banana{Spins} around the world!: Parli Inglese?

A little bit of the Swiss alps from the plane ride from Frankfurt to Milan..

After a 30 hour bus ride from Las Vegas, around 15 of us from Cast B took the first group flight out of Seattle (the bus literally drove us straight to the airport from the grueling road trip). We flew United Airlines to Washington DC (where the flight was delayed for 3 hours), then to Frankfurt, Germany. In Frankfurt, we boarded a Lufthansa plane to Milan, Italy.

“Parli Inglese?” (Do you speak English?) was my favorite phrase.

The answer was mostly a puzzled look and a ‘No’. When I finally get a ‘Si’ (yes) and then ask my question, they talk to me in rapid Italian with confusing hand motions. Yes, that was what happened to me on my first day of navigating Milan using the Metro and the train. I was almost frustrated and lost. Take note I said ALMOST … I was on the brink of getting frustrated and lost, but be proud of me because I really wasn’t! After asking about 6 people “Parli Inglese?”, I finally found one who really could. I found my way alright and was so happy about it. By the time I had to leave Milan, I was so disappointed because I loved the public transportation and walking along the city streets and feeling very much in the “real world”. I go around the city using the Metro and the train , and then the bus to go home to my host family's house.

I loved how it wasn’t so big and overwhelming like America. Believe it or not, Italy was almost like the Philippines to me. It was also a week of missing my family. All of the delicious pasta, coffee and gelato made me wish so much that my family were also in Italy. We all love Italian food and authentic Italian was simply the best! Imagine having different varieties of pasta and cheese everyday – not to mention a really strong espresso or cappuccino for breakfast! Starbucks is NOTHING compared to my host mom’s home brewed coffee (oh, I will miss it so much) . They had an espresso machine, then, she also made me try the traditional Italian way of preparing coffee on the stovetop. (Ah, 2 shots of espresso in one evening is not good … I found it really hard to sleep, hehe)

My host family was wonderful. Nadia and Valerio spoke very piccolo English, but their 20 year old daughter Michela learned English in school and have traveled quite a bit. Michela also introduced me to her friends (it was a birthday party and we had Tiramisu!) and we went around downtown Milan where I saw the Duomo and the Galeria, the Teatro Scala (I went there again with some cast members during the afternoon). It was really beautiful, and it was cool that one of her friends was an architectural student who knew a lot about the old buildings. It was quite strange walking around with 11 Italians and not understand a word that they said -- but my host sister was really good in translating stuff.

I was in a "special" group in Italy. By "special" -- I meant that it was a unique arrangement because my CI group was completely detached from the cast for 3 days! This was because (1) The partner organization requested for a specific number of people and these SAME people should come for all 3 days and (2) The CI site was some 2 hours away from the meeting facility. It totally felt weird because a lot of us felt so disconnected and (excuse the word) abandoned!

We worked with an organization called Amici de Bambini (Friends of Children), preparing for a fundraising exhibit and designer T-shirt sale. The advance team in Milan called it the "Fashion CI", but really, it was far from fashionable. We cleaned the warehouse, painted walls, and prepared exhibit materials. (Note: I never imagined myself walking around Milan, the fashion capital of the world, looking so scruffy in my working clothes! Ahh, Up With People!)

Being separated from the cast for 3 days was really frustrating for the group. Hardly any information reached us, and we were working until show day afternoon. But as always, we had to make the most out of it and came out of the grueling 3 days more mature and with new learnings. The small group was able to get to know each other really well underneath the surface.

The show in Italy was called "Viva La Gente" -- AND I THOUGHT IT WAS AMAZING! It was fun singing some of our songs in Italian, and I felt very "cultured." We sang Di Che Colore La Pele De Dio (What is the color of God's Skin) and Viva La Gente (the UWP Theme song) and the chorus to the Sound of Peace in Italian.

We were supposed to have only one show in Italy, and one special night BTS for the host families who lived far from Milan (the students were hosted in Milan and in a little town called Cusano Milanino, where a Catholic church helped find host families). But the Cusano community apparently requested for a whole show, so we ended up performing 2 shows!

In Euro culture prep, they told us that encores are part of the culture. And indeed it was! "Bis! Bis!" the people chanted, and yes, we performed an encore for the 2 shows in Italy! It was an amazing experience performing onstage and seeing people watching us happily. I know we have performed in a lot of shows, but Europe gave me a different feeling because the people's language is so different. Yet, they seemed to enjoy the show!

Shaking the hands of the people while saying "Grazie!" was very uplifting. They shook our hands very warmly, sometimes we get a hug, or double kisses (in Filipino, beso-beso) and warm words of Italian appreciation. It felt very good.

As we in Viva La Gente say, "Music is the universal language"

I wish I had more time in Italy! Would love to come back in the future!

mmm.. Gelato! I tried Pistachio, Biscotti, Nocciola, Latte, Latte Blanca, Nuttela .. mmm