Breaking News!

A few days have passed and so much has happened for myself, as well as for Italia. This weekend I spent a lot of time working on upcoming research papers. (Don't worry! I won't bore you with photos of my homework!) I started my weekend off with my favorite chore, grocery shopping with Kara and Susanne! After packing our backpacks and carrying our food back down the hill, I cooked! This week I kept it simple and just made stuffed peppers. They were very delicious and I still have 3 more to eat for this week.

Otherwise this weeks menu consist of grilled cheese, zucchini, and pasta with meat sauce. After cooking, I stayed in because I had a Skype date to finalize my travels to Germany. 

In about two weeks, Kara and I will be traveling to Germany to visit the Lemmermann's! For those of you who followed my blog when I worked in Germany two summers ago, the Lemmermann's was the family I stayed with for a little over a week. I had the best time with them and their two little blonde girls! So after our visit, Kara and I will spend a night in Venice and take a late train back to Perugia. I am incredibly excited about our trip! 

I have one more trip planned in early April with four other girls to Cinque Terra. Cinque Terra is five costal towns in which you can hike from one to another. I am hoping for warm weather to go swimming! For now, these are my set trips. Of course there are so many places I want to go to! These include Greece, Sardinia, and Dublin. Kara, Susanne, and I would like to take a trip together. We are looking at cheap flights like Geneva and Brussels. 

Talking about trips -on Saturday, I had a field trip to Siena. Siena is a hill-town in the Tuscany region.

 Siena is very interesting because it is the home of a horse race, Palio di Siena. This race happens twice a year on July 2 and August 16. The races are based around the contradas. A contrada is a neighborhood. Siena has 17 contradas. Each has a church, a fountian, a square, a club house/ museum, and a stable.The contradas each have an animal associated with the location of the town. The territories are marked around the city like street signs. Here is an official sign. 

Most aspects of the race are by luck or lottery. However, it means the WORLD to them if they win! The contrada that wins will celebrate for days afterwards and hold the pride for the whole year. If a contrada doesn't win for 41 years, like the Caterpillar contrada, they will celebrate for 41 weekends afterwards. They celebrate by having an outdoor meal and party with their neighborhood! The contradas, or neighborhoods, are like a giant family! They support one another -so when someone has a baby, they all celebrate. One someone has a lose, they will all grieve. In Siena, one is devoted to their contrada, then to Siena, to their region, and maybe-maybe if it's needed to Italy. This is very different than in the States. 

Here is a stable for one contrada's horse. Usually the stable is a hidden location. 

Below is a photo of the Panther fountain. I didn't mention this yet, but each contrada has a rivalry and one is taught from an early age to hate the other. For instances, they teach their children to swear at the rivaling contrada, as well as mock them. So, the Eagles and Panthers are enemies. The Eagles will call the Panthers cats. 

This is the center where the race will take place. Store fronts will put tables away and any over hangs. They fill the square with sand and put up fences. It takes about a week or more to get the area ready for a race that lasts less than 2 minutes! 

So it will look something like this! 

A long with seeing the "track" and the signs, we got an insiders view point from the Eagle's clubhouse. If you are a tourist coming to Siena, you wouldn't be allowed in. But we were considered guests and even friends. We were able to see their past costumes. 

As well as, their banners they won for each year. 

After touring the club house, we discovered areas of Siena such as the duomo and fresh fruit. 

Also, Siena is the home of Saint Catherine. Her relics are placed here in the St. Dominic Church. 

OK, so that was MY week but Italy has a lot going on! This month is the month of political elections and this a very important election for Italians. They are involved and you will find people talking everywhere about it! As well as, their big song festival in Italy. It is an event like the Super Bowl in the US but sounds more like a show like American Idol or America's Got Talent. 

To top it off, the pope announced his retirement. He said he is abandoning the Vatican. This is sure to cause a stir among Italians. It is the first time in modern time, for a pope to retire. My professor talked to us about it briefly saying how it's a bit odd with political elections right around the corner. She told us that the Vatican is all about politics and it has so many secrets within the walls. The thought of him being tired might be more along the lines of him being "sick of a few things". Anyway, on Feb. 28 the pope will step down and we will have a new pope. All while I am in Italy.