Venting frustration

These past couple of days have been filled with studying. And here I thought I was done with long study periods and practice. What I did not realize was that life is full of all sorts of knowledge that needs to be studied, practiced, and applied to real life. I really do wish I had a better head start on this whole learning Italian thing. It just seems the more words I learn, the less I know. Even though I am learning at least 20 new words a day, it just seems like I am getting nowhere. But I cannot be discouraged. I just have to keep my head up and keep going, even though I don't see the end in sight. I guess my frustration is due to the lack of words I realize I don't know. I try to communicate with customers and the monks, but it seems like its getting harder. Right now I can only really form partial Italian sentences because I stumble another word that I am unable to recall from my extensive studying. I think I might have mentioned this before, but if I could turn back the hands of time I would have left home a lot sooner so I could have had someone who has been here for a year and was in the same boat as me to show me the ropes. I just have to keep pushing on and hope that I am able to speak and understand within the next two weeks, or I will feel like I am becoming a hindrance on those around me. Maybe this will light the fire under me to be more motivated and dedicated to speaking Italian. I feel as if I am not dedicating enough time and energy to studying, so this entry will mark the date. From this point on I will put forth my full effort to learning Italian.

Tomorrow will be a huge test for me. Matt, Cecilia, and myself will be heading into Roma to do some shopping. I hope that I will be able to communicate with them as well as the cashiers when buying things. Before we head out I will cram as much as possible so that it is fresh in my mind. I try to do this every morning by just speaking to myself in Italian, as crazy as that may sound, when I wake up in the morning. It helps me remember some of the phrases or words that I have learned from the previous day. We wont be heading into Roma until 1 so that gives me the whole morning to study. Let's hope that it's a slow day like today. I might bring my notebook with me just in case I forget a word or two. That's how I have been studying. Every new word I learn goes into a notebook for me to study during the slow days. I sometimes feels like I am in college all over again. Writing down translations, studying during "free periods", and practicing with others. Well, anyway I am excited about going to Roma. I feel that you have a break from the everyday and take a walk somewhere. Let's see what adventures I find there. Wish me luck.

Its already been a week!

This journal entry marks the completion of my first week. I cannot really believe its only been a week and I have progressed so far. I am now really starting to get the hang of speaking Italian. Everyday I am able to practice with some of the monks and of course Matt. I can actually understand some of the customers who enter the store. I just have to keep up with writing down at least two pages of words so that I can get a better grasp of the language. After I am comfortable with the customers, my next goal is to tackle the phone. Saying that now makes me cringe. I hate answering the phone, even when I know the person on the other line speaks English. It is on my list of things I really try to avoid doing. I hate not knowing answers to questions, so that's why I avoid the phone. Just to think I have made it this far avoiding the phones and will be answering them in about a week or two. I guess I should be excited, but something about answering the phone makes me regret my progress a little. Anyway I am learning a lot and everyone here has been really patient with me. It is hard for me to communicate or just get a point across when I just don't know the words. That's why I am in such a rush to learn more words. My overall goal is to be able to have a conversation in Italian within two months without consulting a dictionary or someone else for help. Lets see if I can accomplish the difficult goal. Now onto more important things, food!

I had the most interesting lunch experience the other day. The first course was a pasta dish that sounds relatively normal except the pasta was green. Literally green pasta with some kind of fish bits in it. When I saw it, I could only ask what in the word was it. Apparently the pasta was treated with some squid oil or something like that which turned it green. Surprisingly it still tasted like normal pasta. It was just that it looked like something out of a swamp. I thought I was finished with strange dishes until I saw the next course. It was some kind of fish that I have never seen before, but that isn't actually the weird part though. The heads were still attached to the body of the fish. I was curious as to how it would taste so I decided to be a little adventurous. I put two on my plate and began to dig in. Let me tell you that it is weird eating something with the eyes still there. It was almost as if the fish was watching me devour its body. When I finished with the body I asked one of the monks what I should do with the head. He said I could either eat it or leave it alone. I tried a little bit of it, but it got too weird because now I was forced to look it in the eye while picking it apart. I think the fish were good, but my stomach seems to disagree. Ever since that day my stomach has been bubbling and rumbling. I guess I shouldn't have taken bites out of the head. Well I learned my lesson now and will be more cautious about what I decide to eat. Oh and as a little side note, I will be making my first trip to Rome next week. Be on  the lookout for a post of my adventures along with some pictures. I guess these pictures of the crazy weather will have to hold you off until then.

a thing of beauty

relaxing at sunset

Study. study, study

These last few days have consisted of learning new words and phrases. I have actually gotten pretty far in terms of progress, but still have a ways to go.
Monday was a very slow day at the monastery so all I really did was just sit in the shop and learn new words. One of the workers here, named Clara, has been a great help to me. Clara, Matt and I spent the day quizzing each other, of course our tests where in Italian while we taught Clara some English words. She actually printed out these sheets with pictures and some of the letters filled in. There were also some sheets with actually sentences missing some of the words or a letter from the word we had to fill in. Doing these little tasks made me feel like a little kid all over again, but it actually did help a lot. I would say my vocabulary has doubled since my last entry. I have also been practicing talking to customers that enter the shop. It is a lot harder than talking to anyone who actually works at the monastery, since they are not aware that I cannot speak or understand a lot of what they are saying, but there is no better way to learn than to be thrown into it. I might be able to pick up certain words that I come across daily, but most of the time I need someone to speak slowly or repeat what they had just said.
Tuesday was a little more hectic. It was a very busy day in the shop. I just remember at one point there were at least thirty Germans trying to buy something from just two cashiers. Matt wasn't there this time so I had to step in. Now the thing about the shop is that there are no prices on the items, but you have to view the shelves or hooks that they are found on. So half the time I was running around trying to find the price of a particular item. And of course no one was patient, but I don't blame them. They didn't know that it was my first day trying to be a cashier. All I really can say that I got the experience to deal with a huge crowd of people at once. I did manage to learn how to use the register though, because just like everything else in the store the buttons are in Italian. So I guess you can say that I got a crash course in reading and understanding Italian. Once the crowd dispersed I was able to continue my lessons with Clara and Matt. Later that night, Don Luigi began to quiz me on what I learned that day. Every day I am coming closer to being able to speak full sentences. I can't wait until that day comes. I know everyone else will be excited, but I will be not only excited, I will be relieved. I will finally be able to understand someone when they speak to me and won't have to turn to someone else for a translation. My next step will be to answer the phone and be able to direct calls or answer questions.
Today was somewhat of a busy day. There were a few tours, but mainly this huge wedding. It seems like every other day there is a wedding here at the church. Matt and I have to set up for the wedding and the masses that are held during the day for the guest who choose to have mass here. In the morning it was very peaceful and quite, but once we returned to work at three, that's when the chaos began. The tour group that requested an English speaking tour showed up, but we couldn't leave the shop until someone else came to man the register. Not to mention that all of these people showed up early for the wedding and crowding the shop. Once one of the monks came to the shop were we able to begin the tour. Since I was still new Matt was the main tour guide while I just listened and tried to learn the history. This was my second tour with Matt, but I still need a little more time before I feel really comfortable giving my own tour. This is nothing like giving a tour at SJU. It's not like I have been here a year yet and know where almost everything is. Plus I want to be more comfortable with my Italian before I try to tackle another task. The sad thing is that I didn't even really get to hear most of Matt's tour, since I had to split my time between setting up for the wedding and running various errands for the monks, but I will get it down one day.
There is one thing I have not mentioned yet in my journals, the food. I am really bid on Italian food, so you of course know that I am loving every minute of it. The one thing that I need to get used to is not having a huge breakfast. That's something that they do different here. The make up for the small breakfast with a huge lunch and dinner. They have a first course, then the main dish topped off with either fruit or some kind of sweet, usually gelato. I have to admit the gelato

A domani

My Room View

Andy's Last Night

Thrown into it all

Well yesterday started off wonderful with me catching up on some much needed rest. They kept asking me all day if I was tired, but I would always say that I am still ready to go. It all eventually caught up with me once night came. I wound up sleeping  for at least 10 hours and here I thought I got enough sleep on the plane. When I finally decided to get up it was already lunch time. The funny thing is after lunch everyday we have a siesta, or what I like to call a two hour nap period, so of course having slept most of the day I stayed up and finished unpacking. Once everyone was well rested after their two hour nap I followed Andy and Matt into the shop to see how things were done. I was in amazement of how well they both spoke and understood Italian, while as for me if I got any questions I would just have a dumb look on my face not knowing how to even say "I don't understand". Well I guess that shows how much of a head start they both have had, but there is still no excuse.
Since it was Andy's last night with us we had a huge celebration, well as huge as it could be in a monastery with only a few monks, but there were some of the other workers there as well. We all sat down and enjoyed Andy's favorite dishes throughout the year he was there along with some of the funny stories we heard about his and Eli's adventures. To tell you the truth most of the really hilarious stories were of Eli. If you know who Eli is then you know what kind of stories to imagine. After the dinner was over, Andy, Matt, and I had a few drinks to celebrate his "graduation" for Subiaco. We began to reminisce about what we have done in our lives thus far and what we plan to do in the future. It was a long and eventful night full of laughter and sadness. On a personal note I wish I had come a little sooner to actually get to know Andy better. It turns out that we have met before through a mutual friend. If only I could turn back the hands of time, but was has past is now over.
Today was another day that I can chalk up to experience. Working in the shop with Matt when there was a mad rush of people trying to purchase things; everyone screaming in Italian with Matt as the only one who could understand. I felt horrible since I was also sitting there, but couldn't be of any help. I did however figure out how to make sales and read the register. I guess I am slowly improving, even though I would love to improve a lot quicker. That's why tonight Matt and I had a study session where he taught me some common phrases while I tested his knowledge on words. I think it was very helpful not only speaking the words, but also writing them down as well. I figure in about two weeks or so I should be on the same level as Matt was after his two weeks, if not higher.
My study session wasn't the only exciting thing that happened today (you can see how simple my life has become), but I was able to be a part of a wedding. Well, not really, but I did get to see an Italian wedding. I helped set up and break down the church while learning a little Italian. I can pick up on some things and just guess on others. It also helps that they try to communicate to me with bits and pieces of English mixed with Italian. For those of you who repeatedly told me that I would fall in love and marry some Italian girl and how I said that would never happen, well I think I need to rephrase that statement. It would be best to say that it might not happen, leaving a small window open for the possibility, and I will let it at that. Well, expect some more interesting stories from me shortly as I continue my journey into the unknown.

A domani ( Until tomorrow )

The Arrival

Well things did start off a little rough for me today. I foolishly decided to work the day before I leave, giving me little time to pack and sort through the things I would want to take with me. I still had more errands to run so I thought it would leave me with plenty of time to get to the airport. I first had to get my phone switched over to the global plan, which meant I had to travel all the way to the mall. My first trip was a failure since I thought the mall opened at 9 instead of 10; what a waste of a drive. Once I got home I finally started to pack. I managed to get one bag done before I had to head out again. This time I was getting my haircut so that I could look my best in Italy. You should all know too well how appearances here are very important. Afterwards I had to travel up to the mall again to get this phone problem fixed. It took the guy at least an hour before I had the ok that my plan had been changed. Between the unnecessary questions and goofing off with his coworkers was he finally able to send me on my way. It took way longer than expected which left me with less time to pack and head off. Finally reaching home around 2:30 was I able to continue the decision-making process. I started to say to myself that I was now in the clear and didn't have to rush, but I was wrong. I quickly got distracted by visitors and had to make quick last minute decisions as to what I really need and what could stay. Even right now as I sit in my room do I think that I might have forgotten something that I would rather have than something I brought with me, but oh well that's life.
I thought my problems would be over once I got to the airport and could board the flight, but I was wrong again. I didn't have any problems with visa stuff this time, but just my luck the stupid plane I was about to board had some technical difficulties. They announced over the speaker that they would begin boarding within 5 to 10 minutes. Of course they were lying because it was 2 hours later that they finally started to call passengers to board. During these two hours it was difficult to keep myself awake since I didn't have the chance to nap before heading to the airport. I wanted to stay awake just in case something changed about my flight. I figured that I would be able to sleep on the plan because it would board on time, but I was wrong about that one. Isn't it a coincidence that my layover happened to be 2 hours, so I bet you can guess what happened next. If you said that I missed my flight from Portugal to Rome then you win a gold star. After waiting in a line to get a transfer and then having to wait in an even larger line of people waiting to go through customs was I able to board my next flight. But it would figure that my troubles would not end there either. After boarding were we told that we could not leave for another hour due to so restrictions. Now I had to sit in a tiny plane next to a bunch of people with little breathing room. Luckily due to my lack of sleep was I able to fall asleep fairly quickly just to wake up to us landing in Rome.
After going through the hassle of trying to find my bags and my ride was I able to arrive at the monastery. I believe I have met all the monks who stay here and have some idea of what to expect in the future. I got a little acquainted with my surroundings, the monks, and my volunteer part who is also named Matt. Since it would be kind of confusing to call us both Matt, the monks decided to give me a different name, John. For those of you who do not know that happens to be my middle name, so it works out somewhat perfectly. I just now have to get used to people calling me John along with speaking only Italian. The monks up here all speak Italian but very little English. I thought I would be somewhat prepared due to the lessons I was taking, but had a hard time following along with them. Luckily Matt and Andy were here to translate for me. Looks like I have my work cut out for me in the next few weeks. Hopefully I will be able to actually have conversations without having someone else to translate for me.
Since this was my first day I am sorry to say that I do not have any pictures right now, but I will try my hardest to get some up quickly. Expect something in the next few days. Ciao for now