The ABCs of my first few days in Italia

The Ohio Bobcats wrote an article about me, you can check it out if you haven’t already.

http://www.ohiobobcats.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/031214aaa.html

Today is my 4^th day in Italy and I have enough information now to update everybody on what I’ve been up to! I’m going to write about my first few days in Italia by using the first few letters of the alphabet.

My headshot for the team

Air Travel

Benvenuto

Communication

Dining

Entertainment

Forli Softball

Gorizia 12

 Air Travel

The whole process of traveling from San Diego to Italy was very smooth. (I know I am very lucky because I have heard many horror stories from people.) Due to heavy snow and ice in Chicago, my first flight was delayed an hour and there was a chance that I would miss my connecting flight to Munich. Once I landed in Chicago, I used the moving walkways for what they are meant for and not just for fun, and I made it to my gate just in time. This was a big plane with 3 different rows with 3 seats in each row for the 8 hour flight. I was pleasantly surprised to find that each seat had their own personal TV screen with free shows, movies, and music. (My best choice of the flight: watching Frozen! I highly recommend it if you are a Disney fan like me.) When I landed in Munich, I was surprised to find that the airport looked similar to any other airport I had been in and it wasn’t difficult for me to figure out how to get through Immigration and make it to my gate on time (especially because everything was translated to English). I had an hour layover and there was free Wi-Fi in the airport so I was able to try out my Viber app and let my parents know that I had landed safely.  Finally, for the short 45 minute flight from Munich to Bologna, all of the passengers fit on a bus to take us to our very small plane with only 2 rows and 2 seats in each row. I was very impressed by the flight attendant who did the announcements in German, Italian, and English! When I was asked for my choice of beverage I chose to try the sparkling water to get in the Italian spirit… I didn’t enjoy it. What I did enjoy, however, was getting a Toblerone chocolate bar instead of peanuts on the flight! One of the best parts about all 3 flights... I had an empty seat next to me on each one! Once I landed, I didn’t have to wait longer than 5 minutes for my luggage and I was ready to go.

The Alps on my flight from Munich to Bologna

Fun Fact for my Bobcats: I wore my green Ohio Softball crewneck sweatshirt while I was traveling, and as always, at each destination I was approached by some Ohioan to talk to me about being a Bobcat, or Ohio in general.

Benvenuto

I was welcomed to Italy by Bombacci, the team manager, and Calixto, the head coach. I had no idea what they looked like, but they found me easily as soon as I walked out of baggage claim. It was about a 40 minute drive from Bologna to Forli. When I arrived at my apartment, I met 2 of the girls, Ila and Miri, and later that day I met the rest of the girls at practice. What I learned after meeting everybody was that a lot of them have really long names—but they all go by nicknames. For example, Bombacci and Calixto, go by Bomba and Cali. Ila’s real name is Ilaria, and Miri’s is Miriana. The majority of the girls have 3 or 4 syllable names so they all just go by the first 2 syllables of their name which makes it a little easier for me to pronounce their names. Some of the girls on the team are as young as 16 and as old as 33, but most of them are ages 18-22. No matter their age or how difficult it is for me to pronounce their names, they were all very nice and welcoming to me. It seems like they have close friendships with one another and always have a lot of fun together.

Communication

The communication is by far the most difficult thing for me to adapt to since I’ve been here. Bomba and Cali picked me up and they both know very little English. Bomba speaks Italian and Cali is Cuban and speaks Italian and Spanish, so during the 40 minute drive from the airport, I attempted to speak to them in the little Italian and Spanish I know.

All of the girls know at least some English, but about 5 of them know it very well and it is much easier to communicate with them. Carlotta is one of the oldest on the team and coached at Cal State Monterey Bay. She goes to California often to visit former teammates, so her English is really good. Mara is also one of oldest on the team, and she knows English from playing softball with foreigners and she has some friends in New York. Her English is very strong and she told me that she is now studying Spanish during long train rides around Italy. Andrea is 26 and she traveled to America with Carlotta and knows her English so well from previous foreigners she has played with through softball over the years. Ila is 20 and went to a Junior College in Florida for 2 months to play softball but she had to come back to Italy because she was ineligible because of her professional affiliation with this Forli Softball Club. She knew some English before going to Florida, but going there, even for only 2 months, has helped her a lot with the language. Federica is also 20 and has been to New York a couple of times... she told me that she loves English! She said that she likes how we shorten words like do not=don’t and going to=gonna. Matilda is 18 and went to Indiana for one semester to do a foreign exchange student program. I asked all of these girls what their favorite food was they went to American and here is the consensus:

·         Taco Bell

·         Pancakes

·         Bagels

·         Eggs and Bacon

·         Hamburgers

Overall, the girls are impressed with my vocabulary (I can thank all the Spanish I took in high school and the past few weeks of Rosetta Stone) and my willingness to learn Italian. One of the girls, Tota, is in high school and has a History class…in English. She came over the other day to have Federica help her with her homework and while she was studying English, I was studying Italian with her. She would say, “this”, and I would say, “questa”. Sometimes she would summarize what she read in English and ask me if it made sense. Federica, Tota and I went out to dinner last night and I tried to speak to Tota in Italian and she would try and speak to me in English… but Federica was our translator and helped each of us a lot. Tota hates English and doesn’t like speaking it because she gets embarrassed. But her English is way better than my Italian and Federica encourages her to speak to me in English. She is much better at understanding what I am saying than actually talking and responding to me.

Unlike Tota, who can understand me, I am not as good at understanding Italian. I have picked up on some key words during practices like:

·         Interna=inside

·         Esterna=outside

·         Cambio=switch

·         Giro= group

·         Primera=1^st

·         Casa=home

However, I still messed up at defensive practice because I didn’t know the term for “bases loaded.” But the coach and players were very understanding. Whenever the coach is talking to us, the girls who speak English are good about standing near me and translating what he is saying. Or I’ll just follow the team if he is explaining a specific drill he wants us to do.

The hardest time I have is during lunch or dinner. A group of about 6 of us eat together and during this time, there are several conversations going on and people are talking fast and sometimes people will translate it for me but a lot of time they don’t because it is hard to do if someone is telling a long story. During these times, I try to pick up on some vocabulary words and use context cues to figure out what is going on…so far I haven’t been very successful at it.

Although the language has been very difficult for me in large settings, when I am with only a couple of my teammates, it is much easier for me to follow along and learn. I am trying to find time to keep up with my Rosetta Stone to help me as well. Also, most of the girls have Italian to English translation apps on their phones that they use if they need help with a vocabulary word. This came in handy when we went out to dinner and they didn’t know the translations for the food. Overall, the girls are very helpful when it is important that I understand what is going on.

Dining

As most of everybody reading this knows… I LOVE FOOD! And Italy is known for their food, so you can understand my excitement about enjoying the dining here. On our way home from the airport, Bomba and Cali took me to a place off the freeway called an AutoGrill. It is like a fancy gas station with different food choices. I had my first taste of Italian Margherita pizza and caffé. The coffee helped me stay awake for the rest of the day so I could adjust to the time difference. The girls told me that the pizza at the AutoGrill is nothing like the “real” thing and that their homemade coffee is way better. From what I took from it, it’s comparable to eating a burger from McDonalds and eating a burger from an actual burger joint like Hamburger factory (for those San Diego people) or Sofa King Juicy Burger (for those Ohio parents who ate at that burger place in Tennessee last month).

I have only been out to eat here in Forli one time. The girls I live with eat their meals at home together so I have been able to see their normal eating habits. For breakfast they usually eat something sweet (not salty, so no eggs) like cereal with milk or some type of croissant. Lunch is typically pasta. So far we have had pasta with pesce (fish) and just with regular spaghetti sauce…both delicious. Dinner is meat and vegetables and is served later around 8:30. Sometimes we will eat other food as well, like bread or Cali brought over French fries for dinner one time. The coach, Cali, comes over for dinner every night and spends time with the team. The girls seem to have a really fun and positive relationship with him. After lunch and dinner, coffee is served. The homemade coffee is absolutely better. I don’t like coffee in America and I didn’t like it the first time I tried it at the AutoGrill. But in the little “tazze” cups with 2 scoops of sugar, the coffee tastes like heaven. I love drinking it after lunch and dinner because it tastes like dessert. But I try not to drink it after dinner so I don’t stay awake all night. I am thoroughly impressed with the way they always make the perfect amount of food that leaves no leftovers and nobody hungry. They weigh the noodles before they cook it and make the right amount of coffee for however many people are at lunch or dinner. So far I have not been disappointed with my meals.

Not surprisingly, my absolute favorite thing I have eaten is the gelato. Last night I went for the first time and got 3 scoops in a bowl of the following flavors: white chocolate, raspberry, and nutella. Because I loved it so much, I got gelato again and controlled myself by getting only two scoops in a cone and tried chocolate and strawberry which I equally enjoyed. The gelato exceeded my expectations and was everything I hoped for and more.

Gelato with Federica

Entertainment

Even though this city is very small, there is a large “centro” where many activities are held throughout the week. It is called Piazza Saffi and it is like a giant plaza with some historical buildings and architecture. On Tuesdays and Fridays there is what is equivalent to a giant flea market in America. This flea market is the biggest one in Italy and I walked around the area with some of the girls on Friday.

Federica, Me, Ila, Miri

A small portion of the flea market in the Piazza

At the apartment there is Wi-Fi which works really well and although there is no Netflix or Pandora in Italy, there is Spotify so I can listen to music. They actually listen to American pop music in English on the radio and on their iPods. The girls use Facebook and Instagram (but not Twitter or Snapchat, although they do know what that is). One night after dinner, sat around the table and watched Vines for an hour on a laptop. All of the Vines were in English and the girls all laughed and enjoyed them… even the ones who don’t understand English as well.

There is a TV at the apartment with English channels and there are settings with English or Italian subtitles. One morning I walked in and saw that the girls were watching Modern Family!

Yesterday after we ate lunch, Andrea pulled out some play dough for us to play with. We all helped create this beach scene. (My contribution was the surf board.) 

Forli Softball

My Italian catcher's mask

Games don’t start for a couple of weeks, so as for now we have practice every day except for Sunday. Practice usually starts around 5 pm and goes from anywhere from 2 to 4 hours. Practice is at 5 because many of the girls are in school and have classes until then. Their indoor facility they use is a warehouse. It has a lot of room, and they have a batting cage for a machine and nets for many hitting drills to go on at one time. We can wear anything we want to practice because there isn’t a lot of free gear and equipment (the team shares about 8 bats). We do some sort of jog or running before practice and always end with doing abs. Some of the days we do strength and conditioning involving body weight exercises and running stairs. The coach doesn’t believe in weight lifting because “we are softball players not body builders” but we still do hard enough workouts to make my legs sore the next day! 

I already know everybody’s name but sometimes I will forget or get confused with all of the M names on the team. This isn’t that hard to learn though because there are only 15 total people on the team. I am 1 of 3 catchers (but I think one of them only caught last year because the other catcher had surgery). I am the tallest on the team and nobody on the team is overweight (which I think is very rare for softball).

Overall I have enjoyed the practices with the team and getting back on the field again since May!

Gorizia 12

I live in Apartment 12 on the street Via Gorizia. There are 2 apartments connected on a balcony each with 2 rooms and 1 bath. My apartment consists of me, in my own room, and Federica and Elisa who share a room. The other apartment is Andrea, Ila, and Miri. All 6 of us share groceries and eat lunch and dinner together. We eat in my apartment because the kitchen is bigger, but we use the other apartment for hanging out because they have couches and a TV.

The area that my apartment is located isn’t anything really pretty with the “Italian look” because it is in a business type district. There are no traffic lights around my apartment… just a lot of roundabouts. So to everyone in Ohio who freaked out when Athens added the one roundabout—don’t plan on driving around here. Anyway, most of the cars here are stick shift so I definitely won’t be driving.

To get your license here you need to be 18 years old, but they allow you to drink and smoke at any age. The schooling is different here too. They don’t call it Kindergarten or 1^st grade. Instead they have an elementary type school from ages 5-10, middle school is 11-13, and high school is 14-18. The way they give grades in classes is from a 0-10. (10=100%, 9=90%, etc.) The most surprising thing I learned is that they have school on Saturdays!

So far the weather I have had has been great! In the 60s and 70s during the day and sunny… except today was a little overcast. But it gets a little colder in the evenings down to the 40s. The girls told me that a few weeks ago it was raining every day, but it has been beautiful since I’ve been here.

Today, since we didn’t have practice and games start soon, most of the girls went home so I had all day today to myself and explore Forli on my own. I was able to use my Google Maps on my phone so I wouldn’t get too lost with my poor sense of direction. I went back to Piazza Saffi and see more of what I didn’t see when the flea market was there on Friday.

Here are some pictures of my adventure today!

 

   

The Piazza was having some sort of carnival where there were floats, music, confetti, and lots of children dressed up in costumes. I didn't know what it was so when I got home I looked it up and found this article explaining the event. http://www.forlitoday.it/eventi/carnevale-piazza-saffi-forli-16-marzo-2014.html (It is in Italian so translate it to English if your computer asks.)

 

 


I have seen and learned a lot of new and exciting things during my first 4 days and I am looking forward to experiencing much more the longer I am here! Ciao!