April Fools

Well we've got the start of another month coming up tomorrow. And looking back on it, this means I've been here in Italy for six months already. Where does the time go? I still don't feel quite settled here yet, like I'm a tourist that got off the plane just yesterday. Perhaps because the second half of winter was so cold and crummy that I've subconsciously repressed the last three months. But, I digress...

I was chatting with my roommate the other day about April Fools day. Here it's called 'Pesce d'aprile', or 'fish of April'. Although no one could explain to me what fish have to do with it, nor could I discover it online, I did find something interesting while googling it: apparently up through the middle ages, April 1st was celebrated as the beginning of the new year. Hm. Who'da thunk? It was changed to January 1st only about 400 years ago with the advent of the Gregorian calendar. Some think that the origin of the English term 'April Fools' comes from those whom continued to celebrate the new year in April, and were subsequently scorned and ridiculed. Just like back home, Italy (and most of Europe) is awash with false media reports and hoaxes during the day, and little kids at school tape paper cut outs of fish to each other's backs (kind of like a 'kick me' sign).

This last week was pretty interesting. We wrapped up classes for this quarter, more or less; after the Easter break we will have a few sessions in a computer lab working with statistical analysis software. On a related note, I predict a spike in beer sales for local Bologna pubs next week. Also after the break, we'll have some exams for the courses of this quarter. I am a little afraid for these exams; the courses really aren't that interesting (statistics, accounting, law) so I am not as engaged in them as I have been in past classes. That means I have to do some extra studying, which is a pain in the ass, but I guess that's what I'm here for, right?

Besides the school stuff, there were some other fun things that went on as well. On Friday night, a bunch of us went out for my favorite all-you-can-eat activity, aperitivo. Some really good food and a couple of cheap beers later, we were walking around the historic center, enjoying the piazzas and the newly arrived, warm spring air. Well, relatively warm. 60 degrees is warm enough after three months of snow. There are no open container laws in Italy, so we settled down in a little piazza with some beers and chatted away for a while. Somehow we ended up going to this crazy villa party where you pay 10 euro to get into this gigantic house on the outskirts of town that is set up just for parties, and there's an open bar. Of course the line for the bar is like the line for the last spaceship on Earth as a killer asteroid is bearing down on it, but it was still a sloppy good time.

The next day (which started around 3pm, as you can imagine) was interesting as well, because I got to participate in a flashmob activity. If you haven't a clue what a flashmob is, it's basically an open event loosely organized via the internet in which anyone who wants to participate meets at a designated time and place and does something that is, well, basically just silly. The particular event I went to (with more or less the same group of friends from the night before) was held in the town's main square, around the Neptune fountain. When I arrived, just barely in the nick of time for the start, I was surprised to see maybe a thousand or more people of seemingly all ages and backgrounds who were also there to participate. This particular gathering called for everyone to stand still like a statue for four minutes; some people in the crowd brought props, or just struck funny poses. There was a group of guys that froze doing the 'see/hear/speak no evil' pose, another group that was stuck in a moment of playing the boardgame Risk, and several embracing their significant others. It was pretty neat to see, especially the curious faces of bystanders who had no clue what was going on. I recorded the whole thing on camera by my vantage point, and posted it online afterwards, as did many others. We joked about how a lot of the videos that were posted didn't show us at all, but then came the official video for the event here:



Apparently we were right in front of the official video guy the whole time. How 'bout that!

After the flashmob event, we had a nice little 'Italy' moment in which we sat down at a cafe under the porticoes on the main square, enjoyed some coffees and light snacks and just watched the clouds roll through the sky. Here are some pics from the day:

Waiting for the start signal. That's the public library there in the background.

Sitting, drinking coffee, and watching the clouds roll by.

Not a bad view to waste away the afternoon by.

After coffee, we went to go get some gelato underneath the two towers landmark. I'm pretty excited that the weather is getting warm enough again to warrant consuming vast quantities of gelato.

It was an all around pleasant day. Since then I've just been lounging around, reading, studying, catching up on TV I missed during the quarter. Most of the students have gone home already for the Easter holiday, but a few of us that are left are going out tomorrow night to have a little Easter dinner at a local osteria, which is sort of like a restaurant/tavern type of place. I'm excited because I really haven't eaten at a real restaurant since I've been here; at most I've had some good food at an aperitivo buffet, but it's not quite the same. Hopefully I'll get to finally try some of the food Bologna is well known for. 

On Sunday itself virtually everyone I know will be gone for the holiday. I'll be missing all my friends and family back home for sure, but who knows, I may find some trouble to get into yet. I may even do some travelling! Stay tuned for updates. Until then, Happy Easter everyone!