macerata university sweatshirt and official italian volleyball! SO EXCITED :)

San Benedetto monument!

San Benedetto!

Casey, Kasey, and Kacie weekend!

So, this is what we did: We (Kacie, Kasey, and I) woke up Saturday morning, went to the train station, looked at the train departures, pointed to a random train, and picked a random stop to get off of.  We ended up selecting San Benedetto. To our surprise, when we were on the train three people told us about how beautiful it was, and when we got off the train... we saw for ourselves! It was such a great adventure!!

A process of wine making!

Conte Avogadro Degli Azzoni Carradori (Winery)

tree they use to make wine corks out of!

Abbazia di Santa Maria di Chiaravalle di Fiastra

Interior of the Chiesa dell' Abbazia

Chiesa dell' Abbazia

Urbs Salvia. Ancient Roman ruins of a theater

Urbs Salvia. Ancient Roman ruins of a temple.

Urbs Salvia. Ancie Roman ruins of an amphitheater.

unbelievable altar.

looking classy on top of the tower.

olive tree.

the fountain the locals used to use as a water source back in the day.

On top of the bell tower. I cant believe I live in this beautiful city!

Valentino and Jovanie (two new italian friends)

the wonderful boys who cooked my roommates and I's dinner!

food friends and fun

     I honestly cannot say enough good things about this place. I literally am having so much fun learning about the culture and about the amazing people on this trip. On Tuesday night, three of the boys in the program cooked dinner for my roommates and I! Mom & Dad this one is for you: you would be so proud of all the food I have tried here! Tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, bell peppers, and lots more, and cooked in so many different ways! And here is the best part... I actually like them! I bet you are excited for when I come home, so you can cook something other than just plain meat and potatoes! :) I am so excited for learning about the food here and even more learning how to cook! I also can't wait to come home and share the recipes I learn, and to have all my friends and family try them!
      Yesterday was a blast! Our Italian friend, Giacamo, had a bunch of us over for another rooftop dinner! It was delicious! He invited a bunch of his friends as well, so it was a mixer of Italians and Americans. The Italians were trying to speak English and we were trying to speak Italian...the communication was a bit rocky, but it was fun to practice what we learn in class! We all had a really good time and met some pretty cool people! Its nice to know Italian students our age here (they come in handy when you are trying to buy something at the store and have no idea how to say it)! 

Gattino! (The Kitty we found) With my roommates Brittany and Shannon!

Ciao Ciao!

Now that things are settling down, and we are all comfortable in our apartment, it’s time for us to buy food and other needed supplies. To get to the good market you have to take a bus, and let me just say… figuring out buses in America can be a challenge, so try doing it in Italy. Another thing that has been a struggle is the fact that all labels on food and drinks are in Italian. The other day I bought Danon yogurt thinking it was going to be the same as all the variety packs in the U.S. …. Wrong. Instead of an assortment of strawberry banana, blueberry, peach, etc; I got prune and melon flavored. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t know what the flavor says in Italian. Gross. In addition to that, everything here is miniature! Our refrigerator barely comes up to my shoulders, I’m going to have back problems from washing dishes at our tiny sink, and there is no such thing as jumbo size shampoo, conditioner, etc!

            I forgot to mention: When I introduce myself as “Casey Earl” to people who speak Italian, when they repeat it back to me, it sounds like Cazie Eel. Everyone here thinks it’s so funny that they can’t say “Earl” so I have taken to the nickname “Eel.” There are also two other “Caseys” on this trip, so I suppose it helps differentiate between us! Somehow, we all end up standing right next to one another when teachers ask our names, and they usually end up thinking it’s a joke when they hear Casey three times. One is blonde, one brunette, and I the red head; maybe we should start a new kind of Charlie’s Angels!

            Yesterday, when we were getting ready to go to class, there was a stray kitten in the street. It was so cute! When I got home from class, much to my surprise there was a kitten sleeping on our table! My roommates had taken it home, a lady brought it food, and they gave it a bath! We named it Gattino. However, since we knew someone would probably be looking for it, we took it back to where we found it. But at least we knew it was clean and had a full tummy!

            Also, yesterday I had my first painting class! My teacher speaks very little English; so, trying to understand what our assignments are is a bit of a struggle. I wasn’t expecting to do much artwork on the first day, but she had us draw our first impression of Macerata! When we were finished she critiqued them and we got our second assignment. I think I’m most excited for that class!

            One of my goals when coming here to Italy was to learn how to cook. My roommates and friend Kasey have been great, and are working on teaching me! Yesterday we made chicken, ham, and zucchini with potatoes! A few days ago I also had my very first salad in which I mixed fruit and vegetables together instead of my usual Caesar salad. Surprisingly, I really liked it, but established that I hate the taste of carrots and apples together.

            I’m having such a great time here and can’t believe that more than a week has already gone by! I’m really looking forward to this weekend; we are planning on venturing to a different city in Italy! (Maybe Venice!?)

Civitanova Marche (one of the most fun words to say in italian!)

Today we ventured over to Civitanova Marche, which is about a 25-minute train ride from Macerata. The train rides from city to city here are absolutely beautiful! NOTHING like a train ride from north-west Indiana to Chicago. They had an open-air market and a beautiful beach! I was so proud of myself because I had a conversation with an Italian! I found a bag I really liked and I asked him if I could see the grey one, he got it down for me and I asked him how much it was. He told me, and then asked me if I wanted it. You would be surprised at how accomplished you feel when you can talk to someone who is speaking in a totally different language!

We then walked down to the harbor and Filiberto showed us where the main fish market is. He also told us that the highest point on the church in Civitanova is also used as a lighthouse for the boaters! After our tour we were set free and we went to the beach. I took my first step in the Adriatic Sea…It was very salty but man oh man felt great. By the water, there were huge rocks and we found one that had crystal-looking things on it, while we were observing a lizard came out of one of the crevices! I always forget there are different types of wild animals in different places.

It has been so incredibly hot here. I am counting down the days until it gets cooler. Walking up theses hills and taking tours outside has been almost unbearable, today it was 92 degrees! The only thing good about it being so hot is that the gelato is just that much more refreshing!

the adriatic sea!

the boats were so rusty and perfect for pictures!

a great day for the sea.

Civitanova Marche

the night festival! (and had the best pork i have EVER eaten)

the sunset!

looking out!

Casey, Kasey, Filiberto (our director), and Eva!

update!

           Trying to find time to write is a struggle, so I apologize if a lot of the time my posts are just pictures. But hey, I guess they always say, a picture is worth a thousand words. However, you may think the scenery in the pictures is amazing…but the camera can simply not capture the true essence of it!

            So yesterday I had a realization. In America (well at least everywhere I’ve been) when you are passing someone on the street, you usually say, “hello” or give them a smile. Not here! No one smiles at all and I find myself still smiling at them, which makes for an awkward passing.

            The food here is SO good, I have been living off of pizza and pasta, and today I went into town to buy fruits and vegetables and for only 3,55 Euro (which is about $5.30) I got 7 peaches, two huge mounds of grapes, and a ton of lettuce! I was so amazed! Not to mention, everything here tastes so much better! Although I will say, yesterday I was craving a juicy cheeseburger and fries.

            One of my friends lives in the dorms of the Macerata University and while moving in met an Italian student (the one in the picture below) he cooked us dinner and we ate on the rooftop! It was so great!

            We also moved into our apartments yesterday and are finally all settled in. Ours is really cute! It’s in a great location and its very cute and Italian (well, I guess that would make sense). I can’t believe how much energy they save here. We were told only to use the lights if necessary, when we are in the shower: turn the water off when you shampoo and wash your body, then turn the water back on, and to not use the washing machine and stove at the same time. Also, all clothes that are washed are hang-dried.

            I had my first day of Italian classes today; we learned the alphabet and numbers! We don’t have any of our other classes for another two weeks, because for these first two weeks we have intense Italian for 3 hours everyday then walking tours. I’m really looking forward to mastering this language and learning a lot about the culture!

Brittany and I's room and the view off our balcony!

our kitchen!

Our new italian friend!

the view from the roof!

the view looking out from the city of macerata.

a stunning church.

The Beautiful City of Macerata!

Today we had our second day of orientation. We explored the whole city, and I love it more and more each time I discover a new building, church, or restaurant. It's been really hard for me to break my American ways and when someone would hand me something I would say "thank you." However, as the day progressed I became more used to using "grazie." Since I haven't taken any Italian everyone on the trip has been so helpful and I am already picking it up little by little (piccolo). :) The people on this trip are awesome, and I have already made some great friends! I recently just had my first scoop of gelato, which was fantastic! After a full day of walking around the whole city and up and down tons of hills, it was well worth it! All I'm saying is, I better get some compliments on how great my calves look when I come back! 

BUONGIORNO!

Cioa! It is currently 7:45 here in Macerata, Italy!
To say that yesterday was an adventure would be an understatement...
My parents drove me to Ohare airport and after going through the usual security process my flight left at 4:00pm. It was a nine hour flight and just my luck, I had to sit right next to a kid who held a barf bag to his mouth for the last two hours. However, we also got to sit next to this guy who only spoke Italian and laughed at us everytime we had to get our pocket italian books out. After finally arriving in Rome, we connected flight to Ancona which was only about a 45 minute flight. When we arrived, we collected our luggage and were on our way. We arrived at the Ancona train station and you should have seen us try to read the time tables... YIKES. Finally, we just went to thicket booth and asked them for tickets to Macerata. When I asked the lady if it was the 11:55 train (in English of course...) she looked at me like I was a fool and wrote down on a piece of paper "11:55????" Once our tickets were purchased, we had to carry our suitcases up and down stairs to get to where we needed to be to catch our train. Let me just tell you, carrying a 50lb suitcase, a 20lb backpack, and a purse up and down stairs and on to trains is rather difficult. Maybe I should have done some push-ups this summer to prepare myself...
     Welcome to our first dumb American moment: We didn't realize that on our train tickets it said we had to be in a certain train car and we had assigned seats, so..naturally, we just hopped on anywhere. Picture six of us on one full train car with all of our luggage and it not being where we are supposed to be. We finally asked someone about our tickets and he told us what we were really supposed to do. Thank goodness it was only a 25 minute train ride to Citanova Marche where we changed trains. Another 25 minutes on a different train, a small little taxi ride, and we arrived in MACERATA!!
     This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my whole life. Macerata is a walled in city on top of a hill and everything is brick and cobblestone, and if you look out to the horizon it is decorated with mountains. 
     Yesterday when we arrived, we had orientation. We were shown the main parts of the city and our two guest teachers and Filberto (our director) talked about information we should know. Sadly, me and the 5 other people I traveled with were only focused on how jet lagged we were. Some of us even dozed off during the orientation and listened to the constant growling of our stomachs. We then got our apartment assignments! I am rooming with two girls named Brittany and Shannon! We get to move in on Wednesday, but for now we are all living in a hostel. Finally, orientation was over and we got to go eat! We also found out that it was one of the girls birthday, so a big group of us went out and had a glass of wine to celebrate! It was only 10:00pm, but we all decided it was time to go to sleep.
     PS: Thanks Dad for telling me to bring my pillow pet! Haha! The pillows here sucked, but I sure was comfortable!