Recent Adventures

Ship that belongs to the local school of sailing which we were allowed to tour

The city of Matera composed of hundreds of sassi (a type of house) carved directly into the rock

The cathedral of Otranto, the bones of the Catholics beheaded by the invading Turks in 1480 on display.

Festa di Natale!

Ostuni!

Martina Franca

100 Days

Hello again! It's been way too long! But in all reality,  those of you who know me well will not be surprised that I haven't been good at keeping up with my posts. Here's what I've been up to:

Recently I have been incredibly busy with Italian lessons three times a week,  projects for every school subject, and technology issues.  We will address the technology issues first because they are easily explained.

Many of you will remember that previous to my departure I got a shiny new nexus 5, along with a protective case in anticipation of my usual tendency to  drop things. Unfortunately,  the one thing that the case didn't protect against was water.  I wish I could say my phone fell into the Mediterranean Sea or perished in a flood of expensive Italian wine, but the sad truth is that I bumped it into the sink while washing my hands.  At this point it is being sent off to some big city to be assessed for repair,  so fingers crossed it's easily fixed. (the only part that doesn't seem to function is the touch screen so I do have hope)

I can't remember if I mentioned here before that I've been having issues with my Italian lessons, but it has been a running problem for me.  My original teacher was inexperienced and her teaching style didn't match up with my learning style. We attempted to close those lessons and switch teachers but it was difficult to find someone nearby and the first teacher insisted on being paid in full. Therefore,  for the last several weeks I have been doing lessons with the original teacher twice a week and a new (and much much better)  teacher once a week. As a consequence my Italian is not quite at the level I had hoped it would be at this point. I am doing pretty well and I can understand almost everything,  but speaking is a slow and tedious process.

School is going alright, still difficult but most classes seem to have sorted themselves out. I have been removed from physics and philosophy due to some very stubborn and difficult to work with teachers and I am going to be aiding in an English class and possibly joining an extra literature class. Things have been a bit crazy with school occupation sand protests happening during the weeks before winter break, but everything wrapped up pretty well.

The holidays are finally upon us and I am enjoying the spirit of Christmas in Italy. The lights and Christmas markets create an amazing atmosphere and I hope to take some photos soon to share with you all. I am missing the familiarity of home and my family holiday traditions, but I'm proud and glad to have survived my first 100 days of exchange, and excited to experience the next 7 months.

A Little Thing I Made

This is a montage video I made to give a glimpse of my first month and a half in Italy. It in no way captures everything that I have seen and done here, but I wanted to share a small piece of all of the amazing things I've experienced. I can't adequately express all the emotions that going abroad has exposed me to, but hopefully you can gather an idea of the excitement and anxiety of arrival, as well as the wonder and curiosity of being settled in a new place, through this video.

Finding Fall

Anyone who has spoken to me over the last few weeks has heard my complaints about fall in southern Italy.  While the sea and palm trees are beautiful,  something doesn't quite feel right about autumn without all the plants changing color.  It's odd coming home without fire colored leaves hiding in the hood of my jacket or stuck to the bottoms of my shoes. So when I stepped out of the car in a tiny town in Basilicata last Sunday I was overcome with joy.  Wreaths decorated with leaves and berries adorned the houses and the air was filled with the warmth of woodsmoke. The occasion was a festival of chestnuts, and the amount of fall spirit all around was unbelievable. Freshly roasted chestnuts were sold in little paper cones and the streets were covered in the discarded shells. Cornstalks were tied to the trees and hay bales stood at the entrance to the main street. Afterward we headed to a nearby lake that transported me back to Oregon.  The beauty and diversity here constantly amazes me.

The main street bustling with people.

Nothing like a woven cornucopia full of dried corn to make it feel like fall.

My chapter mate Elki in a festive alleyway photography showcase.

Me on the shore of the lake where we picnicked. 

Photogenic decorated houses.

Photos!

Just some snapshots of my time here thus far!  You may have seen a few of these on Facebook.

Daily Routine

I thought I would do a run through of my usual schedule to give you an idea of how my time is filled over here.

Generally Marianna (my host sister) and I get up around 6:50 am.  I immediately change and head downstairs for a breakfast composed of coffee and and some sort of sweet,  most commonly cookies. During this time Marianna has control over the upstairs  bathroom. At 7:20 we switch and I head back upstairs to finish getting ready. The aim is to leave the house at 7:40, but we have yet to leave any earlier than 7:45. The result of our delay is some of the craziest driving I have ever experienced in order to make it to school on time.

From 8 am to 1 o'clock I am at school,  though occasionally I go in an hour late or leave early due to a teacher being absent (substitute teachers don't exist here). I have 5 classes a day,  often with the same class back to back.  We stay in the same classroom all day with the teachers rotating. My studies include: History,  Literature,  Dante, English,  Biology,  Chemistry,  Physics,  Math,  Programming,  Art History,  and PE. When I am released from school I am picked up by my host mom and, depending on the schedule of my host sister's school, we pick up Marianna and return home.

As soon as we arrive home we eat lunch,  which is the main meal of the day in Italy.  The first course is pasta,  followed by meat or other foods.  The third course is fruit, often grapes, melon,  or cactus fruit,  and dessert. My host mom is a fantastic cook,  so I have a harder time finding foods I don't like than foods I do.

Following lunch is study and rest time. On a usual day I rest for about an hour and then begin attempting to teach myself the lessons from school that day. I translate notes,  watch YouTube videos, and try my best to complete homework until I feel I have made my best effort. Some days I have 2 hour Italian lessons with a personal tutor,  which leave me quite exhausted for the rest of the night.

This schedule is essentially the same Monday through Saturday, though on Saturdays I go out with Marianna's friends and walk around since we don't have school the next day. Sunday is our one true day of the weekend and we usually go somewhere nearby in the early afternoon and return so Marianna and I can study.

The schedule is a bit demanding, but I know I'll be extremely grateful for two day weekends when I get back the the United States.

Update 1

Hello again! It's been a while since my last blog post,  but I would like to think that is a good thing,  me being busy and not have anything pressing to convey. I've been in Italy for three weeks now and I have to say that it's been amazing,  in both different and better ways than I was expecting. My host city is beautiful and my host family is a wonderful fit.  School is confusing,  but my classmates are very friendly and my teachers seem to be making an attempt to adapt my work to fit what I have already learned and what little of the lessons I can translate. The food is overwhelmingly delicious,  and distinctly less full of dairy than everyone kept insisting it would be. There's so much I want to share about my experience,  but I'll never be able to fit it all into this one post, so for now here is a small glimpse of what I have been up to.

Rome:

Our orientation days were packed full with sessions and socialization, so for the most part everyone emerged in a pretty severe state of exhaustion. Though I don't think the sessions were very beneficial,  I did learn quite a bit about the cultures and mannerisms of other countries. More than anything it brought to light how little I know of a large majority of the world. I wish I could have spent a larger amount of time with the other exchange students so that I could have learned more from them firsthand. From Rome everyone split ways,  my group taking the train to the nearest station to our host city.

Arrival:

After a long and tiring train ride,  on which despite my exhaustion I couldn't sleep,  I was met at the train station by my host family. We dropped my luggage off at the house and then left immediately for lunch by the water.  The meal was extremely delicious and consisted of primarily local seafood.  I was absolutely stuffed after the first course, foreshadowing what was to come at every family meal.

My Host City:

It's so pretty here! Everyone keeps insisting that the city is really small,  but I don't think they fully understand how small Newberg is. There are tons of stores and restaurants and the view from the boardwalk area is amazing. I am absolutely mesmerized by water, since it's a novelty to me living so close to the sea. The beaches are beautiful and the water is incredibly warm,  though my host family would argue otherwise.

The Surrounding Area:

I've visited most of the nearby cities and they are all gorgeous and very diverse.  One huge differences between the US and Italy is that everything is much more condensed.  Where we would have to drive a few days to the next major city,  they only have to drive a few hours.  But the cultural and physical difference of each city is still very drastic. Each city speaks a different dialect of Italian and I can't even slightly understand most of them.

Food:

As I mentioned before the food actually doesn't involve copious amounts of dairy,  in fact many of the foods we think of as Italian aren't even present here. I'll probably do another post just addressing this topic.

School:

I have had a lot of people back in the US ask about school seemingly expecting a dramatic answer,  but in all reality there is no dramatic answer to give. The real and true answer is obvious; it's confusing. Yes,  all my classes (besides English of course)  are in Italian. I didn't come here to study the exact same things as I do in the US, going to Italy and only speaking English would completely defeat the purpose of my study abroad year.  I am here to learn about a new culture first hand,  not for the food or the shoes. But I digress,  I don't understand my classes so usually I copy my classmates' notes and then translate them when I get home.  Google translate,  Khan Academy,  and crash course are my new best friends.

I think this is all I want to address for now,  but in depth posts on most of these topics should be up soon.

Ciao!
Elena

This is Happening

Today is strange.  Today is new and exciting,  and maybe a little bit daunting. Today is the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. But mostly today is strange,  and not in the way that I feel weirded out,  but more in that I feel particularly normal.

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Today was the first day of my gateway orientation in New York City.  I said my final goodbyes at around 10 am,  and boarded the hotel shuttle to join my fellow exchange students in anxiously waiting to be assigned to the 100 or so hotel rooms reserved for AFS outbound students.  Though I received my room key and was introduced to my roomie not long after arriving,  almost everyone else who arrived early had to wait for at least two hours in the unusually cold hotel lobby.

Besides a half hour nap before lunch, I spent the majority of my day socializing with the many other kids departing on adventures of their own. There are about 35 kids from the United States being hosted in Italy,  and about 400 AFS exchange students being hosted in Italy total. It's  nice to be surrounded by people who understand the motivations and the doubts that you have.

My time here so far has seemed a bit like a middle school summer camp:  frustrated  adults trying to quell the whispers of excited kids while they speak, stale semi-shitty generic foods, and an overload of introductions and get to know you questions. But despite having yet to learn anything exceedingly useful, I have actually enjoyed the small amount to of exchange student life I have experienced thus far. While in a makeshift yoga class tonight,  put on by my lovely fellow AFSers Tami and Christina, I was struck by how strangely ordinary it all felt. A room of almost strangers sitting in silence despite the noise filling the neighboring halls.

My Host Community

I will arrive in Rome exactly 50 days from tomorrow! I am overwhelmed with anticipation for my time abroad to begin, and, naturally, I feel increasingly curious about the host community in which I will be living for a year. I though I would share a few facts for anyone who is curious.

http://www.carjet.com/blog/collecting-a-car-hire-at-brindisi-railway-station

My host town is the beautiful city of Brindisi, Italy! It is located on a natural harbor off the Adriatic Sea, and  acts as a major port for trade with Greece and the Middle East.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brindisi_in_Italy.svg

The capital of the province of Brindisi, the city of Brindisi is located in the Puglia region of Italy (or if you are American "the heel of the boot").

Historically, Brindisi was conquered by several different civilizations including the Romans, who built the column pictured above thought to mark the end of the Via Appia.

http://youngadventuress.com/2013/08/visit-brindisi-italy.html

The population is around 90,000 people, quite a bit larger than my rural hometown!

http://www.lalanternadelpopolo.it/Storia%20Brindisi.htm

This post only includes a very small amount of information on my host town, but I hope it gives you a basic idea of the city I will be living in. There is so much information to be found online, and so much more for me to discover in person when I arrive. Yay for (almost) 50 days!

This is Home

Recently my family spent a day hiking at Silver Falls State Park, about an hour drive from our house. It was a sunny and beautiful hike and I was really struck by how wonderful it all was. As I am preparing to leave home for a year, one of my goals is to take in all the beauty that is here, so that I can fully appreciate all the beauty that is there. The pictures I took don't really do the falls justice, but they do offer a glimpse of what makes Oregon such a lovely place to live.

Introductions and Excitement

My family has always held value in intelligence and awareness of the world, encouraging me to learn as much as possible, and see beyond just the environment immediately around me. I attribute much of my love for learning and travel to my parents, who introduced me to new cultures beginning at a young age. Through several visits to Germany (where my aunt lives with her family) and neighboring European countries, I gradually became more aware and curious about the places that I had visited, and those I had not. In my opinion, the trait of curiosity is one of the best descriptors of my character. I love to learn about new people, places, ideas, and views. This curiosity is the reason that I decided to study abroad with AFS.

Attending public school in a small community, I have not often been extremely challenged or inspired by classwork. In the spring of my eighth grade year I was given the chance to stay with a host family for eleven days in Wadayama, Japan. The entire experience of being immersed in the culture and learning constantly was enough to leave me wanting more. I know that going on exchange I will be presented with the opportunity to learn and try new things every day. I want to gain knowledge about others and myself while abroad.

I also want to share my culture with my host family and community while on exchange. Even with modern capabilities of long distance communication, there is still a large amount of misunderstanding between different cultures. As an exchange student I can provide insight into American culture and give a clear picture of what life is like for an average teenager in the United States. I can create a connection between myself and my host family based on understanding and give and gain perspective.

Upon my return to the United States I would like to involve myself locally with AFS to give information to students interested in exchange. I would love to inspire others to broaden their horizons and create connections worldwide. As a returnee I will be able to provide valuable information about the entire experience and what it means to be a participant in an AFS program.

I am very blessed to have parents that can cover the immediate cost of my exchange, but I need to pay my parents back. Since this experience is expensive and solely mine, I understand that it is my responsibility to pay for it, not my parents. I plan on attending college after my graduation from high school, and would like to go into my college career without any previous debts to my parents, since I know attending university can be very costly. I have not made many efforts to fundraise for my trip yet, as I was only accepted a few weeks ago. I applied for the Viaggio Italiano scholarship, but unfortunately did not receive it. I have a passion for art and have decided to incorporate this into my fundraising efforts. I have recently set up a shop on the website called RedBubble, which allows me to share my artwork and sell it, printed onto phone cases, t-shirts, posters, and many other objects. All of the money made from my shop will go directly to funding my AFS program. I plan on sending out e-mails to relatives and local businesses asking for donations. I am also looking into small events, a garage sale or car wash, that I can hold locally to raise money. Lastly, upon my return home from exchange I will be looking into employment options to cover whatever expenses remain from my trip.

I am greatly looking forward to my year in Italy and all of the new knowledge and memories it will bring. I want to learn and teach while I’m abroad, and then share my experiences after my return. I am convinced that all of the benefits of this opportunity will far outweigh the cost, and that I am about to embark on the trip of a lifetime.

-Elena Krupicka-

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