Thanksgiving, Snow, & Turin Film Festival

Saturday night's potluck Thanksgiving feast was a great success! Everyone did an awesome job putting together their respective dishes, so we had an overwhelming plethora of food, consisting of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, glazed carrots, corn pudding, broccoli casserole, green bean casserole, & garlic knots, + desserts: cookies, apple pie, a pudding-consistency-cake-that-DB-brought-that-I-don't-know-the-name-of, & a cake with awesome turkey decor! Oh, & not to mention plenty of wine.. we are still in Italy, after all ;P

I unfortunately wasn't hungry enough to eat everything (I missed out on a lot of the desserts), but everything I tasted was really good. I was so impressed with everyone's hard work! It really made it feel like Thanksgiving - so many of us crammed into the boys' apartment, tons of food, lots of talking & laughter, singing holiday tunes.. all around good cheer and merriment. :)

So much food!

Chelsea's plate with a sampling of everything!

Desserts!

Cake artfully decorated with fruit turkeys by the San Rocco girls :)

Charlotte, Nick, me, Chelsea, & Andrew S.

All the boys looking dapper in their waiter outfits - I mean concert attire. :)

Lilian, me, & Korinne

Julianna, Elizabeth, Nikki, me, & Cathlin

Sunday morning, guess what I woke up to: SNOW!! And not just a light dusting either; there had to have been like an inch of snow settled on roofs and on top of cars and railings and whatnot. I do have to admit that I was pretty excited when I first realized why it was bright outside the window despite the lack of sunlight, and I immediately bolted out of bed to look outside and take some pictures. It was beautiful to look at, but I definitely am still not fond of how cold it is out there, so I got my pictures and then climbed back into bed with a plan to stay in my pjs and work on my Music paper all day. 

The snow fell pretty steadily until early afternoon. By evening time it had turned to slush on the roads and streets, and my classmates that had been out said it was slippery, but I managed to get out just to get myself some take-out for dinner from Duchessa, and then it was back to paper-writing. I'm basically the world's slowest paper-writer, because I'm still not done. Probably 4/5 of the way through.

Today (Monday) was our last excursion to the Turin Film Festival for our Cinema class, which was pretty awesome. We watched three movies: Soulboy, White Irish Drinkers, and for the third we could pick from three options - I watched one called Ang Ninanais, which was by a Filipino director. The first two were really well done and seemed more like theatrical films rather than independent films, which was impressive. I particularly enjoyed the second one, which is kind of funny because that one was optional for us to watch. The guy who played the military colonel guy in Avatar was in it as the protagonist's dad, which was kind of cool, haha. It was about a guy in Brooklyn who has artistic talent, but has a bunch of family crap going on - alcoholic dad, brother stealing, drama drama. It was just really engaging and dramatic - I even cried at one point, I got so attached to the characters and just got really into the storyline. The only thing I didn't like about this one was that the camera was slightly unsteady, which made me kind of dizzy and even nauseous throughout the film, but apparently I was the only one really affected by it. The first film was about the Northern Soul style of dancing, which was pretty cool too & had kind of a cliche storyline about the guy falling for the wrong girl, getting in trouble, & then figuring out that he should be with the girl who's been crushing on him all along in the end.

The third one was disappointing; I will admit I was biased in my choice since the film was from the Philippines, but the other two options were either a horror film (no thanks) or one about the relationship between Bill Clinton (played by Dennis Quaid, what?! Weird.) and Tony Blair (politics aren't really of interest to me). The synopsis from the TFF website for the Philippine film said something about a mermaid (although overall their summary didn't really make sense), so I was under the impression that it would be kind of a fantasy story or something, which sounded really cool to me. 

What it actually was was very amateur camera work (wayy shakier than the other one, obviously handheld; also, I felt like he was trying too hard to be artistic, b/c there were numerous shots framing nothing in particular, and the focus kept going in and out of blurriness, so that was a headache) with a very vague storyline. I think it was some kind of historic legend, but I (nor any of the others who watched it with me) really understood it. Whatever semblence of a story there was was told primarily through text - literally, black screen with paragraph blocks of white lettering - and then a series of seemingly inconsequential scenes. They reminded me of the Lumiere films we've been discussing in our Cinema class actually; our project is to imitate them because they were kind of the dawn of cinematography: all we have to do is take our cameras, set it somewhere, record real life for 60 seconds, and that's it. No actors, no movement of the camera or change of focus, nothing. So imagine that + shakiness + periodic blocks of text for two hours. Not very engaging, I'm sad to say. It was kind of more what I expected from an independent film in a film festival, but after the first two movies, my standards were kind of raised, I guess.

The only positive thing I have to say about this film is that it was cool to hear bits of it in Tagalog and be able to understand what I was hearing and then compare it to the English subtitles. The only bits in Tagalog were the narration, while the actual dialogue was in a dialect I didn't recognize or understand. I really wanted to like this film, but I just didn't. I actually fell asleep for a bit b/c I just couldn't handle the unsteadiness so I shut my eyes, haha. I did feel bad, though, because about half the audience walked out over the course of the movie, and then most everyone else left, including us (we had to meet up with everyone else & get on the bus back to Alba), right at the end before the director and presenters got up for closing remarks or Q&A, so there were only like 5 people left at that point. But hey, what can ya do, right? Overall, I really enjoyed today though. It was definitely much better than sitting in our classroom in uncomfortable desk chairs watching long Italian movies with subtitles, haha.

Welp, that's all for now. Time to sleep & then be productive tomorrow :P

Holiday cheer..

The Christmas lights they've been putting up in the Alba streets are finally lit!

How joyous! They're so very pretty, these pictures of course can't really capture them. Christmas music has also already started playing on my classmates' computers and plans are being made to watch Christmas movies during free time, but I think I'm going to wait to get into full-on Christmas mode until my paper is done; if I don't, then playing all that Christmas music will make me think about being home for the holidays, and so I'll have hardly any motivation to actually work because I'll want to be home already! Plus, Thanksgiving is technically not over here yet..

Tomorrow night, all of us in the program are throwing our own Thanksgiving feast, potluck style! The boys found an 18-lb turkey at the grocery store (I think the butcher thought they were insane for wanting the entire thing) and the girls are making quite the assortment of dishes: various casseroles of sorts, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cream of tomato soup, mulled wine, eggnog.. With some 21 or 22 people expected to be dining in the one apartment with an oven, it should make for an interesting night. We're all pretty excited for it! :)

Gobble gobble.

Happy Thanksgiving! :) 

So it doesn't really feel like Thanksgiving to any of us here since the Italians don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but that doesn't mean I can't give my thanks anyway, because I know I don't do it enough.

I'm thankful for: 

1. God, and my relationship with Him. It's still in kind of the beginning stages, and there are still a lot of things I'm unsure of, but if there's one thing I've learned, it's that God is always going to be there for me, no matter what, because His love is unconditional - He did, after all, send His son to die for our sins, even though we've done nothing to deserve it - and that's definitely something to be grateful for.
2. My family. I miss them so much, I'm pretty bummed I'm missing out on Thanksgiving dinner with them, but I'm super stoked to come home in 3 weeks! I love that my parents can be silly, that they're so full of youth and energy, and that they've done such an amazing job raising me and my sister. I love my sister and the fact that she's the one person that I can be my absolute silliest and goofiest with, because she looks up to me and I know she won't think I'm crazy (at least not too much). I'm thankful for all of them being the great people they are and how they've been huge influences in shaping me to be the person I am today.
3. My boyfriend. If anyone had told me after my last relationship that I would find the guy that would be my match pretty soon after, I probably would have scoffed, because I had every intention of just staying single and enjoying life one day at a time, unhindered by the drama that I'd grown to associate with boys and dating. So it definitely was a pleasant and unexpected surprise when I started liking this certain blue-eyed gentleman.. It's been almost 3 years now since we first started talking, and I'm fortunate to say that he's been the most amazing guy to me. He might not be a total romantic sap like me, or like to take tons of pictures to record memories, or have the same interests in books or food or movies or anything like that.. but he is a sweetheart & we're compatible where it matters. This guy has done so much to help me grow as a person, he does his best to help me on my walk with God, and basically, what I appreciate most about him is that we can and do talk about anything together - I'm thankful for that honesty and openness. I have no qualms about entrusting him with my heart; I'm thankful to God for bringing him into my life & for everything he means to me.
4. My LC Girls. When I think of high school, I think of these girls. Not the teachers, assignments, crowded hallways, crummy food, or the general immaturity of teenagers, but the amazing times I had hanging out with these girls. I'm thankful that no matter how much time we spend apart due to our busy lives, it's like nothing's changed when we do see each other again and we still have an absolute blast just being silly together. Even though we don't get to hang out as often any more, they are still my very best friends, and I'm so glad that I can confidently say that we really will be friends for life.
5. This amazing study abroad experience in Italy. I'm so lucky that I've been able to see another gorgeous part of the world that I had never seen before, and I'm really thankful for all that this semester has been so far. I'm thankful for the adventures I've had being touristy, the experiences I've had (that don't necessarily need to be repeated) thanks to my crazy (but cool) new friends Lilian & Chelsea, and that everyone in this program is pretty chill with each other and we have fun hanging out together. 
6. Hot water, sleeping cozy and comfy in a warm bed, sunshine and clear blue skies. Yeah, these are just a few luxuries that I've realized I definitely take for granted. It's the little things in life, right?
7. Basically, my whole life. It may have taken me a while to fully realize and appreciate it, but I know that I've been so very blessed. I feel so lucky and thankful to have all that I do in my life, and I'm glad to say that I'm happy with where I am, with the person I've become, and I'm eager to see what else God has in store for me in the future.

Chelsea's 21st & Venice!

So I think I've mentioned before that for this entire semester, weekends start on Thursday afternoons once classes are done (It's pretty fabulous :] ). Well, I think that was more true for this past weekend than for others. You see, Thursday was Chelsea's 21st birthday :) Not such a big deal here in Italy (the drinking age is 16, driving age is 18.. interesting, right?), but still a pretty big deal for Ms. Chelsea, haha. So immediately after our Italian 101 class, Lilian and I, along with Chelsea's roommates Sasha, Ally, & Sarah Drooks, started preparing decorations and supplies for Spa Dacomo while Chelsea was in her advanced Italian class. She came home around 430pm to handmade birthday signs, facials, hand scrubs,nail polish, & plenty of drinks. Needless to say, Spa Dacomo was a great success :)

Getting our goopy hydrating facials on, haha

Roomies with the array of drinks (or at least the empty glasses that held them)

After a moisturizing facial, a tightening facial, a hand scrub, nail painting, hair styling, a wardrobe change, and a number of drinks, we were ready for dinner at Hemingway! Lilian & Sarah Duke had arranged to have pretty much everyone in our program there, as well as dinner dishes selected beforehand and a cake made by the bartenders/owners' Mom - it was so sweet! We also had party hats set up for everyone to wear. Basically, it was a blast. I was sooo tired at the end of the night though (that was the most I've ever had to drink in one night, so I launched into whiny and sleepy mode, haha), but thankfully Sarah Duke & Lilian took care of me and made sure I made it home safe before a bunch of them headed out to another bar, which I greatly appreciated. All in all, I'd say it was a really fun night :)

Me & the birthday girl ready to go out!

Ally, Lilian, Chelsea, & I all dolled up

Birthday girl & me with our party hats at dinner

Chelsea with her purple absinthe birthday shot, courtesy of Cathlin, & Sasha with her "Girl, you's crazy!" face, lol.

Dacomo + Nick

Lilian, Sarah Duke, & me :)

Andrew Smith & me

Chelsea's customized cheesecake! Her slice had a cherry & said "Chelsy 21" in chocolates. It was so cute!

Friday morning Chelsea and I were off to Venezia! Despite all the partying of the night before, I thankfully didn't have any aftereffects - no headache, nausea, anything - definitely very glad of that. We got in a bit after 4pm, and the sun was already setting (so early, lame!), but I got a couple shots of the gorgeous view of the Grand Canal from the bridge outside the train station. The guy who manages our hostel met us at the station to lead us to where we were staying, because they had moved us to a different place because the one we had booked was having hot water issues. It turns out that the one we actually stayed at was nicer, had higher ratings, and it was only like a 5-minute walk from the train station. Super bonus! Haha. :D The hostel had a very nice homey feel to it - it was run by a couple from Canada, housed mainly younger people around our age, and was set up kind of like a flat or apartment with 4 or 5 rooms, a kitchen, and a couple common rooms. After getting settled in, we set out to explore. We mainly just window shopped and saw the Rialto Bridge, then found some dinner (pasta with crab sauce for me, pretty delish), and then crashed back at the hostel after the full day's worth of traveling.

Sunset on the Grand Canal

Gorgeous!

Our hostel room :)

One of many Venetian mask displays

View from the Rialto Bridge of the Grand Canal by night

Saturday morning we woke up to the sirens signaling high water at 630 in the morning. By the time we got up, showered, and had free breakfast at the hostel tho, the water had already receded so that the streets weren't flooded anymore, which was good. Our first stop was St. Mark's Square, and we took a fairly leisurely Vaporetto (water taxi) ride down the canal to get there, which was pretty cool cuz we got to see the city from their aquatic "main street." We got really lucky with the weather on Saturday, because after checking the forecast I expected some rain, or at least clouds, but we had a pretty clear day and didn't get any rain until right before we left Sunday, so it was pretty much perfect. :)

Rialto Bridge

 

This was around 1030, four hours after we heard the high water sirens. It still reached above street level!

To give you an idea of how much the tide recedes, this is the same spot about 3 1/2 hours later.

The two big things we wanted to see in St. Mark's Square were the Doge's palace & St. Mark's Basilica. We went to the palace first to see if they had any more spaces available for the secret itineraries tour, and lucky for us, they did! The doge was basically a sort of Duke, and the palace is where all the political stuff happened, from what I gathered. We got a guided tour thru the secret rooms where all the documents were handled, where prisoners were tortured so that they would confess/give information, and we saw the upper prison cells, including the one where Casanova was kept. We learned all about his story, which, from what I understood, went something like this:

Giacomo Casanova was a playboy, so annoyed husbands would send letters of complaint to the palace, so officials kept an eye on him, and finally he was arrested for witchcraft. Lucky for him, executions were outlawed just 5 or 6 months before his arrest, so he was sentenced 5 years in jail. Since he was rich, he got to have his own chair & take walks up in the attic. Somehow he got some iron or something, which he proceeded to use to carve a hole in the floor. All he had left was to carve thru the canvas painting in the 3 High Inquisitors' office ceiling directly below his cell when they were on holiday, and he would've been home free. Unluckily for him, this was the day they decided to move him to a new cell. The keeper discovered Casanova's hole, but was blackmailed to keep quiet about it or else Casanova was gonna tell the authorities that the keeper was the one who got him the iron. So the keeper repaired the hole with his own money & Casanova was stuck in a new cell under 24-hour watch. He needed a new plan, so he started smuggling messages and the piece of iron to a priest that was in a neighboring cell (he'd had 12 kids!) thru a Bible passed on by the keeper (poor chap couldn't read, so he didn't know what was going on!). The priest somehow carved holes & was able to get to Casanova's cell, and somehow they managed to escape - right out the palace's front door! 

In addition to all of the prison-related stuff, we saw a store of weapons they now have set up in the attic, along with the support system for the immense Grand Council room. It's the largest room in the world not supported by columns; Rick Steves said in his guide that it has like a 2,800 capacity or something like that. It's huge. And the ceiling is held up from above. It didn't look like a very elaborate setup.. just a lot of beams crisscrossed on top of each other. But it works.. the Grand Council ceiling is completely flat, none of it is weighing down or anything. Pretty impressive. I wish I had pictures to show you, but none were allowed inside the palace. So that secret tour was really informative, interesting, and totally worth it.

After wrapping things up at the palace, we went out to the Basilica. Since some of the plaza was still flooded from the morning, we had to use the raised platforms they had set up, but it actually wasn't too bad as far as having to wait in line goes, which was cool. No pictures were allowed inside the Basilica, but a bunch of the other tourists were taking some, so I snuck this one, which I felt kind of bad about. The ceiling & I think the walls as well were pretty much all mosaics made with gold from the booty acquired by the Venetians during wars. Just past the altar they had what we think were the remains of the evangelist Mark, but I don't know for sure b/c we didn't pay to go wander that part. I was thinking about it tho - if Peter is in St. Peter's in the Vatican, & Mark is in Venice, where are the other apostles/evangelists? How do they know that these are their tombs anyhow?

Doge's Palace

Water in St. Mark's Square

So much water in front of the Basilica!

Everybody walking on the raised platforms to get to the Basilica

Haha, I thought this was pretty funny. Some lady getting some seriously special treatment.. manual transport for both her and her luggage through several inches of rain.

The other side of St. Mark's Square

Chelsea in St. Mark's Square after the water has all gone

Me in front of the Basilica & Palazzo Ducale

So many gondoliers! (Nah, we didn't ride one.. too expensive!)

 

Me with the winged lion, which represents the evangelist Mark

After finishing up with our major touristy stops, we set out planning to shop for the rest of the day. By the end of the night, we both had a large bag or two filled with purchases, primarily souvenirs, so I would definitely say that it was a successful day. We met up with Flora and Cathlin for some delicious pasta (+ squid for Flora) dinners, and then it was back to the hostel for the night. Chelsea crashed kind of early again, while I took advantage of the fact that we had a TV and DVD player and watched Prince of Persia because I loved that movie :)

Sunday (yesterday) morning we took our time getting up and getting showered, had ourselves another free breakfast with the other young travelers staying there. We met people from Canada, England, and New Zealand, which was interesting and cool to hear all the various accents around one table, haha. We caught our train back to Alba around noon, just in time for it to start raining pretty steadily, and after another full seven hours or so of traveling, we were back in our cozy little town. :)

All in all, I think this weekend was fantastic. I had a lot of fun with good friends, got most of my souvenir/Christmas shopping done, & & got to enjoy great weather with just enough time to see and do all we wanted to in the lovely city of Venice :) Uber plus: we got thru what is highly highly likely to have been our last Italian train ride, woo! Not a fan of Italian public transportation, can you tell? ;P I likely won't have any more big travel plans for the rest of the semester (3 1/2 weeks!!) until the school-sponsored trip back to Florence & Pisa, which is fine by me. Anyhow, I've got an Italian test tomorrow to study for, sooo.. Ciao for now! :)