Day 28: Italy... It's a habit!
They say it takes 28 days to make something a habit... this past Monday marks the 28th day of our summer in Italy. So I don't know if it has become a habit that we're waking up in the Chigi Palace and not Auburn or that Italian is the doninant language of our everyday life and not the English we are all used to or that our days consist of field trips around Italy and not field trips around Lee County, but somethings have definately began to feel right for me. In these 28 days the Palace has become a home to me, these girls I didn't know before have become some of my best friends and I have actually (I can believe it) gotten used to the taste of Coca-Cola Light!
Monday was the perfect day to have after our previous week of traveling. After we all scoured the cabinets for breakfast food, we headed to the classroom for a class with Marco (History Class) and Susanna (a class prepping us for our field trip Tuesday). It wad nice to get back into the swing of things in Ariccia--we had missed it! After class in the classroom, we all headed to the market for some fresh food. This is always an interesting experience because it never ceases to amaze me with the random array of items you can buy. They have everything from fruits and veggies to clothing and shoes to batteries and laundry detergent. Who would've tought? It's like the portable, Super Target of Italy!
Cinzia went to the market as well, but she went with a mission. She had to get some food for our cooking class that we were having with Mary Lou at 1:00. Yep, another cooking lesson with sweet Mary Lou! I was so excited, until I found out the Apparel Merchandising and Design majors had their Practicum Placement at 3:30 and had to take the 1:35 train to Rome (and I'm a Merchandsing major, so this included me). Our Practicum wad at Fendi--how fun is that?! But in order to make this meeting, the 5 of us had to sacrifice learning to make Pesto with Mary Lou. So sad, but the other girls said they would take very detailed mental notes for us!
The 5 of us Apparel Merchandising and Design girls boarded the 1:35 train to Rome and were on our way! Roberta was meeting us at Termini so we didn't have to walk to Fendi alone and risk being late or getting lost. Roberta is so nice, she met and stayed with us throughout our whole Fendi visit and even helped us make dinner reservations afterwards. Incase you don't know, Roberta is getting married this weeknd. So I'm sure she has a full plate this week, yet she still found time to escort us around Rome all Monday afternoon. That just goes to show how nice the staff here is and how willing they are to help us -- we couldn't have picked a better program to Study Abroad with!
Our visit to Fendi was unreal--it was so cool! We met with Elfriede Schallmeiner and she showed us all around their store in Rome (which is 4 stories high and on it's on plaza). Meanwhile, she multitasked on the tour and told us about the history of the brand and their products. Elfriede pointed out the best selling handbags and then explained the design, construction and distribution process of each one. It was all so interesting and all so relevent to what we have been studying in school these past 3 years. It is one thing to learn about this in a textbook and in a classroom, but it's not until you see it played out in real life that it makes sense. That's what this visit taught me! Fendi is not only known for their handbags and shoes, they are also very big (maybe number one) in the luxury fur industry. Their fur stoles are always in high demand across the world! So Elfriede showed us some of their different fur stoles that they sell, and she even let us try them on! We were like little kids in a candy store! We started picking up beautiful stoles left and right and before I knew it, I was wearing a $10,000.00 garment! Holy cow, that's a once in a lifetime experience. So not only was this visit fun and hands on, but we learned a lot. Elfriede was so sweet about answering all of our questions. We are so lucky Roberta has this contact for us and that we got to go on this visit.
Monday was the perfect day to have after our previous week of traveling. After we all scoured the cabinets for breakfast food, we headed to the classroom for a class with Marco (History Class) and Susanna (a class prepping us for our field trip Tuesday). It wad nice to get back into the swing of things in Ariccia--we had missed it! After class in the classroom, we all headed to the market for some fresh food. This is always an interesting experience because it never ceases to amaze me with the random array of items you can buy. They have everything from fruits and veggies to clothing and shoes to batteries and laundry detergent. Who would've tought? It's like the portable, Super Target of Italy!
Cinzia went to the market as well, but she went with a mission. She had to get some food for our cooking class that we were having with Mary Lou at 1:00. Yep, another cooking lesson with sweet Mary Lou! I was so excited, until I found out the Apparel Merchandising and Design majors had their Practicum Placement at 3:30 and had to take the 1:35 train to Rome (and I'm a Merchandsing major, so this included me). Our Practicum wad at Fendi--how fun is that?! But in order to make this meeting, the 5 of us had to sacrifice learning to make Pesto with Mary Lou. So sad, but the other girls said they would take very detailed mental notes for us!
The 5 of us Apparel Merchandising and Design girls boarded the 1:35 train to Rome and were on our way! Roberta was meeting us at Termini so we didn't have to walk to Fendi alone and risk being late or getting lost. Roberta is so nice, she met and stayed with us throughout our whole Fendi visit and even helped us make dinner reservations afterwards. Incase you don't know, Roberta is getting married this weeknd. So I'm sure she has a full plate this week, yet she still found time to escort us around Rome all Monday afternoon. That just goes to show how nice the staff here is and how willing they are to help us -- we couldn't have picked a better program to Study Abroad with!
Our visit to Fendi was unreal--it was so cool! We met with Elfriede Schallmeiner and she showed us all around their store in Rome (which is 4 stories high and on it's on plaza). Meanwhile, she multitasked on the tour and told us about the history of the brand and their products. Elfriede pointed out the best selling handbags and then explained the design, construction and distribution process of each one. It was all so interesting and all so relevent to what we have been studying in school these past 3 years. It is one thing to learn about this in a textbook and in a classroom, but it's not until you see it played out in real life that it makes sense. That's what this visit taught me! Fendi is not only known for their handbags and shoes, they are also very big (maybe number one) in the luxury fur industry. Their fur stoles are always in high demand across the world! So Elfriede showed us some of their different fur stoles that they sell, and she even let us try them on! We were like little kids in a candy store! We started picking up beautiful stoles left and right and before I knew it, I was wearing a $10,000.00 garment! Holy cow, that's a once in a lifetime experience. So not only was this visit fun and hands on, but we learned a lot. Elfriede was so sweet about answering all of our questions. We are so lucky Roberta has this contact for us and that we got to go on this visit.
Emily modeling a Fendi stole made of Ostrich Hair. Don't you think she looks fabulous? We're thinking birthday present for sure!
Me modeling a Fendi Fur coat. And the price tag? A mere $10,000. No biggie!
The 5 of us outside Fendi :)
After our visit we went and got dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. I know what you're thinking-- "Y'all are in Italy. Why in the world would you go eat at the Hard Rock?" Well, while this is a very valid argument, when we have been eating Italian food for 3 meals a day for 4 weeks, you start craving American food. And at some point that craving takes over and the only way to cure it is a hamburger at Hard Rock! Now our appetites will be satisfied and we can go back to Ariccia ready for all the pizza and pasta we can eat.
After Hard Rock a few of us changed into our....get ready for it.... ITALY JERSEYS!! Yes, all of us have gotten FIFA fever and we are very into the World Cup. We bought jerseys in Siena and we have been waiting to break them out -- and Monday night was the night! So we changed and went to watch the game with a group of nice guys some girls have been hanging out with. The guys were so sweet -- they still live with their parents (everyone in Italy lives with their parents until they're about 30, it's normal for them. Hey Mark and Lisa... don't you wish that was the case?!) So when we got to their place, his mom was there and she was the sweetest woman. She doesn't know too much English, but we got by on hand and face gestures. The guys had set up a seating arrangement on their patio for us to watch the game. Sweet! So we sat out there, talked and watched the match.
After Hard Rock a few of us changed into our....get ready for it.... ITALY JERSEYS!! Yes, all of us have gotten FIFA fever and we are very into the World Cup. We bought jerseys in Siena and we have been waiting to break them out -- and Monday night was the night! So we changed and went to watch the game with a group of nice guys some girls have been hanging out with. The guys were so sweet -- they still live with their parents (everyone in Italy lives with their parents until they're about 30, it's normal for them. Hey Mark and Lisa... don't you wish that was the case?!) So when we got to their place, his mom was there and she was the sweetest woman. She doesn't know too much English, but we got by on hand and face gestures. The guys had set up a seating arrangement on their patio for us to watch the game. Sweet! So we sat out there, talked and watched the match.
We looked like the entire Italy team walking down the street in our jerseys. Represent!
Waiting for the Metro, getting my game face on!
The set-up outside. Pretty sweet huh? It was really neat to see an Italian apartment. A lot smaller than I expected, but hey, it's Rome!
Look at that intense-ness. She's so into it!
The game was a lot more intense than I had expected. It was right up there with the NFL playoffs and SEC bowl games. Sadly, Italy and Paraguay tied... No rushing the streets, waving an Italian flag yet! But there's a whole month of games to go... Come on Italy (and USA)!!
Labels: My Summer Abroad
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