settle down and grab a coffee...

I’ve decided to count procrastination and forgetfulness as two virtues in my character because everyone gets a chance to practice patience and tolerance when it comes to this blog☺ So here goes, good luck making it to the bottom! My advice is to read it in small increments…seriously.
February first, it’s a long trek back, but bear with me. I spent the first half of the month getting to know Rory and trying to figure out which classes I would have a decent chance of surviving in. Towards the end of the month I realized of course that I was running out of time to get to Turin. I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to see the city in all its Olympic glory so I caught a train with Isaac and Nicole and we met up with a friend of hers who lives in Turin. He put us up for the night and showed us all around the city. We were really lucky because it just so happened that he was volunteering for the event and had a pass to go just about anywhere. So we got a chance to see the Olympic village, the ceremony stage, and, of course, the flame. It was cool to see all the Olympic excitement…athletes and people from all over the globe walking around. Every country has there own “house” for tourists and socializing scattered around the city and we tried to go to the Russian one cause we heard it was the coolest and full of “beautiful people living the high life” (so said the papers!) but they didn’t let us in…go figure (maybe it was the rain-dampened clothes and backpacks)☺ So we walked over and hung out with the Germans instead☺ Brats, beer and a band. It was a fun trip.
Straight on to March…
Classes started, or at least two of them did, so I was forced to get back into that structured school-run lifestyle…or something close to it. I bought my books for History of the Italian Language (it puts me to sleep most of the time but the Prof. has set up a special exam for foreign students so I’m doing my best to survive) and Contemporary Italian Lit. That class is ok, the Prof. is a bit dry and long-winded, but the books are better than I expected. It takes me a long time to read them but it’s been pretty rewarding to get to the end of a book…that sounds funny but it gets frustrating when 5pages can take an hour to read.
I put classes on hold though for the third week of March and went to Ireland! Amazing… it was an awesome trip. Rory, Isaac, Nicole and I flew into Dublin and, from moment one, it was an eventful week. Our greatest idea was to rent a car; brilliant idea! We realized only just before we left (those of us not from Ireland, anyway) that not only would the car be a manual but, the wheel would be on the opposite side and we’d be driving on the “wrong” side of the road. Small detail that had gotten lost amid the excitement. And since I’d reserved the car online (and since Rory doesn’t officially have his license) I had the “opportunity” to drive first☺ Luckily, no one actually in the car knew about my driving history or my lack of sense of direction but those would have been the least of our problems as we encountered a monsoon (or at least it seemed like one!) trying to leave Dublin, I made an average of 4 circles in each roundabout, we blew a tire on a random country road, and we had to fight our instincts to just drive the car over to the other side of the road. ☺Good fun. Eventually we made it to the west coast where Rory’s uncle was waiting for us. He was a great tour guide for the next couple of days: driving us to see huge cliffs along the Atlantic, old churches and abbeys in the countryside, giving us wood to build a huge fire on the beach, and treating us to Guinness’ along the way. And he took us to the peat museum…he was doing so well up that point, huh? ☺ He took the boys fishing one day but, instead of braving (or suffering) the cold, Nicole and I decided to drive a town further to find test the famous seaweed baths. I can, with no hesitation, say that they were amazing! They put you in a room with a big wooden box on one side and a huge porcelain tub on the other full of hot seawater and seaweed. The box was a mini one-person steam room so we were told to steam for 10-20 minutes and then soak in the seaweed and back and forth and so on. Sigh…it was wonderful. And the better choice since the fishing wasn’t very rewarding. Then next day we tried to drive back into Dublin and, after a detour or two (meaning a turn from scenic country roads to extremely scenic and almost-dirt roads) and after a stop for fish and chips, we found our hotel i.e. our castle. And the next day was St. Paddy’s! We went into town, watched the parade, and found someone to paint shamrocks on our faces☺ Then it was off to the Guinness brewery with Rory’s brothers. There was a big promotion that day so they were giving away oysters and with a bit of beer and this seemed to be the best part for all the boys…I’m not sure there were any oysters left after we left…yuck. ☺ And that night we went downtown to hang out in some of the pubs. It was a gorgeous country and Dublin was a beautiful city; we didn’t have enough time to explore the whole thing though…a trip back is in mind. The next morning, after finally getting used to the car, we returned it and hopped on a plane home.
Bologna: Spring has finally arrived and this country is truly two different places depending on the season. When the sun comes out so do all the people that were hiding during the winter; the population seems as though it’s doubled on sunny days and everyone strolls around in their best about an hour or two before dinner. It’s funny to see, but also kinda fun to do…they’re all out solely for the purpose of strolling. But, with the sun out, everyone’s waiting now for the temperature to heat up a little more so we can all flock to the beaches. I can’t wait!
Lately: Mom flew in to see me on her way out of Europe and it was absolutely awesome to see her, bittersweet because it made me miss home more, but great all the same. We went east to the beach one day (not to swim) and there was a huge kite festival so Rory and I joined the ranks of 5-12yr olds and made kites. We mostly spent the day wandering on the beach and recovering from our meal. We accidentally ordered a massive amount of seafood at local restaurant but we were lucky in that all 6 courses were amazing! Back in Bologna, Mom braved the walk to San Luca for a picnic (a chapel on top of a hill outside the city walls that is reached by walking through a seemingly endless stretch of porticoes)…it’s a bit strenuous but worth it for the poor victims I convince to come with me☺ All the in-between time was spent talking, shopping, and talking. And eating well. And she met Rory of course...that was fun☺
Easter: I didn’t want to stay around Bologna because a) the city is deserted during holidays like these and b) I wanted some fresh non-city air. So last minute Rory and I checked some train times and hotels and the next day took off for Lago di Garda. It’s the biggest lake in Italy, I think, and absolutely gorgeous. We took a ferry from the southern most point to the very northern tip of the lake where the walls of the alps run straight into the water. It’s a breathtaking ride. Riva was the name of the little town we stayed in and it was the perfect place to get away. The first day there we decided to do some hiking so we biked into town, grabbed some supplies (sandwiches and water) and asked the locals where to start to climb to the top. Key point to remember here: we really wanted to get to the top. It turns out though that Rory and I aren’t the most professional hikers or even the most observant hikers. We set out and 4.5 hrs later barely made it to the peak. We didn’t have any maps (just a picture we’d taken of a map from down below on my camera) and had accidentally taken what we later found out was a route used seldom used by the average hiker…the mountain side was almost straight up forcing the path to cut back and forth, there were cables along the way and even a ladder to help you scale the steepest parts. We started realizing that maybe we’d taken an unusual route when, towards the top, we started running into lots of Germans with ropes, huge backpacks, climbing shoes, and winter gear and when they started looking at us strangely…Rory being in shorts, me with no backpack, and two big sticks to help us climb. We made it to the top with little feeling left in our legs (to the astonishment of all the Germans), paused for a moment of pride and then headed back down the mountain on a more average-hiker-friendly path in the rain. So we beat the mountain and we’re one with nature for the day. The next few days we biked around, wandered through town, recuperated (or I did at least) from the hike, rented a rowboat, and relaxed on the pier.
Summer: I’m planning on flying home mid-July so that I have time to take all my exams (yes they go that late! Crazy!) and so that I can fit in some extra traveling time. Time is passing pretty quickly over here and I’m not sure whether that’s for the better or for the worse. Bologna has become my home this year, it was a strange moment when I realized that, and there are so many reasons that will make having to leave a sad occasion (little things like getting fresh pasta and food in the market, saying salute instead of bless you and, of course, the people I’ve met here). However, on the other hand, every time I see someone from home or talk to them or even take the football out, I’m reminded of things from home that I’m going to be happy to get back to. So I can’t decide if I’ve had enough time. It wasn’t until January maybe that I actually felt like I was living in Bologna, that I wasn’t just a tourist or on a long vacation. My daily habits and my attitudes have been “Italianized” a bit and I feel like I’ve made a home here. I miss the states though and am looking forward to getting back.
That’s all for now…congrats if you’ve made it to the bottom☺