Travels to English-Speaking Lands

I'M BACK! (in Italia)

(which reminds me...I've been meaning to excuse myself for the little grammar mishap going on in my blog title. Grammatically speaking, it should be "Abby in Italia," but I made the blog before I knew that. And, while I'm doing corrections, I'll get another one off my chest: It's SIENA, not ever, neverever, SIENNA. People get very annoyed at this. 'Sienna' is a Crayola color, indeed inspired by the hue of the bricks in the fabulous Siena Piazza del Campo, but we don't know why Crayola felt the need to fiddle with the spelling. So yeah. No double 'n')

Moving on.

I'm back from break, a changed person! Not really, but I did have an AMAZING break. I was lucky enough to see friends, the boyfriend, and even family. My trip had three main stops: a maiden voyage to London and Dublin, and a long-overdue return to port in Belfast (I apologize for the corny metaphors, but you know you like them). Anyways, I will attempt to self-censor a little/ A LOT in the interests of actually doing homework at somepoint during this semester, so here's visual/textual recap:

LONDON!!!!

Cheerio lads, trick-or-treat!










Afternoon Tea? Nooo, that's Italian-style caffe!




















DUBLIN!!!!
This picture reflects the fact that Sean and I cooked a LOT, but we did not take a lot of pictures. Sean talks about what we did in Dublin on his blog (http://smdoocy.wordpress.com) so take a look at that if you're interested.














BELFAST!!!
Again, major fail in the picture-taking department...but I like this one because I always associate bad weather with the times I've been in Ireland.














OK, hopefully I will get back with some more on things that actually happened during break...we'll see.

Before I sign off, I just want to note that Italy, and Siena specifically, have changed in my absence. About half the trees are bare now, signaling the inevitable approach of winter and by extension, the end of my semester here. Today I walked through the streets towards Kopakobana, a gelateria closing it's doors for the season (and celebrating with generous portions of free gelato...), and didn't have to elbow my way past a single tourist group. The streets are noticibly quieter, a lot of boutiques have also closed for the winter...and it's all kind of nice. Something I've always loved about New England (and missed in Italy) is the drastic change from season to season; the disappearance of the crowds from the Siena streets is a welcome change of the same kind.

Is It Always a Beach Day?

It's been clear skies and perfect weather every day since I arrived; not a drop of rain has fallen, and today my host family (the Martinis) took me along with them on their third trip to the beach this week. Somehow I had thought my first dip in the warm Mediterranean waters on couldn't possibly live up to expectations...

Before getting to Italy, I was fully prepared to experience the typical "honeymoon" part of my semester, which we've been warned turns to homesickness and discomfort while the reality of being in a completely different culture with a whole new set of people begins to set in, and then to look forward to an upswing as our language skills improve, we get over the culture shock, and start to dread the end of our stays.

I guess I'm just still waiting for the honeymoon to end. But I keep getting the sneaking suspicion that my "healthy" dose of cynicism may be out of order.

I've seen three weddings in the past week, eaten more gelato than I will ever admit, and walked one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been on (and can now attest that while European tradition of topless women may be waning, but man-speedos are still going strong). And even if the spotless weather had been interrupted with some rain, that just means the parched sunflower fields would have perked up a bit, and augmented the palatte of olive groves and vineyards which borders allllll the highways here.

A lot of study-abroad lit and travel writing warns that visitors often have a fairy-tale image of the places they travel to, especially Italy, and this image quickly unravels when confronted by everyday life. And so when I saw the medieval streets of Siena, and my first hazy golden pink Tuscan sunset, I assumed that something this picturesque couldn't possibly have a living, breathing, vibrant and modern culture too. What I'm trying to understand is how tourist-magnet events like the annual Palio horse race in Siena can be more than just a tourist-magnet, but actually a sincere expression of the fierce competition between the different neighborhood "contradas" which compete for the glory of winning. Now that I've walked through their wild, ear splitting weeklong parties and been encircled by late night drumming parades of proud contrada members, I'm realizing this isn't just a quaint little reenactment of an important historical tradition, but a tradition that's still got a LOT of steam.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I expected Siena and Italy in general to be completely different from what I expected...andwas surprised that my expectations of having my expectations be wrong were right anyways. Confusing enough for ya? Whatevs, I'm just going with the flow and having a good time, and replacing whatever expectations I might have with actual experiences.

I'll try to post the video clip I took of two of my friends host parents singing in a traditional Italian folk concert, and some more pictures once I find my usb cord...