4th of July and Venice/Verona

So, apparently I am a big liar...It's been way over a week since I last blogged.  I'm so sorry!!

Let me briefly cover some of the events since last time!

My friend Emily and I dressed up like Black Swan and walked around town. We're crazy.  We also had to throw a dead pigeon off of her roof because it started to smell so bad.  Gross.

Later that week, Emily and I hiked 5 km (approx 3 miles) to this town, named Peglio, up a nearby mountain.  The views were great, but our feet killed because we both wore pretty flimsy shoes.  Bad decisions.

Peglio from afar

The view down into the valley from Peglio

Last weekend, we took a trip to Verona and Venice.  It was SUCH an amazing experience!!  There's an old Roman arena in Verona, in which operas are now performed during the summer.  After taking a tour of the city, we all grabbed some pizza and wine and headed into the arena to grab our seats, which were on the steps of the arena.  It was mind-boggling to think that real Romans had once sat there and watched gladiators, slaves, convicts, and animals fight each other for entertainment.  As we sat, I listened to a mixture of English (with varying accents, including British and Australian), Italian,  and German floating through the crowd.  The set was beautiful and the singers absolutely magnificent.  It was so inspirational to see these professionals perform.

Enjoying pizza and wine before the show started

The set to La Traviata

The Act 3 set for La Traviata

After about only 6 hours of sleep, we all got up on Sunday and had a nice breakfast at the hotel and headed out for Venice.  We had to take a bus and then a boat ride into Venice.  We took a tour of the Gran Teatro in Venice, in which Verdi often worked (La Traviata and Rigoletto were debuted there!).  After, we spent the day exploring the city on our own.  It was a great day, but we were all exhausted by the end of it!

Emily and me on the boat to Venice

One of the many canals going through Venice.

Just a few days ago was 4th of July and all of us made sure to celebrate it while in Italy.  We had a barbecue at one of our houses, sang as many American songs of which we could think (including "Colors of the Wind"), and set off fireworks.  It was a great time and a nice little taste of home (and by that I mean hotdogs and hamburgers...mmm). 

We somehow managed to find firworks here in Italy

This is probably my last blog post from Italy...I can't believe it's already time to come back to the States.  Our last concert is tonight, I took my final Italian exam, my train ticket to the airport is purchased...it's all wrapped up.  I've learned so much while being here in Italy.  I've learned to not stress out so much in my life and to enjoy the little things.  I've also learned so much in my Italian classes and my music coachings.  I am so excited to take these lessons back to the States and Uni and see how I continue to grow.  

I can't even explain how thankful I am that I came here for this summer.  I've met so many amazing people, learned so much, grown a lot, and discovered a lot about myself.

Until next summer, my beautiful Italia.  You'll always be my home away from home.

A week's worth of Italian events!!

Ciao, tutti!!  I am SO sorry it has been over a week since I last blogged.  We started our performances this week, so I've been super busy with all of that.  Let me start from the beginning--

Early last week, Emily and I went hiking on this huge mountain/hill right near my house.  It was wonderful!  It has been so long since I've done any sort of physical activity, so it was nice to feel my heart beating and sweat a little.  We saw lots of horses, goats, and chickens that people living on the mountain had in their yards and beautiful views!

After our great hike, we went to the "Chiesa dei Morti" The Church of the Dead.  In the church, they have several mummies encassed in glass.  In the old Urbania, only rich people were ever buried in caskets.  All of the other people were buried in the ground, which caused a natural mummification of the bodies.  All of the mummies has such interesting stories behind them and I loved being able to see the bones of the bodies.  It was odd to think that they all used to people with lives and families.  

A few of the mummies

Friday, we had our second of many concerts.  It was in this beautiful castle called, Castello Brancaleoni in the town of Piobbico.  I did 2 of my scenes and they went really well!  I was so happy to have them finished, but so sad that I won't get to perform them again. 

The trio after singing "È Moncherin" from Donizetti's "Rita"

Saturday, several of us took a trip to Pesaro, a town nearby that is on the Adriatic Sea.  We took the God forsaken 7:20 am bus and arrived in the town at 8:50.  We went to Rossini's house, walked around town,  and went to the beach for several hours.  What an amazing time!  At one point, we swam out to these large rocks in the ocean and climbed on them.  There were mussels growing on them and I cracked one open and ate it right there!  Yum :)  We all proceeded to skinny dip and enjoy the freedom of being in Europe!  The ride home, which included a connecting bus in another town, was less fun, as we were all exhausteddd. 

Emily and me enjoying a beer with our lunch at the beach.

Yesterday, we had yet another concert at the beautiful Chiesa di San Filippo in the nearby town of Fossombrone.  I didn't have to sing save for 2 chorus roles, which was nice.  The church was absolutely GORGEOUS and Baroque to the max!  

We've started another week here in Urbania and I can't believe that I have 3 more weeks until I come home!  My Italian has gotten so good and I am thrilled!  I've even started to learn abbreviations that Italians use when they send SMS and some of the dialect that Urbanians use!  We've started watching the Lord of the Rings movies in Italian and it's great practice!  I definitely look forward to keeping up this practice when I go back home to the States.  

Miss you all back home!  I promise to update more frequently now that our performances are winding down (at least, for now)!

 Baci baci,

Mac

My first European fashion show

Hello, all!

My second week in Italy has come and gone; I can hardly believe it!  I am absolutely obsessed with this city/country and already plan on coming back next summer or at least that's the dream at this point.  The views are wonderful, the food is delicious, the people amazing, and all of my friends here are great.  Maybe I'll just "accidentaly" miss my flight home and spend the rest of my days in Urbania.  I could handle that.

Last night, we all went out to see a fashion show that was happening in the centre of town.  Now...they weren't the best clothes (see the dress that was inspired by Italy's flag below.  Her "girls" almost made a surprise appearance several times as she walked.  Mamma mia!) or the best models, but it was something and it was a nice splash in our week.  I was surprised by how many people were there!  It literally seemed like almost everyone in Urbania had turned out for the event, which says a lot about them I think.  They are all about supporting each other and the arts, it seems.

I can't even handle this.

Only part of the huge crowd!

Earlier this week, my friend Emily and I went to our friends' house and made pasta (Literally--we rolled the dough and everything!), fried zucchini flowers with mozzarella (so odd, but so yummy!) along with other side dishes.  It was such a fun time and fulfilled my dream of making pasta in Italy.

It's almost as though we're from beautiful Italia!

On Sunday, some of us are taking a trip with the school to San Marino, which is its own country on the east coast of Italy, and then to the city of Rimini for a nice time at the beach.  I cannot wait!  Both places are beautiful and it will be nice to get away for a day.

After this week starts, it is a whirlwind of performances on all of the scenes that we've been preparing whilst being here.  I sing a duet on Tuesday and cannot be more excited!  I need to practice memorizing some of my other pieces, but they're not too far off from being memorized (thankfully!).  Expect videos to start popping up on my blog more frequently as I get to perform in some wonderful venues.

I miss everyone back home and hope that everyone is well!



Bacio bacio,
Mac

Me with famous Baritone Håkan Hagegård after a coaching.  He told me that I had a beautiful voice and is my facebook friend.  No big deal.

My European Debut (sort of...)

Hey, everybody!

Sorry it's been so long since my last posting!  These last few days in Italy have been truly remarkable.  I am really starting to get comfortable here and can really feel myself growing artistically.  Rehearsals for our scenes are always the highlight of my day because I get the chance to experiment, learn from the older singers, and push myself.

It's been a rainy week here in Italy.  There was even flooding and hail (which is common in Italy's summers...weird!) in Florence on Sunday!  This weather is kind of a drag because I really need to do my laundry, but there's no way it'll dry out on the line if it keeps this up.  Oh yeah...we do our laundry by hand and let it dry out in the yard on the line...haha so funny.  My Italian mom showed me how to do it and she was throwing her underwear all over the fence in the yard...I was mortified!

Last night, I made my Italian concert début!  Our program has performed several concerts of arias/art songs before we embarked on our normal scene performance schedule.  It was nerve wracking to be singing an Italian song for a room full of Italians, but I felt happy with how I did!  I'm excited for our next performance on the 14th!

This Sunday, we have the opportunity to go on an "excursion," as the school calls it, to San Marino and then to the beaches of Rimini.  I really hope the weather cooperates because I would love to have a little break from school and coachings for a bit.  

I miss you all in the States and hope you are doing well.  I leave you with this picture of my main squeeze Emily, myself, and our favourite Italian mojitos. 

All my love,

Mac

Ciao, tutti!

I can't believe that I have survived my first week in Urbania!  It has been such a wonderful time so far.  My Italian has gotten so much better, because we're constantly speaking and studying it here.  (To prove this- I had a conversation with my host family about the energy reform here in Italy, which included discussions of nuclear, solar, wind, and water energy! I couldn't believe that I understood it all!).  The music is also coming along really well.  I'm learning so many wonderful tools that I plan on taking back to the States with me.  I can't wait to see how they improve my performances in the future once I leave here.

Last night, we had a "concerto lirico," a concert where several singers perform solo rep that they brought with them.  It was a great concert and it was wonderful to hear the singers that I'm working along side.  After, we all went out to a nearby bar and celebrated the concert and making it through our first week!  We had some great conversations with the Italians there (it started flowing out after I got more comfortable.  I even translated for some people.  It made me feel so good!), but we made sure to stear clear of "i tamarri" (the guidos) haha.

The group

Today, my friend Emily and I had a traditional Chinese lunch at our Chinese friends' house and it was delicious!  They're all from different parts of China and are studying at the Italian school for 3 months.  Out of the 4 of them, only 2 spoke any Italian or English.  Talking was a little difficult because we had to move in between broken Italian, broken English, and LOTS of talking with our hands.  Nevertheless, it was a wonderful time.  After, we all went to the river to watch the "boat" race.  The boats were all composed of different materials and were manned by teams that pushed them down the river like gondolas.  Later tonight, we have a master class we have to attend at 9 (so late for this morning bird!).  Some people are going to Firenze (Florence) tomorrow, but I'm going to hold down the fort here in Urbania and work on memorizing my music.

Ciao, cari!

Our Chinese Friends and Lunch

One of the "boats"

Felice compleanno a me!

The teenage years have come and gone.  

I'm currenly spending my 20th birthday in Italy, which happens to also be Italy's Independence Day of sorts.  Sitting outside the cafe underneath a cloudy sky, I've decided that my 20s are going to be a great time of growth.  My final 2 years of my undergrad await me and I intend to make them productive and to appreciate life (an idea that I've seen to have adopted from Italy).  In only my few days here, I've noticed so many differences between typical Italian and American life. 

1) Old people on bikes-

There are old Italians riding their bikes all over this town.  Can you imagine asking an old American to ride his/her bike to town?  There's no way.  Personally, I think it's hilarious because it continues to catch me off guard when I see them fly by me.

2) An greater appreciation of self-

Here in Urbania, all of the stores close and everyone takes about 2-3 hours for lunch.  They all go home, eat, and possibly take a nap.  It's hard to imagine this working in the America, where most of us only get 30 mins or an hour at most for lunch.  In addition, many stores have days where they open up late (mostly on Mondays) or simply don't open at all.  Italians seem to understand the idea of working hard, but hold their well being in high regards.  (Their affection for cigarettes is the exception that proves the rule.)

3) The way food is prepared-

I suppose this ties in with the above note, but I have yet to see a microwave while here in Italy.  This is such an odd concept to me, because so much of what we eat in America is heated up in a microwave.  

4) Social Aggressiveness-

Italians are much more aggressive in social situations than Americans.  They have no problem pushing themselves forward in a group, if they're trying to order something.  We Americans are so obsessed with our lines/queues.  Also, when I was watching the Italian news this morning, the people were literally yelling at each other and waving their arms around.  There are few times I ever see this on American news shows.  I was cracking up watching it. 

5) The way gays are treated-

I haven't experienced any discrimination (at least that I was aware of) while I've been here, even though Urbania is a veryyy small town.  One of my Italian friends here said most people, save for Preime Minister Berlusconi, have no problem with gays and the amount of discrimination is low.  Gays are allowed to serve openly in the military here and most Italians are supportive of civil unions, at least from the research I've done.  Still, I'll keep my ears open for "finocchio"(fag in Italian). 

6) They have Bimbos on board and they're not afraid to admit it-

Haha this cracked me up when I first saw it.  In Italian, bimbo is an appreviation for "Bambino/a" which means "baby" or "little boy or girl."  Nevertheless, I couldn't help but read it as "Bimbo on board!"

I love it here in Italy and am so thrilled to have over 5 weeks left here.  Since today is a national holiday, a lot of things are closed and I don't have any language classes today.  Hooray!  Only 2 coachings today and I'll be finished.  A birthday nap is going to be in order.  I hope these clouds clear up because I would love to go lay out on my friend's balcony, too.  

Ciao, tutti.

I'll leave you with this pic of the view from my friend's balcony. Stunning.

Could this be any more picturesque?

A meeting of the nations...

Ciao!

Classes and coachings have all been going well here in Urbania.  I had private coachings with Håkan Hagegård and Benton Hess this week and they both went really well!  Both said I sang quite well and helped me with my vowels and consonants.  I'm singing so bright while I'm here (well, it feels like that in my head), but I don't feel self-conscious about it.  I think it's a combination of all of the Italians speaking so brightly, which makes me used to it, and just an acceptance of not being able to rely on what my voice sounds like to me in my head.  Everything sings a little easier this way, so I'll be interested to see where it goes.

We had this great party the other night at school with all of the students...what a hilarious time.  There are a bunch of kids from China here and they were ALL about taking pictures with us.  We all talked in a mixture of broken English and Italian (I threw in what little Chinese that I knew) and somehow made it work.  It was wonderful, nonetheless.

Luckily, I have today off from music coachings (thank goodness!) and today will be a pretty light day, as far as coachings are concerned.  All of my scenes are so fun and I can't wait to really polish them with everyone :D

Miss you all!

Ciao, tutti!

A meeting of the East and West