La Vita Dolce

A week and a half has now gone by since I finished school and left Tuscania, and already I miss it and long to return. I became so attached to Italian lifestyles and customs in just one month, that I feel had I been given an entire year or even semester in Tuscania, I would probably find permanent residence somewhere within the town.

My Italian course, when coupled with living with a host family and interacting with many different Italian people, allowed me to learn the basics of the Italian language, which I feel transcribe into a more complete understanding of the culture. But more than just learning a language is what one can do with that new form of communication. It wasn’t until I could speak mediocre Italian that I was able to converse with people, such as my host father and the owner of one of the local bars, that I could really understand the mentality that embraces the Italian populace. My experience was also enhanced simply because of my fascination with Italian; I find it to be one of the prettiest and smoothest languages. That said I plan on continuing it once I’m back in Lubbock.

Italian Food and Wine Pairing was my favorite course I have ever taken. Period. My instructor was magnificent, and with only four students in the class, he essentially filled the shoes of the fifth. His breadth of knowledge on the subject was absolutely stunning, and his methods of teaching were so clear and forward, that I feel as if I had taken a yearlong wine tasting tour of Italy. I was in fact able to accompany him to a wine tasting on the 24^th of July, which was a very knowledge packed experience. Already this course has proven its value since I’ve been back State’s side; the “1990’s Wines” wine tasting we had this weekend was something connoisseurs dream about. It was what I had learned in Italy that allowed me to fully enjoy the special occasion, which is quite a delicate art.

Living with a host family was definitely the smartest thing I decided was a requirement. I feel that had I not stayed with a host family, I do not think I would have assimilated a fifth the amount I did with a family. Day in, day out, from the time I woke up to the time I fell asleep, I was in some way or another immersed into Italian culture. As my speech improved, I was able to learn more and more about the people of Italy and their views on life, and let’s just say I was completely captivated. Life in Italy does not revolve around the fast-paced mindset of getting everything done extremely quick only to worry about making more money. Instead they take each day at a leisurely pace enjoying every moment as it happens. This is coupled by the actual lifestyle that surrounds Tuscania. Much of the region I was in was land used for farming of some sort or another. The most common were olive orchards, hay fields, and livestock. The people did not trouble themselves with tons and tons of modern day technologies but rather enjoyed their time outdoors. For instance, we had no microwave at our house, no internet, no dishwasher, but we did enjoy lovely long meals that were cooked with kindness, and enjoyed gratefully…always outside in the garden.

Though I have left Italy in my past, I did not leave empty-handed. As I have expressed, the knowledge I have gained is remarkable by itself, but I was blessed even more. Fate had much fortune for me Italy I would have never expected. Less than five minutes past the official start time of the program, noon, I met an incredibly special person, one who has since become a very important part of life. Every occasion in which we were together in Italy was one that went down as a life experience. Even more fascinating was the vast number of issues on which we agreed, many of which are globally concerned. She is knowledgeable years and years beyond her age, and her outlooks on life are very admirable. Now though she is in North Carolina and I am in Lubbock, what I have learned from her and shared with her has added and extra spring of happiness to my life. Fate was also kind enough to grace the two of us with a great way to stay in direct contact. It goes without saying that this summer has greatly impacted my life in almost every aspect. I took Peter Moore’s advice (minus the Vespa), and searched for Italia’s Dolce Vita, which I not only found it, but lived it. 

Life Lessons

More than halfway through my stay in Tuscania already!?!? How time flies! The past week has been quite an amazing experience, but by now I'm probably beginning to sound a bit like a broken record. School is going well, my marks on my Italian quizzes probably show that I've learned at a much quicker rate the course was designed for...but hey, it's easy, fun, and sort of imperative to pick up Italian when I live with a family that knows nothing else. My food and wine pairing class is going very, very well. Tonight is our midterm, so I guess I cannot assess how much exactly I've learned until next time. However, I am absolutely loving the course, because I'm learning valuable life skills, such as when I am to host either a large banquet or party or rather just have an elegant night with a special person whom I'm trying to impress, I will be able to not only satisfy their stomachs, but also send their taste buds on ride they'll never forget.


As always, outside of school, I am learning even more. On Saturday, my host father, Constantino, took Charlotte (for those who do not know who she is, she is a fellow study abroad student who means quite a lot to me) and me to an old Templar castle. This wasn't your picturesque Camelot, complete with a moat and massive drawbridge, but rather a fortified residence in the middle of some of the most amazing landscape I have ever seen. The family who lives there now explained how the Templars who lived there from the 10th to about midway through the 12th century were a very self-sustainable lot, and would grow all of their food there and keep and raise the animals that they needed to help them survive. In addition, they build their castle over a spring, which still runs today, meaning that water was never a problem. The family who now lives there lives a very similar life, though adapted for today's standards of living. They are essentially Lavender farmers, and produce multitudes upon multitudes of lavender oil and water, which I inferred from their Italian to mean that they contribute to lavender in perfumes, soaps, and other like products. They also have many animals which they breed and raise to help them with their chores. Being on their property and seeing all that this family does, I began to realize that what most of us in America view as essential for life is really just a bunch of bogus that isn't required for LIFE, but rather required for our COMFORTABLE living. The requirements for life consist of a set of routines that I would be willing to say 80+% of Americans have never experienced or have any desire to experience. This was a family that never has to travel far to get things that they need to prepare for food, they never have to commute for miles into a city for work, and most notably they don't have to deal with seeing skyscrapers and crawling metropolises wherever they go. Of course this idea freshly instilled in my mind was drilled even harder when after we were done at the castle, Constantino took us to his brother's "ranch," rather more like a farm by our definition. 


This farm is located about 35 km southwest of Tuscania, in a valley from which the sea is barely visible between a couple of hills in the distance. In other words, absolutely gorgeous! It is easy to see why this area was selected to buy some land and grow crops...plus there are Etruscan tombs littering the area, not only adding a bit of Indian Jones-like adventure but also signifying that humans valued the grandeur of the land here thousands of years ago. The family (I couldn't quite make out any of their names, for their Italian was quite fast and mumbled) grew about 10-15 different kinds of crops, ranging from giant egg plant to little red, hot peperoncinis to grapes for wine. Talk about being self-sufficient, I mean these people went out of their valley only for leisurely activities and to socialize with family and friends. This coming Thursday, I am going to get to return to experience a true Etruscan dinner, which I am super pumped about, especially because it is supposedly quite picante, so I will be sure to report back on how delicious I am sure it will be. Regarding the tombs, well I did not to go into any but we saw quite a few around, and the father and son were extremely knowledgeable on the subject. I cannot quite reciprocate this knowledge, because A) I would butcher the story a bit due to my lack of knowledge, and B) it would break the confidentiality that was instilled in me. All in all though, I learned so much about the quality of life on Saturday I feel could not be replicated by living in a place, such as America, where everything seems quite easy. 

Beautifully Brilliant or Brilliantly Beautiful?

Beautiful and brilliant,
two adjectives commonly misunderstood.


The bluest clearest water, beautiful.
The fact that it is a volcanic lake, brilliant.
The bluest lightest eyes, beautiful.
The depth in quality of those eyes, brilliant.


The grandeur of the surrounding landscape, beautiful.
The harmony with which few have embraced, brilliant.
The tranquility of nature about, beautiful.
The appreciation of such beauty, brilliant.


The company I share this with, beautiful.
The fate which blessed me so, brilliant.
The passion and joy she has, beautiful.
The sense and reason she has, brilliant.


The blonde hair dancing in the wind, beautiful.
The mind concealed within, brilliant.
The blonde rays piercing the clouds, beautiful.
The diamonds those rays give off the lake, brilliant.


Beautiful and brilliant,
two adjectives difficult to pair correctly.
Yet when beauty surrounds completely,
the brilliance of fortune is astounding. 


Most are lucky to have one or the other,
I was fortunate to experience both together.
Beautifully brilliant AND brilliantly beautiful,
I was blessed to experience both together.

Prima settimana di "scuola"

Last week was my first week of "school" while studying abroad, and I must say it is like no school I have ever attended. Classes do not follow the same rigid and formal teaching/learning format that one would find in an American university or college, but rather are about truly LEARNING about life. My first course, Italian, is indeed a language course, and yes, there are tests, but they are merely assessments; and when I am living with a host family and carrying my in-class learning over to a very real setting, those assessments are more of a security checkpoint for me. By pairing the "formal instruction" of a language with going out and using that newly acquired skill in public, I feel that I am picking up the language quite well, better than Spanish, and I have taken far too many years of that. 

Following suit, my other course is Italian Culture: Pairing Food and Wine. Italian food has always been one of my favorite types of food, and now that I am eating true Italian food, I really love it. Learning to cook some of the Italian classics is something that may not count for credit at my home institution (which I find completely asinine, because culture, food, and wine are all a form of visual and performing art, but hey what do I know), but is a skill that that I will be able to apply to the rest of my life. Then add the wine portion of the course, and WOW!, talk about a truly fun course. All of the different aspects of both food and wine that can affect one another is not something to lightly brush aside as mere fun. I mean, yes, of course I am enjoying the course probably more than any class I have ever taken, but I'm also probably learning more practical and usable information than in any other class as well. We as humans usually do not fully appreciate the individual constituents and flavors of our food and drink, and therefore do not maximize the potential to pair them appropriately. The beauty of this course, is that I am training my sensory receptors to recognize and memorize certain qualities to both food and wine, such as acidity, bitterness, tannin content, and sweetness, just to mention a few of many. By doing such, once I have successfully devoted some hard and slow hours of being able to discern these qualities, then I will forever be able to sit back and enjoy my meal in its entirety without having to put so much effort into figuring it all out. In other words, once I have "mastered" the balance of certain contents, I will be able to remove the training wheels and sit back and truly enjoy my food, wine, or anything else I consume. 

Essentially, my first week of school has taught me far more than the average classroom lessons...more like life appreciation. There is far more to just sitting in class and learning a subject because some arbitrary board decided that it should be learned. By fully immersing myself in what I am doing, whether it be studying or playing or working, I can truly say that I have done whatever it is that I am claiming to have done. Don't do something just for the sake of doing it, and don't not do something for the sake of not doing it...do or don't do things based on personal ideals and interests, which will grant a grander appreciation of all of life's opportunities.

Initial Reflections and Experiences in a Different Culture

Today marks my first day attending a school in a completely different culture, not to mention my birthday! I could not have asked for a better birthday than walking around a picturesque medieval town built within the gently rolling hills of northern Lazio. I am living la dolce vita, Italy's sweet life. In his book, Vroom with a View, Peter Moore details his adventure to Italy to purchase a legendary motor scooter, a '61 Vespa, to cruise around Italy and enjoy life to its fullest. He abides by no true schedule, avoids the heavily touristed sites as much as possible, and takes up the very comfortable, genuine, and relaxed lifestyle of the Italians. Moore's account of his Italian adventure had many inspiring ideas which I have decided to make a must on my own adventure, though it wouldn't be MY adventure if I did everything exactly the same. 

For starters, I was not too partial to the whole idea of riding around on one of the most fuel inefficient vehicles ever know to man. Those who know me quite well could attest to my minimalist approach to environmental impact; so bicycles, horses, and my own two legs have and will continue to be my means of exploration. I also have no desire to travel the entire length of Italy searching for the sweet life...for I feel that I have found just that, at least the unrefined, rough draft of living sweetly. 

It began with a week-long stay in Rome with my mother, who is undoubtably responsible for my adventuresome genes (sorry, Dad, you would probably agree anyway). We spent many amazing hours walking the historical city, seeing a lot of the major scenes it has to offer. Of course, a stop at Vatican City was on the agenda, which was more of a very extravagant museum than a true CHURCH, but that is only my, clearly official, opinion. The Coliseum and Roman Forum, however, were nothing shy of their reputations. The majesty of both cannot nearly be explained in writing or pictures, but rather mandate physical attendance.  Rome was amazing, a definite necessary if given the opportunity, but on my adventure, it was but the smallest tip of a very large iceberg. 

After seeing my mom off at the airport came the time to meet my fellow study abroad students, something I am not necessarily the best at, given my rather reserved nature. Fate, however, didn't seem to be disturbed by such a defining quality, for I was provided an introduction to one of the most unique, intelligent, and genuine individuals I have ever encountered, someone who shares so many ideals and interests it's almost scary. Since we first introduced ourselves, a mere four days ago, I have enjoyed some of the most amazing experiences one could possibly wish for, or at least I could wish for. The private exploration of an eight century old church built upon the remains of its five hundred year older predecessor, the enjoyment of a magnificent town and way of life, a hike through the beautiful hills and dense forest culminating in a picnic along side a gorgeous river, and conversations deeper than your average college student dialogue, have all shown me what a Wonderful World we truly inhabit. Peter Moore would be a bit jealous that my search for the sweet life was over within the first couple of chapters and the rest were spent living sweetly.