Catching Up

Hey everybody! Sorry it's been a few days since last you heard from me, but I am still alive and kicking! I haven't been able to connect to the internet at my apartment yet.

I moved into my apartment on Monday after our Pre-session class, which we'll have Monday through Friday until the end of September. What can I say? It's the first apartment I've ever had, and it was a pretty intimidating step. I can't say that I didn't feel overwhelmed at times. But my wonderful new flatmate, Serena, invited Rodolfo, Clara, and I to go out with her and her friends that night, which we did. It was the first time we hung out with real Italians, and it was lots of fun. We went to this Napoletian pizza place, but we didn't get there until almost eleven. Boy, do these Italians stay up late! Afterwards, we walked around the city for a while, and I began to realize what a student-oriented place it is. There were groups of young people walking around and sitting in the piazzas.

Yesterday I had class and then helped Clara and Rodolfo move into their apartments. The three of us are kind of far apart, I thought at first, but the city's not too big, so the distance won't prevent us from seeing each other. Clara's living in the very middle of the city, on Via Righi (for those of you who like to GoogleMap things), and Rodolfo's actually just outside of the southwestern side of the viale that marks the site of the ancient walls.

Today we had a day off from morning class because we had two meetings in the afternoon, so Clara and I took advantage of the free time and learned how to go grocery shopping in Italy. It's funny which brands are familiar and which aren't. For example, there was an entire wall of Activa yogurt and there was Heinz ketchup. And they don't refrigerate their eggs. Gross? I haven't decided. I got some, and put them in my fridge. They do refrigerate some of their pasta. It's all too funny. But I feel much better now that I have my own food to eat, and can make myself and salami and provelone sandwich when I desire it.

I've met two of my three flatmates: Serena and Vicky. Serena is from northern Italy, and Vicky is from Spain. However, Vicky is also fluent in French, having studied there for two years. So it turns out that I know who I'll be practicing French with this year! I also shared with her the Spanish that I know: "Escucha la tomato"= Listen to the tomato. "Donde estas tus pantalones?" = Where are your pants? Needless to say, she was impressed... Ania, the third flatmate with whom I will be sharing my room, doesn't arrive for another week or so. Serena and Vicky both left Bologna today to go home for a few weeks until University classes begin in October, so all of the sudden I'm in the apartment, in Italy, all alone!

Scary as that might have seemed at first, it helped that I had a party. Just a small one, of course. Four of my BCSP friends, Rodolfo and Clara (of course), and Erin and Alex, came over and we made dinner together. I made the pasta and sauce (well, made is a bit of a stretch...), and they brought other things, romaine lettuce and peppers, mozzarella and tomatoes for a caprese salad, and a bottle of wine. Because my kitchen is so small, we spread out a sheet on my bedroom floor and had a picnic. It was great, and we're hoping to make it a weekly tradition to cook dinner together at someone's apartment. I can't wait for next Wednesday!