Italy 2018 Blog

@italy2018ms

23 posts

July 29, 2018

I’m sitting on the airplane right now, reflecting on my trip. It’s so hard to believe that twenty-three days have passed! I have mixed feelings about the trip. I’m happy that it’s over because my final high school English course is over, but I’m sad that it’s over because I had so much fun in Italy. If I had the opportunity to stay longer without any course work, I would have chosen to stay. If my family had come with me, I would have stayed even longer. As the trip went on, I didn’t have any episodes where I missed my family intensely, but they were always in the back of my mind, and now I’m ready to come home to see them. I must say that I’m amazed at the differences I’ve observed between the person I was before coming on the trip and the person I am now. In all honesty, I was somewhat skeptical about enrolling for the trip in the first place. I’ve never been away from my family for this long a period, and this worried me. Over the course of a few weeks, I thought about the situation. When would I ever get an opportunity to travel like this again? I eventually decided to enroll, and it was definitely the better choice. Throughout this journey, I’ve been pushed out of my comfort zone and developed my personality in so many ways. At the first information meetings of the trip, I remember wondering how I would ever make friends with the people such a large group. I can say now at the end of the trip that I made many more friends than I ever thought I’d make, and I’ve gotten some of their contacts as well. My group of friends on the trip encouraged me to do things and go places I never would have, and because of this, my experience on the trip was so much the better. I’m happy to have finished my high school English career, but that was only a short-term effect of the trip. I could have completed an English course anywhere. However, the friendships I developed and the lessons I learned on this trip are of much greater value, and I feel that I’ll hold onto them for the rest of my life. I appreciate the effort of all of the teachers and organizers of the trip in helping me and other students do well in their courses and enjoy Italian culture as well. I will recommend this trip to anybody I see who qualifies to participate, and now, I get to go home and enjoy the month of August off! We’ll see when I start missing the gelatos, the food, and the company… it will probably be sooner rather than later.

Thank you,

Matteo

July 28, 2018

Today was our last full day in Italy! Although our exam was today, we still managed to do our daily excursion. We left for Verona after breakfast, and it took us an hour to get there. As soon as Verona was mentioned, I immediately thought of Shakespeare’s plays, many of which are based in Verona. However, on the way I found out that there is no proof that Shakespeare ever visited Verona, yet he wrote about it in his works. This made me begin to wonder how accurately he described Verona, and whether the actual city would be similar or not. When we arrived, we went to Juliet’s house. I found it funny that according to tradition, people taking photos with the statue of Juliet are supposed to put their hands on her breasts (I didn’t end up taking a picture with her)! We were only given two hours of free time, including lunch, so my friends and I decided to have lunch first and then look at merchants in the plaza after. It’s always interesting to me to ask others what foods they do and don’t like. At lunch, the restaurant we went to was serving spaghetti with fresh clams. I decided to get it, and before I could even ask people if they liked seafood, almost all the faces at the table turned from happiness to disgust! I guess seafood isn’t popular with my friends! We browsed the shops with our remaining time, then we went back to the hotel. The exam was coming up after dinner, so I studied for most of the afternoon. When I joined Aylene and Ally for studying, we couldn’t find a spot quiet enough to study, so we went on an adventure through the hotel. On the elevator, Aylene thought it would be funny to press all the buttons at once… we were on the elevator for a long time! We joined the class for dinner and a final slideshow of the trip by Mr. Trabucco. The dessert they served us looked rather interesting… my friends and I laughed immaturely for a while, then we proceeded to write our exam. I stressed a lot during the exam, but I felt confident with my end result, and I’m now so happy that everything is finished! Tomorrow, we leave for home. Time has really flown by!

Matteo

July 27, 2018

I’ve never seen anything like Venezia in my life… but before I get to speaking about Venezia, I have a story about last night to share. We finally arrived at our hotel at around 7:00. At 8:00, we went downstairs to the upscale dining room for dinner. It was the most formal dinner we’d attended during the entire trip. We were served our primo piatto, then the waitress motioned us up to the buffet. One of my friends tried to take his plate with him to the buffet, and the waitress was saying “Don’t, don’t!” She couldn’t find the English word for “plate,” and she shouted out frustrated, “Come cazzo si chiama?” (which means “How the f*** do you call it?”). When I looked surprised, she found out I understood her and immediately apologized, saying that she “let it out by accident!” This morning, we got a new bus to take to Venezia, which was a bi-level. This bus was more comfortable and had less problems than our previous bus, but there was one problem: we weren’t necessarily guaranteed the same bus on the way to Venezia as on the way back. I wish I had known this sooner… otherwise I wouldn’t have brought my backpack full of ALL my school supplies and my laptop with me. I had to carry it around all day, and now my back and arms hurt! We travelled on a boat, and when we got onto the island and saw all the canals, I was amazed. I got to personally see the gondolas moving throughout the city and the houses on the water. It was an experience that I’ll never forget. We had a guided tour of the city, then we had free time to have lunch and do shopping. Aylene and Ally wanted to go to H&M… so Mitch and I stood quietly for a half hour while they looked around. After lunch at a café, we started to get tired. We tried to sit on the steps in the main square, but an attendant came and told us to stand up. When we tried to sit on the floor away from the square, another attendant came and did the same thing! Seeing as we couldn’t sit, we walked around for the rest of the time until we boarded the boat to come back to the hotel. Overall, I enjoyed Venezia and thought it was a wonderful place to visit. It didn’t end up smelling at all! Tomorrow we go to Verona and then come back to write our exam! Tomorrow, the course is officially done!

Matteo

July 26, 2018

It’s hard to believe that we have so little time left in Italy. Today, we arrived at our last hotel in Abano Terme, a small resort town within an hour of Venezia. We’ll be here for the next three days and then we leave to come back home! This morning, I decided to use the pancake machine (which works exactly the same as the omelette machine). My friend Scott and I pressed “Start” on the machine, but it didn’t start, so we pressed it ten more times. Little did we know there was no “Cancel” button… twelve pancakes ended up coming down the conveyor belt! We left them sitting for others on a plate near the machine. After our bags were loaded onto the bus, we left for a detour on our trip: we were going to Pisa! I had read that we were going to Pisa on the schedule earlier, but it had slipped my mind. As soon as I remembered, I immediately got excited. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a structure that is so popular in the world, and I really wanted the opportunity to see it with my own eyes. We needed to take a shuttle to the main square, and when we arrived, I couldn’t believe my eyes. After years of seeing pictures, I realized they certainly didn’t do the real tower justice! I took pictures, and I even posed for a (not-so-good) perspective shot of me trying to lean against the tower. You can also see Zachary in the background. While I did enjoy the trip to Pisa, what really affected me today was stress. Over the past few days, I had been trying to balance between enjoying my time immersed in Italian culture and completing my schoolwork to achieve a good mark in my course. I admit that I was pushing schoolwork off a bit, and today, it came back to get me. A project is due tomorrow, and our group hadn’t completed enough of it to be on track for finishing it on time. I decided that for the entire four hours of time spent on the bus, I would work hard on the project. I did, but then when we got to the hotel, our group had to collaborate to finish the group aspect of the work. We finally finished the project with four minutes to spare before bedtime! Today, I truly gained an appreciation for how people who have incredibly busy lives can ensure that all their tasks are completed on time. Hopefully, the skills I used on this trip will be useful to me later in life when they are needed. Tomorrow is our day to visit Venezia. People say it smells there… I’ll need to see for myself!

Matteo

July 25, 2018

Today was our last day in Firenze. As such the majority of the day was given to us for free time to browse around and shop at our leisure. The morning, however, was reserved for a special trip to the Uffizi Art Gallery. I had no idea what art was in the gallery, so I was looking forward to going to see it. I’d also been told by others who had been there that it has very beautiful art. We had an hour of free time after breakfast, then we walked over to the gallery (I had another “omelette” for breakfast). It took a while to get into the gallery since we needed to go through security and there were some issues with our admission tickets. Once we climbed the stairs inside, I saw more paintings hanging on the walls than I ever remember seeing in my life; keep in mind that I can’t remember the last time I was at an art gallery. Many of the popular renaissance artists that were mentioned during our tours of the city had their works exhibited in the gallery. Our group was also one of the first in the world to see the new Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit. I enjoyed the trip to Uffizi, but after walking through art exhibits for the entire morning, I learned that I don’t really enjoy viewing visual art as much as I thought I did. I didn’t feel very engaged during the tour, but this is not to say that I don’t have an appreciation for the effort and beauty of the paintings the artists created. I think I enjoy viewing monuments like the Roman Forum and the various churches better because I can appreciate the physical structures and their history. I had a couple of funny experiences during the rest of the day. First, I went with a group of friends to a restaurant for lunch. There was a couple next to us who seemed to be speaking Russian. When a pigeon came close to their table, the woman screamed and jumped out of her chair! She then said, “I have a phobia of birds!” Later, on our walk back to the hotel, I passed a bike rack, and noticed something looked strange about it. When I double-checked, it turned out that only the back wheel of a bike was left in the rack… I guess the rest of the bike had been disconnected and stolen! This put me on edge again, and I walked the rest of the way back to the hotel with my hands in my pockets. We leave tomorrow for our last hotel in Abano Terme, near Venezia. I’m really excited to see what Venezia will be like!

A domani,

Matteo

July 24, 2018

Having been to Roma, Chieti and Sulmona as of right now, I can confidently say after today that I find Firenze to be the most interesting city in terms of walking around. My journey through Firenze began this morning. We woke up and had breakfast. I enjoyed the breakfast, but I did find one part of it rather strange and peculiar. I was in the mood for eggs, and somebody told me they served them. When I got over to the breakfast table, I saw a contraption that looked like it was made in the 24th century! To make an “omelette,” the machine pumped out a paste that looked like mayonnaise, then moved it through a set of hot rollers to cook it, dropping it out flat at the other end. I immediately felt like going to get some other food, but then I decided to give it a try. The end result didn’t taste like an omelette, but the machine was fun to use! We walked out to meet our tour guide after breakfast, who took us down a set of roads until we reached downtown. I had heard many people speaking about a place called Duomo, but I had no idea what they were talking about. As soon as we turned a corner, I suddenly found out. I was taken aback… how could a monument this tall and elegant possibly be constructed in the 15th century? I stood in awe for one minute, appreciating the amazing craftsmanship and effort that must have been put into the church. We took photos, then moved on to touring the rest of the city streets. It was interesting to see the many different architectural styles of buildings all located next to each other. We went down streets with expensive shops, much to the liking of many peers. When we were given free time for lunch, my friends and I immediately headed for the Mercato Centrale (Central Market). As soon as I entered, I could tell this market was the “real deal” experience I’d been hoping for. There were so many vendors selling so many things that it was hard for me to keep track! The market immediately reminded me of St. Lawrence Market in Toronto; even the buildings looked similar. I got a fresh pizza with arugula and tomatoes, then we headed back to the hotel. The rest of the day was uneventful: only classes and dinner… and a tiramisù gelato of course. We’re scheduled for a tour of the Uffizi Art Gallery tomorrow, so we’ll see what that trip holds.

Matteo

July 23, 2018

Today was a very eventful day! We travelled to a total of three cities from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed. We had an early morning and breakfast, then we packed up and got on the bus to go to Assisi. I was planning on doing some sleeping on the bus, but when we got thirty minutes away from Sulmona, the bus broke down! We stayed parked for an hour while the mechanic fixed the bus, and in the meantime, I did some schoolwork. While most of the people on the trip complained about this delay, I actually enjoyed it. Even though I’m a person who likes things to go to plan, I liked having a break from the scheduled itinerary. It gave me time to meet and talk with people I hadn’t introduced myself to on the trip, and the morning didn’t feel rushed as a result. In other words, there are positives to every situation. When the bus was fixed, we got back on the road and eventually arrived in Assisi. I was initially confused with Assisi – it appeared as if the city was closed in and controlled, since there were gates and a fee that had to be paid. However, after getting through the “red tape” and entering the city, I grew to like it. It reminded me of Chieti and Sulmona but had slightly higher traffic. The walk to St. Francis Papal Basilica was downhill, and when we got there, I was disappointed to learn that I wasn’t allowed to take pictures inside. I managed to get pictures of the outside, which was stunning and a masterpiece in and of itself. Another little thing that made a big difference for me today was that I ate a true Italian panino for the first time. It might seem boring, but I found it exciting. Unfortunately, I realized after ordering my porchetta panino that it wasn’t the highest quality panino that was being sold on the main street… I’ll have to buy another one later! We made our way to Florence in the evening and arrived in time for dinner at a local restaurant. I spent the evening worried, though, since it was explained to us that Florence is one of the worst cities in Italy in terms of pick-pocketing. I had my hand on my belongings all night! Overall, today was a long but exciting day. I can’t wait to see what Florence holds for us over the next three days!

Matteo

July 22, 2018

Today was one of the more exciting days for me in Sulmona. The story of today’s adventure started last night. After dinner, conversation started about the mountain hike that we would be participating in today. The teachers explained that the hike was much more intense than any other walking we had done during the trip. To add to the intensity level, the bus company was unable to provide our group with a bus that was small enough to manoeuvre around the tight curves of the narrow road up the mountain. This meant, of course, that we would need to hike the complete path up the mountain, including both the paved road and the walking trail. We were given the option on whether we wanted to participate or not. In all honesty, I was strongly considering declining, and staying back to have more time to complete class work. However, it was at this moment that I caught myself and thought: why would I come on a trip to Italy if I’m just going to choose not to participate in activities that will enrich my experience? That would defeat the purpose of coming! I told the teacher I wanted to go, and I was in. In the morning, it was dry and hot outside, but it didn’t matter. I was in the mindset that I wanted to complete the hike. Surprisingly, the hike was not as difficult as I thought it would be. After completing both the asphalt path and the walking trail, we reached the top. The monastery, which was located at the end of the trail, was one of the most spectacular religious buildings I’ve ever seen. The fact that it was on the mountainside added to the feelings of peace and serenity I felt while inside, and the views from the mountain were amazing! We took photos, then proceed down the trail back to our bus. In summary, I had a lot of fun hiking today. I realized that, despite my success, my level of fitness is not exactly where I want in to be… I’ll need to work on that in the future! Tomorrow we’re off to Assisi and Florence. I’m very excited!

Until tomorrow,

Matteo

July 21, 2018

I must confess that it’s becoming challenging to write posts about days that don’t seem to have many exciting events happening! Today was one of those days… it was a school day, our last day of classes in the local high school. I’d like to mention (even though I may complain too much about my sleep) that last night, I wasn’t able to fall asleep right away. In Sulmona, one of the more popular annual events is the horse jousting competition, the “Giostra Cavalleresca.” Although we won’t be here for the actual event, we were able to experience the first night of festivities last night, where the teams involved challenged each other to a jousting match. The streets and main stage were packed with people cheering on their home teams. However, nothing was as crazy as the noise! Never have I been in a situation where I’ve been so intent on leaving due to how loud it is. The non-stop whistles, air horns, drums, and smoke bombs all continuously going off genuinely gave me the fear that I would lose my hearing! I went inside soon after, but it was a difficulty trying to go to sleep… festivities continued until 1:00 in the morning! Notwithstanding last night, I did have the opportunity to go and visit a market today. Conveniently, there was a market set up on the road we took to go to school. While there were vendors selling other goods, I opted to look around the food area. There were fruits and vegetables of all shapes and sizes. Everything looked so fresh and delicious – if I had a way to prepare the food, I would definitely have bought some! Not only was the food nice to see, but I felt happy just being immersed in the Italian culture. I saw more men shake hands and kiss each other on the cheek than I ever have! I appreciated this experience because it’s not something I’m exposed to in Canada. I don’t feel the same sense of community exists between Canadians as much as in other parts in the world, and I feel that it would be beneficial if more efforts were made to facilitate conversation between people in their cities and towns. On a side note, today was my second laundry day… I have to say that the lesson I’ve learned is that it’s impossible for me to do laundry without any mistakes in Italy. I thought the laundromat was in one spot, but it turned out that it was just a store that sold water and soap… I made my friends walk five kilometres to get to the actual laundromat! Hopefully I’ll get the hang of doing laundry sometime soon!

Matteo

July 20, 2018

Our time in Sulmona is quickly coming to an end. We only have one more full class day left, then we’re off to Firenze! Today being a class day, it was slower-paced and more laid back than the past two travelling days. Although I can say that I enjoyed myself today, I must admit that I had some strange personal experiences throughout the day. They began in the morning. I was lying in bed as I have for the past two weeks, waiting for my alarm to go off. However, this morning I was particularly restless. I continued hearing what sounded like the voices of boys from my class yelling and shouting. I remember thinking, “I wish they’d shut up,” and I continued to roll around in bed. It was funny because I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where the sounds were coming from. They could have been coming from outside, but I remember having closed the window before bed last night. It was also unlikely that they were coming from inside because the boys in our guest house typically sleep in and are late for breakfast. My alarm went off, and I got up. When I came out of the shower, my roommate told me that I’d been speaking Italian in my sleep… I guess the entire thing was a dream! I was a slightly alarmed, given that nobody has ever experienced me talking in my sleep before. Later, after school, we were walking back to the hotel for lunch and decided to take the back streets. I always enjoy taking the back streets because I get to look at the houses of everyday citizens of the area. As we walked by the apartments, I heard the voices of families having conversations. It was when I approached one particular apartment that I suddenly stopped: a smell coming from the window had triggered a memory to surface from deep within my head. I immediately experienced a flashback of my Nonna and Nonno’s old house and the way it used to look when I was younger. I recognized the smell so strongly that I didn’t want to leave… it gave me an odd sense of pleasure! I’m not sure why I had these experiences today. It could be because I’m in a new setting, or it could be because I’ve been more actively involved in the lifestyle and culture in Italy. Whatever the case, I found it hilarious that these events happened to me. I’ll be on the lookout to see if anything else like this happens on the rest of the trip. Hopefully, what happens in Italy stays in Italy!

Matteo

July 19, 2018

I’ll begin by saying that I think I got all the exercise I’d typically get in a week during my travels today. Last night, there was an unexpected change in schedule which resulted in a switch from classes today to classes tomorrow. Today was a walking day… for some reason, I found it more tiring than the day when we walked twenty kilometres in Rome. In the morning, we boarded the bus after breakfast to go to Roccaraso, a small town in the mountains. As soon as we arrived, I got a feeling that I recognized the town, even though I’ve never been there before. After looking around and being treated to an ice cream sandwich, I realized why. It turns out that Roccaraso is a ski resort town, which would make sense given that there are tall mountains in every direction. That’s why it made me think of Banff; there were many similarities I noticed between the two towns. After Roccaraso, we went to the Abruzzo National Park for a picnic lunch. Mr. Di Ianni was nice enough to bring torroncini cookies… as soon as I ate one, I immediately thought of my Nonna’s cookies (to tell you the truth, I had more than one). We then proceeded to hike up one of the nearby mountains to a point where there were three waterfalls. The first half of the hike was on pavement, which was easy enough to walk on, albeit uphill. The next half, however, was steep, uneven and rocky. It was like hiking in Georgian Bay! Every step I took, I needed to watch my footing, or else I could end up falling. The waterfalls were a beautiful sight to see, but on the way down from the top, we were stuck behind a children’s summer camp group. One student came up and asked me, “Do you like Italian?”, and when I responded in Italian that I did, he said “Oh” and walked away disappointed. I didn’t know that children in elementary school in Italy already start learning English at such a young age! I took away from today’s travels a deepened appreciation for Italy’s natural landscape. I always thought for some reason that Italy’s landscape would be different from that of Canada, but in reality, they are similar. The national park we visited today reminded me of many national parks I’ve visited in Ontario. I hope that one day I can come back and visit some more parks here. Overall, today was a nice day for a hike, and the rainy weather held off for us until we got to the hotel. Tomorrow is back to business with classes… we’ll see if anything blog-worthy happens.

Matteo

July 18, 2018

All I can say about this morning is one word: tired! My alarm went off at 5:45. I quickly jumped out of bed to get ready in time for breakfast, and we got on the bus at 7:00. I found it unusual that we were scheduled to go on a trip to Pompeii when it was a three-hour bus ride; nevertheless, I could deal with how long the ride was because I was excited to be able to go to there. I’d learned a lot about Pompeii throughout my childhood, from a combination of studying it in elementary school and reading books on my own. I always remember finding it hard to imagine the amount of fear that the residents experienced when they noticed the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. It also fascinated me that so much of the city was preserved despite the high temperature of the lava from the eruption. The ride was long, but eventually I could see Mount Vesuvius in front of me. This was a moment of realization… I’d always seen it in pictures, but they didn’t do the real volcano justice! Soon after, we arrived at the ruins of Pompeii and ate a picnic lunch. When we went inside, I was amazed at how well the buildings and structures were preserved, considering that they were built centuries ago and withstood a volcano eruption. I also found it interesting how some customs, like political candidates posting advertisements in public to gain more votes, are still used in our society today. Although I did find Pompeii interesting, I have to say that I wasn’t as impressed with it as I imagined I would be. I thought that I’d be able to experience more of the appearance of the town prior to the eruption. The extreme heat also took away from my experience, since I would occasionally drift off into worry about having enough sunscreen on. On the way back, the air conditioning broke on the bus… good thing I’ve been learning to adapt and braving the heat! Overall, I would say that the lesson I learned from today’s visit was to accept things in life the way they are. I realized that I got my hopes up too much, and I made up my mind about what I wanted to see. As a result, I didn’t have as much of an appreciation for Pompeii as I could have if I had kept an open mind. In the future, I’ll make an effort to accept and appreciate things the way they are. Tomorrow is just another class day in Sulmona… I get a break from the walking and hot sun!

Ciao,

Matteo

July 17, 2018

I enjoyed my first full day in Sulmona. It was a different experience starting my morning in a room that wasn’t located near the breakfast hall! I had to wake up twenty minutes earlier to factor in the time it took to walk over to the main hotel. I also had to hunt down a bar of hand soap, as there didn’t seem to be one when I got in last night. I walked over to the main hotel and had breakfast, then I waited half an hour for the rest of the group staying in the main hotel to finish getting ready (at least that was a benefit of being offsite). Today was also our first day of classes in the local high school in Sulmona; it was called Liceo G.B. Vico just like the school in Chieti. This school resembled a more typical high school. However, I was disappointed when I learned that this school had no air conditioning… we had to do our work in the heat! While this was uncomfortable, I have to say that I’ve been getting used to the lack of air conditioning. It’s not something I thought I’d adapt to, but being without air conditioning has taught me the importance of appreciating the things I would normally take for granted! It’s also been nice to have a change from what I’m used to and experience some of the heat as part of being in Italy. After school and lunch, we were given free time. I had spotted a sign that talked about a music store yesterday, and I wanted to go check it out. When I got to the store, I was awfully happy… there had been a piano at the hotel in Chieti, and since there wasn’t one in Sulmona, I was looking for one to play. I got to play the keyboard, then I became interested in the other instruments in the store. I was taken aback when I went to pick up a guitar and the clerk came over to tell me to leave! He said, “Everything costs money here, so if you’re not going to buy anything, you’re going to have to leave.” I apologized, thanked him for letting me play, and left. I guess that from this experience, I learned to be extra respectful and ask before I do anything (not every music store is like a Long and McQuade)! Other than this, there were no other exciting events that happened today... I didn’t manage to grab any photos! Tomorrow we’re going to Pompeii… I’m looking forward to this trip. You might hear about it in my next post.

A domani,

Matteo

July 16, 2018

Having a shorter sleep on the night before moving to another city may have not been the best idea. I woke up feeling tired! Luckily, I had packed most of my clothes the night before. Our group ate their last meal in the hotel dining hall, then went upstairs to get our bags and go on the bus to Sulmona. We got the chance to stop at a shopping mall for two hours to browse and possibly buy some things. Once I walked in, I immediately realized that shopping malls must be rare in Italy. All of the banners inside the mall were advertising how big the mall was and how great its selection was, but the mall didn’t seem much bigger to me than typical mid-sized malls in Canadian cities! However, I do appreciate the higher quality of goods that can be expected when buying items at small local businesses as opposed to franchises and big box stores, as is often done in Europe. That reminded me of my idea of wanting to visit a food market while in Italy. I’ve heard that the freshest food can be bought at markets, and I’d also like to go for the experience of meeting local residents and having conversations. Once we were finished at the mall, we continued the bus ride to Sulmona and arrived at our hotel for lunch. We were assigned our rooms; I had booked a room with the same roommate as I had in both Rome and Chieti. I had assumed everything was going to happen as planned… but things in life always change. I was asked shortly after to switch rooms with somebody who was in the guest house, which houses rooms offsite of the main hotel. I was initially reluctant to go to a room outside of the hotel, since I would need to walk ten minutes each way to get to the main hotel at various points of the day. However, I found this to be a turning point for me in the trip. Instead of trying to stay with my original roommate, I decided to get out of my comfort zone and switch rooms. It turned out that my new roommate was just as nice, and I now feel at home in my new room. Although I normally wouldn’t have chosen to switch rooms, doing it helped me to grasp the concept of life being full of change. I could have held onto staying in my original room, but there would be no learning experience involved. I’m happy to be in a new town, and will be doing some exploring during the week!

Matteo

July 15, 2018

Time is flying by much faster than I thought it would! Today was our last night in Chieti, and we’ll be leaving for Sulmona early tomorrow morning. Given that it was Sunday and most students on the trip are Catholic, we went to the San Giustino cathedral this morning to celebrate mass. Although we were allowed to walk into the cathedral on our own time during the past week, I had decided to wait to go in until the mass. My curiosity about what the inside looked like had been growing, since I walked past the outside and the bell tower often. When I went inside, I needed to take a step back to be able to appreciate the entire view! I had not expected there to be a cathedral of this high quality and craftsmanship in a small town like Chieti. The tall, curved ceilings were lined with metals that shimmered like gold… I also spotted a pipe organ at the back of the church. After mass, which was celebrated in Italian, we had lunch and got on the bus to go to Ortona. We visited the Ortona Military Cemetery, which I had already learned about in Grade 10 history class. I knew that the Canadians played an important role in liberating the residents of Ortona, but to speak of something is different than to experience it first-hand. There were so many tombs within the cemetery that I noticed bore the names of men our age. As I walked through the rows, I began considering this deeper… Canadian children today are extremely fortunate that they don’t have to experience the violence of battle that the people in the Battle of Ortona did. When we complain about trivial issues in life, we blow them far out of proportion compared to the horrors that these young soldiers faced, and the effects they suffered from if they survived. I’m thankful to be growing up in a time and place where I don’t have to be exposed to these negative experiences. On a lighter note, we went to Ortona Beach after the cemetery visit. My group of friends decided to walk along a boardwalk that went out towards the sea. We walked all the way to the end, and then we noticed we only had five minutes until the bus came! We ran all the way back… I got my exercise for the day! I look forward to going to Sulmona tomorrow!

Buonanotte.

Matteo

July 14, 2018

What a quiet day! Out of the whole trip, I think today was the most uneventful day yet. We went to school in the morning to spend our last day of classes in the Chieti high school. Next, we had lunch, where I enjoyed a selection of fresh meats and vegetables prepared in the Italian style. In the afternoon, we watched the movie Life Is Beautiful (which we have to complete an assignment on). In the evening, I continued to work on my assignments… with a small gelato break in between, of course! I didn’t do anything today that I can write about as being an exciting experience. However, I have been reflecting on something that I’ve noticed during the past week in Italy—it’s hard for me to believe that it’s only been a week! As I’ve toured around both Rome and Chieti, it has stood out to me that the people in Italy seem to be more polite, welcoming and enjoyable to speak to. This has especially been the case in Chieti over the past four days. In my time in Italy, I’ve had so many different conversations with strangers I met in my travels. Last night, I had two conversations with people I came across. I spoke with the gelato server about living in Canada, my childhood and Italian culture. Later, at the Mozart festival, my friends and I also spoke with an American family visiting from New York. The father was a trumpet player in the United States military band, and had the opportunity to travel to Germany recently. They all said it was relieving to hear other people who spoke English, which gave them a break from Google Translate! In general, I feel more “at home” and comfortable speaking with strangers in Italy, and I would imagine it’s because the Italians I’ve met have been more polite and welcoming than the average Canadian. I can’t help but wonder why it isn’t like this in Canada. I feel that Canadians are much more reserved, but there is also a level of ignorance and indifference in some people’s personalities. If a stranger is walking on the street, it’s unlikely in my experience that a Canadian will start a conversation with them, whereas in Italy, it’s more than likely. I hope that Canadians can start to adopt this culture back into their daily lives… I don’t see the problem with a friendly conversation with a stranger, especially when conversations can give new insight, opinions and opportunities, and provide for an excellent learning experience. That is my two cents for the day!

Matteo

July 13, 2018

Today started out as a regular day. As a group, we were up late last night because many students were partaking in the first official night of the Mozart music festival of Chieti. That said, it took a long time for everybody to finally make it downstairs for breakfast! We went to school in the morning, had a delicious lunch at the hotel, then did more schoolwork in the afternoon. The fun started in the evening, when we were lucky enough to have dinnertime entertainment provided by the hotel. Nineteenth-century style dancers danced for us as we ate. I really appreciated their dances, and I felt as if I were taken back in time. The traditional dresses and suits that the dancers were dressed up in added to the authenticity of the performance. Of course, I also enjoyed the music. They danced to classical music, which although it is one of my favourite genres of music, I had not listened to for a long time. Seeing this performance helped me both to appreciate the effort and skill required for the dancers to perform, but also reminded me to listen to more classical music! After dinner, I went with friends to attend the nightly concert showing as part of the Mozart festival. I hadn’t gone last night, and was looking forward to listening to some nice symphonic music. Although the concert was supposed to start at 9:30, I forgot that we were on “Italian time” … the concert started closer to 9:50! From that point until the end of the concert, I was fully engaged in the music. A European youth concert band was playing, with members coming from Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. They played a variety of songs, including multiple of Rossini’s works, a John Williams compilation of Star Wars and Jurassic Park themes, and a Louis Armstrong jazz compilation. As the concert went on, I grew more and more amazed at the talent the young musicians had. They played with a sound as if they were a professional orchestra, when the members were only around my age! I don’t think I can fully appreciate the amount of work and effort that the members put in to achieve the level of playing they did, but their playing proved that a you don’t need to be older to achieve excellence or be experienced in any area. The concert empowered and encouraged me to continue pursuing my musical life, as I find music very fun and uplifting to play. I believe the festival is continuing over the next few days, so I hope to go and see another concert sometime soon!

Matteo

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