Carnivale!

I know I haven't blogged in a while, but life in Ascoli Piceno has been pretty quaint.  This weekend is Carnivale, though, and if my father ever passed down down anything to me it is a love for the Mardi Gras season.  I'll be sure to update the blog on Monday about all the Carnivale festivities!  I'm going as a cat.

BUT, things stateside have been very exciting.  Today is the first day of Cardinal baseball!!  Also, I was elected to be on the Executive Board of Student Activities Board as VP of PR.  Quite an exciting time.  But with all the good, there has to be some bad.  The Billikens unfortunately ended their nineteen game winning streak, but are still looking good on the two year winning streak over my heart.

Peace and Nutella,

MR

Amsterdamn it Feels Good to be Back in Ascoli Piceno.

The sweet Italian air.  The sweet Italian cobblestone.  I'm back.  After what reality says is four days but I say is one year, I'm back.  Study abroad time is a whole different entity from real life time.  But, I digress.  Let me fill all you in on my time in Amsterdam.

It started off on my first EasyJet flight.  I'm already a pretty horrible flyer back in America.  Even my easy up and down 50 minute flight from St. Louis to Chicago can send me into a fit of sweaty palms, gripped armrests, and uncomfortable seat-mates.  The panic started even before the plane took off.  Sitting in my polyester throne of terror, there was a very real part of my that was convinced that a safe landing was not guaranteed in EasyJet's low-budget ticket to Amsterdam.  I've repressed most of the flight but Kelsey deserves a blog shout-out for calming me down and dealing with my crazy.

After miraculously surviving the flight, I was ready to take on Amsterdam.  Kelsey, Meredith, Ben and I got on the train (with free WiFi - a hot commodity, mirage of wonder, akin to heroin to us study-abroaders) and made our way to Hostelle, the all-female hostel where Kelsey, Mere and I were staying.  Describing the hostel is difficult.  I think they were going for groovy-funky-girlicious-chic.  They were successful.  There was a lot of pink, complimented by a lot of posters for Katherine Heigl movies.  It was clean and had unlimited free marshmallows, which is all I could ever want in a hostel.  Thanks, Hostelle.  

The day after the arrival was my big moment.  Jersey Boys in dutch.  As I wrote previously, I'm a somewhat disgusting human being that knows the Jersey Boys script by heart, so I had no qualms about the language barrier.  It was at the Beatrix Theater of Urtecht where I twice got mistaken for being Dutch.  I guess the baby face and freckles blend in more here than in Italy.

The rest of the trip is blur of another Jersey Boys viewing, walking around, seeing the D Team morning prostitutes, and french fries.  Amsterdam really needs to work on their Nutella offerings.  I am so glad to be back in Ascoli Piceno.  And get this.  Who was milling around the piazza as we walked back from our bus this afternoon?  THE GHOST OF AIREDALES PAST.  Seriously.  Alive Italian Cupcake was in the piazza wishing me a warm welcome back to Ascoli.

If you're wondering where the prostitutes, windmills, and Anne Frank reviews are in this post, I already been there and seen all of that a couple of years ago with my family and Grandma.  Prostitute row with Grandma.  I remember it fondly.

CIAO!!

PS Another shout out to my Billiken Basketball team.  All they do is win.  I miss you all but the "Bring Back Mary Rose" temporary tats are a bit much.
PSS Another shout out to SLU Theatre for a great opening weekend of Middletown!  I miss you all and your lack of "Bring Back Mary Rose" temporary tats are a bit insulting. 

Wednesdays: The Best Days.

I did it!!  I interacted with the youth of Italy!  I was understandably nervous seeing as every time I interact with a child in my family, be that cousins or children of cousins, they seem to cower in fear or wail at the top of their lungs.  Thankfully, I found my niche with the 10 year olds of Italy.  The second they walked into the room, they noticed me and immediately attacked me with questions.  Some funny ("Do you like Nutella?" "Do you eat French Fries?" "Do you know Selena Gomez?"), and some unexpectedly personal ("Are you Catholic?" "Do you have a boyfriend?").  They are all so adorable that I of course answered anything and everything they wanted to know.  I got a little frustrated with myself for not being able to understand a lot of what they were saying, but they talked so loud and all at once that it was quite difficult.  However, they seemed impressed with the Italian that I am able to speak.  Next week we are talking about how American school works.  I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to teach these "ragazzi" English!  One girl, Anastasia, wrote "I love Mary Rose" on the board.  I may not have been Queen Bee of 5th grade back in Oak Park, but I certainly am in Ascoli Piceno.  Take that, Lions!  Also, I found out that after Carnivale, I am getting another class to teach!

Tomorrow the group is going to Amsterdam!  On Friday I'm seeing a production of Jersey Boys (my favorite musical/thing on this Earth) that is spoken in Dutch and sang in English.  The sad/disgusting/impressive part is that I'm confident that I'll know exactly what line they are saying despite the language barrier.  We return Monday.  I'll try to get a blog out on Saturday or Sunday!!


Ciao!!!

Alive Italian Cupcake Update

Saw the dog again! And I got to touch it!!!!!

Weekend Recap!

Sorry for the long delay!  After three months in Roma and about two years in Firenze, I couldn't manage to get a blog out last night.

Going out Thursday night before our 6 AM bus to Roma was a bold choice for us.  To make a long story (and morning) short, 75% of us dragged ourselves to the station and boarded our bus to Roma.  Those 4 AM travel wake-up calls from my Dad finally paid off!  After looking for our hostel, finding our hostel, and downing some much needed caffeine, we started our "Tourists in Roma for One Day" tour.  If you couldn't guess, this tour features the highlights of the Colosseum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and the ruins.  I remembered a lot from when my family and I were in Rome, but mostly I remembered going in a lot of churches and my mother's custom Angels and Demons tour. Rome was touristy.  Like a more cultural Disneyworld.  It was beautiful, no doubt about it, but the amount of English being spoken, the people peddling fake Gucci bags, and the exhausted screaming children (been there), was a huge difference from Ascoli.  Although I did get a Nutella crepe which was amazing and I have no regrets about that.

Me being basic by the Trevi Fountain

After some night time gelato by the Trevi Fountain, we headed back to our hostel to prepare for another early wakeup to meet our bus to go to Florence.  We took a tour geared towards college students.  It was very different from the Hefner Tour de Firenze featuring every church ever built that I had been on eight years ago.  It was good to have someone showing us the way around, though, because it was easy to get lost in Firenze.  We saw all the major sites and got some shopping in.  This time I went for the Nutella Waffle, which was just as good, if not better than the crepe.

Bringing the basic to Firenze (and accidentally blocking the Duomo...)

We walked approximately 500 miles that day in Florence and had the worst returning bus ride ever, so everyone knocked out when we got back to the hostel.  The next morning I used my quirky girl senses to find the hipster shopping part of town.  It was a great success.  Probably because I used Google.  Anyway, we found a store where the woman made all the clothes in store, and I got an adorable dress.  While searching for food we stumbled upon an "Urban Handicraft Market", which was the BEST.  It was all quirky jewelry and clothing, and they have it every weekend.  Definitely heading back there soon.  

1:50 rolled around and we either missed the bus or the bus never existed.  Either way, we camped out in a WiFi-enabled coffee shop until our 4 PM bus.  All of us were pretty homesick for Ascoli.  The difference between our quaint Italian town and the bustling, study-abroad haven of Rome and Florence is monumental.  We eventually got back and had a stressful situation on our hands because we thought there was a Taken situation happening but all ended up well.

Today I went to the school where I will be teaching English.  Diana, one of our program directors, walked me to the school which is right by my apartment.  She knocked on the door and the teacher came to talk to us.  I saw a little boy's face peek out behind her in the door, disappear quickly, then another little face popped up.  Two seconds later there were 15 little Italian kids staring at me, when one piped up and said "ENGLISH?!" to which I said "Si!" and they freaked out.  Even the children can tell I'm American just from looking at me.  Anyway, I'd say I'm pretty popular with the under 10 crowd here.  My first day teaching is Wednesday, I can't wait!!

My fingers hurt now.

Ciao, 

Maria Rosa

P.S. I know the whole Billiken Basketball team reads my blog, so just wanted to say congrats to my boys on the win.

I Have Not Been Taken.

No worries, Dad, no need to unleash your particular set of skills, for I am fine.  (Mom, if you could explain the movie "Taken" and that quote to my father, that would be great).  It's just difficult to live up to a blog post about your deceased dog stalking you.

 Life in Ascoli has been pretty quaint and normal, which is exactly what I wanted.  Today I bought cornetti (think croissants but better) and carried them down the street while saying "Ciao!" and "Buongiorno!" to all the Italian cats, dogs, and little old men I have made friends with.  Magical, right? Later this afternoon my culture went on a walking tour of Ascoli Piceno, where we saw the old remaining Roman monuments.  We saw little churches, old stones where women would wash their clothes, and even got to go under a modern bridge which was built atop of the older one.  In this old bridge we saw a dead rat.  But it was an Italian dead rat, therefore more beautiful and chic that one could ever imagine.

Tonight we're going out, capped out with 6:00 AM bus ride to Rome!  After a day in Rome we are taking a day trip to Florence, then returning back to Ascoli via Rome.  I've been to both those places a long time ago, but I'm very excited to return.  Gotta go get my lock from Ponte Vecchio.

I promise a lengthy and great blog post following our weekend trip!!

Ciao!!!

How Does One Say "Cupcake" in Italian?

Studying abroad doesn't automatically insure that every day you have is full of happiness, wonder, rolling meadows, pizza, Kinder gelato, and white wine.  Though I may have the last three often, the occasional glum moment does arise.  A couple of days ago, my dog Cupcake passed away back in Chicago.  She was 13 in human years, which is pretty great for an Airedale.  She had a great dog life full of killing rodents, terrorizing my cat, going to the beauty parlor more than me, starring in so many unfortunate christmas cards, and eating a lot of good meat.  It was tough to hear she had passed, but then something happened...

She's stalking me.  My dead dog is stalking me.  There she is at Pub Murphy's.

And here she is chilling out in the piazza.  I've seen "Alive Italian Cupcake" at two separate establishments and it still throws me for a loop.  I have yet to approach Alive Italian Cupcake, because I'm not quite sure if she's tangible, if this is a situation where I am both Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg and she's pulling a Swayze, who is really to say.  What I do know, though, is that I love Cupcake and I'm very glad for my time with her and for the appearance of Alive Italian Cupcake.

"The O.G. Cupcake"

(Grandma- OG means Original Gangsta)

Arrivederci, Ascoli. Buongiorno Sochi!!

Ascoli, you've been nice, but it's time for me to head to Sochi.

After my retirement from soccer, I thought I would never touch the sport again.  My golden days in the Classic League were long behind me.  I kicked, I scratched, I pushed, and I probably cried a bit.  So when some of our Italian friends invited us to play soccer, I was understandably apprehensive.  But I toughened up, laced up my gym shoes, and got back in the game.  We all knew the beautiful game would find me again.  

I transcended back to my days in the good old black and gold.  It's almost embarrassing for me to play, because I really don't like making other people cry when I make so many goals.  Part of the reason for my retirement.  The Italians kept saying "Perché non vai a Sochi?!?!?!" But I'm too chill for Sochi.  Not my style.  I have to leave the game behind me now.

After a fun day of soccer, it's time to unwind with some Kinder gelato and vino bianco. 

Ciao,

Maria Rosa

My Les Mis Moment.

For a real minute, I thought I was going to have the chance to build a barricade, run around in a frenzy, and call the International Student SOS number, which apparently gets you a helicopter and brings you back to America.

I was walking to get my hair cut when I saw that there were a lot of people in Piazza Arringo, gathered around a giant black flag.  This is when I started to get excited.  I was picturing canons and people singing while holding rifles.  But hair comes first, so I carried on to the hair place while trying to translate "Red and Black" and "Do You Hear the People Sing" in Italian.  When I was there, all the sudden there were fireworks going off.  And chanting.  And smoke.  But, I learned, IT WAS ALL FOR SOCCER.  Ascoli's soccer team is pretty minor league, but I completely underestimated how passionate these soccer fans are.  I thought there was going to be riots.  I was completely ready to run out of the salon with half of my hair cut to go protect Yoghi from getting tipped over or hurt.  Thankfully no Kinder gelato was harmed.

We don't have school on Fridays, so the five of us still here in town went out last night.  We went to Italian karaoke, which is pretty fun.  I like to try to figure out what the songs all mean.  Everyone here in Ascoli is really patient with me trying to speak Italian, which I am grateful for.


Ciao from your favorite giant,

Mary Rose.

Dear NBC/Fox Searchlight/HBO etc.

If you want the rights to my study abroad blog, please pay me now.  I need more euro to buy Kinder gelato, jars of Nutella, and cute Italian clothes.

Thank you,

Maria Rosa.


PS No great blog today, studying for un molto difficile Italian test.

One Week in Italy - Observations

Have I really only been in Italy for one week?  Are we all sure it hasn't been a year?  My flight adventure seems years ago, and I feel as if I have been eating Kinder gelato my entire life.

Some observations I have conjured up during my week in Ascoli:

1.  I should have brought an umbrella.  But I'd much rather use umbrella euro to buy Kinder gelato, so I might just have to brave the rain.  Hopefully it ends soon, but I'm in Italy so I don't really mind.

2.  I don't know if I need to contact Dateline NBC about this or anything, but there are no grown up dogs here.  They are all puppies, and they all wear fashionable coats.

3.  My goal for getting mistaken for a real Italian just once is out the window.  I don't know wether it is the ghostly pale skin, the freckles, or being relatively Sasquatch-ish, but all of us Americans stick out like sore thumbs here.

Meredith, Kelsey, Jess, Ben and I got a taste of the nightlife on Saturday thanks to our new friends!  It was really fun.  People are making less vomiting sounds at us, which we all appreciate.

On Sunday, our whole group took a one hour bus ride to the city of Ancona, which is on the Adriatic.  It was beautiful despite the downpour going on.  It's where the Italian rapper I like is from! I didn't see him, but I did see an opera!  Similar enough.  It was called L'Elisir d'Amore (The Elixir of Love).  It was a beautiful modern adaptation.  They had to use the understudy for the main actress.  The chandelier stayed put.  BUT, the curtain call was quite different from anything I had ever seen or participated in in American theatre.  I could feel Gary Barker, Tom Martin, Nancy Bell & co. cringe.  No uniform bowing, not quick, all in all it probably took 5-7 minutes.  Which is apparently the norm for Italian operas, especially because the understudy did such a good job.

Meredith, Ben, and Kelsey are finishing up their homework and then we are braving the rain to get some gelato.

Ciao da Ascoli Pioggia,
Mary Rose

Everything Here Revolves Around Food.

Ciao tutti!

I left you last while talking about my feelings for wine and Nutella gelato.  Rest assured that those have remained constants through my time in Italy (especially the Nutella and Kinder gelato. Ciao, Ben & Jerry's).

My first week of school has ended, and it has been great.  I have a feeling that all these classes will be really fun and educational, and will help my Italian a lot.  But as much as I love the classes, I think my favorite part of the day is the break after our morning Italian classes.  We have become regulars at Il Cavallino, in case there was any doubt about that happening.  Between their pizza margherita and their caprese panino, I could eat there every day.  Saveria and Stefano (my new parents, the lights of my life, my saviors) welcome us with open arms every day.  Saveria is a queen and has really been helping us in our search for Italian friends.  Grazie Saveria!  Our group has a goal to get our picture on their Wall of Fame, and if we can accomplish that, I think I can speak for everyone when I say that is when we will truly have came, seen, and conquered Italy.

After Il Cavallino we made our way to Yoghi for gelato, which I can tell will be a pretty regular occurrence.  Yoghi is the gelato shop with "Kinder" flavor.  Kinder is a chocolate bar here that pretty much makes your Milky Ways and Three Musketeers look like clumps of dirt.  I'd keep a count of how many "Piccolo Kinder in una coppetta" I've had, but I'm almost ashamed.

Oh, did I mention that after this break for food, on we then make our way to a class about food? Yes. The Philosophy of Food.

In other Italian life events not revolving around food, we're going to the opera in Ancona on Sunday!! And we have begun booking trips, and right now we have confirmed a little weekend getaway to Florence and Rome and a great trip to CROATIA! A country in the Mediterranean I have never been to, which is pretty hard to come by.  

Ciao!