The Beauty is...

Our first week here has been a whirlwind. Though there are so many things I could write about my classes and I'll take the time to do that in another post. For now, I wanted to mention some of the wonderful things I've noticed about Arezzo.

For one thing, I was told that when I visited Italy I should beware of... how should I say it... my role as a tourist - a young American girl for that matter. Well, maybe this is the case in larger cities, but in Arezzo, you begin to realize that this is home to many people. It's got the very personal, quaint qualities of a small town like my own, but also the spirit of an urban city. The citizens of Arezzo seem to tolerate, and in many cases, are very outwardly friendly to us Americans.

But what is even more special about Arezzo is the culture of the city itself. Though Monica warned us that besides the Giostra del Saracino the city is pretty much a ghost town, there seems to be a lot going on - often when you don't look for it. For instance, a couple days ago a street festival was going on in town. It was the first time I took a good hour to wander around by myself before meeting up with others. There were tents full of food and sweets - including licorice rope, marzipan, gummies, sweet pralines, dates, olives, dried fruit, sausage, entire pig carcasses, endless cheese, bread, and pastries. There were booths selling belts, boots, sparkly tops, jackets, shoelaces, toys, glasses, jewelry, and cheap nail polish. There were also several demonstrations for a George Foreman type grill that seemed to attractive a large crowd. I bought a few things: some pumpkin seeds, nail polish and a nutella crepe.

It's worth noting that I attempted to buy olives by weight... I tried to copy the person in front of me, but it soon became apparent that I was an American and had no idea what I was doing. The guy selling olives was very excited to hear that I was from "New York City" and said something something "bella" and insisted that I take the olives for free, which was very nice. Interestingly, about 10 minutes prior to this experience, I was bombarded by two young girls asking me questions in Italian, to which I had to shrug and say "Uh... Sono Americana!", which made them giggle and say "scusi, scusi". It has been wonderful to be able to experience the city without having to announce that I'm a tourist. And by no means have I been treated like one.

Last night we went into the city for dinner. As soon as we entered the walls of the city, we encountered what looked like local teens playing with their garage band in the square outside the duomo. They were really good and attracted quite the crowd! A couple minutes later in a different part of town, we saw a makeshift stage that was constructed for a children's dance recital. After dinner, we stopped for a moment to enjoy this city that seems to thrive on young people presenting their work right in the middle of the city.

Tonight is a mass that we've been told attracts people from all corners of the Arezzo, so I'm sure it will be another great example of how this city is alive and well.