Hola from Barcelona!! Jessica, Madeleine, and I had the most wonderful day here in Spain! We woke up early to get a head start on the day! We got to the beach at around 11 and were there until around 5 pm...needless to say we got enough sun. Jessica is currently holding a water bottle on her back to help alleviate the burn. Oops!! The beach was the most wonderful place. It was perfect weather, not a cloud in the sky and mid 70s. We went swimming, met some French people, and ate Paella! I think we have all fallen in love with Spain. The air is so fresh, the people are so welcoming, and the scenery is to die for. We are now off to Park Guell for sunset and have heard amazing things! Can't wait! Adios! Xoxo Natalie

Hola from Barcelona!!!

This morning we visited the metropolis of Rome - an ex slaughterhouse turned into a living community for all different kinds of people. It was a fascinating area to visit because it was such a diverse community all living together in harmony and democracy. They have weekly meetings to decide on their political goals and their future direction as a community. A lot of the children that live in the metropolis go to school at Iqbal Masih, where me and a few others do service learning! One of Rainy's students found her in the metropolis and we all got to meet him! It was adorable.

After the visit we took the hour long bus journey back to Campo do Fiori, got a quick kebab for lunch, printed our boarding passes (which was quite the ordeal) and took a taxi to the airport. I'm still not used to how crazy the drivers are in Rome - they drive all over the place!! We made it to the airport finally and through security no problem. Our flight boarded late which was frustrating but we still made it into Spain almost on time so it all worked out. Our cab driver from the airport dropped us off a couple blocks in the wrong direction but we met some kind Americans who told us where to go. Turns out the apartment we booked was more like a flat, shared with some nice French men, so they helped me with my French a little bit which was nice, and complimented my accent! We wandered around the surrounding area a little bit and found some cute red bikes to rent tomorrow to wander the city. It'll be hilarious and adorable and I can't wait!

Anywho, tomorrow we plan on visiting all the beautiful sights in Barcelona as well as laying out on the beach for as long as possible. I can't wait!! Even though it's so close, Spain is so different from Italy and such a refreshing weekend getaway! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!! Ciao! Xoxo

May 13rd, 2014------Julie

May 13, cloudy day with a little bit raining!!!

As always, I did service learning with my cute favorite kids in Pisocana. My students and I have been together for one and half month, and we became like friends. Every time I went to Pisocana, my students grabbed my arms and walked around me. One girl asked me to draw cartoon pictures on a white piece of paper. While I was drawing, every other student brought a paper for me and asked me to draw for them too. (I didn’t want to disappoint them, so I promised to draw all of them a painting before I left. ^^) After one hour free playing time, we went to watch a Disney movie – Cars. Although it was not my first time to watch Italian movie without English Title (the first time was watching Spider Man 2), I still felt so funny to hear the sound that I was not familiar with.

Today was also a special day. We were celebrating another roomie – Sydney S’s 21st birthday. It was a happy day for all of us. We prepared a birthday cake for Sydney, and it was a surprise. The moment while we all make wishes and surprise for her, it made me want to cry. Hope it would be a memorable 21^st birthday for Sydney. (We all love you, Sydney S!!! ^^) After that, we were dressed up with black and white, and then we went to a karaoke bar called Scholar. Veronica and Sydney singed a song called I Knew You Were a Trouble, and it was amazing. It was a fun night with full of love and happiness.

This program has been pasted more than half way. I am so appreciate to meet you all in Italy. Love you all! Bella!

 JulieYu

Thursday May 15th

Today was just another typical Thursday! We were able to sleep in before we had to catch the bus for service learning at 12:30. This morning Sydney S, Claudia, Rebecca, Lorraine and I left the apartment early to go to this great café in Campo Di Fiori that Stephanie recommended to us. It has amazing fresh squeezed juice; a few of us got the ‘pineapple, pear and apple’ flavor. It was so yummy I had two! After that we caught the bus to service learning. I am starting to get attached to some of the kids; it is going to be sad to leave them! Especially because we aren’t able to communicate with them in Italian, I feel bad that we won’t get to say a proper goodbye.

After service learning we had our weekly group dinner. Tonight we had Thai food, and I think lot of us agreed that it was one of our favorite meals since we have been in Rome! We had Pad Thai, fried rice, dumplings, shrimp, curry, beef and vegetables… I think I can speak for everyone when I say I ate way too much. I really enjoy group dinner, it is a nice way for all of us to sit down together in a non-school setting and enjoy each other’s company.

A few of us are heading off to Barcelona for the weekend and I can’t wait to lie on the beach, eat paella, and speak Spanish (even though it may be a little rusty). This week went by really fast… so crazy to think our time in Rome is almost over. Ciao for now!

Madeleine

Wednesday May 14, 2014 (Two Weeks Until Class Is Over!)

Today on May 14, 2014 it officially marks two weeks until our last day of class! The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and the wind was blowing! It’s almost surreal that were almost done! Two weeks are going to go by so fast and I think when the time comes I will be more than ready to go back home. Today we had Italian class to start out and it felt like I haven’t been in Italian class in forever because I was very rusty. We just did more conversations together, fill in the blank and learning more verbs in Italian. We only have a couple more Italian classes left and then our final!

After Italian class we had a lunch break and I just took the time to relax and watch one of my favorite shows in the computer lab lol. Today Stephanie brought us some delicious cherries and bread today and they were molto bene. In class we just discuss many things that we had been experiencing so far in Italy. We compared our experience from Turin, to Rome and even to the U.S. Through all of these discussions I think I’m starting to understand that Italy is very complex and so are the people who live here. But I think it’s safe to say that it’s like this in all countries and all people. Overall I think it was a very good discussion for about three hours.

After class later on Claudia and I started to prepare for our trip to Barcelona this weekend at my place. We figured out transportation and how to get to the airport and our hostel. We also looked up things to do and see in Barcelona, Spain. We're so excited and we can't wait to see Barcelona and she can’t wait to speak Spanish! 

-Shontia C.W. 

Monday, May 12, 2014

Lorraine Yu

             

After a few days in Torino, it was a bit difficult to readjust back to the busy streets of Rome.  Stephanie and Amara took us to Piazza Vittorio, the immigrant neighborhood that is right next to Termini Station.  This neighborhood reminded me a lot of San Salvario, where we stayed in Torino.  Amara mentioned that he thinks immigrants tend to gravitate towards living next to train stations because it’s convenient to leave the city and also because immigrants tend to believe that they will only spend a few years there before moving back to their original home.  However, that is usually not the case and they tend to stay where they end up.

We walked around the area for about ten minutes before heading to a huge market that is reminiscent of the one we visited in Torino.  The main differences being that this one was indoors and far less crowded.  Both markets offered fresh produce and food on one side, but the one in Rome had a smaller selection of clothing compared to the one in Torino.  James and I paired up to interview two different people about their views on immigration.  The first person we interviewed was a man who moved to Italy from Bangladesh ten years ago.  He did not really have any opinions on immigration and said that Italians tend to be friendly and are able to coexist with immigrants, especially the younger generations.  He also mentioned that he has children in Bangladesh but it is too expensive to bring them to Italy so he sends money to them instead.  The second person we interviewed was an Italian man who happened to be Roma.  James and I didn’t realize this until after we asked Stephanie.  It can get confusing since Roma and Rome are so similar and Roma means Rome in Italian.  He lives in the Piazza Vittorio area and he loves it.  He owns three clothing shops in the market and was kind enough to show us one of them.  He says that it is hard for both Italians and immigrants to find jobs and also mentioned that he doesn’t believe there is much discrimination towards immigrants in Italy.

After our tour of Piazza Vittorio, Stephanie and Amara took us to get gelato!  At first we were going to go to Palazzo del Freddo, the oldest gelateria in the area but it was unfortunately closed.  We wandered around for about ten minutes and found another one that was open.  I opted for vanilla and tiramisu and both were pretty good. 

Blog: Saturday, May 10th

Sydney Staples 

This past weekend we were up north in Turin to study how immigration may differ between north and south Italy. However, on Saturday, we had the opportunity to leave Turin for the day and night to explore other northern cities. I left for Venice, Italy with Rebecca, Claudia, Shontia, and James at 5:30am! Our train ride was about four and a half hours long, and we didn’t sleep much. When we got off the train and walked out of the train station, the first attraction we saw was one of the town’s famous canals! There were water taxis everywhere. It was incredible. We started heading to our hostel with bags in hands while trying to make our way through the crowd of people also just getting off the train. There was not a cloud in the sky; it was probably 75 degrees at 11am! The streets of Venice are like a maze, it’s extremely easy to get lost in the neighborhood. We found our hostel after turning down a few dead ends, and changed out of our comfy traveler’s clothes. We headed out to the canals and walked around, soaking up the sun and taking photographs of the breathtaking views. The five of us decided we wanted a cheap lunch, so we bought ham and arugula wraps for a few euro. We then explored St. Marco’s Square and experienced the architecture inside St. Mark’s Cathedral. Afterwards, we were offered a ‘deal’ to ride a gondola for just under an hour for a good price… So we took it! Franco showed us around the canals of Venice, and filled our ears with the history of the town. The ride was probably the highlight of my trip. It was so peaceful and perfect, I didn’t want to get out of the boat! After the gondola ride, we wandered along the side of the Grand Canal and ordered drinks and gelato and basked in the Sun’s rays for over an hour. I can’t stress how perfect the day was. It would have been impossible to wipe the grin off my face! After tanning/burning for a couple of hours, we went to the grocery store to buy some snacks and then returned to our hostel. We took a short break and then headed back out for seafood and tiramisu. We read online that St. Marco’s Square is the place to be at night, so we went to go see what was up. There were three live bands playing jazz at a few restaurants, one being the Florian, the oldest café in Venice! We took a lot of pictures of Venice’s nightlife. Once it hit midnight, the bands packed up to go home and so did we. We found our way back, washed our faces, brushed our teeth, and crawled in bed. Bliss.