May 22nd

May 22nd-

Today we went on a tour in Venice. The tour lady gave us some really good history information on San Marco's square. It was very interesting to see and hear the history of the place. From how the place once use to look like and what certain areas were used for. For example, there was an area that was used for a prison. So the prisoners were kept there in the square. It wasn't until later that they decided to build the prisons away. 

After the tour, we headed to Murano. Murano is where they make lots of glass items. They make from jewelry, dishes, chandeliers, crucifixions, figures, quill pens, and etc. I mean it was incredible. I was able to see the man working on a dolphin. He had these long sticks that looked like a glue stick for a hot glue gun but of course it was glass. The had all different colors. He had a flame on and he would just get to work. When he would put the stick near the open flame p, the glass started to melt. It looked sticky and gooey, just like the glue when you use a glue gun. He used the clear one and the blue one. He would stretch some parts of the body and remelt it if needed in order to make the dolphin right. Then he also used black to make the eyes in the glass dolphin. Every little detail counts in order to make it look spectacular. I stood there and watched and watched him make one dolphin after the other. 

After Murano, we were suppose to go to another island in Venice. This island is famous for the lace but since we ended up not going... I can't remember the name of the island. When we got done shopping and walking around in Murano, we took a water bus and headed back to where we belonged. Ugh! If only it wouldn't of been raining we would of continued walking around and maybe exploring other islands. Since it was raining we went back to the hotel and began to pack for our next journey. Time to say goodbye to this beauty.

 

May 20th- Goodbye Valle D'Aosta

May 20th

Today was a busy day! We woke up early and got ready and of course ate breakfast. Around 9:10 Elena (an English teacher of the agricultural institute-high school) picked us up to take us to her school. She had arranged everything for us to go to her class and talk with her students. She even went the extra mile to post it in the school schedule that is posted at the entrance. 

When we arrived the students were so well behaved and they asked us questions and we asked them questions. We visited two classes, they both did very well with their English. I had the group read the book to me and they did great!  They may have thought that the children's book was silly because they were in high school but it turns out that their way of teaching is very strict. So being able to see and experience something out of their norm was great and fun for them. Also, even though we know they are in high school, we sung them a song. We sung to them "Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes". We did this exact lesson with the children in the elementary school and they loved it. Since the high schoolers, were able to get up and dance and sing, the activity was fun for them too. Everybody participated! At the end, they even surprised us. They decided to sing a song to us.

Once finished, Elena took us on a tour to Cogne. She took us to see the Pont D' Ael an Augustan Age Bridge. We even walked across it and through it. 

After the bridge we headed to Cogne. On the way to the national park, we saw water falls, great views of the mountain, hiking trails along the way, and much more. When we got to the park, we walked for about 20 minutes. It was really cold and windy for me. I had no jacket ( Oh, yea! That is what I forgot to pack! Duh!) 

After walking and seeing the beautiful mountains and taking picture, we headed for a little tour of a very nice and fancy hotel! Elena's cousin greeted us and was a great host.  I had the most wonderful hot chocolate. That hot chocolate sure did warm me up! After giving us great information about the area, she had someone give us a tour of the hotel. The rooms were amazing. All of the rooms they showed use were different. The spa looked like it was great. There were lots of paintings and gorgeous decorations. Oh they even showed us the cheese cave. The cheese cave is where they keep their cheese stored for 2 or 3 years, until it is ready. Boy did that room smell funny! 

Lastly, dinner at "The Crazy Cow", mmmmmm I don't think I will order polenta anymore! Polenta is very similar to grits but the maiz substance has A LOT of cheese. The maiz substance is good but the cheese or fondue not so great! Nope, not at all! I tried to eat it but nope I couldn't do it.  After dinner we said bye to Elena and I thanked her for all that she has done for us! 

May 21st- Hello Venice!

May 21st- 

Today we ate breakfast at the Hotel Turin for the last time. After breakfasts, we got on a private bus that took us to the train station, the train station was about one hour and a half , so I took a few cat naps here and there. Once we arrived to the station we boarded the train that left at 11:10 am and arrived at around 3:30 pm to Venice. So the ride was about 4hours. Oh my! Venice is gorgeous! We took a taxi boat to the hotel and settled our things in the rooms. Then we headed for a quick tour. We walked around the St. Mark's Square. Lately we went to dinner. I ordered the spaghetti carbonara. It was really good by the way! Now it's time to rest for tomorrows tours. 

May 19th- Universita Della Valle D' Aosta

May 19th

Today after lunch, I went for my Gelato. Today's flavor for me was ANANAS (pineapple). It was good.It had little pieces of fresh pineapple in it. Next time I plan to get another fruit flavored gelato. 

Well today we went to the Universita Della Valle D' Aosta! I enjoyed the walking distance from the hotel. I think I would enjoy living near a university in a small valley like Aosta. We were welcomed by a Theresa Grange, I believe she is the Dean. She was so welcoming. She set up the conference room for us and we talked about how Valdosta State University is different in America compared to Valle D' Aosta. She was very surprised to hear that there is another university that is named very similarly to their university. She even offered to arrange something for the next study abroad to Italy! Like Dr.Marciano said, "We are planting the seeds.", for next time. Theresa even gave us a few little gifts from the University. She gave us a notepad, a pen, and a stress relief foam square. After the meeting, she showed us a room that was once a chapel. Now they utilize the room for ceremonies, major conference, and etc. They even have a big Oregon placed up on top in the back. 

 

After the university we went for dinner. Today my dinner wasn't fancy nor so great. We went to a restaurant were they have "American" food. We went to that place thinking today was the day they were giving FREE samples of cheese. Who doesn't want something free? From that free cheese I was planning on making it a meal. I'm just trying to save some money here! :) I ordered a coke with ICE ( most places don't have ice) and a toast. Their toast is like a grilled cheese with ham. That was the cheapest meal I've had yet. After dinner, we took a walk and stopped in a few stores and looked around. Then we headed to the hotel and I put up my clothes. Did I tell you that we have to wash our clothes in the sink? Which is okay with me, I mean I've washed in Mexico like that, but I miss the dryers. Soon it will be time for me to go to bed. 

May 18th- Bambini

May 18th

Today was my first day in an Italian elementary school. As we stood outside the entrance gate, I noticed that when the students arrived, they were not alone. Either you saw a child being walked by their mom, dad, maybe elder siblings, and even their grandparents. As we went into the classroom the children looked at us and we looked at them. We are all just so curious about each other. My biggest worry was, how will I communicate with them? It turned out that it all went great! I was able to pick up a few words and talk to them. I would take any opportunity to ask "How do I say...(for example: red)?" Just how I had trouble understanding and communicating with them they had the say trouble with me.

Dr. Marciano did the introduction and to get the kids interested we all drew an alligator. Mr. Ray (Dr. MArciano's husband) gave the "bambino" (children) a little art lesson with the alligator. This pretty much worked an icebreaker. They enjoyed it and from the art lesson we went into "reading" Where's Walrus? We really couldn't read it because the book was a picture book. However we flipped through the pages, making sure the students looked closely. Then we had the students draw Walrus as a tourist in Aosta. I was amazed by the drawings and he effort the students were putting into the drawings. They drew the Roman Theater, the mountains, churches, Arch of Augustus, and many more. Their drawings were amazing. The included lots of detail and they were really enjoying the activity. My favorite part was when we sang a song to the students, the students were between 10 and 12 years old. We sung to them "Head, Shoulders,Knees, and Toes. They had lots of fun with it. The class then sung us a song. 

It was the same for the second class. We had so much fun! After we got done with the first school we went for lunch. Our lunch was a cheeseburger! Hey, it was a student special. I am trying to save some money here! :) it was okay, I mean I only ate it because I needed to eat something. After lunch we headed to the second school. In the second school there was less technology compared to the first class we went to. In the second school, third class of the day, it began the same as the first school except these students had no questions for us so we had to work on getting them comfortable. When we drew the alligator, they seemed more comfortable with us. They too enjoyed singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes".

This is why I came! I came to Italy to learn about their culture and their form of education. So far it has all went wonderful. Tomorrow we will be going to the University of Aosta. I am curious to know how their University works.  

May 16th-Castello Reale di Serra

Today was amazing! The morning started off with cereal, croissant, yogurt, chappuchino, and some orange juice.  Right after breakfast, we all headed to the market, that took place right behind our hotel. It reminded me so much of the "Tiangis" in Mexico only with the difference that I had no idea on how to communicate with them for things like: "How much?", "I don't want it!", "What size is it?", "I'll come back!", etc. So, yes it was quite a challenge for me but a great experience.

After the market we went out for a little walk around the town and did our scavenger hunt. Our scavenger hunt consisted of finding certain areas and signs. Then we were to take selfies with the signs, statues, and stores. While we worked on the scavenger hunt, we stopped for some pizza. The pizza I had today was great! It was the prosciutto pizza. So early in the trip I miss soda. Here I refuse to purchase a coke at a restaurant because in American dollars I will be paying to much for a coke. Here there are no fountain drinks so that means no refills. All I have drank in these two days is water. Let me make that clear, I drink aqua naturale (regular water). If you don't make it clear, they will give you sparkling water. The sparkling water is good but I prefer the nature water. Oh yes, another thing up that I miss is Ice. They normally don't serve you ice with your drink so you have to ask for it. Sometimes and someplace they have it and in others they don't. After lunch we headed for some Gelato. This time I tried the Limone gelato. It was so good! It was very refreshing. As I ate the gelato, we headed back to the hotel and waited for the high school English teacher to arrive. By the way she is very friendly, nice, and very helpful. She offered to give us a quick tour of Valle D' Aosta and she took us to a beautiful historical place. 

Tada!!!! The beautiful and historical place she took us was the Sarre Castle in Sarre, Italy. The castle belonged to the King of Italy, Victor Emanuel II. The castle is placed on top of a hill in Aosta. When up in the castle you can get great view Aosta. Not only did it have a great view down to the surroundings but inside the castle there were two rooms with lots of details. These rooms consisted of many animal horns. You turned to your left and there where horns and painted ribbons, you turned right and it was the same. When you looked up, you can see the breath taking masterpiece. As we toured the castle, we learned a lot about the king and his family and the history behind it all. It was very interesting and molto bello (very beautiful).

After all the touring of the castle we built up an appetite and Elena (our Italian-English teacher friend) took us to a beautiful restaurant. The restaurant was IL Girasole ( the sunflower). This restaurant was decorated with sunflowers everywhere. The plate that I decided to try was the Bistecca alla Valdostana. It was steak with a layer if prosciutto and cheese. The plate was presented so well. They were some beautiful potatoes, carrots, herbs, and I believe cabbage. I can't forget about dessert, I had tiramisu. It was the best I have ever had. It was all just wonderful. Finally after dinner we walked back to the hotel and the day was over. So far everything in the trip is going very well.

May 17th- On Top of the World!

May 17th

Today I experienced an amazing trip. For a while I was on "top of the world!" Today, Elena took us to visit the the highest mountain in the Alps. This mountain is Monte Bianco (Italian) or Mont Blanc (French), meaning "white mountain". It is the highest mountain in Europe and is right in the border of France and Italy. It also reaches Switzerland! How amazing is that? Monte Bianco is about 4,810 m. We paid 30€ to get to the top on a cable car. The air kept getting thinner and thinner. It was a workout for me. When we took the second cable car in addition was had to climb approximately 240 steps. Of course I took my time and I needed to take my breaks in between! The struggle of climbing those steps was worth it at the end.....the view from the top was spectacular! I could not believe what I was looking at. There sky was as blue as it could be, the sun was shinning bright, the snow covered the top of the mountains. Ugh, it was breath taking! If you decide to come to Italy, Monte Bianco is one thing you must see! There was snow within reach, one classmate even built a snowman. After a while of admiring the view from above, we ate a ham and cheese sandwich. After lunch we went on last time to view the beautiful sight. 

After experiencing the fact of being at the top of the highest mountain in Europe, we stopped in a nearby valley for some...........Gelato! This time I did two scoops, white chocolate and Nutella. Mmmm, it was great! 

After heading back to the hotel, my classmates and I decided to go back to the restaurant IL Girasole. This time Jordan and I split a pizza between the both of us. We ate that thing up. It was so good. Mmmm, I say everything is good because to me, everything is good. I just want to try EVERYTHING!

May 15th- Valle D' Aosta

May 15, 2015

After the long flight we still had about a two and a half hour drive. During the drive I quickly realized my mistake, I should have slept more on the plane and had less of PitbulI. I had missed a great deal of the view during the drive. However, I did get a quick view of Mounte Bianco. Even though it was from far away it was so beautiful. Along the way to the hotel I saw a few small waterfalls and what looked to be like "castles". We arrived to Valle D' Aosta and checked into our hotel around 9 am. During the drive I noticed the huge, beautiful, and snowy mountains but I had no idea that we would have a view like that from our window. After we had our luggage in our room, I went for a quick little exploration with two fellow classmates. We were in search of snacks. As we walked into a ristorante, we asked to see the menu. Well it turns out the server knew no English and we know any Italian. We could not read the menu but when I looked up I saw a sign that said "spaghetti". " I want spaghetti", I said but it turns out that the place wasn't opened until 12 for lunch. So sad. Well with no spaghetti, we walked into another store in search for a snack. I found "Pony Pop". I was super excited to try them. I imagined them like the once back home but these don't have enough cheese! Once I had my snack I headed back to the hotel and took a nap. I was gone! I slept for about two hours and I woke up asking myself what day it was. Ugh, it was still Friday but it felt like I had slept for ever and I felt like I could still sleep some more.

When I woke up, I got ready and headed to the lobby to meet everybody. We all went for a walk and explored the town. Just outside the hotel are the remaining of the Roman walls from about 25 BC. We walked over to the Roman Theatre and took beautiful pictures. While at the theater, we had a beautiful view of the mountains. Well walked through the town and got familiar with the area. After about an hour of taking pictures and looking around we all got hungry so we stopped for a slice of pizza. I ate a slice of pizza prosciutto. Then we walked some more. We came across a few beautiful churches. One was the Santa Maria Cathedral. It has beautiful art work and statues. I had to take a moment to thank god for allowing us to arrive safely.

    After seeing a few churches, we stopped to taste wine, some meat, and of course cheese. I enjoyed the wine and the salami but the cheese was to sharp for me. I attempted to eat it the best I could but it's taste was a little to strong for my taste buds. I must say that I am very open to try anything and that is what will help me make this experience unforgettable. If tomorrow I was given a cheese that looked like the one I tried today, I will still try it. Who knows it maybe different and I might enjoy it the second time. After the glass of wine, we headed for a gelato. What a better way than to end the day with some good Gelato. I am going to have to eat gelato everyday in order to try them all.

Now it's time to sleep and be prepared for tomorrow's adventures.

May 14th

May 14th, 2015

On May 13th  I sat in front of my luggage for hours just staring at what I had packed. I thought and thought about what I needed and what I did not. It was hard for me to decide what I really didn't need but I knew I wanted my luggage to be under the limit which was 50 lbs. and hey it definitely was. My luggage weighed 29lbs. Which means that I did a good job packing, only that I have a huge fear that I have forgotten something very important. I guess I will find out sooner or later.

The process of checking in into the airport was very fast and easy. Which made this trip start off good. The flight lasted about 2 hours and then we had to wait in Miami for our connection for our next flight. While we waited, the group went out in search for some food to prepare us for the longest flight! We made a good choice, TGI Friday's. It was my first time there.  After we ate, we waited at the gate. Then we were finally called to board the plane. As we boarded the plane I looked around and noticed all of the Italians. I noticed that they were all well dressed. Majority of the women wore scarfs and the men wore leather vest. Every once in a while I tried to ease in on their conversation but they talk to fast for me. Although, I was able to make out a few words so that was good. Any how, the flight from Miami to Milan was overnight.

We arrived in Italy around 1:30 am (7:30am in Italy). I was well fed on the plane, I took naps every now and then, and I got up to stretch my legs. One thing that maybe I shouldn't have done was play with the radio. I was attempting to fall asleep but I came across a few songs by Pitbull. With that being said I wasn't sleepy anymore for the rest of the flight.