Francesca O'DiCillo

Dear Italy,

I love you. I really do. But things have changed. Even though I have absolutely no knowledge of the land, no personal connections, no history or historical knowledge, and do not like Jameson Whiskey or Guinness (trust me, I've tried), I've decided to stay in Ireland. I did a research paper on fairies one time, so at least I can ask them for help if I need anything.

Love,
The newly named Francesca O'DiCillo.

that passes as an Irish name right?

But seriously, Ireland is amazing.

Spring Break!

Oh hellooooooooooooo Spring Break.

I had a lot of trouble studying for these since I was so excited for Spring break.

My exams were a piece of cake. Well my writing one was kind of long, but our Franciscan Worldviews one was my favorite mostly because I didn't study and was gonna wing it. There were 3 essays with options, and awesomely enough each essay had a choice for St. Francis. So I (and every Bonaventure student...) chose all of the options with St. Francis.

I have never been so excited to speak English in my life.

Arrivederci, Italia! Hello Ireland and England!

Cleverly Titled Blog Entry

So I had quite the wonderful weekend. On Friday I stayed in Perugia to go on a museum tour with a few people from my home group. It was pretty awesome. We went inside the Duomo (which is regularly voted one of the ugliest churches in Italy because of the exterior) to see, get this, the alleged wedding ring of the Virgin Mary. I couldn't take a picture of it, but still. I'm a little skeptical as to whether or not it was the ring. I'm guessing no.

Then we went into the big art gallery in Perugia. It's 30 rooms and has a lot of art, but it's not as frequented as museums like the Uffizi in Firenze. So we were like the only ones there. Lots of cool stuff, lots of Saint Francis, lots of Mary and baby Jesus, the only painting I've actually seen of Saint Bonaventure, lots of other saints that I didn't know. The usual. It took us forever to get through it.

We stopped in another place to see some frescoes by one of the more famous artists to come from Perugia, cleverly named Perugino. The Perugian. He was a pretty good artist, not gonna lie.

Next we headed down to Saint Peter's church, but it was closed at the time so we walked through the Medieval Garden, which is gonna look amazing in springtime. For now it was cold and windy, but the garden was really pretty.

This is a really old olive tree and it's supposed to represent the world. There were more cool views of the valley and such, but the wind and cold soon made us retreat.

I did this out of order, but we went to Saint Peter's church after we went for lunch, but whatever. The church is really beautiful with lots of frescoes and elaborate work on the ceilings. The nice guy working there let us into the basement, where we found (I get less and less surprised as this happens) the ruins of another church.

There's a church here. No big deal we'll just build a better one over it.

Another great view that we get from Perugia. City of Endless Views. Yeah.

So actually before we went to Saint Peter's Church we got pizza at this place called Pompeii. Look who else ate there:

Yeah that's right. Mother Teresa. Anyway, we got way too much food and were there for two hours. Some of the favorites:

French fries and curry on pizza. And my Pizza was called Spartacus.

Mmmmm. So after spending like 7 hours wandering around Perugia's treasures, Mary and I rested up. The next day we went to Siena!

Freaking gorgeous.

Roommates in the main piazza thing (it's shaped like a shell!) of Siena!

On top of the... I have no idea what I was on but it was by the Duomo and gave a great panorama of Siena. There was a soccer game going on so we could hear the mall chanting and stuff. And the weather was lovely!

The Duomo.

The staircase we had to go up and down was... an experience. I swear no one here has broad shoulders. I was like squeezing to get up and down. And I had to concentrate on the stairs so it made me kind of dizzy. WORTH IT.

So after our descent Mary and I were walking back through Siena trying to figure out how to kill some time before the bus came back. At first we passed but on second thought decided to go into the wildly popular, well-known, and crowded TORTURE MUSEUM.

Umm. It wasn't crowded. We were the only ones in there. I had no idea Siena even had this. I guess that's not something you advertise to people to get them to tour your city.

While were were alone in there, they had this creepy music playing. The idea of being in a room full of torture devices is unsettling, but with horror-movie music it's downright scary. Every noise made me jump and I had to keep checking to make sure nothing weird was going on behind me.

But fo realz, it was pretty interesting and cool. I mean, I have no idea how anyone could be so cruel as to come up with some of this stuff.

Creepy executioner. I was certain that it would move. It didn't. But if it had I probably would have run out of the museum crying.

We left the museum, got some gelato (banana is almost as good as pistachio) and headed home. All in all, I definitely could have stayed more in Siena. It was great! And less hilly than Perugia. And the Tuscan countryside is stunning. Gahhh I love it here so much!

Ps. Mom, I still eat vegetables. Proof:

And I got an A on my Italian midterm. Just so everyone knows. 1 midterm down, 3 to go, then SPRING BREAK! SO EXCITED!


Ciao tutti!

Foodstuff

So I've been doing some food-related things recently and to prove that I'm not only eating pasta and pizza to my mother, here's an update.

Before I go on, however, I would like to congratulate myself and my roommates (but mostly me of course) on winning Apartment of the Month! That means we had the most clean apartment for inspections. Or at least it was the most improved from when Mauro (one of the Umbra staff members who comes to our apartment to fix EVERYTHING and the one who inspected our place) usually comes in. Whatever, we won free pizza.

But I digress. Monday was Valentine's Day. I am single. I can buy wine in Italy. I thought that this was the classiest feast I could get:

Yupp. Questo Pistacchio gelato costa cinque euro. Soooooooooooo worth it. Chocolate Mousse chocolate. Red and White wine. PS. I only drank one box. Don't worry.

Anyway, last night Leigh, Kara and I (they're two of my housemates... I don't know if I've ever mentioned them...) decided to get culinary or something. So we went to the butcher, who usually is really mean to us. Or he was in the beginning. But now that we know 3 words of Italian to use in a butcher shop, we don't have to just point at the meat. Awesome! So he was super nice to us this time. I mean, we still pointed at stuff but could say Che cosa e questo? What is this? Or we could actually read the little signs about what the stuff was.

While waiting for Kara and Leigh to finish cooking, the power went out. We checked the fuse box but none of the switches were down. We called the school and they sent Zach, the one who picked my group up from the airport, to see what was wrong.

Turns out that there's another box way above our fuse box (and my and all of my housemates lines of sight but Zach is like a foot taller than us -_-) that the switch was down. Apparently you can't have the washing machine and the oven going at the same time. Good to know. It was quite a dark and fun adventure though. We tried to offer Zach some food for being so dumb, but since the power had gone out while we were cooking, he just laughed more and wished us good luck on our midterm. (In boca al lupo - to which you respond crepi.)

So at about 9:00 I got to start cooking my dinner. This is a normal time for Italians to eat. I'm adjusting to their lifestyle.

I got vitello, which I am now obsessed with and am spending way too much money on. I just love veal.

Of course, the veal was about as big as my plate. I underestimated the size of the pan that I would need for the massive slab, so I cooked it awkwardly. Whatever.

I got some zucchini and carrots and cooked those too to make me look less fat by covering up the giant meat piece. It was really tasty. And they were even vegetables! That weren't potatoes (Mom - this is where you should be proud of me even though the veal is slightly burned.)

To my own surprise, and to the surprise of my roommates and anyone who knows my eating habits (many small meals and snacks throughout the day) I finished it all! Awesomely enough I bought 2 pieces of the breaded veal so I get to have it again! I bough enough carrots too and I have other vegetables. The zucchini was really good though so I'll probably have to get another one to add.

I ate like the rest of Mary's mashed potatoes (we don't have a measuring cup so making those was an adventure for her) because I was still hungry. And the best part is that this whole thing cost me less than ordering veal at a restaurant! Hopefully the power doesn't go out next time I try to make it.

That's all. I had my Italian midterm today and it was all right. A few things tripped me up but we're learning so much stuff that I know I can't get everything right the first time. The important thing is I'm learning to speak a little more (did you notice my clever insertions of Italian phrases into my blog? Yeah that's right.)

Ciao for now! Go eat some veal. It's delicious.

Richiesta

Ho una richiesta, ma non posso scrivere tutto in italiano. Mi dispiace Mary e Jenna.

I had a request left via video on Facebook from a couple of suite mates that I'm missing a lot. They told me to update my blog. All in Italian. I can't. That's basically what that sentence there says in my basic Italian. My awesome italian skills put to use.

I stayed in Perugia this weekend to catch up on some work and some sleep. I want to be really healthy for when I go on spring break to Rome, Dublin, London, and Pisa. Plus, my food class is going on a trip to Florence like the week after we get back from spring break, and the day after that trip I'm going with my roommates to Milan to see an AC Milan game. Then the weekend after that a trip to Paris is being planned.

Needless to say, I'm gonna have a lot going on in the next few weeks. Not to mention that my Italian midterm is in two days and the midterms for the rest of my classes are next week. Ugh. That's not going to be fun.

We might be doing a museum tour of Perugia this weekend, which I think is awesome because I really am interested in learning all about the city I'm living in. I feel like I'm experiencing Italy a little deeper rather than wide at this point. I mean, I haven't traveled all that much and haven't left Italy yet. I mostly have stayed in Umbria and Tuscany to explore a lot of the towns here.

I love all of the little towns here, but not gonna lie if I never see another Basilica di San Francesco again it will probably be too soon. Kidding mostly because they're all so unique and pretty, and Francis did a lot of cool stuff that I couldn't even begin to describe. Seriously though, every city has one.

We'll see what happens this weekend. Maybe a trip to Siena.

There you go, a blog update. This is the less exciting part of my trip so I don't generally write about it. I like talking about all the trips I go on but talking about midterms is just not fun. Oh well.

I hope you're happy in the USA!

Ciao tutti!

“And no one would care about Assisi, except there was this guy named Francis” (Assisi and Gubbio)

After spending last weekend in Perugia and spending a week being sick, it was time to get outta town. Fortunately, my Contemporary Global Issues: The Franciscan Worldview class had a day trip scheduled to Assisi. It’s a little town about 20 minutes away from us by bus. We can see it from certain points in Perugia on clear days.

We had to meet at 8 AM, which is earlier than I ever even have class. Ugh. We were late but fortunately the bus came at 8:30 to get us. The ride down from Perugia and up to Assisi is nauseating in a bus because the streets are small and it’s hard to maneuver around in them. I would never want to be a bus driver.

We got to Assisi bright and early, but our first destination wasn’t quite in the city. We walked down the steepest hill I’ve ever been on down to San Damiano. It’s a little church nearly a mile away. Legend has it that the crucifix at San Damiano spoke to San Francesco (St. Francis… cool right?) when he was praying there. It told him to “Rebuild my church.” Also, St. Clare established her order there. Francis was there at the end of his life when he was really sick. It was pretty cool. There were paintings of a bunch of Franciscan saints and such. The church was really small. There was also this really cute cat outside. Jussayin.

The trek back up the hill was tough. Even when the ground leveled off my legs were like “WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS DOING THIS TO ME?????????” Whatever. We made it back up to the top and ventured into Assisi. Our first stop was a playground. We’re obviously adults.

Next was the Basilica di Santa Chiara (Saint Clare). The building was huge and beautiful. Inside everyone had to be silent since it’s a pretty holy place. The San Damiano crucifix was hanging in the church. It was bigger than I expected it to be. The next part led us into the lower level of the church. First we looked at a bunch of artifacts from their time: Clare’s hair is in a box, some shoes she made for Francis to cover his stigmata, their tunics, some other cool little pieces of their lives. It was pretty cool to see.

On the other side of the lower level was the body of Saint Clare. I’m not sure if it was the real body (they claim it is) but it looked like a wax figure to me. She was really small. It was both really cool and really creepy to see the body of a Saint. Especially one that some of the most hated classes at SBU are named after. There were also things on the walls like paintings of important events in Clare’s life. It was a pretty cool to be a part of.

After that we wandered around Assisi (it was one of the most beautiful days that we’ve been in Italy) until we reached a small chapel that was built on the alleged spot of the birth of Francis. We also saw the statue of his parents. Then we saw an old Roman temple that was pretty cool. Next we went to Santa Maria Maggiore, another big and impressive church. In a nearby piazza Francis renounced his father to follow his father in heaven. And he took all of his clothes off in front of everyone to show that he wasn’t following his earthly father (a wealthy cloth merchant) anymore. Apparently Francis took his clothes off a lot. Later Clare got approval to run away from her family and join the friars at this church too.

My favorite place in Assisi was next: The Basilica di San Francesco. For a guy who really loved poverty (even Dante wrote about how Francis married lady poverty), his church is freaking huge and amazing. We all just stopped and stared when we turned the corner and saw it. Inside there is a series of frescoes depicting events in the life of Francis. Some of them are in better shape than others. The lower part of the Basilica houses the body of St. Francis, but it isn’t visible like Clare’s is. When we went down there the first time there was a prayer service going on so we didn’t get close. Mary and I hung around and shopped at the gift shop then went and sat closer when the service was over. It was one of the more spiritual places I’ve ever been in my life. I still can’t believe how close I was to the body of the patron saint of Italy. It’s impossible to describe how wonderful and amazing it was.

After that we had lunch and got back on the bus to travel to our final destination of the day: Santa Maria degl’ Angeli and Portiuncula. It’s a huuuuuuuuuuuuuge church down the hill and was home to the friars in Francis’s time. Inside the Santa Maria church is, in fact, another church.

That’s Portiuncula.

A building inside of a building. It was all so beautiful. The larger church houses so many statues and artworks, and another church. How cool is that? I lit a candle there for my Grandma Rose. There were plenty of places to do that, but I did it here. Also located in this church is the Chapel of the Transitus, which marks the place where Francis died. But he didn’t die so much as he just transitioned into heaven. So they say. This one was a really close second to the Basilica di San Francesco. I really enjoyed it.

Assisi was so cute and beautiful and wonderful. Of course, when I got home I slept for like 4 hours since I was tired and still a little sick. Nevertheless, Mary and I decided that since we had Saturday and Sunday left we would take another trip the next day.

Our choice (mostly mine) was Gubbio. It’s a little medieval town about an hour northish of Perugia.

First of all, the bus schedule is super confusing. Trains and planes I can do. The buses here are weird. And trying to find a website on the buses is hard. Finding one that tells you anything in English is even harder. Nevertheless, we figured it out (with the help of some other travelers and the ticket seller). Then there was the bus ride. I don’t normally get motion sickness, but this topsy-turvy, twisty, winding route left my stomach in knots. I didn’t get sick but it was quite unsettling.

Gubbio is confusing. The signs point in one direction and suddenly when you try and follow them you end up a kilometer outside of the city. That really happened. Everything was really pretty, but it was a lot of walking (as if that’s any different than usual…) aimlessly and trying to follow the signs. There was a Basilica di San Francesco here too, but while it was huuuuuge too it was not as impressive as the one in Assisi.

Gubbio also has its own Francis experience. If you’re interested, look up the wolf of Gubbio and Saint Francis. It’s a cute little story and there’s a statue of Francis with the wolf. There are also all sorts of figurines of Francis with the wolf.

There were the ruins of a Roman amphitheater that were really cool and all of the buildings and such are really cool. Of course, all of this novelty wears off within a few hours when you’re hungry and you happen to be in a town where just about EVERYTHING follows the pausa and isn’t open when you’re starving. Mary and I finally found a little shop that was open and then we found some weird vending machines… one of which didn’t work. There was also a microwave with the vending machine, which is more than there is in our apartment. Jussayin.

The best part of the trip, and the part that made Gubbio worth the trip, was the experience of the birdcage and the mountain. There’s this strange lift that legitimately looks like a birdcage. It’s like a ski lift where it doesn’t stop, but it’s a bit different in that you stand and wait for the cage and then RUN AND JUMP INTO IT. They’re not that big either. Mary and I were certain that we were going to fall and die. We didn’t.

The ride up left us in awe. First of all, we saw that we had walked pretty far from the center of town that we had to get back to. Second, the view was spectacular. Snow covered mountains, ruins, the countryside, the town, some hang gliders, more snow and just a breathtaking panorama of the surrounding area.

“We just rode a birdcage up a mountain. This is seriously our lives right now.”

At the top of the mountain there was a neat little restaurant and the church of San Ubaldo, the patron saint of Gubbio. I have no idea why his church is on top of a mountain, but it was very pretty. I think when I first saw the church when we were at the bottom of Gubbio I said, “I hope we don’t have to go all the way up there to get to the church of San Ubaldo.” Wow was I wrong. I’m glad we had to go all the way up there.

So all in all, Gubbio was worth the trip, but we only stayed for 4 hours. I don’t think I would have like to stay much longer than that. I’m glad we went though. How many people get to ride in a cage up to the top of a mountain in Italy? Amazing.
I’m feeling a lot better, I got to chat with Ronnie, Lauren, and Katrina, and I had a great weekend of awesome experiences and amazing times. I can’t believe that I’ve been here for a month. So much has happened but there’s so much left to do! Gotta start making plans for next weekend!

Ciao for now!

A Simple Update

Nothing too big going on now. The Festa di San Costanzo was pretty cool. A bunch of tents with vendors selling their stuff. We got a bunch of cooking stuff for our apartment.

Unfortunately I find myself sick again. Not with a horrible virus like last time, just a stuffed up nose and a cough. Ugh. It's not that I feel sick, it's just more annoying than anything else. I hope this isn't a regular occurrence here. It's hard to get up for 9 AM Italian class when you couldn't sleep because you were coughing and couldn't breathe. And had a sore throat.

On the upside, we have our daytrip to Assisi on Friday! I'm really excited about this one. I think San Francesco (I'mma call him that instead of St. Francis) was a pretty interesting guy. And for some reason learning about him and being here in Italy and going to his hometown makes me feel just a little bit more connected to Italy and even to my name. It's odd to think of it, but whenever everyone got the meanings of their names mine was always "The female form of Francis." I would roll my eyes. Big deal. Francis is a weird name. But now that I'm getting more in touch with him (and not just learning about him in Catholic and Franciscan Heritage class) I'm really starting to think that it's a pretty cool name to have, not just a really pretty one that Americans can't spell or pronounce.

We haven't decided what we're doing for the rest of the weekend, but we have started to look ahead. I have my spring break plans, and me and my roommates are trying to get to an AC Milan game. I'm not the world's biggest football (obviously soccer) fan, but I do enjoy it and I grew up with the sport. Plus, I think it would be a crime to come to Italy and not see a game. Hopefully things work out and we can go!

Still workin' hard in classes and trying to brush up on my Italian. I can't believe it's February. They weren't lying when they told us that 4 months here feels like nothing. In 5 days it'll be one month in Italy! Wow.

Ciao for now!