up and some breakfast in me before we check out and head to the airport at 8:00am. Our flight is at 11:05am (5:05am East Coast time) and we will in Philadelphia at 3:55pm. At 8:50pm we will fly to Raleigh and we’ll land at 10:17pm. We are almost home and I couldn’t be happier. 

My Fitbit says that I’ve walked 9,779 steps, or about 4.08 miles, and climbed 8 flights of stairs. 

Today was really just spent relaxing. I woke up at 8:30am or so and we headed to breakfast around 9:30am, since the hotel’s breakfast ends at 10:00am. We ate breakfast then headed back to the room. Kayla and Elizabeth went back to sleep almost immediately, and Taina laid down and relaxed for a while before eventually falling back asleep. The perfect opportunity to watch a movie. I laid in bed with my headphones in and Netflix on. 

Two-and-a-half hours later, the other girls woke up and we started getting ready to head out for lunch. We went back to ‘The Kiosk,’ the same restaurant from yesterday, and I ate fish and chips. One of the best meals I’ve had since coming to Italy - hands down. I cleared my entire plate. 

After lunch, we headed back out to the shops for Kayla and Elizabeth to pick up the sandals they had made at the sandal shop, and to gather any last-minute souvenirs and gifts. 

Sorrento is a little bit tourist-heavy; I don’t know if it’s because it’s a holiday weekend here in Italy or if it is always this way during this season, but there are tons of people here, especially in the markets and shopping areas. It was crowded in Rome and Florence too, but I’m enjoying Sorrento much more than I enjoyed Rome and Florence. Don’t get me wrong, Rome and Florence were great, but I love being able to see the ocean and the colorful building that cascade down the sides of mountains here. 

When we finished with the shops, we headed back to the hotel to relax a little before making a plan for dinner. I took a short, 30-minute power nap - one last siesta. After my nap, Taina and I sat by the pool for awhile while Elizabeth and Kayla tried to walk down to the beach. They made it to where they could see the ocean, but not down onto the sand. They also said that it was a much more intense walk than they had anticipated or prepared themselves for. Another trip down to the water was no advised. (Especially since our hotel in Rome is right on the beach.)

We headed back out for dinner and I got pizza and a glass of wine. Delicious.

After dinner we got some gelato and walked back to our hotel. 

We are packing ourselves up tonight and trying to get a good night’s sleep to travel for the next couple of days. We’ll spend the morning eating breakfast and getting together the last of our things before checking out of the hotel at 11:00am. We are getting picked up at 12:00pm tomorrow to go to the train station in Naples. Once we get to the train station, we’ll have about an hour to find our platform and validate our tickets before our train arrives at 2:40pm. We’ll get to Rome at 3:45pm or so and we’ll get a cab from the train station to our hotel. 

Today I walked 6,278 steps which is about 2.62 miles, and climbed on 3 flights of stairs. 

What a day.

Our alarms went off at 4:15am. We jumped out of bed (according to my Fitbit, I slept for exactly 3 hours and 25 minutes), threw some clothes on, and stripped our beds with enough time to walk to the bus station and make our 5:30am bus. Yes, 5:30am. We made it.

Our bus made it to Arezzo at about 6:25am and we walked across the street from the bus stop to the train station. We already had our train tickets in-hand, but we needed to spend some time caffeinating ourselves and finding our platform before we committed and validated our tickets. Our train was due at 7:25am; we validated our tickets at 7:20am. When our train pulled up, we were standing towards the front end of the platform. Of course that backfired when we had to sprint - cross-body purses and backpacks on, dragging suitcases behind us - to the other end of the platform because we were in car 9. Our car and seats were assigned because we took the fast train in order to have minimal stops between Arezzo and Naples. Our train only stopped twice, at two different train stations in Rome. Due to construction, our speed was slowed down and we were delayed in arriving to Naples about 30 minutes. Something about the queue of trains coming in and space on the tracks. Yeah, yeah, okay.

When we arrived in Naples, our plan was to catch a local train to Sorrento, then take a cab from that train station to our hotel. And then -- an angel from God appeared to us in the form of an older gentleman named Dominic, a car driver who offered us his services. We were a little hesitant at first, but after a quick pow-wow, we decided he was totally legit and the cost of having him drive us to Sorrento was about the same as the cost of paying for another train ticket and a cab. Plus, I think we all would’ve done just about anything to not have to sit on another train for a little while. Low and behold, we made it to Sorrento just fine. In fact, we will probably call Dominic to pick us up on Sunday and take us back to the Naples train station on Sunday when we have to head to Rome. We are very thankful. 

When we got to the hotel (admittedly a little earlier than check-in time), we checked in then waited around the lobby for about 30 minutes while our room was being prepared for us. Once we got to our room, we got settled and claimed beds and just sat for a few minutes. It felt good to take off our shoes and just sit. Until we tried to plug our phones into the wall. Not a single outlet in our room would work. We tried a variety of combinations between plug adapters, charging cords, and iPhones before calling the reception desk and asking them what was up. They sent someone who couldn’t figure out the problem, he went to get someone else and they couldn’t figure it out, so they informed us that they would be calling the electrician and he would be to our room in about 30 minutes. By this time it was 1:30pm so we headed out for lunch and shopping while this electrical mess got sorted out.

We ate lunch at a place literally called “The Kiosk” and I enjoyed -- wait for it -- chicken tenders and fries (better known here as “chicken sticks and chips”). It was awesome. After lunch, we headed out to explore what Sorrento has to offer, but more importantly, a little shop called Sandali Siniscalchi, a shop where leather sandals are made in-house and are even customizable. They have the sole comparable to Jack Rogers and beautiful leather straps that make you feel like a Greek goddess. (Just call me Aphrodite.) Everywhere we turned was Limoncello this and Limoncello that, lemon-scented soaps, and lemon-shaped candles. Lemons are a thing. So are almonds. We were able to gather the last of our gifts and souvenirs (God willing) and we sort of shopped-till-we-dropped. (We had the opportunity to taste Limoncello while we were out. We did. It literally tastes like lemon-flavored rubbing alcohol.)

We didn’t come back until about 5:30pm. We got back to our room and, well, our outlets still didn’t work. So we went through the whole thing again, calling the front desk and have them come wiggle a few things and push a few buttons. Still nothing. So they contacted the electrician and he arrived quickly, temporarily kicking us out of our room for about 30 minutes. Not a big deal, we just headed to the hotel’s pool. Which was nice and shady, without a drop of sunshine, and we roughed it for about 30 minutes before we were too cold to deal with it anymore. By the time we got back to our room, the outlets worked. Thank God. 

We sat and regrouped for a little while, letting our stomachs growl, before we decided to venture out for food. We found a small restaurant less than a block away from our hotel that said “taverna” outside, and since we had so much luck with the pub in Sansepolcro, we figured it was worth a shot. I got spaghetti with garlic and olive oil -- it came with chili pepper, but I asked for no chili pepper. (Guess who still got chili pepper. This girl. Mouth on fire!) It was delicious though; it really hit the spot. After we ate, we walked back to the hotel and I hopped in the shower. 

It’s 10:19pm here and I’ve walked 10,436 steps, or about 4.36 miles, and climbed 9 flights of stairs. I’m running on 3 hours and 25 minutes of sleep, and still going strong! I’m hoping to get to bed at a reasonable time tonight.

Tomorrow we plan to get up at a reasonable time to eat breakfast here at the hotel and relax a little during the morning. Maybe in the room, maybe at the pool -- we don’t know yet! We are heading back out to the shops in the afternoon for Kayla and Elizabeth to pick up their sandals that were customized (I mean, really -- this shop only needs 24 hours to make these sandals!). Other than that, our day is wide open. We talked about walking down to (well, finding) the beach and looking for some scenic photo opportunities. We’ll sleep here in Sorrento tomorrow night, then have the morning in Sorrento on Sunday before heading back to Naples to catch our train to Rome. In Rome, we’ll make our way to the hotel where we are meeting Dr. Tippett and Dr. O’Rourke and spending the night Sunday before heading to the airport on Monday.

(Sorry this is a day late -- I totally thought I had hit “post” last night!)

Today was our last day in Sansepolcro. Like anyone spending their final hours in the place they’ve stayed for the last three weeks, we woke up this morning and went to class (haha). We had our final class meeting at 10:00am; we turned in our assignments, went over a little bit of course content including risk and resiliency factors in families, and then wrapped up our meeting talking about what this experience has taught us, how it has changed us, and how we hope and plan to bring these lessons learned home with us.

Our class met just about up until lunchtime...our final Margherita lunch. Margherita has been a culinary angel to us these past few weeks and I am so grateful. As a college student who lived on campus, then at home, then back on campus, then with friends, then back at home, and now in an apartment, I have an appreciation for a good, home-cooked meal that I don’t have to make myself. Margherita has done that and so much more for us during our stay here in the Palazzo. Looking forward to lunch has been like looking forward to your mom or another family member making your favorite meal, or getting excited about the food during a particular holiday. You know it’s going to be good every time.

After lunch, we did the dishes then headed back to our room for a siesta (gotta squeeze in one last nap!). We ended up chatting for well over an hour before actually falling asleep, and we woke up around 4:30pm. We got up and packed. Thankfully, I had made my packing experience a two-day affair because I finished pretty quickly. I stuffed my suitcase so full that I had to sit on top of it just to zip it, but I’m still well under the airport’s 50-pound weight limit, so I’ll call that a successful pack! I stuffed my suitcase with all of the things that I know I won’t need before I get home, so it’s my goal that I’ll make it through the weekend without opening my suitcase at all -- wish me luck!

The rest of my stuff is packed up into my backpack, including a bigger tote purse (curse you, you beautiful Italian leather market in Florence!) that I plan to use as my personal item when we fly out of Rome on Monday, but I tried to consolidate as much as possible since tomorrow’s travels will consists of a bus, a train, another train, another bus, and a cab. Four girls and a lot of bags.

I am hoping to get to bed at a reasonable time tonight since we need to wake up at 4:30am or so to get all of our stuff out of the room and the beds stripped in time to make it to the bus station (that is thankfully just around the corner) in time to make our 5:30am bus to Arezzo. Lord help us.

We’ll spend the morning traveling, but we’ll be in Sorrento by noon or so. That’s all for now!

Today was sort of a lazy day, sort of a productive day. I set my alarm for 7:55am so I could put my laundry in at 8:00am, since it takes two-and-a-half to three hours for a cycle to complete. After putting my laundry in, I headed back to bed. I’m not sure if I ever fully went back to sleep, but I was resting with my eyes closed, dozing off, and waking back up for a while because I finally got myself up out of bed at about 10:30am. 

I got dressed and headed for the green lounge where I put some finishing touches on my journal assignment and observation assignment since I have to submit them to Dr. Tippett tomorrow. I worked on those assignments until lunch time at 12:30pm. After lunch, we did the dishes before I sat on the couch and goofed around online for a while. I was adding some last minute touches to my journal assignment when Kayla came in at about 3:00pm asking if anyone else needed to go to the ATM before heading to the Travel Agency with Madison at 3:30pm. We all decided to go for the walk because we all needed some more cash. When we finished at the ATM, we walked outside the wall and down the street to the Travel Agency where we met Madison so he could help us make arrangements with the woman who worked there for us to get from Sansepolcro to Sorrento on Friday. 

On Friday morning, we will wake up before the sun and head to the bus station with all of our stuff because our bus is leaving at 5:30am. 5:30am!!! Our bus will head to Arezzo where the train station is and our train to Naples is at 7:25am. Luckily, we will have about 45 minutes at the train station in Arezzo to drink some coffee and use the bathroom before sitting on a train for 2 or 2-and-a-half hours. Once we get to Naples, we will need to purchase a ticket for a smaller, local train that will take us from Naples to Sorrento. Once we get to Sorrento, we will most likely call a cab to take us to the hotel we are staying in.

On Sunday, we will take a cab to the train station in Sorrento, take the train from Sorrento to Naples, then take a train from Naples to Rome. We are expected to get into Rome at 3:45pm and we are meeting Dr. Tippett at the hotel we are staying in at 5:00pm. At that point, we will grab dinner, swap stories from the weekend, and prepare ourselves to hop on a flight because to the United States on Monday morning. (Praise God.)

I know that the four of us are capable of doing this kind of travel, but it doesn’t make it less anxiety-provoking or intimidating...considering I have never done any traveling like this before, not even in the United States. And we have only done day trips since arriving in Italy, so we’ve never had to maneuver the busses and trains with our luggage. I’ve also acquired a few more belongings since arriving in Italy...

Before sitting down to write this, I started the beginning stages of packing. And by that I mean I have rationed out the clothes that I’m allowing myself to wear for the next five days and my suitcase is completely stuffed and still, by some miracle and the grace of God, under the weight limit that the airport sets. (Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten any stronger during this trip so it’s kind of a struggle, but I’ll manage.) I am having to get a little more creative in my packing solutions than I did when I left the United States, but it’s fine. Everything will make it home! Even if it kills me!

I’ve walked 6,743 steps, or about 2.81 miles, and I’ve climbed 5 flights of stairs.

Taina and I woke up this morning around 9:00am to check out the Tuesday Market. We had been told that this market was comparable to Rome, on a much smaller scale, and that it was definitely worth checking out. The person who said that is extremely sweet and generous. The Tuesday market is more comparable to what we see at the flea market at the fairgrounds. It’s sort of the junky stuff; ya know, the “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” kind of stuff. We walked through all of it, all two or three blocks of it. We passed every booth on every side street. Anticlimactic.

We came back and I worked on my assignments until lunch at 12:30pm. We did the dishes after lunch before heading down to the classroom. We had class from about 2:00pm until 4:00pm. During class, we had a guest lecture from a friend and colleague of Dr. Tippett’s. Her name is Dr. Kathleen O’Rourke and she is a professor and coordinator of the Aging Studies program at Eastern Illinois University. We discussed aging trends like life expectancies and Blue Zones, areas of the world where people are leading and living longer lives. Several reasons have been identified that point to long life expectancies in different cultures: disease, diet, chemical pollution, radiation, climate, mental and physical stress, type of medical care, nutrition, and sanitation practices. Specifically in Italy, the Italian lifestyle is leading to a long life, particularly in Sardinia. The factors that are considered significant in the Italian lifestyle are food selection and consumption patterns, dairy consumption, family, intergenerational/elder appreciation, physical activity, wine selection and consumption patterns, and socialization. I think it’s particularly valuable to note the differences seen in the United States and the American culture. Processed foods, preservatives, fast food, couch potatoes, obesity, heart disease. Some might argue that we don’t have the same kind of access in the United States to farm fresh produce and preservative-free meats. Perhaps we might, for a certain price. A high price. To an extent, I totally agree. Here in Sansepolcro, for example, the produce is essentially local and you pretty much know where your meats and oils are coming from. You can buy it from the Pam or you can get it from a friend or neighbor. Like I said, we don’t have that kind of access in the United States. But we are also lazy. We don’t get out and walk for the heck of it, we don’t make honest and responsible choices about the kinds of things we put into our bodies. We don’t care for ourselves the same way the Italian people care for themselves. 

After class, we made it our mission to book a hotel for this weekend. Taina and I researched hotels before finally finding one to book. Kayla called them to confirm that the online booking had gone through. Tomorrow we will go to the travel agency with our program assistant, Madison, to get all of our train and bus tickets for our trip. And just like that...we will be off to Sorrento in a few short days!

Once that was taken care of, we divided and conquered to scavenge for food. I, like always, got a cheese pizza and brought it back to the Palazzo. We popped Eat, Pray, Love in the DVD player and we’ve been gushing over it since it started. 

Today I’ve walked 6,122 steps, or about 2.55 miles, and climbed 9 flights of stairs. 

It’s 9:25pm and, by some miracle, this entry is complete. Tomorrow we will go to the travel agency, do some laundry, finish our assignments, and begin packing up to leave Sansepolcro. 

I woke up this morning around 9:00am and hopped in the shower. I got dressed, grabbed a bite to eat (you know, the usual), and sat around until lunchtime at 12:30pm. Margherita’s lunch was - yup, you guessed it - delicious. 

After lunch, we were in desperate need of a siesta. I needed that nap. 

I slept for about an hour and a half. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I get home from Italy and I can’t nap everyday. I might miss that the most. (Let’s be honest, I’ll miss the gelato more.)

We had class at 4:00pm. Well, we met at 4:00pm for a multigenerational panel of Italian women. It was supposed to be a 16 year old, a 52 year old, and a 70 year old, but the teenage girl did not show up. That’s okay; Jane (70) and Louise (52) were able to shed light on and share their experiences as Italian women. 

Louise is a 52 year old woman living in Sansepolcro. She has a husband and a 19 year old son. Her father is from Sansepolcro and her mother is from northern Italy. She was born and raised in London, and moved back to Sansepolcro when she was 25. Louise considers herself someone who is more British than Italian, despite having Italian parents and marrying an Italian man. Louise teaches English in a school and privately in her home.

Jane is a 70 year old woman living in Sansepolcro. When she was 8 years old, her father, who worked for the Buitoni (pasta) factory here, was transferred to New Jersey, USA and she lived there until she was 25. She moved back to Sansepolcro and got married in 1972; she has been living in Sansepolcro ever sine. Jane has a husband and two adult children. Her son lives in New Jersey with his wife and their two children, and her daughter lives in Sansepolcro with her husband and two children. Jane describes herself as a “typical Italian grandmother” because she prefers to have her family all together for her to spoil and love. She feels very strongly that the grandparents are an extremely important pillar in the family. Jane’s parents lived in her family’s home with her and helped Jane and her husband, essentially, raise her children.

I’m reminded of my own mom. She has literally said that if it were up to her, we would all just live with her forever.

We discussed the role of technology and compared and contrasted the use (or overuse) of technology in the United States and Italy. We explained that in the United States, it’s not uncommon to see children as young as 1 or 2 playing on an iPad or iPhone, or other kind of tablet. Jane and Louise explained that the use of technology is still present in the youth here, just not children as young as we see in the United States. The women told us that parents and teachers are very honest about the overuse of technology with children, and warn children to limit their time spent using technology. The women also shared that technology is extremely inappropriate at mealtimes, since food and meals are so sacred and valued in the Italian culture. 

Dr. Tippett asked the women what makes the Italian life so good, or so sweet (”la dolce vida”). Both women described the scenery and surroundings including the countryside and the architecture. Also, both women explained that the Italian life is more natural than because the air in the United States is contaminated and polluted in a way that people here in Sansepolcro don’t have to deal with. Also, the preservatives in foods in the United States, like meats and wines, are better and more pure here because the Italian people know where the goods are coming from; whereas, there are preservatives in just about everything we eat in the United States. 

I really do think that (if my people were here), I could get used to the Italian way of life. I’ve said this before about education (Reggio Emilia) in Italy, but I know now that it applies to the Italian lifestyle and culture in its entirety: the United States could learn a thing or two from Italy. We need to slow down and enjoy the ride instead of climbing over people on our way to the top. We need to stop worrying so much about working and making money and enjoy the people we have and the world around us. We’ve got to reduce our commitments and slow our lives down. Go for a walk, look out a window, sit on the porch, talk to our neighbors. Instead, we are constantly on the move, on the go, and driving - practically sprinting - from one obligation to the next. I know myself to be a detail-oriented workaholic; it doesn’t matter if it is schoolwork or summer camp, I have a natural tendency to work hard and over-invest in whatever I’m doing, with little regard for what’s going on around me. Traveling to Italy has given me more perspective and taught me more about empathy, grace, flexibility, and confidence (fake it til you make it) than it ever could have taught me about Families: Italian Style. 

Today was another pathetic day for my Fitbit with only 5,013 steps, or about 2.09 miles, and 6 flights of stairs. I don’t anticipate having many active days for the rest of this week. 

Tomorrow there is a small market that will be in the piazza in the morning that we are hoping to get to before lunch and our class in the afternoon. Wednesday is a free day to work on our journals and observation assignment (it’s due on Thursday). If we can get everything done in time, we might go over to Anghiari on Wednesday, but we’ll see. Thursday we will have our final class meeting to turn in our assignments...only to receive the outline and description for our paper that is due two weeks after we get back (via email - thank God). Then on Friday we embark on our unsupervised journey to...*drum roll please*...Sorrento. Sorrento is just south of Naples and Pompeii. We’ll stay there Friday night, all day Saturday, and Saturday night before leaving on Sunday to head to Rome. To be honest, I would much rather head straight to Rome on Friday and fly out towards America; if it were up to me, that’s what I would be doing at this point.

I’m ready to be home.

I’m also ready to sleep in my own bed and get a pedicure.