Modena

Saturday Lauren, some people from my program and I took a day trip to a nearby city- Modena. The train ride only took about 15 minutes. From there we took a bus ride to the Ferrari museum. It was a cool experience seeing all the different ferraris in person. I even saw a picture of the Speedway! We took a lot of pictures. And to make it more fun we tried to take fun pictures of the cars with us. We took one at the end with us girls all jumping in the air. We had a great afternoon there. 

Then we had an appointment at a Balsamic Vinegar vineyard in Modena. Modena is the true and original place where balsamic vinegar is produced. On all bottles of b.v. the city Modena is on the label even though it is not truly from Modena. We went to this little cottage, up to the top floor where the barrels of vinegar are. A very cold room, the top vinegar sits for 25 years, and a small bottle of it costs about 65 euro. We had a taste testing session and took some pictures. The daughter of the family told us all about the history and process. 

Then we took a bus back to the city center to the annual street festival- we happened to come on just the right day! There were dozens and dozens of vendors- selling cheese, meat, sweets, piadini, crepes, clothes, and other random things. There were hundreds of people milling around- good people watching. Lauren and I bought some fresh cheese- pecorini fresca. and also some sweets to eat while walking around. Lauren and I went with Rachel, Teresa, Addriene and Monica- a great group of girls, we had a wonderful day. Our first of many day trips!

But unfortunately that night after i got home i became sick and have been ever since- and it keeps getting worse. Today i was supposed to have a presentation in class but my nose would not stop running and i couldnt breathe out of it so i could barely talk. i am supposed to go tmrw, i wonder if i will be any better. We have two finals and a paper this friday for this presession class. I hope i get well by tmrw so i can start studying hard core. 

I have a home in Italy!

Everyday I am so busy, from nine til three at night, going going going. Classes, shopping, walking, eating, going out at night. All so much fun, loving the city. But I actually have a home to go back to now!! And eight amazing roommates:) I live on a street that is very central, two minutes to Piazza Maggiore! I live on the top floor, with a great view! I live in a double with a girl named Sara, the room is very huge though. There are five girls and three guys. Two guys are brother from Sardania, Roberto and Danielle. And Leo was born in Columbia but has lived in Italy basically his whole life. The girls are from all over Italy: Sara, Sara, Laura, Marghe and Illaria. They are a lot of fun but unfortunately all smokers, but im too bothered by it actually. They are all amazing cooks and are very generous. I am having so much fun with all of them, there is always someone here and also friends- the more the merrier! The first night I moved in my roommates had a party with thirty of their friends- our living room holds a ton of people, we have a pretty big apartment. I wish we had more than one bathroom and the heat wasn't turned off all night. But great roommates definitely make up for it. 

Lauren has been staying with me for the past few days after we moved out of the hotel. It has been a great transition and always tons of fun with her. This experience would not be the same without her that is for sure. 

The city is really great, the window shopping is amazing. I love walking around for hours, exploring the city. Our culture classes about Bologna history have been really great and informative as well. 

Lauren and I have made many friends at different establishments around town and are having so much fun having italian friends. 

We know the city

On Thursday we took a Presession placement test at the office so they know our ability level, i did about average but will most likely  be placed in the lowest of three levels which is perfectly fine with me. Lauren and I finally got our cell phone plans which are mostly prepaid and quite a different system. Then later we returned to the office to meet with a police officer about safety in Bologna- nothing different than any other big city. Then we all went out for a girl in our program's 21st birthday to dinner. Then a group of us went to the Irish Pub to hang out and Lauren and I went up to the bar to get shots and then just never returned back to the table because we were talking to all the guys at the bar. We made friends with a group of guys about our age that go to the bar a lot. We talked all night and had fun finally being comfortable and having fun talking in Italian. 

Friday morning Lauren went to the Post Office to get her Permit of Stay. When she came back our room was being cleaned so we decided to go out in the city and walk around some more and grab lunch. We went to the fresh food market and got some strawberries, a plum and a nectarine. It was finally a sunny day again so we went to the Piazza to eat our lunch. There was a lot of people out roaming around. Then two of the guys we meet the night before came and met us there. We went to a bar for coffee and tea with them, one they work at. We met their friend Michelle, who was so fun and such a clown- which i learned the italian word for: pagliaccio.  Then we went to lunch with them and Lauren and I shared a pizza. From there we went to the public library which is a very cool place, there are glass floors so u can see down to a city beneath the city. Then after being out with them for hours Lauren and I cam back to our hotel to get ready for dinner. Our program went to dinner at our director's home that night. It was a little bit of a walk outside the center and his house was gorgeous. We all ate pizza and sat around and talked- it was relaxing and fun. Then Lauren and I were going to met the guys- Floriano and Vincenzo at Irish Pub and then bring them out to a bar with some people from our program. But they didn't like the bar we wanted to take them to so we just stayed there all night talking with them. 

Saturday morning I woke up at seven to go to the Post Office to get my Permit of Stay. Then at twelve Lauren and I met the group at the Piazza to go on a bus tour of the city. We sat in the back in the open air part of the double decker bus. It was freezing but we took a lot of cool pictures finally. We also went up to a high point at a church and looked out over the city but it was pretty foggy, (which it has been quite a lot here and what i read isnt uncommon) so we didnt get too good of a view. But we said we will definitely have to come back later in the semester for good pictures. Next we ate lunch at a bar on the piazza and warmed up. At two we went to an appointment for an apartment for Lauren. The room ended up being half the size our my room at Theta- a twin mattress basically on the floor with half a desk, and the armoire out in the hallway-- not something you would want to pay 310 euros for. Lauren and I took the bus back and hung out at the hotel for a bit, looking for more apartments online. Lauren and I haven't found places to live but we have been exploring so much that we know the city pretty well and are having a great time discovering different parts of it- we are the ones that actually know where we are going when we are out at night trying to find a bar or something to do. Then we went out to dinner with part of our group, i had some delicious grilled vegetables. Lauren and I then met up with another part of the program at a bar called Cafe Paris. They have euro shots and Lauren flirting with the baristo and got free ones for all of us. Then the group traveled to a discoteca called Soda Pops. We danced in this very crowded bar and I met a Sengalese guy. Then at about 2 we left and got crepes- chocolate and strawberries---soo good. 

Now it is Sunday and Lauren and I slept in and then watch some more of our movie Under the Tuscan Sun. Now im catching up on this and will contact more people about apartments. 

Ciao for now!