That's what I've been doing the two days. I've been wishing I could find things as easily and conveniently here as I can at home. I've been hoping that my health keeps feeling relatively normal for our upcoming trip to Athens. I've been thinking about everything I'm going to see when I'm there next week. And I've been praying that God blesses our work here.
Friday was one of those days that, even though I'm content here, I just wanted to be home. I was wishing to be somewhere else. It all started when I was trying to make a grocery list. I have such a hard time finding recipes that I can make here because they don't have many of the ingredients that I use in normal recipes at home. For example, I want to be able to find Campbell's soups here to make various casseroles. Ha! If I even mentioned that, people would look at me like I'd lost my mind.
I want to be able to find normal items like celery or mozzarella cheese. I want to be able to buy chicken that doesn't have the nasty innards or neck attached to it. I want to buy boneless skinless chicken breasts that don't have junk attached to it that I have to cut off. (FYI, I haven't bought chicken since the first month I was here for these very reasons.) I want to buy milk that I will drink. Milk here is in a box or carton and is warm on the shelves. You don't need to keep it cold until you open it. It has a very weird taste to me and is much more sour than milk at home. And milk is my favorite thing to drink. I want to be able to buy brown sugar. Nope. Unheard of here. I want to be able to find certain spices. How about Ramen, Mac and Cheese, peanut butter, or applesauce? Not even a thought here.
Then there's the whole problem of buying meat...is it kept in a freezer or cooler with a generator so that when the electricity doesn't work it still stays cold? If I ask for it, will the person actually put gloves on or change their gloves before they package it for me? Is the plastic shopping bag they put it in clean? Plus, if I want a certain cut, I don't know how to ask for it and they don't know how to explain it to me. I basically buy ground beef once in a while or I live on pizza, pasta, or soup. This is quite a change for a girl who's not a picky eater and therefore doesn't usually need to put much thought into a grocery list.
All of this went through my mind as I was just trying to make a simple grocery list. Then I started thinking about how cold it is in our church and at our apartment. I want to be someplace where the temperature inside is warmer than outside instead of our apartment being colder than outside. I want to be in a home that has central heating instead of having to use an electric heater to heat whatever room I'm in, one room at a time.
Then, after Activity Night, a nice long phone chat with my friend Sabrina, some fun facebook messages from other friends, a great church service today where we had one of our students attend for the first time (yay!), after saying a few prayers about a much needed attitude adjustment (aka a swift kick in the pants), and after our 7th sunny day in a row, those prayers have been answered. I'm no longer a cranky pants. The regular old Katie is baaa-aaack! :)
Now I'm am wanting it to be tomorrow so our friend Andrea will be here with her fun-loving self and some goodies from home. I'm wanting to do laundry and get packed for Athens. I'm wanting to start looking at hostels in Rome since I bought tickets to go there at the beginning of April when my friend Beth comes to visit. Today, after an uneasy yesterday, I'm wishing that everyone could have this experience. I'm hoping that Andrea will love it while she's here. I'm thinking that I couldn't be luckier or more blessed. And I'm praying that God continues to send me these kinds of reminders when I need them and I'm thanking him for everyone at home who lifts my spirits without even knowing it. :)
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Catching Up
Guess what? It's been too long between entries. Boo. This time, it's not all my fault. We didn't have internet last week on Monday or Tuesday, so those days weren't even an option for writing. Wednesday we had internet again, but I was quite busy since I teach three classes on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday our internet was out again. It's been fixed since Saturday, so now I can continue my great adventures. :)
The problem with that is that last week, there really weren't any. It was just a busy work week. Seriously. The week was spent planning lessons, correcting assignements, teaching lessions, returning homework, and assigning new homework. :) My students loved it. lol Actually, they are usually ok with homework. Some of them even like it. I was never that kind of student. I never liked homework. Not even in first grade when I'd purposely save something to do at home just because I thought it made me cool to have homework. lol The only reason I thought it was cool to have homework was because my baby-sitters always did and I loved all of my baby-sitters.
Anyway, most of my students like homework. Hence the reason they learn so quickly--they simply want to know it. I was a good student, but I didn't always want to know what I was learning. Haha! But from the way my students talk, they have subjects they don't like to study for either. I guess something aren't so different after all. ;)
We started a new group this past weekend. We created the Cappucino Club for adults. Once a month we'll meet for coffee and a game or cards. For the first time, we stayed at church and ordered drinks from the little bar kafe next door. Besides Emily, Vitori, and myself, we only had one other person. Despite this fact, we weren't disappointed because it was the one person we really really really wanted to come. It was one of the moms who comes to one of Emily's classes with her youngest daughter. I have her two other daughters in my classes. Her girls always come to everything and Fatmira doesn't miss classes and usually comes to Activity Nights with her girls, too. So we were super happy that she came by herself to something. :)
We spent about an hour chatting and playing Uno. Cards and coffee go well together. Fatmira had fun learning a new game and Vitori seemed to have a good time having another adult there. Not that she doesn't like us. lol Don't get that idea! haha :) But when we get other people at church, it's kids. So we played and chatted and drank coffee and laughed a lot. Everyone liked the idea of doing this once a month so we said, "Great! See you in March!"
I spent the rest of my weekend planning for this week and for next week. Next week my classes are only meeting once for the week because Emily and I have something super exciting coming up: a trip to Athens! :) See, one of Emily's friends from MLC is coming to visit. Andrea is flying in on Sunday. I'm excited too because I also know her. Because we lived in the same town for awhile. It will be nice to have a friend and familiar face from home here for awhile. Plus, it will be awesome to visit Greece! We're leaving Tuesday night and taking a bus through the night. It's much cheaper than flying, is perfectly safe, and was a decent price for a round-trip. We'll have three full days to spend there and then Friday night we'll board the bus and get back here early Saturday morning so that we make it back in time for church. I'm sure that on Saturday afternoon we'll be doing plenty of napping. Hee hee! ;)
I did get pictures of the MMM group's Valentine's outing posted. I really think the girls had a great time that day. Most of our students don't get treats like that very often, much less by themselves with friends. So it was really fun to be able to take them there. :)
On another note, one of my classes has been doing something fun and interesting. We've started exchanging videos with my dad's class. The first video was one that we sent them because they were learning about Eastern Europe and the Balkans, so obviously, Albania fit right in. My all-girls class introduced themselves, gave their age, and then they each told a different fact about Albania. One girl talked about Tirana being the capitol, another girl talked about the mountains, another about the dialects, another about the beaches and the seas, and so on. Then my students asked my dad's class to tell us something about their city, state, and country. It was around 2 minutes long, so it wasn't huge or anything. But they had an absolute blast making it. They were so careful to correct mistakes while we were practicing. But what makes is so great is that there are still a few little things on the video that aren't perfect. I love it because it shows how much they're trying, but that they still have things to learn and they want to learn. :) My dad said his kids loved it and now they've made a video response for us as well. I'm eager to get it because my class will be jumping out of their skin with excitement. lol :)
Other than that, it's been work, work, work, work for me and learn, learn, learn for my students. I'm extra organized right now (stop laughing--it is possible) since we have a vacation coming up in the middle of a session. That's one of the perks to making your own schedule. ;) It won't hurt anything for my students because the day off will come right after a test. Perfect timing. :) So I'm off to make a review games for each class to play later this week. Don't forget to keep us in your prayers and pray that the Holy Spirit is doing lots of work that we can't see in the hearts of our students.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The Other Day I Saw A Bear
Remember that song?
"The other day (the other day),
I saw a bear (I saw a bear).
A great big bear (a great big bear),
a-way up there (a-way up there).
The other day I saw a bear.
A great big bear a-way up there."
I taught it to the kids the other week as we learned about the US National Parks at our Activity Night. We learned about the animals that live in some of the national parks and so we talked about a bear and sang this funny song about a person who ran into a bear. Never in a million years did I actually think I'd see a bear a few days later. But, alas, I did.
I am not making this up! Today, just a half an hour ago, as we were just about to get off the bus, I looked out the window and saw a bear on the sidewalk. A real, live bear. It was big and it was brown. But it wasn't wild and people weren't freaking out. In fact, most people weren't even paying attention! I couldn't believe it though because there was a bear on the sidewalk!
It was on a leash and this guy was walking the thing like it was a dog. Really, I'm not making this up!!! The bear was just walking along looking at things and sniffing at things as if it were the most normal thing ever. So obviously this bear was tamed and is used to people. Somehow, it has been domesticated. But still...a bear on a leash in the middle of a city with a million people is not something you expect to see, nor is it something you see every day. Apparently it must be more common than I think because no one else seemed to be showing any kind of reaction.
Since the bear and its caretaker were walking in the opposite direction my bus was headed, I couldn't get my camera out fast enough to snap a picture. :( Oh well. That is definitely one image that will never ever leave my head. lol We got off the bus and tried to hurry after it, but it had already crossed a busy street so we just kept walking home. Haha! I just saw a bear....on a leash....on the sidewalk.....in a city....hahaha!
Another random bus story, since I always have those, is a little different than my other ones because this time it wasn't something funny. I was on the bus and at the next stop a woman got on and sat in front of me. Just as she sat down, her phone rang. Now remember, I can't understand much Albanian at all, but I could tell this was a serious conversation because the woman (who was probably in her late 30s or early 40s) said, "Oh, mami!" and began to cry. I'm not just talking tears and sniffled. I'm talking shaking sobs and ragged breaths. She was trying not to make a scene because she put her head down and was trying to be quiet about it. But the woman next to me looked and me and said something, which I didn't understand, so I just shrugged my shoulders and tried to look as sympathetic as I felt.
I really really wanted to ask the woman if she was alright. I could have asked her if she was ok, because I sort of know how to say that, but it wouldn't have done any good since I wouldn't have understood her response and been able to say anything to it. I felt completely and utterly helpless. The woman next to me offered her a tissue and they chatted just briefly enough that the crying woman explained what had happened. I know this because the woman next to me said she was sorry and then I don't what she said except something about Jesus because she said Jezusi (pr. yay-zoo-see). I think the lady had just received news that someone died.
She got off at the same stop as me and told my seat partner thank you. I wished I could've said more. I don't think I've ever felt to helpless. At the same time, I didn't feel too awkward because I stick out as a foreigner so she knew I probably didn't understand anything. The weird thing was that even though I'm not completely sure what would have been culturally acceptable behavior in that situation, I'm fairly certain that the right thing to do would still have been to ask if she was ok or if she needed help or anything. I guess sympathy might just be the same world wide.
On a lighter and much happier note, my voice is back so I taught the rest of my classes this past week, was able to conduct a Valentine's Party for Activity Night, went to Albanian church on Saturday, did a home visit to some students who come to church regularly, took the MMM group to a pastry shop for a Valentine's treat, had English church this morning, and then went to Agron and Vitori's for lunch. Whew! Even when I'm sick I can't catch much rest. lol :)
My cold is still hanging around in the form of a cough. It's really deep and is starting to come from my chest now. Hopefully it doesn't get worse because I don't want to have to go to the doctor for this. It's been cold here, but I'd rather sit in a chilly room and have goosebumps because then I don't cough. If I'm in a warm room where I'm all cozy, I cough so much that I become miserable. This doesn't make sense to me, but whatever. I don't want to cough, so I'll settle for being chilly.
My classes continue to go very well. One of my groups made a video for my dad's class because they were studying eastern Europe and the Balkans. Since that obviously includes Albania, we made a very short video for them so they could learn a little extra about the country. My dad said his kids really enjoyed it and that they're working on making one to send back to us. :) Woo hoo! My class will love it!
I'm continuing to see significant marks in each of my classes. Some kids are beginning to see root words in larger words, others are catching on to the difference between the present continuous tense and the simple present tense, and others are starting to be more courageous about using new words and practicing their English in general. And with my most advanced group (an intermediate level) they're working on more serious speaking in front of people and are, therefore, learning that part of being a good English speaker is being a good listener and understanding what's being said. It's fun to see such marked progress because it makes me motivated to find something new and fun for them to try. Plus, it makes me feel like I'm doing a good job. lol I know I make mistakes, but at least they're learning something, right? ;) (If only I was so careful about proofreading these blog entries....Sorry! lol)
The Activity Nights are still quite popular. It's awesome because our space gets so full that we've actually had to limit attendance to just our students and their family members. Wow! When we first started this, we had about 15 people the first night and now we have to limit it so we have enough space for everyone. What a blessing!
And our MMM outings continue to be outstanding! Since they are limited to girls ages 13-17 it provides excellent quality time for us to really get to know the girls. I have all of them in my classes and they come early every day and stay late as much as possible because they just like to talk and ask questions. It's so much fun to make these connections with them because that's why I'm here--to get to know them and introduce them to the most important thing I know. I am always the happiest here when I am spending time with my students. :) Lately, I've been thinking about how I can do this more often.
So as you can see, things continue to go well here and God continues to bless our efforts, even if it appears to be in small ways. Things have to start somewhere and I have no doubt that he is doing everything he can to help many little seed of faith grow right now in Albania.
"The other day (the other day),
I saw a bear (I saw a bear).
A great big bear (a great big bear),
a-way up there (a-way up there).
The other day I saw a bear.
A great big bear a-way up there."
I taught it to the kids the other week as we learned about the US National Parks at our Activity Night. We learned about the animals that live in some of the national parks and so we talked about a bear and sang this funny song about a person who ran into a bear. Never in a million years did I actually think I'd see a bear a few days later. But, alas, I did.
I am not making this up! Today, just a half an hour ago, as we were just about to get off the bus, I looked out the window and saw a bear on the sidewalk. A real, live bear. It was big and it was brown. But it wasn't wild and people weren't freaking out. In fact, most people weren't even paying attention! I couldn't believe it though because there was a bear on the sidewalk!
It was on a leash and this guy was walking the thing like it was a dog. Really, I'm not making this up!!! The bear was just walking along looking at things and sniffing at things as if it were the most normal thing ever. So obviously this bear was tamed and is used to people. Somehow, it has been domesticated. But still...a bear on a leash in the middle of a city with a million people is not something you expect to see, nor is it something you see every day. Apparently it must be more common than I think because no one else seemed to be showing any kind of reaction.
Since the bear and its caretaker were walking in the opposite direction my bus was headed, I couldn't get my camera out fast enough to snap a picture. :( Oh well. That is definitely one image that will never ever leave my head. lol We got off the bus and tried to hurry after it, but it had already crossed a busy street so we just kept walking home. Haha! I just saw a bear....on a leash....on the sidewalk.....in a city....hahaha!
Another random bus story, since I always have those, is a little different than my other ones because this time it wasn't something funny. I was on the bus and at the next stop a woman got on and sat in front of me. Just as she sat down, her phone rang. Now remember, I can't understand much Albanian at all, but I could tell this was a serious conversation because the woman (who was probably in her late 30s or early 40s) said, "Oh, mami!" and began to cry. I'm not just talking tears and sniffled. I'm talking shaking sobs and ragged breaths. She was trying not to make a scene because she put her head down and was trying to be quiet about it. But the woman next to me looked and me and said something, which I didn't understand, so I just shrugged my shoulders and tried to look as sympathetic as I felt.
I really really wanted to ask the woman if she was alright. I could have asked her if she was ok, because I sort of know how to say that, but it wouldn't have done any good since I wouldn't have understood her response and been able to say anything to it. I felt completely and utterly helpless. The woman next to me offered her a tissue and they chatted just briefly enough that the crying woman explained what had happened. I know this because the woman next to me said she was sorry and then I don't what she said except something about Jesus because she said Jezusi (pr. yay-zoo-see). I think the lady had just received news that someone died.
She got off at the same stop as me and told my seat partner thank you. I wished I could've said more. I don't think I've ever felt to helpless. At the same time, I didn't feel too awkward because I stick out as a foreigner so she knew I probably didn't understand anything. The weird thing was that even though I'm not completely sure what would have been culturally acceptable behavior in that situation, I'm fairly certain that the right thing to do would still have been to ask if she was ok or if she needed help or anything. I guess sympathy might just be the same world wide.
On a lighter and much happier note, my voice is back so I taught the rest of my classes this past week, was able to conduct a Valentine's Party for Activity Night, went to Albanian church on Saturday, did a home visit to some students who come to church regularly, took the MMM group to a pastry shop for a Valentine's treat, had English church this morning, and then went to Agron and Vitori's for lunch. Whew! Even when I'm sick I can't catch much rest. lol :)
My cold is still hanging around in the form of a cough. It's really deep and is starting to come from my chest now. Hopefully it doesn't get worse because I don't want to have to go to the doctor for this. It's been cold here, but I'd rather sit in a chilly room and have goosebumps because then I don't cough. If I'm in a warm room where I'm all cozy, I cough so much that I become miserable. This doesn't make sense to me, but whatever. I don't want to cough, so I'll settle for being chilly.
My classes continue to go very well. One of my groups made a video for my dad's class because they were studying eastern Europe and the Balkans. Since that obviously includes Albania, we made a very short video for them so they could learn a little extra about the country. My dad said his kids really enjoyed it and that they're working on making one to send back to us. :) Woo hoo! My class will love it!
I'm continuing to see significant marks in each of my classes. Some kids are beginning to see root words in larger words, others are catching on to the difference between the present continuous tense and the simple present tense, and others are starting to be more courageous about using new words and practicing their English in general. And with my most advanced group (an intermediate level) they're working on more serious speaking in front of people and are, therefore, learning that part of being a good English speaker is being a good listener and understanding what's being said. It's fun to see such marked progress because it makes me motivated to find something new and fun for them to try. Plus, it makes me feel like I'm doing a good job. lol I know I make mistakes, but at least they're learning something, right? ;) (If only I was so careful about proofreading these blog entries....Sorry! lol)
The Activity Nights are still quite popular. It's awesome because our space gets so full that we've actually had to limit attendance to just our students and their family members. Wow! When we first started this, we had about 15 people the first night and now we have to limit it so we have enough space for everyone. What a blessing!
And our MMM outings continue to be outstanding! Since they are limited to girls ages 13-17 it provides excellent quality time for us to really get to know the girls. I have all of them in my classes and they come early every day and stay late as much as possible because they just like to talk and ask questions. It's so much fun to make these connections with them because that's why I'm here--to get to know them and introduce them to the most important thing I know. I am always the happiest here when I am spending time with my students. :) Lately, I've been thinking about how I can do this more often.
So as you can see, things continue to go well here and God continues to bless our efforts, even if it appears to be in small ways. Things have to start somewhere and I have no doubt that he is doing everything he can to help many little seed of faith grow right now in Albania.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Whirlwind Italy--Last Day
A cold has been going around here lately. Emily and I got stuck with it last week, it hit Pastor on Saturday night, and some of our students have had it too. Well, I got hit extra hard this weekend. Saturday and Sunday I had a bad sore throat and then on Monday I woke up with no voice! I still haven't found it. So on day two of being mute, I finally have the chance and the energy to finish this Italy story (which has dragged on for far too long--my profound apologies). It's the perfect chance since I can't teach. This is the only "talking" I can do right now. lol Just picture that! Me...not being able to talk....lol
So the next morning came and Emily and I packed up. Our plan was to pack everything up, leave it at the hostel, explore until lunch time, grab a bite to eat, pick up our luggage, then head to the train station to go back to Bari so we could catch the ferry back. Our ferry tickets were once again for the overnight ferry.
Our day went as planned. We got all of our stuff together and headed back out into Naples. We followed the same route as the day before, which led us to the National Archaeological Museum. This time, it was open. :) So we paid the admission, got a locker for our coats and purses, checked our umbrellas (it was rainy, again) and started exploring.
The museum had a lot of stuff, though it was smaller than we expected. For everything we had been told about the place we kind of expected it to be massive. It wasn't, but it wasn't small either. It was still interesting. It also seemed like some exhibits were closed for whatever reason, but we had anticipated that just a little bit since we knew we were visiting during the off-season.
Despite that, we got to see all sorts of things found at Pompeii and Herculaneum. Mostly everything in the museum was from one of those two cities. We saw tons of marble statues and busts. There were many of the gods, of course, but there were also some that depicted children or wealthy adults, though none who were named so it's pretty safe to say they didn't depict real people. Some of them were just absolutely gigantic! They were two or even three times the size of a real life person. I couldn't believe it! How do you make something that big and still have the proportions be correct? How long did it take to make them? What if you made a mistake?
There were some absolutely incredible mosaics, too! I love mosaics because I do not have that kind of vision at all. I know they laid them out beforehand, but I can't think how to do that. I don't know how to make a picture in my head become a picture in reality. My stick people don't even turn out the way I see them in my imagination, let alone a whole wall mosaic! lol Some of them were made with teensy-weensy tiles which made them seem extra intricate to me. And the way they know how to place lighter colors or darker colors in certain areas to create shading and imitate shadows is a complete mystery to me. That's probably why I admire such art--I have no idea how it's done so it simply amazes me.
We also saw plenty of paintings. The thing that struck me about the paintings is that they survived in such a preserved condition that they were still able to be restored and transported for display in a museum. Keep in mind, the eruption happened in 79 A.D. That's a long time ago!
There was also a "Secret Room" that was only for adults. That being said, you can probably guess what was there. Nothing horrible or anything like that. It was just the room where the more sexual art was displayed. Naked paintings and statues and things like that. It wasn't any worse than such paintings at any other art museum. In fact, I'm pretty sure the Art Institute in Chicago would be considered way more risque than the small room which housed these works. The part about this room that was a little strange though was the emphasis that was placed on the male form. Much of the art emphasized the phallus by either enlarging it or making it the sole item in a sculpture or other piece.
When we read about this, we found out that there was a reason for this. During that time, the phallus was considered a symbol of good luck. People placed these shapes/symbols in the houses or over their doors with one that was almost like a sconce in that it came out from the wall. Also, people wore this symbol for good luck. We saw chains and bracelets with this symbol that were even small enough for babies to wear. Overall, it was actually a very interesting history lesson and a good look into the trends and superstitions of the time. Though Emily and I were both thankful that good luck symbols have changed since then. lol We'll settle for a four leaf clover or a rabbit's foot. ;)
We saw exhibits of coins and jewelry from that time in addition to everyday items like vases, jugs, jars, dishes, cooking utensils, measuring scales, pots, and tables. There was a miniature replica of the city that was built to scale. Even this made it look like a large city.
But the coolest thing of all was a special exhibit that had just opened there and it was the first time this exhibit was showing. Guess what it was called? The Gladiator. I was so excited!!! As if seeing a real arena hadn't been exciting enough for me, I saw items that were actually used by gladiators in real competition. Real gladiators. Equipment used to fight and defend against human or beast in front of thousands of people. Worn by courageous men. There were spear tips, small swards, large knives, a shield, leg protection, and many different styles of helmets. The helmets, as it turns out, had different designs based on where the gladiator was from, where he was fighting, how successful he was, and whether he fought beast or human battles. Some were a simple design, others had intricate moldings. They also had the big horns that were blown before the competitions to announce the start and to call the gladiators into the stadium. It was awesome!!! I know that if I had lived during that time, I would've loved these competitions. They would've captured my attention, my competitive streak, and my admiration.
After the museum, we spent some time in the gift shop where they had tons of books. I bought two. :) Good thing I like to read! Then we got our stuff out of the lockers, planned our next stop and headed out.
We walked back the way we came because it had good window shopping. :) Plus, it led straight to where we wanted to go. We headed back to the Plaza Plebiscito because we wanted some daylight pictures there. The ones from the night before were good, but we wanted some in the day too. Plus, one corner of the plaza led right to the sea bay with awesome views across the bay to Mt. Vesuvius. Obviously the first thoughts in our head were about photo opportunities. lol We got the pictures as it started to sprinkle and then headed to lunch where we had to stop at the place that had delivered such amazing pizza just a few days earlier. We ate in the tented area outside to keep out of the rain and we ordered a Margarita Pizza to split. We also had a little chat with the table next to us. It was a mother and son who were from Colorado. They were on a cruise that was stopped in Naples for a day. It was nice to chat with new people and catch up on life in the States a bit. The son was studying to be a teacher so he had a few questions for us about how we ended up where we were. It was a perfect opportunity to share our story and mission.
After that deliciously authentic Italian lunch we went back to the hostel to get our bags. By now it was raining rather heavily so we decided to take a taxi to the train station. The walk was easy but a little long and we didn't want to get wet because it would've meant being wet for the rest of our travels, most likely.
We got our train without any problems, made it to Bari, and we were both hungry. Remember what we'd seen in Bari but had only taken pictures of? That's right--McDonald's. :) We stopped. It was quick and cheap. lol (Have you noticed that theme at all during this trip? lol) Then we had extra time before our ferry left so we walked, with our luggage, through the shopping area of town. Again, it was excellent window shopping. And it gave us a chance to stand and stretch our legs again before being stuck on the ferry all night. We weren't sure how to get to the port from the train station or how far it was, but luckily, train stations are an easy place to catch a taxi. So we got to the ferry, ate a snack, and boarded the boat.
Fortunately, this boat was much newer, much nice, and practically empty. We had real seats this time. They were like bus seats or airplane seats in a big room with a few TVs. There were about 100 of them in there and only 4 people. Emily and I didn't have anyone bothering us on that trip. It still rocked a bit, but that didn't bother either of us. We talked and laughed for awhile, Emily did some word searches while I read, and we slept. The only bad part was that in the morning, I saw someone puke into a bag. Ewww. That made me a little nauseous for the last hour, but I knew it was only because I was grossed out.
The boat docked, we got off, walked a little ways to the entrance to the main highway and caught a fergon to Tirana. A fergon is basically a glorified minivan. It's not quite a huge 15 passenger van, but it's not quite a minibus either. It holds about 12 people and isn't as expensive as a taxi, but is more expensive than a bus, but makes better timing. It was a good way to go. So we made it back safe and sound by 10am.
You know what happened after that. We began planning for classes, they began, and I've been working every since. And, might I add, loving every minute of it. :) It really is a blast to teach these kids because every day makes me motivated. I see when things click and it's exciting to me that they've understood! And if they don't quite catch on as quickly, it's a fun challenge for me to think of a fun and exciting way to explain it to them again, a different way, for the next lesson. Some of my classes are really starting to catch on to things, too! I'm so proud of them for how hard they work at it! :)
Activity Nights have been getting record attendance, which is good, but makes it difficult because we have such a small space and with that many people, there's no room to move or do anything really active. lol But they love to sing and learn knew songs and that can be done with a big group or a small group. The other day, when they learned about U.S. National Parks, they saw pictures, learned new things, and then I taught them The Bear Song. You know, the one that goes, "The other day (the other day), I saw a bear (I saw a bear)." And so on, and so on. They had a ton of fun with that one. My kids even asked if we could sing it again in class. lol I promised them we could. But, then, I lost my voice. That made talking, singing, and teaching out of the question yesterday and today. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to be understood so I can get back at it.
Other than that, things are going quite well here. We even have two girls, both age 13, who are interested in taking some classes with Agron. See, once a week Agron gives a devotion after each class. They were learning about the baptism of Jesus the other week and then that weekend at church, we had communion. After the MMM group had a meeting that day, two of the girls who come to church pretty regularly asked me what that was that we get when we go up there. So I got to explain it to them a little bit and then they wanted to know who could have it. I told them that people who were members of the church--people who'd been baptized and confirmed--could have it. So I asked them if they'd been baptized. They said no, but explained to me that other people in their families were. Anyway, it was a good conversation that led into asking them if they'd be interested in learning more about the church and getting baptized. They said yes! :)
Of course I relayed this information to Pastor and Agron and they've begun making plans to start another course like the one they used when Olsa, Neda, and Ledio started. They were around that same age so the same materials would be appropriate. There are also two other girls we want to talk to about it a bit. It's so exciting! Keep this in your prayers, please!
To finish up the Italy details, here are the pictures from our first day of explorations in Naples, followed by our second day of explorations and finished off by the trip to the museum on our last day. :)
So the next morning came and Emily and I packed up. Our plan was to pack everything up, leave it at the hostel, explore until lunch time, grab a bite to eat, pick up our luggage, then head to the train station to go back to Bari so we could catch the ferry back. Our ferry tickets were once again for the overnight ferry.
Our day went as planned. We got all of our stuff together and headed back out into Naples. We followed the same route as the day before, which led us to the National Archaeological Museum. This time, it was open. :) So we paid the admission, got a locker for our coats and purses, checked our umbrellas (it was rainy, again) and started exploring.
The museum had a lot of stuff, though it was smaller than we expected. For everything we had been told about the place we kind of expected it to be massive. It wasn't, but it wasn't small either. It was still interesting. It also seemed like some exhibits were closed for whatever reason, but we had anticipated that just a little bit since we knew we were visiting during the off-season.
Despite that, we got to see all sorts of things found at Pompeii and Herculaneum. Mostly everything in the museum was from one of those two cities. We saw tons of marble statues and busts. There were many of the gods, of course, but there were also some that depicted children or wealthy adults, though none who were named so it's pretty safe to say they didn't depict real people. Some of them were just absolutely gigantic! They were two or even three times the size of a real life person. I couldn't believe it! How do you make something that big and still have the proportions be correct? How long did it take to make them? What if you made a mistake?
There were some absolutely incredible mosaics, too! I love mosaics because I do not have that kind of vision at all. I know they laid them out beforehand, but I can't think how to do that. I don't know how to make a picture in my head become a picture in reality. My stick people don't even turn out the way I see them in my imagination, let alone a whole wall mosaic! lol Some of them were made with teensy-weensy tiles which made them seem extra intricate to me. And the way they know how to place lighter colors or darker colors in certain areas to create shading and imitate shadows is a complete mystery to me. That's probably why I admire such art--I have no idea how it's done so it simply amazes me.
We also saw plenty of paintings. The thing that struck me about the paintings is that they survived in such a preserved condition that they were still able to be restored and transported for display in a museum. Keep in mind, the eruption happened in 79 A.D. That's a long time ago!
There was also a "Secret Room" that was only for adults. That being said, you can probably guess what was there. Nothing horrible or anything like that. It was just the room where the more sexual art was displayed. Naked paintings and statues and things like that. It wasn't any worse than such paintings at any other art museum. In fact, I'm pretty sure the Art Institute in Chicago would be considered way more risque than the small room which housed these works. The part about this room that was a little strange though was the emphasis that was placed on the male form. Much of the art emphasized the phallus by either enlarging it or making it the sole item in a sculpture or other piece.
When we read about this, we found out that there was a reason for this. During that time, the phallus was considered a symbol of good luck. People placed these shapes/symbols in the houses or over their doors with one that was almost like a sconce in that it came out from the wall. Also, people wore this symbol for good luck. We saw chains and bracelets with this symbol that were even small enough for babies to wear. Overall, it was actually a very interesting history lesson and a good look into the trends and superstitions of the time. Though Emily and I were both thankful that good luck symbols have changed since then. lol We'll settle for a four leaf clover or a rabbit's foot. ;)
We saw exhibits of coins and jewelry from that time in addition to everyday items like vases, jugs, jars, dishes, cooking utensils, measuring scales, pots, and tables. There was a miniature replica of the city that was built to scale. Even this made it look like a large city.
But the coolest thing of all was a special exhibit that had just opened there and it was the first time this exhibit was showing. Guess what it was called? The Gladiator. I was so excited!!! As if seeing a real arena hadn't been exciting enough for me, I saw items that were actually used by gladiators in real competition. Real gladiators. Equipment used to fight and defend against human or beast in front of thousands of people. Worn by courageous men. There were spear tips, small swards, large knives, a shield, leg protection, and many different styles of helmets. The helmets, as it turns out, had different designs based on where the gladiator was from, where he was fighting, how successful he was, and whether he fought beast or human battles. Some were a simple design, others had intricate moldings. They also had the big horns that were blown before the competitions to announce the start and to call the gladiators into the stadium. It was awesome!!! I know that if I had lived during that time, I would've loved these competitions. They would've captured my attention, my competitive streak, and my admiration.
After the museum, we spent some time in the gift shop where they had tons of books. I bought two. :) Good thing I like to read! Then we got our stuff out of the lockers, planned our next stop and headed out.
We walked back the way we came because it had good window shopping. :) Plus, it led straight to where we wanted to go. We headed back to the Plaza Plebiscito because we wanted some daylight pictures there. The ones from the night before were good, but we wanted some in the day too. Plus, one corner of the plaza led right to the sea bay with awesome views across the bay to Mt. Vesuvius. Obviously the first thoughts in our head were about photo opportunities. lol We got the pictures as it started to sprinkle and then headed to lunch where we had to stop at the place that had delivered such amazing pizza just a few days earlier. We ate in the tented area outside to keep out of the rain and we ordered a Margarita Pizza to split. We also had a little chat with the table next to us. It was a mother and son who were from Colorado. They were on a cruise that was stopped in Naples for a day. It was nice to chat with new people and catch up on life in the States a bit. The son was studying to be a teacher so he had a few questions for us about how we ended up where we were. It was a perfect opportunity to share our story and mission.
After that deliciously authentic Italian lunch we went back to the hostel to get our bags. By now it was raining rather heavily so we decided to take a taxi to the train station. The walk was easy but a little long and we didn't want to get wet because it would've meant being wet for the rest of our travels, most likely.
We got our train without any problems, made it to Bari, and we were both hungry. Remember what we'd seen in Bari but had only taken pictures of? That's right--McDonald's. :) We stopped. It was quick and cheap. lol (Have you noticed that theme at all during this trip? lol) Then we had extra time before our ferry left so we walked, with our luggage, through the shopping area of town. Again, it was excellent window shopping. And it gave us a chance to stand and stretch our legs again before being stuck on the ferry all night. We weren't sure how to get to the port from the train station or how far it was, but luckily, train stations are an easy place to catch a taxi. So we got to the ferry, ate a snack, and boarded the boat.
Fortunately, this boat was much newer, much nice, and practically empty. We had real seats this time. They were like bus seats or airplane seats in a big room with a few TVs. There were about 100 of them in there and only 4 people. Emily and I didn't have anyone bothering us on that trip. It still rocked a bit, but that didn't bother either of us. We talked and laughed for awhile, Emily did some word searches while I read, and we slept. The only bad part was that in the morning, I saw someone puke into a bag. Ewww. That made me a little nauseous for the last hour, but I knew it was only because I was grossed out.
The boat docked, we got off, walked a little ways to the entrance to the main highway and caught a fergon to Tirana. A fergon is basically a glorified minivan. It's not quite a huge 15 passenger van, but it's not quite a minibus either. It holds about 12 people and isn't as expensive as a taxi, but is more expensive than a bus, but makes better timing. It was a good way to go. So we made it back safe and sound by 10am.
You know what happened after that. We began planning for classes, they began, and I've been working every since. And, might I add, loving every minute of it. :) It really is a blast to teach these kids because every day makes me motivated. I see when things click and it's exciting to me that they've understood! And if they don't quite catch on as quickly, it's a fun challenge for me to think of a fun and exciting way to explain it to them again, a different way, for the next lesson. Some of my classes are really starting to catch on to things, too! I'm so proud of them for how hard they work at it! :)
Activity Nights have been getting record attendance, which is good, but makes it difficult because we have such a small space and with that many people, there's no room to move or do anything really active. lol But they love to sing and learn knew songs and that can be done with a big group or a small group. The other day, when they learned about U.S. National Parks, they saw pictures, learned new things, and then I taught them The Bear Song. You know, the one that goes, "The other day (the other day), I saw a bear (I saw a bear)." And so on, and so on. They had a ton of fun with that one. My kids even asked if we could sing it again in class. lol I promised them we could. But, then, I lost my voice. That made talking, singing, and teaching out of the question yesterday and today. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to be understood so I can get back at it.
Other than that, things are going quite well here. We even have two girls, both age 13, who are interested in taking some classes with Agron. See, once a week Agron gives a devotion after each class. They were learning about the baptism of Jesus the other week and then that weekend at church, we had communion. After the MMM group had a meeting that day, two of the girls who come to church pretty regularly asked me what that was that we get when we go up there. So I got to explain it to them a little bit and then they wanted to know who could have it. I told them that people who were members of the church--people who'd been baptized and confirmed--could have it. So I asked them if they'd been baptized. They said no, but explained to me that other people in their families were. Anyway, it was a good conversation that led into asking them if they'd be interested in learning more about the church and getting baptized. They said yes! :)
Of course I relayed this information to Pastor and Agron and they've begun making plans to start another course like the one they used when Olsa, Neda, and Ledio started. They were around that same age so the same materials would be appropriate. There are also two other girls we want to talk to about it a bit. It's so exciting! Keep this in your prayers, please!
To finish up the Italy details, here are the pictures from our first day of explorations in Naples, followed by our second day of explorations and finished off by the trip to the museum on our last day. :)
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Whirlwind Italy--Exploring Naples, Part Two
After our self guided tour of Il Duomo gave us sufficient time to admire the many different artistic talents that went into creating such a magnificent place, Emily and I couldn’t hold back our curiosity about the Underground Naples thing. We checked on the map to double check that we were still close and found that we were indeed. The walk to the start of the tour was short—maybe two blocks. But the start of the tour was hidden, sort of. There was a sign that said something about Napoli Sotterranea tickets so Emily went to go check it out. Turns out that place just directed us to the actual entrance, which was around the side of another church (big surprise) and tucked in this little corner that wasn’t even noticeable from the street.
We got our tickets for an English speaking tour and were given some extremely interesting pamphlets that gave us some history of what we were about to see. We chatted for a few more minutes with our tour guide, Alex (Alessandro), and a few of the other tour-takers. Then, the fun began.
First of all, I have to tell you right now that Alex was by far the best tour guide of all time. I love tours and I’ve been on a lot of them during my travels in the US (thank you, Lakeside), and not only was he funny, informative, and generally entertaining, he was downright animated. I’m serious! He acted things out and had wild gestures and expressions. But he wasn’t doing it to be goofy or anything; he was just genuinely that kind of person. He was a complete extrovert and it made the tour a blast! :)
First we went around to the other side of the church and followed the narrow street for almost a block. Then, we entered this little teeny, tiny home. It was on the street level and the Neapolitan word this kind of traditional house is basso. So we entered the basso and we told that based on ancient records and historical documents, archaeologists knew that old cities like Naples never expanded outside their city walls. Therefore, as they grew and built new things or were conquered and the new ruling party built new things, the old things were just built over if they weren’t destroyed. Such was the case with this house.
Archaeologists knew, based on Greek and Roman records and documents, that there had been a large theatre here at one point. The family that had lived in this house had a typical entrance to a cellar from inside their house. Little did they know that what they had thought was just a cellar was really one of the backstage rooms to one of the largest most important Roman theaters of the first century A.D.
The family was paid such a large amount of money to sell the house to archaeologists that they took only their clothes before leaving. The house was still furnished as it was, complete with a picture of Mussolini on the wall. As Alex said, “You want to know how much money they got for their house? Let me tell you like this--they heard the amount and left so fast it was like a cartoon. The door was still spinning!”
Anyway, this theater seated 8,000 people but because of costs, only a few of the backstage rooms have been uncovered. Because there are large buildings built over this and because it’s in one of the oldest most important parts in the city, the costs to uncover and open up the whole theater would be astronomical. There would be too many people to relocate. Those costs alone would be staggering. Then there would be the costs to tear down all of the buildings that are standing on top of the theater. That process would include closing streets and would be painstaking so as not to damage any of the theater. Then there would be the excavation costs. Plus, there is not even a reasonable estimate of how long something like would take if, by a series of earth-shattering miracles, the money could be raised.
It was really fantastic to see such a place! Again, the tufa stone (And yes, it’s tufa, not tufla like I’ve been writing all along. Oops! I re-read the pamphlet as I was packing it away with other souvenirs.) was used in sections of the walls and pillars so that when there were earthquakes the shock would be absorbed by this porous stone and the structure would not crumble.
The thing that impressed me most about the theater though was that the Emperor Nero himself performed there on three separate occasions. All of these instances were well-documented, as were many other performances there as well. Even though Nero was the Roman emperor, he never performed in Rome because he preferred the arts scene in Naples over Rome despite that Naples was almost a Greek city.
Oh, I just love history when I can learn about it firsthand! I could picture everything in its glory as it was being described and I could only try to imagine what it must have been like for the people who sat through Nero’s performance even though there was a pretty nasty earthquake. What kept them from getting hysterical? Nero because he said that it was just the gods applauding his performance. Ha! What an ego! What was going through the people’s minds that they believed this enough to stay? lol This is no joke. The incident was recorded by one of Nero’s personal scribes.
Anyway, after our encounter in what has to be the oldest place I’ve ever been, we went back to where we started and split the group. See, Alex had been explaining all of this in Italian, Neapolitan Italian, English, and French because there was one lady in the group who spoke French and didn’t know Italian or English. Lucky for her, Alex happened to know French. So anyway, back at the starting point, the French lady left. She just wanted to see the theater part of the tour. The rest of us split into an English tour and an Italian tour. Alex stayed with the English group.
We proceeded to go down underground once again. This time we were headed into the Greek-Roman aqueducts. The history of these aqueducts begins with the Greeks. They carved out the tufa stone to use in building the city walls and temples and then creating underground caves to be used as graves called hypogea. There are even some graffiti markings and symbols carved in the stone walls of these quarries that match the graffiti markings and symbols on blocks that were used to hold up some of landmark buildings that are still standing. Wow!!!
When the Roman Empire took over Naples, they continued digging quarries but also decided to connect the quarries by digging out tunnels. They also created a 400km long aqueduct. But in 1629 the aqueduct had to be expanded because the city was growing. A Neapolitan nobleman solved the problem by designing a new aqueduct that was built.
After the stone was carved out, huge cisterns remained to house the water. Well holes to these cisterns were left open in public places as well as at the private homes of some of the elite. This system of aqueducts and cisterns was used until 1884 when they had to be closed because a cholera epidemic spread through the area. The porous tufa stone allowed the disease to spread though and infect the entire water supply.
However, this was not the end of usage of the massive underground space. During WWII, Naples was heavily bombed and the aqueducts were used as air-raid shelters. As such a shelter, the aqueducts protected just over 3,000 people at a time during.
It was so awesome to see all of this while hearing about it. It was amazing because you could see the marks in the stone walls where the chisels had been used to cut out bricks. And you could see along the sides where the armies of WWII had built cement benches so people could take turns sitting. They even had pictures of Naples during WWII up on some of the walls in the aqueducts. They also had other WWII items down there for display.
Though the aqueducts are lit with electric lights for the tours now, there was one long very narrow passage where we had to use candlelight to guide our path. It was 80m long but 7m high. At some points though, Alex warned us we would have to “walk like an Egyptian” (and of course Mr. Animated had to demonstrate. :) lol). We did indeed have to walk sideways, like an Egyptian, to get through sections of it. But it took us to a small Greek cistern and then to a very large Roman cistern that are filled with water (by a hose). It was awesome!
Emily and I were at the back of the group while we were going through the candle light part of the tour. Emily was behind me and all of a sudden I heard her say, “I don’t like being at the end.” I was confused so I asked, “Why?” To which she replied, “Because there’s no one behind me!” Haha! I hadn’t realized that but she most definitely had when she looked back and saw pitch black. She was a brave soul!
At the very end of the tour we ended up in a little room. It turns out that it was the wine cellar of a church. It was where the nuns made and stored the communion wine. They even had an area of porcelain circles in the wall to provide the right ventilation and temperature control. We learned that because the tufa stone is so porous, as the wine sat in the bottles to ferment, the air flow and small pressure changes are enough to actually make the wine naturally sparkling. There was also a small cistern down here where the nuns got their water. Pretty interesting!
We went up about 1,000 steps and were in a little shop next to where we’d started the tour outside. We were able to sample some of the wine made there and we toasted in 4 different languages. English and Italian, of course, then Emily and I had to toast in Albanian, and there was a nice guy in our group from Japan, so we toasted in Japanese, too. :) The wine was very tasty so I had to buy a bottle to bring back with me. What a great souvenir! Plus, I bought a candle holder like the ones we’d used for our candle light part of the tour. They were all ceramic and were hand-painted by a local artist. It was cool because none of them were the same. So I definitely found myself unique reminders of my trip to Naples! Yay! :)
After all this excitement, we were starving! It was close to 3:00 by now and we hadn’t eaten lunch yet! So we walked a short ways down the street and found a place that looked cute so we went in. The menu was all on a little chalkboard and was all Italian. Emily asked what I was going to get, and I told her. And then I asked what she was getting. She said, “I’m just going to try something new because I like anything!” This didn’t surprise me because she’s not a picky eater at all, and it’s fun to try new things in a new place. Just after she said that, the waiter came and took our order. When he brought out the food, he sat an octopus salad down in front of Emily. As soon as he left, she said, “I don’t like this!” Haha! I couldn’t help it. I laughed out loud, on the spot. Emily didn’t think it was that funny. But the one thing that she doesn’t really like ended up being what she ordered. We had no clue what it would be! I told her to order something else and I’d split the cost of the octopus salad with her because I was curious and wanted to try it since I’d never tried octopus before.
Well, I’ve tried octopus now. The weirdest part was looking at it as it went into my mouth. You could see the tentacle and where the suction things should be. It’s not skinned or anything, just cooked as is because it’s all just fleshy. The flavor was actually pretty good. The texture of the meat was kind of like crab to me because it was chewier than other seafood, but not quite as chewy as something like clams. The flavor was its own though, and I liked it. The texture of the tentacles was weird though because you could feel the bumps from where the suction parts were. That was the only kind of bad part. Otherwise, it was an interesting experience, and obviously, it didn’t harm me because I’m here to tell about it! :)
After that, we spent the rest of the day walking around snapping photos left and right of more statues and fountains and awesome buildings. All day long I was continuously impressed with the architecture! Not once was I disappointed with a building I saw. I just had to be careful to only take pictures of the ones I really liked. Hee hee!
We did stop for a coffee break and I got a real chocolate. Not a hot chocolate. I mean real melted chocolate in a cup. Yum, yum! Now that’s my kind of hot chocolate! :) It was very good and provided the energy we needed to continue walking and window shopping and picture-taking.
We didn’t feel like doing anything special for supper since we went to a local place for lunch so we just went to Burger King. Haha! Aren’t we adventurous? lol Actually, it was practically next door to our hostel, it was a reasonable price, and Emily wanted a sundae and I wanted a burger so we went inside and had it our way. ;)
After that, we went back to the hostel and just relaxed. We were tired! Two days of all day walking with more to coming the next morning! So after checking email and facebook, doing word searches, and reading, we hit the hay to rest up for another big day.
I’ll stop here before I begin the next day’s adventures. The next day was our last day in Naples as we had to start the journey back to Albania. Rest assured that it is not the end of the excitement. Oh, no! Not at all! The first thing on our agenda for the next day was the National Archaeological Museum. :)
We got our tickets for an English speaking tour and were given some extremely interesting pamphlets that gave us some history of what we were about to see. We chatted for a few more minutes with our tour guide, Alex (Alessandro), and a few of the other tour-takers. Then, the fun began.
First of all, I have to tell you right now that Alex was by far the best tour guide of all time. I love tours and I’ve been on a lot of them during my travels in the US (thank you, Lakeside), and not only was he funny, informative, and generally entertaining, he was downright animated. I’m serious! He acted things out and had wild gestures and expressions. But he wasn’t doing it to be goofy or anything; he was just genuinely that kind of person. He was a complete extrovert and it made the tour a blast! :)
First we went around to the other side of the church and followed the narrow street for almost a block. Then, we entered this little teeny, tiny home. It was on the street level and the Neapolitan word this kind of traditional house is basso. So we entered the basso and we told that based on ancient records and historical documents, archaeologists knew that old cities like Naples never expanded outside their city walls. Therefore, as they grew and built new things or were conquered and the new ruling party built new things, the old things were just built over if they weren’t destroyed. Such was the case with this house.
Archaeologists knew, based on Greek and Roman records and documents, that there had been a large theatre here at one point. The family that had lived in this house had a typical entrance to a cellar from inside their house. Little did they know that what they had thought was just a cellar was really one of the backstage rooms to one of the largest most important Roman theaters of the first century A.D.
The family was paid such a large amount of money to sell the house to archaeologists that they took only their clothes before leaving. The house was still furnished as it was, complete with a picture of Mussolini on the wall. As Alex said, “You want to know how much money they got for their house? Let me tell you like this--they heard the amount and left so fast it was like a cartoon. The door was still spinning!”
Anyway, this theater seated 8,000 people but because of costs, only a few of the backstage rooms have been uncovered. Because there are large buildings built over this and because it’s in one of the oldest most important parts in the city, the costs to uncover and open up the whole theater would be astronomical. There would be too many people to relocate. Those costs alone would be staggering. Then there would be the costs to tear down all of the buildings that are standing on top of the theater. That process would include closing streets and would be painstaking so as not to damage any of the theater. Then there would be the excavation costs. Plus, there is not even a reasonable estimate of how long something like would take if, by a series of earth-shattering miracles, the money could be raised.
It was really fantastic to see such a place! Again, the tufa stone (And yes, it’s tufa, not tufla like I’ve been writing all along. Oops! I re-read the pamphlet as I was packing it away with other souvenirs.) was used in sections of the walls and pillars so that when there were earthquakes the shock would be absorbed by this porous stone and the structure would not crumble.
The thing that impressed me most about the theater though was that the Emperor Nero himself performed there on three separate occasions. All of these instances were well-documented, as were many other performances there as well. Even though Nero was the Roman emperor, he never performed in Rome because he preferred the arts scene in Naples over Rome despite that Naples was almost a Greek city.
Oh, I just love history when I can learn about it firsthand! I could picture everything in its glory as it was being described and I could only try to imagine what it must have been like for the people who sat through Nero’s performance even though there was a pretty nasty earthquake. What kept them from getting hysterical? Nero because he said that it was just the gods applauding his performance. Ha! What an ego! What was going through the people’s minds that they believed this enough to stay? lol This is no joke. The incident was recorded by one of Nero’s personal scribes.
Anyway, after our encounter in what has to be the oldest place I’ve ever been, we went back to where we started and split the group. See, Alex had been explaining all of this in Italian, Neapolitan Italian, English, and French because there was one lady in the group who spoke French and didn’t know Italian or English. Lucky for her, Alex happened to know French. So anyway, back at the starting point, the French lady left. She just wanted to see the theater part of the tour. The rest of us split into an English tour and an Italian tour. Alex stayed with the English group.
We proceeded to go down underground once again. This time we were headed into the Greek-Roman aqueducts. The history of these aqueducts begins with the Greeks. They carved out the tufa stone to use in building the city walls and temples and then creating underground caves to be used as graves called hypogea. There are even some graffiti markings and symbols carved in the stone walls of these quarries that match the graffiti markings and symbols on blocks that were used to hold up some of landmark buildings that are still standing. Wow!!!
When the Roman Empire took over Naples, they continued digging quarries but also decided to connect the quarries by digging out tunnels. They also created a 400km long aqueduct. But in 1629 the aqueduct had to be expanded because the city was growing. A Neapolitan nobleman solved the problem by designing a new aqueduct that was built.
After the stone was carved out, huge cisterns remained to house the water. Well holes to these cisterns were left open in public places as well as at the private homes of some of the elite. This system of aqueducts and cisterns was used until 1884 when they had to be closed because a cholera epidemic spread through the area. The porous tufa stone allowed the disease to spread though and infect the entire water supply.
However, this was not the end of usage of the massive underground space. During WWII, Naples was heavily bombed and the aqueducts were used as air-raid shelters. As such a shelter, the aqueducts protected just over 3,000 people at a time during.
It was so awesome to see all of this while hearing about it. It was amazing because you could see the marks in the stone walls where the chisels had been used to cut out bricks. And you could see along the sides where the armies of WWII had built cement benches so people could take turns sitting. They even had pictures of Naples during WWII up on some of the walls in the aqueducts. They also had other WWII items down there for display.
Though the aqueducts are lit with electric lights for the tours now, there was one long very narrow passage where we had to use candlelight to guide our path. It was 80m long but 7m high. At some points though, Alex warned us we would have to “walk like an Egyptian” (and of course Mr. Animated had to demonstrate. :) lol). We did indeed have to walk sideways, like an Egyptian, to get through sections of it. But it took us to a small Greek cistern and then to a very large Roman cistern that are filled with water (by a hose). It was awesome!
Emily and I were at the back of the group while we were going through the candle light part of the tour. Emily was behind me and all of a sudden I heard her say, “I don’t like being at the end.” I was confused so I asked, “Why?” To which she replied, “Because there’s no one behind me!” Haha! I hadn’t realized that but she most definitely had when she looked back and saw pitch black. She was a brave soul!
At the very end of the tour we ended up in a little room. It turns out that it was the wine cellar of a church. It was where the nuns made and stored the communion wine. They even had an area of porcelain circles in the wall to provide the right ventilation and temperature control. We learned that because the tufa stone is so porous, as the wine sat in the bottles to ferment, the air flow and small pressure changes are enough to actually make the wine naturally sparkling. There was also a small cistern down here where the nuns got their water. Pretty interesting!
We went up about 1,000 steps and were in a little shop next to where we’d started the tour outside. We were able to sample some of the wine made there and we toasted in 4 different languages. English and Italian, of course, then Emily and I had to toast in Albanian, and there was a nice guy in our group from Japan, so we toasted in Japanese, too. :) The wine was very tasty so I had to buy a bottle to bring back with me. What a great souvenir! Plus, I bought a candle holder like the ones we’d used for our candle light part of the tour. They were all ceramic and were hand-painted by a local artist. It was cool because none of them were the same. So I definitely found myself unique reminders of my trip to Naples! Yay! :)
After all this excitement, we were starving! It was close to 3:00 by now and we hadn’t eaten lunch yet! So we walked a short ways down the street and found a place that looked cute so we went in. The menu was all on a little chalkboard and was all Italian. Emily asked what I was going to get, and I told her. And then I asked what she was getting. She said, “I’m just going to try something new because I like anything!” This didn’t surprise me because she’s not a picky eater at all, and it’s fun to try new things in a new place. Just after she said that, the waiter came and took our order. When he brought out the food, he sat an octopus salad down in front of Emily. As soon as he left, she said, “I don’t like this!” Haha! I couldn’t help it. I laughed out loud, on the spot. Emily didn’t think it was that funny. But the one thing that she doesn’t really like ended up being what she ordered. We had no clue what it would be! I told her to order something else and I’d split the cost of the octopus salad with her because I was curious and wanted to try it since I’d never tried octopus before.
Well, I’ve tried octopus now. The weirdest part was looking at it as it went into my mouth. You could see the tentacle and where the suction things should be. It’s not skinned or anything, just cooked as is because it’s all just fleshy. The flavor was actually pretty good. The texture of the meat was kind of like crab to me because it was chewier than other seafood, but not quite as chewy as something like clams. The flavor was its own though, and I liked it. The texture of the tentacles was weird though because you could feel the bumps from where the suction parts were. That was the only kind of bad part. Otherwise, it was an interesting experience, and obviously, it didn’t harm me because I’m here to tell about it! :)
After that, we spent the rest of the day walking around snapping photos left and right of more statues and fountains and awesome buildings. All day long I was continuously impressed with the architecture! Not once was I disappointed with a building I saw. I just had to be careful to only take pictures of the ones I really liked. Hee hee!
We did stop for a coffee break and I got a real chocolate. Not a hot chocolate. I mean real melted chocolate in a cup. Yum, yum! Now that’s my kind of hot chocolate! :) It was very good and provided the energy we needed to continue walking and window shopping and picture-taking.
We didn’t feel like doing anything special for supper since we went to a local place for lunch so we just went to Burger King. Haha! Aren’t we adventurous? lol Actually, it was practically next door to our hostel, it was a reasonable price, and Emily wanted a sundae and I wanted a burger so we went inside and had it our way. ;)
After that, we went back to the hostel and just relaxed. We were tired! Two days of all day walking with more to coming the next morning! So after checking email and facebook, doing word searches, and reading, we hit the hay to rest up for another big day.
I’ll stop here before I begin the next day’s adventures. The next day was our last day in Naples as we had to start the journey back to Albania. Rest assured that it is not the end of the excitement. Oh, no! Not at all! The first thing on our agenda for the next day was the National Archaeological Museum. :)
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Whirlwind Italy--Exploring Naples, Part 1
Yes, I am back to the Italy story, just like TV shows don’t air new episodes from Christmas until February. Haha! :)
So… After getting a good night’s rest after a long but phenomenal day at Pompeii, we had planned to go back after we ate breakfast and showered. After all, we had a lot of picture-taking to catch up on! However, a look out the window made us question that plan. It was raining. Turns out that it was supposed to rain all day. We decided against Pompeii since it was all outdoors and much of the walking would have been on wet, slippery stones, and also since who knows what rainy pictures would’ve turned out like.
I was really really disappointed about this at first. I had pretty much had my heart set on going back to Pompeii for pictures and to see all the stuff we’d missed. Plus, I don’t exactly get excited about walking in the rain no matter where I am. But Emily made the suggestion that we check out the National Museum of Archaeology since that is where the majority of the artifacts discovered at Pompeii are displayed. We made that our plan, and though it made me happy to think about seeing that, I was still let down.
We began our walk in the light rain, and Emily tried to console me. Neither one of us was feeling the best that morning, so it’s kind of humorous now to look back and think about the two cranky tourists. Haha! It wasn’t that bad, we just had to see something to be excited about before our moods would improve. And guess what? We only had to go three blocks!!!
Castle Nuovo is a huge old castle right on the bay of Naples. It was visible from three blocks beyond our hostel. We had to walk a little further so that we could actually get there, but I got excited quickly because it was the first real castle I’d ever seen. I have always loved learning about castles and I love stories and movies that take place in castles or during the times when they (and the people who lived in them) played very important roles.
When we got closer, it just got even more enormous. We got to walk through the doors and over what used to be the moat. Now that a city has been build around it and it’s on a hill, the back part of the castle moat (that part that faces the sea) was torn away and the moat is a parking lot. Haha! I guess that works when it’s built on a hill and modern advancements begin to take over. ;)
We got to walk in the doors and look around a bit. We could look into the courtyard but we couldn’t really go anywhere. It said there was a museum tour, but we didn’t know what was in the museum or if they had an English tour. So we took some pictures, I marveled at everything, and decided to continue the long walk to the museum because there was much more to see.
All along the way I couldn’t help but be captivated by all of the architecture. It was so amazing! Every building looked so cool! And there were many fountains and statues and arches and paintings on or around buildings. Wow! Truth be told, we didn’t talk a whole lot because we were just taking everything in and pausing to snap pictures.
We passed the Gallery of Umberto I, which is full of shops, but it’s enclosed with a glass roof. It covers about 4 blocks and the inside gallery part would be the “roads” which have marble floors, incredibly details architectures, arches, details, and just everything that makes you say, “Wow!”
We also passed the Opera House, which was quite tricky to get a picture of because of its size and the strange way the road curved just there. I didn’t get a picture of it, but I did stop to take a mental note of the setting. As we walked we passed the Piazza Dante that had a big statue and then was open in front of a very long building that cured in almost a half circle. It was so unique! There were people selling things, people waiting for the bus, other tourists snapping pictures, and other people shopping, walking with brief cases, or just going about their daily business.
When we got to the National Museum of Archaeology, we found out that it was closed. Just our luck. It pretty much fit right in with how things were going on the trip. The extra long ferry ride, batteries dying at Pompeii, the rain changing our plans, and now the museum being closed. We stopped and got a good laugh. Now everything was just beginning to be funny and we were just happy to see whatever we could because it was all new to us anyway.
The guy who ran the hostel was an outstanding host. He’d given us tourist maps with places to see, told us the easiest ways to get there, and told us what roads would show us the most. He also gave us a suggestion. He’d said if we got the chance, we should take the Napoli Soterranea (Underground Naples) tour. He said a lot of people miss it but it’s only two hours and it would be completely worth it. Well, we had heard a little about this from the Europe guidebook Emily bought and from my internet research and had wanted to see it any way. So since all the other advice he’d given us had been right on, we decided to go for it. Why not? It wasn’t possible that everything in Naples was closed on Wednesdays. Haha!
There was one other main attraction listed on the map between the museum and the tour. It was labeled as Il Duomo. It was a massive and intricately ornate cathedral. We were so happy we stopped! It was called St. Gennaro Cathedral because St. Gennaro is buried there. First, I have to tell you that there were no pictures allowed in the cathedral. This was too bad because there were many photo-worthy things in there! But it was also good because I probably would’ve run out of room on my memory card. Hee hee! :)
Not only was there the main cathedral, there were two other large side chapels that were just as, if not more, ornate and detailed than the cathedral itself. There were also many little areas where people (priests and saints) were buried. And there were, of course, relics, since it was Catholic, after all, and it was very large important church in the city. In the front, there were steps leading up to the altar area, but on each side of those steps, there were steps leading down through a door. There was a sign that said the tomb of St. Gennaro was that way. So we went down there. It was pretty impressive. His tomb was there, in a room under the altar, and there was also the tomb of a cardinal. It was interesting.
Overall, we were very happy that we stopped here. It was absolutely spectacular! There was artwork everywhere! On the walls, on the ceilings, on the domes, on the tombs…there were paintings, statues, moldings, and when it was all put together just made your jaw drop in awe. I can’t even imagine the time it took to build all of that, and then, there was a big sign that had talked about the re-design of the building under the order of some cardinal. So then, it had been changed, some things had been saved, and others had been created.
Of course, the process of keeping up a building like this must be massive, and there is also a restoration process to go with because of the age of the work and items. So in some spots, you could see where they were doing work. That was fascinating because you could see doorways that were covered up to create walls in the re-designed part. There were small window that were the same way. And then, you could see where chunks of the wall had been removed or fallen away and parts of a fresco were missing only to expose another, older, fresco underneath. Crazy!
Throughout the entire day, I couldn’t help be enthralled with the history of the city. I would go back again if I ever got the chance. Though it’s not the cleanest city and though its reputation isn’t much (thanks to the mob), the history and culture of the Neapolitan life is fascinating! The city went through a major World War. Not only did it make it though WWII, but it was a place that was hit hard. Their life and history were drastically changed forever because of it. Yet, they made it. It is an area that has survived earthquakes and massive volcanic eruptions. It is an area known for strict Catholic faith, and yet a ridiculous amount of superstition. Everything about that city made me want to learn more. My curiosity wasn’t just piqued, it was on overload. lol :)
Anyway, let me pause there because that was the first half of our day of exploration in Naples. We explored more in the afternoon and continued our adventures in the city the next day, but this is long enough and I’m at a good breaking point. Now I’ll work on the photo albums so that when I continue I can post those links. It’s always nice to have pictures to accompany a story if you ask me. :)
Stay strong, stay safe, and until next time, keep the updates and comments coming. I love them! They always bring a smile to my face. :) My life here is so exciting on a daily basis and knowing that everyone is safe and happy at home is a blessing that only adds to my joy.
So… After getting a good night’s rest after a long but phenomenal day at Pompeii, we had planned to go back after we ate breakfast and showered. After all, we had a lot of picture-taking to catch up on! However, a look out the window made us question that plan. It was raining. Turns out that it was supposed to rain all day. We decided against Pompeii since it was all outdoors and much of the walking would have been on wet, slippery stones, and also since who knows what rainy pictures would’ve turned out like.
I was really really disappointed about this at first. I had pretty much had my heart set on going back to Pompeii for pictures and to see all the stuff we’d missed. Plus, I don’t exactly get excited about walking in the rain no matter where I am. But Emily made the suggestion that we check out the National Museum of Archaeology since that is where the majority of the artifacts discovered at Pompeii are displayed. We made that our plan, and though it made me happy to think about seeing that, I was still let down.
We began our walk in the light rain, and Emily tried to console me. Neither one of us was feeling the best that morning, so it’s kind of humorous now to look back and think about the two cranky tourists. Haha! It wasn’t that bad, we just had to see something to be excited about before our moods would improve. And guess what? We only had to go three blocks!!!
Castle Nuovo is a huge old castle right on the bay of Naples. It was visible from three blocks beyond our hostel. We had to walk a little further so that we could actually get there, but I got excited quickly because it was the first real castle I’d ever seen. I have always loved learning about castles and I love stories and movies that take place in castles or during the times when they (and the people who lived in them) played very important roles.
When we got closer, it just got even more enormous. We got to walk through the doors and over what used to be the moat. Now that a city has been build around it and it’s on a hill, the back part of the castle moat (that part that faces the sea) was torn away and the moat is a parking lot. Haha! I guess that works when it’s built on a hill and modern advancements begin to take over. ;)
We got to walk in the doors and look around a bit. We could look into the courtyard but we couldn’t really go anywhere. It said there was a museum tour, but we didn’t know what was in the museum or if they had an English tour. So we took some pictures, I marveled at everything, and decided to continue the long walk to the museum because there was much more to see.
All along the way I couldn’t help but be captivated by all of the architecture. It was so amazing! Every building looked so cool! And there were many fountains and statues and arches and paintings on or around buildings. Wow! Truth be told, we didn’t talk a whole lot because we were just taking everything in and pausing to snap pictures.
We passed the Gallery of Umberto I, which is full of shops, but it’s enclosed with a glass roof. It covers about 4 blocks and the inside gallery part would be the “roads” which have marble floors, incredibly details architectures, arches, details, and just everything that makes you say, “Wow!”
We also passed the Opera House, which was quite tricky to get a picture of because of its size and the strange way the road curved just there. I didn’t get a picture of it, but I did stop to take a mental note of the setting. As we walked we passed the Piazza Dante that had a big statue and then was open in front of a very long building that cured in almost a half circle. It was so unique! There were people selling things, people waiting for the bus, other tourists snapping pictures, and other people shopping, walking with brief cases, or just going about their daily business.
When we got to the National Museum of Archaeology, we found out that it was closed. Just our luck. It pretty much fit right in with how things were going on the trip. The extra long ferry ride, batteries dying at Pompeii, the rain changing our plans, and now the museum being closed. We stopped and got a good laugh. Now everything was just beginning to be funny and we were just happy to see whatever we could because it was all new to us anyway.
The guy who ran the hostel was an outstanding host. He’d given us tourist maps with places to see, told us the easiest ways to get there, and told us what roads would show us the most. He also gave us a suggestion. He’d said if we got the chance, we should take the Napoli Soterranea (Underground Naples) tour. He said a lot of people miss it but it’s only two hours and it would be completely worth it. Well, we had heard a little about this from the Europe guidebook Emily bought and from my internet research and had wanted to see it any way. So since all the other advice he’d given us had been right on, we decided to go for it. Why not? It wasn’t possible that everything in Naples was closed on Wednesdays. Haha!
There was one other main attraction listed on the map between the museum and the tour. It was labeled as Il Duomo. It was a massive and intricately ornate cathedral. We were so happy we stopped! It was called St. Gennaro Cathedral because St. Gennaro is buried there. First, I have to tell you that there were no pictures allowed in the cathedral. This was too bad because there were many photo-worthy things in there! But it was also good because I probably would’ve run out of room on my memory card. Hee hee! :)
Not only was there the main cathedral, there were two other large side chapels that were just as, if not more, ornate and detailed than the cathedral itself. There were also many little areas where people (priests and saints) were buried. And there were, of course, relics, since it was Catholic, after all, and it was very large important church in the city. In the front, there were steps leading up to the altar area, but on each side of those steps, there were steps leading down through a door. There was a sign that said the tomb of St. Gennaro was that way. So we went down there. It was pretty impressive. His tomb was there, in a room under the altar, and there was also the tomb of a cardinal. It was interesting.
Overall, we were very happy that we stopped here. It was absolutely spectacular! There was artwork everywhere! On the walls, on the ceilings, on the domes, on the tombs…there were paintings, statues, moldings, and when it was all put together just made your jaw drop in awe. I can’t even imagine the time it took to build all of that, and then, there was a big sign that had talked about the re-design of the building under the order of some cardinal. So then, it had been changed, some things had been saved, and others had been created.
Of course, the process of keeping up a building like this must be massive, and there is also a restoration process to go with because of the age of the work and items. So in some spots, you could see where they were doing work. That was fascinating because you could see doorways that were covered up to create walls in the re-designed part. There were small window that were the same way. And then, you could see where chunks of the wall had been removed or fallen away and parts of a fresco were missing only to expose another, older, fresco underneath. Crazy!
Throughout the entire day, I couldn’t help be enthralled with the history of the city. I would go back again if I ever got the chance. Though it’s not the cleanest city and though its reputation isn’t much (thanks to the mob), the history and culture of the Neapolitan life is fascinating! The city went through a major World War. Not only did it make it though WWII, but it was a place that was hit hard. Their life and history were drastically changed forever because of it. Yet, they made it. It is an area that has survived earthquakes and massive volcanic eruptions. It is an area known for strict Catholic faith, and yet a ridiculous amount of superstition. Everything about that city made me want to learn more. My curiosity wasn’t just piqued, it was on overload. lol :)
Anyway, let me pause there because that was the first half of our day of exploration in Naples. We explored more in the afternoon and continued our adventures in the city the next day, but this is long enough and I’m at a good breaking point. Now I’ll work on the photo albums so that when I continue I can post those links. It’s always nice to have pictures to accompany a story if you ask me. :)
Stay strong, stay safe, and until next time, keep the updates and comments coming. I love them! They always bring a smile to my face. :) My life here is so exciting on a daily basis and knowing that everyone is safe and happy at home is a blessing that only adds to my joy.
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