My SYA Italy Adventure

To set the mood, let me introduce you to one of my favorite short stories: Our ever-enthusiastic English teacher organized a trip for a select few of us to see "the dark side of Rome"...as in the infamous catacombe  or catacombs. Many think that catacombs were secret places to leave dead bodies or that there was no organization so you don't know what body is whose, or even that it was just where people left plague-infested corpses to rest. However, this is not the case. The truth is they were the way to go (haha, get it?) for Christians back when Christianity was not accepted fully by the state. Thus, Christians bought spaces under churches to sleep in peace for eternity. Rich families had their own small quarters and poor people had what looked like dug out bunks in the wall. When we went to visit the catacombs underneath La Chiesa di Santa Agnese , we learned about her life (check it out!) and experienced 1st-hand why Edgar Allen Poe chose to write his famous sho...

When my friend and I got off the train in Napoli , all of the "be careful"'s and "stay safe"'s came rushing through our minds as we witnessed first hand the very sketchy outskirts of this well-known city. Even though we were scared at first, the hotel was around the corner and we were able to walk there with absolutely no problems. We were starving; our first stop- dinner! What else do you get in Naples but pizza!? Getting a pizza here is as easy as reciting the ABCs. It's legitimately everywhere, but we had a very specific destination in mind. If you can recognize the following quote, you can make a very educated guess: "I'm going for it. I have no interest in being obese, I’m just through with the guilt. So, here’s what we're going to do: we're going to finish this pizza, and tomorrow, we're going to buy ourselves some bigger jeans." If you guessed Julia Roberts as Liz in "Eat Pray Love", you were c...

So Viterbo is known in the Guinness Book of World Records most notably for La Spaghetteria , or the amazing restaurant that has 300 kinds of spaghetti (ALL ARE AMAZING). Surprisingly, their world record achievements do not stop there.  The 6th of January was  L'Epifania  or The Epiphany where The Three Kings come to see the newborn Jesus. Here in Italy, like many other countries, the witch named La Bufana  comes and leaves socks full of candy (or coal...) for kids who have been good (Sound familiar, Santa?) So, in Viterbo, on the 5th of January, we were supposed to witness the world's largest calza filled with candies get paraded around town by witches. It got postponed until this Saturday, and therefore I got to see it a little behind schedule, but nonetheless it was an adorable Viterbese tradition. The kids were hyped and the town was full of excitement. I do love these town gatherings, particularly when they involve sweets.         ...

The Romans were very good at building colossal structures- hence Il Colosseo. Not to mention Il Foro Romano or the  Palatino-  as much as I was excited to go visit the three most important social centers of Ancient Rome, I sure felt incompetent among the many temples, houses, and gladiator stadiums. The Palatine Hill was fun to explore as my history teacher enthusiastically retold the story of the legendary founding of Rome that supposedly took place there. Did you know the eternal city was started as a bunch if huts and fire pits? Well, Academia thinks so...It wound up being "the Beverly Hills of Ancient Rome" and houses many remains of high class living. The next stop was the Roman Forum. It was the place to be back in the day- entertainment, the bank, and Vestel Virgin sightings were all there. Although now it is mostly in ruins, it was still impressive. I enjoyed using my imagination and picturing what it must've been like to be there so long ago. Finally...

Many many months ago, before even buying my luggage for the trek over here, I was offered the opportunity to go to Berlin over New Years with my host family. What an amazing experience I just had. I left my family in Rome to head over to my host dad's favorite city. It did make the departure a bit easier knowing I was headed from one grand adventure to another, but I have to admit it was hard to leave them. That didn't matter when I landed, though; sorry mom and dad, but I realize I only have five more months here so I'm going to make the best of them! As soon as we landed, my host sister and I had a ball attempting to speak  tedesco  or German. We picked up words like "flügel", "drücken", and "brezel" while speaking Italian. It was nice that there were English speakers around, but I was super happy to be with my family with whom I only spoke Italian. I definitely exercised my brain between learning German, translating English, and speaki...

(I recommend you read my dad's account of the trip first here ) (You should also follow my Instagram for more photo highlights) I couldn't believe my family made it all the way to Italy to visit me for the holidays! After a couple of flight changes and 2 lost suitcases, it was going to take a lot to make up for the hassles the traveling brought along. However, if I do say so myself, the visit was amazing and I got what I wanted for Christmas: my family! It all started in  Viterbo  so my family could see where I lived. They came at a perfect time to see Viterbo in it's prime- Christmas lights everywhere, the market at it's tipping point, and the Viterbesi full of joy. We went exploring and learned how miserable it is to drive a car in Italy. However, the most important thing was the lunch between both of my loving families where they met for the first time. My host mom prepared course after course of all my favorites, and the conversation didn't stop regardless...

Hi!  For those who don’t know me I am Corynne’s dad. We just returned from visiting Corynne and seeing some of the many sites of Italy. Corynne asked me to write a guest blog entry to give another perspective to her adventure (as well as mine!) While I always knew SYA was the right choice for Corynne, leaving her at the airport in Boston last August was not an easy task for a parent.   Following her blog and semi-regular Skype sessions kept me smiling.   Our trip to see her, however, was even more fantastic. We flew into Rome and rented a car to drive down to Viterbo.   We were very excited to see her and meet her host family.   Viterbo is a beautiful city and we were fortunate to stay at a lovely bed and breakfast right in the heart of the town.   As we walked the streets we continually ran into her classmates and teachers.   The Christmas lights were very pretty and it was lots of fun for us to explore the place Corynne has gotten to know so w...