Final week/Ultima Semana

The last week was very hectic because I had to pack, take four finals, re-visit all of my favorite places, and do last minute shopping, all in four days. My girlfriend returned back to the states on that monday, it was crunch time for me. Those days and nights were absolutely hell, just because I was out of 'school mode' for an entire 6 months, but I made it and finished strong. The final night, without finished packing, I went out with my close friends from my program for the entire night, trying to stay up till sunrise. We visited all of our favorite nightlife hotspots and said goodbye to familiar faces from bars and clubs we regularly visited. Attempting to leave our mark on the eternal city, some of us could not retain our alcohol, so I made sure some of my buddies made it back safely. Strolling into my apartment near sunrise, I finished up packing and saw the end of the sunrise from my window. Around 7 am, Dave and I rolled our giant suitcases down four floors and grabbed a cab to the airport. After we got through security and realized that our abroad experience was coming to an end, we spent an hour reflecting on what we learned the past four months.

What I can take away the most from this, amazing life-changing experience, is appreciation and opportunity. Looking at the dichotomy of the two cultures (American and Italian), I now appreciate the diversity that encircled Rome, the value of public transportation, the full use of a dryer for my clothes in the states, how economical the Italians are, and the notion of space. Being such a new country, we have so much more room here than over there, but that does not mean I did not enjoy the housing and lifestyle. I just now appreciate how much more space we have to work with here than there, which is an advantage to Americans because we desire to keep building and expanding. Also, every time I saw a gypsy or some poor person, I would think to myself of how much more opportunity us Americans have than any other country in the world. Yes, we may be in slump right now (economically), but that does not disprove our country's willingness to provide us enough to live freely. Italians cannot feel or say the same, because their government does not run same way. I do not regret this experience whatsoever, and strongly encourage anyone that has not taken up on such an opportunity, to do so. The best and moth memorable four months. Hands down.

Malta

The guys
Paradise Bay
The resort
Quickly, I would like to say that my blogging was put on hold for a few weeks because I was preparing for finals and I was entertaining a friend visiting for nearly two weeks. Two weekends after my eventful trip to Munich, my roommates and I went to Malta to kick it on the beach in the extremely hot weather. Following the first day, we all ended up getting toasted and looking like lobsters for the next week. Every hour, we were in dying need for aloe and some shade, but neither was really readily available, so we had to suck it up and stick it out for the next few days. Even though our bodies were telling us to avoid anything hot for a long time, we could not resist Paradise Bay, our resort pool, and the Blue Lagoon. Laying out with drinks, cliff jumping, diving into underwater caves, and eating often, pretty much sums out our three day trip to Malta. The water was the bluest I have ever seen before, and the island was very rocky and desert like. For the future traveler, Malta's terrain may seem unattractive, but isolating yourself in the north part of the island with a good supply of food and drink, will keep anyone happy.

Munich

Fruhlingfest (Spring Fest)
BMW museum
3 Series
Dachau Concentration Camp
Mike sleeping in the restaurant booth
It all started on thursday evening, when Mike, Gabe, and I were on our flight to Berlin. We were halfway there, when they alerted everyone we had to make an emergency landing because of the volcanic ash cloud. I was not really too worried, more pumped cause I am loving adventures these days. Easyjet said they would provide us all with hotels, but that ended up being false, so I had to sleep in the Munich airport. We found some benches in the corner of a restaurant and I ended up only getting like 2 hours of sleep because a German lady was hitting the three of us, yelling at us too, probably telling us to wake up and move somewhere else. So we got up and tried to figure out the schedule for trains going to Berlin, but when we found out that the berlin airport was closed, we just got a train to the center of Munich. We arrived at the main train station and just walked around for a bit. All of us were so tired and gross, we went to a McDonald's to wash our faces and I changed my shirt. Then we kept walking around and found a tour group leaving for a concentration camp, so we all looked at each other and said why not. We took two trains out to the concentration camp, called Dachau, which was the very first one. That was some quite intense and very deep stuff, and I was taken back by the entire place. After spending a few hours there, we headed back and went to find a hotel, a cheap one of course. So I got a two person place, then we snuck gabe in later in the day. We dropped off our backpacks, then headed over to Spring Fest (it's like a smaller version of Oktoberfest) which was sooo much fun. It was opening night and so much was goin on, so we just grabbed a liter of beer each, and just started drinking. After two beers, we walked around the place, which pretty much reminded me of a state fair. We found this giant tent with a bunch of tables and a big stage in the back part of it. Folk bands were jammin out on stage, while everyone was just throwing them back. So many american students there, pretty much all studied in Florence. They were definitely making huge fools out of each other. We had a great night there, and we all headed back to the hotel. We realized it was only 11 or so, we decided to take a short nap then go out, but all of us ignored our alarms and woke up in the morning. Next day consisted of us going to the BMW museum and Olympic park/campus. Both were really sweet and enjoyed them soo much. We got back to the main station in the late afternoon, cause we planned on buying an overnight train ticket from Munich to Rome, but we found out we could not get a train back till tuesday night. So we all were panicking because we would be missing classes and feared that we would not be excused for our absences. Then Gabe got a Facebook message from one of his friends saying that there was a bus that would be leaving for Rome on sunday afternoon. So we quickly signed up for that bus, which was a huge relief. Then we all were like, hmm we need to find place to stay tonight. I instantly thought of the site Couchsurfers.org, which Mike had an account on so we looked for places to crash. The site is made up of people that offer up their couch for the night, as a means to give the person a free place to stay. So we finally found some dude named Tom. I ended up called him because it was such late notice, and he said he'd love it if we all stayed over. So the three of us met him and his friend at a metro stop near by and followed them to their apartment. When we arrived at their place, we set our stuff down and they were right there waiting to hand us beers. We talked for awhile about life and politics, and Tom got carried away and just talked too much. He had so much to say to us about life and how he perceived humans as all the same; that every human was equal and all of the societies should combine to one. I thought he was crazy and had way to much to drink, but a Western European German from the outskirts of Dresden is cultured in such a different way, so I was not too surprised they were so open minded about life. After a few more beers and more philosophical talks, we passed out. We woke up in the early morning so we could head back to the main station. On our way out of the apartment complex, we ended up scaling a fence to leave his place because we were locked in. When we got back to the main station, we hung out in the Starbucks till it was time to catch the bus to take us back to Rome. The ride was about 12 hours, but was not too painful because we drove through the Austrian Alps then through Bologna to Florence. So that was my crazy weekend, all thanks to a volcano in Iceland. Looking forward to the next ridiculous trip.

Hungary

Last weekend, I went to Budapest with my cousin Mike and my roommate Mike. This trip was more meaningful than just some random person wanting to see the city. For me, I accomplished something that I have always wanted to do; I met the rest of my family, the side that was forced to stay behind during the '56 Hungarian Revolution. My father and his parents were the only ones to flee the country before the Revolution picked up and turned ugly. When I arrived, it was late wednesday night, so we all took a taxi to the hotel. The next day, we got a nice breakfast in and took a bus to the city centre, then we walked to the top of a hill where there was an amazing view over the entire city. Just standing there, looking over the Pest side and the boat-filled Danube river, was awesome. After walking around for awhile, I met up with my cousin Bondi, who I had not seen since '93. Now, he's 24 and studying business finance at the Budapest business and economic school. While he and I caught up, we walked around the same area more, just enjoying each other's company. Bondi is actually one of the few relatives that can speak english, which paid off because my cousin Mike is the only other one that can speak Hungarian fluently. Then we all piled in Bondi's car and drove down the hill to eat in a restaurant. I got goulash, which was a must, and a chicken dish with apples and a cheese sauce. We then went to a giant park to walk around a castle and explore Hero's square, which had all the statues of important Hungarian military figures. Later on, we walked around the shopping district so I could pick up a Puskas jersey, the biggest soccer legend in the country. Bondi then drove us back to the hotel and we got ready for dinner at my great aunt ZsuZsa's house (my grandmother's sister). I had met her before, but had not seen her since '93 as well. She could not have been happier when I walked through the door. She immediately said I had filled in, since the last time she saw me, and also looked like my dad. Talking to her and eating the food she made for us, made me feel like I was at home, well in Cleveland at my grandma's house. I ate so much that I felt as if it was Thanksgiving all over again. Just the most full I have been in the longest time, I almost passed out right there. Then Bondi came over and we all sipped on some palinka, a liquor made up out of fermented fruit. It had such a big burn going down, I could not understand how everyone else could drink it so easily. Soon after, Bondi took us guys out to experience the nightlife of Buda. The night was really fun, and I was able to meet Bondi's brother, Olic, who I was meeting for the first time. Those two also have another brother, named Nico, who is on the Hungarian National fencing team and was in Turkey fighting in a the junior world championships. He will most likely appear in the London Olympics in two years., which will be really cool to see. The next day consisted of just more sightseeing on our own, without any relatives, biking around a large park on an island in the middle of the Danube. We left the park in the middle of the afternoon to make an early dinner at my other great aunt's house, Kari, who I met around '93 like the other two. She was ecstatic to meet me, just jumping for joy because it had been the longest time since we last saw each other. She had made my favorite Hungarian dish, chicken paprikas, and it was even better than when I had it last. She showed me so many pictures of when she last saw me and shared stories about my dad. That night, we decided to not go out because we had a wicked late night and could not fathom drinking alcohol, especially palinka. The last day was very fun because I met my dad's second cousin and first cousin. They drove up from Kecskemet, about an 90 min drive from Budapest. That was the part of the family that came from where my dad was born, which meant more to me cause I wanted to get a close as possible to where my roots stemmed. Two hours after sharing pictures with each other, we headed into the centre to meet up with my dad's other second cousin (Laszlo) and his new wife for lunch. That was really fun, because I had seen him back in '98, and we had some fond memories from when he stayed at my house. Following the long lunch, Laszlo drove us back to hotel where we met the people I met in the morning for one big goodbye. After saying goodbye, I hung around the hotel till the taxi picked us up to take us to the airport. I really did not want to leave because this entire trip made me feel like I was home, and that the family around me was around me my entire life. I was so glad that I took the opportunity to meet the rest of my family because it was uncertain as to when I would have the chance again to meet/see them. Such a fun trip and great time. I will make sure to return within five years and come back knowing more Hungarian, so I can hold a decent conversation, rather than forcing my cousin to translate 24/7.

Spring Break pt. 3: Dublin

Dave in the wax museum
Me with Bob in the wax museum
Dublin was way too cold
My hostel

Spring Break pt. 2: Barcelona

Club Apollo

Club Opium
Bull fighting arena
Plaza outside hostel

Spring Break pt. 1: Amsterdam

First coffee shop in Amsterdam
House boats

Amalfi Coast

Last weekend, I went with my program down to the Amalfi coast for three days. We stayed in a hotel in Sorrento, then took a bus down the coast, stopping in Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello. The weather couldn't have been better; bright sun, zero clouds, low 60's. Got to see some pretty sweet views, drank the best OJ ever, and rode on a boat up and down the coast. I don't have much more to say because I think the pictures will say enough. I definitely wanna invest in a villa on the cliffside here, for sure.

Firenze

View from Piazza Michaelangelo
In front of Ponte Vecchio
Duomo views

So this past weekend, the roommates and I went to Florence and got to see many things. We arrived there in the late morning on saturday, and left mid afternoon on sunday. When we got there, we checked into our hostel and relaxed for a bit. We realized we were wasting time by sitting around, so we decided to walk towards the center part of the city, and we came across the Duomo. It's this massive basilica on top of this huge church, which i believe is a gothic church, and you're able to hike to the top to see an amazing view over the city. All of us signed up immediately, and decided to ascend up all 463 steps. Roughly halfway up, you're able walk this tight path up in the inside of the basilica, and you can get right up next to the frescos that were painted in such amazing detail. As we kept walking, the stairwell got steeper and narrower. When we finally reached the top, the view was better than expected; just an amazing view of the city and the surrounding hills in the backdrop, with the larger snow-covered mountains sitting in the distance. When we got to the bottom, we grabbed some lunch and walked around peeking into churches and walking over the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge). Soon before sunset, zach-man decided to head up to the piazza michaelangelo, to watch the sunset and see a great view of the city from the other side of the river. Even though it was a bit nippy, we managed to stay up there a while during sunset. We then took a bus back to our hostel and took an hour or so nap before dinner. Because it was one of my roommates, gabe's 21st bday, we decided to take him out to a nice dinner and then head to the clubs. The nightlife isn't as great as the nightlife here in Rome, but we found a cool club called 21, where it was all blue lights with white stucco walls. Kinda cave-like. You could say we all enjoyed our night in our respective ways, with some great stories throughout the night. Everyone survived, thank god. Sunday wasn't too pleasing because we all felt the wrath of saturday night pretty hard, but had to get up and go see the David. Luckily, the line wasn't too long and we got inside in no time. The David was definitely bigger than I thought, but was still really cool to see how detailed one could get, even back then with the limited tools they were allotted. The rest of the day consisted of walking around a flea market and taking a long train ride back. Overall, Florence was amazing, and I would strongly recommend everyone to do all the things I did. Solid weekend for sure.

One month in...

Since we don't have classes on fridays, last friday, I decided to see a few parts of Rome that I've never seen before. I wanted to go to some non-touristy spots, just to say I got to see something that most people haven't seen. On top of Aventine hill, were some cool churches and schools. Down one of the roads, where the egyptian embassy was, there was this giant green door, with a keyhole to look through. Through the keyhole, was the most amazing view ever. You saw this green tree garden, almost like a tunnel, and at the end of the green-tree tunnel, was the vatican sitting in the background. Sure the vatican was on the other side of the city from where i was, but the trees were cut in a way that outlined the shape of the vatican. It was one of the coolest things i've seen yet. We then walked back down the street and saw some orange trees, which we had to pick, even though there was a sign that said 'stay off the lawn', so dave and i quickly jumped to grab one each from the trees.

So yesterday started off early, like mad early. I had gotten only like 2 hours of sleep, and what was even worse was that our train got delayed an hour and a half for no reason. So we were chillin at the train station for like the longest time. Went to a McDonald's, which was a bit crazy and sweet at the same time, cause they had the weirdest trash bin. It was like a robot. We finally boarded the train at like 840, and i passed out for the next 2 and a half hours till we got there. The day couldn't have been more perfect, well the weather that is; the air was much more crisp and fresh then Rome. We were trying to figure out what bus to take and we ended up missing the first bus, so we had to wait like 40 minutes, which sucked so we played cards until it came back. Got on the bus and rode it all the way up the mountain, which was super sick, just an amazing view really. So when i got to the top, we just kept walking up and up. Stopped at Basilica Papale di San Francesco and saw some tombs, then walked up even further and went into and olive oil shop, where we met the man, Francesco. He's lived in the states, been to 40 of them, and has two daughters that live in the states. He hooked us up with free samples of olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette, i was in shock when i tasted the samples. I was so hooked on all of this, i HAD to buy some bottles to bring back for my rents. He told us that most olive oils that we buy are mixed, because they aren't produced and bottled by the same person, which means the quality isn't the best. Also, the color of true olive oil changes because the color of the olives change each year. Then we went to go eat and i had a bomb lunch with ravioli and the best bruschetta ever. We then kept walking up and up, stopping at little parks and lookout spots to see over the valley. We then found a rock wall to chill on and rest, since the dogs were barking. We got real tired, real fast, but that didn't stop me from climbing up even further to the summit, where this ginormous castle stood. When i reached the top, i had the most picturesque view over the valley and village. I was definitely glad i made the trek out of the city, to take a break from a loud and busy place.

Culture shock

Things the italians are missing out on:

1. Dryers (I now know how valuable a dryer is. We have to hang all of our clothes, and most of the time, the clothes end up discoloring a bit)

2. Ketchup (They have something like it, but nothing beats Heinz)

3. Push-buttons at the cross walk (first of all, the traffic laws seem to be inexistent, but the you can't signal a light to change with a button)

4. Bagels (you can't go wrong with bacon, egg, and cheese on a bagel)

5. Paper towels (all they use are dishtowels)

6. Butter (it has to exist, but no one has seen it yet)

7. Peanut Butter (Nutella is all there is, other than jams)

8. Cheddar cheese (the roommates and I tried to make cheese burgers, and has to use another kind of cheese)

9. Fast restaurant service (the italians love to take their time and allow their customers to have plenty of time between courses. we waited forever...)

10. Preservatives (going to the grocery, all you see is fresh food. You don't need to worry about extra preservatives or chemicals in food to make the food last longer)

Same game, new atmosphere

So yesterday, Dave, two of our roommates (mike and zach-man), and I went to Stadio Olympico to watch Roma vs. Palermo. On our way to the game, we had some trouble finding our way to the metro stop that would take us to the stadium, so we all pitched in to grab a taxi to not miss the game. After the taxi dropped us off, we sprinted to the stadium; the stadium lights lit up the Roman night sky from far away, and as we got closer the crowd got extremely louder. I was definitely pumped for this whole new experience in an entire new atmosphere, even though it was the same game. Running into the stadium, we were dodging italians just merely walking, as if the game didn't start for another hour or so. But not us Americans, we didn't want to miss one second of this epic match to be. Roma stands second in the Seria A table, while Palermo stands seventh. When we got to our seats we found ourselves bumped up next to the Roma fan's section, with a line of guardsmen in between them and us. The atmosphere was nothing I've experience before. I've been to an Arsenal vs. Chelsea match, but the fans are nearly not as crazy and out of control as the italians. Those italians know how to stir up the crowd and keep the stadium bumping with excitement. Roma ended up scoring four goals, with Palermo only scoring one because of a pk from a trip right inside the box. The chants and celebrations could not compare to an MLS match at all. MLS not only seems like a joke, but now I know it's a joke compared to these star-studded leagues in Europe. Us Americans need to step it up on all levels, when it comes to the game of soccer; from the fans to players and just the game itself. What an outrageous place to be to watch a football match.

first full week

"Sweet Caroline, bah bah bah..."
This week was quite more eventful than the last week for many reasons. First, everyone started their week of intensive italian for two hours a day, to try to expedite our understanding of the italian culture. Today, everyone took a quiz that determined which class they would be in for the rest of the semester. Second, on Tuesday's, an Irish bar called Scholar's hosts karaoke night, which of course my friends and I took advantage of. Dave Ferriero and I took the stage and sang 'Sweet Caroline' by Neil Diamond, which got the entire place going; definitely going to be a weekly occurrence. Third, today after my friends and I completed our quizzes, we made our way to the colosseum and walked around. As we were walking around, I spotted one of the more famous Ohio State athletes, A.J. Hawk, who played football and currently plays for the Green Bay Packers. No big deal. I wish I got a picture of him, but I didn't want to be too creepy, but I have a few witnesses. Lastly, this morning started with the entire city witnessing history, as we all watched snow cover the eternal city for six or so hours. The last time it snowed here was 1985, which is incredible because a majority of the people in the city were born after then. Well this weekend, I'll be experiencing my first big italian soccer match (AS Roma vs. Palermo), which I'll be posting about at the end of the weekend.

The kids playing soccer at the field near my apartment
Trevi Fountain
Jesuit world headquarters with flat ceilings

Adapting quickly

The past few days have been all about learning from this eternal city; from the monuments to interacting with the locals, I've found myself learning very quickly the way of life around here. The people are either very warming to Americans, especially the people in the central part of the city, or they keep to themselves, like the people in the zones outside of the central part. On friday, the IES team split up the students into roughly 6 groups of 20 or so students, to venture out into the historical city. My group went off into the most central east part of the city where the Pantheon, Spanish steps, and Trevi fountain are located. We learned many interesting facts about churches and historical landmarks that effected the story of Rome. For example, the world headquarter of the Jesuits, which is church, wanted to make this magnificent church with a gigantic dome on top, but the Pope told them they couldn't because he was building his own dome (st. peter's) that wasn't going to be as big as the Jesuits dome. So he told them to figure it out and deal with it because he wasn't going to be embarrassed by them. The Jesuits decided to be quite creative by painting the ceilings to convince everyone that they were arched (it's actually very convincing). The frescos are incredible, yet to mention that no one can tell that the ceilings are flat. After roaming the streets and making our way to the top of the Spanish steps, my group kept climbing higher over the city, in order to capture a gasping view over a city that has been here for thousands of years (still unfathomable). When the tour groups returned, we were released to head home. My friends (dave, mike, and zach) and i headed back to our flat in Monteverde (bout a ten minute bus ride from central rome). Then dave and i heard about a soccer field behind a church near by, so we stopped by and found three young italian boys (bout 10-12 yrs. old) kicking the ball around. It was so much fun to try to interact with italian people, especially when you can barely speak the language. I have found that it's more comfortable for the foreigner to interact with kids, because they don't judge you as much as an adult would. After an hour or so of kicking around, we left the field feeling more confident to interact with italians and more confident about our soccer skills....but not really. I really did feel that this new environment was becoming less foreign and more comfortable; seem to be adjusting quickly.

The view of St. Peter's down Via di Conciliazione
All of the cars just park any way they prefer; the way of parking is just so different and unheard of in the states
St. Angelo's Castle

Just a typical cobblestone covered side street east of the Tiber

First day

So being here in this amazing city is quite the culture shock. I spent the day with Dave Ferriero walking around the city looking for power adapters and computer chargers. We then did some of our own site seeing, looking for the IES center and walking through the narrow cobblestone streets eating real pizza. The time difference has been painful because I have been up since 9 am yesterday and haven't had much time to sleep. This day has been the opposite of a relaxing day for me. But I'm looking forward to what the next three and a half months will bring