Wish You Were Here

"Your documentation of your trip thus far has been poor," he said to me.

 This is my response.

overview.

It's a strange world, this Italy.  The natives are quite big (naturally, but I'm stronger than a lot of them), their keyboards are difficult to understand, and there is little water in their toilet bowls.  I like it so far, though.  The Italians are very friendly and they seem to be laid back with a sort of peace at mind that you often can't find in America.  Unfortunately, they don't really use ice here and I'm starting to understand how Tom Hanks felt in Cast Away.

My time here will be comprised of class (Italian language, cinema, art history, and photography), traveling, laughing at Joanna Lucca, watching tons of TV shows, learning to cook and live on my own, and hopefully finding out a little about what it's like to not be sheltered anymore.

roommates, lifestyle.

I think that you learn most when you take time to hear what different people have to say.  I think I'm beginning to understand the importance of actually listening to people who are different.

I don't have the best physical apartment, but I firmly believe that I have the best living situation of anyone in my program.  His name is Matt and Matt is good.  An Italian roommate of mine, David, is currently walking around the apartment in nothing but his tight Italian underwear.  He speaks a decent amount of English and he is the MVP--Most Valuable PastaEater--of the apartment.  He teaches me bad words, tells me all about Italian culture, picks me up when I'm feeling blue, shows me how to be Italian, and has sex with me.  Riki (pronounced Reeeeeee-keeeeeee) is my other Italian roommate and he, too, is a stud.  He doesn't speak as much English but we make it work.  Before getting an apartment together, they had never met and although they are different in their mannerisms and interests, they are fast friends.  Both are very easy to get along with and I am very happy to be living with them because it's how I'm going to learn most about the lifestyle.  It's interesting because l'Università di Verona literally just threw two Americans into these kids' apartment and I don't think there's anything Riki or David could have done about it.  That is simply baffling to me.  I think that this further demonstrates how laid back, understanding, and easy-going these people are.  I have to imagine that it would be a big deal if they just threw two Italians into some American students' apartment.

the past week.

I'm going to skip all the "OMG I JUST LANDED IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY!!!" stuff for now and tell you about the past week.  If I ever write a book about my first 2 weeks in Italy I'll be sure to let everyone know via Raw Dawg's Blawg or Twitter.

Saturday - Woke up at 7:00, went skiing in the Alps, met a well-known Italian journalist at dungeon pub, and saw first-hand why it's okay to get driven home by a drunk Italian man.  All in all, it was a very, very good day.  Then again, aren't most days very good days?  I think that they can be if you want them to...

Sunday - Slept in past 8:30 for the first time in 17 days.  Didn't really have anything to do so I walked around the city.  I'm extremely lucky to be able to spend time in a place like this with people like them.  I have a pair of sweet parents to thank for this good fortune.

Monday – I want to make my days here ‘long days’ no matter what.  Even if it’s just going to class and getting the most out of it, there’s no reason I shouldn’t be dogg-tired at the end of my day.  I had my typical Italian class, followed by my first Art History class, and cooking with Francesca to cap off a great Italian day.  That night, I got to Skype for the first time with two besties ;)

Tuesday - Booking tickets to places, losing my mind, cinema class

Wednesday (probably the best day of the trip thus far) – The day started with a hearty breakfast with the birthday boy and got better and better all the time. Italian class was hilarious and encouraging as I started to get the hang of this language thing.  We had to book sum’mo trips, but the rest of the day included my Twain meeting (I’ll be teaching Italian kids about Mark Twain…wait what?), and getting lost with Courtney.  A developing tradition with our friends here is Wednesday night dinner where some people cook for everyone else.  This night, Matt and I made a delicious meal for 15.  The ensuing festivities may go down as some of the most memorable of the trip.

Thursday –I slept slept slept (through class), read The Old Man and The Sea, and began dis blawg.  It was a mental health day.

Friday – Embarked upon our first solo trip: Florence.  Much more to come soon.

trips. AKA holy shit i’m going to be in debt for the next 20 years.

Our program is pretty fortunate because we have an Italian man, Claudio, who often takes us on trips to places in Italia that he thinks are important for us to know.  These are listed in bold letters.  I’m going to be travelling a lot more than I anticipated, but I think this is the way to go about it.  “Better to see it now and be in debt for a while than never see it at all,” a prostitute once told me.  I think she was right…I mean, I may never get the chance to get away and see all of these amazing, important things.  The trips that I’m not positive about are underlined, but I’m pretty sure they will end up happening.

Mantova-Bevilacqua, Alps, Florence, Salò-Sirmione-Castellaro, Venice, Dublin, Hamsterdam, London, Venice-Murano-Lake Garda, Barcelona-Granada for spring break, Santorini-Athens-Cinque Terra for Easter break, Asiago, Paris, Amalfi Coast-Pompeii-Capri, Rome, Cannes, the World.

That just about wraps it up for the first raw post; I hope you’ve enjoyed it. I am going to try hard to make this a consistent thing so that I’m not so disconnected with everyone, so please spread the word for others to follow!