a cultural experience

on friday i was able experience more of the culture here in ariccia! 

to start off the day, me and five other girls got the opportunity to go to the local high school in ariccia. the high schools in italy are a little different than in the states. the easiest way i can explain it is their high school is more like our college... for example, we have colleges geared toward technology, business, music, art, and so on... the high school i went to was focused on foreign language. so the students learn about 3 to 4 different languages from about age 8 on and have classes focussed on that instead of taking all classes like math, science, english, and all the classes we take at one school. most of the students i talked to learn english, french, spanish, and german. they say spanish is the easiest for them to learn because it is very similar to italian!

we were at the high school from 9:30 till about 1. during that time i was able to go to four different classrooms to talk with with groups of about 10. i loved every second of it. i just love seeing the cultural differences and seeing how other people live and i am so thankful the Lord has given me the opportunity to interact with people from a different lifestyle. it has opened my eyes to so much than the bubble i live in back at home. 

the first group i talked to!
we are now friends on facebook :)

a question i got asked a lot was if i was a cheerleader... haha i had to let them down by saying no... but apparently they think all girls are cheerleaders because of the movies and tv shows they watch! they also listen to alot of american music. their favorites are katie perry and lady gaga... and they made sure i knew they absolutely DO NOT like JUSTIN BIEBER! okay, i may be a justin bieber fan... dont judge. so i was a little heart broken haha but i didnt tell them i was because i didnt want them to hate me!! 

they watch a lot of american tv shows as well... like gossip girl, simpsons [they love!], sex and the city, gilmore girls, greek, one tree hill... and most importantly FRIENDS [they made up for not liking jb]! :)

they all want to visit america! they think it is more beautiful... i wanted to be like have you walked out your front door!! i dont think you can get anything more beautiful than what they have here!!... they also want more that we have... like the cheerleaders, proms and homecomings... they were so jealous about prom! they do not have anything like it where they can get dressed up and fix their hair and make up and ride in limos... they loved guys had to ask a girl too. 

i could go on and on about the differences and talks we had! we get to go back again later in march! i cannot wait!!

our day did not end there...! friday evening we held an Apperitivo Party in our kitchen and common room area for the community! 

we had no idea what to expect or how many people would even come, but at the end of the night they told us this has been the best yet! we had about 75 italian friends come!! we provided all the food... american and italian appetizers. so they could get a taste of some american food some girls made quesadillas, egg salad, fried chicken, and chips and salsa. it was all very delicious! we also had the traditional italian food like cheese and bread incase they didn't like our american food... but i am pleased to say we had A TON of cheese and bread left over :)  

at first the party was, well, a.w.k.w.a.r.d. the language burier is very funny. they only know so much english and we only know so much italian [if any] so the conversations can only go so far! but as the night went on people started breaking out of their shells and it turned out to be one of the best parties i've ever been to! 

one guy started doing some magic tricks!

some of the high school girls we invited came and we got to talk and hang out with them more!!

and as the night went on [and the wine was gone] the appetizer party soon turned into a dancing party. one thing we could thankfully relate with to italians was the music. they love american music and they love dancing, just like us! 

me, mary, and britt :)

"everybodies hands go UP!... and they stay there"
this song followed with a big waaaaar eagle! hey!
they loved it/ didnt understand haha

some of our italian friends :)

we had such a fun day!!

i cannot believe i have been here for a MONTH now!! i feel like i just got here. it has gone crazzzzy fast and i need it to slow down a little! this week we will be traveling to siena, florence, and cinque terre :) i cannot wait to update you all!!

miss you tons!
rae :)

a cooking lesson and some field trips!

it has been such a fun week over here in italy! we started monday off with class and of course another cooking lesson... 

menu:

Gnocchi 

(with a tomato sauce)

*this is a potato dumpling... it wasn't one of my favorites but italians love it! and im just picky about what i eat haha

we love mary lou!

on tuesday we took a field trip to Civita di Banoreio. it was founded by the estruscans over twenty- five hundred years ago and the population is now only about 15... they are looking to put steel rods so it doesnt crumble over since it is on volcanic tuff. we were there very early so unfortunatly we didnt get to see much, except beautiful views!

the city!
and yes, it was a VERY long hike up!

mary cate, leah, me, and brittany!

cant get enough of the views in italy... beautiful!

once we left Civita di Bagnoregio, we traveled to Orvieto, which also sits on volcanic tuff.

we took a gondola to the city!

The Duomo
(made with white and black marble and gold ceilings on the inside!)

the whole group!

another beautiful site!

my friend susanna had been to Orvieto before (in 8th grade) and was determened to find this place with a great view! so i went with her and we finally found it... we got a little lost, but the view was worth it! we had to take solo pics because there was no one around to take it of the both of us... haha

after the church and free time for lunch in Orvieto we went to St. Patrick's Well. The well was built in 1527 with 248 stairs! going down wasnt bad... it was the coming back up we struggled with!

looking down the well!

at the bottom!

on wednesday we had our first wine "tasting" class!! maurizio, our professor, first gave us history on wine then followed with 6 different wine tastings [3 red and 3 white]. i, surprisingly, liked the red the best! it still do not love wine... it took me a whiiiiile to drink each tasting they gave us. some of the girls were on their second and third tastings before i was done with my first! haha but i am slowly acquiring the taste! :)

on thursday we traveled to Deruta which is known for its hand made pottery and is exported world wide [even to Birmingham]! we got to take a tour of one of the factories where the owner showed us the process of creating pottery... shaping, firing, glazing, painting, another firing, then it sits for an extended period of time depending on the size...

the factory we went to!

the mold and shaping process

the fish!

the burners

the hand painting!

finish products!

there were many american artists who created the designs!

after we finished touring the factory we got to go shopping for pottery :) they had so many pretty potter patterns it was overwhelming!! but i found some great gifts for good prices!!

once we were done with the pottery we traveled to Assisi! We were able to eat lunch but then we had to make it to an appointment to tour the St. Francis Basilica. It was a beautiful church, unfortunately we were not able to take pictures on the inside, but it was my favorite one yet! Assisi is on my list of places to go again to spend more time there!

its been another great week!! i am loving every second of it and learning and growing so much!! i am so thankful and blessed this was in the Lord's plans for me... He is so amazing and so gracious for letting me see a country that is filled with His Beauty!

hope all is well :)

rae ann

a blog for PRAGUE!

have you ever gone to a country you know nothing about? not the language, the money, what is even popular to see, the food, the transportation... ect. WELL, i really recommend it if you havent. it makes the for one of the best trips [at least my experience]! after we got to the airport [on our own!] with luggage fitting  the requirements and everything going smoothly and got on the plane i started thinking ok, what do i know about prague? and well nothing. my cousin scott told me to go to a castle in prague and see some famous bridge, but thats really all i knew. i got off the plane and wanted to say thank you and didnt know how, so i said it  in italian! they dont know italian! i still do not know how to say one word in czech. but being american does have its benefits and EVERYONE in prague speaks english, very good english! so it all worked out for us! 

susanna, laurie, me, and laura at the airport!
i traveled with these girls and we met up with 5 others when we got there!

oh, and apparently it is a really good thing if you land over here in europe because everyone cheered like we it was questionable if we were going to land or not? idk i was confused.

once we got there, we had a taxi waiting to pick us up. he had a sign with our names on it. i could get use to that. he took us straight to our hotel, Hotel Vitkov, which costed me about 20 euros for the whole weekend!! it was no hilton, but i had a bed to sleep in!! i roomed with susanna and laura and we each had a bed!! we got situated in our very small space and then went out to meet everyone else for dinner. we had all decided we wanted MEXICAN! we have been craving it for so long and it is no where in italy [at least nowhere we can find]. and one of the girls had heard of a really good one in prague, so that is where we went!

it was quite some adventure to get there... keep in mind we had NO IDEA where we were are where we were going. we asked the lady at the front desk, and we kind of understood what to do, not really. we went to get our bus tickets and the owners of the store did not speak a lick of english [luckily this was the only time we ran into a problem]! even our hand gestures we have gotten use to in italy didnt work. we were getting no where when trying to buy this ticket! but EVENTUALLY some one who could speak english walked in and helped us out [everyone was so sweet and helpful]! so we got our bus ticket and went to find the bus stop and crossed our fingers and got on one! and we arent really sure if it was the right one because all the words look like alfd;sfjds;fjds;kfj to us. but it got us closer to our mexican restaurant!! after stopping in a few places and going down a few sketchy allies we finally met the rest of the group where we enjoyed our mexican and fabulous margaritas!

everyone at dinner! such great girls!!

after dinner, we decided to go to a club in prague! we were very surprised to see how the czechs danced... it took me right back to middle school where boys and girls were separated and didnt dance with each other. it was odd. then they did like the robot? haha it was very entertaining to say the least!!

mary was confused by the dancing haha

saturday, we had a plan [that we came up with friday while going to bed] to do as much as possible. so we decided to start at 10am and head toward the castle to start our day off. there are 3 means of transportation in prague... the bus, the tram, and the metro... and apparently we had to take the tram to the metro to get to the castle... talk about a headache. we got outside to the trams and realized there were 3 different lines to take... we all looked at each other so confused. then a nice young man came up and we all looked at him so he got the idea we needed help and asked where we were trying to go. then he planned our route out for us and told us EXATLY where to go and what to do. it was so sweet of him because im pretty sure we would have never made it... he laughed when we told him our plan!! we took line to 9 on the tram to the flora [the easiest word we had seen yet] metro and it took us right to the castle!

these guys are so fun to talk to

we were all amazed by the beautiful cathedral! some of us decided to go to the top to get a view of all of prague!! we climbed 287 stairs to get to the top... it was tiring but well worth it!!

St. Vitus Cathedral!

Charles Bridge

it was such a beautiful sight!

susanna, mary cate, and me going down the stairs...
it felt like i was just going in a circle the whole way down!

mary cate, laura giles, susanna, and me

for lunch we want to try out some czech food... we had know idea what that consisted of but we wanted to try and get the full experience! we found a nice little restaurant in the castle and got out of the freezing cold!! the high was 32F all weekend! we all split some baked slice potatoes with smoked bacon with the traditional "castle beef goulash" in a bread boat and i highly recommend it if you ever go to prague!! it was delicious!! especially on a cold day!

mary and suze enjoying the potato and goulash!

the money situation was just funny to us the whole time because we never really knew how much we were spending and it was just a process to figure out how much american money we were spending... we would get a bill back and it would say you owe 2000 and we were like what the heckkk! because in america, thats a lot [at least to me!].

900 crowns is apparently around $45?

after lunch we wanted to see more of the castle so we got short tour where we got to see Old Royal Palace, the Story of Prague Castle, Basilica of St. George, and the Rosenberg Palace!

this is inside the church!

this is inside the Old Royal Palace! haha

this is the Basilica of St. George

once we were done at the castle, we started toward the Charles Bridge we have heard so much about!! it was probably one of my favorite walks ever!! we got to see a lot of the city and i felt like i was on a movie set it was so beautiful and unreal! we got to stop in a few stores along the way... where i got my souvenir! i have to decided to get a christmas ornament every city i go to! so i got a hand painted bell ornament in a little shop!!

walking toward the bridge!

precious little shops!

laura giles, susanna, mary cate, and me on the bridge!

we astronomical clock!

after we saw everything we wanted to see for the day, we ran to our hotel to freshen up a little then we went back to the center of town to have dinner with the whole group!! i had a delicious burger with fries and wonderful chocolate desert!! after dinner we went to the largest club in eastern europe. it blew my mind! there were 5 stories with different music on each floor! 1st floor- rap and r&b music, 2nd floor- electronic music, 3rd floor- mainstream dance music, 4th floor- music from the 80s and 90s, and 5th floor- techno music with a lot of lasers! haha it was very crowded and just crazy! me and susanna did not stay long! we just made a point to see every floor and get out of there!! some of the rest of the group stayed till 5am [do not know how they do it]!! and got on our 11am plane!! i need my sleep... thats for sure!

our metro station!

this was our favorite floor!! they played a lot of greece songs! :)

prague was so much fun! if you ever have the chance to go, GO!! you will love it!!

i hope everyone is well! we are getting up at 6am in the morning to head to Assisi!! i miss you all very much!!

love- rae :)