i keep on trying to sit down and blog about all of this stuff, but it's been really difficult to find time, energy and internet access all at the same time lately. get ready for a long one.
i returned to milan on saturday morning having not slept a wink on my redeye flight. i waited an eternity for my baggage which forced me to push back my meeting with my new landlord to take possession of my (adorable) studio. when i eventually figure out how to post photos in the blog, you'll see some. anyway, after a minor, annoying elevator adventure, i caught the train back to the city from malpensa.
i met with the landlord and got my place. by this time i was completely delirious, but i knew that i had to stay awake until it was time to go to sleep for the night. so, i went to the center of town, near the duomo, to look for some bed linens since saturday was the first day of the sales here. it was a madhouse and i didn't find anything anyway. i had seen some sheets at a store called upim which is in my neighborhood. it's kind of like a more upscale target, but smaller with a narrower selection, just clothes, home and a few cosmetics. i didn't buy them b/c i thought i might be able to find something "better" on sale in the center. note: i bought a deeply discounted set of 800 thread count sheets about a year ago which have completely ruined me. now i'm a total linen snob, which is really sad when you have no money.
upon my return from my unsuccessful shopping trip, i went to the grocery store and totally wacked out and bleary eyed bought cleaning products (for the apt that really needed them) and only the food that was easy to prepare. i ended up forgetting some totally essential food items, which made cooking the things i did buy virtually impossible. thank god for jet lag right?
while i was in the grocery store i got a call from francesca tosca, my old landlord/housemate. i went to collect the rest of my things at her apt, where they had been since i left in a hurry and ate dinner there (she made polenta...yum). her son alessandro, whom i had met previously happened to be in town so i spent the evening with them. at about eight o'clock i was so tired that i literally thought i was going to collapse, so right after i ate, i took a cab with my suitcases and bags back to my apartment. i put sheets on the bed, made a couple of phone calls and passed out, expecting to sleep through the night.
i was up at 3 in the morning.
i couldn't go back to sleep to save my life. so i cleaned and unpacked, which i had planned to do the next day. i finally went to sleep again around 8:30 in the morning and didn't wake up until 3:30. so now it's sunday. a good italian friend of mine was returning from london that night and we had made plans to get together. so since i had to kill some time i took a walk around.
sunday in milan is really a day of rest, because you have no other choice. everything is closed. you literally can't even shop for groceries because stores aren't open. so, you better have something already planned to do or else you will be seriously bored. the one sunday when things are open is the first sunday in january because of the sales. so i finally bought some bedsheets - those that i had seen in upim on my first examination, imagine that - and various other things for the house. took a walk up to the duomo and sat and drank coffee for a few hours and talked to the servers. my friend didn't end up getting home until super late so we didn't get together. i somehow ended up staying up until three in the morning. you might expect that i would have slept through the night at that point, but alas...no.
i was up at five thirty.
at about seven thirty that morning i decided that i really wanted to get out of town. i had been thinking about pete and had started reading a book on grieving that bill bought for me. milan was dreary and none of my friends were here yet. the one who had arrived was departing for switzerland to be with her family. so, i decided to take the train to rome. oh, and i forgot to mention that my internet went out early sunday evening.
so, i went over to my friend isa's house (the one who left for switzerland) had coffee, used her internet and dropped off some uggs that i had brought back for her. i checked the train schedule for rome and basically dashed back to my house (a subway and a tram) and ran around my house getting ready for a totally unplanned, last minute trip to rome. let me also say that by this time, i was so tired and nuts that i was nauseous, hot and shivering. i basically kept telling myself just to stay awake for one more hour because then i could sleep on the train. and i did sleep, some.
when i arrived in rome, i realized that i had absolutely no idea what to do or where to go. i wasn't terribly worried, since after all, i speak italian. i went to an internet cafe, called bill to tell him where i was (not that it really made that much of a difference as rome and milan are both far far away from chicago) and to find a hostel. found one, and walked over there. i passed a couple of AMAZING shoe stores. i'm totally convinced that the shopping is better in rome than milan, at least for non-designer labels. hopefully i'll have more time and money sometime soon to test this theory.
i walked around rome that night, which is totally beautiful. i met up with a roman friend who drove me around for a little night time tour of the city which was lovely and then went back to the hostel to pass out around 1.
i was up at 5, again. now it's tuesday.
that day i went with some americans (adorable, nice, from wyoming) around the city. we had an amazing breakfast in campo dei fiori. i bought some unbelievable spices there for very little money.
i also went to piazza navona which is this very famous gorgeous place that was completely nuts. january 6th in italy is a huge holiday called epifania (epiphany). it's actually a catholic holiday celebrating the visit of the magi to the baby jesus, but there's no other place that celebrates like italy. in italy the children have a sock hung on the wall and a with named la befana comes to give them candy if they're good and coal if they're bad. la befana also symbolizes all the bad things that have happened and sweeps them away, which is why she's often associated with brooms. the piazza was full of vendors selling everything, food, balloons, etc.
then i went through the coliseum and the ruins. i have never seen anything so beautiful and humbling in my entire life. i took a million pictures, but in truth they don't come close to doing it justice. everyone should see this place. to stand in a building that has existed for 2000 years is something that i simply have no words to explain.
i decided to leave rome that night on an overnight train for two reasons: it was about half the price, and the hostel that i was staying in was really gross and i didn't feel like sleeping there again or finding another one. so that night, after having an amazing dinner and conversation with an old friend of my father's and her husband, i went to the train station to leave. when i went to buy my ticket it said that there were no seats available so i figured the train was sold out. there were no seats available on any train that night. i, the most exhausted that i have ever been in my life, started to freak out. i went to the ticket counter and asked the woman sitting behind the desk about it. i was speaking english at this point because i was so tired i could barely remember my own name, let alone how to speak italian. she told me that i could buy a ticket, i just couldn't have a seat. i said, ok, fine, whatever, i'll hussle one up or something. now, let me also say, that i was flushed, shivering and my stomach was turning somersaults i was so tired. i got on the train and it was packed. there was not a single seat to be had. i got off a couple of times and ran up and down the train looking for seats. no such luck. in my travels i had met a nice family so i went back to their compartment to ask if i could store my things there, while i sat on a jump seat in the hallway for my eight hour train ride. they said ok.
i curled sitting on the floor in the aisle and prepared to go to sleep. just then one of the guys sitting in the compartment offered me his seat. he gave it to me for almost the entire train ride. i almost kissed him (sorry honey). he ended up wandering around and smoking cigarettes in between the cars all night. i talked to this totally hilarious family from mantua for most of the night. we parted ways, but they invited me to come to their house for dinner some sunday. i'm definitely going. when they got off the train in parma, at 5 am, i finally got to sleep.
we arrived in milan at 7:30 in the morning to five inches of snow of the ground, which is way more snow than is typical in one snow fall. it ground the city to a complete halt almost. i walked from my the duomo to my house, which took some time in the snow. i arrived home around 9:15 and basically slept for the rest of the day.
the next morning, today, was my first day of class. it was amazing and i have lots to say about it, but i think it's much much more than enough already for one day, so you'll just have to wait for the next installment.
xoxoxo
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Friday, November 28, 2008
Black Friday, Venerdì Bianco
It’s the day after thanksgiving, and I woke up from a really bizarre dream to see snow falling outside my window. Although Milan is very close to the Alps, it is not terribly common for it to know here, particularly with the ferocity with which it’s snowing outside right now.
But let me rewind about 14 hours and recount the events of Thanksgiving dinner. I had been told (and emailed) about a turkey dinner here at a bistrot somewhere in Brera (a very fashionable neighborhood in the northwest part of the center). The flyer had indicated the menu, the price (35€) and had called it a dinner/party with Football on the big screen(!). I surveyed my friends, but between the price and the vicious cold that’s been going around, I found myself pretty much on my own. I made a reservation for one for the 9:30 seating. At about 7:00 I was sitting in bed, bored and lonely, trying to decide whether I was going to go to this thing or not.
One of my reluctances in going to the dinner had been that I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a sit down environment, or something a bit more interactive. I was not entirely convinced that I could cope with sitting at a table by myself, eating turkey. It’s just fucking turkey right? Who gives a shit about the turkey?
At Bill’s suggestion, I finally decided to get my ass up and get out of the house. I got dressed, hopped on the Metro and walked around a little bit to find the itty-bitty street (thanks Rebekah, couldn’t live without the moleskine).
So, I arrive to the restaurant, which is, in fact, a restaurant with lots of tables where people are being seated for dinner. Damn it. I find the host (who is actually the owner), a Texan as a matter of fact, and he tells me that since I booked alone, he had put me at a table with someone else who was also alone, so that I didn’t have to eat alone. That was nice of him (right?), but unfortunately my mystery date hadn’t arrived yet. He asked if I wanted to wait a few minutes and offered me a seat at the bar. I sat at the bar and drank a glass of prosecco, all the while feeling strange, out of place and alone. There were tons of Americans around, so I’m sure I could’ve made friends, but I didn’t really feel like it. Those Americans weren’t a suitable replacement for my Americans, so why bother right?
Finally I got sick of waiting, and by this time it was already about 10pm, and I was very hungry. I went back up to Danny, the host/owner/Texan and said that I was ready to be seated with or without mystery date. He said, “Are you sure? I don’t want you to have to eat alone.” I responded, “I really do appreciate it, however, the fact is that I am alone. I’m alone in Milan, it’s the daily reality of my life so thanks again, it’s very sweet of you, but I’ll just take the table.”
I was seated in a two-top right at the top of the stairs, facing the stairs. So everyone who walked up the stairs got to look at the sad American woman eating thanksgiving dinner in Milan alone. There were moments when I felt like I was in a zoo. I ended up talking to the couple at the table next to me, two American college kids who are studying abroad for a semester. I had also brought a book, grazie a dio. So, in general, despite lots of indicators to the contrary, I was doing all right. The food was decent, slightly over-salted and the cranberry sauce had quite a suspicious quantity of blueberry flavor, but overall I give it a not bad.
When I had finished my turkey/potatoes/stuffing/cranblueberry sauce/spinach plate, I had to get up and use the restroom. For everyone who doesn’t know, it Italy, restrooms are unisex. You walk in and generally there’s a sink and a couple of stalls with doors, that are more like little rooms than regular bathroom stalls. I went into one of the stalls and locked the door. When I was just about finished, a guy opened the door (despite the fact that it had been locked) and started to walk in. I screamed. I only saw his pink button down shirt. I think at that point he retreated back up the stairs, because when I came out of the bathroom, he was nowhere to be found. I breathed a sigh of relief; at least I didn’t have to look at him. Little did I know that this particular pleasure was to be reserved for mere seconds later when I was halfway up the stairs and he was coming back down. It was a narrow staircase and we conveniently ran into each other on the landing where we had to maneuver a little bit to walk around each other. He made a discernible effort to not look me in the face while we continued in our opposite directions.
Welcome to the land of complete mortification…it’s nice to meet you.
I returned to my table to find my dessert waiting for me there: a little square of “pumpkin pie” floating in an almost completely melted vanilla gelato soup. It was, shall we say, slightly disappointing.
Then, I had a nice little reprise with Mr. Pink Shirt when he came back up the stairs and had to pass my Thanksgiving-for-one table, which was so conveniently centrally located.
At the end of it all, I was really glad that I had gone out…even to a ridiculously traumatic meal like that one. I got to come home, call some family and talk to the people who I really wish I had been with. Conveniently, by that time, I had enough of a buzz going that I had already mostly set aside the, what one might call, horrific events of the evening.
So, now it’s almost noon on Friday morning, black Friday in the US and, as it turns out, a white Friday in Milan. I’m going to take a shower in a few minutes and get outside and enjoy the snow. Right about now in Chicago, the lines are building outside of all the electronics stores and the Wal-Marts so that people can have themselves a merry little Christmas in the midst of a worldwide financial crisis. I’m going to go get a panino and drink a cappuccino, and disavow all knowledge.
But let me rewind about 14 hours and recount the events of Thanksgiving dinner. I had been told (and emailed) about a turkey dinner here at a bistrot somewhere in Brera (a very fashionable neighborhood in the northwest part of the center). The flyer had indicated the menu, the price (35€) and had called it a dinner/party with Football on the big screen(!). I surveyed my friends, but between the price and the vicious cold that’s been going around, I found myself pretty much on my own. I made a reservation for one for the 9:30 seating. At about 7:00 I was sitting in bed, bored and lonely, trying to decide whether I was going to go to this thing or not.
One of my reluctances in going to the dinner had been that I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a sit down environment, or something a bit more interactive. I was not entirely convinced that I could cope with sitting at a table by myself, eating turkey. It’s just fucking turkey right? Who gives a shit about the turkey?
At Bill’s suggestion, I finally decided to get my ass up and get out of the house. I got dressed, hopped on the Metro and walked around a little bit to find the itty-bitty street (thanks Rebekah, couldn’t live without the moleskine).
So, I arrive to the restaurant, which is, in fact, a restaurant with lots of tables where people are being seated for dinner. Damn it. I find the host (who is actually the owner), a Texan as a matter of fact, and he tells me that since I booked alone, he had put me at a table with someone else who was also alone, so that I didn’t have to eat alone. That was nice of him (right?), but unfortunately my mystery date hadn’t arrived yet. He asked if I wanted to wait a few minutes and offered me a seat at the bar. I sat at the bar and drank a glass of prosecco, all the while feeling strange, out of place and alone. There were tons of Americans around, so I’m sure I could’ve made friends, but I didn’t really feel like it. Those Americans weren’t a suitable replacement for my Americans, so why bother right?
Finally I got sick of waiting, and by this time it was already about 10pm, and I was very hungry. I went back up to Danny, the host/owner/Texan and said that I was ready to be seated with or without mystery date. He said, “Are you sure? I don’t want you to have to eat alone.” I responded, “I really do appreciate it, however, the fact is that I am alone. I’m alone in Milan, it’s the daily reality of my life so thanks again, it’s very sweet of you, but I’ll just take the table.”
I was seated in a two-top right at the top of the stairs, facing the stairs. So everyone who walked up the stairs got to look at the sad American woman eating thanksgiving dinner in Milan alone. There were moments when I felt like I was in a zoo. I ended up talking to the couple at the table next to me, two American college kids who are studying abroad for a semester. I had also brought a book, grazie a dio. So, in general, despite lots of indicators to the contrary, I was doing all right. The food was decent, slightly over-salted and the cranberry sauce had quite a suspicious quantity of blueberry flavor, but overall I give it a not bad.
When I had finished my turkey/potatoes/stuffing/cranblueberry sauce/spinach plate, I had to get up and use the restroom. For everyone who doesn’t know, it Italy, restrooms are unisex. You walk in and generally there’s a sink and a couple of stalls with doors, that are more like little rooms than regular bathroom stalls. I went into one of the stalls and locked the door. When I was just about finished, a guy opened the door (despite the fact that it had been locked) and started to walk in. I screamed. I only saw his pink button down shirt. I think at that point he retreated back up the stairs, because when I came out of the bathroom, he was nowhere to be found. I breathed a sigh of relief; at least I didn’t have to look at him. Little did I know that this particular pleasure was to be reserved for mere seconds later when I was halfway up the stairs and he was coming back down. It was a narrow staircase and we conveniently ran into each other on the landing where we had to maneuver a little bit to walk around each other. He made a discernible effort to not look me in the face while we continued in our opposite directions.
Welcome to the land of complete mortification…it’s nice to meet you.
I returned to my table to find my dessert waiting for me there: a little square of “pumpkin pie” floating in an almost completely melted vanilla gelato soup. It was, shall we say, slightly disappointing.
Then, I had a nice little reprise with Mr. Pink Shirt when he came back up the stairs and had to pass my Thanksgiving-for-one table, which was so conveniently centrally located.
At the end of it all, I was really glad that I had gone out…even to a ridiculously traumatic meal like that one. I got to come home, call some family and talk to the people who I really wish I had been with. Conveniently, by that time, I had enough of a buzz going that I had already mostly set aside the, what one might call, horrific events of the evening.
So, now it’s almost noon on Friday morning, black Friday in the US and, as it turns out, a white Friday in Milan. I’m going to take a shower in a few minutes and get outside and enjoy the snow. Right about now in Chicago, the lines are building outside of all the electronics stores and the Wal-Marts so that people can have themselves a merry little Christmas in the midst of a worldwide financial crisis. I’m going to go get a panino and drink a cappuccino, and disavow all knowledge.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
thanksgiving.
today is november 27th, thanksgiving day. it's cold and sunny in milan and completely devoid of the sights and smells to which i am accustomed. it's difficult not to think about all of the thanksgivings i have spent in the past and all the people i love who are thousands of miles away.
the past year has been huge for me. i think it's fairly safe to say that i have closed one chapter of my life, while simultaneously opening a few others. it's difficult to be without bill, particularly today. we've been together for three years, but only for one thanksgiving so far, and unfortunately our first together as husband and wife may have to wait a while, as it looks like we might spend next year's equally distantly.
my one wish this year is that all of my loved ones be happy and surrounded by love. for the last few years my family and family members have seen more space grow between us, all of us. it seems like this year, everyone feels a little bit alone, not just i, who actually am so.
life is hard...and growing up and moving on is maybe the hardest part of it. i am thankful for everyone and for the history we already share, and for the future that we haven't yet written together.
with love.
the past year has been huge for me. i think it's fairly safe to say that i have closed one chapter of my life, while simultaneously opening a few others. it's difficult to be without bill, particularly today. we've been together for three years, but only for one thanksgiving so far, and unfortunately our first together as husband and wife may have to wait a while, as it looks like we might spend next year's equally distantly.
my one wish this year is that all of my loved ones be happy and surrounded by love. for the last few years my family and family members have seen more space grow between us, all of us. it seems like this year, everyone feels a little bit alone, not just i, who actually am so.
life is hard...and growing up and moving on is maybe the hardest part of it. i am thankful for everyone and for the history we already share, and for the future that we haven't yet written together.
with love.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
one day it will all be mine.
i went shopping today. i didn't buy anything, and it was completely amazing. there are so many beautiful things here i can't even describe it. i really missed bill today. there were so many things that i wanted to buy for him (and for me of course). i went to corso como 10, which is a very famous store here. they carry pretty much every major designer and it's an incredibly beautiful and interesting space. i also checked out lots of awesome little stores. the style here is so fantastic (unsurprising right?).
whenever i have the opportunity to look around like this, i always feel really filled up at the end of it. it's the reason that i know i have to work in fashion. there are just so many beautiful pieces of art in the world...and yes of course they're really expensive, but so beautiful. and fuck money anyway. you can't take it with you right? (<--says the girl who has none)
someday i'll have lots and i'll have a houseful of beautiful things that i will wear and use all the time and they will give me great pleasure. sigh, just not today.
whenever i have the opportunity to look around like this, i always feel really filled up at the end of it. it's the reason that i know i have to work in fashion. there are just so many beautiful pieces of art in the world...and yes of course they're really expensive, but so beautiful. and fuck money anyway. you can't take it with you right? (<--says the girl who has none)
someday i'll have lots and i'll have a houseful of beautiful things that i will wear and use all the time and they will give me great pleasure. sigh, just not today.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
the cheese stands alone sometimes, but it's getting better all the time.
so, it was brought to my attention today by a dear friend of mine that i have been neglecting my readership. mea culpa, mea culpa.
the past couple weeks have been a veritable roller coaster. with reference to my last posting, i've been able to work out most of the kinks here. i have internet access finally. i bought a phone that as it turns out i won't really be using that much, and i've actually managed to make a couple friends who i really really like. so that's good too. i've been going out a bit (just a bit) and having lots of fun with some lovely italian girls. they're all so sweet and so much fun. consequently my italian has improved dramatically which is also fantastic.
there's also a completely adorable chinese girl named yoyo who sits next to me in class who i love. she's completely hilarious, very smart and we have lots of funny paper conversations in class so as not to be disruptive (see below). you can find all of these people on my facebook account if you're interested in photos and the like.
things have (i guess) been busy here lately. my course are going exceptionally well. they're very interesting...i even like accounting. who knew? things are actually kind of already winding down here. i only have two more weeks of class and then a week off to study for exams. then, as most of you already know, i'll be going home for almost three weeks (yay!!) to spend time with bill and the cats and my couch (and friends of course).
for the most part everyone in my classes is really nice too, although there are a few people who've been getting on my nerves. there are also quite a few people who can't seem to keep their damn mouths shut which is really deeply pissing me off on a regular basis. what are we, in fucking kindergarten?!
so, all in all, italy is improving for me dramatically. i'm feeling very hopeful about the coming year and think it's going to be lots and lots of fun. hopefully i'll have lots of visitors who will get to share it with me.
xoxo
the past couple weeks have been a veritable roller coaster. with reference to my last posting, i've been able to work out most of the kinks here. i have internet access finally. i bought a phone that as it turns out i won't really be using that much, and i've actually managed to make a couple friends who i really really like. so that's good too. i've been going out a bit (just a bit) and having lots of fun with some lovely italian girls. they're all so sweet and so much fun. consequently my italian has improved dramatically which is also fantastic.
there's also a completely adorable chinese girl named yoyo who sits next to me in class who i love. she's completely hilarious, very smart and we have lots of funny paper conversations in class so as not to be disruptive (see below). you can find all of these people on my facebook account if you're interested in photos and the like.
things have (i guess) been busy here lately. my course are going exceptionally well. they're very interesting...i even like accounting. who knew? things are actually kind of already winding down here. i only have two more weeks of class and then a week off to study for exams. then, as most of you already know, i'll be going home for almost three weeks (yay!!) to spend time with bill and the cats and my couch (and friends of course).
for the most part everyone in my classes is really nice too, although there are a few people who've been getting on my nerves. there are also quite a few people who can't seem to keep their damn mouths shut which is really deeply pissing me off on a regular basis. what are we, in fucking kindergarten?!
so, all in all, italy is improving for me dramatically. i'm feeling very hopeful about the coming year and think it's going to be lots and lots of fun. hopefully i'll have lots of visitors who will get to share it with me.
xoxo
Monday, November 10, 2008
nothing works in this damn country!
today has been somewhat frustrating thus far. i bought an internet key for the computer over the weekend in the hopes of solving my access problems at home. no phone and no internet is pretty rough in my world. i was all excited to use it when i got home to rent a movie and lay in bed as i was pretty hung over and feeling shitty.
as you might have guessed the damn thing didn't work.
i had planned to go to the bookstore to buy a schoolbook and go grocery shopping on sunday. i wanted to hang around the house and finally get myself organized. if you're familiar with italy, you might have guessed that the bookstore was closed. you may or may not have guessed that the damn grocery store was closed too. i had also been holding on to some hope that the internet key would work on sunday. maybe it just needed 24 hours to activate. nope. no such luck.
right now it's 5:53pm. i'm sitting at school having just finished working with a group on a project that took four hours instead of one and a half. i'm also feeling pressured to get everything done on the internet that i need, plus catch up with the news, since i'm completely cut off at home.
when i leave here, soon, i'm hoping that the public transit is functioning. there was a transit strike today and maybe it hasn't ended yet. apparently transit strikes in italy only occur during business hours.
what the fuck!?
oh, and in one final addition to my rant, living in a country where people don't speak english is actually making my english worse! and i've only been here for two weeks!
as you might have guessed the damn thing didn't work.
i had planned to go to the bookstore to buy a schoolbook and go grocery shopping on sunday. i wanted to hang around the house and finally get myself organized. if you're familiar with italy, you might have guessed that the bookstore was closed. you may or may not have guessed that the damn grocery store was closed too. i had also been holding on to some hope that the internet key would work on sunday. maybe it just needed 24 hours to activate. nope. no such luck.
right now it's 5:53pm. i'm sitting at school having just finished working with a group on a project that took four hours instead of one and a half. i'm also feeling pressured to get everything done on the internet that i need, plus catch up with the news, since i'm completely cut off at home.
when i leave here, soon, i'm hoping that the public transit is functioning. there was a transit strike today and maybe it hasn't ended yet. apparently transit strikes in italy only occur during business hours.
what the fuck!?
oh, and in one final addition to my rant, living in a country where people don't speak english is actually making my english worse! and i've only been here for two weeks!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
election day
today has been a big day so far. i started school this morning, and [this afternoon in italy] polls are opening all across the united states to allow her citizens to choose a new president. to me, and to most of you who would be reading this blog, the choice is clear. the opportunity to elect barack obama to our nation's highest office is not one to be taken lightly or to be thrown away. he has the potential to affect a real change in america, the likes of which my generation, and perhaps that of my parents as well, has not yet seen.
bill also left today to fly home. i'm already missing him and we've only been apart for about eight hours. it's going to be a long year.
i am happy to report that school will be very very interesting this year. our first lesson today, in a course called the essentials of management, gave me a clear indication that my education here will allow me to develop the kind of knowledge and lexicon in business that i have been lacking thus far in my career. my classmates are a very diverse group and they seem to have all come to this place the same way as i. everyone seems to have been searching for this very thing, and was only able to find it at bocconi. it doesn't seem to exist anywhere else. i'm thankful for the opportunity and fully intend to kick ass and have a job this time next year. i just wish i were a little closer to home.
bill also left today to fly home. i'm already missing him and we've only been apart for about eight hours. it's going to be a long year.
i am happy to report that school will be very very interesting this year. our first lesson today, in a course called the essentials of management, gave me a clear indication that my education here will allow me to develop the kind of knowledge and lexicon in business that i have been lacking thus far in my career. my classmates are a very diverse group and they seem to have all come to this place the same way as i. everyone seems to have been searching for this very thing, and was only able to find it at bocconi. it doesn't seem to exist anywhere else. i'm thankful for the opportunity and fully intend to kick ass and have a job this time next year. i just wish i were a little closer to home.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Un gioco di che non so i regolamenti...
The Italian bureaucracy seems to me to be like a beautifully choreographed dance with no music or explanation. It has been a trial at every turn, and truthfully if I didn't speak Italian, I don't know where I would be.
Upon entering Italy, a student has eight days to apply for a permesso di soggiorno (permit to stay). This is in addition to the visa, so for those of you who remember my difficulties in obtaining one of those, this is something completely different.
SDA Bocconi, my school, accepts many foreign students, so the administrator of my program
has provided a guide to filing all of these forms in the student handbook. My third day here I decided that it was time to start filing my papers so that I can get a fiscal code for a bank account and a cell phone. So, after visiting three different post offices and waiting probably for twenty to thirty minutes at each, I was finally referred to another agency the name of which I still am not clear on. Yesterday someone there told me to return at seven this morning to take care of my business.
I arrived at the door to the building at 6:45am, in the dark and the rain. There were already two others waiting there. We waited. Over the course of the next 45 minutes, more people came. We waited in silence. At one point, there was a small drama with a couple of garbage trucks. Everyone turned around to watch, silently. Because nothing else had gone on in the small alley-like street for so long, my silent waiting companions seemed grateful to have something to occupy their attention. I felt no need to turn around, but I seemed to be the minority in this regard.
Someone finally arrived at 7:30 to let us in. He opened the gate and we waited closer to the entrance, but not quite inside. Then he let us into the building and gave us all numbers. We waited in the lobby until 8:15. We were then shown into a room with a yellow linoleum floor and almost matching institutional yellow walls on the second floor of the building. We waited.
We waited until 8:40 or so when people finally came out to start seeing us. I was third in line. When it finally reached my turn, I sat down at the table and told the two people sitting across from me, that all I needed was a kit with the forms for my permit to stay. They told me they didn't have the kits there. I almost cried. Almost but not quite, grazie a dio.
I explained my situation in halting, upset Italian. When I'm tired or frustrated it becomes much more difficult for me to speak well. They said they could help me. We talked for a few minutes after which time they told me to return for an appointment on Monday. I'm hoping that the waiting is finally done. But we shall see. On Monday it could all begin anew.
Upon entering Italy, a student has eight days to apply for a permesso di soggiorno (permit to stay). This is in addition to the visa, so for those of you who remember my difficulties in obtaining one of those, this is something completely different.
SDA Bocconi, my school, accepts many foreign students, so the administrator of my program
has provided a guide to filing all of these forms in the student handbook. My third day here I decided that it was time to start filing my papers so that I can get a fiscal code for a bank account and a cell phone. So, after visiting three different post offices and waiting probably for twenty to thirty minutes at each, I was finally referred to another agency the name of which I still am not clear on. Yesterday someone there told me to return at seven this morning to take care of my business.
I arrived at the door to the building at 6:45am, in the dark and the rain. There were already two others waiting there. We waited. Over the course of the next 45 minutes, more people came. We waited in silence. At one point, there was a small drama with a couple of garbage trucks. Everyone turned around to watch, silently. Because nothing else had gone on in the small alley-like street for so long, my silent waiting companions seemed grateful to have something to occupy their attention. I felt no need to turn around, but I seemed to be the minority in this regard.
Someone finally arrived at 7:30 to let us in. He opened the gate and we waited closer to the entrance, but not quite inside. Then he let us into the building and gave us all numbers. We waited in the lobby until 8:15. We were then shown into a room with a yellow linoleum floor and almost matching institutional yellow walls on the second floor of the building. We waited.
We waited until 8:40 or so when people finally came out to start seeing us. I was third in line. When it finally reached my turn, I sat down at the table and told the two people sitting across from me, that all I needed was a kit with the forms for my permit to stay. They told me they didn't have the kits there. I almost cried. Almost but not quite, grazie a dio.
I explained my situation in halting, upset Italian. When I'm tired or frustrated it becomes much more difficult for me to speak well. They said they could help me. We talked for a few minutes after which time they told me to return for an appointment on Monday. I'm hoping that the waiting is finally done. But we shall see. On Monday it could all begin anew.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Rachel 0, Jet Lag 1
I went to sleep at 1am and woke up at 3:30am. I've been up ever since. It's now 9:34am. I'll get you next time my pretty, but for now the die is cast. Mwahahaaahaa.
No seriously...I've been awake most of the night thinking about housing and money and skypein numbers and having imaginary conversations in italian in my head. You guys thought you knew how crazy I was, but think again. I'm on a whole new level now baby.
No seriously...I've been awake most of the night thinking about housing and money and skypein numbers and having imaginary conversations in italian in my head. You guys thought you knew how crazy I was, but think again. I'm on a whole new level now baby.
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