Urbania: Places and Faces

On Time

It's hard to believe that I've already been in Europe for five weeks. Despite the slower pace of life in Italy, time still flies. Tonight we have our final concert in Urbania and tomorrow I'll begin my official week of vacation. The itinerary looks promising: 2 nights in Rome, 2 nights in Naples, 2 nights in Florence, and a final night in Bologna. Then I catch a flight for London, spend an evening there and then fly to Tel Aviv.

It's the oddest feeling, but I often get the sensation that I live in multiple worlds. Per esempio, I have this life in Italy at the moment. I go to school, I have rehearsals, I go grocery shopping, I eat gelato--basically I've settled into an Italian routine. I have fantastic friends, a great roommate, etc. but tomorrow this world will vanish. The people I've met will all go their separate ways and I'll then have to start a new life in Israel, where I'll stay just long enough to create a world and then leave.

All the above makes for an interesting lifestyle and it just happens to be one that I love. There are negative aspects, especially the good-byes and the transiency, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I get to meet fantastic people from random places around the world, study cultures and languages---all the time doing what I love and making music. And best of all, at the end I get to go home. To a semi-divided world in Utah/Michigan. Pretty sweet setup.

But the end of an existence is always a bit sad, hence my reflections of the day. Urbania has been wonderful and I love the Italian people and culture more than ever. (I've decided to retire in Italy). And I'm really looking forward to Tel Aviv and my rough sojourn in a hotel with free wireless. So...here's to the end of an existence and the beginning of another!

France, Italy...guesses for next year?

Birthdays are fantastic. I mean nothing can beat that amazing feeling of aging overnight. Here's how June 5, 2008 went down:

I'm not normally much of a cereal fan, but this specific type, "Vitalis," especially the frutti di bosco flavor, is brilliant. I'm considering eating the cost of shipping multiple boxes home. It was the perfect way to start the greatest day of the calendar year.

I went to school to continue my commitment to education, occasionally perceived as avoidance of the real world, and the Scuola had gotten me a beautiful rose. Wanyi, a fellow pianist from Michigan, was my sidekick for the day and, more realistically, my entire time in Italy.

During our 30 minute class "pausa," we hit the Thursday morning market. Picked up some fresh fruit, porchetta panini, and calamari, but mostly just enjoyed the fact that it was a beautiful day. (It's tended to be a bit rainy thus far in my Italian experience.)

Urbania is small but beautiful and everywhere you look there's a hill that looks picture perfect. This is the view down the street from my apartment.

A little gelato appetizer---they don't eat dinner here until 8:30 or 9, so I swear it's necessary!

Went to dinner at a small hotel and it was fantastic! It was the 4 pianists, the director of the program, and one of the faculty coaches.

This was the antipasti. Delicious!

The dinner party.

It also happened to be Jennifer's birthday---another one of the pianists, so we went in on a cake that was pretty freakin' brilliant. Unfortunately we didn't get home from dinner until just after 11:30, so the actually eating of it was postponed until Friday. It was worth the wait and topped off with some amazing gelato.

I had planned several wishes over the past year, so even though I was candle-less I found a way to make do.

Overall, it was a lovely day. The most interesting bit to me, however, was in pondering last year's birthday in France with a mixture of nationalities in comparison to this one in Italy AND my 22nd in Utah. It's really just interesting to sit back and watch where life takes you. And wonder where I'll be next year on June 5th!

Should I take a Home Lunch?

Remember how exciting your very first day of school was? My Grandpa would give me rides to Shelley Elementary in the basket of his bicycle while my mom was teaching school and I loved it. Quality time with Grandpa AND Kindergarten rocked. Remember recess? Naptime? Storytime? Who wouldn't want to go to school?

And yet, somehow along the road we reach this stage.

Hopefully with a different outfit, but you get the picture.

Let's just say that it's been a while since I looked forward to my first day of school. BUT...this week I had my first day of Italian class and I was SO excited! I got to Italy last Wednesday evening quite late---mostly due to the fact that I'm in the middle of nowhere. In Italy. Seriously, it took about 5 hours to drive here from Rome. The nearest train connection is 1.5 hours away by bus. It's gorgeous and 100% authentic Italy, but it's still isolated which can occasionally be equivocated with boredom. Anyway, by the time Tuesday rolled around and Italian classes started I was so excited to go to school that I could hardly keep from skipping. (I refrained.) Not only did I get to find out which level I had tested into, but I would also become immediately fluent in a day! Realistically my expectations weren't THAT high, but I was excited. And I did make the top class, in case you had doubts. :)

Point of this rambling being...it was nice. It took me back to those days when life started with the school year. It still does, but somehow it's become a little more overwhelming and less exciting. But my first two days at Scuola Italia have been nothing but enjoyable and it's quite refreshing. Maybe it's the school, or maybe it's it's just that I'm in Italy. Either way...va bene!

Postcard from Wien

Since an actual postcard actually takes an enormous amount of effort, here's my solution...

The Games We/I Play

I have a little game I like to play in Vienna. It's called "How long can I go speaking only German and have people think I actually understand and speak the language?"

Still working on that title.

And the game, since normally it only lasts about two sentences.

Tonight I made a significant amount of progress, however. I went into one restaurant where I asked for a place and was told they didn't have one and I should go to the same restaurant around the corner. Realistically, I only understood the general gist of that, but it was all in German and I still figured it out, so...5 points for me.

No one else gets any points in my games.

I went to restaurant number 2, was escorted toward the back of building and given my choice of going to the left tables or the right. I chose the left in German. I managed to order from a German menu (not too difficult since I knew my last Viennese meal needed to be Schnitzel). Still...I awarded myself 10 more points.

I felt that things were going very well, especially when they brought me a schnitzel that was twice the size of head. A difficult feat, you might say, considering how happily I award myself points. Nevertheless, it was true. I couldn't see the plate beyond the schnitz. I was gnawing happily away when the waiter returned. He threw off a quick phrase and smiled at me. My blood turned cold and I felt points slipping from my grasp as I just stared up at him and smiled blankly. He continued to stand there smiling politely, and I panicked. Too much eye contact, and still no German coming from my mouth. His phrase still hadn't registered in my brain. Occasionally the quick ones just take a moment before I realize what's been said. STILL NOTHING! There we were, for what felt like an eternity of misunderstanding. What was I to do?! Abandon ship? Quit the game when I was so far ahead? (Who knows of what or whom.) It could not be! There was only one solution...I smiled some more, nodded, and buried my face in the schnitzel.

I knew it was over. I'd been called out. But when he returned to see if I had finished, he spouted off another German phrase and I QUIT! I took off running. Okay, not really. But I did tell him that I spoke only a little German and hadn't understood. So he replied in English, saying that it was not a problem.

But it was. When he brought the check, I found that dinner cost me not only 18 Euro, but also 15 points.

Wien

I have a confession. Until just a couple days ago, I never realized that "Wienerschnitzel" was called as such do to it's derivation in "Wien." Or Vienna as we folk call it back home. So, yes, I'm ignorant. I'm hopeful that until now, you were as well, only as a testament that I'm not alone in the world.

Since I've visited several cathedrals in the past 48 hrs (if even that) I feel inclined to make one other confession. While I enjoy travelling, I don't enjoy sight-seeing. I hate feeling guilty for not wanting to be on my feet all day. I feel obligated to spend every second seeing things that blur into indistinction after cramming as many sights in as possible. So I don't do it. I'm a weak sight-seer.

My roommate on the other hand is not. I actually have two at the moment in my surprisingly fabulous hostel. One is a 20-year old med student from Canada (first language French) and the other is from Germany, here to visit for the weekend. The Canadian, Jennifer, has her guidebook and is on a mission which I totally respect. Carola, on the other hand, is the one I spent today with. We grabbed breakfast at the hostel, went to the Morgenarbeit mit Musik (show horse excersing) and then toured the Hofberg palace, focusing on the Sisi museum and the silver collection. Then we stopped for lunch which consisted of Viennese "Sachertorte" and a Diet Coke. It was lovely. I choose to eat like that. Now I'm home for a rest before braving at night at the Staatsoper. Totally psyched.

It's the home for a rest part that I thoroughly enjoy. I think I don't mind sight seeing if I don't feel constrained and obligated. So maybe I'm a bit too strong-willed. Regardless, Wien is fantastic. My German is rapidly improving with Carola's help and I'm slowly overcoming my fear of speaking Deutsch in public. Slowly. I'm running out of patience with the whole "pay-by-the-minute" internet thing, however, and as a result am looking forward to my apartment with free wireless in Italy.

And so I've confessed, I've contemplated, I've narrated, and now I bid you "Auf Wiedersehen." Which has nothing to do with any of the above.

***Pictures forthcoming: when I'm not on a public computer.***