Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Under a tree in Perugia
In Perugia, a medieval town set on a mountain, I stayed with a 40 year-old couple that lived in a little farm community. There were plenty of dogs, two cats, and a hamoc. They took me to a late-night jazz festival. The people of this town are the nicest I've met so far, most likely because Perugia isn't a tourist attraction.
Wonderful relaxation.
Wonderful relaxation.
Una Notte a Napoli, Colla Luna e il Mare
TRASH. THEFT. MAFIA. BOISTEROUS CROWDS. ADULTish-CHILDREN. THE BEST PIZZA IN THE WORLD. MOUNTAINS THAT BECOME THE SEA. A WHOLE LOTTA HEART.
I spent four terrified days in Napoli.
Stepping out of the train station, your first sites appear as big brown urban hills, un-grassy knolls covering the sidewalks, and you quickly realize this city has a trash problem. Every sidewalk, everywhere, piles of trash heaped as if Mr. Trashman's on permanent holiday - and he is. You ask, "Who's responsible for all this grime and inhumanty?!" It's the mafia.
You wouldn't have noticed, hadn't you been told of the Mafia's presence in Napoli. They'd like to keep it that way, and locals tell you not to be fooled. Like the legendary fart - silent and deadly.
Besides trash, and the mafia, you should actually worry about the theft in this town. Don't bring anything precious with you, at all. Don't carry credit cards. Hide things in your underwear. He'll get you, and you'll not notice his greasy fingers.
The people of Napoli are loud, rude, obnoxious and without reservations. For all this, they deserve credit. What you see is what you get, and believe them, they're not embarrassed. They have no time for tourists who just want a coffee. Speak Italian and they'll speak it back at you fast as they can.
The kids are hilarious. So young, and so full of gusto. You'd think they'd been walking around for decades, their arms wildly cutting the air as they recount who said this or that. Loud.
The pizza is legendary. The best in the world, and you get your own for only 3 Euros. I had several during my stay.
The landscape is wonderful, and close to several other places on the map: Amalfi, Salerno, Pompei, and Nocera (an important city in terms of my family). Off the coast you can see the island Capris.
In all, Napoli is memorable for its fat Italian heart. There's no place with a culture quite like it, and when you finally escape the fright of being there, you appreciate Napoli's uniqueness, and the fact that such a culture can survive a single day let alone thousands of years.
So, finally finished with teaching English to the Italian kids (an exhausting and rewarding job), I'm finally out on my own, meeting people and doing cool things. The video below shows a drunk moment of my first night in Napoli, where I couch surfed with a Polish guy, a Romanian Girl, and their 3 other guests who were all French and fantastic. (I apologize if the video is blurry, though it probably represents the way I saw the world at the time).
I spent four terrified days in Napoli.
Stepping out of the train station, your first sites appear as big brown urban hills, un-grassy knolls covering the sidewalks, and you quickly realize this city has a trash problem. Every sidewalk, everywhere, piles of trash heaped as if Mr. Trashman's on permanent holiday - and he is. You ask, "Who's responsible for all this grime and inhumanty?!" It's the mafia.
You wouldn't have noticed, hadn't you been told of the Mafia's presence in Napoli. They'd like to keep it that way, and locals tell you not to be fooled. Like the legendary fart - silent and deadly.
Besides trash, and the mafia, you should actually worry about the theft in this town. Don't bring anything precious with you, at all. Don't carry credit cards. Hide things in your underwear. He'll get you, and you'll not notice his greasy fingers.
The people of Napoli are loud, rude, obnoxious and without reservations. For all this, they deserve credit. What you see is what you get, and believe them, they're not embarrassed. They have no time for tourists who just want a coffee. Speak Italian and they'll speak it back at you fast as they can.
The kids are hilarious. So young, and so full of gusto. You'd think they'd been walking around for decades, their arms wildly cutting the air as they recount who said this or that. Loud.
The pizza is legendary. The best in the world, and you get your own for only 3 Euros. I had several during my stay.
The landscape is wonderful, and close to several other places on the map: Amalfi, Salerno, Pompei, and Nocera (an important city in terms of my family). Off the coast you can see the island Capris.
In all, Napoli is memorable for its fat Italian heart. There's no place with a culture quite like it, and when you finally escape the fright of being there, you appreciate Napoli's uniqueness, and the fact that such a culture can survive a single day let alone thousands of years.
So, finally finished with teaching English to the Italian kids (an exhausting and rewarding job), I'm finally out on my own, meeting people and doing cool things. The video below shows a drunk moment of my first night in Napoli, where I couch surfed with a Polish guy, a Romanian Girl, and their 3 other guests who were all French and fantastic. (I apologize if the video is blurry, though it probably represents the way I saw the world at the time).
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Rome - In a day and a half...
These videos are 3 weeks old, taken while I was on a weekend trip to Rome whie working in Latina. I saw most that I needed to see in a day and a half, though, maybe because I threw a coin into the Trevi Fountain, I came back to work in a district of Rome for my last week of work with the kids.
More soon.
More soon.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
For the Kiddies - A Guest Post
In an amazing attempt to communicate with kids on the other side of the world, Joel made a response video for the children of my first camp in Latina. Unfortunately, Joel didn't realize I had moved on from that camp, or there would have been a great international conversation.
Please take a look at his very thoughtful, not-so-surprisingly funny message to my Italian kids (who might've understood only a fraction of what he wants them to know):
Please take a look at his very thoughtful, not-so-surprisingly funny message to my Italian kids (who might've understood only a fraction of what he wants them to know):
FOR THE KIDDIES from Joel Walkowski on Vimeo.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Robin Hood, Latina-Style
For our final show, we performed a creative version of Robin Hood. Notice, the kids spoke better English than I did.
Feisty Latina Kids
Quite feisty. Observe how animated they are while arguing. This video reinforces several stereotypes.
Fogliano National Park
Also from Latina, in a tucked away corner, videos from Fogliano National Park. We took the kids for a day, and it was great, especially our nature walk.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Ohhh Latina...
Hello, people all over the world (start a love train),
This post is about Latina, a sad little town just south of Rome. It's not jealous of it's ancient older brother, though it should be. Latina was built in the 1930s, by Mousolini, and given this fact, 80% of the city is still fascist. They don't march around town, though we tutors were told the lack of discipline evident in our pupils was due to the town's political upbringing.
Latina is flat, ugly and without attractions. There's nothing to do but watch others parade around in brand name clothes and wonder who they're impressing, or trying to impress. My after work schedule was the same every day - go home, shower, try to use the internet, sometimes successfully, eat dinner, prepare the next day's lesson plan and sleep.
The kids were cute, but difficult. Screaming and fighting were their favorite things to do, other than ignore English tutors in preference of soccer.
Thank goodness my host family was incredible. They walk a different life than I do, spending money here and there, on clothes, beach houses, boats, Louis Vuitton bags, and expensive African art, though they treated me like a son, and I responded as if they were my family. We sat around the TV several nights, laughing our butts off at an Italian version of America's Funniest Videos. I felt validated. They took me out to expensive restaurants and stuffed me full of steak. We would talk for hours. The day I left, they were in tears, and the boy, Alessandro, cried, "No..." (which means the same in both our languages).
Though I don't have the time to finish uploading all of my Latina vids, the following will get you started. More will follow soon.
Jeff
This post is about Latina, a sad little town just south of Rome. It's not jealous of it's ancient older brother, though it should be. Latina was built in the 1930s, by Mousolini, and given this fact, 80% of the city is still fascist. They don't march around town, though we tutors were told the lack of discipline evident in our pupils was due to the town's political upbringing.
Latina is flat, ugly and without attractions. There's nothing to do but watch others parade around in brand name clothes and wonder who they're impressing, or trying to impress. My after work schedule was the same every day - go home, shower, try to use the internet, sometimes successfully, eat dinner, prepare the next day's lesson plan and sleep.
The kids were cute, but difficult. Screaming and fighting were their favorite things to do, other than ignore English tutors in preference of soccer.
Thank goodness my host family was incredible. They walk a different life than I do, spending money here and there, on clothes, beach houses, boats, Louis Vuitton bags, and expensive African art, though they treated me like a son, and I responded as if they were my family. We sat around the TV several nights, laughing our butts off at an Italian version of America's Funniest Videos. I felt validated. They took me out to expensive restaurants and stuffed me full of steak. We would talk for hours. The day I left, they were in tears, and the boy, Alessandro, cried, "No..." (which means the same in both our languages).
Though I don't have the time to finish uploading all of my Latina vids, the following will get you started. More will follow soon.
Jeff
Friday, June 19, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
San Remo, continued...
Hello again,
The following videos demonstrate some great moments I had while at orientation for camp in San Remo. Every night they took us to an awesome local restaurant where we were served amazing home cooked meals and plenty of wine. After each meal, they then referred us to friends' local bars, where we continued drinking.
San Remo is particularly awesome for its history. There's a new town, and an old town. The following take place in Old Town, which is in the mountains, and built ages ago. See for yourselves.
Pasta count (as of the moment I'm typing this post, not the moment of these videos) - 17.
More soon!
The following videos demonstrate some great moments I had while at orientation for camp in San Remo. Every night they took us to an awesome local restaurant where we were served amazing home cooked meals and plenty of wine. After each meal, they then referred us to friends' local bars, where we continued drinking.
San Remo is particularly awesome for its history. There's a new town, and an old town. The following take place in Old Town, which is in the mountains, and built ages ago. See for yourselves.
Pasta count (as of the moment I'm typing this post, not the moment of these videos) - 17.
More soon!
Milan, Day #1
Hello again,
So, this post is out of order. It should have been first, before San Remo, so use your imagination. The following videos show a bit of my first afternoon/evening in Milan, where I flew into Italy.
So, this post is out of order. It should have been first, before San Remo, so use your imagination. The following videos show a bit of my first afternoon/evening in Milan, where I flew into Italy.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
I'm Here!
Ciao friends, family, and friends of family,
After years of waiting, and many long hours on planes/trains/automobiles, I've made it.
Over the next few months I'm going to do my best to record and post my experiences of my time in Italy. These documentations won't be long, or very extensive, but at least you'll see my pretty face, and hear my lovely voice.
From San Remo, my first day here:
See ya soon!
After years of waiting, and many long hours on planes/trains/automobiles, I've made it.
Over the next few months I'm going to do my best to record and post my experiences of my time in Italy. These documentations won't be long, or very extensive, but at least you'll see my pretty face, and hear my lovely voice.
From San Remo, my first day here:
1st Day In San Remo from Jeff LaPenna on Vimeo.
See ya soon!
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