Whoa, if anybody is out there reading this than you'll know that it's been awhile since I have posted anything. I've been busy with school, and my computer broke, so I'm just now getting back at it. It says that the last time I was able to write was February. So we have to talk all about my experience in Ivrea, Torino, and all about Easter and school. Well we (The AFS exchange students) got the chance to do an ''exchange week". We got to choose a city in Italy and go there for a week during their carnival. I chose the city Ivrea, which is located close to Torino, about an hour from the french and swiss border. In their carnival, they had the "Battle of the oranges."
The Battle of the Oranges The Story
Many many years ago, there was a tyrant in the city of Ivrea. The tyrant had control of the city. But the princess didn't like this tyrant, and so one day she threw a rock at him. And all of her followers started throwing rocks at the armies of this tyrant. So the carnival now is a representative battle of the battle that happened many years ago.
My Experience/ The Carnival
In Ivrea, from March 5-8, there is the famous Battle of the oranges, which I will abbreviate as BOF to aviod constant writing out the name. So in the BOF, there are 9 teams. Each team comes from a different part of the city, but really they are just groups of friends. Each team has a square, or share a square with another team. So 9 teams, 9 squares. Each team has their own outfit, which is and old design, made out to be like a knight or from the knights and kings times. So when you walk into one of the squares, the first thing you will notice will be the WHOLE square completely decorated, with paint, pictures and the colors of the team. Then there will be the 10 boxes of about 2,000 oranges each, so for each team about 20,000 oranges a day. Everyone has a bag, and you fill it up with oranges. Then, the "Kings army" comes. They have horse drawn carragies about 2.5 meters high and 8-9 "soldiers" on the top. These guys are dressed in completely protective suits with masks and padding. The battle starts when they enter the square and everyone throws oranges as fast and hard as they can. The team who throws the hardest according to the "soldiers" wins.
Torino
I went to visit my sister Letizia in Torino. It was a ton of fun, and I hope to go again soon, but for now, here are some photos! It was really cool because it was the 150 anniversary of Italy and Torino was the first capitol, so everything was decorated and very fancy. It was quite a trip!
Well I realized that I have explained what my school looks like, and what we do, but I havent put up ANY pictures!!! What was I thinking?? So these are some pictures of my class that I took yesterday.
This is just the class. The teachers desk is to the left, and the blackboard is obviously to your right.
The black board after math class!
This is one of the walls in our class. The students are allowed to write whatever they want to write... Well maybe not allowed, but they do anyway!
Another wall.
This is our floor of the school. There are 3 floors, and 4 buildings..
The view from our class. The parking lot for the school and the Catania soccer stadium in the background.
The outside stairs.
The teachers desk, with the devil horns, and if you can see, the tail is there as well off to the right.
Wow!
In Catania, they worship one saint. And her name is Saint Aghata. This is her story:
Saint Agatha was lovely and of noble birth, and caught the attention of Quintian, the Governor of Sicily. However, Agatha refused Quintian, having taken a Christian vow of purity and devotion to Christ. In retaliation, Quintian reportedly sent Agatha to a house of prostitution. Despite an extended period of time there, Agatha remained firm in her vow. Quintian then reportedly had Agatha imprisoned and brutally tortured. She is supposed to have been healed of her wounds when St. Peter appeared to her in prison, however Quintian's tortures continued and she finally died unshaken in her devotion to Christ.
A year after her death, a city survived the volcanic eruption of Mt. Etna. People became convinced the city had been spared because of St. Agatha's prayers. She is the protector against earthquakes, volcanoes, fires and thunderstorms.
So every year, on February 6th, her bones are brought out from the church, and are led around the city by the people who are devoted to her.
It has been the best festival I have seen in my life!
Christmas in Italy is a little more subtle then in America. They still have all of the decorations and everything, but they aren't as excited. One of the good things about it though, was that we had an 18 day break!! For christmas Letizia came home, and we went to Vittoria to visit the grandparents. We stayed there from the 24th to the 26th. In Italy they celebrate everything on the night of the 24th, so thats when we opened our presents. I had to dress up as Babbo Natale (Santa). Its a good thing that he doesnt talk when handing out presents ;) Then we played cards. For ALL of the holidays here they play cards. Also, there is a game called tombola, which pretty much every family plays. Its similar to bingo, but usually you have to put in about 50 cents or something, and then the winner takes the money. On the day of the 25th, we went to church in the morning, and besides that, we didnt really do anything special. We stayed up that night to play cards as well, but not as late as the 24th. Then on the 26th we went back to Misterbianco, and that was that. For new years, usually, kids go out with their friends and go to a party or do what kids do.. But I had to stay home because our uncles and aunts were coming to visit and my dad wanted me to be there for that. It was ok at the end.. School started back up today (The 10th) and everything went back to normal. Tomorrow I am going to see a spanish play at the theater with my class.
This past wednesday I went to Palermo with my dad because he had an appointment there. I went into 2 really old churches and a cathedral. It was really nice, also more beautifulthan Catania. But yesterday we have strike AGAIN. This time it was because of the government. But after that AFS had a little party for me and Marlee because we are used to celebrating thanksgiving. It was really nice. Today (friday) i had school like normal, and then soccer practice. I think I will be able to play next sunday inthe actual game. Fun! Tomorrow school and then I dont know what im doing in the afternoon..
This past weekend my sister Letizia came to visit us. It was nice to have her around. Elena and Salvo finally seemed like they were able to relax, which is good. I have signed up for a soccer team as well. The team is is Misterbianco, not Catania, so it's closer. Also, the team practices on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and we have games on Sunday. My first practice was fun, and they turned out to be semi-decent players. I still play with my schoolmates on Monday night, because thats the most important. Anyway, the Harry Potter movie came out, and I want to see it, but i'm making myself wait until I can undrstand everything. I want to make sure I get every little thing. We did not have school Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and again Tuesday (we did however have Monday). I have caught up on sleep, but i'm ready for school to start again.
Today I went with my family to the cinema to watch "Benvenuti A Sud". It was a funny movie about an Italian man who lives in the north and comes down to the south to work. It talks about how different even 600 miles can be. Tomorrow i'm going with my dad to Palermo. He has some work thing, so I get to tag along.
Thats all for now! I'll try to write more frequently. :)
The Battle of the Oranges
