The past few days here in Bologna have passed by so quickly. Orientation began January 10th - the first time I was able to meet all of the other students in my program who are from universities all around the east coast/mid-west - Indiana, Wisconsin, Cornell, Notre Dame to name a few. Almost everyday we have had to meet at the BCSP office (Bologna Consortial Studies Program) to talk about finding our apartments, safety, classes, and life in Italy in general. Our program is unique in that all of us are responsible for finding our own living arrangements in the city. Essentially, this entails searching on websites that equate to America's version of craigslist or roommates.com to find apartments or, "affitti" (postings) as well as flier advertisements posted by Italian students who have rooms available for rent. We have 10 days to find a place to live. Because my program is an immersion program, one of the main requirements is that we have to live with other Italian students to fully experience the Italian culture. And while it is stressful, frustrating, discouraging, and intimidating, (after all, we have to make phone calls to random Italian students and set up appointments IN ITALIAN, not to mention trying to go visit all of these places which are located all throughout the city) I truly believe that it will be totally worth it. And I can sense myself getting more and more comfortable speaking Italian and understanding what people are saying everyday. It is definitely a bit intimidating, and uncomfortable at times, but it gets better. My accent makes it pretty obvious that I am American, but I definitely sense that I receive more respect from the Italians when I speak their native language, and I don't think people immediately target me as an American just from the way I look. (Today, on two separate occasionas I was stopped by some Italians who then proceeded to ask me for directions to random streets in a city I have spent nearly 5 days in - GASP!). I have also thoroughly enjoyed getting to know some of the other Americans in my program. Especially my roommate. Allie has quickly become my best friend here. We do almost everything together, and we are SO compatible. She is such a down to earth, genuine, and all around amazing person, and I got SO lucky that I was paired with her. We are even planning on running a half-marathon together somewhere in Italy (or Europe perhaps), and a lot of the other girls seem extremely interested in joining us. (Suffice it to say, I think we ended up with the best room/roommate and perhaps some of the others may or may not be a little bit jealous ;]) But va bene, we have all been able to develop some pretty unique and wonderful friendships. I was told before I came here that after the first month, you don't really hang out much with the other Americans in BCSP because you end up going out and spending time with your Italian roommates, but I hope that I am able to do both. The thought of not hanging out much with some of my friends I have made thus far makes me really sad. (Did I mention how much I love my roommate?) Although, there is a small possibility that me and Allie could end up in the same apartment - with other Italian students, of course, but it really depends, and either way, we have promised to hang out regardless. And we just booked a trip to Venice for CARNIVALE at the end of February and plan on travelling a bit together later. The past couple of nights we have all gone out together and it has been wonderful. We speak Italian together and bond over pastries and espresso tutto il tempo (all the time). The other night a few of us went out to a fresh supermercato that we found and bought various types of formaggio (cheese, including asiago, peccorino, ricotta), prosciutto, insalate caprese (tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and olive oil) bread, artichokes marinated in olive oil, and of course red wine, as well as some Prosecco (Italian sweet, sparkly dessert wine). It was DELICIOUS. We have also done quite a bit of shopping. Apparently in Bologna, which used to be largely communist (there is still an area within the city that is considered "facismo" or fascist today), the government controls when all of the stores are allowed to offer "saldi" or sales to customers. And because the stores are allowed to offer sales now, literally, in almost every single window there are huge signs offering sales from 30-70% off. Allora, I have bought a few things - including a pair of black boots that I have wanted for a while - but I'm trying to get a decent amount of my shopping done while the sales are still going on because apparently, when they end, no one knows when the government will allow them to come back. (So don't panic mom!). Also, I think I will definitely be able to indulge in Bologna's AMAZING food without having to worry about gaining much weight, especially once me and Allie start running/training for our half marathon. While it is extremely difficult to go a day without eating bread, cheese, and carbs for every meal, the portions are much smaller, we don't snack, and we have been walking everywhere. Although, I can't forget to include red wine in that mix, because it is as cheap as water, if not cheaper. Hence, why would you not drink it with almost every meal? Especially when the wine you can buy for 4 or 5 euro a glass might cost you $40 for a bottle in the States. Tomorrow we have to wake up early to mail in our "Permessi di sogiorno" (stay permits) in addition to attending several other meetings, but other than that, most of my time has been spent researching apartments on line, making appointments, and visiting different places around the city. Monday, our intensive language class with BCSP commences, and when we do have free time we have been exploring the city and enjoying ourselves. I cannot express to you how wonderful it has been, and how happy I am to be able to spend the next 6 months of my life in such a beautiful and unique city. Bologna è come nient'altra ...
A picture of me and Allie, la mia buona amica e coinquilina, at Caffe Parigi one night. I think this picture accurately attests to how close we have become :) It was funny, the first night we we all went out together in Bologna, one of the guys in our program told us we acted like we were sisters. To which we responded, "ma, siamo appena conosciute stamattina!" (We just met this morning!)
Allie, myself, and two other students from BCSP who have become really good friends of mine - also at Caffe Parigi. Dario and Alexa. Alexa goes to UNC with me. Dario is Italian, and has taught us so much about "La Cucina Italiana," and has really helped me to practice and improve my Italian speaking skills.
La mia amica Alexa and I enjoying a nice glass of wine with lunch. Like I said before, when you buy a glass of wine, you get free aperitivi (little appetizers essentially), which we thoroughly enjoyed. And I mean, we are in Italia after all. Wine with every meal is completely acceptable.
Some of our "hotel-made" Italian feast!
Our Insalate Caprese ... Soooooooooo good.
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