Two Different Worlds

One thing that I love about being here is how it's possible to have so many diverse experiences in a very short amount of time. For me, this past week was like that.

Last weekend, I returned to Spain for the third time (I just can't stay away from the place!) to see the beginning of the Las Fallas celebration, which a fiesta that happens every year in Valencia during Semana Santa (Holy Week). The fiesta has religious origins, but nowadays it's more about the party, it seems. For a week, the streets of Valencia are filled with people and huge, colorful statues made of a papier-mache like material. People spend massive amounts of time and money building these things and then at the end of the week, in one evening, they burn them all to the ground and it's like the city is on fire. Crazy.
I wasn't there for the burning, unfortunately, but I did get to see some amazing fireworks shows, a good concert, crazy parade, and the "mascleta," which is another Fallas tradition: each afternoon in the main plaza of the city, there is a ten-minute or so volley of firecrackers shot into the sky. It seems to go on forever, especially to the ears! So loud. I have never seen anything like it before.

Another thing that made Fallas fun for me though, was visiting some friends that I made during the summer when I studied Spanish at the Adventist college that is very close to Valencia. I stayed at my friend Elias' house for the weekend, near Valencia, and spent my time with him and his friends. It was cool to be able to experience the fiesta with locals, although it was a little difficult trying to keep up with them with my not-so-great Spanish. I have forgotten so much since the summer, and now Italian has taken over my brain! It was definitely a challenge, since not many of the Spanish people speak English, but it didn't damper my fun too much.

After I returned from Fallas, we had our last day of classes for almost a month! And then headed to Rome for two days. I had been waiting for this trip for so long. Since I was little, I've had this obsessive fascination with Rome, particularly the Rome of the ancient Romans: Coliseum, forum, Circus Maximus, the whole bit. And finally my dream of seeing it all came true! Standing inside the Coliseum was so surreal. Not to mention seeing the ruins of the ancient Forum, the arch of Constantine, and a prison where the apostles Paul and Peter were legendarily imprisoned. After that there were famous piazzas, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and Santa Maria Maggiore, another important church. Rome has so much to offer! It is so big, there was nowhere near enough to see half of what there is there, so I know that in my life I will go back. One disappointment: we weren't able to go inside the Vatican Museum and see the Sistine Chapel or the famous Raphael paintings. So I contented myself with St. Peter's Square and the Basilica. The Vatican City is rather amazing. St. Peter's is so huge and intimidating. While I was there, the new pope was giving a mass. The place was crowded, since it is just a few days before Easter.

So Rome was a good experience. It has a different feel from Florence, that is for sure, but I definitely loved a lot of things about it, and I will be back. I threw money in the Trevi Fountain, so that means my return should be guaranteed!

Coffee With the Italians

One of the things that I find so interesting about Italy is the people, I have to say. I had a long break between classes this morning, so I decided to make the ten-minute walk to the Piazza Dalmazia near the school. I had a few things I needed to do, like withdraw money and mail some postcards, and I also wanted a coffee, so Piazza Dalmazia, a pretty big shopping area, was the perfect place to kill two birds with one stone (or as the Italians say, "Prendere due piccioni con una fava," which literally means "to keep two pigeons with one bean," a little bit kinder version of our saying!) I made it to the bar, after being stopped in front of the Careggi university by a young man giving out pamphlets about a series of meetings on the Catholic church. He and I spoke for a few minutes, and it wasn't until after I had walked on that I realized "hey, that whole conversation was in Italian!" It's always exciting to have those moments when you really feel like you have a grasp of the language and are more a part of the culture, instead of being the "stupid American" on the outside looking in.

But anyway, I made it to the bar, ordered my caffe latte (only acceptable to drink before noon), and then started observing the other people. There was one older man who looked exactly like Mark Twain, complete with white hair and big bushy white eyebrows. He ordered a drink that turned out to be white wine mixed with Campari, a type of liquor that is a bright red color. At ten in the morning! And no one even glanced his way. He took the drink, had a long gulp, and then walked over to the mirror that took up a good part of one wall of the bar. He looked in the mirror, smoothed his burly white moustache a little, and then drank the rest of his drink. I laughed a little bit inside.

My other favorite characters of Italy are the older women. They all seem to be the same: short, still fashionable with their nice black or brown leather heels and pretty jackets. They travel in groups, carrying large leather bags and talking rapidly to each other, using lots of hand motions, their fingers always bedecked with gold rings. They are adorable and I love to watch them.

I think there is a lot to be learned about a country or city just by observing the people. It is something I have learned to do more while I've been here: just quietly observe people-and life.