Dear Reader(s),
So I have officially finished my English lessons with Sara, Martina and Sofia, and after my last lesson with Sofia (my little favourite) I was invited to a meal with her and her family. I went home after our last lesson and put on my dress ready for collection by Patrizia at 20.15.
When we got to the house, we sat in the sitting room for a bit, chatting about different things, Serena, Sofia's older sister who is my age, asked where my perfume was from even (Jo Malone). I really like Sofia's family, Patrizia is the madre, Claudio is the padre, Serena is the oldest and Sofia is the baby. I got along really well with Serena and we're facebook friends now. We talked a lot about when I will return to Modena, and that I can stay at theirs because Serena has a big bed. Patrizia is also desperate to see Jersey and to use me as the guide, something that I would definitely love to do.
So, the food! It was AMAZING. We had a pasta course to start (of course we did, this is Italy) which was tortelloni, which is the big version of tortellini, in other words pasta parcels, we had either spinach and ricotta or pumpkin. Both were beautiful, but the pumpkin was just to die for. Next course was the meat course, we had zampone di maiale con paté di patate, in other words pig's trotter with mash potatoes. This is so traditional of Modena, you just can't get a more Modenese dish. It's also a huge treat, and when it was served Claudio said 'this really is a special meal, we only get this once a year!' so I felt very honored. I ate every scrap of the huge portion I was given as it was simply delicious.
Next course was fruit, I had the traditional Modena option (obviously) but I can't remember what it was called. It's orange in colour, and soft like a plum. You cut it in 4 and use a teaspoon to eat the extremely soft sweet flesh. I loved it.
Next was coffee, I felt so mature having an espresso.
After the meal we went through, Patrizia and Claudio went to the sitting room but the girls and I played with Pepe the little dog for a while (while their new Spaniel puppy, Boss, was in his box and desperate to join in) after that we went through as well and played on the karaoke until 1am! It was so so so much fun, accompanied by whiskey (which I didn't have) and Ferrero Rocher (which I most certainly did have)
The evening was simply wonderful, I loved every second, and I will most definitely be seeing that family again in my future.
A presto...
Saturday 17 December 2011
Sunday 11 December 2011
There is no world without Verona walls...
Dear Reader(s),
Another weekend of Shakespeare, but in a different way; we went to Verona this Saturday. Christina, myself, Dani, Issa, Karim and Vitor. An early start saw us at the train station for our 08.14 train, which was... cancelled. There was a replacement bus, as in, one bus, to replace an entire train, so funnily enough we didn't get on due to lack of seats. We got a later train to Bologna, and then went on from there to Verona which wasn't too bad, but they charged us an extra 6€75 - we should be getting refunds surely! Verona itself is beautiful, officially one of my favourite trips. We did the lot (obviously) colosseum, Christmas Star, mercato, Christmas mercato, the four churches, the river and of course the Casa di Giulietta. At the Casa di Giulietta you can see the balcony, and the gift shop is nice but kind of naff, and there's a statue of Juliet, and the thing to do is put your hand on her boob, no idea why, but I did it obviously. The riverside walk was really lovely, the light was starting to go and the bridges got lit up which was very picturesque. When we walked back through the city to go to the station all of the Christmas lights were on, and they were just stunning. The walls of Verona were simply outlined by white lights, which was beautiful, there were trees giant Christmas trees all of which were lit beautifully.
On returning to the train station there were further mishaps. Our train was cancelled again (!) and the same solution was put in place, a replacement bus, just the one, which again filled up leaving us without a way home. We had to wait a further 2 hours to get the next train, so Dani and Isa (the two spaniards) used the time to complain, cause a fuss, and fill in complaints forms. I was pretty unimpressed by their attitudes and need to cause a fuss, because despite the annoyance of the terrible Italian train system, there was just no need to be so rude to people who were just trying to do their jobs, and then to fill out a complaint form which was probably going to be thrown straight in the bin!
We made it home by 23.00 and our bikes were still where we'd left them (Christina and I had convinced ourselves that they would've been stolen).
We slept very well that night!
That will probably be my last visit in Italy before I go home, I leave here on 19th December, and have already made sure that my mum is cooking my a big fat roast chicken with roast potatoes and lovely thick gravy (something I miss dearly).
A presto...
Another weekend of Shakespeare, but in a different way; we went to Verona this Saturday. Christina, myself, Dani, Issa, Karim and Vitor. An early start saw us at the train station for our 08.14 train, which was... cancelled. There was a replacement bus, as in, one bus, to replace an entire train, so funnily enough we didn't get on due to lack of seats. We got a later train to Bologna, and then went on from there to Verona which wasn't too bad, but they charged us an extra 6€75 - we should be getting refunds surely! Verona itself is beautiful, officially one of my favourite trips. We did the lot (obviously) colosseum, Christmas Star, mercato, Christmas mercato, the four churches, the river and of course the Casa di Giulietta. At the Casa di Giulietta you can see the balcony, and the gift shop is nice but kind of naff, and there's a statue of Juliet, and the thing to do is put your hand on her boob, no idea why, but I did it obviously. The riverside walk was really lovely, the light was starting to go and the bridges got lit up which was very picturesque. When we walked back through the city to go to the station all of the Christmas lights were on, and they were just stunning. The walls of Verona were simply outlined by white lights, which was beautiful, there were trees giant Christmas trees all of which were lit beautifully.
On returning to the train station there were further mishaps. Our train was cancelled again (!) and the same solution was put in place, a replacement bus, just the one, which again filled up leaving us without a way home. We had to wait a further 2 hours to get the next train, so Dani and Isa (the two spaniards) used the time to complain, cause a fuss, and fill in complaints forms. I was pretty unimpressed by their attitudes and need to cause a fuss, because despite the annoyance of the terrible Italian train system, there was just no need to be so rude to people who were just trying to do their jobs, and then to fill out a complaint form which was probably going to be thrown straight in the bin!
We made it home by 23.00 and our bikes were still where we'd left them (Christina and I had convinced ourselves that they would've been stolen).
We slept very well that night!
That will probably be my last visit in Italy before I go home, I leave here on 19th December, and have already made sure that my mum is cooking my a big fat roast chicken with roast potatoes and lovely thick gravy (something I miss dearly).
A presto...
Sunday 4 December 2011
Exit, pursued by a bear
Dear Reader(s),
During the week, while I was working on my YAWT in piano uno, an Italian boy called Marco came up to me and asked if I was English ('damn' I thought 'I haven't perfected the Euro-chic look') and then asked if I would like to help out a friend of his whilst improving my Italian. He said that he had a friend called Ruggero who was looking for a tandem partner; for those of you that don't know, a tandem partner is a person who you meet up with regularly and half of the meetings are in your language, for the other person's benefit, and the other half are vice-versa. I took Ruggero's number and said of course.
This weekend was an interesting one, on Saturday (after a bit of YAWT, which is going really well) Christina and I went for a coffee catch-up with the only other English (well, Scottish) girl here in Modena, Kelly. However, I tried to kill two birds with one stone by inviting my new tandem partner along. This was a mistake. Ruggero insisted that we speak slowly and loudly so that he could be included, which of course meant that we could not catch up at all. In the end I spoke to Ruggero (slowly and loudly) while Kelly and Christina spoke quickly and quietly to each other. I started to feel like I was in a Monty Python or Father Ted scene when it turned out that Ruggero's English was appalling and, to top it all off, he only had one good ear. We made it through the coffee catch up and got back to the residenza in one piece, however I'm going to have to do at least one more tandem partner meeting before I go home, just to be polite.
Sunday was a much better day! After a lie-in and a lot of reading of 'How to Write Essays and Assignments' I went to the theatre with Christina. The worst seats in the house and a student discount got us some not-too-bad-seats-really for 12€ to see Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale, but wait, it gets better, it was in ITALIAN! After 2 and a half hours our brains were somewhat hurting from the level of concentration we'd needed (a level most recently matched during 2nd year exams) and we were in desperate need of some Tetly. We cycled home through the fog (as per) and had a Tetly tea, a White Twix each and a chat. What a lovely Sunday! We feel enriched and cultural and clever.
A presto...
During the week, while I was working on my YAWT in piano uno, an Italian boy called Marco came up to me and asked if I was English ('damn' I thought 'I haven't perfected the Euro-chic look') and then asked if I would like to help out a friend of his whilst improving my Italian. He said that he had a friend called Ruggero who was looking for a tandem partner; for those of you that don't know, a tandem partner is a person who you meet up with regularly and half of the meetings are in your language, for the other person's benefit, and the other half are vice-versa. I took Ruggero's number and said of course.
This weekend was an interesting one, on Saturday (after a bit of YAWT, which is going really well) Christina and I went for a coffee catch-up with the only other English (well, Scottish) girl here in Modena, Kelly. However, I tried to kill two birds with one stone by inviting my new tandem partner along. This was a mistake. Ruggero insisted that we speak slowly and loudly so that he could be included, which of course meant that we could not catch up at all. In the end I spoke to Ruggero (slowly and loudly) while Kelly and Christina spoke quickly and quietly to each other. I started to feel like I was in a Monty Python or Father Ted scene when it turned out that Ruggero's English was appalling and, to top it all off, he only had one good ear. We made it through the coffee catch up and got back to the residenza in one piece, however I'm going to have to do at least one more tandem partner meeting before I go home, just to be polite.
Sunday was a much better day! After a lie-in and a lot of reading of 'How to Write Essays and Assignments' I went to the theatre with Christina. The worst seats in the house and a student discount got us some not-too-bad-seats-really for 12€ to see Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale, but wait, it gets better, it was in ITALIAN! After 2 and a half hours our brains were somewhat hurting from the level of concentration we'd needed (a level most recently matched during 2nd year exams) and we were in desperate need of some Tetly. We cycled home through the fog (as per) and had a Tetly tea, a White Twix each and a chat. What a lovely Sunday! We feel enriched and cultural and clever.
A presto...
Monday 21 November 2011
Ferrara, Padova, Vigonza, Venezia
Dear Reader(s),
This weekend I went to 4 different places in Italy; Ferrara, Padova, Vigonza and Venezia.
The trip was arranged by Dani, one of the gang, and there was 10 of us in total. We had to get up extremely early on Saturday morning to catch an extremely early train to Ferrara, our first stop. Ferrara is a pretty and small city which I quite like. There was an outdoor market and despite the freezing cold the place was cute. At lunch time we went on our next train to our next stop: Padova, we ate our packed lunches on the train :) Padova I LOVE. It is beautiful and peaceful and I definitely want to return one day. It was all Christmassy with the outdoor market and Christmas lights. I got myself an icecream which was Ricotta, fig and honey flavoured - absolutely the best flavour of icecream I have ever had in my LIFE.
Next stop was Vigonza, but only for the night, we arrived quite late and Dani had found the best little hostel, it was literally just one small chalet run by the waitress who worked next door in the pizzeria. It had 10 beds, a kitchen and a bathroom and after we'd paid our 12€ each she came back with 2 free pizzas and a bottle of fizzy wine! Again, despite the freezing cold, we were all OK.
Up early again on the Sunday and we got our penultimate train to Venezia. Annoyingly it was an extremely foggy day and, again, freezing, but we made the most of the time there and saw as much as we could. Venezia, as everyone knows, is beautiful. I bought myself an authentic mask for a souvenir and it will forever be on my wall wherever I live, not just as a memory of Venice, but a memory of Erasmus and being a student :)
We got a train home late evening and with extremely cold and tired legs we were back in the residenza by 21.30 ready for a good long sleep!
My next trip is looking like Torino on 9th and 10th December, but we'll see...
A presto!
This weekend I went to 4 different places in Italy; Ferrara, Padova, Vigonza and Venezia.
The trip was arranged by Dani, one of the gang, and there was 10 of us in total. We had to get up extremely early on Saturday morning to catch an extremely early train to Ferrara, our first stop. Ferrara is a pretty and small city which I quite like. There was an outdoor market and despite the freezing cold the place was cute. At lunch time we went on our next train to our next stop: Padova, we ate our packed lunches on the train :) Padova I LOVE. It is beautiful and peaceful and I definitely want to return one day. It was all Christmassy with the outdoor market and Christmas lights. I got myself an icecream which was Ricotta, fig and honey flavoured - absolutely the best flavour of icecream I have ever had in my LIFE.
Next stop was Vigonza, but only for the night, we arrived quite late and Dani had found the best little hostel, it was literally just one small chalet run by the waitress who worked next door in the pizzeria. It had 10 beds, a kitchen and a bathroom and after we'd paid our 12€ each she came back with 2 free pizzas and a bottle of fizzy wine! Again, despite the freezing cold, we were all OK.
Up early again on the Sunday and we got our penultimate train to Venezia. Annoyingly it was an extremely foggy day and, again, freezing, but we made the most of the time there and saw as much as we could. Venezia, as everyone knows, is beautiful. I bought myself an authentic mask for a souvenir and it will forever be on my wall wherever I live, not just as a memory of Venice, but a memory of Erasmus and being a student :)
We got a train home late evening and with extremely cold and tired legs we were back in the residenza by 21.30 ready for a good long sleep!
My next trip is looking like Torino on 9th and 10th December, but we'll see...
A presto!
Roma TOMAAA
Dear Reader(s),
Sorry I haven't blogged about the weekend of 11th-13th November, but I'm on it now.
An extremely early start on Friday 11th November saw me up and ready for the bus to Rome with ESN Modena. It was a trip organised by ESN (Erasmus Student Network) and for 175€ we had 3 days in Rome, all travel included, all tours included, hotel and breakfast included, parties included. Not bad?
The weekend was AWESOME. After a 6 hour bus journey we arrived in Rome and left our bags in the hotel. We went on immediately to find the Colosseum, which was stunning. After that we saw some more sights before the light was gone and we found somewhere for our apperitivi. Dinner and preparation for the first disco then ensued; it was pretty good, far more cosmopolitan than the usual (baluardo) and the music was pretty good. The night ended with our disco bus home straight to our door, at 4.30am.
After minimal sleep we were up for our included breakfast (sugary croissants and coffee machine) and ready for the next day seeing Rome. We saw a lot more sights, including my favourites: Trevi Fountain and the Vatican. The Trevi Fountain is so beautiful, I loved it, and combined with the fact that the weather for the whole weekend was literally perfect (nothing but sun, but still crisp, cold and fresh) meant that photos of the weekend are simply beautiful. The Vatican was amazing, and my only regret of the weekend is that we got the timings wrong and the decision to see the Vatican before the Sistine Chapel meant that we missed the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican was stunning, I made sure that I had photos of the Pope's balcony for Dave (who never says 'yes' but 'does the pope have a balcony?') and despite extremely tired feet we made the most of it and saw the whole thing.
After that we made our way to find a pizza and fanta, followed by shower and disco bus to the second disco, which was AMAZING. Literally the best club I've ever been in. The lights and music and atmosphere was so stunning, I loved every second and didn't even realise the time was passing when people started to leave at 5.30am to get the disco bus home!
Again, only a few hours of sleep later, we were up and sugary-croissant-ing early ready for as much of Rome as we could see in the short time before the bus was due to leave. We saw more sights, mostly piazzas and the like, and then exhaustedly we trooped back to the bus, put our ipods in our ears, and slept the whole way til lunch.
Finally, after the lunch stop, the 3 Italian ESN reps made the weekend Erasmus votes on who was the biggest lad and who was the biggest ladette. I won the title of 'Miss Ubriacana' aka Miss Lad! It was basically because I had taught them all the 'Castle Ranger' chant, and then translated it to fit with being Modenese!
All in all the weekend was AWESOME and extremely tiring. I ended the weekend with a solid 12 hours sleep.
A presto...
Sorry I haven't blogged about the weekend of 11th-13th November, but I'm on it now.
An extremely early start on Friday 11th November saw me up and ready for the bus to Rome with ESN Modena. It was a trip organised by ESN (Erasmus Student Network) and for 175€ we had 3 days in Rome, all travel included, all tours included, hotel and breakfast included, parties included. Not bad?
The weekend was AWESOME. After a 6 hour bus journey we arrived in Rome and left our bags in the hotel. We went on immediately to find the Colosseum, which was stunning. After that we saw some more sights before the light was gone and we found somewhere for our apperitivi. Dinner and preparation for the first disco then ensued; it was pretty good, far more cosmopolitan than the usual (baluardo) and the music was pretty good. The night ended with our disco bus home straight to our door, at 4.30am.
After minimal sleep we were up for our included breakfast (sugary croissants and coffee machine) and ready for the next day seeing Rome. We saw a lot more sights, including my favourites: Trevi Fountain and the Vatican. The Trevi Fountain is so beautiful, I loved it, and combined with the fact that the weather for the whole weekend was literally perfect (nothing but sun, but still crisp, cold and fresh) meant that photos of the weekend are simply beautiful. The Vatican was amazing, and my only regret of the weekend is that we got the timings wrong and the decision to see the Vatican before the Sistine Chapel meant that we missed the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican was stunning, I made sure that I had photos of the Pope's balcony for Dave (who never says 'yes' but 'does the pope have a balcony?') and despite extremely tired feet we made the most of it and saw the whole thing.
After that we made our way to find a pizza and fanta, followed by shower and disco bus to the second disco, which was AMAZING. Literally the best club I've ever been in. The lights and music and atmosphere was so stunning, I loved every second and didn't even realise the time was passing when people started to leave at 5.30am to get the disco bus home!
Again, only a few hours of sleep later, we were up and sugary-croissant-ing early ready for as much of Rome as we could see in the short time before the bus was due to leave. We saw more sights, mostly piazzas and the like, and then exhaustedly we trooped back to the bus, put our ipods in our ears, and slept the whole way til lunch.
Finally, after the lunch stop, the 3 Italian ESN reps made the weekend Erasmus votes on who was the biggest lad and who was the biggest ladette. I won the title of 'Miss Ubriacana' aka Miss Lad! It was basically because I had taught them all the 'Castle Ranger' chant, and then translated it to fit with being Modenese!
All in all the weekend was AWESOME and extremely tiring. I ended the weekend with a solid 12 hours sleep.
A presto...
Monday 7 November 2011
Matt's Visit
Dear Reader(s),
The much anticipated visit of Matt Funnell has already been and gone; our 78 days apart followed by our 5 (more like 4 and a bit) days together seem to have gone by in the quickest flash. I can't believe how awesome living in Modena actually is!
Matt arrived a bit earlier than expected - got his times wrong dint he! - and we went from Bologna airport all the way to Florence together. We got on the train at Bologna and sat in the first free seats we found, then were told that some old people had reserved them, so moved to the seats right next to them, only to discover, on closer inspection of our ticket, that we were actually now sitting in the seats and carriage allocated to us! I couldn't get over this strange coincidence, so took the first photo of the holiday "Matt hold the ticket and look surprised at what's just happened!" (see facebook if you have any interest in the photos: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150939261625019.767822.775360018&type=1)
Florence is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to, and I am lucky enough to say I've been twice now, once with my best friend Hannah, once with my boyfriend Matt. We saw all the sights that we could in our 2-ish days there, Galleria dell'Accademia - statue of David, Uffizi Gallery - Birth of Venus, the Duomo, Piazza della Signoria, Santa Croce, soooo many gelateria's, the Ponte Vecchio, the view point of the city and more. We now have VERY tired feet and legs as we were up and out by 9:30am each morning, and didn't get back from our dinner until about 10pm each night!
We then went to Modena, so that I could show Matt where I live, and also show him off to my friends. We went out for dinner with the gang to 'i Picari' (where we went the second night too) and then on for a coffee at another bar afterwards. It was lush and Christina and Matt discussed the current football match (which was both their teams against each other) Sunday, our last full day, Matt and I had a chilled day (still up early) in the centro. Unfortunately it was raining, so we got a bit wet getting into the centro, but apart from that we were taking shelter looking in shops and having coffees/ ice creams/ cokes/ lunch etc.
All in all Matt's visit was LUSH and it was very difficult to say good bye this morning at the station for Matt's Aerbus. Well, only 56 days til we next see each other, 30% less than last time!
A presto...
The much anticipated visit of Matt Funnell has already been and gone; our 78 days apart followed by our 5 (more like 4 and a bit) days together seem to have gone by in the quickest flash. I can't believe how awesome living in Modena actually is!
Matt arrived a bit earlier than expected - got his times wrong dint he! - and we went from Bologna airport all the way to Florence together. We got on the train at Bologna and sat in the first free seats we found, then were told that some old people had reserved them, so moved to the seats right next to them, only to discover, on closer inspection of our ticket, that we were actually now sitting in the seats and carriage allocated to us! I couldn't get over this strange coincidence, so took the first photo of the holiday "Matt hold the ticket and look surprised at what's just happened!" (see facebook if you have any interest in the photos: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150939261625019.767822.775360018&type=1)
Florence is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to, and I am lucky enough to say I've been twice now, once with my best friend Hannah, once with my boyfriend Matt. We saw all the sights that we could in our 2-ish days there, Galleria dell'Accademia - statue of David, Uffizi Gallery - Birth of Venus, the Duomo, Piazza della Signoria, Santa Croce, soooo many gelateria's, the Ponte Vecchio, the view point of the city and more. We now have VERY tired feet and legs as we were up and out by 9:30am each morning, and didn't get back from our dinner until about 10pm each night!
We then went to Modena, so that I could show Matt where I live, and also show him off to my friends. We went out for dinner with the gang to 'i Picari' (where we went the second night too) and then on for a coffee at another bar afterwards. It was lush and Christina and Matt discussed the current football match (which was both their teams against each other) Sunday, our last full day, Matt and I had a chilled day (still up early) in the centro. Unfortunately it was raining, so we got a bit wet getting into the centro, but apart from that we were taking shelter looking in shops and having coffees/ ice creams/ cokes/ lunch etc.
All in all Matt's visit was LUSH and it was very difficult to say good bye this morning at the station for Matt's Aerbus. Well, only 56 days til we next see each other, 30% less than last time!
A presto...
Wednesday 2 November 2011
Updates and Excitement
Dear Reader(s),
Previously in my life...
Sig. Setti has given my number to another Italian mamma who would like to use my 'skills and abilities' as she put it, to help her daughters' education. I now have two more students, Sara and Martina, (ages 12 and 15) who want me for an hour a week to teach English conversation, grammar and pronunciation, along with help with their piano practice. I went to Sig. Richeldi's apartment on Monday to have a meeting and talk logistics, and it is such a beautiful apartment. Like the Setti's, the Richeldi's clearly have a lot of money, their apartment is right in the centre of the centro, literally on Via Emilia, and above the clothing shop 'Stefanel'. It is modern and monochrome, not to my taste, but still beautiful.
The excitement that is pretty much consuming me today is the fact that Matt Funnell will be with me in Italy in exactly 24 hours. Our plan is:
~ Meet in Bologna airport
~ Take a train to Firenze
~ Spend three days in Firenze seeing the sites; I never thought I'd be lucky enough to see the Statue of David twice in my life
~ Take a train to Modena
~ Spend two days in Modena, I will show him Baluardo and the other attractions
~ Say good bye on Monday morning :(
Today is my first lesson with Sara.
A presto...
Previously in my life...
Sig. Setti has given my number to another Italian mamma who would like to use my 'skills and abilities' as she put it, to help her daughters' education. I now have two more students, Sara and Martina, (ages 12 and 15) who want me for an hour a week to teach English conversation, grammar and pronunciation, along with help with their piano practice. I went to Sig. Richeldi's apartment on Monday to have a meeting and talk logistics, and it is such a beautiful apartment. Like the Setti's, the Richeldi's clearly have a lot of money, their apartment is right in the centre of the centro, literally on Via Emilia, and above the clothing shop 'Stefanel'. It is modern and monochrome, not to my taste, but still beautiful.
The excitement that is pretty much consuming me today is the fact that Matt Funnell will be with me in Italy in exactly 24 hours. Our plan is:
~ Meet in Bologna airport
~ Take a train to Firenze
~ Spend three days in Firenze seeing the sites; I never thought I'd be lucky enough to see the Statue of David twice in my life
~ Take a train to Modena
~ Spend two days in Modena, I will show him Baluardo and the other attractions
~ Say good bye on Monday morning :(
Today is my first lesson with Sara.
A presto...
Saturday 29 October 2011
Tamara the tit
Dear Reader(s),
News flash! Tamara has broken her foot. She was cycling and fell and didn't know it was broken until the next day when she got it checked at the hospital. She now has a huge (and pretty comical) cast which has been signed by everyone, using my coloured pens.
The really bad news is that she has to go home for more or less a whole month to get it sorted. She keeps tearing up and she really does not want to go. Tonight I'm watching a movie with her and have already been to Lidl and got the necessities (chocolate, chocolate and chocolate). Everyone else is going to Bologna (as is the norm for a saturday night it would seem) but I'm gonna stay with her because it's her last night before she goes, and I'm also gonna sleep in her room with her tonight (she still has no roomie)
Let's hope it's not a whole month :(
A presto...
News flash! Tamara has broken her foot. She was cycling and fell and didn't know it was broken until the next day when she got it checked at the hospital. She now has a huge (and pretty comical) cast which has been signed by everyone, using my coloured pens.
The really bad news is that she has to go home for more or less a whole month to get it sorted. She keeps tearing up and she really does not want to go. Tonight I'm watching a movie with her and have already been to Lidl and got the necessities (chocolate, chocolate and chocolate). Everyone else is going to Bologna (as is the norm for a saturday night it would seem) but I'm gonna stay with her because it's her last night before she goes, and I'm also gonna sleep in her room with her tonight (she still has no roomie)
Let's hope it's not a whole month :(
A presto...
Friday 28 October 2011
Che Fortuna!
Dear Reader(s),
This week has been more or less normal, done the usual Sunday mass, weekday lectures, Wednesday baluardo etc. Today I had my latest Sofia lesson (the last one for a week as they're going on holiday next week - perfect timing for Matt Funnell's visit) and I came home on my bike carrying a bag full of shoes and a phone number for a new student! Sofia is growing very fast, as 12 year olds do, and she is now a shoe size 39, but used to be a 37 - my size! So I now have three beautiful pairs of boots, one pair of trainers, and one pair of CONVERSE! They are all in beautiful clean condition and fit wonderfully. I am so happy it's unreal. Furthermore Patrizia (Sofia's mum) gave me the number for a Signora Daniela Richeldi who would like me to teach her daughter English after Patrizia's recommendation of me. I can't believe it, I'm thrilled!
A presto...
This week has been more or less normal, done the usual Sunday mass, weekday lectures, Wednesday baluardo etc. Today I had my latest Sofia lesson (the last one for a week as they're going on holiday next week - perfect timing for Matt Funnell's visit) and I came home on my bike carrying a bag full of shoes and a phone number for a new student! Sofia is growing very fast, as 12 year olds do, and she is now a shoe size 39, but used to be a 37 - my size! So I now have three beautiful pairs of boots, one pair of trainers, and one pair of CONVERSE! They are all in beautiful clean condition and fit wonderfully. I am so happy it's unreal. Furthermore Patrizia (Sofia's mum) gave me the number for a Signora Daniela Richeldi who would like me to teach her daughter English after Patrizia's recommendation of me. I can't believe it, I'm thrilled!
A presto...
Friday 21 October 2011
La Bonissima
Dear Reader(s)
Today I have achieved a lot, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute (which is the general trend for each day of Erasmus it would seem!)
I had a lecture on the European Union from 12:00 til 13:30, followed by a stint in the library working really hard on my Y.A.W.T and I got SO much done, I'm really pleased. At 15:45 I met Christina in the Piazza Grande for La Bonissima which is an outdoor market which sells traditional food specific from Modena. It's on tomorrow and Sunday as well, and I think there are other events because there was definitely a stage being set up...
I may have done some Christmas shopping at the market too... who knows?
A presto...
Today I have achieved a lot, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute (which is the general trend for each day of Erasmus it would seem!)
I had a lecture on the European Union from 12:00 til 13:30, followed by a stint in the library working really hard on my Y.A.W.T and I got SO much done, I'm really pleased. At 15:45 I met Christina in the Piazza Grande for La Bonissima which is an outdoor market which sells traditional food specific from Modena. It's on tomorrow and Sunday as well, and I think there are other events because there was definitely a stage being set up...
I may have done some Christmas shopping at the market too... who knows?
A presto...
Sunday 16 October 2011
Fernanda Gattinoni
Dear Reader(s)
I am now thoroughly engrossed in my Y.A.W.T and am working on two different topics: politics and religion. The politics articles, as I'm sure is obvious, are all about Berlusconi and what he's up to lately; the confidence vote has been all over my newspaper of choice Corriere della Sera (and all the other italian newspapers) so there's a lot for me to think and write about there. I have only skimmed the article on Catholicism, but it looks very interesting, and it seems like a return to the old fashioned values of family, venture and work will be instilled more diligently in Italy.
Lectures are going well, especially my official favourite lecture: linguistica generale. We learnt all about writing words phonetically, and I even spoke out in class the other day: we were writing out some names, the teacher had done her's "Chiara" and asked the class to volunteer their names. We did "Giacomo" and then "Rebecca" and she said "OK class, let's end on a difficult name, does anyone think their name would be difficult?" so I put my hand up and said "Well, my name's English?". The class laughed and the teacher said that we will be moving onto English words later in the term, but thank you anyway. I felt proud of myself, and I said it in my best Italian (obviously).
I've now had two sessions with Sofia, my English student, and she has tried so hard with the things I picked her up on so far. She is also obsessed with Bambi... and survived a Tsunami in Thailand 6 or 7 years ago!
On Saturday I went to the centro for my newspaper and also to find a book from my 4th year reading list as I have now chosen my 4th year Italian modules: Language, Translation and Renaissance. So I've taken a book out of the library here called "Il Libro del Cortegiano" by Castiglione, which I intend to have a good look at this afternoon (wish me luck!) Myself, Nerea, Béa and Christina all went to a free exhibition of some of the dresses designed and made by Fernanda Gattinoni who made dresses for the likes of Audrey Hepburn; after which we got a gelato (I went for straciatella and Nutella YUM.)
I'm going to mass again tonight at 6pm, and tomorrow I'll be heading out to the mercato.
A presto...
I am now thoroughly engrossed in my Y.A.W.T and am working on two different topics: politics and religion. The politics articles, as I'm sure is obvious, are all about Berlusconi and what he's up to lately; the confidence vote has been all over my newspaper of choice Corriere della Sera (and all the other italian newspapers) so there's a lot for me to think and write about there. I have only skimmed the article on Catholicism, but it looks very interesting, and it seems like a return to the old fashioned values of family, venture and work will be instilled more diligently in Italy.
Lectures are going well, especially my official favourite lecture: linguistica generale. We learnt all about writing words phonetically, and I even spoke out in class the other day: we were writing out some names, the teacher had done her's "Chiara" and asked the class to volunteer their names. We did "Giacomo" and then "Rebecca" and she said "OK class, let's end on a difficult name, does anyone think their name would be difficult?" so I put my hand up and said "Well, my name's English?". The class laughed and the teacher said that we will be moving onto English words later in the term, but thank you anyway. I felt proud of myself, and I said it in my best Italian (obviously).
I've now had two sessions with Sofia, my English student, and she has tried so hard with the things I picked her up on so far. She is also obsessed with Bambi... and survived a Tsunami in Thailand 6 or 7 years ago!
On Saturday I went to the centro for my newspaper and also to find a book from my 4th year reading list as I have now chosen my 4th year Italian modules: Language, Translation and Renaissance. So I've taken a book out of the library here called "Il Libro del Cortegiano" by Castiglione, which I intend to have a good look at this afternoon (wish me luck!) Myself, Nerea, Béa and Christina all went to a free exhibition of some of the dresses designed and made by Fernanda Gattinoni who made dresses for the likes of Audrey Hepburn; after which we got a gelato (I went for straciatella and Nutella YUM.)
I'm going to mass again tonight at 6pm, and tomorrow I'll be heading out to the mercato.
A presto...
Friday 14 October 2011
Important Update
Dear Reader(s)
As this blog is most likely to be read by my friends and family who have an interest in my life, I need to tell you all something very exciting:
After the grueling process of several applications, interviews and assessment tasks, my boyfriend, Matt Funnell, has successfully secured an internship with no less than the mighty KPMG.
End of important update, news of Italy to continue in the next post!
A presto....
As this blog is most likely to be read by my friends and family who have an interest in my life, I need to tell you all something very exciting:
After the grueling process of several applications, interviews and assessment tasks, my boyfriend, Matt Funnell, has successfully secured an internship with no less than the mighty KPMG.
End of important update, news of Italy to continue in the next post!
A presto....
Tuesday 11 October 2011
Professoressa O'Connell
Dear Reader(s)
Lots to tell since my last post. This weekend we went to Bologna for a disco and got to bed (in Modena) at 6am - it was a really good night and Christina and I bumped into our Durham friend Catherine MacLachlan (who's also from Jersey) who's doing Erasmus in Bologna - what are the chances?!
On Sunday I went to mass in the Duomo at 6pm and loved it, it was a really peaceful hour in my week to sit and reflect on my thoughts and think of my family and friends, I will be going regularly for sure. I also went to the train station and bought all of the train tickets that Matt and I will need when he comes (in 22 days time!) to see me, pleased about THAT.
The rest of this week so far has seen me in lectures, reading my papers and hanging out with Christina.
Professoressa O'Connell is the title of today's blog because I am now an English teacher. The Erasmus coordinator sent out an email to all English students asking if anyone would like to teach Signora Setti's daughter English, and I got the gig. Our first lesson was today and Sofia (my student) is really lovely; she's enthusiastic and bright as a button, she's very competent with her English already, but I am helping with grammar and pronunciation. We got on really well and I got paid, cash-in-hand, as I said good bye.
A presto....
Lots to tell since my last post. This weekend we went to Bologna for a disco and got to bed (in Modena) at 6am - it was a really good night and Christina and I bumped into our Durham friend Catherine MacLachlan (who's also from Jersey) who's doing Erasmus in Bologna - what are the chances?!
On Sunday I went to mass in the Duomo at 6pm and loved it, it was a really peaceful hour in my week to sit and reflect on my thoughts and think of my family and friends, I will be going regularly for sure. I also went to the train station and bought all of the train tickets that Matt and I will need when he comes (in 22 days time!) to see me, pleased about THAT.
The rest of this week so far has seen me in lectures, reading my papers and hanging out with Christina.
Professoressa O'Connell is the title of today's blog because I am now an English teacher. The Erasmus coordinator sent out an email to all English students asking if anyone would like to teach Signora Setti's daughter English, and I got the gig. Our first lesson was today and Sofia (my student) is really lovely; she's enthusiastic and bright as a button, she's very competent with her English already, but I am helping with grammar and pronunciation. We got on really well and I got paid, cash-in-hand, as I said good bye.
A presto....
Sunday 2 October 2011
Andiamo a Rimini
Dear Reader(s),
What a weekend! Thursday saw the gang at the balluardo which involves Christina and I 'dancing like the world is about to end' according to all our spanish friends. Then Friday saw the gang (pretty much the entire Erasmus gang) at the 'VOX' which is a rock club. We all paid €16 for a bus there and back, entrance to the club and 3 drinks. The night was great, although we were disappointed that it wasn't a normal club..
Saturday was a day of rest, followed by today, Sunday, when we all went to Rimini. We all met up at 8am outside the residenza and then we made our way to the train station (only a few of us have bikes, the rest went by bus) after much debating and Dani shouting at everybody, we decided that going to Florence was too expensive, going to Parma was our next choice, and then for some reason Dani said we were all going to Rimini. €10,40 and 2 hours later we arrived in Rimini. It's a lovely city, reasonably clean and open with a good outdoor market on sundays (Dani tried to ask for a discount on a Super Mario hoody and the woman said 'what do you want? the thing for free?' which scared him off) We had a look in the cathedral, had some pizza and made our way slowly to the beach! We all kicked off our shoes and paddled/ hung out/ walked around for a couple of hours. After several attempts on Vitor's behalf of trying to throw me into the sea, then rolling me around in the sand we finally went and got a cool coca cola before heading back to the station at 7pm.
Who knows where we'll go next weekend...
A presto!
What a weekend! Thursday saw the gang at the balluardo which involves Christina and I 'dancing like the world is about to end' according to all our spanish friends. Then Friday saw the gang (pretty much the entire Erasmus gang) at the 'VOX' which is a rock club. We all paid €16 for a bus there and back, entrance to the club and 3 drinks. The night was great, although we were disappointed that it wasn't a normal club..
Saturday was a day of rest, followed by today, Sunday, when we all went to Rimini. We all met up at 8am outside the residenza and then we made our way to the train station (only a few of us have bikes, the rest went by bus) after much debating and Dani shouting at everybody, we decided that going to Florence was too expensive, going to Parma was our next choice, and then for some reason Dani said we were all going to Rimini. €10,40 and 2 hours later we arrived in Rimini. It's a lovely city, reasonably clean and open with a good outdoor market on sundays (Dani tried to ask for a discount on a Super Mario hoody and the woman said 'what do you want? the thing for free?' which scared him off) We had a look in the cathedral, had some pizza and made our way slowly to the beach! We all kicked off our shoes and paddled/ hung out/ walked around for a couple of hours. After several attempts on Vitor's behalf of trying to throw me into the sea, then rolling me around in the sand we finally went and got a cool coca cola before heading back to the station at 7pm.
Who knows where we'll go next weekend...
A presto!
Wednesday 28 September 2011
YAWT
Dear Reader(s)
After far too long apart, Nerea finally returned to Modena and now all is well again. We threw a small party for her, which involved cheap Lambrusco in the kitchen and Dani's speakers.
Lectures have started and I'm actually so excited that I feel like Hermione Granger! Having some form of structure to my week is great, and going to lectures isn't too bad. I need to concentrate very hard to keep up (which I didn't do in my first lecture). I enjoy the fact that my lecture theaters are in beautiful old buildings, and that my first lecturer used several Italian hand gestures to get his point across.
Today we (Nerea, Béa, Fran and Tamara) went to the park for a bit, we just chilled out in the shade and chatted which was nice. Then Nerea cooked us all a late lunch (I'm becoming Spanish with my eating habits) and then I went to my lecture which was 5pm to 7.30pm. After that, Christina (who had had the same lecture as me) and I found the others in the centro during happy hour and enjoyed a nice cold Carona.
"YAWT" is the abbreviated name for my 'Year Abroad Written Task' I have chosen to do my written task on the news. I can either choose to focus on local news and how it's written, or to see how international or national news is covered in the local press. Either way I have to buy the local paper every day il resto di Carlino and I may start buying a national paper too so that I can thoroughly get the most out of it. There are several YAWT options, but I think the news ones sound most appealing to me.
A presto...
After far too long apart, Nerea finally returned to Modena and now all is well again. We threw a small party for her, which involved cheap Lambrusco in the kitchen and Dani's speakers.
Lectures have started and I'm actually so excited that I feel like Hermione Granger! Having some form of structure to my week is great, and going to lectures isn't too bad. I need to concentrate very hard to keep up (which I didn't do in my first lecture). I enjoy the fact that my lecture theaters are in beautiful old buildings, and that my first lecturer used several Italian hand gestures to get his point across.
Today we (Nerea, Béa, Fran and Tamara) went to the park for a bit, we just chilled out in the shade and chatted which was nice. Then Nerea cooked us all a late lunch (I'm becoming Spanish with my eating habits) and then I went to my lecture which was 5pm to 7.30pm. After that, Christina (who had had the same lecture as me) and I found the others in the centro during happy hour and enjoyed a nice cold Carona.
"YAWT" is the abbreviated name for my 'Year Abroad Written Task' I have chosen to do my written task on the news. I can either choose to focus on local news and how it's written, or to see how international or national news is covered in the local press. Either way I have to buy the local paper every day il resto di Carlino and I may start buying a national paper too so that I can thoroughly get the most out of it. There are several YAWT options, but I think the news ones sound most appealing to me.
A presto...
Friday 23 September 2011
"to bring flowers"
Dear reader(s)
Tonight there is supposedly going to be an Ibiza party in the TV room, organised by Dani, this is his poster:
Since I last posted I have been to a couple more lectures, finally got my bike (my rainbow bike) been to the library and taken out an Italian murder mystery, found my facoltà done lots of aperitivi, been to a disco, paid for my accommodation and worked out how to watch Doc Martin and Dr Who online woop! Nerea has gone home for the weekend and everyone is teasing me saying I can't survive without her (which I so can) because she's mothering me.
Wish me luck for the Ibiza party!
A presto...
Tuesday 20 September 2011
606
Dear reader(s)
Nerea taught me a phrase yesterday: "quien madruga Dios le ayuda" which means "the early bird catches the worm" because Nerea and I got up early and did LOADS. We sorted out our new room - and we're still sharing! We're now room 606 and everything works there which is a bonus (lots of plugs didn't work, and the bathroom door didn't close in 1108) to help with the move I geniusly thought of using the trolley.
We then went to the mercato together to look for bikes (which we didn't find) followed by going to the centro for our first italian coffees together :) Later we finally sorted out bikes: there's a guy who lives on the 8th floor who sells, fixes and then re-buys bikes for students in the residenza and so I've put my name on a rainbow bike (such a child).
Last night we all went to Soltero's Salsa Class which was AWESOME. The first lesson is free (then you have to pay €50 per month so we wont be going back) and we learnt the 5 basic steps and then danced in partners; whenever Gianni Soltero shouted CHANGE the girls had to take one step to the left (we were in a big circle) and change to the next boy. It was loads of fun and we wish it was cheaper because we'd all love to go back :(
Today I went to my first lecture, well Nerea's first lecture. I'm signed up to start 3rd October doing lettere e filosofia but I figured there's nothing stopping me from going and it'll be a huge help to listen to Italian. Nerea and I have decided to sit at the front next time because every one talks and we can't hear properly. I'm going to keep going to Nerea's lectures (she studies law) because it's very useful. After this I'm going to draw up a long vocab. list of legal terms and phrases (geek alert).
We have drawn up a list of themes for our latest agreement: every week we are going to have themed costume parties in the residenza should be fun :)
A presto...
Nerea taught me a phrase yesterday: "quien madruga Dios le ayuda" which means "the early bird catches the worm" because Nerea and I got up early and did LOADS. We sorted out our new room - and we're still sharing! We're now room 606 and everything works there which is a bonus (lots of plugs didn't work, and the bathroom door didn't close in 1108) to help with the move I geniusly thought of using the trolley.
We then went to the mercato together to look for bikes (which we didn't find) followed by going to the centro for our first italian coffees together :) Later we finally sorted out bikes: there's a guy who lives on the 8th floor who sells, fixes and then re-buys bikes for students in the residenza and so I've put my name on a rainbow bike (such a child).
Today I went to my first lecture, well Nerea's first lecture. I'm signed up to start 3rd October doing lettere e filosofia but I figured there's nothing stopping me from going and it'll be a huge help to listen to Italian. Nerea and I have decided to sit at the front next time because every one talks and we can't hear properly. I'm going to keep going to Nerea's lectures (she studies law) because it's very useful. After this I'm going to draw up a long vocab. list of legal terms and phrases (geek alert).
We have drawn up a list of themes for our latest agreement: every week we are going to have themed costume parties in the residenza should be fun :)
A presto...
Sunday 18 September 2011
vale! vale! vale!
Dear reader(s)
Last night the plan for mass did not go so well, we got our times wrong and so have decided to try again another day.
Aperitivi went much better: 5€ for a drink (alcoholic or not) and an all you can eat buffet italian style. Visions of american food buffets can be wiped from your mind this instant: there were a few bars covered in hot platters of authentic italian food: chunks of parmasan, pork, salamis, warm and cold pasta salads, rosemary infused potato wedgeds, foccacia breads with different flavors, mini pizzas - real top nosh.
Today the plan for Parma did not happen because of cancelled trains, when the second one was cancelled we decided to get tickets for Bologna instead and spent the day there (our tickets to Parma are valid for the next two months). Bologna was lovely, we found the piazza and went to the cathedral which is much bigger and even more colourful than the duomo in Modena. We walked around all day (tired legs now) and got a pizza together. We carried on walking for a bit longer and went back to the station and caught the next train home, a very sleepy bunch we were too.
Tomorrow the crowds arrive as it's the first official date of arrival, however Nerea and I are going to try and move to our permanent rooms tonight to avoid the madness tomorrow, we also intend to carry on sharing (yay friends for life!)
A presto...
Saturday 17 September 2011
Siesta per la festa!
Dear reader(s)
Last night things really started to fall into place! Nerea and I came back after our trip to the centro and got a shopping trolley (carello) ...
... from the reception of the residenza and went to Lidl for our bits and bobs. It's a good quality cheap supermarket and it's only 2 minutes down the road. When we came back we had our dinner and everyone was there from our corridor, we spent a couple of hours eating and chatting and decided that we would spend saturday together in Modena, and then we all signed up for the esnbologna.eu trip to Parma on Sunday. In the centro we had a good look inside the duomo and then went to the fesitvale della filosofia where we met up with Giorgi again. At about 14:00 we got the bus back to our residenza and had lunch together, again eating and chatting for a long time.
Tonight the plan is that Javi, Blanca and I will go to the centro for a mass at 18:30 and then the rest of the gang (there's 9 of us in total) will have our aperitivi. Can't wait!
A presto...
Friday 16 September 2011
Spanish Italy
Dear reader(s)
Giorgi came and showed me Modena on foot last night with his friend Eugenia. The weather was still boiling hot, but it's not a humid heat so it's not horrible. He told me all about the city and showed me the best parts of it: 'i giardini' his favourite park, 'la bibliotecha' the library that I'd found earlier, and he helped me out with getting my library card (hot off the press) and also the duomo. We went inside and I asked why there was a curtain over the big stain-glass window, the guy who works in the duomo explained that it's to keep the place cool during the day, then he opened the curtain and said it's beautiful if you stand and look from the balcony, which is restricted and he let us up there! It really was beautiful looking at the 'Roses Window' with the late afternoon sun gently coming through it. Another very exciting fact that Giorgi told me is that the duomo has been renovated for several months (over a year) and that NEXT WEEK the cover will be taken down and the beautiful new duomo will be visible! I can't believe my luck!
After our grande giro della città we got a slice of pizza and a fanta before heading to Giorgi and Eugenia's band rehearsal. The band is pretty cool, there's Giorgi - bass, Eugenia - guitar and vocals, Margherita - vocals and Jonny (be goooood as they call him) - drums. They play their own songs and if you had to give it a genre it'd be folk-rock.
Before bed my new (temporary) roommate came in and I love her. She's Spanish too, from Catalogna, called Nerea. We sat up chatting in our pjs for about 2 hours before turning in. Today I have worked out the laundry system and made my lunch - challenging myself with pasta and tomato sauce NOT. I met a few more Spaniards and one Portuguese boy in the kitchen, Victor & Dani, bringing my total friends up to 9: 4 Italians, 5 Spaniards, 1 Portuguese. After a while of letting them speak English to me I asserted myself and told them I refuse to speak anything but Italian.
Today Nerea and I intend to go to the centro to buy bikes, then to the supermarket to buy some food. Tonight there is a philosophy festival and we may go to some of the events there.
A presto...
Giorgi came and showed me Modena on foot last night with his friend Eugenia. The weather was still boiling hot, but it's not a humid heat so it's not horrible. He told me all about the city and showed me the best parts of it: 'i giardini' his favourite park, 'la bibliotecha' the library that I'd found earlier, and he helped me out with getting my library card (hot off the press) and also the duomo. We went inside and I asked why there was a curtain over the big stain-glass window, the guy who works in the duomo explained that it's to keep the place cool during the day, then he opened the curtain and said it's beautiful if you stand and look from the balcony, which is restricted and he let us up there! It really was beautiful looking at the 'Roses Window' with the late afternoon sun gently coming through it. Another very exciting fact that Giorgi told me is that the duomo has been renovated for several months (over a year) and that NEXT WEEK the cover will be taken down and the beautiful new duomo will be visible! I can't believe my luck!
After our grande giro della città we got a slice of pizza and a fanta before heading to Giorgi and Eugenia's band rehearsal. The band is pretty cool, there's Giorgi - bass, Eugenia - guitar and vocals, Margherita - vocals and Jonny (be goooood as they call him) - drums. They play their own songs and if you had to give it a genre it'd be folk-rock.
Before bed my new (temporary) roommate came in and I love her. She's Spanish too, from Catalogna, called Nerea. We sat up chatting in our pjs for about 2 hours before turning in. Today I have worked out the laundry system and made my lunch - challenging myself with pasta and tomato sauce NOT. I met a few more Spaniards and one Portuguese boy in the kitchen, Victor & Dani, bringing my total friends up to 9: 4 Italians, 5 Spaniards, 1 Portuguese. After a while of letting them speak English to me I asserted myself and told them I refuse to speak anything but Italian.
Today Nerea and I intend to go to the centro to buy bikes, then to the supermarket to buy some food. Tonight there is a philosophy festival and we may go to some of the events there.
A presto...
Thursday 15 September 2011
living the dream
Dear reader(s)
I am here and alone in Italy so it's official: I've started my YA!
The weather is HOT. Short shorts and denim skirt are now my best friends, along with airconditioning and ice creams...
Today I said goodbye to my parents quite early and then headed for the University to enroll. I received my student card and also made some friends: Javi and Blanca, two Spanish medical students who are doing their 5th year of medicine in Modena, they spoke mostly English to me and say they both need to learn Italian, and then on discovery that I'm studying French too Bianca and I both spoke perfectly with each other in French. They also gave me some useful tips, such as it's much more 'economico' to buy myself a second hand bike and re-sell it at the end of term than to get the bus every day. I intended to sort out a bike today but will have to do that tomorrow.
After enrolling I decided to find the library (getting more and more hot, walking around in the sunshine carrying my heavy handbag, over-night bag and laptop) and the library is beautiful (if interested here's a link to check it out: http://www.comune.modena.it/biblioteche/delfini/index.htm ) it has full airconditioning and loads of areas to hang out drinking coffee. I then went to a little cafe, found free wifi and got myself a pizza for €1,40. I decided it was time to work out the bus system and head to my room (I was pretty sick of carrying all those heavy things around) and so after a cold shower and a little nap I found the computer room.
Tonight I will be seeing some more of Modena with my good friend who did Erasmus in Durham last year, Giorgi.
A presto!
I am here and alone in Italy so it's official: I've started my YA!
The weather is HOT. Short shorts and denim skirt are now my best friends, along with airconditioning and ice creams...
Today I said goodbye to my parents quite early and then headed for the University to enroll. I received my student card and also made some friends: Javi and Blanca, two Spanish medical students who are doing their 5th year of medicine in Modena, they spoke mostly English to me and say they both need to learn Italian, and then on discovery that I'm studying French too Bianca and I both spoke perfectly with each other in French. They also gave me some useful tips, such as it's much more 'economico' to buy myself a second hand bike and re-sell it at the end of term than to get the bus every day. I intended to sort out a bike today but will have to do that tomorrow.
After enrolling I decided to find the library (getting more and more hot, walking around in the sunshine carrying my heavy handbag, over-night bag and laptop) and the library is beautiful (if interested here's a link to check it out: http://www.comune.modena.it/biblioteche/delfini/index.htm ) it has full airconditioning and loads of areas to hang out drinking coffee. I then went to a little cafe, found free wifi and got myself a pizza for €1,40. I decided it was time to work out the bus system and head to my room (I was pretty sick of carrying all those heavy things around) and so after a cold shower and a little nap I found the computer room.
Tonight I will be seeing some more of Modena with my good friend who did Erasmus in Durham last year, Giorgi.
A presto!
Tuesday 13 September 2011
getting there
Dear reader(s)
Today's the day! A difficult start involving waking up at 05:00 saw us arrive in Gatwick at around 08:00. As I blog I am currently waiting in the lounge for my next flight to Bologna which is not until 14:55, the long wait has involved a lot of window shopping for me (and actual shopping for the rents) and a free hand massage at Jo Malone (YUM). My parents bought me a Baedeker which I have totally geeked out about and am extremely excited to use.
Our flight to Bologna should land at 18:00 local time at which time I will probably have collapsed from the butterflies in my stomach due to all the Italian I will be hearing around me.
That's it for this travel update, catcha!
Today's the day! A difficult start involving waking up at 05:00 saw us arrive in Gatwick at around 08:00. As I blog I am currently waiting in the lounge for my next flight to Bologna which is not until 14:55, the long wait has involved a lot of window shopping for me (and actual shopping for the rents) and a free hand massage at Jo Malone (YUM). My parents bought me a Baedeker which I have totally geeked out about and am extremely excited to use.
Our flight to Bologna should land at 18:00 local time at which time I will probably have collapsed from the butterflies in my stomach due to all the Italian I will be hearing around me.
That's it for this travel update, catcha!
Monday 12 September 2011
The night before...
Dear reader(s),
Welcome to my year abroad blog, I hope it doesn't bore you to tears, and I hope I don't make too many spelling and grammar mistakes.
Year abroad itinerary:
13th September - 19th December 2011: Modena, Italy; Erasmus placement
January - April 2012: Limoges, France; Erasmus placement
So it's the night before the start of my year abroad (here after written as 'YA') and I am packed, checked in, and (hopefully) ready. Feelings of extreme excitement and nervousness are mixing in my stomach and the idea of getting any sleep tonight seems ridiculous. My parents and I head off very early tomorrow morning for Gatwick then at about 3pm we head off to Bologna where we will then go on to Modena (woop!)
Plans for the couple of days I spend with my parents: locate library, post office, cinema, accommodation, and my friends Stella and Giorgi.
Well, that's it for this first post; Roger that Maxi?
Welcome to my year abroad blog, I hope it doesn't bore you to tears, and I hope I don't make too many spelling and grammar mistakes.
Year abroad itinerary:
13th September - 19th December 2011: Modena, Italy; Erasmus placement
January - April 2012: Limoges, France; Erasmus placement
So it's the night before the start of my year abroad (here after written as 'YA') and I am packed, checked in, and (hopefully) ready. Feelings of extreme excitement and nervousness are mixing in my stomach and the idea of getting any sleep tonight seems ridiculous. My parents and I head off very early tomorrow morning for Gatwick then at about 3pm we head off to Bologna where we will then go on to Modena (woop!)
Plans for the couple of days I spend with my parents: locate library, post office, cinema, accommodation, and my friends Stella and Giorgi.
Well, that's it for this first post; Roger that Maxi?
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