Today is my one-hundredth day abroad.
In the past three weeks, I have been in four different countries.
The four countries are England, Ireland, Italy and France. The past two weekends (the weekend of November 14th and November 21), I have been in Bologna, Italy and Toulouse, France, respectively. Dickinson has abroad programs in each city, which is why I decided to visit these two particular cities.
Bologna is a beautiful, relatively small city in Northern Italy, just south of the Swiss Alps. I went with Dwight Dunston, a friend who is studying in Norwich with me. Our flight from Stansted Airport went directly over the Swiss Alps. I had kept my eyes peeled hoping that I would catch a glimpse of the mountains which were to me only a myth. But as we flew over a stunningly flat stretch of clouds, I suddenly noticed a series of jagged irregularities in the serene stretch of white. They were the snow-capped peaks of the Alps. They were sparse, at first, but as we continued south the became higher and more frequent, and soon, we were sailing peacefully over hundreds of peaks and valleys that reached through the low layer of clouds. It was a spectacular sight. There were breaks in the clouds over some of the valleys, and I could see the grey of the bases of the mountains. The experience sparked an intense desire to pay a visit to Switzerland to see what those incredible land forms look like from the ground. Perhaps next semester...
The plan, for me, was to meet my close friend Gina Del Tito, who is studying in Toulouse this semester, in Bologna. She and I are friends with a man who was an Italian Teaching Assistant at Dickinson last year named Francesco, from Bologna, who is back in his native city. Gina stayed with him, while I stayed in the apartment of Dickinson students for two nights and spent one night at Francesco's. Bologna is a beautiful city. Its streets are narrow and the buildings all have large, colorful shutters. There are two high towers in the middle of the city, one of which has begun to sink into the ground and is now badly tilted, however the other is still standing tall. The churches in Bologna are incredible. They are so different from the ones I have seen thus far in the British Isles. In England, the churches and cathedrals are adorned with intricate stonework. In Bologna, there seemed to be less emphasis on the stonework--the churches were large and relatively plain, yet still very beautiful--but the interiors are decorated with beautiful frescoes and much more color than the interiors of churches in England.
On Saturday night, Francesco and three of his friends took Gina and I to a small restaurant on the outskirts of Bologna. Gina and I were surprised when we pulled into the parking lot, because there was NOTHING else around the restaurant. In the kitchen were three old Italian women. Francesco ordered for us. I had tortollini in a broth. Then, one of the women brought out a huge plate of fried bread, a plate of gooey cheese, and a plate with three different kinds of meat on it, one of which was my favorite, prosciutto. It was delicious. At the end of the meal we had some kind of small glass of lemon-flavored-ice-something-or-other, and espresso. It was absolutely delicious and probably one of the best meals I've ever had.
Francesco was an excellent tour guide and showed Gina and I all around the city. It was wonderful just wandering and taking in the sights. I couldn't believe I was actually in ITALY. It was wonderful to see people from Dickinson (although I didn't know any of them too well) in another country and of course, to spend some time away from Norwich.
Toulouse was fantastic, as well. I stayed with a close friend of mine, Alie Collins, who is staying with a host family for the semester. Next semester she will be studying in Cameroon. Toulouse reminded me in some ways of Bologna: small, winding streets, large colorful shutters. There were also beautiful, ornate ironwork fences outside most of the windows in Toulouse. Many windows had window boxes filled with flowers. Alie and I spent much of our time wandering the city. We went to a photography exhibit, two or three museums, and ate delicious food. I ate ratatouille for the first time (which I thought was hilarious because it's the name of a movie, ha), and I was shocked that I could get myself to eat mixed, cooked vegetables and find them absolutely delicious.
My favorite exhibit was in a museum in a building called the Hotel Particular, a large building that used to be a residence. There were different rooms with different styles of painting--a room dedicated to impressionism, another to pointillism, etc. There were paintings by Matisse, Degas, Renoir, Boudin, Monet, Picasso (before he was doing cubist paintings), Cezanne and Gauguin (and in another room, a sculpture by Rodin, one of my favorites). However there were also contemporaries of all these well-known artists, giving a glimpse of what other artists were doing while the likes of Money and Picasso were gaining their fame.
I believe my favorite experience in Toulouse, however, came in my final night there. It was Sunday night and Alie and I had wandered the streets of Toulouse looking for somewhere to eat dinner. We found a small place called Restaurant Le May on a side street. I ordered a tomato and mozzarella salad to start (not your conventional tomato and mozzarella salad--it was much more salad and a lot less tomato, but I loved it), and salmon with a baked potato and different kinds of cooked, mixed vegetables. It was SO GOOD and I ate all of it. I was pretty proud of myself. But the highlight of this fantastic dining experience was when a young Spanish man entered the restaurant about halfway through the meal with a guitar. There were only two other parties in the restaurant besides Alie and myself: a middle-aged couple and a group of four twenty-something-year-olds. The Spaniard sang three songs, two of which (and perhaps the third, too, I'm not sure) were by the Buena Vista Social Club. He had a beautiful voice, and I loved being serenaded while I was eating. We gave him some change when he came around with a small metal tray. It was great to hear Spanish, as well, after hearing French all weekend and not understanding a word of it.
That was the other thing: I didn't realize I really didn't speak a single word of French until I got off the airplane and went through immigration and muttered the only word I did know to the immigration agent: "Merci." I couldn't remember how to say "please." I didn't know how to say, "pleased to meet you," or, "you're welcome," or even, "I don't speak French." I was so thankful that I was meeting someone who spoke the language. I would have felt incredibly inconsiderate arriving in the country by myself, not knowing any French and not meeting anyone who did speak French; I would have expected the French to cater to my inability to speak their national language. I decided that I would not try never to do that, although I believe it may be unavoidable traveling throughout Europe.
Sunday night, Gina returned from a trip to Madrid, so I was able to spend my last day in Toulouse with her and Alie. We wandered the city a bit more, and for lunch bought baguettes and cheese and pears and chocolate croissants. It was a great way to end my time in France--with two close friends and great food.
And thus ended my travels for first semester. In exactly two weeks, I will return home to New York City for five days, then jump on a train and go to Carlisle to see Cassidy for her birthday, return to New York/New Jersey for Christmas, and then Cassidy will come visit me for the end of December and beginning of January.
Here are my pictures from Bologna and Toulouse
***
I have three papers due in the next two weeks before I come home. And I realized what makes getting work done so difficult here: at Dickinson, I go to class all day, so between classes during the day I don't feel bad about not doing anything productive. After classes and before dinner, maybe I'll do a little work, but then after dinner, it is homework time. Here, since I only go to class three times a week or so (and have my five day weekend), I don't have clear homework time. Therefore, when I wake up in the morning, it feels like homework time. I feel like I always need to be doing work, but when I try to work all day, nothing actually gets done. SO, what I need to do is set time slots for myself. Find something to do in the morning or afternoon that isn't homework, and then set a time when I will start working. I believe this will make me more efficient in doing my work and more will get done in a timely manner. I'll try it out for the rest of the semester, and really put it to use next semester.
I hope all is well with everyone at home and the world over, and I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone over the holidays--Joanie and Pop-Pop, aunts, uncles and cousins, los padres, Cassidy--I CAN'T WAIT! I'll see you all very soon!
-ZMG
1 comment:
sounds like your adventures went spectacularly! i'm so jealous! and i'm also jealous of all the people who get to see you when you're home! enjoy your last few weeks before break! xox
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