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Where did the time go!? In one month from today I will be
done with school in Siena and be finishing up my finals! The time went by so
fast here! So, I thought I would write a short post about my daily life here
with some pictures from the past few months. Every morning for breakfast
from January-March I was given cocopuffs and some cookies, a croissant or type
of cake. Italians basically eat sweets for breakfast and it was pretty funny in
the beginning but I just couldn’t keep eating cake and cookies for breakfast!
So one morning a few weeks ago they left out some granola with some dried fruit
in it and I made sure to tell my host parents that I liked it and ever since
then I have been given that for breakfast! I also take a piece of fruit because
all of the produce is so fresh here! I walk about 40 minutes to get to school,
(power walking) and make the transition from countryside to city. I have two
hours of Italian three times a week, three hours of curatorial studies a week
and three hours of my history and theory of museums class a week. For my museum
studies classes we often go on field trips to museums around Siena or in close
areas of Tuscany. It has been so interesting visiting so many different kinds
of museums, museums I probably wouldn’t go to on my own. We have been to the
science and natural history museum, the duomo museum and the painting gallery
here in Siena. We have also been to a Renaissance painting gallery, a sharecropper
museum and a palace outside of Siena in nearby Tuscan towns. I also have eight
hours a week of my art restoration internship where we are often taken to the
beautiful region of Chianti to restore a villa our teacher is working on. I
am very busy but am definitely getting my exercise by walking everywhere! I
usually buy groceries to make lunches or I will buy a hunk of bread and cheese
to eat for lunch because it is the cheapest thing! After school every day,
homework and hanging out with friends, I head home for dinner and we eat at
8:30pm…something that I am not used to! The television is always on during
dinner because from 8-9 we watch the news then from 9-9:30 my family watches a
game show. We watch the game show every night and I still cannot figure out
what is going on or how it is structured. Dinners were very hard at first
because my family doesn’t speak any English, however, they have gotten
significantly better. My Italian is improving and I am able to speak with my
family all of dinner. However, taking Italian for two hours that morning, doing
your Italian homework then coming home and speaking Italian is very tiring and
at times extremely frustrating, but some dinners are definitely better than
others. Some nights I feel so confident and know what is going on in the
conversation and am able to contribute a lot, but then there are always
frustrating nights where you feel left out and clueless. Fortunately, my host mom,
Tiziana, always winks at me during dinner to let me know someone made a joke or
someone was kidding, so that helps me feel more included. After I excuse myself
from watching the game show, I take a cold bath. I sit in a bath tub with no
shower curtain, spray water on myself, turn it off, wash my face, turn the
water back on, get the soap off, then repeat…It is so difficult taking cold
baths, but my family recently purchased a new shower head and it is much duller
than the previous one. Before, since there is no curtain, I would get water all
over the floor from trying to wash my long hair. Now, with the new shower head,
no water gets on the floor! Taking the baths now doesn’t seem as hard because I
don’t have to mop up afterwards. Days are pretty long here, with school,
homework, visiting with my host family and seeing my friends, I am so exhausted
by nighttime! But it is going by so fast so it is good I am busy! As for my
host family, they are great and I am so happy at my house! I recently found out
that the 17 contradas of Siena extend outside of the city walls so my family is
in the bruco contrada, which is the caterpillar! It is fun to know we are in a
contrada because now I feel Sienese! Some of the other contradas are the eagle,
wolf and the panther…and we are proud caterpillars! The bruco contrada has
actually won about 35 times for the palio, one of the contradas with the most
wins! As for my family, my host dad, Marco, is the sweetest human being and he
constantly asks how I am and if I need anything. He likes to talk and he asks
me every night at dinner what I ate for lunch. It’s usually the same answer, “Pane
e formaggio.” (Bread and cheese.) Marco is semi-retired and sometimes I find
him just strolling through the house, looking at things, moving things an inch
or two, but always with a smile on his face. He usually stands by the window to
see what’s happening in the neighborhood and normally beats me to the door and
will open it for me if he sees me coming. My host mom Tiziana is also so nice!
She gets so excited when I come home and likes to see what I am wearing. She
also constantly asks how I am and wonders what I am doing. She has started
giving me hugs and kisses when I leave and come back from a trip and it makes me
feel so loved! She has two sons so I am sure she likes having a girl in the
house. Tiziana is also an amazing cook and we eat very well here! She attends gymnastics class three times a week and is one fit woman! My host
brother Matteo doesn’t come home from Milan much anymore because I think his
girlfriend Luisa moved in with him. Matteo is 30 and does something with
computers…I think. Niccolo is 23 and he still lives at home. He goes to school
and also works. Niccolo is so kind and lively! He is always singing and listens
to loud music while he is taking a bath. He recently broke up with his 17 year
old girlfriend, Simona. I miss Simona, she was nice. Niccolo is a great cook
too! Today we were both home unusually early and he made us pasta with fresh
tomato sauce for lunch. He then made hot dogs after we finished our pasta but I
told him what I say a lot in this house, “Sono piena.” (I am full.) So life is
good here in Siena! I am travelling lots and am fortunate enough to see so many
amazing things! My only problems are taking cold baths and constantly being
full, so I’d say I am a happy camper!
Ciao!
-Rachel
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