My last week... Arrivederci Italia!

Monday June 27
It was just a day to review for our Italian final and the last days of classes. We did a run through of our scenes for Tuesday. It was the hottest day of our stay here with a high of about 40° C. And since Florence sits in a valley of mountains/hills, there is no wind and the air just sits muggy and miserable. So, after our miserably hot rehearsal, we just sat at home and relaxed. I looked through my Italian workbook and tried to learn what there wasn't time to learn. Sabine said I was her little Italian over-achiever. What can I say? I love speaking in foreign languages and when I start to learn one, I want to REALLY learn it. However, I have noticed that my French is slipping. I can't think of anything in French anymore! Agh!!! Must be multi-lingual! hahah...

Tuesday June 28
Tonight is our concert and we had no classes today except for our Italian final.

Wednesday June 29
Free day to do last minute sight-seeing. Last night in Italy.

Thursday June 30
Arrivederci Italia! Benvenuto gli Stati Uniti!

Ciao e baci miei amici!
Stephanie Hope

P.S. Just FYI... I've put a few music files up on a music profile that I have. If you're bored or curious... check it out... www.myspace.com/stephaniehopejarvis
Baci mille!

The week of the 20-25

So, I know that I've been writing less and less as the month has progressed. I've realized that this morning on my walk to class. But, I'm not sure that many of you are really keeping up with my journal, with the exception of my dear parents. I LOVE YOU MOMMY and DADDY!!! But, here's to catch you up... I hope I remember everything... I forgot my journal at home... :-P

Monday June 20
Today was a very busy and scholastic day for me. I had classes straight from 8:30 in the morning until 4:30 pm (or 16:30 military time). Then, I had just enough time to go home, veg from the heat, make some dinner and then get dressed up for the opera that night. We went to see Boris Godunov (spelling???hmm... Not sure...) by Modest Mussorgsky at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence. Just a 15 minutes walk from my apartment actually! It was incredibly long (4 hours) and we didn't know anything about the plot or music going in. In addition, the opera is in Russian or Czech or something like that and the supertitles were in Italian (of course! We're in Italy!) so all I could understand is what I could quickly translate of the supertitles which was actually rather fun. It was almost like I was studying Italian and watching an opera at the same time! Although, after the first two hours of utter confusion and then finally getting an intermission (the aisles were dreadfully small for this tall girl as well) I finally got clued into as what was going on. Even though that helped, the staging was rather erratic and its concept was not clear, at least to me. The singers were amazing though and the music was spectacular. However, the staging and acting was so off the wall that it was distracting and I felt that I didn't appreciate it as much as I could have. However, that's how this career is. Very subjective and you can't please everyone.

Tuesday June 21
Classes... same ol' same ol'... Sorry for the lack of poetic justice...
In fact... let's just skip to Friday...

Friday June 24... San Giovanni Battista Day!
Today was a city holiday and so we didn't have any classes or rehearsals. In the city there were parades, mideval soccer tournaments, and fireworks over the Arno to top it all off. So, our apartment (since it's a rather large apartment) decided to host a post-firework party for the people in our program. Just a nice get-together to top it all off. Well, we get back from the fireworks and just sit around the couch as we wait for the other students to arrive, when all of a sudden, they arrive... As well as half the Italian military!!! Agh! Well, that's an exaggeration (obviously) but there were around 10 young Italian men who had "Party with Easy American girls" written all over their face. Well, they sure didn't get that from me! I said upfront to one guy "No. Don't touch me." And went and immediately locked the doors to my bedroom and said to one guy standing in front of the door "No naughty naughty in there!" Then, the guys began to start their game with drinking, eating and a sort of merriment. Merriment was the last thing on my face, more like horror. What was going through my mind was "Agh!!! They're going to trash our apartment!!! Psycho Italian boys!" Then, one Italian guy jumped up on our dinner table and started dancing and Dru jumped up there with him and was grinding on him when the table began to tip over and the top came completely off. I think I lost half my hair that night. So, then he tried to get Mary Ellen to strip him while he danced and I thought she was going to die because they tried to drag her up onto our stairs. She put her hand up and said "Mi sposato! Mi sposato!" I'm married! And one of the guys said "Is he here? It doesn't matter if he's not here." But she continued to refuse and they let that alone. But, he went up and started to strip anyway, down to his tightie whities, except they were gray. :-S Egads... And all of my friends were hollering "Stephanie! Get your camera! Stephanie! Get your camera!" And I said "No way!!! I don't want pictures of that!" It was after that girls started pairing up with guys and it turned into a makeout fest, so I went in the living room and hid with some of my flatmates. But that didn't last long, because Lauren was drunk and angry (she has decided that she hates all Italians) and said that all Italians are ugly and like those guys. And I said "Not Francesco!" And she, in her hateful manner, said "Yes he is Stephanie." So, since she hasn't even met the guy and wants to be bitchy I just left and went in my room. It's not my fault that she hates it here and wants to be negative. Finally, it got to the point where we all had to say, "Go home." And the girls that brought them and the guys all left and I went to bed.

Saturday June 25
This was the first time I had felt homesick. It partly had to do with missing my life partner, Chelsea. :-) And not having money. A bunch of people went to Pisa and the beach and just me and Susan were left at home. It was hot and miserable, and I lounged all day in my cool linen pants and a bikini top watching Italian MTV. At one point I had dozed off but then heard the song from the famous scene in Dirty Dancing, so I thought they were showing Dirty Dancing in Italian and I got excited and made myself wake up. But it wasn't, so I was disappointed. Then, my aunt Carol called me and made my day! It was the first time I had laughed all day. Thank you Auntie! Mille Baci! So, after getting off the phone with her, I got antsy and needed to get out of the house, so Susan and I went and got some gelato and then sat on the steps of Santo Spirito for a few hours talking and people watching. Then we went walking to the S. Trinita bridge and sat there for awhile until we realized that our friends would be walking home in about an hour. So, we walked one bridge west and sat on that bridge until the would walk by. But in doing so, we had about 5 creepy guys walk by and talk to us. Ugh! Yuck!!! Before the last one, we decided that we would talk in a made up language (that ended up sounding like a mix between German and Russian and Czech) and Italian. Then the last creepy guy walked up to his and tried talking to us, but we just kept talking gibberish between us until we finally told him to go away. It was hilarious though because we confused him so much as to our nationality. However, after that encounter we decided we didn't want to wait any longer for our friends and hurried home holding hands, hoping that would keep guys from talking to us.

Sunday June 26
Today I decided I would go walking and exploring parts of town I hadn't seen. So, Mary Ellen, Valerie and I grabbed our cameras and went were the wind (or lack thereof) took us. We ended up happening upon the Giardino di Bobolino (the little Boboli Gardens) that are just south of the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens. It's a public area with rich residences and scattered public parks. It was a nice walk and there were a few flowers (though most had died or wilted from the heat). Plus it was cool that we happened upon them. They scaled all the way up this hill and by the top we could see the horizon of Tuscan hills. It was very beautiful. My favorite part was all the little turtles we saw in the little ponds! They were so cute!!!!

Ciao miei amici! Vi amo!

Saturday June 18th, 2005

We left at noon from Florence to go to Verona to see Nabucco (which has been my favorite opera that we've seen here). We got there at about 3 pm, so we had a few hours to walk around. So, Marie took us for an informal tour of Verona. We saw Roman ruins, an old Roman city that's now a museum, the garden of Romeo and Juliet and saw Juliet's balcony. Obviously it's a fictional story, but Verona is playing it up for a tourist attraction. The main street is all marble and lined with designer stores like Gucci, Armani and Louis Vitton. In fact, when we walked by Louis Vitton on our way to wait in line for the opera, there were 6 security guards outside Louis Vitton not letting anyone in. Inside you could see they were serving appetizers to the selected guests. It was quite the ordeal. We tried to see who the celebrity was that all the commotion was over, but we couldn't see anyone we recognized. So, then we went to stand in line (you can't really call it a line) in the MOB of people waiting to get into the Arena di Verona for Nabucco. It was a FULL house! The Arena di Verona holds 32,000 people and looks kinda like a smaller version of the Colliseum. It was pretty disgusting standing in the mob, because it was SOOO hot (I know I know, not that long ago I was complaining that it was cold) and everyone is touching each other trying to get a good seat since it's general admission and sharing sweat. It was SO gross!!! But it was cool in a way that there were THAT many people out to see an opera. Very cool. The opera wasn't over until 1 or 2 am and then we had to ride back to Florence after that. We didn't get back until 5:30 in the morning. I was so tired and I had a blanket with me (it got chilly in the morning back in Florence) so I wrapped my blanket around me and my bag as we trekked the 20 minute walk home sleepily. Then, I got home, and CRASHED. I didn't get up until 3 pm on Sunday.
Sunday was uneventful so I won't post for that day... P.S. I was told that I look like the French top model, Latitia Casta... How is everyone going to deal with my ego when I get back? Haha!
Ciao e baci e vi amo!!!

Friday June 17th, 2005

This morning we had a master class with Richard Gordon from New York City, who is a coach, pianist, music arranger... he basically does it all. He's coached for many opera companies around the U.S. I was first up, so i was singing while many of you were sound asleep at the wee hours of 2 am. Can you imagine? It went really well. I worked very well with him and made many revelations in my singing and breathing. He said that because of my scoliosis, my ribs had not been expanding properly in the back. So, we mainly worked on that and it was AMAZING! I was able to record the session on my camera, so some o fyou will have the oppurtunity to watch it if you want to.
After the master class, we went and toured Santa Croce, where Rossini is buried among many other significant people in Italian and music history. It was very beautiful and there is a chapel in Santa Croce called the Pazzi Chapel that has a 10 second reverb. So, we harmonized with ourselves. It was so cool. It was the longest reverb I had heard. The second longest was when I was in England at the Ely Cathedral Lady Chapel and it had a 7 second reverb.
That evening, a few of the girls had a party at their apartment, so everyone went to that but a bunch of us missed the last bus of the night, but there was rather large group of us, so we just walked. It was a nice night anyway. Stonehenge (where Francesco works) was on the way home, so I said good night to everyone and dropped in to see Francesco. Also, we're all spending so much time together that I just wanted some time with Italians to work on my Italian and learn about their culture. Plus, I don't think it hurts to make some friends while I'm here (in case I ever move here!). I paid enough to be here, I want to get the most out of my experience and spending my entire free time with Americans, speaking English isn't going to allow me to do that. I had a blast there. I sat and talked with Francesco as he worked (and he made me free drinks) and his friend that frequents Stonehenge and works at Beccofino, a restaurant just around the corner from my apartment. And I spoke about 90% in Italian and Francesco was proud of me! He helps me a lot with my grammar and vocabulary. We've become really good friends since we met two weeks ago. And he's not creepy like most of the Italian guys here. It's just cool. hmm... I'm having deja vù... Did I tell you about him already??? Okay, well then... I'll just stop. If I haven't, you'll be left in suspense and be forced to contact me out of curiosity, or if I have... then I should stop anyway.
Ciao e baci! Vi amo!

A Couple Special Thank Yous

Everyone, I want to say thank you for continually checking in on my journal and keeping up on the news here in Italy. It really means a lot to me, because I take quite a bit of time to sit down and account all that I've been up to here. So, with the comments left and emails letting me know that you've been here really makes my day. Baci Baci (which, by the way means Kiss Kiss). Also, a few of you have been so awesome unexpectedly to put a link to this journal on your respective websites. And so I'd like to return the favor, and encourage all of you to visit their sites. These are some really incredible people doing some really incredibly things and it's humbling that they took the moment to help spread the word about my endeavors and think that I'm pretty cool too. :)

Dan Mengini... www.danmengini.com (He's an incredibly funny genius of a comedian. You're missing out if you don't check this website.) Though we're both such busy little performers just trying to rise to the top of our careers, you've been so supportive and such an incredible friend through many ups and downs within the last year. You've made me laugh in moments of joy and sorrow. I hope we never lose touch of our friendship and of who we are. Thank you so much.

Aaron Story... http://taiwanstyle.blogspot.com I can't believe how far we've both come since those days in that little town of Baldwin. Doesn't it seem like forever ago! You were my best friend in the whole world then and you still remain an incredible, endearing, close friend today. I wish we could see more of each other, but since the world literally stands between us, then, the emails are just as good. I hope we do get to travel together someday (the world wouldn't knew what hit it) before it becomes too late and we both become so entangled in our lives and careers that we can't take advantage of the oppurtunity. I'll never forget the laughs we've shared and all the moments you would attack me and tickle me until I surrendered to the ground out of breath, or when we catch attentions with our skilled swing dancing. Oh how I miss those days, but don't regret the path traveled. You will always be in my heart, dear friend.

Ciao e BACI BACI!
Stephanie Hope

Thursday June 16, 2005

Yesterday when we talked with Kathleen McCalla, she was so inspiring and incredibly down to earth. We talked for two hours and finished off the discussion with her singing a song from Rustica Cavalleri by Rossini. My spelling may be off, so I apologize. She is well-known in Europe as a Dramatic Soprano and a Dramatic Coloratura Soprano. In fact, she is currently learning the role of Norma. She's been living in Italy for the last 25 years with her Italian husband who is a Verdi singer (his website is linked on hers www.kathleenmccalla.com) and she is strikingly beautiful. She has to be in her 50s or so and still looks like she's in her 30s. I hope I age that well! I really encourage you checking out her website because she's got amazing pictures and sound clips of her singing. I almost cried when she sang her FIRST note. It was amazing and just cut through your heart (in a good way). Her focus was intense, and she's an incredible musician. She told us that she learned a role in 4 to 5 days. An entire role that is. That's a lot of notes and words!!! It was very inspiring.
Today, I found out that there's a piano concert that I'm going to try to attend here in Florence. I love piano music and it'll be a nice change from all the operas we've been concentrating on.

*side note* For some reason my hands and my brain are not connected today and I've been thinking one word and my fingers will type another... So you may have to bear with me if it gets a little out there... I'm trying to catch all of my errors.

I have decided that this summer and fall I'm going to learn the role of Susanna from Le Nozze di Figaro (I already have a recording of it with Bryn Terfel) even if Marie King doesn't cast me. Because I KNOW that I would make a PERFECT Susanna. It's right down my alley. Both Dr. Baxter and Dr. Yenne say that I'm a great Mozart Soprano. But the unfortunate part is that many sopranos make good Mozart sopranos. So, I will have to be perfect. Is it apparent that I'm beginning to get into my opera craze personality??? Just put up with it, if at all possible, and I promise that I will come down after awhile. I think I'm getting over my stage of being burnt out from last semester, which is good, because I have projects to finish. *I offer a smile and a bat of the eyelashes to the gracious professors to which this applies.*

It's getting hot here again which is good and bad. It's now appropriate to wear the clothes that I brought, but now it's going to get tiring in the middle of the day when it's hottest. I can already feel it.

Okay... I've noticed that none of my thoughts are connecting and I'm beginning (or long gone) to babble so I will say Arrivederci and Vi amo!
Baci tutti!
Stephanie Hope

By Popular Demand, Things the American Boys Could Learn from Italian Men

Top 10 Italian Pick up Lines
10. Ciao bella!

9. You lost something back there... Your sense of humor. Why do you look so serious?

8. How tall are you? I'm looking for a wife.

7. You break my heart bella.

6. Every day you walk by and you break my heart. After a month, I will have NO heart left!

5. Canti per me. (sing for me)

4. You look like the French top model, Latitia Casta.

3. I love you everyday!

2. I tuoi occhi sono come due stelle nelle notte. (Your eyes are like two stars in the night. -take note of this one gentlemen... definitely a sweet line!)

And my favorite of all time!!!!

1. Io avevo la lingua che spazzava in terra. (My tongue is sweeping the floor.)

A correction

I had said on the weekend of June 10-12 that I had met William Croft and Samuel Ramey. But actually, it was Dwayne Croft playing Billy Bud, not William Croft. My memory is already starting to fail me. This could be a bad sign.... or a sign of lack of sleep. Take your pick.
Ciao and my apologies.

Wednesday June 15, 2005

Ciao tutti!
This week has been pretty rigorous as far as rehearsals go. But, it's been raining, so there really isn't much else to do anyway. I didn't pack any warm clothes or shoes condusive for rain, so it's been interesting deciding what to wear so I don't get sick. Yesterday morning it was pretty nice, so I wore these really cool and comfortable white linen pants and a short sleeved brown peasant shirt. But that was a mistake, because in the afternoon it started pouring when I was walking to rehearsal, and I soon became drenched!!! Luckily, the peasant shirt was long enough that when my white pants became soaked and see through, all you could see were legs. I bet the Italian men LOVED that. Haha... So, I learned a lesson and wore black pants today because we got more rain on the way to classes this morning but now it's sunny and hot! I doubt I'll ever learn.
This afternoon, Kathleen McCalla (www.kathleenmccalla.com) is visiting us to talk to us about the opera business and having a career in Europe. I'm so excited to meet her and talk to her. She's also a graduate of Wichita State. You know, between Kathleen McCalla, Samuel Ramey, Joyce DiDonato...Wichita State is really pumping out the opera superstars. :-)
This weekend, we're heading to Verona to see Nabucco by Verdi.
Well, not to much to say actually, been a pretty uneventful week thus far. Except the moment where the guy who proposed to me said "You walk by everyday and you break my heart. After a month, I will have no heart left." Too bad for him.
Hope everyone is well. Stay in touch! Send me emails! Call me! Leave comments! I miss you all and I love, I love.
Ciao mi amore
Stephanie Hope

Last weekend June 10-12, 2005

Friday
Today was a Master Class with Claudia Catania who sang for the New York City Metropolitan Opera. She's amazingly full of life and energy and is an amazing teacher. She's already promised me lessons anytime I want to fly to New York for them. So, I'll exclusively tell you that I'm throwing around the idea of moving there after graduation to work and take from her until I'm accepted into the grad school of my choice.
Anyway. Then, that evening, a bunch of us wanted to experience nightlife in Italy, so we went to the Fish Pub that had been recommended by the group that came last year. But, when we got there, it was all Americans! Yuck! I'm in Italy, I want to be with Italians! So, we left there and just started walking in the direction of home in hopes that we'll run across another one. We saw a couple of guys standing in the street, so our whole group walked up to them and asked them where the nearest bar was and they said "Right here!" It was this unmarked, exclusive bar that you have to know its there to really know its there. Make sense? Anyway. So, we went in there and it was really cool. They had all these really interesting drinks and there was a Danish guy, a Welsh guy, and obviously a bunch of Italians. The bartender, Francesco, knew a lot of English and he was very friendly. Me and Rebecca flirted with him the whole night and got a bunch of free drinks out of the deal. We ended up staying after everyone else in our group went home. So, we talked with Francesco and we found out that he's 23, studying radio journalism and English. He told us that he has an English exam on the 29th and we told him our Italian exam was on the 28th. So, he said "You help me and I'll help you!" So, now I have an Italian tutor. :) He's REALLY cute. He's also a drummer in a band and they've toured the US before for 5 months. So I hope that they'll tour again in the USA after I come back! After the bar closed, he took me and Rebecca home. It was cool riding in a car in Italy. Definitely hadn't done that yet.

Saturday
Today we were at the Boboli Gardens bright and early at 9 am! We toured the Pitti Palace, which had various museums in it, including the treasures of Maria de Medici and the Costume Gallery. I saw EVERYTHING! And it was so cool. My heart raced in the Costume Gallery when I saw that they had two costumes that Maria Callas wore in the movie "Medea." It was awesome. They also had clothing from the Medici and period clothing. They were so tiny! But I had to consider that they also had corsets keeping them pulled in. Then I got lunch before I went to the Gardens and then spent the entire afternoon walking in the Gardens and I wasn't even able to see all of that. Evidentally, there was a labyrinth that I missed out on! : ( Oh well... I did get some neat pics of the flowers that were still in bloom. I impressed a few people with my photography but it has room for MUCH improvement. I need to learn more about how to manipulate this camera.

Sunday
Today we went to Genova, Italy to see the production of Benjamin Britten's "Billy Bud" with Samuel Ramey and William Croft. It was amazing, but definitely an experience seeing an opera with no women or treble voices. After the show, we got to meet Samuel Ramey and he was so very nice! I had no idea that he is 63! He sang SO well at the performance. He gave me a kiss on the cheek when I greeted him (the standard European greeting) and I also got a picture with him. I suppose you could say it was the first celebrity I'd ever met. Dr. Yenne said "Wow, I saw you got a kiss from Sam." And I said, "Yes, I'm definitely writing home about that!"
We then got back to Florence around 11 pm. Ciao! A domani! BACI BACI!

Wednesday June 8, 2005 and Thursday June 9, 2005

I had such a wonderful lesson with Dr. Yenne today. We talked about performance anxiety and presenting myself with nobility and confidence. He even tested me at the end of the lesson by saying he's going to be someone unimpressed with me and he's going to be vocal about it as I sing. And I was able to keep confidence and even improved my artistry as I sang. I just kept thinking that I know I'm talented and anyone who knows anything will realize it and love me! I know it sounds egotistical, but Dr. Yenne said that's what I should think to keep confidence. He told me that I'm tall, gorgeous and talented and I should present myself and perform as such.

Thursday
This Saturday, we're all going to the Boboli Gardens and the Pitti Palace that were owned by the very powerful Medici family. I'm looking forward to it to take pictures of the Gardens. I'm hoping to make Dad jealous that he wasn't there. Hehe! Wink! Then, maybe he'll want to come to Florence and take me for his translator/guide. Hahaha! I'll be sending a few postcards to a few people, so keep a look out for those. I also want to say thank you those to who have emailed me, called or left comments on my journal! It means a lot to me that you are thinking about me.
***
On my lunch break, Dru showed me a place that had cute clothes that were inexpensive. So, Valerie and I went in and I found some cute white pants and they were super long. And they were only €20. So, she (the lady working there) gave me what size she thought I was. Yeah, well, she was wrong. I couldn't even zip it up for fear of tearing it at the seams. So, I asked her for a larger size and she gave me whatever size that was (I couldn't find a size tag anywhere!), and that, at least, went on and zipped up, but it was so tight that you could see the material pulling and every curve of my body! Eeks! Plus, it was thin, white material, so I couldn't make it work. So, I asked her for another size and she said "This is the modern look." And I said that it wasn't flattering and I would like a bigger size. And she shot her nose in the air and said "We don't carry sizes larger than that." I said "anywhere in anything???" And she said No. I couldn't believe it. I'm not that big! In fact, I think I'm on the thin side of average and they didn't carry sizes big enough for even me. How sad. Mom said I should've asked her "Well then, where do the fatties shop?" I LOVE YOU MOM! Oh well, they didn't get my business!I went to the markets after the afternoon classes and got a pretty colorful scarf, a shirt and a pink poncho. Mary Ellen, Valerie, and I met some really nice people running one of the scarf stands and talked to them for awhile and they made us a deal so we sang for them and they took pictures. It was so fun. By the time we finished, a huge crowd had gathered around to watch us and applauded. It was so fun! Then, we continued to walk down the street and a guy selling leather jackets wanted us to sing for him, and he gave us €6 to get gelato for singing for him. It was cute. Then, we got our gelato and went home! It made up for being implied I was fat by that snooty girl at that store! Haha!! Ciao! Baci!

Tuesday June 7, 2005

Today we had our Welcome dinner from CAPA at Osteria de' Pazzi. Which means the restaurant of the crazy. It was such a blast. The staff would do funny things and say catch phrases. When, one of the guys was pouring wine for Jennifer Lindshield, he said "Get 'er done!" It was hilarious. I also have a couple of pictures of another signore making me finish the last of the spaghetti (a whole serving) in only two bites. A couple of people got drunk and that was pretty funny, even though I took care of them as the sober one. Dru and I went and talked to some cute Italians too, and they were really nice. I think they were amused by my drunk friends. We told them we sing opera and one of them burst out in song like he was an opera singer jokingly. They were shocked because we are young and beautiful. They said the opera singers in Italy are old now because there are no good music schools for opera in Florence anymore. They're all in Naples (Napoli) or Milan (Milano). Milan is were the opera house of my dreams is. You know you've got a great career when you're singing at Teatro de La Scala! Congrats Joyce DiDonato! She's singing La Ceneratola (I'm not sure if that's spelled right) at La Scala at the end of June. We, unfortunately, won't get to see her. :-(
Ciao!

Monday June 6

Today was our first full day of classes. We had Italian at 8:30 for two hours. Once we jumped in, even though we were all still sleepy, the time flew. Then we had opera lab from 10:30 until 12:30. The way that all works is during that time, 4 people will leave at a time to go to a lesson or rehearsal. Then we had lunch from 12:30 until 2, which I used to get money and get passport pictures. I know I got ripped off though because I had to pay €12 and I found out later that my friends who went to the same place only had to pay €5. I was already ticked that they didn't tell us ahead of time to have passport pictures, but then to have had to pay €12 for them! Grrr..... The, on top of that, all of our group tours were supposed to be covered with the program cost, but they sprung it on us here that the tour of Pitti Palace and the Baboli Gardens isn't going to be covered because 'they didn't want to make the decision for us which tour cost to do.' There is a range of tour options from €5 to €15, but they recommend the €7. My opinion is that that's a pretty lame excuse. If there was any doubt about it, they should've gone with the more extensive tour. We're not here that often! But, what can you do? Anyway. After classes, Rebecca, Dru and I started to head back to the apartment when we walked through the same area where the American boys hit on me. As we were walking down that street, two Italian men were standing outside of a shop and one of them asked me how tall I am. Well, I was wearing heels, so I asked with or without shoes and he said 'without' So I told him that I'm 5'10". Then he said "I'm looking for a wife." And I said "I'm not looking for a husband!" Then he continued to plead with me as I walked away. It was so unexpected, it blew my mind. Anyway. On that note, it's time for bed. I'm very sleepy. Buona Notte! Ciao!

Last weekend... June 3-5

Okay, here goes a lot of catch up and I hope I remember it all. So....

Friday June 3rd
Today was the first day of class and we had a Master Class with Gabriele Micheli, who is famous for his opera coaching and directing in Italy. He was very congenial and we learned a lot from him. The master class lasted from 9 AM until 1 PM then we were free the rest of the day. Those of us who didn't sing today (including yours truly) will sing on Monday for Signore Micheli. Then, we got lunch and cell phones (not at the same place). That's when I started to walk home. The two other girls I was with livedon the opposite side of town, so I was walking by myself. It was fine though because I knew the area well by now and I knew I'd blend in better if I didn't have someone talking to me in English. So, I started home (it was SO hot) and I wanted to take my cellphone stuff home so I wouldn't lose it. Well, on the way, there was a group of 3 american guys (you could tell they were American by their idiotic behavior and their clothing and they were saying 'Buongiorno' to every person they passed with a thick American accent.) When they got to me and said 'Buongiorno' as they stared at me intently with their jaws dropped. I just ignored them because they were being idiots. They must've thought that meant I was Italian and didn't understand English because one of them said to others rather loudly 'Wow! She's hot.' So, I turned around and said 'Thanks. And I'm American.' The replied with 'Cool, me too.' Uh duh! Obviously! Now I know where Americans get their bad name in Europe from; other than Bush. Now, that I've offended a few of you (but all of you know my views on politics) on with the day! So, not even 100 meters further, a street vendor starts hollering at me 'Hello! Hello baby!' I ignored him for awhile until it got so annoying that I turned to him and called out 'Non grazie!' Which means 'No thank you!' Then he calls back, 'Oh italiano eh?' with a smile. So, he maybe he though I was Italian because I actually didn't speak English immediately to him. Like most Americans do when they visit Europe. It was hilarious. The rest of the evening, I spent with the other students at our apartment, talking and laughing. We made dinner and got some champagne and stayed up rather late having a blast.

Saturday June 4
We had already decided that were going to go to the Isle of Elba (if you've seen the Count of Monte Cristo, then you know what Isle I'm talking about.). So, we left on the 9:30 train to get to Piombino to take the ferry to Elba. When we finally arrived on Elba (after running to catch the ferry and everyone on the ferry watching us and I'm sure laughing at us) we walked all over to try and find a hotel (unsuccessfully) for those who wanted to stay overnight, we went to a beach. But, Todd who claimed he knew the way, did NOT and we had to walk all the way up a large hill that felt like a small mountain. Boy did I get a workout! See, Jahree, I'm getting tons of exercise!!! Then walked halfway down it again before finding out we took a wrong turn and needed to walk back to the top to get to the correct turn for the beach! But it was SO beautiful when we got there. It was amazing. The water was crystal clear. You could see ALL the way down. I'm tellin ya, it was the clearest (is that correct grammar???) water I've ever seen. And the whole ocean was such a beautiful blue. There were all kinds of rounded pebbles lining the shore and sea bottom (at least as far as I went out). We swam and relaxed there all afternoon until we decided to leave to try and find a hotel before it was to late to get back if we needed to. So, we walked for another hour, until it was 6:30 (18:30) and the last ferry we could catch to get back to Florence that night was 7:00 (19:00). So, me and three others who decided that since we hadn't found a hotel yet they wanted to head back before they ended up sleeping outside on the Island. The four of us RAN back to the port to get our tickets and board the ferry. But we were closer than we thought and made it with 10 minutes to spare. On the ride back from the Isle there was a flock of seagulls flying over our boat, so we decided to feed them (I had brought some chips for my lunch). Dru held out the chips and I and Aaron took pictures. Then, I gave my camera to Dru to take pictures of me feeding the seagulls. It was SO fun!!! I'd hold my hand all the way out and when one would spot me, he'd hover right over me with his beak out and then dive in and grab the chip real fast and fly away. It was awesome. Then the whole trip home was tightly scheduled. We took the bus from Piombino to Campiglia Mattina, we had literally 3-5 minutes to buy train tickets to Pisa and validate them. It was a rush. Then it was the same story from Pisa to Florence. We felt like we were on the Amazing Race. We finally arrived home at 1 AM and we were EXHAUSTED!!!

Sunday June 5
We didn't wake up until 1 pm this afternoon. We were so tired! So, once we woke up, we ate lunch and then went down the street for gelato. It was awesome! America definitely needs good gelato. Then we decided we'd head towards the grocery store (Standa) but we took our time getting there and looked at quite a few shops on the way. Which was torture! I did need a bag like purse to carry music and essentials in. So, I got one for €12 at a department store at Piazza di Republicca. It was a good deal considering how expensive everything else was there (such as clothing around €250). Then we went to Standa and began noticing the gorgeous men that were out today!!! Oh man they were so beautiful! And I'm so spoiled because they all tell me how bellissima I am... All this man attention is going to spoil me. Ciao miei amici!!!

Thursday June 2nd

This morning we had orientation at CAPA. They talked to us about classes. And then we went on a walking tour. We saw mostly everything we'd already seen before but got more information about it and I was able to figure out where everything was in relation to each other. Today was a national holiday, so there was A LOT of people out. Once our tour was over, we were free to do what we wanted, so I went back to CAPA to eat my packed lunch and check my email. Then, I went to see if the cellphone place was open today but it wasn't. So, then I went to Hani's restaurant and sat and talked with him on his lunch break. Then, we went and got gelato (ice cream) and it was fantastic! Hani got tirimisu and I had tirimisu gelato. I tried some of Hani's tirimisu to see what it's supposed to taste like and it's a lot different than the tirimisu in the U.S. but much better, of course. My gelato was awesome! I can already tell my Italian skills are improving from talking with Hani. But it will even more when we start our Italian classes which will involve NO english. They told us today that they will teach us ENTIRELY in Italian. I left after gelato and headed back to the apartment. Only to shortly head back out with Valerie and Mary Ellen for dinner and pick up some things at the Standa (grocery store much like Dillons). This morning, I realized that I love the sound of the sirens in Europe. It's an audible reminder as to where you are. And they're so different than the U.S. that they become exotic in a sense.
As I was writing this entry tonight, my room was filled with sounds of celebration for the holiday and then filled with sounds of a different celebration. I began to hear sounds of a very loud moaning that I thought someone in the apartment was goofing off. Oh no, I soon realized that I was hearing how the Italians make love, very loudly. Everyone's windows are open because there is no air conditioning. So this woman's husky voice boomed throughout our courtyard. Just thought I'd share!!! Hahaha! Ciao!

Yesterday (June 1st)

Wednesday June 1st, 2005

Oh! It was so god to see friendly familiar faces. I got up at 8 am and went to find a bank so I could get a taxi to CAPA. Then I checked out of the hostel. From there I went to CAPA, but I wasn't completely sure where it was! I thought it was 22 Via dei Pandolfini, but it was 20. So, not too far off and a nice gentleman who was walking by helped me find it. It wasn't labeled CAPA on the outside of the building, but an Italian name for arts and music school. So, I checked in and they showed me around CAPA, then they told me that my apartment wouldn't be ready ntil 3. So, I went to explore that part of the city. And it was so neat and full of life. I saw the Duomo and there were a ton of street markets that I enjoyed walking around in. It reminded me of the Maple Leaf Festival from home. A few of the street vendors tried to appeal to my interests, but they key word is: TRIED. haha! But it was flattering. However, no pinching as of yet. Then I started to look for a relatively cheap place to eat when I came across this cute little osteria. Hani, the manager, was outside on its patio and he spoke to me in English and I replied in Italian. He was very nice and so I spoke with him for awhile and then offered me coffee on the house. So, we sat and I enjoyed my cup of coffee. However, had it not been on the house, I later found out that I would've been charged extra for sitting down. And the osteria was nice because it was air conditioned and Hani and everyone working for him were very nice to me. Especially considering, I wasn't paying them. Hani said he wouldn't accept my money at his restaurant. Haha! I'm wondering how long that'll last when he realizes I won't be anything more than a friend with him. Anyway. He did say I could eat and drink whatever I wanted on him. And he asked me what I wanted to eat for pranza (lunch) so I ordered a pesto pasta with clams. Mmm! Then he asked me what kind of wine I wanted, rosso (red) or bianco (white). So, I had a really good white wine with my lunch. Now, before anyone calls me a lush, it's the only alcohol I've had in Italy and I only had one cup. Also, it was after noon! LOL... I felt so bad eating and drinking without paying, but he insisted. When I told him that I had to go, he asked me to come back for dinner with his friends, but I told him I couldn't because I had to go to my apartment, but I told him maybe later in the evening if I had time. But I wasn't able to. So I'll try to find it tomorrow to say hi. Then, I tried to find my ay back to CAPA, but I was more lost than I thought. That's when I ran into Todd and he showed me back. It was good to see someone I knew! Then we were taken to our apartments by taxis, but ours was mislabeled as 16 when it was actually 12. But, all in all, we found it after the landlord stuck his head out of the window and told us how to get there. We all love it! It's spacious and has that beautiful European appeal with much history. It's also only a half hour walk to CAPA. The ceilings are all over 15 ft. tall (except for the second floor, where I soon learned was made for little people... haha...) and there are 5 rooms that are wonderfully spacious. It's great. There are 3 bathrooms and ample storage. So, we all unpacked and hung out and explored the apartment. Then, me and two other students, Valerie and Mary Ellen, went to find the grocery store, which was an adventure in itself. Especially since we didn't know exactly where it was. We only knew it was across from a post office. Needless to say, there is more than one post office in Florence. Haha! But with the help of a map and a few friendly Italians we found our way. We got some yummy stuff (including Nutella!!!) and only spent about 20 € each. For those of you who don't know what € is, € is the symbol for Euros. Neat little bugger, isn't it??? Well, orientation is tomorrow and I think I've written enough for one day. I'm excited to get classes started!
P.S. I'm going to continue to include the date in my post that will be contrary to what the blog puts as the post because, I want to be able to put the whole day down at once and so I write at home before bed and then I'll post here the next day.

Andiamo! The first two days...

Monday May 30th, 2005
Andiamo! All day today I've been reflecting on my journey to this day. I've had about 4 hours of downtime in the Detroit airport before I flee... umm... I mean, leave the U.S. Haha! Knowing that I'll be spending the next month in Europe, more specifically, in Italy is so surreal! As one of my colleagues put it, 'it's a singer's dream come true.' I'm very happy with how things have turned out. I've sold about 50 CDs (much more than I had anticipated.) and with my hopes having been on a rollercoaster ride this last semester, it's so exciting. I'm really nervous though, when I went to France, I had studied French for 4 years, and still was a little lost on the language barrier. Now, my extent of Italian is so limited and I'll be arriving and spending my first night there completely alone.

Tuesday May 31st, 2005
I'm currently sitting on my 3rd plane of the trip. Ah! The journey and I'm ready to get to the hostel and shower! However I still need to exchange the cash I have on me and get cash out for the hostel. I think I'll take a nap too after all of this traveling. The engine on this small commuter plane (from Rome to Florence) is ringing my ear. And I'm hungry but my stomach hasn't completely settled from all the take-offs and landings. I realized somewhere over the ocean last night that I had forgotten to print off and pack the text for my Italian Opera course. Eeks! So, I'll also have to find a place with internet that can also print. I had better stop writing before I continue to ramble about uninteresting topics. My brain is so tired that I cannon even recall the day. Ciao!
***
I have arrived in Florence! On the flight from Roma to Firenze there was a gentleman from New York who was setting a school program for conservation. He was very nice and helped me a lot when we arrived in Florence. He told me that he studied in Florence twenty-two years ago studying Italian literature and political science, and was here for six months then. Then when he went back to New York, he said he started to cry and his mother said that he must be glad to be back home, but he confided in me that it was really because he didn't want to leave Italy.
Today has really been exhausting. I feel horrible that I didn't study the language more befor eI came. I feel so inadequate at communicating. I know it will become easier and I'll know more as the month progresses and the Italian classes start. Once I checked into the l'albergo (hotel) I took a long, relaxing shower. I was so glad to get all that travel grossness off of me. Then, I was so tired and my room had become so humid that I opened the doors and let the sounds of Florence fill my room and laid down for a nap with my cool towel over me. I'm not sure though that I should've napped because then I didn't get up until 7:30 pm (19:30) and a lot of places were closed. So, I wasn't able to get a phone card. However, I did a lot of walking and exploring and after an hour I came across a pizza place (it was near my hostel) that I saw when I circled back. I went in there but realized quickly my ordering vocabulary is near non-existant. So, I asked the lady if she knew English (which I hate doing, this is after all, their country) and she didn't seem to like it either because she bacame real short in patience. They had many tables but she never offered me a place to sit. I started racking my brain as to how you might ask 'May I sit?' but came up blank. So, I decided her hostility was more than I wanted to experience anyway, so I took my pizza to my room. That's when it sunk in the most how alone and lost I felt. I wanted to do more exploring but it was getting late and I was feeling too much like a failure to brave my face again. I don't want to give you the wrong impression. I'm ecstatic at being here. I just wish I had a companion to ease the barrier some. Well, buona notte mi amici. Mi t'amo. Ciao!

I have arrived!!!!

Hello everyone! I have been keeping a physical journal as well that I will post soon. But I wanted to say hello and let everyone know that I'm here and safe. Today has been a lot of fun and really exciting. I got to the CAPA center around ten am and checked in. They told me that my apartment wouldn't be ready until 3 pm though. So, I left to explore the city. I found the duomo and many streets lined with street markets. It was so cool and so hard to resist spending my entire savings. I did buy one thing though, a cashmere pink scarf that was only 5 euro. So, I did indulge in that. I also took some neat pictures of around town as I walked. So, I spent over an hour just walking around the street markets and exploring. Then I started to get hungry so I began to search for a restaurant. That's when I came across Osteria dell Agnolo, www.osteria-agnolo.it , and Hanni, the manager asked me to have a cup of coffee with him. I obliged since he was so friendly and we'd be in a public place. He was very nice and spoke a lot of English. We talked and I told him that I was in Florence for a month studying opera and learning Italian. He asked me to have lunch with him at 3 pm but I told him that I couldn't because I was going to my apartment at 3. So, he let me have lunch early, but asked me to come back that evening. I told him 'forsa', maybe. But he gave me the lunch, coffee and wine all for free! He told me that he wanted me to come see him everyday and I could have whatever I wanted to eat or drink. I told him that I would practice my italiano on him. He was very helpful in practicing my italian because he'd only speak to me in italian unless I didn't understand, non capisco, and then he'd translate. He'd also teach me how to say a few words too, such as travolo, working; or bisogno imprare italiano, I need to practice italian. But he was very sweet and told me that he liked me, because I spoke italian well. That's when I laughed! Hahaha! Anyway. I hope everyone is doing well. I need to get used to these keyboards! They have things in different areas because they have the special accented characters on the keys as well. So, it's difficult to get used to. But I know I will before too long and then I'll have to get used to my American keyboard all over again when I get home! Ciao!!!
Mi amore!
Stephanie