Siena: Almost time for the Palio!

Yesterday my roommates Anna and Felicity, as well as our friend Alston, decided to take a day trip to Siena. Getting there was a pain in the bootAAAA, but once there we did enjoy the city. And the weather was perfect which was a day brightener for sure:) Why was getting there such a struggle? Because we were told the best way to get there was by bus. And bus timetables are not online, so you just show up. Which would normally be fine, but apparently because it was a Sunday the buses were a lot less frequent. Lets just say we arrived at the bus station at 10:15.. we did not leave for Siena until almost 12:50. That was frustrating, but life happens and you just gotta roll with it. We made it there and just explored around. No map needed, the town is fairly small and somewhat a circle. We saw all the sites that Siena is known for (one being the place where the Palio- horse race- is held). I thought it was a cute little town. Last night there was a practice race at 7pm so the town was prepping for that which made our visit a whole lot more fun. There are a bunch of different contrado in Siena (they are pretty much like neighborhoods). Each contrada has its own area and own flag, so the horses in the race run for each of the contrada. All the locals were wearing their flags and singing and drinking and being wild, it was great fun to get to witness that. After all our exploring we ended up at Nannini (a famous cafe in Siena) where we tasted their Ricciarelli cookies. Ricciarelli cookies are almond cookies, they kind of taste like short bread cookies. You know, those yummy crumbly cookies covered in powdered sugar? Anyways, Siena is known for them and so we had to stop in and try one. I really enjoyed mine, probably because I was real hungry but regardless. Then we finally got lucky with the buses, and when we arrived at the bus station in Siena our bus to Florence was leaving in 5 minutes. Praise the Lord! We were stoked about that. After our day trip, Alston came over and we fixed dinner together because he is a six weeker so he actually flew home this morning. It was a really good day followed by a chill evening and finishing with a good-bye. 

Piazza del Campo: Where the horse races occur

The town is super hilly and really cramped but in a cute way not a crowded way

One Contrada ready to show their pride and celebrate!

Siena Cathedral 

"Whooah, We're Half Way There"

     Thursday I finished my session one classes: Beginners Italian and the Florence Food and Culture Experience. My emotions this weekend are bitter-sweet for sure. I met some really amazing girls in my classes: Gabby, Meg, Alyssa, and Taylor, all of whom are leaving Florence; therefore the end of this session is super sad. My roomies and I are all here for 12 weeks, but the majority of people studying at FUA (Florence University of the Arts) are only here for six weeks. So I had to say bye to these girlies, who head back to the states today. On Tuesday, session two begins and I will be taking just one class: Introduction to Digital Photography. I'm really excited about the class and know that these next six weeks will lead to many good memories and adventures (as these last six weeks did!). 

     Oh, and stories from last night. So last night my roommates and I went out dancing since it's one of my only weekends actually in Florence, not traveling. We went to this club called Space Bar, a place they had been two weeks ago when I was in Rome. It was really fun! We danced the night away, until about 2:40am!! Way way way past Kelsey's bedtime, but I told them I can make it out that late about once a month so they capitalize on that for sure. I want to go on record saying that I didn't drink any alcohol at all last night, mainly because my tummy was not feeling great. Also, because even though I can drink legally, and I think drinking in moderation is 100% fine, I don't need alcohol to have a good time!! Last night was a blast:) Okay, disclaimer over. THEN, we went on an adventure to find the secret bakery we had heard about. Apparently Florence has some "secret" bakeries that do not open till 2am and are kind of hard to find. I mean, you can google it... so I guess not that secret... but still, so fun. The instructions online tell you how to get there, and then say "take a right, it's in the ally, and you'll see a glass window with a sign that says 'Please Be Quiet.'" Well, we found it, as had some other late-nighters. You really do have to be quiet though, it was pretty great. People kept shushing anyone who was talking above a whisper haha. We got nutella croissants, and they were AMAZING!! Seriously so yummy.

     I thought I'd take time to do a half way assessment of the summer. Take some time to reflect. For this post, I will just reflect on Florence. Things I enjoy about Florence: the rich history of the city, the open-air markets open daily, the slower more easy going style of life- people have perspective here, they just aren't as up-tight as people in the states, the bakeries and panini shops that line the streets, the beautiful views and buildings I get to see daily, GELATO, PIZZA, great public transportation within Italy and to other countries in the EU, and fun places to go dancing. Things I'm not so much a fan of: creepy Italian men that have no shame in straight checkin you out as you walk by, the complete lack of green or any sign of nature (city life I guess though), persistent vendors who don't listen when you say you would not like what they are walking around selling, and dogs (and sometimes men) peeing or pooping in the middle of the cobblestone streets that I have to walk on:/ You really gotta watch your step here haha. 

Gabby, Meg, Me, our Professor, Alyssa, and Taylor. Miss um already!

This picture captures the wonderful weirdness of these sweet girls who made my last six weeks such a blast;) 

Festivity of San Giovanni Battista

Yesterday was an Italian Holiday; it was the celebration of St. John (John the Baptist). There is a parade in the morning and a fireworks show at the Arno River at night. My friends and I missed the parade, but had a nice dinner out and then caught the fireworks show. It was so busy. I mean, people packed in like sardines across the bridge and all down the sides of the river, so claustrophobic. It was fun to see so many people out though! I really really enjoy fireworks, so I was stoked to go. Also, since I won't be home for the 4th of July, in my heart these fireworks were my 4th of July celebration hehe. Don't tell the Italians.. or the Catholic church.. Anyways, overall good day yesterday. Had to practice for my oral presentation for Italian (which was this morning), which went alright. Then I had to study for my two finals that are tomorrow:/ Here's hoping I pass my classes! For the first time in my life I'm genuinely rooting for C's. I'd be stoked on a high C!! I got dis! Maybe...

Anna and I getting ready for the fireworks

The Ponte Vecchio at night, so enchanting 

A Wedding (and other adventures) in Spain

This weekend was incredible. I genuinely don't have words to describe the sights I saw, the fresh, delicious food I ate, the local wine I drank, the moments that made me laugh so hard I couldn't breath, or the joy I felt to be included in such an intimate event. I will try, but my words nor my pictures will do this trip justice. I traveled to Girona, Spain this weekend. Girona is a city about 30 min from Barcelona. Girona was amazing. You were in the mountains and yet could get to the beach in less than 40 minutes. On Friday, I got to explore downtown Girona, eat freshly made churros, kiss the statue of the Lion's butt (tradition), and eat tapas. On Saturday, I got to attend a wedding in a 1,000 year old Monastary, attend the reception at a beautiful hotel on top of the city, and party on the terrace as the sun set behind the mountains. On Sunday, I got to go to Costa Brava, drive around the coast, see ancient Greek and Roman ruins from their coastal settlements (which Anna told us all about because she is an archeologist and 20 years ago had done excavations on the site!! VIP tour of the ruins baby! And we got in for free because they remembered her from when she worked there), see the artist Salvador Dali's home, and swim in the Mediterranean. Also, since I had been "adopted" in the Rocha family a while ago, when Anna and Alberto got married her whole family adopted me too. I'm not kidding either. All the cousins were talking to me at the wedding (all a few years older than me and live in Girona or Barcelona) and told me to come back and stay with them at their flats and they'd show me around and take me to Barcelona. They said I was family now. It was seriously precious. Also, Alberto's parents were there. I fell in love with them. They are such a precious, still totally in-love, go with flow yet goofy and sassy, Jesus-lovin, sweet couple. They are from Mexico city and only speak Spanish, so I was forced to practice my Spanish again which was really fun! I remembered a lot more Spanish than I thought I would. Oh and Katherine, Daniel, and I decided that Siesta's and the double cheek kisses should 100% be instituted back in the states. 

Alberto and Anna Rocha! Congrats!! :) 

Proud Daddeo with his kiddos

Love you cheek 

We hiked down to the bottom of this and jumped in that salty Mediterranean water 

The beach town they brought us too, so breath-taking at night

Now dats some fresh food! Straight from the sea

Day Trip and Rome!!

Last Wednesday my "class friends" asked me to take a day trip with them, so I said why not:) Our destination was the beach, but we had a train that had a transfer in Pisa. Our first train was late and therefore we missed our connecting train, soooo we had about an hour and 20 minutes before our next train... we were in Pisa... so we ran to the leaning tower of Pisa and got our tourist on! It was so great. I wasn't expecting to get to see it, and it was such a nice treat. We still managed to get to the beach by noon which was perfect! It was a wonderful, tiny, locals beach and we just waded in the shore waters and hung out until about 4. It was genuinely one of my favorite days here so far!

Classic Pisa pic:)

A beach town in Tuscany called Castiglichello

Then Rome! Thursday I had class 9-2:30, then I walked to the train station and caught a 3 o'clock train to Rome. Melinda, a good friend of my sister and I's, lives in Spain and was taking a trip to Rome with her friends and said I could meet her there. I had my most intense train struggles yet. Melinda had texted me, Moka. Meet at Moka (a cafe), it is in the train station. I was stoked. I thought I'd have to walk or metro to wherever she was. Well, it didn't end up being so easy. I got in around 7:20 or so and well, the Rome train station was huge. I walked off the platforms and saw all the resturants and book stores and other non-sense. Walked around for a solid 15 minutes and I couldn't find Moka. So I asked around, most workers didn't know which I found odd.. but eventually I was directed down a level to the metro area. WHERE I FOUND MOKA!! But not Melinda... I was like what the what. I knew she would never leave me there (because at this point I was real late.. so I knew something was off). Now at this point it's almost 8, I'm tired, the train station is getting sketchy (esp the Moka I was at- it was near a side entrance and there were a bunch of vendors hangin around). I did get cat called at Moka but I gave the most intense back off look I've ever given. No fear in my eyes, just the 'you better leave me alone for your own good' kinda look.. and they didn't mess with me no more. But I couldn't get wifi from Moka because they were closing and so they wouldn't let me buy something to get wifi. Soooo I walked back upstairs and tried to get wifi up there, no luck. Soooo I left the train station (praying constantly of course and I mean breathing pretty heavily/panicky) and walked to 6 different hotels and cafe's and finally got wifi. I I-messaged Melinda and she responded, I could have cried I was so excited. She said there were 3 Moka's in Roma termini:/ The one she was at was on platform 23 (of course the opposite side I came in on so I'd never have run into it) and she would wait for me there. I literally ran back to the train station smiling (cause for a while I was stressin- had no earthly idea what I would have done)... and then when I saw her, I ran up to her, gave her a huge hug, and cried my little eyes out. There are few times I'd ever been that happy to see someone. She had her friends on a search party for me:) They legit were walking all over the train station looking for me, and so we waited a few minutes till they all came back. We then walked to dinner, which was amazing and then went to the Colosseum (which was beautiful at night!). The rest of the trip was perfect! I loved getting to see Rome as well as catch up with sweet Melinda:)

These were the columns outside the Basilica

The Basilica which was breathtaking from the inside

The ruins

The Colosseum 

Altare della Patria built by Mussolini
(nicknamed the wedding cake because it is so white and ornate) 

Amalfi Coast

Thursday evening around 8pm, about 80 students loaded three massive buses coast bound. It was a six and half hour drive to Sorrento, so we got to our hostel around 3:45am. I was fighting a bad mood hard core, so I went with silence and smiles in response to whatever people around me happened to be saying. We all know I don't do late nights. So we got our room key and hit the hay. 6:30 alarm ringing, time to embrace the day. We did this trip through a program, a company called bus2alps arranges weekend trips and does the coordinating for you so for some locations it is worth it to go through them. Anyways, so that is what is with the legit schedule. We had complimentary breakfast at the hostel, aka it was included so we went ham on that nutella, bread, cheese, honey, coffee, and fruit. We headed out around 7:15. We walked to this boat, and took an hour boat ride to the island of Capri!

We then transferred to smaller boats and took a boat tour around Capri. We had the opportunity to pay 10 euros and be taken in row boats in groups of four into the Blue Grotto. It was amazing. The rocks do not touch the ground in the cave and therfore the light reflects up and there is a natural lighting inside the cave. Eek! So amazing. 

About to enter!! 

After the Blue Grotto we kept going around the Island. We went under this one arch, bridge thing. And the boat driver told us that legend says when you go under you MUST kiss someone or you will be unlucky in your love life for seven years. Of course everyone was looking around and being awkward like whose actually gonna do this. He also said you gotta french kiss, but that sure as heck wasn't about to happen. So the roommates and I did some cheek kisses:) 

We finished our boat tour, took a 30 minute "hike" up from Capri to AntiCapri, got these lemon drinks, then took a bus from AntiCapri to the top of the island. There we grabbed lunch, explored around, Felicity got hand-made leather sandals which was really neat, then we bused back down to the bottom! Beach time baby!! I've been trying to get my tan on, Nate and I are having a competition:)

Okay, so day one in Capri was wonderful. We ended the night at this really amazing restaurant in Sorrento where I got fresh shrimp pasta! Dat coast life doe:) Then day two was Positano. Beach till noon, then cave swimming, cliff jumping, and other shenanigans! It was such a blast, definitely my favorite part of the weekend. 

Positano!

We swam into that cave and then explored around, it was such a fun adventure

Cliff jumping! There were three separate heights, and I stuck with the medium one cause I'm me and if I had done the 35 foot one, we all know I would have gotten hurt.

Day 3 was Pompeii! So dang hot outside, but really neat to see the ruins. I was just honestly in awe of how cool the city was and it was weird to be able to see all the ruins and pottery and such from that time. Then our six and a half hour bus ride home:) Overall, wonderful weekend. Exhausting, but so worth it!

Earth Misses You, Heaven Rejoices for You: A Post in Memory of Mark Rodriguez

Friday night, Mark Rodriguez went to be with the Lord. Mark was randomly shot in his car by a man in another car on a shooting rampage. This is one of those tragic stories, where you ask yourself why? Or what are the chances? Mark was just driving home from NCS graduation (my brother's graduation). It could have been any of those kids, it could have been anyone. Your mind gets confused and wanders. Mark was 17. A young, sweet-hearted, passionate, bold, pure, incredible man of God. I babysat Mark (and his two brothers) all growing up. Mark would always help me with his goofy and energetic little brothers. He was honest, helpful, and loving even as an elementary and middle school boy (which we all know is pretty rare, they are usually a bunch of punks). I was with the Rodriguez family as they moved homes, with them as they adopted their daughter from Nicaragua, with them as Carlos went to seminary and then started his own church. The Rodriguez family is such a special family and my heart breaks for them as they suffer through this loss. I have cried over this loss and have mourned for their family. I have wrestled with some hard questions about this earth we live in, but as I ponder more the life of Mark I am inspired by his maturity in faith and unashamed love for God. I am encouraged to seek God as I process this tragedy. I am inspired by Mark to be more bold and authentic in my faith. Some people say this was a "part of God's plan" or it happened for "a reason." I don't know that I believe that. I 100% believe in God's ultimate power and his authority over all things. I also 100% God is perfect and just, he is without sin or cruelty. Man has free will, and while God knows everything that has and ever will happen, he does not plan or guide evil and malicious acts. Events like this highlight the darkness and brokenness that plagues our earth; they highlight the desperate need for light, for a Savior. People on Facebook have been reposting this blog post from April that Mark wrote. As I mentioned, he was so mature for his age and his love for God was just so authentic and beautiful. I would encourage you to read it, for me it gave me peace and comfort. It reminded me of the man Mark was, his incredible sense of the big picture, and how he had no fear of death, but rather joy and awe in the hope given him by God.
      http://markrodriguezphotography.com/2014/04/05/heaven/
Romans 12 has been on my heart as I walk through dealing with this. Romans 12:12 "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." I love when God's commands are clear. The bible affirms us that there is a time for mourning, a time for dancing, a time for singing. It is ok for us to be sad that Mark is no longer here with us. It makes me so sad. But in dealing with that sadness, I look to God. The scripture helps me understand how to act: to hold onto the hope given me by God, to be patient during this time of sadness, and to be faithful in prayer. I will be praying hard for Mark's family (especially his parents Carlos and Leigh-Ellen, his two brothers, and his sister), as well as all his friends and other loved ones. I wish I could be home to help their family during this hard time, but I know they have an amazing church community that will surround them and be strong for them. Mark, you are loved and missed.

Cinque Terre

Highlights since the last post:
WEDNESDAY- dragged my roomies to a new park to read, it was lovely and the people watching was prime
THURSDAY- finally went to GustaPizza. It was incredible. Plus, food is always a highlight
FRIDAY- No School! Took a run, got free coffee, visited a community garden, did the whole Florence night life thing
SATURDAY- Went to Florence's mini beach, then watched a movie... such a fabulous, bum day

Okay, so we're caught up. Today was Cinque Terre, my roomies and I signed up for the FREE day trip through our university here (Florence University of the Arts). Anyways, we loaded the bus at 7am! Two hours later we were in Cinque Terre. It is an 18 kilometer province and there are various tiny little beach towns along the way. We took the metro to the farthest one (Monterossa), layed out and played there for 2 hours. Hiked a death hike to the second town (Vernazza) which was super colorful and fun. We nomed so hard there. The hike was about an hour and half and about 2/3 of it was climbing stairs, so yea. We also had some time to lay on these huge rocks, there wasn't sand... just massive rocks. We did jump off some into the water which was super fun. Then metro-ed to our third stop to walk around and learn some "history"/ random facts by our professors/ tour guides. Then metro-ed to the last stop, then bused home. Such a wonderful day, full of adventure and relaxing. Now home and ready for bed!!!

Stop number 1

Mac and I gettin our tan on:)

Hiking the side of a mountain

I was literally drenched in sweat, so much heat

Vernazza for lunch and some more swimming!