Festa della Liberazione

On April 25th, Italians celebrate their freedom from the Nazis. By celebration, I mean food and family. For us American students, family means the Italian friends we've made and food means pasta. We gathered together at a friends country home in the hills of Tuscania for Spaghetti con frutti di mare (muscles and baby shrimp).

Our original plan was to conclude the evening on the beach with a falò, bonfire (not to be confused with fallo, pronounced deceptively similar), but our idea was squelched by the tramontana north wind ever plaguing the area this time of year.

Spiaggia di Tarquinia The Beach in Tarquinia


Regardless, It was therapy to my Southern California soul to smell the salt air and hear waves, no matter how piddly they were.

Mia Famiglia Italia My Italian Family

Tuscania Ghosts

Our student advisor, Marco, plays basketball for a small local league in Viterbo. Compared to soccer (calcio - cal chi o), basketball is the black sheep of Italian sports. I found this out when a contingent of us went to one of his games. We had made signs to support the Ghosts and wore green and white. I felt very American yelling at the refs and doing the wave. The team got a big kick out of it however; and apparently we are good luck because they only win when we are there to cheer them on.

Prima Frutti

First Fragole (strawberries) of SPRING!

Loredona had a delicious addition to my breakfast spread this morning - a small bowl of beautiful strawberries that had been soaking in sugar and lemon juice overnight.

She told me (in Italian) that its a bit early for strawberries, but they looked very red so she bought them. These strawberries could easily be the best I've every tasted - the sweet flesh was still firm and the color was an deep rosso.

If these are the first fruits, I can't wait to experience what else Spring has in store!

Italian Immigration

Once you've gone through the hassle of acquiring an Italian visa in the States, you still have to apply for a Permesso di Soggiorno within eight days of your arrival in Italy. This means lots of paperwork and handing over copious Euros for postage and processing.

According to our student advisor, no one ever actually gets there Permesso di Soggiorno due to Italy's crazy beaurocracy, but all you need is the recipt from the post office proving you sent all the documents.

Well, a couple weeks ago, several of us got text messages at 2 am from the Uficio di Immigrazione in Viterbo. Both messages were in Italian and I forgot about them until another student mentioned that she had recieved similar messages. Apparently, no students have ever gotten this far in the process.

So today we had to go to Viterbo to get fingerprinted. This involved waiting in line (not as bad as the DMV and Italians actually know how to form a line), getting each finger copied and then going down the street to a different office with alot of Polizia. Wait a bit longer and then have a complete set of prints taken (each finger, thumb, four fingers, and palm). The two technicians were pretty impressed with my new US passport and laughed about my cold hands.

So, I'm still not sure whether i'll be getting my Permesso di Soggiorno before I leave Italy, but I can check the Immigration office of my list of places to go...

Tuscania

My second study abroad semester has begun. I arrived in Tuscania, Italy on January 30th. Tuscania is a small Etruscan village, located in the Lazio region, 90 miles Northwest of Rome.

I live in the historical center of town with an Italian couple (Loredana and Bruno). The school that I attend, Lorenzo de'Medici, is located just inside the medieval walls of the historical center. Six other students (from Boston; Circleville, Ohio; Chicago; Albany; Sun Valley; Monterey, Mexico) are here for Spring semester and three students are the first set of students participating in LdM's "Three-Cities" program which starts in Tuscania.

My classes revolve around Italian arts and culture. I'm taking:

• Masterpieces of Italian Literature
• Beginning Italian
• Digital Photography
• Foods of Italy
• Tuscania Sketchbook

With less than a week in Italy under my belt, I've already had a completely different experience than my previous semester in Oxford. This blog will be a culture diary, chronicling my immersion into a new and wonderful place.

Photo: View from a park in the historical center ~ Tuscania.