Cultural Experiences
This is my jam. I love going to museums, I love hearing interesting stories about places and things, I love learning about the history of these places as well. I just really enjoy learning about everything around me. Did you know that DeKalb Illinois is the birthplace of barbed wire? And that they have a barbed wire museum? I did. Because I went to that museum.
I wanted to hit as many museums as I could while also experiencing as much of the everyday life of Italy as possible. This was a foolish plan but it kept me busy and entertained. I also feel like I will now spend the next few weeks if not months researching the places I visited because there was no way to learn everything in one trip. I took a ton of photos and as many notes as I could during our tours but there is so much more I want to know. These next few photos- I have questions about all of them- time to hit the library!
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I am still amazed by how old everything is in Italy. Looking at a Bible that was from the 1400's was incredible.
Seeing streets and buildings that are older than the United States was simply astounding. As our group wandered the streets we came across a father with his little girl who gave us an impromptu tour of his city.
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| Random dad who decided to show us around his town. |
I joined some of my classmates on a day trip to Venice for our free day and felt like I was in a different world rather than just a different country. I had never seen a town like this. The canals were so beautiful. The six of us piled into a gondola and were treated to a little tour of this remarkable place. Unfortunately, our gondolier (?) did not speak the best English and our Italian was basically non-existent. This left me with many questions that have been added to my list for research at a later date. One of the questions was; "Where are the schools?" We were shown many churches throughout the collection of islands but never a school. I am sure my education background is to blame but I was really interested in seeing their schools.
Book Fair
This was beyond what I could have ever imagined. I was not prepared for the size of this event. I was warned, but I was still shocked. Becuase of the size of the fair, I stuck close to my group. I did not want to get lost but I wanted to see as much as I could. I don't think I saw much of the fair, but it was not for lack of trying. I feel like I spent most of the fair as a wallflower. I just wandered around with wide eyes and a big goofy grin. I will now share a story of me becoming a little too invested in one book.
Picture it. The cutest book you have ever seen. I couldn't look away. I spent way too long looking this book over and letting the publisher know my feelings. I wanted this book but sadly this book was not available in the States. But they were in the market for a U.S. publisher.
Enter me. For some reason I took this as a challenge, no a responsibility, to get this book published in the U.S. You may not know this but my sister works for Sourcebooks, an American publisher. I made my way to the Sourcebooks booth and sat down with one of their workers. I let him know about the adorableness of Kiwicorn and how this book needs to be published in America. I waited for him to write down the title and even made sure to get a verbal agreement for him to speak to this other publisher about this specific title. Yeah, I'm annoying. Later on, I returned to the booth to check on Kiwicorn and was greeted with smiles. Sourcebooks had indeed spoken to them and were "keen" on obtaining the rights to this title! Information was exchanged and photos were taken, it was very surreal. When I returned home I emailed the publisher and I am currently waiting to hear if any steps have been taken. If this book makes it to America, especially if Sourcebooks takes it on, I will probably add it to my resume. Just kidding... maybe...
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| A few of us with the famed Kiwicorn and Mr. Meggs from Award Publications Limited |
Looking back at the fair, I wish I had gone to more of the breakout sessions. I was continually distracted by the different booths and the want/need to see everything that I couldn't get myself to step away. The sessions were also not always what I expected. One of the sessions I sat in on was listed as a film education but when the session started it was more of how there is no film education in schools. One of the speakers was listing apps that sounded great but later added that these apps were old and no longer worked on newer phones. The same speaker listed websites for resources but then pointed out that none of these sites had a thing for film education. I was confused because I thought the session was on ways to teach film education and it ended up being a session on the lack of film education.
I should have done more research before heading to the fair. This is not a fair to just show up to. You need to have a game plan. If I am lucky enough to ever attend this fair again I hope to be settled in a job when I go. I want to know what I am looking for and what information I want to bring back to my school or library.
TRAVEL
I will stick with my previous statements about not being a traveler. I really dislike planes, trains, and even to a point automobiles. It didn't help that I was on my own when I made my way to Italy. I should have coordinated with others and traveled with someone. I didn't like being stuck on a plane for 8 hours, I didn't like having to go from a long plane ride to a long train ride, I didn't like trying to figure out to hail a taxi when I couldn't speak the language. In summary- I simply don't travel well. I did love being in a new place, I just didn't like traveling to that new place. Teleportation needs to be invented, I want Harry Potter like traveling; Apparition, Floo Networks, Vanishing Cabinets, and Porkeys.
But I did love where we stayed. Our little place was lovely and just the right size. The breakfast area was bright and warm, never overcrowded. I usually struggle to sleep in a new place but I felt at home pretty quick here. At first, I was a little concerned that it would feel too cramped but I loved it, I loved my roommate, I loved my classmates (they were so helpful and caring) and I loved the area. It was easy to walk to many different places which was helpful but it never felt like a big scary city. If I ever had the chance to move to Italy, I could see myself living in Bologna.
Overall experience
The good definitely outweighs the bad. I am glad I went and I have great memories. I was even open to the idea of a 5-year reunion with the people on this trip. I would be willing to repeat this trip in 5 years. I learned a lot and while this first trip was a little overwhelming, and I feel like I could accomplish so much more now that I know what to expect. Hopefully, it will not be another 15 years before I bust out my passport again.
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| The last dinner was a heart shaped pizza! |
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