Did you know people in Africa eat ants? (July 17)

July 17, 2010

As the smoldering sun rose up over the Italian countryside, the participants of our international program were slowly awakening to our first morning of incessant ringing of church bells. Breakfast was offered in two forms this morning as students chose to either chow down on the apricot cakes and juice provided by the center or to hit the town and investigate the local cafes and markets for fresh fruit and some espresso. Around half past nine, we converged at the center and met in the theatre for some good ole orientation. We were dished maps, train schedules, rules, and procedures to enable us to handle anything that Italy could send our way. We learned which trains not to catch and how to ask if a train was headed for Castiglion Fiorentino: “Va bene per Castiglion Fiorintino?”.
We then hiked down the hill from our center towards the train station. Upon arrival at the station we validated our tickets and made sure not to cross the tracks on our way to the pickup location for our train (crossing tracks can result in heavy fines). We hopped on the 11.13 train headed for Arezzo and settled in for our long journey to the first big city of our trip. Oh wait, it was just 10 minutes. Arriving in Arezzo, we journeyed out of the subway and met our tour guide, Giovanni, a charismatic Italian who blamed his Dallas Texan wife for his “bad English”. He took us through the narrow streets of town and made sure to point out all the architecture that was “fake” since it was not truly constructed during the Renaissance. We toured a cathedral and several large churches filled with artwork and frescoes. Especially notable was the incredible stained glass that adorned many walls of the structures. After topping off our water bottles at a faucet along the way, we visited the Piazza Grande, which appeared to be the social center of the city. He took us into one last cathedral before ending his tour and releasing us to explore the city on our own – in groups of three or more of course.

We made a beeline for the nearest pizza shop and with the assistance of the semi-bilingual owner of the parlor, we managed to have our first taste of Italian pizza. YUM. After resting our feet for an hour, we headed towards Il Prato, the city park. We enjoyed the shade and convinced a passerby to snap a photo of the group along the outer wall of the inner city. We then headed back towards the train station, stopping on our way to take a glance at an ancient Roman theatre.

After catching the train back to Castiglion F.no, we met in the courtyard for some communication awareness exercises. We were split into tables and given instructions for a card. After reading these, we were not allowed to talk, only sign and gesture. The two winners of each table advanced to the next table and we continued playing the game. Or at least a game. As some of us discovered, the game was being played slightly differently at each table, which caused much confusion as we tried to compete. We then discussed the complications and meanings of the communication barriers between us and the locals, and how to work with these barriers to better understand the culture. We then broke into groups again to learn some interesting facts about each other, playing two truths and a lie.

Dinner came none too soon and we feasted on minty rice, corned beef, and french fries followed by a desert of watermelon and a chat about hammer-wielding tarantulas. After a brief break, we filed down to the gelato parlor to try out the new flavors of the night. We also learned that eating gelato from a cone rather than a cup can be some messy business. In the morning, several of us hope to catch the early sunrise over the Tuscan hills. That’s all and goodnight.

T. Pitts and Ricky Hofstra