NAPOLI!

This morning we woke up super early and caught a train to Napoli! The first train we got on, from Fondi to Formia, was like any other train I had been on in Italy, each grouping of seats is in a group of 4, 2 and 2 facing each other with the isle right down the middle of the train. You may ask what other kind of train is there? WELL, the next train we got on, from Formia to Napoli, made we think of the trains in Harry Potter! With the separate cabins with 4 to 6 seats in them, with the sliding doors to enter the cabins, and the walk way through each car was on the left side!

When we arrived at the Napoli station, I was pleasantly surprised with a station similar to the one in Rome, I wasn't expecting such a big station, I was picturing it more like the Fondi station, just 2 platforms and a building, no huge central station with a metro and stores, etc. After we got off the train, we bought a metro ticket and followed Maria to where ever she was taking us. After we got off at our stop we walked through several levels of escalators and moving sidewalks then we come to these metro police who were checking peoples tickets. We give them our tickets, and they seemed to have some sort of problem with them. Thank God we had Maria, otherwise it would have been a horrible experience. Apparently we have to get the metro tickets stamped, for the date that you use them, I guess when you buy them that isn't enough, and Maria and I did not know that because in Rome the Metro tickets do not have to be verified, so we didn't think anything of it. Well, the metro police did, they weren't going to let us pass, and Maria was very upset, we had to show our forms of ID (our passports) and pay a fine. I guess the typical fine is 40 euro, WHAT! But Maria was able to talk to them (and when Italians have serious discussions with each other they also sound like they are fighting) and she got the fine reduced, so we got a metro ticket for 10 euro, which I am pretty sure those metro police just pocket.

The packed street

After that, we exited the station and there we were in the middle of Napoli, again, I was surprised at how big of a city it was! I was picturing it all wrong, it was very similar to Rome, and not at all similar to the smaller towns around Fondi. Through several different changes in weather, from hail to rain to sunshine, we walked down the streets, popping in and out of little stores; we had no clue where we were going, but I guess Maria did. At one point, she turned to us and told us we were going to see the "principe" (which I have determined in something to do with baby Jesus). So we turned down this street and on both sides were shop after shop of nativity scenes, Santa's and Befana's (see previous post for explanation of Befana) some famous icon of Napoli, and several other shops filled with little pointless items that were not being purchased. Again, not at all what I expected.

All of the wax figures 

We came up to this one shop, where she told me I was going to want to take a picture of it, and there were tons of people crowded around video taping what was happening in this store. As we get up to the store, it is filled with wax models of world famous people, from singers to soccer players, the Pope, our Presidents, etc. It was crazy, so I took a picture.

Found Michael Jackson

Pizzeria da Michele - In Eat, Pray Love

Pizzeria Trianon! AMAZING! 

And of course since I have read Eat, Pray, Love and so have several other people, I had to find the little pizza place that she talks about! So as we were walking to the pizzeria we stopped and walked through some shopping area that was elaborately built and decorated, and into this beautiful square similar to the ones in Rome. There were several brides getting their pictures done and even one wedding happening, and I saw the doves released, it was awesome! Then we hopped on a very very very very crowded bus and got off right buy the pizzeria. It was PACKED, just like described in the book and by several Italian people that have been there. But no worries, one of our friends told us that if it was too busy, there was another pizzeria across the street with wonderful pizza as well. So we turned around, and headed over there, and that place was packed too, but it was only about a 10 min wait and they were right, THE PIZZA IN NAPOLI IS THE BEST!

Piazza del Plebiscito

Us in the Galleria Umberto

After that we headed back to the train station, along the way we stopped at a couple more stores to purchase gifts. When we got the the train station, things went more smoothly then before, no tickets, and we headed back to Fondi!

Italian/word or phrase of the day: regalo  "gift"

SNOW!

Today Lynnea and I woke up early and rode to Terracina with our coach Seba to go Christmas shopping for our families! We walked around the main streets of Terracina looking at the different shops and the items they had to offer. It was super super cold, similar weather to what we have in Michigan. We had very simple conversations with the people in the stores, successfully purchasing the items that we wanted! It is also so fun and rewarding to communicate with the store owners and be able to purchase items! I feel that it gets easier and easier for me every day! We headed back to Fondi at about 1 and as we were leaving Terracina we noticed that it started to rain, then by the time we got to Fondi (about 20 min) it was SNOW! According to Seba, they haven't had snow for 25 years! But one of our teammates said 10 years. Either way, that is still a long time. It was enough to stick a little to the cars, but nothing more then that.

Tonight at practice it was crazy cold, I guess the heater in the gym is broken, and it isn't a priority of theirs to have it fixed, because we knew it was broken on Wednesday. It was so cold in the gym that we could see our breath; I warmed up in a long sleeve, a hoodie, a jacket, a scarf, and pants, and I couldn't feel my toes or my hands. We have a game their Sunday, this should be fun seeing as we have sleeveless jerseys! 

After practice, we came home and had dinner, Valentina was talking to me about our Christmas shopping in Terracina, and she asked me when we give our gifts in America, I told her on Christmas the 25th. Then she told me that in Italy some people give their gifts on Jan. 6th, I asked her why and this is where the confusion started. She told me it was because of Befana. Of course not knowing what it was I asked her, this is the response I got, in a mix of broken English and Italian of course (my responses in yellow):

"So the Re Magi, what?, on cammelli, Re Magi go to see Gesu bambino, Oh the 3 Wise men, with gifts for Jesus? yes,  yes wise men... so Befana is woman who fly in sky on ginestra, shh shhh, (making sweeping action), a broom? yes shh shhh, witch,witch? broom.. she's a witch? No, yes, like witch. And kids have socks, and she gives chocolate in them, socks? hanging? she fills them, and bad kids get coal? yes coke, no no coal, coooke, coooaal, cooooke, no coaLL like you light to grill, yes carbone, so like stockings that we hang and she stuffs them, yes, stockings on camino..., fireplace, yes! So like Santa? yes, no not like babbo natale, re magi go to see baby, why the 3 wise men? why, why, I don't know why...Befana, Befaaana! WHAT, Befana, broom, I don't understand, I know, Befana, at night she fly on broom, around, umm, kids watch for her, its celebration at castle but the kids at the castle wait for her to come, (laughing really hard at this point) and she doesn't (laughing really hard), cause people don't fly on brooms, yeah (we are both laughing by now) and she take light from one room (laughing) to the other in castle, WHAT? Befana!

But by this time we were both laughing hysterically trying to figure out what she was talking about and every time she attempted to continue she would start over at the Wise Men. I think that is why I was so confused, because she didn't fully explain what it had to do with the Wise Men. And then she started telling me about the Epiphany, and that in the Bible it never says what day Jesus was born, and that Santa is not linked to Christianity, which I agreed, and had a hard time figuring out how Befana was... it was a big mess and we were getting nowhere. Maria was explaining, in very fast Italian, something about santa claus, and it didn't seem to help either of our understandings of Befana. So I told her I would google it, this is what I got: Le Befana   go read it, enlighten yourselves, its necessary!

Anyways, I guess there is a big celebration of Befana in the cities, that is when she started talking about the castle, and kids wait to see someone fly in the sky, or something; when she said that, all I could think about what watching tinker bell fly from the castle at Disney World. Who knows! But I do know that we are going to Napoli (Naples) tomorrow with Maria and she said there is a huge nativity celebration with the baby prince, and the wise men, and it sounded like people dress as them, again for some reason when she said that, I thought of that scene from Home Alone were he hides in the life size nativity scene. I don't know, but I will find out tomorrow! 

Italian word/phrase of the day: gelare "freeze"

The New Age Heating Pad...

Today was a typical Tuesday, I wasn't feeling so well last night and again this morning so I slept in, a little more then I usually do. At about 3:30 Adriana, Lynnea and I walked to the palestra (the gym we do weights at), today is our leg day, so squats, leg press, lunges, calf raises, etc. We did a little warm up on the bike, stretched and then headed over to the squat bar. We were doing our normal squat routine and as we were getting done with our reps, one of the men's team members came over and asked us if he could jump in with us (yes thats right, we are squatting the same weight as a men's team member, hhmmm lets think about that one....and I've squatted more in my life then what we were doing).

After squats we went over to the leg press, and thats when it all happened, I was doing my second repetition when my back locked up....yay. This happens every once in awhile because my legs are uneven, but it is usually when I am playing volleyball and hit awkwardly, I have never had that problem lifiting weights, and we weren't doing anything heavy or out of the ordinary. It can usually be fixed by a simple back re-alignment. So I called Guiseppe, our team doctor and he quickly scheduled an appointment. Mean while, when I was waiting for others to get done in the gym, I was asked if I "blocked my back," ummmm. I attempted to explain, in the simple Italian I know, that I un aligned it because my legs are uneven, etc etc. Then when I came home before going to see Guiseppe, Maria told me that Adri told her I hurt my back and that I needed to rest. I told her what happened, and she said the same thing, "oh you blocked the back." Again, ummmm?

So I walked to Guiseppe's office, and told him what happened, he also asked me if I "blocked my back," so at this point, I just said YES. And he did all the tests, cracked my back a couple times, re-alinged it a little, and I did some treatment on it. And he used google translate to tell me what happened, but apparently what he typed in translated in to "blocked the back" so again, not really helpful.

Since it was my day to bring "pasties" or sweets because it was my birthday the other day, I stopped at a little place called "dolce notte" and I bought their signature treat a bon bon with chocolate, or custard-y cream, or both on the inside. I bought 15 for my teammates, coaches, and whoever else hangs around our practices.
I explained to my coaches what happened in the palestra and that my back is really bad, and they told me to not practice, so I laid on the sidelines, yes, laid, because sitting in the chairs was too painful. When anyone new asked them what I was doing they would say "oh she blocked da back," but in Italian, which pretty much sounds the same, but a different word for back. And they would come over to me and say, oh so you "blocked da back," and I would answer yes, but in my head I'm thinking "I don't know what that is, but if it is what this feels like, then YES, I blocked the back."
So after practice, my coach Davide told me to sit against our furnace we have in our rooms to heat the back, so I was thinking oh like a heating pad, good thing Lynnea has one, and we explained to him that we had a heating pad, and we talked about how it was the same thing, and probably safer and he didn't seem to believe it, and just kept telling me to sit against the furnace. So Lynnea and I looked at each other, then looked at him and said Ok I'll sit against the furnace.

the new age heating pad...notice the broken heating pad on the window ledge behind me

So I get home, plug in the heating pad, and it doesn't work, of course, so what am I doing as I am typing this, SITTING AGAINST THE FURNACE, YES, for an hour. Yup its the new age heating pad! Dead serious. 

yup, 10 minutes and counting, "blocked backs" are no fun

Italian word/phrase of the day:  vecchia  "old woman" what I have been called since I turned 23...

23!

So yesterday, we had an away game, in Terracina. I guess they are our rivals so this was a very very big game. So I woke up, had a nice lunch, then got in the car and we rode to Terracina, which we discovered has an awesome little town, with tons of stores and a lot more things to look at compared to Fondi. There were a lot of fans, they had music blasting, there were television cameras and an announcer, it was very interesting. Well, we gave those fans a great game to watch! Terracina is the first team to take us to 5 matches, but we were able to pull it out, it was a very close fifth game.
Afterwards we weren't really sure what we were doing because no one hinted that they were doing anything, but it was my birthday so Lynnea and I wanted to do something to celebrate. So we figured we would be going back to Fondi, so we showered and put on our sweats and went to leave when our roommate, and ride, said, "oh I'm not going back to Fondi, you get a ride with someone else." Well turns out, those others (our presidents and managers) weren't really going back to Fondi either, they were going out to eat at a little pub in Terracina. They invited us, so, knowing that we wouldn't do anything in Fondi, went with them, in our sweats. A lot of people ended up going, even our roommate ended up going, so Lynnea and I sat there, deciding what we were going to order, when tons and tons of anti pastas came to the table, and I mean plate after plate of meats, cheeses, bruschetta, seafood salad, etc. Then afterwards we ordered a meal, needless to say, we ate a lot, as usual! After we got done eating we sat there waiting for everyone to finish and then out rolled a cake, with a 2 and 3 in candles on top! The president and Antonio went out and bought the cake and candles once we got to the restaurant and surprised me with it! That was awesome! Then afterwards, we went with Maria and her friends to a little bar and had one drink, then came home.
Tomorrow begins my adventure to make a cake or something that I can take to practice. Here on your birthday, YOU have to bring the cake or something to practice to celebrate, apparently YOU are expected to pay for the dinner you have too, AND you get to miss practice, NONE of those did I do. So tomorrow I have to attempt to bring something, and since I don't know where to buy anything, and no one will tell me, I will attempt to make it!

before the surprise cake, celebrating my birthday, just us 2

the surprise cake! 

random dinner turned into birthday celebration

Italian word/phrase of the day: buon compleanno, tanti auguri  "happy birthday"

What Holiday is that?

Roommates at UNICO

The holiday season is approaching, this past Tuesday we had our "society" party. Right, well, the best way I can explain "society" is the whole club that I play for; meaning all the teams that are under the club name, the owners, and everyone who is involved. We were being reminded about this party for about 3 weeks now, so we were assuming it was a HUGE deal. From what we were able to interpret, they rented a section of this club out for our "society." I also saw several signs around Fondi, advertising the night and the DJ, apparently he was a DJ from one of New York's clubs. So after practice on Tuesday we came home, got ready and headed to club UNICO (the one that has a pub, bowling and a club all in one). When we got there, it wasn't very crowded and there was some sort of make-up and hair session going on up near the house DJ, yeah I'm still confused about that.  We were lead to our area that was saved for our "society." We got ourseleves settled, then they introduced, DJ Kenny Carpenter, the DJ from New York. He played pretty typical house music, but also mixed in some newer songs, and even some American songs!

Friends!

Dorotea, Rossella, Lynnea and me

At one point, Lynnea and I were like, you know what, if he is American, we should go talk to him. So we did, we told him we were American, and he was like "yeah I thought so." So we talked for a couple minutes, finding out that he USED to DJ in New York but has been living in Rome for 10 years now, and is 50 something years old; he knows very little Italian. Apparently he is a big name around here, because Maria really wanted a picture with him, so since we were friends and everything, I asked! She was super happy!

Maria super happy to meet DJ Kenny Carpenter

Since Wednesday was apparently a Holiday, everything was closed, apparently there was  a parade and some festivities around the town, we weren't advised of these, and we had practice at 5:30! So I was super confused on exactly what holiday it was, I asked and the answer I got was "you know MARY!"....and I wasn't really sure. So, I looked it up....apparently it is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, yeah, so then I looked that up too, it is a Catholic holiday, reason for me not knowing about it.


Italian word/phrase of the day:  Ho bisogno di ricaricare il mio telefono "i need to recharge my telephone"

Sunday Market Experience

Sunday we had another home game, but before the game Lynnea and I decided to venture out to the Sunday market that everyone was telling us we had to go to. Every time we see something we like on someone they say they got it from the Sunday market...SO, we had to see what it was all about.  As we left our apartment and started walking down the main street we noticed that they lined the main sidewalks with red carpet, had lights and christmas decorations on the street lamps and outside of stores, and they had speakers on the lamp posts playing music! It was super cute, and at one point it felt like a small town you see in christmas movies! Like a christmas movie that has santa in it, like Elf, or Fred Claus or Santa Claus 1, 2 and 3; where they show the small towns that the elves live in and how the streets are always so christmas-y and bustling with people, just minus the snow. It was awesome, I will have to figure out a way to document it and share it with everyone next Sunday!

We got to the market, and we rounded the corner expecting to see a little flea market type thing, but no we were wrong....there, in front of us were a ton of tents packed next to each other. In one section there were vendors selling all types of clothing, shoes, coats, purses, jewelry etc. There were even tents that looked like little portable drug CVS's, selling shampoo, nail polish, cotton balls, etc. All for very cheap, and most of the items were actually pretty well made and some brand name Italian items as well;  not what you would think of for the price offered. Then on the other end of the market there was the food, we didn't get to that side this time because we didn't leave enough time for that, but next Sunday I hope to be able to walk around there and see what they have to offer, I bet there are some awesome Italian specialties!

Our game probably wasn't the prettiest thing ever, but hey we won, 3 games to 1, making our record 8-0!  Last night on our way to dinner, we stopped in this little store that had just opened, and we looked around, asking how much, paying for our stuff, and then telling them that we were going to eat now and didn't want anything from their grand opening food selection, ALL IN ITALIAN. I'm sure they knew that we weren't Italian and didn't know a lot, but they sure didn't act like it!!! That was fun!

Today, we had the day off, which I like better because personally the day after a game I am just worn out. Apparently there is some Italian festa or something happening on Wednesday because people are telling us that everything will be closed etc, which we are thinking, well that is nothing new, because nothing seems to be open at "normal hours" anyways. Ha but we are trying to figure out exactly what type of holiday or celebration this is. I know that tomorrow we have our whole "society" or club party at one of the local discos. I swear I have been told about it probably 100 times. Apparently there is some big international DJ from New York who is going to be there, we will see....we will see....


Italian word/phrase of the day:  ho bisogno  "I need"

Another team photo! Just having some fun! 

I think every photo at UNC of me was like this too....great! I need a new celebration face....haha 

Just a funny game moment, I believe this ball actually went over too! 

Eat, Pray, Love....Well Eat

So I have been reading Eat, Pray, Love because many people have told me to read it, at least the Italian section. I have read the Eat part, and thank you for being first because i'm not sure if i would have read the rest to get to it. I don't know I just didn't find the rest of it interesting. But I did enjoy the story of when she was living in Rome, everything she talked about I was able to relate to! And when she wrote in Italian, I knew what she said before she translated it! The part about the public display of affection had me laughing so hard, because I think that is one of the first things Lynnea and I noticed when we got here, haha so so true. I like that section, but reading the rest of it for me is just not high on my list, and I am usually never someone to start a book and not finish it, but this time, I just can't bring myself to read it. 

I rented the movie on itunes, and after watching the whole thing, I am happy I didn't read the rest of the book, I didn't find the movie that great either, and I KNOW the movies are nothing like the book, BUT the storyline is usually along the same lines, and as of right now, I'm not going to finish the book, maybe later. 

Anyways, back to my days, lets see, these last couple of days have been pretty uneventful, it has been raining A TON, good thing I bought a new umbrella (ombrello) and good thing it broke. ha. 

Christmas lights!

They have put up the christmas lights around our little town! It is really pretty at night! In the center of the town they have put up a big tree and have put lights on the trees lining the walk way, very pretty! But otherwise, there really hasn't been that much for me to do around here because it has been down pouring. Tuesday and Wednesday we went to the weight room to work out, we have finally split up our workouts! One day is legs, then the next is arms. 

Yesterday was picture day for our team!! Not sure when or where they will be showing up, but I'm sure they will end up on facebook and this blog, so don't worry, when I get them, you will get them! 

Today is a day off, looks like i'll be studying more italian. I find that I have been able to speak in full sentences more often, and when something in the sentence is wrong, they kindly correct me and we go on our conversation. The other day, it was easier for me to understand what they were saying to me in Italian then when they tried to say it to me in English! 

Italian word/phrase of the day:   stai mal?  "you're ill?" (used basically to say to someone, what happened, are you hurt?)

My umbrella, broken

broken, in several ways

one team pic, ha i just wanted one of Dorotea and I but then the team stepped in...LOVE IT!