By Meredith O'Donnell
The northernmost point I ventured during my five-week journey in Italy was Venice, but some study abroad students who went with me roamed all the way to Milan this past summer. This program granted about 30 students the opportunity to live and study in the wondrous country. Weekends were reserved for students to make their own arrangements and prioritize the places they considered most important to see. The farthest south I was able to go was the singed, ash-covered city of Pompei.
Each city I went to had its own personality. Rome was much like an ancient version of New York City, with a certain hustle and bustle which brought traditional urban life to mind, yet added a historical, spiritual charm. As we toured the Vatican, nicknamed "the holy see," and Saint Peter's Basilica, one of my fellow travelers wished to attend a Sunday morning mass with Pope John Paul, who unfortunately was on vacation that weekend, reportedly to a place where the 84-year-old could not be burdened by the unbearable summer heat.
The most romantic place for me in all of Italy was Rome's Castle Sant'Angeo. The magnificent circular sight has five floors and visitors are lead in by a winding ramp. The second floor is called "floor of the prisons," with many intimate cells and corridors. Next is a floor consisting of two vast courtyards with statues and military flags, followed by the fourth floor's papal apartment, with frescoes painted to perfection by Giulio Romano and Perin del Vaga. After climbing the narrow stairways, the rough floor provides an enchanting view overlooking the city.
In Rome, it is not hard to find a worker in the shops or cafes who can help a globetrotter's broken Italian. One waiter my friends and I encountered demonstrated his vague knowledge of our language by blurting out familiar American catchphrases every time he passed by our table, including Friends character Joey's line, "How you doin," and chanting, "Mayor Giuliani: zero tolerance," in a robotic tone. His favorite, which he continuously repeated, was his impersonation of Hugh Grant in Mickey Blue Eyes, attempting his own New York tongue with the signature line of the 1999 film, "Hey, fugged aboud it!" Regardless, the handheld English-Italian (and vise versa) dictionaries sold at airports and bookstores in both countries always helped.
Three of us hit the town one night in a square called Campo dell'Fiori, an area for students to congregate. We shouldn't have been shocked, given the English name of the bar, The Sunken Ship, that everybody we encountered was Irish or American, as well as one eccentric British character. Despite the slight disappointment that, at least for that night, we could not mingle with natives, comparing our ideas with an eclectic group of explorers was still productive conversation.
The decadent city of Florence is to this day reaping the rewards from the art and architecture of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. The most widely renowned masterpiece of the latter is David of the 1500's. The sculpture now stands inside the Galleria dell'Accademia at 14 feet, 3 inches tall. The size in person usually surprises sightseers who stand with their necks craned in awe of the perfect human being created out of stone, but the strict 'no-picture' policy is strongly enforced by the staff.
It was $20 each for us to ride a gondola (pictured, top) although prices will inevitably vary depending on the gondolier. As the sharp boat pierced the grungy waters of Venice, guiding us through the neighborhoods, I was fascinated by the decorated homes, with flowers in the window boxes and flags hanging from the front doors. Each home had a boat tied in front to step into. Just like on land, when you can tell a family's financial means by the type of car in front of their house, the boats in Venice ranged from the equivalent of a Mercedes-Benz to a KIA wagon.
I enjoyed my own declaration of independence the weekend of my birthday in late July when I decided to make my way to Cinque Terre, the Italian Riviera, for an overnight stay. One underlining piece of advice for those of you planning to study abroad: spontaneity is always more expensive than a planned, organized trip. Students utilized the Internet café in the town of Montepulciano to go online and make hotel arrangements before weekend adventures. After six hours on the train that Sunday, I found myself for the first time overseas, alone on Monterosso Al Mare, one of the five seas of the Riviera, as the sun began to set. After dipping my toes in the clear blue water and snapping a few pictures, I roamed around the town, which stayed vivacious longer into the evening than Montepulciano.
As the night wore on, I began to contemplate my sleeping arrangements, and trekked up a rocky mountain towards a neon sign against the dark sky. With a slightly audible whimper, I handed over, in cash, the price of impulsiveness, as well as my passport so the hotel clerk could make a copy of it. Apparently, they only had one room available for the night and it was a double. I cringed at the wasted Euros, but felt grateful for the safety and retired to the dinky accommodation. Minutes later the hotel clerk visited me and admitted to reading my passport. After learning that it was my birthday, he granted me half back off of the exorbitant cost. This generosity was not a trait possessed by the lady on dawn-duty who, as I checked out at 5 a.m., demanded I pay for an entire shelf of the refrigerator. This resulted to be more than the original price of the room, especially when all I took was a bottle of Pepsi. Learn from me once more: do not touch the refrigerator unless you are sure of the policy on charging. In the case of Hotel Porto Roca, only if you want to consume every item in it.
The last weekend wa0s spent by the majority of University students on the Amalfi Coast, staying in the peaceful and serene Sorrento, where this summer's study abroad crew took classes and resided for the length of the trip. Sorrento is only a short boat ride from the Isle of Capri, and a bus trip up a steep, spiraling mountain from Positano. While we passed on viewing the famous Blue Grotto or scuba diving in the ocean, we took advantage of sunbathing on the enormous rocks which surrounded the water and watched the native children doing flips off of the jagged cliffs into the inviting water. Nicolina Boccone, the bravest of the four of us, and myself gingerly stepped down, shredding our legs on the reef, until we realized that blood in the water could entice sharks. The unrealistic notion scared us back onto the land.
Italian men are infatuated with women of all walks of life. The way they gawk and holler anywhere a female figure is spotted makes them seem as though they have just been released from prison. The Italian men, as with most European nations, are more open about expressing their feelings about the opposite sex. Therefore, their friendliness might make some American women to feel uneasy.
When being addressed by someone who makes you uneasy, ignore the remarks, keep moving and pretend like you know where you're going even if you have no idea, then go into a store or restaurant and ask a worker for directions, not someone on the street.
The natives, especially in the small towns which boast the traditions and culture of old-world Italy, do not immediately welcome warmly tourists who attempt to live among them. A popular misconception, and a partially arrogant one, is that every region of the world speaks English; that it is the international language. I would warn anybody embarking on a journey overseas to avoid starting off a conversation or business transaction in English. While Italians enjoy our music, they resent the assumption some Americans have coming into their country. One young cashier at a Tobaccaria, the Italian version of a convenience store, patiently waited as I looked up the way to politely asked her for a roll of stamps. She looked at me perplexed each time I slipped into my native tongue, and after all was said and done I concluded, "Grazie, buon giorno." She replied, without the slightest hint of a conspicuous accent, "Don't worry about it." This slightly hostile reaction to foreigners is common, and only through interactions like these can students learn to communicate with and appreciate the way another part of the world thinks and lives.
Studying abroad is a privilege which awards the opportunity to witness and partake in a different culture, which is a humbling and informative experience.