she says, "roo. tell me things!"

This one's for mattie!

Things are getting better here, although I have to tell you most of the Milanese have told me that Milan is the most "un-Italian" city in Italy. Go figure. It's growing on me. I still miss the Brooklyn Bridge (although the Duomo is battling it out for number one most beautiful piece of architecture ever in my life. We'll see who wins, I'll let you know), yelling at people who don't know where they're going, and matzoh ball soup. I miss 19th century and modern art, there's not that much here--a lot of artwork here dates to the middle ages. While I appreciate it, most of you know how I feel about anything pre-1700 (this, you know, excludes Shakespeare...). However, people have told me where I can find some more contemporary art in Milan, and I'm going to Florence this weekend with my roommate and we're going to see some amazing stuff there.

However, the food here is fantastic and I've eaten more prosciutto than I think I have in my entire life...oh, and the Gelato. Hollaaay! Apart from Herrel's in Northampton, you people are SERIOUSLY missing out (Nutella flavor, you ask? You got it! The cinnamon flavor really gets me jazzed, too).  Also, bars here provide food during happy hour, which is usually 6:30-9:30. All you have to do is pay 6 euro for a drink and it's free dinner. The next place I want to go is called Bhangrabar--they have an Indian aperitivo!!

Other things. I love my roommates. We're all from New York City, which is fantastic. While we're all so different (each from a different borough and socioeconomic background), we have a common thread between us (although I avoid talking about baseball with them...) One of them is absolutely hilarious. While she takes me out a lot and provides for the apartment quite a bit, I would be content to listen to her stories (like the time she sabotaged her grandfather's ex-girlfriend, Hazel Bebe, whom she hated because this woman had asked her grandfather out at her grandmother's funeral) for the rest of my life, more than anything else. I'm going to have rock hard abs when I get home from laughing so much--last night my roommates and I were up until 2:30 (I have class at 11:30 everyday so it's alright) talking and laughing. 

My other roommate is totally sweet and caring, we do a lot of errands together and talk. And she cleans alot. Which is great because she's never done a load of laundry in her life (thanks mom for forcing me when I was 12). She cleans the bathroom, I remove her stains...

I'm learning to get around. While I'm short on patience, I'm growing more and realizing that I'm not just going to wake up one day speaking Italian. However, I went to a bookstore this morning and was able to buy my textbook all by myself in my new, non-native tongue. GO ME. 

Also, I live in a great neighborhood, I really love it. I walked around it when I went food shopping today, and realized all the cute shops and restaurants we had just around the corner. Not to mention how close I live to the Navigli, which are these canals that Leonardo DaVinci built long ago that still exist (the water is so clear you can see the bottom!). Every last sunday of the month there's an antique fair--so many beautiful things! 

e troppo per allora, the internet here is worse than Robert Schumann's insanity so I must post while I have the time!

culture shock

blows.
Yesterday I went for an audition for the Civici Cori di Milano (the civic Choir of Milan), and was confronted with the unexpected. We were told that it was just a "community" choir, and most of us didn't expect much. I think it went badly and I'm not sure if I'm going to be in it. Hopefully tomorrow's (mandatory) culture shock seminar will help me with my frustration. Milan is great, but I'm hankering for New York like one craves a steak after being at Mount Holyoke for a while (vegetarians/vegans if any, try to understand my passion for a filet mignon?).

Don't get me wrong, I love Milan. It's beautiful. When I look at the Duomo, I think that maybe that's where my grandma went last week--it looks like pure heaven when I look up at it. Then I look down at the boots that some woman is wearing whilst standing next to me and I think, yep, "I've seen God--did you get those at Prada? Or are they from Zara?"
You can't really tell here in Milan, but everybody looks good (I can see my mother shaking her head because I'm only talking about clothing here--but I swear! There kind of culture that subsists in Milan is that of clothes, gastronomic pleasures, architecture, and churches. Your typical museum like the MoMA or the MET doesn't really exist here...).

Everyday I try to make my way around the city. It's hard. I pride myself on being a pushy, fast-paced New Yorker who knows everything. I feel like a bumbling idiot here sometimes, but I suppose its necessary to be humbled, isn't it? I struggle with the lanugage everyday and sometimes wish that nobody knew english so I'd really be forced to speak the language. When I get tired of trying I just say "do you speak english?" and Tada! Easy-peasy.
All my rommates are fluent--one is Italian and the other two are Americans. I am incredibly jealous of their mad linguistic skillz (yo).

However, I'm in intensive language class for 2 1/2 hours a day, and I'm regaining some of what I lost so far. My Italian teacher is fantastic, I saw her on the metro the other day and burst into a smile. I've made many friends and I'm having a lot of fun with them.
I promise that my next posts will reflect more positivity!

first post!

I'm finally settled in my first apartment! When I got to Italy, they took us to Stresa on Laggo Maggiore, about 10 miles south of Switzerland. We stayed in a four-star hotel called the Regina Palace Hotel that was incredibly baroque, but the food was good. It was weird being in this little resort town--it was foggy and almost desloate because it was off season--an amazing set for some creepy thriller. 

They took us out on the lake to some of the islands that are owned by the Borromeo family (still! One of their ancestors was a Pope!). We got off on one of them and there were all these cats around the island, which was weird because NO ONE was around--all the restaurants and snack bars were closed. It was like a plague had hit the island and no one was left.

Anyway, I've met some cool people already, and I'm going go hang out with some of them now that we're finally in Milan. I really like my apartment, and I promise to post pictures of it soon--I'm about a 10 minute train ride from the center of town, and I'm in a really funky, but clean neighborhood (think LES meets Chelsea meets Grammercy Park?) . I live with 3 other girls--one of whom is Italian, and two of whom are American but are completely fluent in the language. It's great, I'm hoping to pick up a lot. 

Things are good. More to come soon!