Yvane Mirabueno

13. SETTEMBRE 2009

Madre Rafaella and Laura.

From my house to SFO. From SFO to Newark. And From Newark to Italy. Touchdown, my head was hurting, I was happy to be in Italy, but it really didn’t hit me yet. “I’m in Italy.” Yes, I was finally  in Italy, but it still felt so surreal. To be honest, since I’ve gotten used to most of my trips being in the Philippines, it felt like I was in the good old Philippine airport. When we passed through Italian immigration it still didn’t hit me. After finally getting my luggage and walking out the door to arrival pickup, it still didn’t hit me.  I saw our Italians and heard them speaking their language that I wasn’t familiar with and, it still didn’t hit me. I met my Italian, we were speaking through sign language and a phrasebook, and surprisingly it still didn’t hit me. We were on the road passing by places and the scenery outside the window just reminded me of the Philippines, it really hadn’t hit me. So there we pass by towns, vineyards, and medieval castles, you’d expect me to be hit by now, but no it hasn’t. Okay, now let me fast forward to my Italian’s mom picking us up, having gelato at Rovereto’s best gelateria in a typical beautiful Eureopean style building and then this peak with a priceless view. And the fact that I’m in Italy. Still. Hadn’t. Hit. Me. Now let me double fast forward, we arrive at my Italian, Laura’s house, I step into her modern Italian home, with a beautiful garden at the bottom of a mountain, in the town of Bolognano and a miracle happened. And then it finally hit me – I’m in Italy.

14. SETTEMBRE 2009

Our second day in Italy. Its the first day of school for our Italians. 6:30 am, we walk to the bus stop. A rainy day, but not too bad. Walking through the alleys of Rovereto totally reminds me of my mom’s province back in the Philippines. Just this walking through the rain at this time of the morning in this this type of weather reminded me of the Philippines so much. We wait at the bus stop for some time. A bunch of my Italian’s fellow schoolmates take the same bus as well. It turns out almost every kids in town commutes at least 45 minutes every morning just to go to school. Now that. That is totally Filipino. Back in the Philippines my cousins live in the rural Liliw, Laguna province far away from the city which is why they take jeepneys every morning and pass by mountains and yeah, just like here in Italy. We finally arrive in Rovereto. Our Italians take us Americans to some café for breakfast. I order an Arancia and a cioccolato croissant. One of my first observations of that day was the fact that the cafe didn’t have already made chocolate croissants. They just added separate chocolate syrup on top of the croissant.

So that day was pretty much a tour of Rovereto’s landmarks. We walked in the rain. All of us underneath umbrellas. But since we’re tourists and we’re not here in bellissima Italia forever, the rain isn’t going to stop us from taking pictures and videos even if it means risking our gadgets getting wet.

Didn't expect to bring Baybayin to Italy.

That night a few of us Americans and Italians got together and had a movie night at one of the Italians, Arianna who was hosting Kimberly. When we arrived to the top of their four story house I was amazed by the view. One thing that caught my eye in Arianna’s home was the Chinese calligraphy hanging on the wall. And since Kimberly is Chinese, I asked her if she understood the three paintings hanging on the wall. Then Arianna’s dad, got interested into my question and requested for Kimberly to pronounce the Chinese characters for us. “Sigh ma,” said Kimberly. Which translates to small horse. Then Arianna’s dad tells us that the Chinese characters hanging on their wall is their family’s Italian last name, Cavallini, meaning. It was so funny since Arianna’s brother even recorded Kimberly’s voice on his phone. All of us we’re trying to pronounce it correctly and it was hilarious. Since I found out Arianna’s dad was interested in language, I asked him if he wanted me translate his name in Baybayin, the ancient Filipino script. And he was really into it! Its so funny how something small like me translating Cavalini in Baybayin is part of reviving the dead script that some Filipinos never heard about.  He even asked me for my autograph haha. But anways yeah we watched something called Dovemericano Pie. It was stupidly hilarious. The Italians had funny American reactions that made us Americans laugh out loud. Our favorite one was “estoopid”.

15. SETTEMBRE 2009

Today was a really good day, both weather and experience wise. What Depero had in store for us was an on camera skit-like vid with our fellow Italian twins under the supervision of Nikola, the media teacher. Stepping into the Cinematography room was no doubt amazing. It was purely legit. I was impressed by the fact that Depero, a school whose building is a medieval castle in rural Italia, had something like this. So our task for the day was to create a short and fun ten seconds of fame teaser with each of our Italians. Everyone went up in pairs, and as that was happening I was what you call the “clapper” for each pair before they got on camera.

A Clapper for the First Time

Although I do have my own clapperboard back at home, this was the first time I’ve actually ever used one. But yeah, anyways my twin, Laura, and I ended up singing Quando Quando Quando for a short skit and it was pretty cool.

In the afternoon we had a more laid back tour around the town of Rovereto. Passed through a bunch of allies, was astonished by the architecture of buildings, and took a bunch of photos that captured the beauty of Italia.

Riva del Garda, was our main stop later that day. The locals call it Riva for short. A town dedicated to tourism at the end of Lago de Garda. What I love about this town is the fact that it isn’t your typical tourist site. Unlike other places, I was actually able to stop and smell the roses since we weren’t rushed and it wasn’t packed with foreigners.  I don’t know if you guys know, but here in Italy they’re big fans of sparkling water, also known as “frizzante“. In they’re what we would refer to as ‘corner stores’ in the middle of the streets (allies), they more frizzante than naturale. I got so thirsty in Riva, that I bought some water, there were two similar bottles of different colors. And because I can’t read fluently in Italian, I just assumed that they were two different brands.  I opened the bottle and all of sudden carbonation is happening. I took a drink, and was all like, “Uwwww…” It was Sprite without the flavor. So that day I learned a great lesson, in Italy take a look at the water bottles first before you buy them, there’s a good chance its not natural water.

16. SETTEMBRE 2009

“Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow, you’re always a day away.” That’s how I felt today. Lets face it, Italy is BEAUTIFUL. But when the rain comes into the picture, it sucks. Today’s destination? Malcesine. To be more specific Castello Scaligero, Malcesine, Lago di Garda. Castello, is Italian for castle. To get to Malcesine’s castle we had to take a ferry across Garda Lake from Riva. Although it was raining, it was fun. But if only it was a beautiful day, it would have been a million times better. The weather made it hard for all of us Americans and Italians to explore the exterior side of the castle.

Before we left Malcesine and returned back to our homes that day Ms. Francis gave me a poncho, yes you heard me a poncho. It was very stylish as you can see below. Haha. I hadn’t worn one of those in like ten years.

Malcesine

On the ferry ride back to Riva a couple of us Americans were sitting at one small table with one of our Italians, Linda. To liven our ride I suggested we play some American icebreakers. It started with five of us playing the haha game and then Big Booty. If you haven’t heard of Big Booty, well it’s pretty much a concentration game involving rhythm and groove, and involves one person to be called Big Booty. We started off with five people; four Americans and one Italian, and by the end of the ferry ride it we got another four Italians plus Hermano, our Italian host teacher for the day. What really cracked up us Americans was the fact that Hermano was confused with the name of the game, Big Booty. He was wondering why I was Big Booty and he thought it was because I had a “big bottom”. After a while he figured out that anyone can be Big Booty.

17. SETTEMBRE 2009

“Its a beautiful morning,” the Young Rascals. Annie’s, “Tomorrow” was a charm. The sun finally came out and the sky was no longer bursting out tears! A perfect day for Venezia. And before I continue I’d like to greet my cousin, Ate Lesli a happy

Venezia

birthday! So yeah, hello Venice! It was a three hour bus ride from Rovereto so I just fell asleep the majority of the way. When we arrived in Venice, we weren’t in Venice Venice, we were just in Venice. We still had to take a ferry to get to our destination. Because I wanted to get a lot of Italy as much as possible, I decided to sit outside to get the beautiful sightseeing. I learned from one of the Italians that boats serve as buses here in Venice because of the fact that its made of a bunch of little islands. If you want to get to another island in Venice you have to walk across bridges or take the bus, I mean boat.

Finally on my fourth day here, I was finally able to use my up to date Fujifilm polaroid  and my Holga film cameras. My vintage like cameras felt like it was at home. And what’s funny is that all the Italian students were amazed by my instant camera. I went through a tape of instant film full of memories of Venezia.

Being in one of the most famous tourist spots in the world felt so damn good. I enjoyed the buildings and walking down the bridges, but I felt that our six hour stay there just wasn’t enough. Everything was pretty rushed. Which is why one day I’m going to come back to Venice, and that’s a promise.

The name of the neighborhood I grew up and still live in

18. SETTEMBRE 2009

Although we’re not at school back in San Francisco, guess what we had to do today? Physical Education. Yeahyuh. The moment I heard that we were going to have a sports day I was overjoyed. The fact that we go to an arts school and not have P.E. in our daily schedules kind of sucks, which is why I loved the fact that we got some time here in Italy to play sports.

We all go downstairs to the gym floor. The gym teacher comes to our circle of Italians and Americans and tells us we have to change. So there I go thinking yeah lets go to the restroom, but no. We got to the locker room. (Well thats what we Americans would consider a locker room, except there was no lockers. They were fully complete on showers though.) Compared to our locker rooms back in the states, it was beautiful. The gym itself was grande. Full on out bleachers, equipment, and they even had those ropes and ladders that I’d only seen in Hollywood movies. It was pretty cool finding out that they had a better gym facility than any other school in the San Francisco Unified School District.

So first we stretch with the gym teacher in one gigantic circle. Their warmup exercises were different to our American stretches, and in my opinion better. All of us Americans were surprised and laughing (in a very good way) at the way they warm themselves up here in Italy.

Volleyball was what we were warming up for, but I spent the majority of my gym time playing basketball, it being my favorite sport and because I hadn’t played in like two years.

Bene means good.

What’s funny is that, during my summer job I came across some Italian visitors and told them I’m visiting their homeland so they asked me where I was going. I told them Rovereto. And since I work at a museum, they mentioned Rovereto having a museum called Mart. Guess what happened today? We visited a museum in Rovereto called Mart.

So what’s cool about Bulognano, the town I’m staying in, aside from it being beautiful, during my two week stay here its the town’s four day fiesta. This event was one of the events that totally reminded me of the Philippines. This night my Italian took me to the fiesta. It was awesome.

My fellow Bulognano town citizens and bus mates.

19. SETTEMBRE 2009

Bus rides and being tired. A combo I have encountered every single day here in Italia. Here in Italy people commute at least 45 minutes everyday by bus for their job, school, and what not. And don’t get me wrong though, the only reason why I’m tired is because I’ve been having too much fun. Although it may be the weekend, today I still got a little bit of both.

Welcoming Waterfalls

To get to Dolomiti we had to take the usual 45 minute bus ride to Rovereto. Then we took the train to Trento. After arriving in Trento we took another bus to one place, another bus to this other place, and another bus. To be honest I lost count of how many buses we took since I was so tired that morning. All I remember was using the bus rides as nap time, so that I was energized for the hike.

Okay, fast forward to the actual hike. I really didn’t know what to expect. When we arrived in the national park, I no longer felt like I was in Italy. Being in Dolomiti felt like I was in some Californian mountains. That’s how similar they were.

So we hiked up and down the rock, mud, and grass pathways for about an hour and a half. Because it rained for a short moment the majority of the ground we walked on was somewhat slippery. Crossed bridges, passed waterfalls, and took water breaks at the Italian fountains I can never get over being so damn awesome. It was a decent cloudy day, no sun whatsoever. But after a while I was a human towel, sweat was pouring down my whole body. I’ve never sweated so much on this trip, and believe me we’ve had a lot of burning hot days.

20. SETTEMBRE 2009

Day 2 of Dolomiti. For me, not as much sweat was involved as day one. Today was a beautiful morning, and the aftermath of that led to a beautiful day perfect for hiking. Saturday was mostly about backpacking to our bed and breakfast, today was more about hiking to meet with nature. Tasted wild berries and flowers, came across interesting looking bugs and plants, and learned a lot about some of things Dolomiti had to offer. One of which was that the ants were protected by the law. Ants played a big roll in Dolomiti’s ecosystem, so if you tried to kill them, you’d get fined.

After leaving Dolomiti, we all had to take the bus back to Trento. Luis’ mom and dad were very kind enough to squeeze nine of us into their two station wagons. And because eleven would have been a little too much, and Luis was in his mother nature, he and Mark stayed behind and were picked up later. We were dropped off in the town at the bottom of Dolomiti, called Pinzolo.

Unlike San Francisco’s Muni, Trentino actually has an on time bus schedule, with two differences, Muni is a city line while Trentino’s is a region line, and some Muni lines run every ten minutes while Trentino’s follows a strict schedule where buses run around once every hour, which is why if you miss the bus here in Trentino, you miss the bus.

So back to Pinzolo, Because we had just missed the bus back to Trento, We had a little less than two hours to stall, so we went to the center of Pinzolo and had some gelato. I’d say this was the best gelato I’d had on the trip.

I had a combo of Straciatella (Cookies and Cream) and Fragola (Strawberry). Linda, one of the Italians was surprised with my cream and fruit combo. She thought it was like having “milk and juice”. And because I loved my “milk and juice,” I decided to get another one. This time my combination was Ciocollato (Chocolate) and Ache (a mix of citrus fruit). Since I ordered another unusual combo to Linda, she had the funniest look on her face and said, “Americans…” It was hilarious.

21. SETTEMBRE 2009

Trento was our target for today. I was pretty excited to go there because of the fact that a co-worker of mine studied sculpting in this town during high school for one whole year. Its amazing how our foreign exchange programs landed in two rural Italian towns sitting next to each other.

It turns out Trento played a huge role with the start of Catholicism. Being a Roman Catholic, I was really into what we had in store for today, which was a trip to Trento’s castle. So after we all take the train from Rovereto, and walk a few blocks to the castle, us Americans and Italians are standing there in scattered lines, our teachers figure out that our group reservation time needs to be rescheduled. Out of nowhere Mr. Corea tells me that he wants me to go with the Italian teacher to reschedule the time of our visit. And since I really didn’t know what was going on my reaction was, “What?” And then he tells me that yeah, he wants me to have the experience of being with the Italian teacher to reschedule the time. Of course I was surprised, that out of all of us I was randomly chosen to go. So me and my Italian go along with the Italian teacher to reschedule the time, while the rest of the group goes to some nearby park to kill time.

At first I was surprised why Mr. Corea chose me to go with the Italian teacher, but by the end of those 15-20 minutes of rescheduling I felt very fortunate because I got a one of a kind visual tour of most of the Castello museum and the offices doing some amazing stuff behind the scenes. I got some time to take pictures, and was able to tell everyone that today’s castle was an actual legit castello, it wasn’t just a castle converted into a museum. The history was still living on the walls.

So after the three of us have rescheduled the time of our visit we go back to the park where everyone is at. Surprisingly its now our lunchtime. Because I had to exchange some of my $ dollars into Euros € I went with Mr. Corea and Ms. Francis to go and find a bank along with Nancy as well. Unfortunately the Euro was low that day so I only got € 195 for my $300. But its all good since that lasted me a long way.

The four of us had lunch at this one cafe in the center of Trento, and it ended up being pretty well. I had a sandwich with speck and a sprizz. Mr. Corea/ Ms. Francis, I forget, treated us with some potato chips. And you know how us Americans invented potato chips, well these Italians make our own snack better than us. They were the best plain potato chips I’ve ever tasted.

22. SETTEMBRE 2009

After a little over a week we finally got Ciao SOTAcad! going. Yeahyuh. All of us are updating this site for all of you staff, students, and last but not least parents (and siblings). So yeah, we’re here in Depero’s Mac Lab and staying here for about 4 hours so we can share our stories from Italia with you guys. Obviously I have not finished my long journal entries by now, so I will have to continue when we get back to San Francisco.

Well anyways after our Ciao SOTAcad! time, us Americans had an hour of free time just to ourselves since our Italians were still in school. Since it was just about lunch time and most of us were hungry we all decided we wanted to eat. Susana, one of the awesome Italian teachers, wanted to make sure we didn’t get lost so she took most of us Americans to a restaurant called Buon Appetito.

After we’ve settled down in our tables, we were all wondering where the menus were. Then we find out we’re not a some typical restaurant. It turns out here at Buon Appetito, the menu changes everyday so they have to recite the menu to their customers every single day. Since none of us Americans spoke Italian, we needed an English speaking waiter. The waiter we ended up getting did an excellent job reciting the Italian menu in English. I ended up ordering lasagna in a spaghetti like pasta form and a peach iced tea. As we they, it was Buon Appetito.

Later that day we visited the Marzadro Wine Factory. We saw how the process of grappa happened. As a person who isn’t a wine drinker or any other alcoholic beverage that can maybe get you drunk or tipsy, I thought I wouldn’t really enjoy this field trip. Surprisingly I loved it!

The factory was beautiful and had a lot of history to it. It even had some vintage vehicles on display. And I ended up tasting a lot of different types of wine, liquor, and of course Marzadro’s specialty: grappa. From the majority of the American group, they were telling me that grappa was too strong for them or they hated the taste. Since I wasn’t a wine drinker I expected my reaction to be the same as the rest of the group, but like I said earlier surprisingly, I loved it! And I don’t want to sound like I’ve been drinking wine for years because believe me I haven’t. (And according to the law, I’m not even old enough to drink yet.) But grappa wasn’t even that strong for me. After trying out grappa I tasted around five other Marzadro liquors and wines. Before we left, I bought some limoncello and apple liquor for my dad.

What a good day!

23. SETTEMBRE 2009

So today’s our last official day waking up to go to school in Rovereto because tomorrow we’re visiting Verona and on Friday us Americans are leaving for Milan. As I type these words, I’m already in San Francisco, but I remember feeling the sadness of leaving Italia. I couldn’t believe two weeks had already passed. It went by so quick.

Since it was technically our last full day with our families the only thing planned for us was working on Ciao SOTAcad! in the morning. After 12 we were dismissed. Today my Italian and I went home for lunch and I know I overuse this word, but it was: awesome. Delicious. Homemade lasagna and a fruit salad. If only I could bring some of that lasagna back home.

My Italian Family

Earlier this morning I asked Laura if I could take a picture with the whole family later that day. She said yes after lunch and I was just like alright. I didn’t realize they really meant right after lunch. After I finished eating Laura asked me if I was ready to take the photo and I said yes. Then her whole family starts getting ready for the picture. They really did mean right after lunch. How awesome was that?

We took one inside in the living room and took another one outside with the grandmother. Since I wanted to make sure everyone was in the picture I needed to find a platform where I could set my camera on the ten second timer, something that would substitute as a tripod. So Laura’s dad starts searching for something in the family farming tools and points at the Rubbermaid bin and looks at me – signaling “Is that alright?” Since he doesn’t speak English, I nod, smile, and say “Si.” But in my mind I was thinking, “Perfect.”

Afterwards Laura and her mom Rafaella took me and Olivia to the castle of Bulognano’s neighboring city, Arco. What I loved about this castello museum though was the fact that there were English translations for the guide boards, so us two Americans were able to understand what happened to this castle back in the day. It was definitely the bomb-diggity. The view up there was priceless. I was literally at the top of the world.

24. SETTEMBRE 2009

So I put on this old school plaid shirt, a pair of cargo shorts, and my Jack Purcell Converse. I leave the house with no jacket since like my Italian mom said, its going to be “bello”. When we step out of the house, Laura says that she’s cold and asks me if I’m cold in my attire. I tell her no and ask her back the same question, and surprisingly she replies with a yes. I was shocked because it snows here in Italy, my Italian host family is a family of mountain climbers, and yeah, wouldn’t you be surprised yourself? I have a confession to make, I’ve never been to snow, and the coldest place I’ve been to is San Francisco where supposedly its never even close to cold compared to other parts of the world, just unpredictable weather.

What’s even funnier is that when we get to the bus stop I notice our everyday fellow bus mates are looking at me not in a bad way, but in a different way. Hint: all of them are wearing jackets and pants and pretty much have their whole bodies covered up, while me I’m look pretty touristical, especially with my cargo shorts. And then one of our bus mates asks Laura something in their native language. And then she translates to me, “Is it hot in San Francisco?” And then I smile. I say, “No, well yeah, kind of. It might be. In the summer it isn’t hot, but during this time of the year its not that cold.”

My Sharona! I mean, my Verona! Haha. Today’s destination is Verona! So yeah, me and Laura took our usual 45 minute commute to Rovereto and there we met up with the group at the train station. While we were waiting in line to purchase our train tickets today’s Italian teacher-tour guide kindly asked me, “How are you feeling?” And because she asked me in English and she was Italian, I felt that since I was American I should answer back in Italian. So I said, “Stronza.” And then Arianna, one of the Italians, starts smiling and says, “Stronza?” And the other Italians start laughing along too. (Even I’m still laughing as I type these words to recall that moment.) After a couple of seconds I’m all like, “Wait, stronza?” Wake-up call. I just realized I said, “bitch” right in front of the teacher. So I try to recover myself and explain, “No! I mean stanca! Stanca!” (Stanca is the feminine version of tired in Italian.) As you can see I was so tired that morning that I confused stronza (bitch) for stanca (tired). It was all good though since the teacher and the Italians surrounding me, who overheard everything, especially Arianna, laughed out loud about it along with myself too. Around ten minutes later when we’re at the boarding port of the train, the Italian teacher who I just accidentally cussed in Italian at, asked me with a smile, “How are you feeling?” And I said, “Stanca, stanca.” And we laughed.

There was just so much that happened this day that I can go on forever. Unfortunately its too much for this blog entry.

25. SETTEMBRE 2009

Today’s the last day-or morning I should say, with our host families and it sucks. I really can’t believe we’ve already spent two weeks here in this beautiful land of people, architecture, and culture and now its all about to end.

Since my Italian dad had some chores to do he couldn’t come with the rest of the family to drop me off at Depero. We hugged and beso beso’d. I repeatedly told him, “Grazie mille.” Then once I hopped into the car with the rest of the family I rolled down the window and we were waving to each other until we were no longer in sight. “Ciao!”

he said.

On the way to school, Laura tells me that her mom’s asking if I’d like to go back to the view that we went to on the first day that I arrived. Without a doubt I answered, “Si.” It was perfect that one of the first places that they took me to was also the last.

Arriving at Depero and seeing the private coach and my fellow Americans with their suitcases and travel bags was a sad sight. I wasn’t ready to leave yet, but we had to.

Soon all of us Americans and Italians were hugging each other and delivering farewells in Italian and English. Unfortunately the Italians were incomplete, some of the them had to go to school. Luckily I was able to say ciao to them yesterday.

Because I’m a big fan of culture and traditions from all across the world, I made sure I learned a nursery rhyme during my stay here in Italy. On the day of Malcesine, Linda and Elisa taught me the Italian’s equivalent of Ring A Round the Rosy called Giro Giro Tondo. During my stay here I made sure I perfected the pronunciation of Giro Giro Tondo. And today the three of us did a round of Giro Giro one last time before I left.

So before us Americans are finally separate from our Italians, I give all the Italians tight hugs, beso’s, and ciao’s. I give my family, the Zanga Family, a long farewell and many thanks. They’ve really defined the meaning of hospitality.

What I love about the Italian language is the fact that they don’t have a word for goodbye. They only use “ciao”, which means farewell. I gave my happy yet sad ciao to everyone who watched to see us go before I hopped onto the bus.

One of the first places they took me to was also the last. Ciao Italia.

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