I've been here in Castiglion Fiorentino (pop. 10,000) located in the southeastern section of Tuscany near the neighboring province of Umbria (oom-bria) for a few days now, and it definitely feels more like home now.
Santa Chiara, the study center, is located within the walled old town near the highest point and has incredible views of vineyards (which are everywhere), the local soccer stadium, and of neighboring hilltop towns in the distance, as well as more recently developed houses. Local women working for the center cook three course meals for us at lunch and dinner, with the latter usually accompanied by local organic wine shared by most of the table (keeping with University policies, you must be 21 to buy it, but anyone can drink it). Everything seems healthier and authentic with olive oil or simpler sauces with local herbs, salt and pepper in place of the heavy sauces we're used to in America, but this way you never feel guilty and are always satisfied by the end of the meal. Fruit served as dessert is a less welcome change, but we did enjoy some "chocolate salami" on the night we arrived, which they say is always everyone's favorite. I really don't know how to describe it other than saying it's like thin biscotti with chocolate flavor that only looks like a slice of salami, but it is definitely delicious. In addition, the first night we arrived, I decided to have a glass of chianti with dinner, thinking I would pay 5 euro for the glass, but was then handed the entire bottle, which I shared with the rest of the table of ten or so. That was a great surprise after being awake for 30 hours or so, and was probably the best wine I've ever had for that price!
We've been on a couple tours of town-- one historical, one functional-- and I have a good sense of direction even with the hills, one-way streets, and naturally air-conditioned passageways between and under buildings. Not that you need A/C, since it's been about 75 degrees here and sunny since we arrived.
This is the courtyard, where we spend our evenings before and after dinner staring out at the same view (not pictured yet) at cafe tables. It's the kind of spot everyone comes to talk, but periodically a lull in the conversation occurs, almost always because everyone's stopped to look out at the view and remember where we are for a little while. It's really something else, and I'll upload a picture of that view soon. Every Friday, a market is set up in a square near the study center, and we learned how to ask for samples (una pezzo di ______, per favore-- in my case, cheese or formaggi), and the lady who gives us our Italian lessons recommended a great sandwich for 3 Euro made with cheese and thinly-sliced pork stuffed with garlic, fennel and salt/pepper that easily beats a $5 footlong from Subway any day. Here's the cart where I got this panini di porceta con formaggio. Walking around the market was some of the most fun I've had so far, even without buying anything, but I will bargain for something successfully before I leave!
So far, the locals have been pretty warm to us, especially the entrepreneurs who married former A&M girls who came to study here. And of course the locals our age have been very warm to the girls in our group, always waving and aggressively chatting them up at the bars at night, but they've been harmless so far.
Last night, at the very busy outdoor patio bar in town, we met a 21-year-old guy named Filipo (I think), who spoke enough English to tell us about all his favorite American music, specifically 80's, and how bad he thought everything Italian was. I think there were five different songs that came on at the bar that were his"favorite," and every time some techno or house music came on, he called it "shit," and would start talking about his favorite drummers and guitarists from American bands. He plays drums himself, too, and gave us a couple of his CD's to listen to (which I guess he always carries with him), though I haven't yet. He tried to make us feel more at home by saying all Italian men and women are idiots (imagine it said in very fragmented English, a lot like Borat actually), except for he and his two friends. And since he was the only one wearing shorts and not top-heavy from too much hair gel (which Italian men must buy in bulk), I have to wonder if he was right.
We've only really had one POLS 313 class, but it's been interesting, and our professor's friend from Oxford who is the #1 world authority on some relevant topic is coming to lecture on Monday, which should be really interesting. It's obvious that our class has the most work to do compared to the Music and Horticulture classes, which are heavy on easy multiple choice tests and give a lot of credit for attendance and participation, whereas we have essay tests and a paper, but I don't think I'll have a lot of trouble since Dr. Kellstedt is very insightful and interesting (he used to teach at Brown University), and lives ten feet from my room if I need help.
There is so much more to report on, but I'm having trouble recalling everything since I waited so long to write this first entry, but I'll look over my personal journal and update again soon with more pictures from Arezzo, where we just returned from, and more from Castiglion and the study center, as well as my fellow Ags and the t-sips and U of H Cougars staying here, too.
Ciao for now, but leave questions in the comment section if you want to know about anything in particular because that'll be easier than me thinking of things to write about till next time!
