We last left off with me saying goodbye to Ryan in Rome so that I could return to Bologna for a test the next day. That day was Tuesday, June 8th - yeah, a long time ago, I know! So sorry for the delays in updates, but better late than never, right?
Anyways, on Tuesday morning, we had our test for Strategic Accounting. It was absolutely as exciting as it sounds. After the test, some others went out for an early drink, but I had to go to the train station to meet another friend that was coming to Bologna for a visit. Jo, who I know through Mom's former secretary Krista, was coming back through Italy (we'd all spent Christmas together in Rome, if you recall - go back and see the old post to refresh your memory). I was going to let her crash on my couch so she didn't have to get a hotel here, and I was supposed to pick her up from the train station. Unfortunately, our communication wasn't the best as she was travelling through other parts of Europe at the same time and didn't have a phone or consistent internet access. As such, I didn't know exactly when she was coming in, or from where; nor did we establish an exact meeting spot. So, I just showed up around the time I thought she was getting in, and waited with fingers crossed to see if she would walk right by in front of me. So I waited... and waited... and waited some more. After quite a bit of time had passed, I called one of my friends and had them log-in to my email account. There was a letter there from Jo, explaining that her plans had changed and she was instead heading to France for two days, and would be by Bologna later on in the week. No biggie - we had made some plans as a class for later that night anyway, so I headed home to get ready for the evening.
The night's entertainment would begin at a traditional Bolognese institution called Osteria del Sole, a place which to me seems about as close as you can get to a medieval inn. Situated right in the heart of the city, practically in the shadow of the 800 year old cathedral, it's basically one big room lined with huge wooden tables for communal eating. But they don't serve any food there; you bring whatever it is you want to eat, and they are more than happy to provide the beer and wine to go along with it. So maybe ten or twelve of us from the class showed up, all bringing some kind of food to share with the group: cheese, prosciutto, pizza, bread, spicy salami from Spain, fruit, sandwiches - the whole nine yards. It was noisy and chaotic, but the drinks flowed like water and we had a really good time. Afterwards, we went to our regular summer party place - the club in the public park. We get in for free on Tuesday nights, but they stopped our friend Riccardo at the door. The bouncers didn't like that he was coming in with a backpack on. It's what he'd used to bring food to dinner, but we went to the club directly after the meal so there was nothing else to do with it. Afraid that he was trying to sneak bottles of alcohol in, the bouncers asked Riccardo what was inside. With a straight face, he had to tell them, 'Oh, it's just salami'. They laughed and let him in, and we gave him a hard time for the rest of the night for being a salami smuggler.
Later on that week, Jo finally arrived. It was pretty late on Thursday night when she got in; unfortunately, that was a direct result of someone stealing her wallet in France. As you can imagine she'd had a pretty long day by the time she got here, so we just came back to my place and I cooked up a small meal before calling it a night. The next day, we got up early and went to see the city. I took her along all the main sights on my world-famous Bologna guided tour; the main square, cathedral, ancient ruins inside the public library, the two towers, canals, etc etc. I showed her the greatness that is the aperitivo in Bologna, so we ate pretty well and then headed to quiet little Piazza Santo Stefano for a beer with a friend from my class. Some other friends from class decided to go out that night as well, so we ended up having some more beers at the English pub in the student quarter and then ending the night with my favorite late-night Bologna tourist attraction: shots on fire. I don't know what it is about the combination of flames and alcohol, but it is just good clean fun. We couldn't make it too late a night, as she had another train to catch the next morning.
We managed to get to the station on time, and just like that another American was off and away. I met with my friend Jason for lunch at his place, where his girlfriend cooked us up some wonderful little snacks and sandwiches. Afterwards we met up with a few others to catch the start of the Soccer World Cup games. It was the big US match versus England, and everyone was pretty skeptical that the US could pull it off. I spent a good amount of time before the match reassuring them that the US could do it, only to have England score on us in the first five minutes. DOH! But we ended up coming back later in the game to tie, so it all went better than expected.
The next day there were a lot more World Cup games on, and as you know it is a big deal all over Europe; Italy being no exception. We met back up at the same bar the next day to watch Spain's match, then afterwards we joined in a big street festival that was going on to kick off the games. All the bars and pubs in the student area had tables and chairs set up outdoors to enjoy the nice summer weather and take advantage of soccer fans willing to part with their hard earned cash. There were big mobile keg-carts set up in the streets, and one place even had an entire roast pig laid out on a table that they were carving up for sandwiches. It was a carnival-like atmosphere, so we hung out there most of the night and enjoyed the fresh air.
This sort of activity would pretty much be the norm for the next few weeks. Soccer is serious business in Italy, and without classes to attend it was pretty much day after day of 'where are we meeting to watch the game?' Monday the 14th was the first day that Italy played, and their game was relatively early so we met up and had an aperitivo right before the match. It was disappointingly unexciting, ending in a tie. Afterwards I went home and had my own battle to deal with; along with the warmer weather came tons of bugs, and a veritable invasion was taking place in my room. I killed a few random ones, and was relaxing in bed. Towards bedtime I looked up, and saw this little guy peering at me from the corner of my room, above the bed:
The picture is from the web, but that's what was staring back at me. I had no idea what it was at first, but I knew that it and I could not peacefully coexist in the same abode. It had to die. So - battle lines were drawn. I developed an airtight strategy, one that would only succeed on the first strike. Everything had to go perfectly, or else the critter would be lost forever in the room and I would never, ever be able to sleep again. Luckily, my plan work, and the alien being was vanquished on the first try. I could finally rest peacefully. Thus ended the battle of the insects.
The following Friday, I had a nice surprise coming my way. When I first arrived in Italy, way back in September of 2009, I had to apply for a 'Permesso di Soggiorno' - a little plastic card that identifies me as a foreign resident and allows me to remain in Italy, and travel in/out of the country. Without it, I could not leave the country after 90 days had passed from my first arrival. By law, the card is supposed to be furnished within three weeks; however, as I found out through searching the internet, it is rare that it takes fewer than several months, and typically it takes even longer than that. Finally, June 18th, mine was ready to be picked up at the local immigration office. It only took nine months!
I spent the afternoon waiting in line there at the immigration office, because everything in Italy requires waiting in line. Just coming in, giving your name, and picking up something that is already ready would be far too easy to be any fun. So after a few hours, I finally laid hands upon my sweet, sweet symbol of newfound freedom that I had been waiting so long to get. I really wanted to see some other places in Europe; but at the time, I didn't know it would still take me awhile to utilize this freshly gained opportunity.
Later on that same day, I embarked on a different kind of adventure. In order to earn a little bit of money to sustain myself while here, I decided to do what a lot of native English speakers do while abroad and give language lessons for a small fee. I met my first client at the cafe in the public park, where we had a nice little chat and hit it off pretty well. I was a little nervous to begin with, but he already spoke English at a high level and was really looking just to practice his speaking abilities, so I mostly just had to listen and add some suggestions here and there. It's ended up being a fairly easy way to make a few bucks without too much effort, and works pretty well since my ever-changing school schedule doesn't really lend itself to regular employment (not to mention I make more per hour doing conversation practice, albeit not too many hours per week).
Later on that evening, I met up with my pals from class once again to celebrate my new gainful employment. After a few glasses of wine at someone's house, we wandered into the city center where we enjoyed that wonderful Italian summer staple, gelato, and then headed to a really cool place to spend the evening. One of the big movie theaters in the city transforms the secluded courtyard in front of it into an open bar and cafe during the summer months, with communal tables set up for drinking and eating plus live music and table games like foosball set up for people to enjoy. It was really cool, especially with the weather being so nice during the evening, and we stayed there for hours just enjoying a few frosty beverages, playing games, and chatting. I savor every opportunity such as that one, because as counter-intuitive as it may seem, my Italian seems to improve with each glass of beer - and it's not just in my head, as most of my friends here will tell you they would agree with that statement. I guess that means maybe I have a future in managing Italian beer companies? Only time will tell!
The next night, we all met up again for some more fun. It's such a tough life for students during the summer months, right? This night would turn out to be particularly insightful and entertaining as a cultural exchange.
It started, of course, with some beers and pizza. We wanted to go out together that night, but it started pouring cats and dogs outside, so we began playing a game to tide us over until the rain stopped. It was a game I'd never encountered before in the US; I don't know if it exists back home, but the version we played in Italian was a lot of fun. It's called 'Werewolves and Villagers', which describes the basic premise of the game. It doesn't involve a board or any playing pieces; rather, it is a game of psychology and social engineering wherein participants are assigned randomly a role as either a villager or a werewolf. The villagers don't know who the werewolves are, but the werewolves (usually two at a time) know each other. One person is chosen to narrate and guide the events of the game, which starts with all the villagers being asleep at night (ie with their eyes closed). The two werewolves then awaken (open their eyes), and agree upon one of the villagers to kill. They go back to sleep, and the narrator guides everyone to wake up the next morning and announces which of the villagers was last night's dinner. The ten or so villagers then have to decide who amongst them is the killer, and sentence one of their own to death, but of course the whole time the werewolves are secretly trying to influence the choice. The game continues like that, albeit with a few more intricacies and complications, until either the two wolves are killed or the werewolves manage to eat all the villagers. It was a ton of fun, especially in a room full of loud and rowdy Italians, with wild accusations being thrown all around and everyone trying to manipulate someone to some kind of end. The rain never let up that night, and we ended up spending hours playing the game well into the morning. It was a really fun and different way to pass a Saturday night!
I still have plenty of adventures from the summer to tell, but I'll try to get them spread out over a few posts so as not to be too overwhelming. The crowning jewels, of course, will be the pictures and tales from my time spent around Europe. Please stay tuned for many more updates in the near future!
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You know, Justin, I am serious about this. You need to look into getting a job as a travel writer or something like that. Your blog is the most entertaining one I've ever read, and even if I'm your mother, I'd say it if I didn't even know you.
ReplyDeleteMiss you kiddo.
Mom