Spring Fever

Well, it's been a while since the last update! Sorry for the delay. I really have nothing to say for myself other than I was studying for a test and, when not studying, making the most of the social scene. I definitely had some adventures I want to share with you guys.

Starting back a couple weeks ago, after the last update, I had an interesting Thursday night. After classes were over for the day, some of us went for a beer. The weather has more or less finally decided it wants to be pleasant out, so sitting out on the patio of a pub or cafe for a beer is at last a viable and enjoyable way to spend an evening. Well that night classes ended a bit early for us to enjoy the aperitivo hour after our beers, so we decided to head to someone's house for a homemade meal and to watch a movie (and some more wine, of course). We downed the wine while cooking up the meal and discussing some favorite Italian topics: politics and the mafia. Places like Napoli in the south are infamous for their mafia ties, but some people say that even here in quiet Bologna a lot of the businesses and the real estate trade is ultimately answerable to the mob. I find it hard to believe, but I guess you never know! In the south it's much worse though; I've been told before that it's not uncommon for dozens of gangsters to waltz into a restaurant en masse and have a meal on the house; that is, as long as the owners don't want the place burned down the next day anyways. I just wonder if they do it wearing fedoras and smoking stogies like back in the old days. Well we didn't have to worry about any mafiosi barging in on our little party, so we enjoyed our meal of farfalle pasta with cream sauce, radicchio, and pancetta (like a thick cut, cubed bacon). Needless to say, it was delicious, and afterwards we watched a film that enjoys a cult status in our class: Galaxy Quest. Yes, the one with Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver that lampoons Star Trek. The reason it's famous amongst our class (besides being a pretty funny film) is that one of the goofy alien characters uncannily resembles and speaks just like a professor we had earlier in the year. I'm not going to say which one, because a) this is the internet , b) I don't have a diploma in my hands yet, and c) mama didn't raise no fool.

I took it pretty easy the weekend following that. There is a big convention center in Bologna so there is always some trade fair or the like going on, and that week there was a big music festival with lots of events around the city. Well Saturday night there was a free concert in the main square with a lot of pretty famous musicians (including some from the States), and I really wanted to go but the weather decided it wanted to throw one last crappy day at us and it was 55*F and rainy all day, so I didn't end up going. Sunday was pretty relaxed too; all I did was go to the big open-air market in the square to buy some much needed stuff on the cheap, and then I had to write a short paper for my soon-to-be-ending strategic accounting class, so that was pretty much it for the weekend.

The next week started off kind of slow. I was up early and off to class on Monday morning, but there was some kind of confusion with the scheduling or something and our teacher never showed. I had to go to the college anyway to use the printers in the computer lab, so it wasn't a total loss, but still - annoying. Our big scary test for the strategic accounting class was the next day at 4pm, so that night and the next afternoon were reserved for studying.

Well the test came and went on Tuesday, and it wasn't so big and scary after all. When it ended it was the perfect time to go out for the aperitivo hour, so we had ourselves some beer and spritzes (a typical aperitivo drink made with fizzy Italian wine and a bitter alcohol) and some delicious food. We decided to check out the nightclub in the public park later that night, as it was 'Erasmus' night, which is the name of the European student exchange network. There's an awful lot of Erasmus students from all over Europe in Bologna, so the bars will often have special nights just to lure the foreigners in for some cheap drinks. So later on, we all met up in beautiful Piazza Santo Stefano to have some drinks in the open air first, then continue on to the club. Here are some pics from in the piazza:

The piazza; pretty empty on a Tuesday night

Our merry little band. Hooray for no open contain laws!

After we had sufficiently gotten ourselves lubricated, it was time to head to the club. Like I mentioned before, it was Erasmus night there, and even though there were only a few of us who were not Italians, all of the Italians speak perfect English. So, we managed to work our way through the Erasmus student line without having to pay, thanks to a convincing portrayal of not speaking any Italian on behalf of the natives. Being an international student has its advantages! We had a pretty fun night there, and even better, we didn't have to wake up for any classes the next day. We even spotted Gandalf, or at least some old guy with a big beard that looks exactly like him. What an old man like that was doing at the club I don't know, but one thing's for sure, there is no lack of weird characters in Bologna (remember my story about the Contessa from a few weeks ago?)

The next day was more or less a continuation of the activities. We met that night at the main party house, Riccardo's place, for a big communal dinner; this time, nearly everyone was there. A few of the girls cooked up a great big batch of pasta, a couple of nice chocolate cakes for dessert, and we had more than enough wine to go around. A few pics of the dinner:

Notice the (empty) bottles

I know what you're probably thinking: this is a bad idea

Well, you'd be right

After that, we all went back to the nightclub at the park again, because it's free to get in on Wednesdays and free is any student's favorite word. It was a pretty raucous night, with all of us there together as a big group. The clubs here shut the doors pretty late, and we definitely closed the place out. But no matter! After that, it was back at it again on Thursday, since there were still no classes the rest of the week and it was our classmate Birgit's birthday. A few of us got together in the park for the afternoon to enjoy the sunshine, and then around the hour for aperitivo we went and had ourselves a bite to eat at a nice little cafe. We stayed there for a while, then grabbed some bottles of wine and beer just as the stores were closing for the day. We headed back to the main party spot, Riccardo's house, once more. We ended up playing Kings all night long; if you're not familiar with it, it's a drinking game that is, shall we say, very effective. It was another uproariously good time with good friends; I'll be sad to see a lot of them go home over the summer, since most of the students will be returning to their hometowns once classes and exams are over. Unfortunately a lot of them won't be coming back to Bologna after the summer, as many are taking advantage of the international nature of our program and transferring for six months to schools abroad. But that's later; for now, it's just time to enjoy the company while we're all here. 

Friday I stayed home, as Saturday there were big plans again. There was an important soccer match being played that night, and our classmate Saar had a few of us over to watch the game and also use the opportunity to make some fresh pasta from scratch. It was definitely a lot of work, from mixing the flour and eggs to stretching out the dough in a hand-crank machine and finally cutting it. But it came out pretty darned good, and Saar also made a tasty ragu (meat sauce) to go along with it. Some more pics to illustrate the night:

Sir Mixalot?

Stretchin that dough!

The definition of multitasking

Soccer intensity

The house we were at was a ways from the center, out towards the hills, and we ended up at a big villa nearby that's been turned into a weekend party venue. In the spring they set up big tents and lawn furniture on the rather large grounds of the villa, and we just spent the night there relaxing and soaking up the fresh air.

Well it's been a pretty exciting weekend so far, right? But wait, there's more! My housemate Maria and a bunch of other students from her class were going out to a park in the hills for a barbecue on Sunday and she invited me along too. I'd slept in a bit from the previous late night, but woke up just in time to catch her before she left and went along with her. It was really nice - a beautiful day, TONS of food, nice shady trees, and lots of entertainment. There were about 40 students there, all doctors in training like Maria, and they brought guitars, soccer balls, rugby balls, frisbees, and other assorted items to help us entertain ourselves under the sun. The park was pretty full of other big groups, doing the same as we were, but there was plenty of room to spread out. There was a large community grilling area with four grills and a giant smokestack, under which we grilled up pork ribs, sausage, bread, veggies, and guanciale (a kind of pork-cheek bacon). It was all incredibly delicious. Still tuckered out from the night before and now with a filled belly, I elected to spend a good deal of the day napping under the shade of a tree, to the sounds of people playing singalongs on the guitar (in English, of course; Italians are crazy for English music) and others having a kickabout with a soccer ball a little ways off. It was incredibly relaxing; not that I'd had much stress that week outside of the test or anything. Pictures you ask? Why, of course!

Gotta rep the ASU

Live entertainment

Doing what I do best

It was a really nice day. Unfortunately, I paid for it the next day when my allergies kicked into full gear. I skipped my classes the first two days this week because I haven't been able to sleep well at night from an alternating stuffy and runny nose, plus I can't stop sneezing to save my life. It took spring six months to arrive here in Bologna, and now that it's finally here it's kicking my ass. I'm not too worried about the classes I missed because I can't take the exam the first time around anyway. I guess I should mention, in case I haven't before, that on the Italian system there are usually anywhere between three and eight opportunities a year to take the final exam for any given course - which is also usually the only exam you have for the course. And I can't take it next week because Alee is coming to visit me, which I am RIDICULOUSLY excited about. We've already got some plans to get out of Bologna and see some stuff, so I should have a lot of great photos coming up next week. Until then, take care gentle readers!