Orvieto Jazz Festival

After a crazy New Year's Eve and a night of absolute zero sleep, Jess and I arrived in Orvieto around 12:30 on New Year's Day. We took a mini-bus up to the hilltop town and got off to find a breathtaking view of the Umbrian countryside below. I walked out to a look-out point only to realize that the place I was standing was actually the wall of the ancient city. It wrapped around the entire hill and had several turrets and very high watch-places from which you could see everything. I was quite exhilarated that I was walking around on old city walls and couldn't help but imagine what it would have been like to be a peasant or a knight or a guard on one of those walls hundreds of years ago.

Jess and I ventured up the main street of Orvieto into the center of town. It was very empty and quiet. For a few minutes I was surprised that a small town with such a big festival could even have a moment quietness, but then I realized what time it was: siesta! The time that Jess and I had planned (well, re-planned, since this was already Plan B) to spend walking around the town finding some neat shops and cafes was thoroughly hampered by the fact that all shop owners were at home sleeping, leaving us not many options except window shopping. As we walked, we enjoyed the festive decorations that were hung throughout the town and the sound of jazz music floating through the streets, until we came across a small, modern-looking cafe where we finally decided to sit and rest.

It's not that we had been walking all that much and were tired from strenuous activity, but you must remember that this was mid-afternoon following a completely sleepless night, so the tiredness was hitting us quite a bit by this point. We took our time in the cafe and warmed up with some tea and coffee before bracing ourselves once again for the biting cold outside. But we could not bare it. The tiredness overtook us and we were dying for a place to sit and comfortably rest, to freshen up, and to leave our heavy bags that we'd been carrying around all day. Unfortunately, when Jess and I were planning the trip, we were unable to find any open hotel rooms in the entire city (that's what happens when you try to book a day in advance), so the only place we were able to find with availability was near a lake about 15 or 20 minutes away. Our original plan had been to spend the entire day in Orvieto with our bags and then just take a taxi back to our hotel sometime that evening, but on top of that costing a lot of money, we were seriously dying for a place in the center of town. As we walked in a daze, Jess suggested we go check in the next hotel we found to see if they might, by any chance, have an open room we could stay in for the night. To no suprise, they didn't, but they referred us to a hotel next door that we could ask. We went straight to that hotel, Hotel Piccolomini, and knew from that moment that we walked in the door that we would like it.

I was not expecting much luck at this hotel either, but the manager actually had good news for us. There was one room available with two twin beds located in two separate parts of the room. He told us there was a slight problem with the room because of a low ceiling, but he said he would take us to go see if so we could decide if we wanted it. It ended up being perfect for us, and we didn't mind at all that one of the rooms had a slanted ceiling that couldn't be walked under if you are standing up straight. The manager offered to give us 90 euros for the room instead of 150 because of the low ceiling. I knew that I'd be paying double for a hotel that night, since it was too late to cancel our other reservation, but we calculated the price and determined that 90 euros would have been about what we would have paid for a cab to and from our other hotel by the lake. I was a little sad not be able to see the other hotel we booked because I knew it was a really great place, but the chance to lay down, maybe take a nap, and get rid of my increasingly heavy backpack was all too enticing.

Hotel Palazzo Piccolomini, a pic from the website

However, the sleep did not happen. When we were checking into our new hotel, we inquired about jazz events that were going on that afternoon. The manager told us that there was a gospel concert scheduled at 3 if we wanted to go. Everything else on the schedule for that day were things you had to pay for, so we decided we really wanted to go to this gospel concert. We were already late for it, but after dropping our stuff off in the room and freshening up a bit, we walked towards Orvieto's' famous Duomo where the concert was supposed to take place and stood in line to get in. After much confusion and broken English and Italian, we finally figured out that the concert wasn't going to start until 4:30 or 5. There were plenty of things to see in town, so we knew it would be fine finding something to fill the time. We went and sat on the side of the Duomo and then realized, what better thing to do while you're waiting than have a photo shoot?

We took some fun pictures, saw a bit more of the town that was now getting quite busy, and then went back into the Duomo for the actual concert. When the choir finally arrived in the cathedral and started singing Amazing Grace, I got extremely excited that I was about to hear a genuine Gospel group from somewhere in the South. They were awesome, but they were only singing slow, mellow songs. I kept waiting and waiting for them to bust it out, but it never happened. Instead they would sing a few notes, followed by awkward silence, then some priest or someone would read or quote something. It turned out to be mass, with an occasional line sung here or there by the gospel group. At the beginning of the concert, the Duomo was so full I could barely move. The longer the mass went on without music, the less and less people that were in the cathedral. By the time Jess and I decided to leave, it was about halfway empty, and the concert still had probably another 30 minutes to an hour to go.

It felt quite refreshing to be released from the boredom and disappointment of the "Gospel" mass. It was around 6:00 and we were ready for dinner. That may sound like a completely normal concept to you, but I assure you that here in Italy it is considered crazy. Jess and I walked into several different restaurants to see if we could eat there, and they all told us that they don't even open until 7:30. We remembered a wine bar that we had past earlier while walking around town and decided to go hang out there until dinner started. That didn't work either, because when we got there we discovered it didn't open until 6:30, another thirty minutes. I can't remember what we did in the meantime, but eventually we were able to go in the wine bar and enjoy a drink and some snacks before we dinner

After having an enjoyable glass of wine, the two of us were finally able to sit down to a delicious Italian dinner. I ordered spinach ravioli with truffle sauce and Jess got risotto, and both were amazing! I don't have a very clear memory of dinner though, because a long day of traveling and walking with absolutely no sleep, mixed with hunger and a full glass of wine, made me a little delirious. By 9:30, we were comfortably tucked into our beds and ready to not open our eyes for a long, long time.

I don't remember falling asleep. And I didn't wake up until 8, and then fell back asleep again until 10. We slept for a full twelve hours, and when we finally got up and got out of bed, I was still tired and having to fight not laying in bed all day. It was a glorious sleep. I can't remember the last time, or anytime for that matter, that I actually slept for twelve hours. There was no rush, no hurry, no noise, no pressing agenda... just a relaxing day ahead of us. Our first goal for the day was to attend the hotel's free breakfast buffet. I'm pretty sure that was my favorite part of the whole day.

Croissants, pastries, eggs, bacon, rolls, cereal, ham, cheese, coffee, tea, cake, panatonne, fresh fruit... the list went on and on, and we ate it all. Finally feeling rested and awake, Jess and I had a great time talking over our brunch and trying all the new delicious breakfast items in front of us. During our breakfast time, I noticed that the walls around us were very old looking. I asked the manager where we were exactly and if there was any significance to it. He told me that the Hotel Piccolomini is built in the former palace of the royal Piccolomini family in Orvieto, from the 16th century. We were eating breakfast in one of the lower rooms of the palace, right above the old wine cellar and basement. I don't know about you, but I thought it was pretty darn cool to have stayed in an old palace and get to eat breakfast under the same roof that a family 600 years ago got to live under!

After breakfast, we walked back into the main square in town to try to figure out what events were going on that day. We found ourselves in a piazza where we could hear a concert going on. It was too late for us to go in, plus you had to pay, so we decided to sit on the steps outside of the building and have our own free concert. It was the same Gospel Band that had sang at mass yesterday, but this time it was a real concert, and I had a blast listening to some African Americans busting it out and singing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." It cheered me up and put me in a good mood for the day :)

Listening to the Gospel Concert outside

When our little concert ended, it was right around noon, the time that all the shops and cafes close for siesta, so once again our options were getting slim. We didn't know what else to do, so we sat down in a cafe and ate some more :) Not too much later we decided to check the main theater to buy tickets for a jazz show that would be going on there later in the afternoon. When we tried to go to the ticket office, we unfortunately came across a locked door and an unhappy worker on her break. She motioned, somewhat angrily, to us that they didn't open until 2. Apparently they didn't open then either, because when we came back at 2, we were told to wait until 2:30. I don't remember when, but we eventually made it into the ticket office to finally buy our tickets to this big show. Unfortunately when we spoke with the workers, we discovered that the concert was more than twice as much as what we had expected, and we couldn't bring ourselves to pay that much. Our only alternative was a wine tasting and smaller concert of three guys doing jazz music, but we only had just a few minutes to get there.

We ran, bought our tickets, and ended up early enough to stand in line and wait for good seats. The music was phenomenal. The jazz band was composed of a piano player, a saxophone player, and a xylophone player. Every single one of them blew my mind. I could not believe how well they could play, and I knew that half of what they were playing was probably music they were making up on the spot. The best musician to watch was the xylophone player. He really got into. I love seeing his excitement and the joy on his face as he played his beloved instrument. When he got really excited, he jumped in the air as he was playing. Now that's passion.

Sadly, we had to leave before the encore because we had to catch our train home. We didn't see a whole lot of jazz during the day, but the one concert we went to was absolutely worth it. Jess and I were able to get on the same train home and were shocked to find that there was no seats available at all on the train. We stood for 45 minutes until I had to depart and switch trains. I got on a new train that was coming from Rome and going through Foligno and sat for awhile studying my Italian book before I looked over and realized who was next to me. It was the girls from the train on the way to Rome... the ones that had mistakenly told me I was on the right train. Turns out, one of them spoke English quite well so I got to talking with her and she was actually really nice! I was a little angry at them at first because they put quite a damper on my New Year's, but after talking I could see that it was just a mistake, and they had suffered from it as well, arriving to their dinner in Rome well after everyone else had already eaten.

I finally made it home and, as usual, breathed a sigh of relief when I walked in the door. It's always a great feeling to finally come home :)

The City

Rome completely exhausts me. Every time I take a trip there, I come back tired beyond belief and feeling like I just battled the world. I finally concluded that it’s Public Transportation. I hate it. There’s nothing more stressful than cramming into a space of four square feet with people touching you on every side, breathing their unbrushed teeth and cappucino breath on you, speaking way too loudly right in your ear, and uncomfortably staring at you, a stranger that they are now a little too familiar with. And on top of that, just wait until that group of twenty sixteen year olds decides to get on your means of transportation and completely change the entire atmosphere of your ride. If it was quiet before – and I say if, as it’s something very unlikely thanks to accordion-playing gypsies that try to take advantage of everyone’s inability to run away from them and deaf grandmas that think the person on the phone with them can’t hear anything they are saying) – if it ever was quiet, prepare yourself to be completely swallowed by obnoxious screams, ridiculous squeals, and irritating incessant laughter of immature teenagers. And there is no escape. Don't even think about trying to get away from these people. You won't even be able to find a seat to sit down in to give yourself some breathing room. And if you do find an open place to sit, it's guaranteed that there will be some sort of mysterious brown sticky substance or clear liquid already occupying your desired seat. So, if you are willing and brave enough to bear all of that madness and face the insanity of Public Transportation, you might be able to arrive at your desired destination in Rome. But you can't even count on that. If you want to take a bus, it might come in fifteen minutes, it might come in thirty, or it might not ever come at all. And by the time you realize you can no longer take the bus that will never come and instead have to walk to the metro, stand in line to buy a ticket, weave through the thousands of other people also trying to get on a metro, and walk up and down a million stairs, you will never make it to your destination on time. Especially if it's a train... which you can never count on either. It might leave exactly at the time it's supposed to (which is most likely to happen if you are running late) or it could leave ten, fifteen, twenty minutes late (guaranteed to happen if you are in a hurry). Then sometimes you fly right through all the stops - doors open, people off, people on, doors closed - and sometimes you just stop. In the middle of the tracks. Waiting....waiting...and all the while the whole train is quiet, save for that one person that is shouting to their friend on the other end of their cell phone... the entire ride.

So this is where I find myself when I travel through Roma Termini Station... only I get to get off my train and instead of finding a nice quiet place to rest, I am immediately faced with throngs of people - travelers from all over the world, business people, homeless people, and really shady people that will steal your wallet or your purse or your suitcase in a heartbeat. Ok then, so run through the station, spend as little time there as possible, head outside, breathe some fresh air. Or... run outside to have a huge city bus fly past you, three cars honk at you as you cross a street, dozens of vendors trying to get you to buy their amazing (amazingly cheap) product, and noise, NOISE, Noise. Everywhere!

There is no better feeling than arriving back in Foligno, walking through the quiet town, coming in the door of our apartment, and realizing that I am home. I can breathe. I can rest. I can relax, and it's calm. I love the stillness, the mountains, the small town, the simplicity. I love coming back to my family here and joining them at the dinner table and sharing all of my crazy adventures with them. And I absolutely love curling up in my warm, comfortable bed - lamp lit, blankets piled on - and just sitting.

My friends in Rome have quite a different experience than me. They get to go out every day. They see the city life, the people, the famous historical sites, the art. They have an endless number of people to meet and become friends with, they can go to the movies anytime they want, take a language course if they desire, walk past ancient buildings on a daily basis, travel anywhere they want conveniently and easily, shop every day, and experience true city life. But while many of these things are appealing to me and seem fun, I can't help but be a little proud of the experience I get to have. I may not have tons of Americans or other au pairs around me, but I get the opportunity to become friends with actual Italian people. And people here may not know very much English, but what a great chance for me to practice and learn a little Italian! Foligno is not The City; it's not big and bustling, but there is life, there is community, and there is so much beauty. People from Rome travel to Umbria on field trips and day excursions to see the things that I get to see every day. I live fifteen minutes away from the very well-known city of Assisi and only minutes from spectacular mountains, wineries, olive mills, and medieval hilltop towns.

Foligno is beautiful.

And I live here :)

I'm so thankful for the plan that God had for me all along. I may be missing out on a few things in Rome or if I were to be an au pair in another city, but God has given me abundant blessings to enjoy right where I'm at. I have such a unique opportunity, in such a unique place, and I know that it's exactly where God wants me to be. I may not understand the significance of all of it right now, but I'm sure in time I will see why He so clearly opened all of the doors for me to be right here, right now, right where He has taken me.

A Few Concerns

On another note,

I have a few concerns that I'm dealing with right now....

First of all,

                                         Harry Potter is coming out on Friday!!!!

which I am totally thrilled about.... Until I realized that... oh ya! I'm in Italy!!

So basically, there is no way I'll be able to find HP7 playing in English anywhere around here. :(
I'm trying to figure out what to do. Maybe Florence or Rome will have an English language theater? But even still... it's probably going to be completely sold out on Thursday night and Friday. And that's the best part of seeing the movie! I love all the buzz and excitement in a full theater, especially when everyone is dressed up!! So I have to figure something out soon, because I really want to see the movie this weekend! Any suggestions??


And onto problem number two. This one's a little more serious.

I knew it would be a struggle finding a church to attend once I got here, but I guess I didn't realize that there would actually be no churches. Ok wait... I can't say that. There are thousands of churches. But they are ALL Catholic with the exception of only a couple Anglican churches. And on top of that... yes I'm in Italy. They all speak Italian here!

So I am facing three months here in Italy, with no chance of attending any sort of Protestant church or worshiping with other believers that speak my language. There is a baptist church in Rome (one...only one), but that's really not something I'll be able to do every weekend since it's so far. I'm just shocked that there is so little Evangelical movement here in Italy. There is definitely a need for the Italian people to experience truth and light, aside from all the traditions and rituals they practice every week. Our God is a Living God and the Gospel is powerful and active, and I feel like so many people here have forgotten that! I did some research online to try to find missionaries or people serving here, and I couldn't seem to find anyone. That just astounds me because there is just as much of a need here as there is in places like Africa or China where missionaries go all the time. So it's definitely given me something to think about.

But in the meantime, if you are reading this and happen to know of any Christians serving or living in Italy, particularly in the Umbria area, please contact me through facebook, because I would love to connect with them! It would be really great to find some other believers and to join them wherever they attend worship, even if it's in their home.

Exploring Foligno

Today I decided I'd had enough of jet lag running my schedule. So far this week, I have spent all my free time in the mornings... that's right... sleeping, so I haven't gotten to see much of the town at all. But today I was determined not to let my tiredness get the most of my time. I actually got up this morning, before 10:30, and went to go explore Foligno. The apartment complex we're in is one street down from the center of town, so in just a few blocks I can get right to the main square with shops, cafes, and restaurants. I strolled through the quaint streets, across the river, and past two very old cathedrals, taking pictures the whole way. Let me tell you, there is no better way to shout "I'm a foreigner!!" than to have a camera hanging around your neck as you're walking through a town filled with no one but locals. And I became more and more aware of my status as a foreigner as I went in to shops and cafes and very unsuccessfully attempted to communicate. Upon first arriving in Italy, I was very surprised with how much Italian I could actually understand. What I realized today, however, is that speaking it is an entirely different situation. I felt quite foolish trying to purchase tea in a cute little cafe without even knowing how to say "I don't speak Italian," or "I'm sorry." In fact, I really wasn't even sure how to say "Hello" or "Thank you" with the right pronunciation. After embarrassing myself several times around town, I came back home with a determination to learn Italian. I picked up Maria Vittoria from school and had a little bit of a break while she was at swim lessons and Cesare was taking a nap, so I took advantage of the time to study up on some Italian. Boy do I have a lot to learn! It really is not too hard to understand it, because it mirrors Spanish almost 60-70% of the time. But the fact that they are so similar, yet different, makes the language extremely difficult for me to remember. The differences are so small - like endings on words, or slight pronunciation differences - yet they are just enough to confuse me! Zoila gave me a Rosetta Stone cd for Italian today, so I am going to try to work on that a little bit every day. We'll see how fast (or slow!) I improve!

For now... here's some pictures of my excursion into town today:

My bedroom

View from my balcony

Our building

Fall in Foligno

The Topino River

The piazza

The main piazza of Foligno

Aurelio's office

How did I get here??

For those of you who want to know how this all came about, I have been thinking about being an au pair for several months now. I always wanted to study abroad in college, but because of timing and prior commitments, I never had the chance. So, since I had recently graduated from college, I begin to brainstorm ways that I would be able to live abroad for awhile. I remember telling my mom one day that I wanted to go live in another country without having to go to school, yet at the same time I still wanted to be connected with people or a family. My mom then suggested being a nanny, something I had never even considered. I started looking into it and realized there is a whole market out there for people to be au pairs, or live-in nannies, all over the world. I researched online a little and found some websites that I could make a profile on and meet other families.

For months I looked on the Au Pair websites every day, searching for the perfect family. I knew I wanted to go to Italy because it has always captured my heart and I've always dreamed about living there. I considered other places but knew that if I didn't go to Italy, I would never stop wondering what it would be like. Over the course of a few months, I spoke with dozens of families over email and skype. However, I was waiting until my apartment lease was up in March before I committed to going anywhere. One particular family messaged me and I was very interested, but they were looking for someone to come in August. We decided to keep in contact and reconnect a few months down the line when they would have a position available for a new au pair, and then we could see where it went from there.

As events unfolded and I made the decision to go in November rather than March, I emailed this family again to see if they possibly had any positions open. It turned out that the girl that was supposed to be living with them had a change of plans last minute, and they were very much in need of someone right now! I spoke with theme a few more times, and then bought my ticket for Italy!

If you want to know more about the family, I will put up another post for that once I take pictures of everything (I haven't had a chance yet because it hasn't stopped raining since I got here). For now though, the parents are Zoila and Aurelio, two very sweet and wonderful people. Their children are Maria Vittoria, who is six, and Cesare, who is three. They all speak great English (thank goodness!), and I live with them in a beautiful town in Umbria.

That's all for now... more to come later. Hope that explains a little more behind my random travels off to Italy!