Buona Sera!
Just a quick note - I did remove the currency converter from my page - noticed that the one I had doesn't update, and the one I want doesn't show the complete page! If I can find a suitable add-in, I will be sure to include it on the page. Until then, here's the best, and most recently updated one:
http://www.xe.com/ucc/
There is a way to get this onto one's website - if I can figure it out quickly, I'll get it on the page!
pace,
Laura :)
Monday, May 10, 2010
What NOT to pack
Ciao, Tutti!
While flipping through the channels the other day, I found a show which brought back funny memories. When my baby sister was in college, her friends turned her in to be on the show, "What not to Wear," for Christi's taste in dress. For over 1.5 years, Christi wore spaghetti-strap tank tops. Even in the winter. Madness.
I'd like to propose a new show: "What not to PACK". When it comes to travelling, packing is the most daunting concept of the experience. Even figuring how to get around a new city (with new transportation, new "home" location, new food types, all in a new language, even) is less threatening than the idea of giving up our home-based comforts.
Admittedly, too many rules or policies for anything drives me crazy. But some of the policies developed by the FAA since 9/11 have made such great sense to me! Who needs more than 50 pounds of stuff when you're traveling? Does where you're headed NOT have a supermarket? A food source? A sink? Also, who needs more than 3 oz of any liquid in their bags? You're just asking for a nasty spill!
SPI has given you a nice list of what you should pack. Definitely consider that list and your itinerary plans (when we tour on our first Saturday in Rome, we'll go into the Vatican - you need to have shoulders/cleavage/knees covered). So, here's my advice on what NOT to pack:
1. Anything more than 3 oz. of any liquid. Weigh your bottle of shampoo sometime, to see how much it really weighs. Need more shampoo or mouthwash? Pick it up at the supermarket (or beauty stores - they're all over Siena)!
2. Anything that needs a converter. Power surges will blow straight through converters, and I've seen them (and the converters themselves) destroy students' iPods, DVD players, and minicomputers. There are radios in the city, and computer labs both at the school and around town. Can't live without a hair dryer? Wait until you get to your homestay - they might have one there. And, if not, we can go shopping for one on our first day of classes - what a great gift to leave behind at your homestay (or to even have as a memorial of the trip)! Please don't weigh down your bags with expensive gadgets.
3. Anything you don't want to lose. Is it a family heirloom? It is something you can't live without? Consider leaving it at home for our brief stay. A lifelong loss of something priceless is way more painful than a few weeks' hiatus.
Siena has many universities in town, which means that they're going to have services you need all over the city. Remember how I mentioned that you could make it with nothing but your passport?
a piu tarde!
Laura :)
While flipping through the channels the other day, I found a show which brought back funny memories. When my baby sister was in college, her friends turned her in to be on the show, "What not to Wear," for Christi's taste in dress. For over 1.5 years, Christi wore spaghetti-strap tank tops. Even in the winter. Madness.
I'd like to propose a new show: "What not to PACK". When it comes to travelling, packing is the most daunting concept of the experience. Even figuring how to get around a new city (with new transportation, new "home" location, new food types, all in a new language, even) is less threatening than the idea of giving up our home-based comforts.
Admittedly, too many rules or policies for anything drives me crazy. But some of the policies developed by the FAA since 9/11 have made such great sense to me! Who needs more than 50 pounds of stuff when you're traveling? Does where you're headed NOT have a supermarket? A food source? A sink? Also, who needs more than 3 oz of any liquid in their bags? You're just asking for a nasty spill!
SPI has given you a nice list of what you should pack. Definitely consider that list and your itinerary plans (when we tour on our first Saturday in Rome, we'll go into the Vatican - you need to have shoulders/cleavage/knees covered). So, here's my advice on what NOT to pack:
1. Anything more than 3 oz. of any liquid. Weigh your bottle of shampoo sometime, to see how much it really weighs. Need more shampoo or mouthwash? Pick it up at the supermarket (or beauty stores - they're all over Siena)!
2. Anything that needs a converter. Power surges will blow straight through converters, and I've seen them (and the converters themselves) destroy students' iPods, DVD players, and minicomputers. There are radios in the city, and computer labs both at the school and around town. Can't live without a hair dryer? Wait until you get to your homestay - they might have one there. And, if not, we can go shopping for one on our first day of classes - what a great gift to leave behind at your homestay (or to even have as a memorial of the trip)! Please don't weigh down your bags with expensive gadgets.
3. Anything you don't want to lose. Is it a family heirloom? It is something you can't live without? Consider leaving it at home for our brief stay. A lifelong loss of something priceless is way more painful than a few weeks' hiatus.
Siena has many universities in town, which means that they're going to have services you need all over the city. Remember how I mentioned that you could make it with nothing but your passport?
a piu tarde!
Laura :)
Friday, May 7, 2010
elenco di canzoni
Ciao, Tutti!
Something came up for me in class today, and I thought of y'all. As a trained musician, my soul is attached to music, and all best expressions of myself I've always found in music. My students often receive music during testing/in-class working time, and they, too, find more peace in themselves. Even my freshman football players in English I CP are transformed. Truly, music soothes the most savage beast.
This isn't unfounded professional behavior - it's been proven how sounds, in their various forms, affect water molecule patterns. And how music can truly change our moods. I'm a huge proponent of the Mozart effect during testing (even though I'll include other classical composers of similar style, plus Tchaikovsky).
When you view any tourist-based videos of Italy, you're going to hear music which is faintly familiar, but which is deeply based in the hearts of the Italians. There are some songs which you just should know if you're a music-lover visiting Italy. And this isn't stereotypical - you will find random groups of people circling around a pianist (or other instrumentalist), singing familiar songs.
I do own Dean-o's "Italian Love Songs", which is a good sampling of traditional Italian songs, but here's a general Italian Playlist, if you'd like to feel prepared for the party:
Volare
That's Amore
Funicoli, funicola
Arrivederci, Roma
Santa Lucia
Return to me (Song of Sorrento)
O Sole Mio
Lazy Mary
Buona Sera
Get this on your iPod! Got more to add to this list? Share your suggestions!
You might just find yourself surrounding a piano, and joining strangers in a familiar song.
un' abbracio,
Laura :)
Something came up for me in class today, and I thought of y'all. As a trained musician, my soul is attached to music, and all best expressions of myself I've always found in music. My students often receive music during testing/in-class working time, and they, too, find more peace in themselves. Even my freshman football players in English I CP are transformed. Truly, music soothes the most savage beast.
This isn't unfounded professional behavior - it's been proven how sounds, in their various forms, affect water molecule patterns. And how music can truly change our moods. I'm a huge proponent of the Mozart effect during testing (even though I'll include other classical composers of similar style, plus Tchaikovsky).
When you view any tourist-based videos of Italy, you're going to hear music which is faintly familiar, but which is deeply based in the hearts of the Italians. There are some songs which you just should know if you're a music-lover visiting Italy. And this isn't stereotypical - you will find random groups of people circling around a pianist (or other instrumentalist), singing familiar songs.
I do own Dean-o's "Italian Love Songs", which is a good sampling of traditional Italian songs, but here's a general Italian Playlist, if you'd like to feel prepared for the party:
Volare
That's Amore
Funicoli, funicola
Arrivederci, Roma
Santa Lucia
Return to me (Song of Sorrento)
O Sole Mio
Lazy Mary
Buona Sera
Get this on your iPod! Got more to add to this list? Share your suggestions!
You might just find yourself surrounding a piano, and joining strangers in a familiar song.
un' abbracio,
Laura :)
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
What To Carry On
Buon Giorno, Tutti!
After sending out that note last night, I figured I should get on the ball with these blog entries!
This weekend, I joined my husband and father-in-law for one of their famed baseball weekends. This isn't my first time - we did Kansas City/St. Louis just two summers ago. And this one was even nicer - we flew into Miami for a Dolphins' game, then drove to Tampa for a Rays game (got to visit the Dali museum), and flew home on Sunday (not before enjoying brunch with some old family friends). A trip like this one reminded me of how important it is to pack smartly - Jay and I fit all we needed into one carry-on suitcase (and, yes, girls, I did have a pair of cute shoes and a pair of walking shoes).
The best advice about carry-ons is this: either carry on as much as possible, or carry on as little as possible. If you're checking a suitcase (as I'm sure all of us will for our trip), make sure you have just the essentials in your carry-on.
What do I put in mine (the backpack)?
Source of entertaining reading - a really good book (I'm taking my summer-reading assignment for my English classes), your copies of paperwork (and mine)
Important paperwork and medicines: If you take it daily, put it in your carry-on. If you need it for emergencies, put it in your carry-on. If it has a prescription, be sure you have a copy of that paperwork (and a copy for me) in your carry-on.
Emergency items: dramamine or bonine, bandaids, neosporin, gas-X strips (great if you get bloated easily)
hygiene products: facewash cloths (Mary Kay's are packaged dry and folded up - wet them in the sink), travel-sized deodorant, toothbrush/travel toothpaste
Color for jetlagged old lady like me: eyeliner/bronzer
Snacks (in case one of you needs it): packages of crackers/peanut butter or cheese
***Change of clothes in case bags don't make it (or, at least, underwear and a t-shirt . . . but, then again, it isn't terrible to have an excuse to go shopping in Rome . . .)
Please remember that we're living in Siena - a finely-developed city, not some third-world place without plumbing. I plan to make a visit to the laundromat in the middle of our trip, and don't want to spend my money on more than one load's worth of wash and dry. Some of your homestays will even offer to wash a load for you (mine doesn't, but I still love her - beg to live with her every year). Pack accordingly.
How do you know if you've packed too much? SPI does give a good packing list in your notebooks which you'll receive, but here's the real way to test it: Pack your suitcase completely, including toiletries you plan to take. Leave it to the side, and go out all night. Before you get to sleep the next morning, pick up your suitcase, and carry it up and down three blocks, climb and descend two flights of stairs with it, then run up and down your street with it. Still happy with how you packed?
There are a few sections of packing advice in the monthly newsletters (you can find their links in the greeting area of the SPI Italy Quia page) - check them out!
a piu tardi!
Laura :)
P.S. Want to see some good views of Siena in a recent movie? "Letters to Juliet", while I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for brilliant plotline (just like "When in Rome"), does have some great views of major locations in Siena!
After sending out that note last night, I figured I should get on the ball with these blog entries!
This weekend, I joined my husband and father-in-law for one of their famed baseball weekends. This isn't my first time - we did Kansas City/St. Louis just two summers ago. And this one was even nicer - we flew into Miami for a Dolphins' game, then drove to Tampa for a Rays game (got to visit the Dali museum), and flew home on Sunday (not before enjoying brunch with some old family friends). A trip like this one reminded me of how important it is to pack smartly - Jay and I fit all we needed into one carry-on suitcase (and, yes, girls, I did have a pair of cute shoes and a pair of walking shoes).
The best advice about carry-ons is this: either carry on as much as possible, or carry on as little as possible. If you're checking a suitcase (as I'm sure all of us will for our trip), make sure you have just the essentials in your carry-on.
What do I put in mine (the backpack)?
Source of entertaining reading - a really good book (I'm taking my summer-reading assignment for my English classes), your copies of paperwork (and mine)
Important paperwork and medicines: If you take it daily, put it in your carry-on. If you need it for emergencies, put it in your carry-on. If it has a prescription, be sure you have a copy of that paperwork (and a copy for me) in your carry-on.
Emergency items: dramamine or bonine, bandaids, neosporin, gas-X strips (great if you get bloated easily)
hygiene products: facewash cloths (Mary Kay's are packaged dry and folded up - wet them in the sink), travel-sized deodorant, toothbrush/travel toothpaste
Color for jetlagged old lady like me: eyeliner/bronzer
Snacks (in case one of you needs it): packages of crackers/peanut butter or cheese
***Change of clothes in case bags don't make it (or, at least, underwear and a t-shirt . . . but, then again, it isn't terrible to have an excuse to go shopping in Rome . . .)
Please remember that we're living in Siena - a finely-developed city, not some third-world place without plumbing. I plan to make a visit to the laundromat in the middle of our trip, and don't want to spend my money on more than one load's worth of wash and dry. Some of your homestays will even offer to wash a load for you (mine doesn't, but I still love her - beg to live with her every year). Pack accordingly.
How do you know if you've packed too much? SPI does give a good packing list in your notebooks which you'll receive, but here's the real way to test it: Pack your suitcase completely, including toiletries you plan to take. Leave it to the side, and go out all night. Before you get to sleep the next morning, pick up your suitcase, and carry it up and down three blocks, climb and descend two flights of stairs with it, then run up and down your street with it. Still happy with how you packed?
There are a few sections of packing advice in the monthly newsletters (you can find their links in the greeting area of the SPI Italy Quia page) - check them out!
a piu tardi!
Laura :)
P.S. Want to see some good views of Siena in a recent movie? "Letters to Juliet", while I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for brilliant plotline (just like "When in Rome"), does have some great views of major locations in Siena!
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