Rugby and Roma

       Soccer or calcio is the sport of choice in Italy, however rugby is also commonly played by Italian men. One does not typically associate rugby with Italy but a good number of Italians seem to enjoy playing it just as much as they like playing soccer. Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a rugby match in Citta di Castello with Molly and Patsy. We were invited to attend by one of John Rose’s English friends also named John; he was the head coach of the men’s senior team. When he invited us to come watch the senior team, I imagined a bunch of older men running around the field; I didn’t realize that “senior” meant the older guys in their 20s. The match took place in the outskirts of Citta dI Castello, in a field that had been turned into a “pitch” for rugby. The grounds were muddy which according to John, makes the game more fun. We met a few of the players and the captain of the team, who was a very large line-backer looking guy, with lots of muscle and an air of authority about him. Upon arriving, we were greeted by several young boys who did not leave our side until the end of the match. Before the match, we were asked to take a picture with the entire team for good luck! It was a great souvenir to bring back from my very first rugby match! The actual match was very interesting to watch. I had never watched a rugby match and I knew nothing about the rules. I quickly learned that rugby is one of the manliest sports in existence. The sport combines mud, sweat, dirt, muscle, tackling, blood, rough physical contact, fighting for the ball, charging, and proof of one’s manhood by playing with no pads. Unlike American football, one half in rugby last for a full 40 minutes with little to no time-outs. The players play hard for the full length of the half. The match ended with a victory for Citta di Castello!

       This past travel break, Patsy and I decided to go to Roma! We bought a train ticket, booked a hotel and went with no plans! We found out that this was not a good idea when we arrived in the Roma Termini with no idea where our hotel was and no idea of the location of the tourist office! We eventually found our hostel after walking out of the way to get to it, only to find out that it was right down the street from the Termini. Our hotel room was a very nice two person room that ended up being very good for what we paid for it. After settling into our hotel, we decided to go see the Spanish Steps and the Piazza Spagna. I had seen this piazza during the day, but at night it really came to life. The street lights lit the lane filled with lovers and culture seekers. Contrasting with the elegant display in the Gucci window across the street, we were a stereotypical pair of American “tourists.” We had McDonalds in one hand and a maps in the other, and bewildered confused grins on our faces trying to hide the fact that we had no idea what we wanted to do. Though, we had a lot of fun walking up and down the streets near the Piazza Spagna, examining all of the designer store windows. The Trevi Fountain, much like the Spanish Steps, looked completely different at night from the day. There were still tons of people crowded around it as always, but it was more beautiful at night with the lights making the water sparkle. We sat by the fountain for a good solid hour and watched the people who were around the fountain. There were many nationalities present at the fountain. I thought about how many people had stood by this fountain since it was built in 1762. I watched as every person threw a coin into the fountain over their left shoulder in hopes of returning to Roma one day. My guide book said that about 3,000 Euros are thrown into the fountain every day. We ended our first night in Rome eating at a trattoria on a back street close to our hotel. It was very traditional and there were not many tourists in there at all.

        The next morning we got up and went to The Colosseum, the standing symbol of Imperial Rome. Even through the pouring rain and flooding, it stood majestically through it all. One of my favorite movies is Gladiator, the tale of a general who was forced to become a slave but won the heart of the Roman people. The Colosseum was reconstructed digitally in this film, and according to historians a viewer can get a good look at what the Colosseum would have looked like back in ancient times. I was never able to get so close (as I did this past weekend) to the hypogeum or underground tunnels that housed the animals and slaves while it was being used. The underground passages have been a lot more excavated than they used to be. Watching the movie Gladiator sparked my interest in the games and uses of the Colosseum. The Colosseum was the source of entertainment for people in ancient times. They did not have movies and TV so historical accounts and “battles” were reacted for the people, even if that meant a person or an animal was brutally murdered. The most popular forms of entertainment involved an “animal hunt” in which a wild beast was chased around the arena and killed.  Many exotic animals were imported from Africa, Asia, and other locations to be used for the cruel games. Gladiators and slaves would fight each and animals often to the point of death. Also mass capital punishments were performed in the Colosseum for the public to see. Even through the rain, I was in awe of such a massive building that had withstood the test of time. The rain started to pick up and eventually the Colosseum walkways began to flood and we had no umbrella. Patsy and I were forced to buy tourist umbrellas so that we could leave the Colosseum without getting drenched. The streets of Rome were flooded and water poured into our boots; we were freezing and drenched from the lovely weather of Rome! All we could do was laugh because we had been told that Rome was supposed to be sunny and warm.

       We continued our duck weather day in the Vatican. I had seen the Vatican before, but I had never seen all of it. Patsy and I decided that life in the Vatican is a secret because we saw a few monks and nuns, but we never saw them doing anything but walking somewhere mysteriously. The other secret about the Vatican is why the Pope is never present. There were many tourists in the whole of the Vatican, some on a pilgrimage to the center of faith, and some wanting to catch a glimpse of this historic powerhouse. The Vatican museums are an impressive collection, the result of many years of collecting done by the various popes. One thing that I thought was interesting was the extensive Egyptian collection in the Vatican. We walked through all the museums. My two favorite sights were the Sistine Chapel (of course) and the Rafael fresce including The School of Athens. I sat and observed the two paintings in particular, using my analyzing skills learned in art history. We decided that we need the Bankers to come with us everywhere and be our personal tour guides. We went to St. Peter’s Basilica on the last night. There were not many people there, and the atmosphere was very eerie. The last time I enter the Basilica, there were thousands of people, but this time there were only about 40. I could feel God’s presence in this cathedral even though I am not Catholic, but Protestant. I really enjoyed taking in the splendor of the elaborate details that had been constructed in the church since it was first built. I finally understood why the Catholic Church had such elaborate churches, because they wanted to make God’s house worthy of his presence there. Even though in the bible it says that the church is the body not the building, back then it was a cultural thing for the Catholic Church.

       We did lots of tacky tourist shopping in Roma! There were plenty of tourist traps everywhere to keep us entertained and out of the rain! There are certainly no shortages of peddlers trying to selling you something, putting things in your face and constantly hassling people. I think I was asked by 50 men if I wanted to buy an umbrella! My broken record response for everything was “no grazie!”  Most of weekend consisted of aimless wandering around in the Eternal City. No plans equaled a nonexistent schedule which was nice, but we didn’t get to see as much as we would have preferred. We had dinner on the last night in the piazza beside the Pantheon. The Pantheon itself was closed for renovation, but we still got to enjoy the view of half of it from the piazza. There were guitar players and musicians all around. We decided to eat dinner in a café in the Piazza. The fountain spouting and the candle light made the evening charming, a great way to end an interesting weekend in Roma.

New Friends, Faces, and Experiences!

       My time in Sansepolcro is drawing to a close. Most of the leaves have fallen off the trees and classes are beginning to come to an end. Signs of winter are setting in, with the colder winds blowing in, and Christmas decoration are already hung up in the town. The group is busy planning our big Thanksgiving feast for all our friends and our newly made “family.” We have all grown close as a group! I have gotten to know all these girls on a new level and each one has something amazing and unique to offer. This semester has certainly been unlike any other that I have had. Although I have experienced many new things during my stay in Europe, I still have a few more weeks and a few more blank pages in my diary to fill.

       It was time to celebrate on Friday after a semester’s worth of work that paid off in Color Theory! We presented our final projects and portfolios to our friends and faculty and a few other guests. Molly decorated a beautiful analogous color scheme chair that matches the green lounge perfectly! Laurin, Emily, and I each did a project that required us to mix the colors of two famous paintings and incorporate them into our own design or a design chosen from one of the two paintings. It was interesting to learn the process of color mixing throughout the course. I learned exactly how many colors can be create from the three pigment primaries. The many hours of sitting down in the studio late at night (with music blaring to keep us awake) equaled success! We all will miss Dr. Banker a lot! She taught each one of us an infinite amount about color, Italy, art, and other things! I have never had a teacher like Dr. Banker. I would describe her as an eclectic, cultured, interesting, and obviously well educated woman in everything that she does! No other professor I have ever had made her own clothes and jewelry!

       With one class over and only a few more to go, we were ready to kick back and relax! On Friday evening, we were all given the opportunity to have dinner with a host family. Brianna and I were picked up by Daniela, a lovely young Italian woman who spoke very good English. She took us to her parent’s house on the outskirts of Sansepolcro, where we ate dinner with them. Upon arriving we were greeted warmly by her mother, a very Italian looking woman with a beautiful smile! We were later joined by her father, a very friendly man who spoke no English. This experience was one of my favorites since coming to Sansepolcro:  it was nice to observe Italian family life and be part of it for a night. I was able to use my Italian during my visit because Daniela’s parents did not speak English. I surprised myself with how much Italian I remembered from class; I was actually able to carry on conversations with them and they understood me! Daniela’s mother outdid herself with the amount of food that she provided! There was of course pasta as well as pork, salad, and smaller side dishes. During dinner we talked about America and Italy. Daniela and her family want to come to the U.S., so naturally I suggested that they come to Ocean Isle Beach! They liked the idea very much! We surprisingly talked about politics, which is normally an off-limits subject in America, but my family was insistent that we had a much better president than Italy’s Berlusconi. We talked about our families, interests, and hobbies.  I was very interested to learn that Daniela and her father like to ride horses! That was definitely one thing we all had in common! During dinner we watched an Italian game show.  I did my best to understand what the rules of the game were and what they were saying; I wasn’t very successful in my pursuit. After dinner Margo, the families German Shepherd dog found her way into the kitchen. She was an older dog but she was obviously the princess of the household and her daddy’s girl! Daniela’s dad tried to show us all the tricks that he had taught Margo, but in spoiled dog fashion she ended up getting the treats anyway after many failed attempts to get her attention. After Daniela took us home, we spent the latter part of our evening at Gerasmo’s playing Scopa, Spades, and Shanghai (Italian version of pick-up sticks). The café was hopping by 11:30 and the crowds started to pour into the streets and into all the bars! It was just another Friday night in Sansepolcro.

       On Saturday morning, we took our bus to Gubbio. In the morning we went to the Mausoleum of the 40 innocent martyrs who were shot by Nazi soldiers in 1944. Two Nazis were killed in a public bar in Italy during WWII.  Hitler had given a general policy that for every Nazi killed that 10 Italians had to be killed.  He had the Nazi troops round up 120 Italian citizens in Gubbio and held them captive in a school nearby. Forty people were chosen to be killed and other people were chosen to dig a grave. The victims were bound and lined up against a wall to be slaughtered one by one. The bodies were left behind disrespectfully, only covered by a covering of soil. Later the Mausoleum was erected to pay homage to the innocent victims who were murdered. This site was very chilling, especially the wall where the victims were shot. Bullet holes from 1944 are still visible in it. During the early afternoon, we took a chairlift up to the top of a mountain in Gubbio. Riding up and down on it enabled us to see gorgeous views of the valley and the city of Gubbio. On the way back from Gubbio we stopped on the side of the road to look at an ancient rock that dated back to prehistoric times. The rock contained the rare element of iridium. Before going back to the palazzo we went up a mountain on the outskirts of Sansepolcro to a monastery that was given to St. Francis when he retired. The monastery still functions today. Three monks live and work in the serenity of the monastery. We were given a tour of the monastery by Sara’s father Luigi Andreini. I got to see the bed (which was really a stone) on which St. Francis slept. Luigi explained that St. Francis was very short in stature, as most monks were during that time, which explains why all the doors looked as if they were for hobbits instead of people.

       We had yet another cooking lesson with a lovely elderly Italian couple. They taught us how to make onion soup and tiramisu from scratch. I have not ever had much experience with cooking but I cannot wait to go home and try out these new recipes. I am particularly excited about cooking for the Thanksgiving feast that we are going to have at the end of this month. We are inviting nearly one hundred people to a huge feast to show the Italians how we celebrate Thanksgiving. It will be my first time away from home on Thanksgiving but I hope it will be just as special shared with my new family and new friends!