Welcome to my European life!!!

Let's see, I've been gone nearly four weeks now, and so I feel that an update is needed. As I sit here in my little apt with my italian tortellini I cannot believe i have been here for so long. I really feel like I am a resident here, not just a student. I know the bus/train/subway systems pretty well, I know how to get to the cemetery and castle and duomo all on my own, I got the supermarkets down pact, and I know where the cheapest place to buy gelato is!! (Good thing for me it's right outside the residence!!) Considering my camera broke the first week that I got here, I have been unable to update my photos until today when I received the new one from my mommy (thanks mom!). So Brittany and I went to the solidier/artist memorial cemetey that is centuries old, and has so much Italian sculpture in it that it is humbling. They have all the famous artists names chisled into the walls in the cathedral at the front (including Versace!!), and tombs of hundreds of families here in Milan, as well as a portion that is dedicated to the fallen soldiers of WW1 and the German internment camps. It is beyond beautiful and breath taking. Going there makes me realize just how blessed I am to be able to be here, experience life here and get the opportunity to partake in this part of the journey of my life. Everyday here something remarkable happens, and my soul is floored and brought to its knees. I never dreamt how amazing Milan would be.

So here's a basic list of all the things I have accomplished within these last 4 weeks, and what has become normal to me:

-There are no water fountains here, only water "drips" (Italians are amazed at U.S. fountains!!)

-I have seen and stood face to face with the original works of Rembrandt, Picasso, Rafeal, and Michelangelo.

-I have stood in a room painted my Leonardo da Vinci.

-I have been to the Sforza Castle 3 times. It's cool, its the thing to do here.

-Espresso (aka "coffee") stops at 10 a.m.

-Last Monday was spent in Switzerland. We went on a class field trip to hang out for the day. (Swiss chocolate is amazing!!!)

-Went to Lake Como (Clooney lives there!!) and went to an Italian silk factory, where they were printing up the fabrics for next season's Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren, Dolce and Gabbana, Salvadore Ferragamo, and Valentino. (I got to feel them all!!)

-I got a new tattoo in Italian. (Which means "where is the/my love?")

-I go to the Duomo on the daily. They have amazing shopping there.

-I have successfully located the Italian version of Barnes and Nobles...yet they have a limited selection of English books...

Is it possible to feel so much all at once?? Is this really my life now?? Sometimes I wake up and I cannot believe it...only two more months left, but so far I have been having the time of my life...Italian wine is amazing!!!..and next month I'm still going to Paris, Florence, Verona, Venice, and Rome...I have more pictures than I am willing to post, but if you care to see them I will gladly share when i get home...Ciao bellas!!!!

Be As You Are

11.10.2008

The past few days have been quite an adventure. Yesterday a few of the girls and myself took a train out to a little town on the coast called Levanto, which apparently is the place where foccocia bread was created. We left Milan at about 9 in the morning and (due to train complications) didn't arrive until nearly 1:30pm. (there were two train changes, that caused the delays. It should've only been a 3 hour ride.) But once we got there, it was beautiful! Not very tourist friendly, but hey, who cares, we were at an italian beach! It was sandy but not what I'm used to back home, a lot of rocks. I found a lot of Italian sea glass.
It was relatively warm too, so I pulled up my jeans and went wading in the water. It was amazing. The waves were tiny, and it was clearer than any beach back home that I have been to. You could see the crabs and tiny creatures walking along the rocks. Then we went and sat at one of the bars and drank Italian margaritas and watched the sun set over the water... but Italians have crap margaritas. And their daquiris aren't even frozen. And their bloody marys weren't that good either. Maybe I'm just too particular to how they are at home, but I think for now I'm just going to stick to the wine here. They have Coronas and Heinicken, but I'm not a beer girl. Yeck.
I am a beach girl at heart. No matter where I live, I have to be able to at least drive out there. i am so glad that all the girls here that are from Cali are the same way. Ambar, she's from SoCal, she's been a swimmer her whole life and adores the water too. I love her so much. She is so great. We could probably sit on the sand for hours and listen to the waves and the water. She's one of the girls that I am making plans to go to Switzerland with, and tattoos too. Jenn is also from SoCal, and she's so cute too. She's been one of the girls that I have bonded with as well, also a beach lover. She's funny! Has her tongue pierced just like me! Kate and I have such a good time with them. 

So far everything is still going great...tomorrow we are going to a real Italian Ren. Faire!!! Yay!!! So more on that tomorrow!!! 

So it's Monday

So today starts the 2ND week here, and things are going okay. We were going to try to make it out to the coast today. but Kate slept in till about noon, so that went out the window. But its good cuz we need to get some domestic things done today. Such as get some nylons and socks, as well as hangers and I need to finish unpacking...as of yet I'm still living out of a suitcase! Kate has already put things on shelves... but her suitcase was overflowing to begin with! And we may pick up some more groceries. and do some laundry.

Tomorrow starts the new quarter. Classes begin. yay! I only have classes three days a week: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Four day weekends!! woo!! I have four classes too: aesthetics, WW2 Europe, Civilization and Culture of Italy, and Special Topics....I have no idea what it's about. They haven't told us that yet. Which is fine...I hope it's about European Art and Fashion. I bought two new books yesterday at the museum, one on fashion illustrations and the other on Eco-chic fashion, since that is what I want to get into, and also cuz it's not easy to find those types of books.

So today is just a get-r-done day. haha!! Maybe we'll have pizza and gelato for dinner....mmmm!!!! I miss everyone back home already, but I am adapting pretty well for my first time out of the country. I really miss my puppies!!!!!! And hallelujah i found an extra pillow in the closet last night so now i have all of 2 pillows!! i may survive after all....<3

ciao bella!!!

Today I did something new

I found this today for Danielle... I had to!!! Love you boo!!! I seen you're Uncle today!!!!

So today was yet another eventful day!! The group went out tonight to the Wasabi Sushi Bar, which was really more like a buffet. You pay a flat rate of 10 Euro for a drink of some kind, and get all the foos you can eat until 9 pm, which is when the real dinner starts. This is me and Kate with the Strawberry Coladas that we got.... amazing! They were beyond good. I had never had sushi before, and after being reprimanded into eating it, it really wasn't so bad. I only had a version of a California roll and some kind of roll with tuna and salmon in it, along with rice and noodles with baby shrimp in it, but overall I'd say it was something that has to be aquired to eat. Jennifer let me have a sip of her saki, which wasn't so bad either. Something else new! I guess it takes going to another country before I'll try something raw and wrapped in seaweed!

So far it's been great! The group that we're with is phenomenal, and everyone here seems to have a very healthy sense of curiosity and wonder. We went to il Duomo today. Only walked around the outside of it, but it was raining. Eleanora, our guide (and after today's Italian lesson she is now known as Professoresa Cassinelli) explained that it would be better to come back on a sunnier day and go to to roof where you can see the nearby mountains. She said you can see all of Milan up there, and it's spectacular. The building itself is one of the most world famous churches, it has nearly 3,600 statues around its exterior. And it is such a grand sight. All the buildings around it are not as big but still very tall and have a romanticism about their designs. The shopping center there has been around since the 1800s.

I love that it rained a bit today. I love the rain. It has such a romantic quality about it. We walked around the city today on a guided historical tour of it for 4 hours. We went to the king's castle today, we only got to look at it but it was said that on Sunday we may get to venture into it!! Exciting!!!

Prof. Cassinelli also said that on December 4 there is an Italian Opera going on discount to students, and we may get a group together to go see that. She also may be able to get us back stage!!!! And Wolfango (another one of our amazing guides) said he'd like to get a group together to go to a football game!!! This is very good news!! I'd love to be able to go to a soccer game while here... there are little stands all around offereing football merchandise, from flags to clothes to masks....just one of the many quirks I love about this city.

There was also an Italian ice cream truck/trolley in the Duomo square today... I loved it! All the many souvenir shops were crazy too... lmao!!

Thank you to everyone who has been commenting while I am gone, I really appreciate it!! I miss everyone, but have to say that so far I am having the time of my life. It is such a blessing that I have gotten the opportunity to be here and experience this. I love that I can share it with everyone. So much is going on, and I want to report on everything, but I know that I am leaving things out. For instance, I just remembered that we had out first Italian lessons today... not as bad as I expected! Hope everyone will keep writing....ciao bella!!!!

First Photos

This is me this morning at the little cafe. I love this city and this country so far!! And my new cape!!!








One of the fine streets here in Milan.

































The street view from the cafe.



































Kate's first Italian latte!

































Our guide Eleanora and Omar at dinner last night.
























Some bikes outside our doors... these are common.





















The underground in Milan...aka BART.
























































Some of the great tagging here... legalize marijuana!!























































This is the living area in our apartment.
























































This I love. Endless love.

























































This is the door to our residence.





























































































Dinner time!!!









































































































We are in room 112.





































































































































































These are our Italian guides. I love them!
























































































































Mmm...appetizers!!!

























































































































White wine in Italy...woo!

Me and Kate at our first Italian dinner

First Appetizers...white wine and bruschetta

Everything here has balconies!!!

This is the view from outside our door... at our residence

The Canal next to our place at night...

First Days In Milan

okay okay okay.... so I am finally here!!! I have been in Milan, Italy for two days now...yesterday was full of jet lag, considering the time change is 9 hours ahead, I was very tired by the time we had landed, gotten to our residence in Milan (which was a 2 hour drive from the airport) and had taken a nap showered and gone to dinner. We were only supposed to sleep for about a half hour in order to make it to lunch with the group, but seeing as I set the alarm but forgot to turn it on, my room mate Kate and I slept right through lunch!! But we made it up in time for dinner, which seemed to last forever anyways.

It was all we could do to stay awake longer, but dinner itself lasted 4 hours. First there was the appetizer is the garden, with white wine, and then the second appetizer in the ristorante, which consisted of buttery/cheesey/white winey rice with pasta and these AMAZING mushrooms that I had never had before, and then dinner... which was steak slices with potatoes in butter and balsamic vinaigrette, followed by this desert that seemed like an edible sponge filled with cafe, topped with this incredible whipped topping and chocolate bits... all accompanied with water and red wine. Yummy!
This morning was even better because Kate and I got to a real Italian Cafe called "The Little Bar" which is right around the corner from where we are staying. It was very cute, and even though the barista didn't speak much English, she still understood us. Apparently here breakfast is not a big thing... Italians have large lunches and dinners, and only coffee and croissants for breakfast. I ordered a "cafe machiatto" which I thought might be like the machiatto that you can get at Starbucks back home (oh and btw, Italy I learned is the only country that do not allow Starbucks in it....that is how serious they take their coffee...there is a whole page devoted just to coffee in our guide book) but really it was a tiny teacup with a splash of milk. Cafe = espresso shot and the machiatto part is just a splash of milk. That is all I had till about one, when six of the people in our group went to an outdoor ristorante and had pizza... (btw, here "pepperoni" is not sausage...it's red bell peppers). The pizzas served here are like smalls back home, enough to fill two people, and all drinks are served in glasses. So far all the food has been amazing!
There are vintage and specialty shops all around us, with a few that I'm looking forward to going to right across the street. One has fairies and a wishing tree in it! There is also a fabric store close by, and Il Duomo is only 20 min walk! The lamest thing I have seen so far is the McDonald's, but I guess you can't leave everything behind....
We learned how to use the buses and the ATM (bart via Milan) today, which is exactly like the Muni and Bart system in SF. Not so bad. We learned where the supermarkets and the laundry places are, as well as the piercing and tattoo shops ( you can bet I plan to hit those up!) There are a few canals around as well, which are unfortunately being drained right now for cleaning. All the buildings have balconies and window shutters, and an amazing array of graffiti... every building here is tagged. The people here are great, always saying "grazie" (thank you) and "prego" (you're welcome). I love it. There is nothing like it.
In two more hours we go to school and then to dinner at a sushi bar... ew. but I guess I can at least try the fish....!!!

ciao bella!!!

did I mention that all the men here are beautiful??? <3<3<3