To all my ladies out there...

Today is la Festa delle Donne (Women's Day)! 

In Italy this beautiful yellow flower--called la Mimosa--is the symbol of the Italian Women's day. When we got to school this morning, they had a basket full of them for all the girls :)

Una mimosa per tutti le belle donne nella mia vita, vi voglio tanto bene!!

I promise I am going to school...

Party #1: FRIDAY, Themed "things that fly".

Kayla, Brita and Katie had a party at their house last friday which was really fun! There were lots of good outfits, for example: Flight Attendant, lady bug, Super heros, paper airplanes, and I was a flying pig. Best costume though goes to the three in the picture below--the main characters from Disney-Pixar's movie "Up"!! so creative :)

Party # 2: TUESDAY Brittani's mom sent Lauren and I a package full of decorations for Brittani's birthday. Lauren and I decorated her house while she was at class the evening before her birthday, cooked some Bruschetta, and when she came back from class, SURPRISE! We hung out, ate, and went dancing late into the night.

Party #3 WEDNESDAY MORNING(Continuation of Brittani's celebration): Brittani's Birthday BREAKFAST BURRITOS!!

The next morning, we had about 14 people over to Brit's house, and we all brought something to go in breakfast burritos. Whitney saved the day with her 32 oz. bottle of Tapatio (Mexican hot sauce for those of you who are missing out on life and don't know what Tapatio is). 

in the picture below, yes, we are burrito cheers-ing

Party #4 WEDNESDAY NIGHT(later that day, STILL Brittani's birthday): CAKE/PIE TIME

I made Brittani an apple pie with brown sugar and oatmeal crumble, and we bought some gelato to go with it! Alyssa and Lauren made a fruit cake which we also consumed, gladly. After we ate some pie and cake, we went out to celebrate some more.

Party #5: THURSDAY, Ilaria and Valentina (my italian roommates) had a party themed "1950's-60's"

Our house was PACKED with italians dressed up and dancing to all sorts of American classics--The Beach Boys, Billy Haley, songs from Grease---and don't let me forget to mention that those same 2 cds got played on repeat for a good 5 hours. But that didn't matter, because everytime "Rock Around the Clock" came on, everyone danced like it was the first time they'd heard it :) It was SO much fun, and I got to talk in Italian and meet a whoooole bunch of Italians. 

Another thing, Italians know how to feed their guests! There was a whole bunch of food and Maleesa contributed with good ol' American Ritz crackers and a bowl of full of peanut butter. We had to explain to the Italians what peanut butter was, that there was NOT in fact actual butter in it, and they called it "salsa Americana"(american sauce) ...hahahaha

Next party....CARNEVALE di VENEZIA!! pictures from that to come...

Northern Italy fieldtrip

So these pictures are from our field trip we had in the end of January...yes I know I have slacked a bit on posting them! We went to Padova, Vicenza, Bassano del Grappa,...some other little towns and finished in Verona! I would say if you were coming to Italy and didn't know where to visit--go to Verona. It is beautiful, romantic, has some historical stuff, but all together it an absolutely charming place!

On a Sunday afternoon in the main piazza in Verona. As you can see, the old women REALLY have a thing for brown fur coats...

Oh the little things

Are wild strawberries really wild?

Will they scratch an adult, will they snap at a child?

Should you pet them, or let them run free where they roam?

Could they ever relax in a steam-heated home? 

Can they be trained to not growl at the guests?

Will a litterbox work or would they make a mess?

Can we make them a Cowberry, herding the cows,

or maybe a Muleberry pulling the plows,

or maybe a Huntberry chasing the grouse,

or maybe a Watchberry guarding the house,

and though

they may curl up at your feet oh so sweetly

can you ever feel that you trust them completely?

Or should we make a pet out of something less scary,

like the Domestic Prune or the Imported Cherry,

Anyhow,

you've been warned and I will not be blamed

if your Wild Strawberries cannot be tamed.

                                                                — Shel Silverstein (Where the Sidewalk Ends)

Today I bought a little basket full of strawberries on my way home from the gym. It was the first time I've eaten them since I left California!

It was a good day.

Starting a new page

First day of classes for second semester. So far so good--except for the whole "going to class at 8:30am" thing. I am taking a 20th century Italian Art history class where my professor has the greatest Italian-English accent. I've decided that I will take full advantage of that and by the time I come home, will be sounding as Italian as ever.

On another note, I read this today:

"Sometimes we just have to trudge through hard times by faith. When we're completely blinded to God's presence, we must still trust that He is working for good, and press on. We must, as Psalm 130:7 says, put our hope in God's unfailing love. God's love for you never fails. And this same God who loves you with a love that never, ever fails is working in your situation. Rest in that. Command your heart to rest in that. The God who has your best interests at heart, who loves you beyond any person could love you, is working for good in your situation."

 I hope you all are having a great day! 

keepin' things interesting

Beautiful day in Florence today. Kayla, Brita, Caroline and I went to Mama's Bakery, an american bakery which has bagels, muffins, cookies, brownies, banana bread--pretty much everything we Americans do well in the delicious department. I had an "everything"bagel with homemade veggie cream cheese--it was spectacular. 

Now let me segway into why I am writing this post: 

you may not remember because I blogged about it way back in August, but when Kayla, Brita and I first met and walked around the sunny streets of Florence, as we were chatting and getting to know eachother, I ran straight into a pole. 

Flash forward to today. 

The three of us were reminiscing about that hilarious first impression, and  as the words "I like to make my first impressions memorable ones" I ran straight into a pole. 

BRAVA REBECCA.

Now, a picture of a sleepy doggy from Napoli.

Napoli - Sorrento - Ischia

First semester of Studying abroad in Italy: finished!

Crazy, right? 

After finals week it was definitely time for some warm weather, beaches, and some good food a.k.a Southern Italy.

Travel crew: Caroline, Lauren, Brittani and Alessandro.

Our first stop was Napoli- verrrry different from Florence. Much dirtier, and kinda falling apart. But once you got over all the garbage and stray dogs running around, it was kind of charming (in the right areas of course!) 

Caroline on the streets of Napoli

In case you haven't already figured out, I have a thing for pizza. So, Napoli being the birthplace of said delicacy, we made it a point to have as much of it as socially acceptable (which in Italy is in my favor since everyone here eats a whole pizza by themselves...)

Pizzeria Gino Sorbillo is by far the BEST pizza I have ever had, and yes, we went there twice.

My new boyfriend. Everyone says that all the gorgeous men are from Southern Italy--clearly, it's true.

The next day was our one whole day in Napoli--we walked along the coast to Castello d'Ovo, explored Napoli, had an amazing lunch, and then went to the top of a mountain to Castello Sant. Elmo to watch the sunset over the beautiful panoramic view of the city.

view from atop Castello Sant. Elmo. HELLO NAPOLI!

That night we went out to dinner with a bunch of kids from the Hostel, and after dinner hung out in a piazza filled with Italians. There we ended up hanging out with an Australian girl named Joy and met two really cool italian guys (Alessio-who could speak perfect English and Gennaro- who only knew 5 english words: spider, ok, hello, flip-flop, and car. hahaha) We had a really great time with them!

Next stop: Sorrento!

the view of Sorrento

We had a little mishap with the booking of hostels--Lauren and Brit thought they booked us for a hostel in Capri, but turned out it was right down the street from our hostel in Napoli. So we had a little change of plans, and decided to go to Sorrento, home of Limoncello :)

When we arrived and dropped off all of our stuff, we headed straight towards the ocean, and stood in awe of God's beautiful creation. I forgot what it was like to smell ocean air, and not the car exhaust and cigarette smoke that clouds my lovely little Firenze.

We just so happened to be in Sorrento when one of its two festivals of the year was going on-- the Festival of their patron saint: St. Antonine. There were street vendors all down the main street, where we enjoyed some corn on the cob and crochettes (a breaded and deep-fried ball of mashed potatoes, mozzarella, ham=glorious and only 1 euro).

gelato will be the end of me

 We finished off the night right with some gelato from a famous gelateria called La Primavera, which was covered in photos of all the famous people who have been there (the POPE, Roberto Benigni, etc.)

Final destination: Ischia, a beautiful island off the coast of Napoli!

We took a ferry boat from the port of Napoli to Ischia, and when we arrived, we instantly wished we had spent our whole trip here! It was Valentine's day, so Lauren Caroline and I had a wonderful lunch in a restaurant overlooking the bay and we ate--yep, you guessed it--pizza :).

I Vecchietti :) our new friends

After lunch, we hopped on the bus to head to our bed&breakfast hotel in Lacco Ameno, one of the towns of Ischia. Like a scene out of a movie, we ended up being on the same bus as a giant tour-group of "vecchietti" (old italian people) and they invited us to tag along on their tour!! It was priceless. We walked all over with them and saw some really beautiful sights and then they pointed us in the direction of our hotel-- absolutely wonderful!




Our next day, which I must say was the highlight of my trip, was spent in Baia di Sorgeto, where there were natural hot springs sitting inside a gorgeous cove. We spent most of our day in bathing suits, in February. I was a happy camper!! We sat in the hot springs which felt like a jacuzzi, and then laid out on our towels and dried/napped/read a book in the warmth of the sun. It was like revival to my soul :)

Baia di Sorgeto-- thermal Hot springs!!

we're pale but we don't care

Caroline and I

SO STOKED

After many hours spent in the sun (and we didn't get sunburnt! wooooo) we walked up the hill a little ways to eat at Ristorante da Gisella which overlooked the ocean. We ordered some white wine, salad, and spaghetti con frutti di mare, which is spaghetti with seafood. Now, I am not the hugest seafood fan, but it would practically be a sin if I didn't eat it on an island where it's the freshest of the fresh. 

 It came out in a HUUUGE dish, filled with clams, shrimp, squid, octopus, and other little friends from the ocean, and we thought--there is NO way we are going to be able to finish that!

We did. Every last bite. And it was gooood :) 

100% reccommend traveling to Ischia--I wish we had spent more time there! It wasn't until I got home when I checked my email, and my mom had forwarded me the "Top 10 Islands you should explore before you die" with Ischia being #4.

Check that off my bucket list!