The Small Joys In Life

According to weather.com...

Bologna weather right now:

50° F - feels like 48° F

Ithaca weather right now:

15° F - feels like 3° F

:-D

Firenze

Ciao, tutti!

I have just returned from my FABULOUS weekend in Florence!
Rachel and I met up with two of our friends from Cornell, Rachel Rubin and Carly Miller, who are currently studying abroad in Rome. We found a clean and comfortable hostel and tried to see as much of Florence as we could over a weekend. We didn't get to everything, but what we did see was amazing!

On Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to see Il Duomo - an enormous cathedral and Florence's largest masterpiece.

It was absolutely stunning, both inside and out.

We also went below the Duomo to check out the crypt that lies beneath it, as well as climb the 400 steps of Il Campanile (the belltower) that stands besides it.

After seeing Il Duomo we spent the afternoon at the Uffizi galleries - one of the most famous museums in the world and home to countless Renaissance masterpieces. After strolling through corridors upon corridors of paintings and sculptures we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping in a nearby market and had a delicious dinner at Zà-Zà, a Florentine trattoria. After dinner we consulted our trusty guidebook, Let's Go Italy: On a Budget (which I will happily and proudly plug) to find the scoop on Florence's nightlife. We finished an amazing day with a fun night on the town!

This morning we got up bright and early again to see Michaelangelo's David, which we agreed was the last site worthy of squeezing into our short weekend in Florence.

I apologize for the awkward angle: we weren't technically allowed to take photos, but I went into stealth mode. I had to go home with at least one shot!

All in all, it was an incredible weekend. Carly and Rachel R. could not have been better travel buddies for Rachel and I to have on this very special first trip - as cheesy as it sounds, the entire weekend really was filled with tons of laughs and memories.

The photos above are a sample of the weekend's sights and festivities, but if you want to check out more go to my web album:

Firenze

Now I am back in Bologna, hurriedly trying to finish all of my Italian homework for tomorrow.

Wish me luck!

Proud to Be American...Expats!

Ciao, tutti!

I am proud to report that despite being a long way from home, my classmates and I were able to celebrate President Obama's inauguration appropriately. Above is the scene at Le Scuderie, the ristorante we were at during the inauguration. They set up a large projector screen and invited all the American university programs in Bologna to come watch together. There were American students from all over the country - Cornell, Columbia, Vassar, Wellesley... it was awesome and somewhat moving that we were all able to come together to watch this historic event.

In other news, I have finally started classes! For the next three weeks I am attending an intensive Italian language class, aimed at further developing our grasp of Italian grammar and (hopefully) bringing us up to speed with the native speakers. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays we have our language class, and every Wednesday a special lecturer, Daniela Bigatti, teaches an Italian culture course that will educate us on the history of Bologna, L'Università di Bologna, and Bolognese art. The best part is that each lecture is accompanied by a site visit - we are literally face-to-face with the subject matter. Today's first lecture was to the Museo Civico Medievale, a museum rich in medieval Bolognese art.

Professoressa Bigatti showing us a Professor's mausoleum - spooky!

We learned that medieval Bolognese art is astonishingly informative; Most of the sculptures and carvings we saw today depicted detailed classroom settings with professors, international students, and even janitors!

Although I have never taken an art history class before, I really enjoyed today's lesson. It was amazing to be able to learn about something famous as I stood right in front of it.

And, drumroll please...this weekend, Rachel and I are taking a trip to Florence! AND Carly Miller, a great friend of mine from Cornell who is currently studying abroad in Rome, is meeting us there! The train ride from Bologna is only an hour, so we should have a comfortable amount of time to explore. We leave Friday afternoon, and I AM SO EXCITED.

A presto!

Casa Dolce Casa

Ciao, tutti! I am about tuck in for my first night in my new apartment!

I am extremely comfortable, and am feeling much better about moving than I was earlier this week. Getting to know my roommates a little more has been extremely helpful, and I'm excited that I am finally getting settled into Bologna.

More updates to come!

P.S.

How's THAT for the 25% of you that voted that I would live in a box?!
:-)

HO TROVATO CASA! (I found a place!)

Ciao, tutti!

I took the leap and committed to a place! It's the one on Via dell'Indipendenza. The location was just too good to pass up! I'm going to wait until I am nice and settled to post photos of my room, but here are some of my roommates:

From left to right: Serena, Christina, and Francesca. We took this last night, after Rachel and I met them for drinks and munchies at a nearby bar, Le Stanze.

• Serena is in her early 20s and is majoring in Theater. She's also really into photography and molto alla moda (fashionable).
  
• Christina is 22, an Erasmus (exchange) student from Spain, and has lived with Francesca and Serena for four months now. Also, it only took her one week to find an Italian boyfriend.
• Francesca is 26 and works at a really chic store nearby, Guru. Her and Francesca went to high school together in Lecce, a small and beautiful city in the region of Puglia (the heel of Italy's boot).

And this is my fourth roommate: JAB, Serena's dog. What you are thinking is correct: he is larger than me.

All of my roommates are awesome, fun, and none of them speak any English (not even Jab, although I plan on teaching him a few things).

Everyone is anxious for me to move in ASAP because they don't like having an empty room in the apartment, but for the first time since I have been here I am suddenly nervous. While I knew this was going to happen eventually, taking the jump is a little more difficult than I expected. Leaving Rachel and our cozy little hotel is scary!

Speaking of Rachel, good news: she has found an apartment too! She is living with a German girl and two Italian guys. I met the Italians last night - both of them are architects and seem really cool. Also, they are a little older, although we aren't yet sure how old exactly because Rachel has been too chicken to ask.

Rachel and I are going to IKEA this afternoon with our Cornellian friend Alex James and some other students from the BCSP to pick up some snazzy decorative items for our apartments. The bus ride is about 45 minutes and the group going seems to be getting larger and larger, so this should be a fun trip!

A presto!

The Hunt

Ciao, tutti!
I am a few days into the hunt now, and have seen around 6-7 apartments. Some have been small, some have been big, and all have been expensive. Below are various photos of apartments I have seen (Each apartment visit begins with "Ti dispiace se io prendo qualche foto?" ["Do you mind if I take some pictures?"]):

The bathroom in a huge apartment on Via dei Mille, one of Bologna's main streets, in the northwest of the city

The kitchen of a smaller apartement fuori le mure (just outside the city wall). The place was small but the roommates were awesome.

A single I looked at downtown, pretty far from the University area. The roommates loved me, but they are a bit older (late 20s, early 30s) and smoke very heavily throughout the apartment.

Making calls and visits has been fairly exhausting, but it's provided a great opportunity to practice my Italian and get to know the city really well.

Right now the front-runners are a large apartment on Via dell'Indipendenza (the Broadway of Bologna) and a smaller one just outside the city walls:

• The one on Indipendenza is really large, home to a dog, and the roommates are an Italian student, an exchange student from Spain, and an Italian woman in her mid-20s that works.

• The one outside the city walls is tiny, but I would have a single. The only reason I am still considering this apartments is because of the roommates: they are 4 Italian girls, all in their early 20s, and they are awesome. Whether or not I end up taking this apartment, I hope we become friends!

Since I have seen so many places, it's likely that I'll find out either today or tomorrow where I am going to end up, and will post as soon as I know where I am living!

A presto!

Welcome to Bologna!

Ciao, tutti!

So I am just finishing my second full day in Bologna and must say, I have absolutely fallen in love with this city!

Via dell'Indipendenza, one of Bologna's main streets

One of Europe's best preserved medieval cities, Bologna is home to the oldest living university in Europe, l'Università di Bologna, founded in 1088. Now the home of over 100,000 matriculated students, Bologna is quite the bustling college town, somewhat similar to a European/medieval Boston. The city is extremely central and very pedestrian friendly and naturally, the streets are crawling with students. In addition, Bologna boldly promotes itself as the "food capital" of Italy. Although I haven't yet visited any other Italian cities, I find no reason to disagree! One would have to try hard to have a bad meal in this town, as everything is made with the freshest of ingredients, tastes incredibly rich, and is impressively creative. Needless to say, we have been eating like kings!

I am enrolled in a consortial studies program through Indiana University (known as the Bologna Consortial Studies Program, or BCSP) which will allow me to take an Italian grammar course at the program office while I enroll directly in an Italian curriculum at the university for the rest of my classes. Although I have taken 5 semesters of Italian to prepare for this, I am still a bit nervous about reading/writing academically in Italian. I guess only time will tell how that will turn out! I will be taking an intensive Italian language course at the program center for the next three weeks starting Monday, and my courses at the Università should begin sometime in mid-February.

There are currently currently SIXTY students enrolled in the BCSP program - 36 newbies like myself and 24 others that are enrolled in the year-long abroad program and thus have been here since September. Of the sixty there are about 15 Cornellians (a good showing!) one of which is my great friend, Rachel Ensign (who may or may not have suggested that I give her a direct shout-out in my blog).

Near Piazza Maggiore, in the center of the city - up the stairs on the right is a large student library

The program's structure is quite unique in terms of housing: we are being housed in a hotel in Bologna until January 24th, during which time it is our own responsibility to find an apartment. The catch: we are HIGHLY discouraged from living with Americans or other people in the BCSP program. So the majority of my time here thus far has been spent commencing my apartment hunt: looking up ads for apartments and making calls.... cue laughter.

And so, the focus now is housing, housing, housing. While it is slightly bothersome that we aren't able to get settled yet and comical that we are running around the city attempting to negotiate rent contracts in Italian, this has been a great way for my classmates and I to hit the ground running and start using our Italian frequently and confidently. I have a few appointments lined up for the next couple of days, and will keep you updated on the apartment hunt as it unfolds! Wish me luck!

Arrivederci!

I AM HERE!

Ciao, tutti!

I have landed safe and sound! I am settling in and about to grab dinner, but I will update very soon!

Attempting to Fit 6 Months Into This...

Any suggestions?

I am PACKING, and off to Bologna (via London) tomorrow at 6PM, and should arrive around 2PM. Wish me luck!