Milano is now my city. All it took was a LOT of walking, looking at maps, and riding the metro. I met a group of kids on Saturday morning in the Duomo square (in the center of the city) and we proceded to ride the subway around Milan to different produce markets. The markets are held a couple days a week, and this is definitely where to buy fruits and vegetables. You can buy 1 kilo of clementines for 1.5 euro, etc!

We spent the afternoon shopping in the fashion district, although I didn't buy anything in the designer stores. The saldi, or big sale, is happening right now in Italy, and everything is 50-75% off. I bought a burgandy velvet blazer at Zara for a good price: it definitely helps me look Italian.

That evening we threw a dinner party at Mike's apartment. There were 9 of us there, and we went all out. It actually is way cheaper to go grocery shopping for dinner party food than to eat out.

By the end of Saturday, we rode all three metro lines (red, yellow, and green). I had probably walked in between 6 and 8 miles all around Milan...I was truly exhausted by the end the night. My apartment is on the green line at the Garibaldi stop, and the IES center is also on the green line four stops down, so it doesn't take me too long to get to school in the mornings. There is a bit of a walk before I get on, so it's about a 20 minute commute total.

Charlie and I finally went grocery shopping yesterday and got food for the apartment. We had been eating out every meal before that, and it was getting to be very expensive. Last night we stayed home and made pasta and drank wine with Giuseppe, our roommate. It was comfy. I got to test out some of the phrases I learned yesterday morning during my first day of Italian, like Quanti anni hai? and Di dove sei? on him. I will definitely benefit from living with an Italian.

The "intensive" Italian class is alright so far after two days. It is three hours per day (9 - noon). My teacher is Professora Messina and she wears olive green leather pants. I like her. However, the class is moving kind of slowly...it's definitely a different atmosphere than Macalester. That will definitely take some getting used to.

Right now I must be off to my voice audition where I will meet my voice teacher, Patrizia Zanardi. From what I hear, she is "in demand" as a Milanese soprano. More to follow on this subject.