Weekend in Aosta!

Oh goodness...so much to catch up on...

Last week, Maggie and I bought tickets to go to Sweden. We are going in October and I am so excited! We found cheapish airplane tickets and now all we have to do is book a hostel. I was looking at 4 person hostel rooms, but now Maggie is trying to convince me to have us stay in the 12 person rooms...oh my gosh. I don't really know how I feel about this. Ok, that's a lie. I do know how I feel about this, but I have to weigh the benefit of not paying a lot for a hostel...with...my sanity??? Haha. Everything will work out though!

This past weekend, my study abroad program sponsored a trip to Aosta, a little town near the Alps. We had Friday off of classes so we left on Friday morning and it was a 2 hour bus ride to Aosta. Once we got there, they took us to the strangest museum about the Alps. It was the weirdest experience that I can't even describe. It just had so many weird exhibits and I couldn't even understand half of what the tour guide was saying, just because she was speaking so softly.

For lunch, they took us to eat a "typical meal" of Aosta at a restaurant. Unfortunately for me, this "typical meal" was deer and polenta. So instead of deer, they gave me a sample of their regional cheeses. One of them was really good, but the other smelled (and tasted) sooooooooooo bad, so I didn't eat it. For the first course they gave us some really good pasta. The second course was the deer/cheese and polenta specialty dish. For dessert they gave us this really delicious vanilla gelato with cut up fruit. And then they gave us coffee (well espresso...but they call that coffee here). Overall it was a pretty good meal although VERY overpriced. Especially since I didn't eat any of the deer...

After lunch we were able to settle into our hotel and wander around the town. I noticed when we were walking around that everyone had either a baby or a dog. A very interesting observation. Unfortunately for us, it was raining that afternoon so it wasn't all the fun trudging through the puddles. That evening, at the hotel, they provided us with a 3 course meal, which was also very good. We had a cheese risotto, a veggie omelet (which was nice since I hadn't had eggs since I have been here!), and creme caramel. I felt soooo full after that very rich day of eating.

The shower in the hotel was ridiculous. Actually it wasn't a shower because it didn't have a shower curtain, but I wasn't about to take a bath in that thing. So instead I had to hold the shower head while standing up, but the shower head was leaking all over the place so I ended up flooding the entire bathroom and the hallway in our room. Haha. Oh well.

On Saturday, we got a tour of the town of Aosta. There was this really interesting outdoor theatre that we got to visit, along with a lot of other historical buildings. It was a sort of interesting tour, but again lasted way to long and it was kind of cold, so some of my friends and I peaced around lunch time. We went to this really good falafel restaurant! It was strange, though, because they put the regular things in the pita with the falafel like tomato, lettuce, and yogurt sauce, but then they also had french fries. Granted, their french fries are far superior here than in the US so I guess they feel like they should add them to everything.

For dinner, the hotel provided us with a 3 course meal again! I didn't like it as much as the night before, but it was still pretty good. After dinner we went to a concert. I don't remember the name of the group, but they seemed popular and everyone seemed to know their songs...even though the concert was free. Maybe they were doing covers of songs. Who knows?

French/Italian Border on the top of Mont Blanc

On Sunday, they took us into the Alps. Unfortunately, I came unprepared and only had my ballet flats with me and didn't bring my heavy coat...so I just bundled up with all I had and prayed that my feet wouldn't fall off. We had to take three gondolas (no, not the boat, but a little glass box suspended on a wire) up to the top of Mont Blanc. It was really awesome because we were above the clouds and there was snow everywhere! I was so cold. But I did get to see the border between France and Italy, which was excellent! But between my low blood pressure and the thin mountain air, I almost passed out...so I went inside, sat down, and had a hot chocolate. Oh, a word about the hot chocolate: it is actually hot chocolate, not this watered-down crap that you get in the US, but like liquid pudding. Excellent. We had the option of hiking down the last leg of the descent from the mountain, but I decided against that considering my shoe choice, the cold, and the fact that I had just almost passed out. Once everyone got down from the mountain, we stopped for lunch and at this random castle and then returned to Milan. Overall, an excellent weekend!

Yesterday (Monday), we started our first day of classes! Although, I didn't really have anything new because I had already been taking the two classes I had yesterday (Italian and Music Performance Workshop) and the third class I was supposed to have (History of Italian Opera) was canceled this week. But speaking of Italian opera, my study abroad program bought some tickets for La Scala for us so I am going to go see L'elisir d'Amore at La Scala!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today (Tuesday), I had my first new class, which is an Italian Culture and Cuisine class. This class was so interesting! We will be learning about regional dishes around Italy and then we will be attending an Italian cooking school and will learn how to make some of these dishes! I am so excited!

This evening we went to a lecture on the different dialects of Italy. It was very interesting hearing how they evolved into what the language is today. After, they provided us with aperitivo. Then, after my metro ride, some woman comes up to me and asks me if I speak Italian. I say yes (ehhh...sort of a stretch...) and she noticed that I was talking on the phone in English and goes on to ask me if I will meet with her to help her learn English. She is taking an English course, but she is realizing that to really learn the language, you must speak with a native English speaker. So she is offering to pay me 15 euro per hour to talk with her in English. Not a bad gig...

Monday: Too Much Italian

Today during class, we had a field trip. First, our teacher took us to a cafe across from La Scala and treated us to breakfast. After, we visited the house and church of a famous Italian author. Then we had a tour/lecture of the Palazzo Marino. But our tour guide was talking so fast in Italian that I hardly understood what was being said...and this lasted for at least 2 hours. My mind was about ready to explode. And he kept picking me out of the group and asking me questions about the Italian legal system and I was like...um...not so much. And I had to do a lot of research this evening about what we were actually supposed to learn during the tour because it was so darn confusing at the time. I don't understand warp speed Italian yet. Haha.

I had my second voice lesson today, which went pretty well. Patrizia told me that I have a lot of bad habits that I need to get rid of...but I am working on it. And as I am leaving my lesson, Patrizia stops me and asks if I can stay for the next lesson and play piano for her next student because the pianist who usually comes to our lessons wasn't there. So I said that I could look at the music and try to play through it. So I had about 20 minutes to look over the music and then I find out that the student is having to record this aria for I guess an audition or something, I have no idea. But I was slightly horrified because I was like...well I have 20 minutes to prepare this aria for a recording that might be of some importance. But I ended up not butchering it too badly...hopefully it was good enough to send in to whomever she was sending it to. And I ended up missing all of one of my classes instead of half of it. So I went to apologize to the professor and I think he just found it funny that I was so apologetic and worried about missing class...

And the best part of the day: my 2 hour nap from 6-8 this evening! Haha. So good.

Monday - Sunday: Week 3

So I am very behind on updating my blog...but I will do my best to remember everything that has happened this week. I have been so busy!

Monday: I had my first voice lesson on Monday. There is one voice teacher for the study abroad program and her name is Patrizia. She is this fabulous Italian soprano and she is HARD CORE. I had an excellent lesson though. It was so helpful. We talked (half in English, half in Italian) a lot about technique and she is VERY picky about everything, which is what I really needed. The best thing she kept saying during my lesson was "meglio," which means "better." But that was it. Haha. She assigned me this epically long aria from La Sonnambula by Bellini. At first I didn't like it very much, but as I have been listening to it and singing it more and more, I have grown to appreciate it. It sits pretty well in my voice too. So she picked well!

Tuesday: On Tuesday afternoon, we had our course presentations where all the professors came and talked about each of their classes in preparation of us signing up for classes during the following days. There were so many classes that sounded really interesting. Unfortunately we are only allowed to take 15-18 credit hours. But knowing how I work, I will probably be taking at least 18 credits. After the presentation, they had a small reception for the students and professors in which we were able to talk one on one with professors if we wanted to get any more information out of them.

Wednesday: On Wednesday, my Italian class went to the Museum of Modern art. It was really fun seeing these beautiful paintings. I think there are also concerts at this museum because there was this huge grand piano and chairs set up. So I will have to do some research to see whats going on there!

I also had my required doctor's appointment at Collegio. Each student living in Collegio has to have and appointment with the resident doctor in order to work out in the gym in the basement. This was an interesting experience because the doctor barely spoke any English. And I mean, I can hold a decent conversation with the average Italian person if they are willing to speak slowly and occasionally repeat themselves, but as far as medical terms go...I am not well versed. So there was a lot of writing and gesturing, but it all worked out in the end. And now I can work out in the gym, which I need to start doing if I am going to continue to eat pasta for every meal!

After my doctor's appointment, I went to buy tickets for Oktoberfest! They have this special deal where they will bus students to Germany for Oktoberfest and bring them back that day for only 34 euros, which is an AMAZING deal. And it should be a really interesting experience so I am super excited.

After buying my ticket, I rushed over to the study abroad center for my advising appointment. As suspected, I am attempting to take an record breaking (for the study abroad program) 24 credit hours. Oops. But the first 18 credits are completely necessary between my major and my minor. Its the last 6 that aren't completely necessary, so I have to decide between taking piano lessons and choir. So this should be an interesting decision. I mean, I could take 24 credits, but 1. I don't want to die, and 2. I want to have time to do a lot of traveling so I don't want to be overwhelmed with all the work and practice I have to do (especially with the piano lessons). So we will see how this works out.

Thursday: So every Friday, we have a test in Italian. This week we were studying propositions, which for some reason are particularly impossible for me. Although in general I am very good at grammar in foreign languages, this element of grammar proves very difficult for me, unfortunately. So on Thursday night, I spent hours studying these silly prepositions. Some very nice Italian guy from Collegio sat with me and went through every one of my examples with me and tried to explain the reasoning why I should chose one over another. By the end of my studies that evening, my brain was about to explode because it makes absolutely no sense to me. Oh well. I guess all that I can do is practice using them in conversation and hope these silly prepositions start coming naturally to me.

Friday: So I was hoping that all my preposition practice would have prepared me for the test, but alas, I was completely lost on the majority of them. But I guess we will see when I get my test back. After the test we started watching this adorable Italian movie called "My Name is Tonino," which is about this Italian boy who falls in love with an American girl who is on an exchange program in Italy. Haha. It was very cute though and I really want to see the rest of it.

On Friday night, some of the people from Collegio decided to go out to the discoteca. We went to a place called Lime Light, and it was so intense. This place was packed, but it was a lot of fun!

Yum! Gelato!

Saturday: On Saturday, I had planned to go to Fidenza to visit some friends with my friend, Maggie, but we couldn't find each other at the train station so we missed our train. Oops. So instead we wandered around Milan, had a nice lunch, went shopping, and had some excellent gelato. Then it started pouring, so maybe it was better that we didn't go to Fidenza because we wouldn't have been able to walk around very much.

That evening we were celebrating the birthday of one of the girls at Collegio. And we were planning on going to a club afterwords but it was still pouring buckets outside so I think most of us decided to stay in.

Sunday: Today I stayed in Collegio and did my work all day. I was pretty tired from last night, so it was nice to be able to relax and not have to do anything requiring a lot of energy. Tomorrow, for Italian, we are supposed to meet in Piazza della Scala. I am not really sure why, but our professor is treating us to breakfast so I am there! I am not sure quite how to get there though because I just got a text from the director of the study abroad program telling us that the yellow line was closed, which is the only way I know how to get there. So this should be interesting...

Friday - Sunday: The Weekend

I couldn't think of a more creative title. Forgive me. I had planned on maybe going to Venice this weekend, but things didn't work out so I stayed at the Collegio instead. On Friday after class, I had a lot of interesting "Italian Interactions" because I wandered around in search of an agenda book. I cannot live without an agenda book so I do not know how I have survived these past two weeks without one. So I go to the copy place near my study abroad center to buy some notebooks. I asked the cashier if he had any agenda books books and he didn't, but he drew me out some directions to a place where they they might have them. So I attempted to follow his directions, but as I do, I got lost and was just wandering around going into promising stores desperately trying to find an agenda book. One of the stores I went into, I asked the man and he looked at me like a crazy person like, "why in the heck would you want to buy an agenda book this time a year?" was the basic gist I got. So I ended up giving up and just settling on a little pink notebook to record my commitments in. But, I was not defeated because I got to talk with a lot of people in Italian! Hooray!

On Friday and Saturday evenings, I went out with some people from Collegio. And one night, I tried to wear one of my new blouses I bought and concluded that it looked like I was wearing an extra-large T-shirt over leggings. I looked ridiculous. Fail. I concluded that this Italian style does not work for me at all. Alas.

Today (Sunday), I am just finishing up my homework and hanging around. I was able to practice an hour for piano and an hour for voice in preparation for my lesson tomorrow. So I feel pretty well prepared. I am excited to work with this new teacher! I have also been talking to my friends, Jenny and Amanda, who are studying abroad in Avignon. We are trying to make plans to visit each other! I am so excited to see them! Also, some of my other friends who are studying in Vienna are visiting Italy this week, so hopefully we will be able to see each other!

Thursday: Vogue Fashion Night Out!

On Wednesday night, we had torrential rain so we didn't end up going out. Katie and I sat in the common room and tried to find an Italian movie to watch while were were doing our homework. A few of the Collegio students came to join us and we chatted for a long time! We talked about the differences between the regions in the United States and they proceeded to make fun of my accent saying that I sounded like an old Jewish mother from New York. Haha. It was a lot of fun getting to know them though!

Me, Lydia, Stefania, and Katie on Vogue Fashion Night

Thursday night was "Vogue Fashion Night Out" where all the designer stores and the center of the city are open and they give out free snacks and drinks. So a few of us from Collegio wandered around the stores for a while. Unfortunately, in all my wisdom, I decided that it would be a good idea to wear high heels. Mistake. I could barely walk by the end of the evening, we had done so much walking.

After walking around, some of us were tired and wanted to return to the Collegio so we took the bus back. We stopped at this little panini place nearby to get a little bit of food because we were all really hungry. And the old man working at the panini place made fun of me and Katie because we are Americans and he expected us to order hamburgers instead of paninis. Oh goodness.

Monday-Wednesday: First days of Music!

Every morning, we have intensive Italian starting at 9 am. Before class, I usually have breakfast at the Collegio. Breakfast usually consists of un brioche (a croissant), a cappuccino, and maybe some yogurt or fruit. Their breakfasts are very light...nothing like the heavy American breakfasts of pancakes, eggs, and bagels. But it keeps me energized until lunch!

After Italian on Monday, I had an interview to get into the Performance Workshop for the music students and my audition for my voice teacher. I sang "Quel guardo il cavaliere...so anch'io la virtu magica" from Donizetti's Don Pasquale. After hearing me sing she said "You-a have-a a very healthy-a voice." Not quite the feedback I am used to (haha), but she did give me a little bit of a coaching on my aria. She seems like she will be a very excellent, tough teacher and I am really excited to work with her. As I was leaving my audition, the accompanist runs out of the room and calls my name. She explains that she will be my piano teacher this semester. Her English is not very good, so this should be interesting...but she seems very nice. I started blabbing about how I would prefer to to collaborative piano rather than solo piano, until she stops me and says "I-a am-a sorry, but-a my English is-a not so good." So I attempted to explain to her (in my not-so-good Italian) what the term "collaborative pianist" meant. She told me the word for it in Italian, which I can't remember anymore. So she should be very fun to work with too!

On Tuesday, we had our first Performance Workshop class, which was a very interesting class. For the first hour we talked about the aria "O mio babbino caro,"  its context, meaning, and interpretations on how it should be performed. Apparently no one was familiar with the opera, so I was the expert on it because we had done it this summer at my summer program. We listened to several different versions of the aria and talked about staging and interpretation. For the second hour we talked about Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique), which was very beautiful. We analyzed the score and talked about the meaning of the different musical markings and why the composer chose to do certain things. I am very excited for this class. It seems very interesting and we will get to perform some too!

After class, I got on the metro and got of at a random stop to go find a hairdryer. I walked around down the street of this little neighborhood and didn't see anything that promised a "fon" (hairdryer in Italian...I learned that in class!). Just when I was about to give up, I saw a store that looked like it sold electronics so I went in and asked for a hairdryer. The woman working found two, one was 25 euro and one was 65. And considering I am only going to use it for a semester, I got the 25. The woman was very happy to help me and the entire interaction was in Italian! Yay! Success! When I was walking back to the metro station, I had another successful interaction with some strange man on the street who asked me for a light for his cigarette (in Italian) and I said no. Success #2!

That evening we talked to one of the other residents at Collegio, named Stefania. Katie (the other girl who lives at Collegio from my study abroad program) and I were asking her why Italian people tended to stare at us and we told her that in America, you would get very uncomfortable if people stared at you. She answered that they stared at us because we were beautiful (how nice) and that they probably thought that Katie was American. Apparently I look more Italian than she, although she is half Italian and I am not Italian at all. Haha. Oh well.

Today (Wednesday), after class, I had to go to the post office and get a 'Permit to Stay' in Italy. It only took a few minutes and was pretty painless (except for the 30 euro I had to give them!). After getting my permit, I returned to Collegio to eat lunch and then Katie and I went to the grocery store to buy some things we needed. Tonight, our friend's boyfriend is visiting and they are taking him around the city at night, so I might join them!

Saturday/Sunday: Lago Como

Overlooking Lago Como

On Saturday, we paid something ridiculously cheap (like 3:60 euro or something like that) to take a train to Lago Como. It is only about an hour away from Milan and it as a beautiful lake next to a mountain...surrounded by a lot of shopping. Once we got to the lake, we stopped for a lovely lunch overlooking the lake. I had a Caprese salad, which was absolutely delicious, as usual!

After lunch, we took a tram up the mountain. Once we got up, we took a lot of pictures, and continued to go up further on the mountain by foot, which was interesting considering none of us had proper footwear to be hiking up this epic mountain. But we did anyway...

A beautiful house on the mountain!

There were a ton of beautiful houses up on this mountain and you could see over all of Milan. I wonder how the people who live up on the mountain get up and down. I saw some cars, but that would be quite the trek. But it really was a beautiful area so it might have been worth it. After we came down from the lake, we went shopping around the town. I got a gelato AND a cappuccino...so indulgent. But I figured I had earned it after climbing up a mountain...

That afternoon, we took the train and wandered back to Milan for a light dinner. We stopped at the Duomo in a big center that had a lot of little fast food restaurants. Where we went was very different from those fast food restaurants of the US. Instead of hamburgers and french fries, you can get paninis and cappuccinos! I got a caprese panini...that's 2 elements of caprese in one day! It's so good though...

On Sunday, my friend and I decided that we had had enough with all the staring at our American wardrobes...so we decided to go shopping! We went to the Duomo, which is surrounded by really high-end shopping and we walked around for a little while. There is this ENORMOUS department store near the Duomo called La Rinascente, which I think means 'rebirth.' I think it has something like 6 or 7 floors and has everything designer that you can imagine buying (except a hairdryer...something that I really needed!). In total, I bought some excellent pink towels, a sweater, a button up shirt, a blouse, and some boots (the Italians are really into boots). After returning to Collegio, I did my homework and practiced for my audition for the music program the next day!