A typicaL day in Budapest...?

Ok so because this is no longer an assignment I've been slacking, but crazy things have been happening so I must write! First, Switzerland and Austria are the most beautiful places in the world! (besides Farmington maybe) but really, if you've ever questioned a fairy tale like Hansel and gretel or rapunzel I challenge you to spend a day ( which is generous because it only took me 5 minutes) to be a firm believer that they are all true! Second, Budapest? Really cool but let me share my day and you can decide whether or not it's somewhere you would enjoy. Kirsten and I had already been in Budapest for a few days, had made some friends and were really enjoying our time. We had planned to meet up with our 3 friends we'd met the day before in church and had spend most of Sunday with the next morning, they were 3 American guys one visitng his old mission so he translated for us and the other two along for the adventure. It was Jed's birthday (the one who spoke Hungarian) and so we wanted to do something cool and since as a missionary he hadn't been able to visit Margaret island in the middle of the Danube and Kirsten and I had had it highly recommended to us we went there. Kirsten and I woke up early to work out and try to save off the softness of all the good food we'd been eating and then went to the large open market to get some fruit for breakfast. We bought a pastry to give Jed for his birthday and then wandered through the light rain to meet them. They weren't there but since the area we'd designated was large we didn't know if we'd find them so we decided to just start walking the island and hopefully run into them, it didn't take long before we caught sight and then we slowly stalked them until we were in throwing range and chucked a couple of pine cones, partially because we didn't want to run to catch up and partially as revenge for them splashing as at the Turkish baths the day before when they'd found us. Anyway, we found them, walked and talked and then said our farewells. Kirsten and I wanted to do some shopping because Budapest is cheap but as we made our way to the mall it started pouring so we ducked into a Starbucks to wait it out. We were talking and enjoying ourselves when 2 Italian guys offered to buy us drinks in very broken English, I responded no but mentioned I'd been studying Italian so they motioned the seat closer to them and I moved over leaving my bag on the other side of Kirsten. We were having a good time and I was grateful to practice my Italian, 2 more of their friends showed up and we all were laughing and trying to figure out what everyone was saying, the added us on facebook so that when they fulfilled their dream of coming to California they could find us there. I turned to translate something for Kirsten and out of the corner of my eye I notice the old guy sitting in the window with his hand in my bag! I hadn't thought about it because it was right there and we were inside a Starbucks but this happens, I just gave him a stern disgusted sorta look and grabbed my bag and not before too long he disappeared but he had been sitting in that window seat for quite some time! He didn't take anything gratefully but I now will remember to be more careful. Eventually the Italians left and then Kirsten and I braved the rain and made a run for it to the stores. Later that evening after a most delicious dinner at a lovely little restaurant we'd found earlier and fallen in love with me decided to walk to heroes square on Jed's recommendation to see it at night. On our way we saw a poor old homeless guy sleeping on a bench and I felt really sorry for him, I hate how much there is of that in Hungary, we moved on but keep him in mind. We got to heroes square and it really was stunning. But as we moved closer to the statues we noticed to high school boys running around. Kirsten told me she was pretty sure they were streaking but I was absolutely convinced they had compression shorts on until they ran right in front of us and left me with no more room for doubt. Not an experience I care to relive. On our walk back we were discussing how it probably wasn't a brilliant idea to be out late but now we really had no choice now so we should hurry back. Just then I noticed a statue out of the corner of my eye in a doorway but as I passed the doorway the statue moved. A white head on a long emancipated body in a dirty trench coat was much too close to me. I felt the blood drain from my face and turned to Kirsten chilled. She says my face was so white but the guy didn't do anything so we just hurried past and then sorta giggled at my slight overreaction but I must say that was the most frightening 2 moments of my life! All in all I really enjoyed Budapest, it was beautiful and unique and we had a lot of good times...and some really strange ones. The end.

Goodbye Siena

After 6 wonderful and educational weeks I have to say goodbye! My last job was Friday morning preparing the farewell lunch for both my group and the group of students from the U then I had to say goodbye to a lot of my friends, some whom I'll be seeing back in Utah but many that I will be possibly never see again and am leaving right here in Italy. The people I've had the opportunity to meet on this journey has been the best part of the whole thing, I have learned so much from all of them and am going to miss them so much, but I guess that is part of life, meeting people, learning what you can from them and then saying goodbye, wow, that's really lame, I hate goodbyes. On my way home last night from il campo where I finished saying goodbye to some friends I was calmly walking down the street when what should cross my path but a giant rat! I was going to scream and runaway but when it's late at night and you're alone this is probably not a good idea so i walked quietly, though not calmly by and I swear it stalked me the whole way home, I could feel its beady little eyes, creepiest part of my journey, well maybe with the exception of some of the leering men. Mollie and I left the house at 530 this morning and Marco and Paula even woke up to see us off, I will miss them so much! Living with a host family was the best thing ever and I highly recommend it to everyone! When I got to the station the first train to Milan was all full so I had to wait Around for 5 hours until the next one at 1030 which doesn't sound very late but when you're up that early, it is late. I was able to see a lot of people though who were catching their trains in that time period. The only negative experience in the train station was an old man who would not leave me alone, kissed my hand, touched my face And tried to kiss me but I finally just had to push him away, very uncomfortable but I came through mostly unscathed. After a 5 hour bus ride I have now arrived on Milan and will certainly have more stories for you all soon. Ciao!

I bottini

Our group had the fantastic opportunity to visit the ancient underground waterworks of medieval siena so on the day of our appointment, Tuesday we arrived at the assigned location and waited for a guide to appear, an hour later someone came to tell us there had been a mixup, come back tomorrow. Wednesday we show up same time, same place, a representative from the school shows up and we think it is for sure this time, but after 30 minutes the rep is on the phone and the conclusion is reached that we need to come back the next day. Obviously we were all a little annoyed by this because we had wanted to visit another city one of those days and our plans were foiled time and time again as the schedule kept falling through but after some talking we decided this was really just a cultural experience. In Italy appointments are much more lax than those in America, this isn't a difference I'm partial too but it's all part of the journey. Finally Thursday we made it underground, and wow, it was worth the wait! The tunnels

San gimingano

Wow, so I thought Assisi and Siena were unbelievably beautiful? San Gimingnano just blew them both out of the water. I felt like rapunzel, or some princess in a picturesque fairy tale the whole time! There were towers and flowers everywhere! Also, this is the home of the worlds best gelato, and yes I believe the signs. They had some really unique favors like Gorgonzola cheese and rosemary raspberry and blackberry lavender and saffron cream and yes they were all delicious. I think I took more pictures in those few hours I spent in that town than I have in any other city regardless of the amount of time spent there (this includes Siena even though I've been here for 6 weeks). It was also just so great to be with the kids in our group on a little adventure again, I know we just had the weekend together but this was different and it was so much fun! The town is very small and compact but clean and well kept. Each street had many specialty shops the best of which was a chocolate shop. They had chocolate spoons and cups and pasta and shoes and bolts and horse shoes and chocolate in all favors and intensities from white chocolate to 99percent chocolate, yup it was magical, sadly since I have many weeks after Italy I didn't think buying any of it to bring home would be a very intelligent idea. Because Tuscany has so many hills, and San Gimingnano is built on one of them the city offers many incredible vistas overlooking the surrounding valleys and they are all simply breathtaking, a picture just doesn't even come close to doing them justice so I will just try to hold onto them in my memory.

Genova

Half of Saturday and most of Sunday was to be enjoyed in the famous port town of Genova. Erik, a guy in our group who served his mission in northern Italy claims it as his favorite city so those of us going were pretty excited. We first arrived and found our hostel with no problems, the city was a but dirty but we assumed we were just staying in the less uppity end and that once we started touring things would get prettier. We went to meet Erik and Elizabeth and Carson so that the party could get started but somehow all six of us wandered around the train station for the exact same hour never running into each other. Mary mollie and I were tired, hungry and in a starve place with no idea of anything that Genova offered. The sky was gray the streets were filthy and the men were leering. Needless to say, we weren't loving Genova so we bought some nutella and fruit and went back to our hostel waiting for the boys to drop Elizabeth off. They finally arrived and everyone except Erik was having similar feelings. The next morning wasn't proving much better when we four girls went to meet the boys we got stuck at the train station for an hour while the trains were cancelled one after another. We finally made it to Carson and Erik and things took an almost immediate change for the better. Erik showed us all the beautiful things Genova has to offer, the sun was shining and we were all together. One of our last stops was the original home of Christopher Columbus where Mary pulled out her book of Mormon to read the scripture in first nephi 13 about the spirit of the Lord working on Columbus to send him to America, it was incredible think that that had taken place right there and that thanks to him listening I now get to be an American with the blessing of the restored gospel, so yes Genova officially gained my approval and I'm so grateful we were able to see it.

I speak English real good

As has been afore mentioned, I sometimes enjoy the great privilege of translating for tourists during cooking classes. This week was no exception but I have the unfortunate habit of tripping up and stuttering when other bilingual speakers are in the room. Thursday was a group of students from the U who know a little Italian, but I still feel confident when speaking in front of them, two Australian tourists who don't know any Italian, Louisa who knows barely any English and then claudio who's language skills I'm still not certain of, but it is enough uncertainty to trip me up. I started off a wee bit nervous and stuttering but as I gained confidence and claudio didn't correct anything I gained more and more so that the class was flying not too far into it. It wasnt until after the class I realized the problem, I can translate into English very well because I understand what is going on in Italian and, not to brag or anything, but my English is pretty fluent. However, if I were asked to translate the other direction I would fail, miserably. This is now how I am going to measure my Italian proficiency, when I can translate English into Italian as well as I can translate Italian into English I will feel quite pleased with myself.

Cinque Terre

This Friday was spent in the most beautiful place in the world! Namely Cinque Terre. Mollie and I took the 6:29 am train to riomaggiore where we met up with the rest of our group, found a little cove and had our first swim in the Mediterranean. The water was a beautiful clear blue and the not too cold, though perhaps little choppy but after not too long the majority of the group was decided that the hike between towns should begin. The first and only open path was the via di amore, a beautiful stretch of cliffs and flowers looking out into the vast ocean, a simple hike but we took our time because it was so beautiful! We spent the rest of the day visiting all 5 lands and by the end of the day were tired, but well pleased with our adventures. The next morning we intended to go kayaking but the waves were too rough so all the rentals were closed leading us to another day of swimming in the blue Mediterranean and lounging on the beach. Mary, mollie, and i enjoyed an incredible seafood lunch at at restaurant just off the boardwalk called mikys that my family had visited the summer before and I had the greatest memories of, and indeed I was not disappointed in the least. Exhausted, slightly sun burned and full we got on the train to Genova to enjoy our next adventure.

The great fountain scavenger hunt!

Saturday's are wonderful day days for adventures in Siena and this one was no exception. It began a little slow as Saturdays are want to do with a lack of a schedule and all but before long Mollie and I found ourself in the city center with a brilliant idea! We were going to find every contradas fountain. We already knew where quite a few were from our previous wanderings of the city but many were completely unknown to us. We started at the fontebranda, claimed by l'oca and made our way from there. Some were easy like tartuca, torre, leocorno, or pantera but others were hidden and required asking for directions and lots of searching, like civetta, and nicchio. My personal favorites were lupa and giraffa, lupa because it is beautiful, and giraffa because a baptism into the contrada was happening and we got to see it all. Valdimontone was an interesting story: we were wandering through their contrada way out of the city center and very very empty. There was no tabbacheria to ask at and no natives walking by so we went into their church and decided to just take a break and figure it from there. When we left the church we were going to just abandon that contrada when I decided to ask 3 older people who looked like they lived in the area. The lady looked a little confused by our question and one of the gentleman told us they don't have a fountain then the lady said something like " why would we want a fountain, those are boring, we have an incredible view" at which point the other gentleman opened some large wooden gates we were standing in front of and beckoned us in. It turned out to be their contradas headquarters with the view that had been mentioned and I admit it was indeed breathtaking and much more beautiful than any of the fountains we'd seen. There was a small sculpture of a ram ( their mascot) that we took a picture of to complete the scavenger hunt and then we just marveled at our good luck to be allowed inside their headquarters which really aren't open to strangers. It was quite an incredible experience and I can honestly say that we completed the greatest scavenger hunt ever!!!

Edo and Elena

Friday and Saturday nights brought a welcome change to dinners with my host family. When Mollie and I arrived home on Friday we heard the happy sounds of little children and ventured out into the back garden to discover who they were. It was Elena (8) and Eduardo (6), they aren't related to Marco and Paula but fondly refer to them as Zio and Zia (aunt and uncle) and are close enough to them to have earned a place in a framed picture on Marco and Paula's wall. They were shy at first and wouldn't make eye contact but they quickly warmed up to our attention and were soon reading to us and trying to talk to us in our broken Italian and they with their childish Italian, it should make it easier you think but no, their unclear voices, rapidity of speech and inability to explain things in another way made it more difficult but it didn't matter. Smiles, laughter and games was all it took to become fast friends and a lot of speech wasn't necessary. Dinner was more lively and quite a bit messier, Marco and Paula were so happy to have them there, they love children so much it is really sweet. We said goodnight and hoped to see them again, I really miss having little kids around and I didn't want to say goodbye for too long. Never fear they were there when we arrived the next night and there was no awkwardness at all. They instantly sought us out and were continually putting on a show, their nonna also came for dinner that night and we had a jolly good time. I'm afraid I was not helpful during the dinner because Edo would keep doing silly things and the adults would ask him to stop but I would laugh every time and make funny faces at him which obviously encouraged the behavior but he was so cute how could I not?! We played with them a little after dinner and they were so sad to go and we were sad to say goodbye. Elena told us her school is almost out for the summer and then she can come over more often! I would love that because their parents got home from Paris on Sunday so Marco and Paula don't get to babysit them as much.

People are Awesome!!

My internship is putting me in contact with some of the most interesting and amazing people! Thursday night was an eclectic group with an older couple from New York, a young couple moving to Portland, a girl from Australia, a girl from Germany and an older guy from Australia. The three single people were students at the school, the wife of the new York couple was a student and the others were just tourists. They were all so enthusiastic to be here, so amazed by the experience and so grateful for both mine and Louisa's help. I got to translate for all of them and cook quite a lot, they were also so interested to hear what I was doing there. Everyone reminded me how lucky I am to have this experience and all encouraged me to enjoy every moment. It was a good reminder that I really am on an incredible adventure, that this will only happen once and that I have so much to be grateful for. I had been feeling that Siena was becoming a little monotonous but these people caused me to take a deeper look and as I walked through the city the next day I had a new appreciation for its beauty and a renewed interest in the history and culture. The next day I got to help with a private class for a young couple from New York city celebrating their graduations from their respective masters programs. They were overwhelmingly thrilled with their experience and so very gracious, they too were so excited for my opportunity and did their part in reminding me how lucky I am to be here. They told me a little about their lives and I got to remember how incredible people are. How every single person has a unique and important story to tell and they can all do a lot of good, myself included. Will to change the world renewed! I think all the people I get to meet in my job, thoug not the focus of my internship on paper, is my favorite and also the most educational.