A little bit of culture shock...

So it's been a week since my last post, but that's OK because nothing exciting has happened. Well, actually, that's a lie, but the exciting thing that did happen happened yesterday night so I think that allows me a free pass. Anyway, last week was boring and filled with classes and the only fun thing I did was go to cooking class. We made homemade gnocchi (so easy, and so good), zucchini with ragu' inside, and homemade tiramisu'! For those of you who know me, you know I can't cook for squat, but Italian cooking is honestly so incredibly easy! It just takes a little bit of time, but I'm willing to sacrifice if I can come out looking a little more self-sufficient.

So let's see... classes (no one wants to hear about that), cooking (done!)... ah, yes, we took an excursion on Friday. We went to Assisi, where St. Francis was born and died, and looked at a lot churches. There is a reason I am not more excited. While it is always amazing to see places like the cathedral of St. Francis, or the church of St. Clare, it is not amazing to wake up at 7:30. take a 2 hour bus ride, walk up 20 million hills in 85 degree heat with not a cloud in the sky, and by the time you were allowed to eat lunch at 1:00 you got stuck with overpriced, nasty frozen pizza.

With that said and done, it was quite moving to be in some of the churches, and the art history behind many of the paintings was truly fascinating.

I was then lucky enough to be visited by two of my friends from Oberlin (SHOUT OUT KATIE AND HILARY) and we then took a quick bus to Florence the next day, where we visited the HUGE outdoor market (did a little damage to our wallets), and I think I have had some of the best gelato since being here. BUT, this is where the interesting part comes in...

So 4 of us from the program take the train back from Florence to Siena, which requires to take a bus from the train station to the main bus station which is inside the city walls, and saves you a cab fee. So, we get on, stamp two tickets each two times (for the four of us) and sit down. About two seconds later, a man comes by to the check the tickets. One of the guys in our program, not sure if we were able to use one ticket for two people, stamps another ticket (remember he still has a stamp on the original ticket from when he got on the bus). The man, in italian, immediately asks to see his passport. Well, our friend obviously doesn't have his passport on him, and asks the man why. He then gestures at the next stop for him to get off the bus, and we all follow. They then tell our friend that he has to pay 40 euro for not stamping his ticket on the bus (mind you none of these men speak any english). Of course, our friend tells them he is not paying 40 euro as he has a stamped ticket here. We then try explaining what happened on the bus, but the mean italian men will not listen, and tell us if our friend can't produce the 40 euro they will call the police. So, I get on the phone with one of our program coordinators, and tell the men they need to talk to her. So they talk, in fast italian, about the situation. After about 20 minutes of us arguing with the men, the men arguing with us and threatening to call the police, another bus guy comes that can speak a little english. I show him right away the two bus tickets with 4 stamps, and he then tells the other two mean men that we are more than free to go. They continue to argue, the men that speaks english tells us he is sorry and that we can leave, and we are free to go.

Now, as crazy/bad as this situation was, I am reminded once again of how different Siena is from the rest of Italy. If this would have happened in any other city (i.e. Rome, Florence, ect). We probably would have been taken to the police station, and they sure as heck wouldn't have taken a call from our program supervisor. All in all, everyone was fine and we didn't have to shell out 40 euro. But, it reminds you that you are in a country where you can't speak the language and don't know the customs, and I guess that europeans like to target the stupid americans for some pocket wine money.

Ciao!