Italian Police Stations, Antique Markets, the Best Cookies in the World and Film making in Italy

Week Three in Ascoli Piceno Stage of culture shock: Missing home but staying positive.

In Ascoli everything is closed on Sunday mornings and afternoons. Last Sunday, I walked through the streets and felt as though I had them to my own. I walked past houses where you could hear forks and knives on plates and families chattering through the wooden shutters. Although one can witness something like this during the midday break on the weekdays, on Sundays it is as if everybody devotes the beginning of their days to church, family and sitting down for a great meal. At night, after the streets have been left desolate for hours, bars, stores and restaurants open to the people of Ascoli and the city all of a sudden fills with life again.

I walked around Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Arringo to be welcomed by swarms of people gossiping and walking around with their families and friends. This happens ever night of the week, but on Sunday the piazzas are the most crowded.

On Sunday night, a group of us went to a Chinese restaurant down the street from the UNH classrooms. Chinese food in Italy is very different than Chinese food back home. I was hoping there would be chicken fingers and General Chow’s chicken on the menu, but unfortunately I found none of what I had anticipated. I’m not sure if what was on the menu was authentic Chinese food or the Italian version of Chinese food, but it did not taste that great to me. I ordered dumplings and a chicken dish. The dumplings were not good and the chicken was spicy and made me cough. I thought it should have come in a quesadilla. Chinese food in Italy, for me, was not a good idea. It was a break from the heavy pasta and pizza overload I’ve been experiencing these past few weeks, so the change was welcome. Everybody else seemed to like what they got and made plans to come back. Italian Chinese food, for me, was a one time experience.

The school week went by normally. The weather has been getting increasingly colder this past week. It is a relief from the scorching humidity we were welcomed by when we first arrived.

On Thursday after Italian class, my cinema class and Federica, an actress who plays the lead role in my film and is the girlfriend of one of Cristian’s buddies, filmed the alleyway scene of my movie. Federica was a great choice for the role of Carina and totally embodied the character that I wrote. It is an amazing thing to see something that I wrote and created be brought to life. I am so happy that I was able to take this course and discover something that I never knew I would be interested in.

After the wrap of the first day, I headed back to school for a round of email writing and kept up with the news at home.

Then, I took a leisurely stroll around town. Phil and I walked across another bridge and I got to see a side of the town I had never seen. I discovered a few other grocery stores, found out where the train and bus stations in town are, and saw the Ascoli soccer stadium.

On Friday the group of us UNH in Italy students woke up early in the morning and ventured across one of the bridges in town to go to the police station in Ascoli where we had an appointment to meet with the police regarding our stay in Italy.

Before moving on, a little back story is necessary: When we first arrived in Ascoli, it was necessary for us students to receive permission from the Italian government to stay in Italy for three months. The third day of our stay we all went to post office and received a packet of information that Cristian and Diana, his assistant, helped us fill out. We then had to go to a Tabacchi (a shop that sells stamps, candy, tobacco, phone cards and lottery tickets) and purchase a Marco di Bollo, which is a stamp that cost 14.62 Euro and issued when someone sends any official document to the Italian government. We then had to copy every page of our passport, even the blank ones. Then we all went back to the post office and completed the registration by placing all the documents in an envelope, paying the fee to stay in the country and putting the stamp on the envelope to be sent off for processing. We were officially allowed to stay in Italy for three months…or so we thought.

Earlier this week, Cristian told us that we needed to have our fingerprints documented and our pictures taken for government records. On Friday, we would have to go to the police station for about two hours while we were fingerprinted and the documentation was tied up. When we arrived at the station, there were about 15 other foreigners from around the world huddled at the door. We assumed they were here for the same reason. We all dropped our passports and the receipts we received for the Permesso di Soggiorno in a small box and waited to be called.

After a half hour of waiting in a small, smelly room we all started getting restless. People came after us and dropped their documentation in the same small box and were called and situated before us. The room grew crowded and the situation more frustrating.

Finally, after about an hour and a half of waiting, the first of us were called. In succession we were each told that we needed to complete the process of buying another stamp and copying our passport again and were each handed a new set of documents to fill out. We tried to tell the officer that this is not what we were told we would be doing today, but we were not understood. Frustrated, we called Cristian, and he made his way to the police station to help us out. Once he arrived and was waiting in the room to figure things out, we were called in succession into a different room to get our fingerprints taken.

Long story short: The lady who was calling us in the line never looked at our receipt from the post office that stated we had already filled out the paperwork. We were only supposed to be there to get fingerprinted. She overlooked this and freaked us all out with our lack of understanding and frustration.

After the ordeal, Darin and I, the last ones to get fingerprinted, walked out after about three hours of waiting. We both went to our own apartments after a trip to EuroSpin, a discount grocery store near the bridge and bought some groceries for the weekend.

I guess this experience was a true, honest Italian experience. Waiting for nothing. The bright side of it all was that it was interesting to see the people who were waiting with us. There were people from all over the world in that room: People from the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and then us Americans. I came to realize that Italy is not solely an American or western attraction. Italy attracts everyone from everywhere. I guess I didn’t have to be in an Italian police station to understand this.

Later that day, after a salami and mozzarella sandwich, I headed to the second day of shooting for my movie Ascoli Ottobre. It was raining, which made for a wet day of filming, but the shots came out better because there was no glare from the sun. Federica delivered a stellar performance once again as did Phil, Erica and Samantha, who played the waitress in the scene we shot today. Much thanks to everybody from the class who helped me out. Again, I’m hoping to be able to insert the video here on the website in about a month, so look forward to that! It was great to see how films are made. These last couple of days I have come to appreciate the time and effort of the many people involved in the production of films and television. Over the next two weeks, I’ll be able to try all the different aspects of film making as we will be filming the two other movies as well as the post production side of my own movie, which includes adding audio effects, editing and putting the whole thing together. In this point of the project, though, I feel the writing aspect of the film is my favorite.

Point of Interest: I have found the best cookies in the world. They are located at Pasticceria Marini, across the bridge that is next to the Tigre, a grocery store in town, on our side of the city. I have been there three times now, walking a short distance to the pasticceria and ordering usually a dozen at a time. They are very small cookies that have a kind of pie crust flavor and are decorated at each end with a generous spread of nutella, a sort of chocolate frosting. I would walk to Turin for these cookies. They are my favorite and because of this I have taken a picture of them and the place to get them: I’ll be asking for the recipe before I leave.

I just got back from my Saturday around town. Every third weekend of the month, Ascoli hosts an antique market in Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Arringo. Large white gazebos are set up on both squares and merchants fill them with their stuff. Along with this market is the usual clothing and food market that spreads itself out on the streets that lead to both Piazzas. Walking around the antique market was a great experience. There were antique door knockers, furniture, lamps, pictures, jewelry, old books, clothing and home décor. It would be great to buy some of the stuff, but shipping it home would cost an outrageous amount of money and frustration. Besides, pictures will suffice.

By far the most interesting thing I saw there was the Nazi war uniforms and different items decorated with the swastika. For some reason, seeing the symbol on television and in movies and reading about World War II in history books does not make real that devastating time as much as seeing the clothing, weapons, and helmets that were actually there. It was fascinating to see, but scary to think of what it represented.

And now a side note on Italian culture: Italian drivers are crazy. Out of their minds. Insane. Even in the small town of Ascoli Piceno, where there is no need to be racing to get to anywhere, danger for the pedestrian exists on the streets. Vespas and cars don’t stop for a person on two legs. Even when someone is in the middle of a crosswalk, cars do not hesitate to speed past as long as they are a few inches from the person. If the person should be in front of them walking, they will stop about an inch from the pedestrian, pushing on their breaks as if it was a courtesy gesture and not a safety concern. The Italian pedestrian takes the drivers in stride, commanding the space they are walking on, unwilling to let drivers pass them. For me though, never having any sense of grace or direction, the road can be a bit scary. Thankfully, I have yet to be hit or see somebody get hit by a vehicle here. I think drivers are so trained and used to quick stops that they have trained themselves to not hit people. They don’t, however, give a second glance at pigeons. On my daily walks, I usually see a pigeon on the stone road with its head squashed or body flattened. I guess that’s Italian road kill.

Lastly, my parents and my grandmother are coming to visit me in 18 days!!! I am so excited to share my experience with them. We are going to venture around Italy and visit Rome, Bologna, Venice and then spend a couple days here in Ascoli. Right now I’m in the process of trying to figure out the train systems here in Italy so I can try and be a confident traveler when figuring out the schedules and train lines. I know that we’re going to have a great time!

I hope that everyone back home is doing well. ~Alex

An Introduction to Ascoli Piceno

At the insistence of my family I've finally decided to set fingers to keys and write my long-promised travelogue. I've been so overwhelmed that somehow the words did not come so easy. I've realized, though, that it's important to share and to let everyone know what I've found here in Ascoli. Most importantly, it's important to recognize how lucky I am:

Weeks One and Two
Stage of Culture Shock: Amazed at the brilliance of it all.

I arrived in Italy late into the night on Sunday, August 31. From Rome a group of us UNH travelers took a three hour bus ride to Ascoli Piceno where we will be living for the next three months.
I have been in Ascoli for a week now and am enjoying it very much. It's very hard to not sound as if I'm writing a fairytale when describing Ascoli. I really wish the beautiful pictures I took did it justice. The city is enchanting with charming and beautiful people, extraordinary scenery and delicious food. I am happy that I decided to study in Ascoli, a small medieval town surrounded by hills and fully alive with the real, organic Italian life. The city does not come prepackaged with English speaking salespeople and menus. Not at all. Ascoli is a city that caters to the Italians of the region. Sure, a traveler can find people in the town eager to try out their English and help him, but it's so much better to try and get by in their native tongue.

The food of Ascoli is amazing. The regional specialty is large olives stuffed with minced meat, breaded and fried. These olives are amazing. Also good from this city is everything else they have served me. In the past two weeks I've had veal, pork, lasagna, pizza, gelato, fish, shrimp, panini, cafe, cappucino, biscotti, and more pizza and even more gelato. It was all delicious. It's everything its hyped up to be and more. I can't really say anything more than that without feeling and urge in my stomach to go to the Piazza and eat a few of every single item of food I've just mentioned.

The people here are really amazing. Everybody has a nice word to say to me, whether it be a "Ciao" a "Buon giorno" or my favorite "Buonasera" (Good evening). Everybody is so peaceful, so welcoming and inviting. Although I am no expert, I assume that Ascolians are very happy that mass tourism has passed them by. It makes them more real, true to who they are, and proud of their city. Not having tourism here makes me feel like I am living amongst the Italians and not touring the city with a bus group. Rome, Florence, Venice and all the other Italian tourist destinations are certainly beautiful, but they pale in comparison to the unrestrained streets and people of Ascoli Piceno.

In all this romantic wordage, it's hard to think of any possible unattractive qualities of Ascoli Piceno. Unfortunately there is one always present downside of Ascoli and from what I saw this weekend, most likely Italy in general: Cigarettes. I see cigarettes in the hands of people walking down the street and in the piazza, cigarettes being held by people too young to be holding cigarettes, cigarettes in the hands of bus drivers, and cigarettes in restaurants and in bars being smoked by patrons, servers, bartenders and cooks. I see cigarettes being held by everyone all over the city. As a 21st Century American student, this seems to be just a little unhealthy for the overall population. Don't they know that smoking causes any number of diseases? Do they read the label on the front of the pack? (Yes, they have warnings in Italy, too) Perhaps it's just a cultural nuance that serves to cause foreigners frustration. Whatever it is, I suppose if smoking is the worst thing an Italian city has to dish out, it's not so bad.

I'm living in a small, but nice apartment with Phil, a student from the Durham campus. Our apartment is located on Corso di Sotto. It's a bit of a walk to the school and to the other apartments that house our UNH friends, but walking through the city is always enjoyable, so I don't mind.

My Italian classes began last week and already the work is starting to pile on. Just to let everyone know: homework and work in Italy is exactly the same as homework and work in America. For me, the Italian class will be the most challenging. I'm taking a year's worth of Italian, year two, in one semester, so the work is a bit hefty. Not being too confident in my Italian language skills, I'm a bit nervous. I am hoping that the immense amount of practice I'll get in Ascoli will help with the nerves.

A class that I'm particularly excited about is my Italian cinema class. I'm excited because it's taught by two people working in the field and because it's only six weeks. (Just kidding about the last part) Anyway, the cinema class is being taught by Jessica Hecht and her husband Adam Bernstein. Jessica played, among many other roles, the reoccurring character Susan Bunch on Friends, and she was in Sideways and most recently Dan in Real Life. Her husband, Adam, is a director. Among his most noted work, Adam directed the pilot episode of Scrubs, the music video for Baby's Got Back, and his self-proclaimed claim to fame, the music video for the B52's Love Shack.
In Adam and Jessica's class we are creating our own three to five minute movies to be set in Ascoli Piceno. The three girls in my class have joined to create an "American makeover into an Italian fashionista" type-movie, and another guy in my class has decided to write a political thriller set right after World War II. I have decided to go a little darker with my work. I will be directing a femme fatale murder movie. I won't give you any clues as to what happens in the movie, but I'm going to try and insert the script I wrote and the movie itself into this blog once it's finished.

I also have an Italian Art History course taught by Christina, a woman who commutes from Rome once a week to teach our class on Mondays. Christina is an archeologist who works at a site when she is not teaching. She was also our tour guide when we visited Pompei.

In a few weeks, once Italians go back to school, I will begin my Italian practicum course. From the information I have received thus far, I will be helping an Italian elementary school teacher teach her students English for four hours a week. I'm very excited about this course and will keep everyone updated about this and all my other courses as the weeks progress.

This past weekend the group ventured off to southern Italy. Over the long weekend we visited Pompei, Sorrento, Amalfi, Capri and Naples.

A five hour bus ride from Ascoli led us to be welcomed by humid weather and many tourists to the ruined city of Pompei. Starting off with a panino and Fanta soda in hand, my fellow UNH in Italy travelers and I braved the uneven streets and the infamous southern Italy sun to witness one of the most devastating natural disasters in history. Pompeii was everything I thought it was going to be: ruins of an old city shadowed by its devastator. Everyone has seen the pictures and heard the story. I have included some pictures to view on my photo website, but I'll let the story of the place be told by people who can tell it better than I, or at least Wikipedia.com where one can access a general overview of the city's history!

After an overnight stay and an evening out to dinner in Sorrento, we boarded the bus early in the morning and drove along the Amalfi coast. After seeing the stunning coastline and biting our nails as we drove along hairpin turns, we stopped at Amalfi for a few hours. I swam, ate pizza and walked around the resort town. It was crowded, but the scenery was beautiful.

The next day we rode a ferry from Sorrento to Capri for the day. Again, we stayed on the beach swimming in the salty Mediterranean water. After swimming a group of us made it up a long, long, long hill to where the restaurants and shops were. We stopped for lunch, did some window shopping, and then went back on the bus.
Capri was a great day trip and I am glad I was able to see this popular island of Italy. The next day we were off to Naples and then back home to Ascoli.

If anyone should ever tell you that Naples is beautiful, or that it's a must-see destination of the grand Italian tour, tell them that they are lying. Naples is ugly. The people are bushy, the air is hot and smells of exhaust, and the city is dirty. Trash lines the street and pickpockets and scam artists line the street. Should you go there, hold your valuables close to your body. Better yet, leave your valuables at home. Even better than that, go somewhere else. Stay an extra few days in Capri or Amalfi. Yes, Naples is that bad. However, I'm probably not the best expert on the city as I stayed (huddled, really) within a few city blocks. Yes, I was that afraid. Certainly, I was not in Ascoli anymore. So, if anyone should ever tell you to visit Naples, tell them that you have advice in good faith not to go there. Instead, spend a few days in the other nearby romantic towns of southern Italy.

After Naples, I returned to Ascoli and on Tuesday, it was back to classes and back to living like the Ascoliano.

Yesterday, I ventured over one of the bridges to the other part of Ascoli. Over the bridge the buildings were mostly residential. They had a newer feel to them too, as if the part of Ascoli I live in and the part over the bridge were two separate cities. Other then a wonderful bakery I found, there was not much there to explore. On my way home though, about two minutes from my apartment, I happened to glance to the side of the road and saw a ruined Roman theatre. In my amazement, I rushed over to the railing of the theatre and took a few pictures. I have yet to thoroughly research the theatre, but using my best Italian I found out from a girl who works in a pizzeria next to the theatre that it is currently closed to the public. There were a few signs near the theatre in the closed off area that I could not read. I want to go in the theatre and look around, though, so I'm going to talk to Christian, the program director, and see if he can get me in to do just that. It's the wildest thing to have a ruined Roman theatre two minutes from where I live.
My next blog is tentatively (emphasis on that, please) scheduled to post on September 22. Until then, everyone can reach me at alexryanscarelli at gmail dot com. I would love to hear how everyone is doing, so keep in touch.

A word about living in Ascoli:
Over the next few months I'm going to try hard to resist the temptation to describe people and places as better or worse than in the U.S. It's important to make the distinction that life Ascoli and life in the states is different. But, really, there's not right or wrong way of doing things. Frustrations on my end are going to exist. This is certain. However, I need to remember, as every traveler does, that my way of doing things is not necessarily the best way. For example, this morning I was woken up at 3am by street sweepers. Street sweepers whose loud truck machines make noises that bounce off the walls and echo throughout the streets. Better still are the vespas that swarm loudly and without caution through the streets at all times of the day and usually are my alarm clock in the morning. Yes, both street sweepers and vespas seem to be my enemy here, but that's okay. This is Italy, not Chester, NH. It's different. It's not better or worse. It just is. Things are going to be different in all of Italy, in every shop I visit or with every person I encounter. It's good that I'm getting the footing now rather then two months from now. Things are going to be foreign to me. Take-out food and drive-through coffee will not be available. Walking will be my source of transport. It can be inconvenient, but it's what I signed up for, no excuses. I wanted Italy and here it is in all it's grandeur and confusion. Even though I tarnished the reputation of Naples, all I've said above goes for that city, too. It's not my favorite, but it's part of the fabric of this nation. I need to learn to appreciate, or at least try to understand, the things that are not my favorite.

What I just described above does not, of course, apply to cigarette smoke. That's just bad. And as I'm being bitten alive by mosquitoes right now due to the lack of screens in Italian buildings, I will describe mosquitoes as worse here than back at home. They need screens here. Badly. I think I've done more of itching the bug bites on my arms, neck and shoulders than I have done typing in the last hour.

Until next time, Ciao!