Personal Report from Italy by Dagmar Budd, Slovak Student, 17 years old

Italy (May 8-14, 2017)

It was in the early hours of the morning and still pitch dark outside when my deep sleep was interrupted by the incessant buzz of my alarm. Looking at the clock on my mobile, it showed four o’clock in the morning. It was still early and I had plenty of time. School doesn’t start until 7.55 AM. And then I remembered… TODAY WE’RE FLYING TO ITALY!!!....

May 8, 2017 and today at five o’clock sharp we were supposed to leave from the Prievidza bus station for Statte, Italy. So how did this all begin? It was sometime in March when I signed up for ERASMUS +, an incredible program that allows young people from different countries to get to know each other, travel and work on joint projects. And it was our teacher at the grammar school that was giving us this opportunity.

But returning back to the bus station... It was already five o’ clock and we were waiting for her to come in the microbus. After a wait that seemed endless, it finally pulled up to the stop and so we boarded the microbus, full of enthusiasm and accompanied by our two fantastic teachers, to set off on our journey into the unknown.

Our first stop was Franz Liszt International Airport in Budapest, which we finally reached after a three hour ride. There we had to pass through security and get our boarding passes before we could sit down and relax on board the attractive looking pink Wizz Air plane. The flight itself was rather pleasant. Below the clouds, which looked like cotton padding, we could here and there look at the sea spread out below them. It was just a short time later …aaahhh, as we were approaching that the flight captain got on the microphone to announce to us that we should be fastening our seat belts. It’s for our own safety, we know, and of course we have to obey the captain. The plane landed smoothly at the Bari airport. There is a tradition, sometimes followed, of applauding the pilots for a safe landing and this time the passengers clapped their hands as the plane sailed down the runway. We arrived in Bari at lunchtime and continued our journey in a microbus (but not the microbus that had taken us to Budapest☺) to our final destination – the city of Statte.

Travelling to our families was wonderful – the seaside architecture of the buildings, roads lined with enormous palm trees, cactuses and aloe vera plants bigger than we are, and in the background a clear, turquoise sea. And then suddenly we were in Statte, a tiny city where we would be spending the next week living with our host families. We had already seen some people who looked Italian and it was certainly going to be them because they all seemed so incredibly enthusiastic to see us. And we had hardly gotten out of the microbus before the families were hugging us and saying how much they had been looking forward to meeting us.

My host family took me to a cozy little house where I was greeted by the loud barking of their dog. Moving fast, I was able to unpack my things just in time for lunch. They wouldn’t be Italians if they didn’t serve traditional Italian food, like ravioli with prawns and mozzarella. I started telling Lucia, my mother for this week and quite a kind woman, and her daughter Noemi, my correspondent on this exchange, about the trip here. To keep the conversation going we sometimes had to depend on Google Translate, but together our strong forces were able to overcome the language barrier. And in this way we kept talking all the way until dinner about each other’s countries and their traditions. After dinner I was very tired from the trip and went straight to bed. I had hardly laid down before I was fast asleep, and yet wondering what would be coming over the next few days.

May 9 – Day Two. Just a few hours ago yesterday I was in an Italian house and now I was going to an Italian school. It was a beautiful morning with the rising sun illuminating the cascading buildings. It was a magnificent scene with the sea sparkling in the background and the coast and some islands visible in the dawn mist. As we were walking the school, we passed a shop selling frutti de mare and judging from the fresh smell of the merchandise coming out of there, it was clear that only a few hours ago they had been swimming merrily in the sea not too far away. We continued onward and not much later we could see the school, perched in an excellent location on a hill with a marvelous view of the sea. I wouldn’t mind having such a school like that back home – with a view from the classroom window directly at the sea. Walking through the corridors, I saw the students peeping out of the classrooms and trying to figure out who these young people are who have come to see them at their school. They were looking at us as if we were extraterrestrials dropping in from outer space and we couldn’t keep from smiling at how they wanted so much and tried so hard to talk to us. The host school had already gotten themselves ready for the partner schools and put together a program to welcome us with the school band and choir and a musical theater show presenting the typical symbols of the other partner countries. After the show, each of us “strangers” presented our projects, which were supposed to summarize something about the countries where we come from. School ended later that morning and we were now waiting for what was scheduled for the afternoon.

They took us on a sightseeing trip to local landmarks, with a professional guide explaining what they were. Then in the evening we returned back to our families.

May 10 – Day Three. Another gorgeous morning. This time my host mother prepared us a sweet breakfast and packed me a snack for today’s adventure. The destination was Martina Franca – the second largest town in the entire province of Puglia, where there was going to be a famous opera festival. The city itself is surrounded by magnificent Baroque gates which lead to the main square and many winding narrow alleys. During our tour to learn about the place, we managed to break away for some delicious Italian ice cream. If you can ever get away to Italy, you have to try the ice cream! Big scoops, incredible taste, the colors… everything you can ever want, mixed together to create a Mediterranean atmosphere you’ll never find anywhere else.

That afternoon we visited the little town of Alberobello, yet another place with unique architecture – this time “trulli”, the traditional dry stone huts found in this part of Italy with conical roofs standing alongside narrow alleys. In 1996 buildings like these were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and for good reason, too. Different symbols could be seen on the roofs. For example, a cross meant that the family living inside were devout believers. We browsed through the stores for a little while, buying souvenirs and pasta so that back home our families would be able to taste some of the fantastic Italian food we were enjoying. The pink flags flying over the narrow alleys beautifully matched the gray and white trullo houses and the clear blue sky. Before we could even catch our breath it was time to get back into the bus and return to Statte. That evening I had the classic Italian meal – spaghetti with seafood or “the fruits of the sea”. Simply a culinary paradise. Just another marvelous day chock full of impressions I will never forget, and it had all come to an end.

May 11 – Day Four. That afternoon we stayed at the school to work on our projects. All of us had chosen our logos for the Erasmus + project and it was time to vote for the “best” one. Because we were spending all of today inside the school, there was now the opportunity to get acquainted with all the students from the other schools that were participating in this stay in Italy. We even had the honor of spending an hour teaching. Yes, you heard it right. The lessons here last an hour☺, that is an entire 60 minutes, and specifically the subjects were music, English, mathematics, Italian and religion. At each class we were welcomed with our national anthems, which I personally thought to be quite nice of them.

May 12 – Day Five. Another day in school. The day started with mathematics and religion. We couldn’t stand looking at distressed Italian girl standing in front of the blackboard so we offered to help her solve the examples. But the situation got out of hand, and we found ourselves having to explain mathematics to most of the class. When the teacher returned, the Italian students obviously had to “tattle” about the lesson we had given them. The teacher was giggling and asked us teenagers how much we would charge per hour to tutor them. We responded ourselves by laughing..... Italian pupils adopting us as part of their class. Then we worked before lunch on our projects, specifically on the mascot that would represent the entire Erasmus program. All of us agreed to choose a boy named “Eisefin”. Now we were going to be creating a comic strip where Eisefin would have his own adventures in our countries, with the comic step ending with a meeting in the city of Massluis, Netherlands. After we finished our work, it was time to leave for yet another excursion.

This time we were off to an archeological museum called MarTa, This museum has the biggest collection on antiquities you’ll find anywhere. The jewel clips on the cabinets were shining so brightly that you just could not believe that they came from ancient times. I believe that any woman even today would be proud to wear them around her neck.

The next stop was Aragon Castle in Taranto, built right on the sea. And to end this awesome day and actually the entire week, there was a farewell party with students and teachers where we danced, talked, ate and generally had a good time. Never would I ever have thought that I would eat and like olives and here they were so good. Well, to top it all off, we did happen to be staying right in the heart of olive country. Statte has huge olive groves so you can even smell the odor of olives in the air. We ate pizza (every day in fact), there were so many different cakes that I could not imagine how we could try them all, and in many different flavors and shapes, too. The fun didn’t end until the wee hours of the morning.

May 13 – Day Six. Saturday arrived, but in Italy the children have to go to school on this day. Yes, if you ever got scared thinking that these poor little Italian munchkins have to go to school even on Saturday, it should be said that it’s only the choice of their parents if they see the need for their children to learn on the weekend, too. If the parents and teachers decide to have school on Saturday, the lessons are themselves during the week shorter. After a few hours, we got back on the bus and went off on a trip, this time to Lecce. Our driver had driven us the entire week through narrow alleys and even against traffic. Sometimes we were wondering to ourselves how he could manage to steer that bus through such narrow alleys. It should be noted that in southern Italy, space and time are relative, and this especially holds true with traffic signs. Even though they never seem to get anywhere on time, it still lightens up the atmosphere considerably.

Today’s stop for us was the city of Lecce, with a population of about one hundred thousand and a number of significant monuments to the Baroque era. It’s a city just made to be photographed and obviously for history and antique art enthusiasts. I took an incredible number of images with my mobile phone and uploaded them to my Instagram. In the center of town, there is a square called Piazza Oronzo that is decorated with ancient columns marking the end of the Appian Way. It was a day full of wonderful impressions and exceptional experiences, but then we had to return to Staate, where our families would bring us home.

Our final evening had to be traditionally Italian, and on the table once again there was pizza and the entire family was sitting around the table. We talked, laughed and talked some more. After a week I had discovered that I could actually understand Italian quite well, enough to have been able to even answer a few questions... and I didn’t even realized that it had gotten dark. The week had flown fast and now it was time to go back.

May 14 – Day Seven. Time to say farewell. I woke up at seven o’clock in the morning to pack all my things and jam the souvenirs I had gotten during the week into my bag. These souvenirs included olive oil, of course a couple bottles of good wine (for my parents, of course☺) and spaghetti. The morning was....well it was quite beautiful although the weather was nice. I felt really sad to be coming to the breakfast table for the last time in Italy and to talk with my “family” and my correspondent Noemi and her sister. At nine o’clock the time had come to leave for home. I had mixed feelings, because it had been a beautiful experience, we had seen so much and we had met so many people.

Veni, vidi, vici.... we came, we saw, we conquered... well we didn’t actually conquere anyone but we conquered knowledge and experience as all of us were able to manage communicating in a foreign language quite well (thanks to our teachers☺), and to have stayed with such hospitable families, to introduce our school, our traditions and to make new friends.... We learned new things and enjoyed new experiences which no one can ever take away.

This week went by fast, but it was still beautiful. There were new things we learned about our partner countries and we got to know each other and to communicate and work together, and we learned from each other...

If I ever have a chance sometime to go back to Italy, I have to stop again in this gorgeous city of Statte. Thank you for having given me this opportunity to be part of the project.

L’Italia è grande. Arrivederci.

Dagmar Budd, Slovakia