JRN Assignment 5: Worst Travel Experience

Think of your worst travel or cultural clash moment to date in Europe.

I was disappointed in the amount of travel we were doing to come to a place with nothing to do in the rain (or so it seemed). Plus, I became increasingly angry because of how tired I was - tired from lack of sleep and tired of dealing with the rain.

• Five adjectives that capture what happened - miserable, freezing, damp, aggravated, exhausted
• The Scene:
  40 college students, excited to continue their study abroad experience in the Croatia, hopped off the train in the city of Split. Unfortunately, they were greeted by rain, darkness, and exhaustion. After walking around for over an hour and finding they couldn't check in to their hostel for another 3 hours, they finally found some covered tables to sit at and complain...

• Context: I had heard from previous students that this trip was their favorite. I heard about the crazy nights, the beautiful sights, and the amazing beaches. The problem was, we couldn't experience any of these things

Blog:

40 Miami undergrads, ready for a weekend they would never forget in Croatia, were greeted there with anything but pleasantries. Clouds covered the sky while rain covered the ground and these students were forced to trek through the rain all the way to their hostel. When we got to this hostel however, we found out that they didn't appreciate people trying to check in at 6am. In fact, they didn't appreciate it so much that the front desk didn't even open to let us in until 10:30. Awesome. Now, we're stuck in Split, Croatia with no place to stay and having to carry our luggage around in the rain as the day slowly begins. After walking around for almost an hour, we found a place to sit that was semi covered, even though everything underneath was wet. Crowded around small tables trying to stay dry, this was the perfect place to complain. Running on two hours of sleep while hanging out being damp in a foreign country with nothing to do was incredibly aggravating. We basically waited it out until we could at least be let in to the hostel even though we couldn't check in. Finally arriving at the hostel, 20 out of the 40 crowded into a tiny room to wait around to at least be out of the rain. This weekend quickly went from what could be one of the best to the absolute worst in about two hours.

The staff then let us know that we could shower if we wanted. Suddenly, we felt a little bit better as we took turns showering and relaxing. Then, they told us we could check in right away and by 11:00 we were all in our comfy hostel beds. By 11:05 everyone was asleep. When we woke up around 2:00pm, we opened the windows to discover a gorgeous Croatian day. Less than thirty minutes later, everyone was on the beach having the time of their lives.

Looking back, the Croatian weekend was among the top destinations of the trip. The problems everyone encountered were out of our control. Then, due to uncontrollable conditions and sleep deprivation, everyone's grumpiness fused together into an tired, angry group. For future travelers, as hard as it may be, wait it out and don't get discouraged. Unexpected things happen like weather, delays, cancellations, etc. The idea is to make the best out of whatever situation travelling brings you and you will be rewarded with a fantastic number of days you will never forget.

JRN Assignment 3: Interview a Firenze Resident

It's the summer of 1984 in London, England. An old copy of Romeo and Juliet in your lap and headphones blaring Grateful Dead into your ears. You meet a beautiful young 18 year old Italian woman and she becomes your main interest for your last 2 days in London. This is the beginning of Matt Reinecke's long transformation into a Florentine.

Matt, current owner of Mama's Bakery in Florence, brings a Wall Street business attitude to the siesta-taking Italian culture. The 18 year old woman he met in '84 became his long distance pen-pal for two years until Matt moved to Italy and soon after, they were married. Reinecke and his Juliet, Cristina, moved to San Francisco, California where Matt began his career in investment banking. He soon moved up the corporate ladder and was, for lack of a better term, making bank in banking. Then in 1993, the Reineckes moved to Florence, back to his wife's hometown. There he persued mutual fund management at a variety of banks until 2003. At this point, he said "I was paid a lot of money to leave, so I did and basically just screwed around for a couple years". However, his American mind refused to rest and in 2008, Mama's Bakery opened its doors for the first time. Matt noted "I used to have bagels from New York Fed-Ex'd to me from my associates overseas until Mama's". Now, two years later, Mama's continues to grow in popularity and the Italian clientele continues to grow. Matt hopes to turn Mama's into a franchise soon and make more than just bagels. When asked what he misses most about his American way of life, he said "I miss my paycheck and bonuses every month" but he wishes to make many things Mama's in the near future. For the sake of all their loyal customers, the sooner the better!

JRN Assignment 2: Breakfast Observations

It's 10:30AM on Via della Chiesa in Florence. Mama's Bakery is a quiet American spot. Smell those fresh bagels, muffins, coffee and treats? That’s the smell the Californian owner brings to Firenze. You surely want to be inside today – Not even brunch and it’s pushing 100⁰F. Thank God for the AC here in this place that looks basically more modern than anything I have seen in my first two weeks of travel through Italy.

Two Italian women walk in, order bagels in Italian to the bilingual owner, and grab a seat at the other end of the room from me with their dog (who I later learned to be named Diego). I try to secretly observe their conversation and listen in. I understand none of their Italian. However, one woman clad with white skirt and loose orange T, seems to dominate the conversation. As she starts panting and waving her arms, she must be describing being out of breath. A phone rings: the other woman leaves to answer it. Woman 1 trips on Diego on her way to the garbage. The women reconvene, brush the dog away from the garbage, look at me with a "ciao" and leave Mama's Bakery.

JRN Assignment 1: Weekend in Venice

Upon our arrival in Venezia, several striking culture shocks presented themselves immediately. The first: no cars. On the entire island. The canal system is very intricate and probably the most confusing thing for foreigners to navigate that I have ever encountered. But aside from the obvious like having boats for cars and water for streets, the people were very different as well. Obviously there are vast differentions in the way Italians think, walk, talk, dress, and act but as the trip goes on I will be able to gain more insight and delve deeper into the reasons behind these differences.





While in Venice, we also learned about various elements of respect. As the Ventians dine, it is inappropriate to look at your glass when making a toast as you should look another directly in the eye instead. Then in all the churches, clothing must cover at least the knees though most italians sheltered their entire legs behind pants and both male and female shoulders must be covered out of respect for God and those trying to worship. I have heard many italians joke that Italy is a nation of roughly 99.9% catholics; from what I have seen I must agree.





In order to "do as the Italians do", I tried to politely and secretly observe conversations or engage in them with locals in Venice for this assignment. At a small bar watching the World Cup, I listened in on a couple seated behind me and found out they were actually from the University of Georgia in the U.S. I listened as they discussed their experiences they were having now since graduating compared to when they each studied abroad during their time in undergrad. After I joined the conversation they were very interested in sharing their experiences; as was I. We ended up hanging out for quite a while and even met them again at a different bar. However I also had a different conversation that same night with a man who looked like a 'pledging frat-star' being publically hazed (notice the marks on his legs in the photo to the left) in a square before the group ate dinner. I spoke with him and learned that as a 'right of passage' from the University (he had just got his doctorate in Languages) you basically were taken out by your friends, got obliterated drunk, and forced to do a variety of embarrassing things for sometimes more than one night. He seemed to be having a good time with everything and was very nice to talk to.

But to describe a place like Venice was very difficult for me and could almost be told as the beginning of a story for the assignment:

Hopping off the boat from the grand canal led us into the seamingly endless maze of waterways that is the great city of Venice. No cars, no roads, just streets of water, sidewalks, and bridges. If you are not lost in Venice, you are a Venetian.

Besides the extreme heat, Venice was an awesome, confusing place. Definitely a must see if you are in Italy because there is really no other place like it. Very glad I got to experience it first hand.

Couple of Photos from Venice