So this last week I did something that I promised myself I wouldn't. I'm a little embarrassed to admit it:

I read The Da Vinci Code.

I KNOW it's crap lit and the writing was unbearable at times, but that didn't stop me from reading it in two days. Oh, Dan Brown.

In other news, I went to see Le nozze di Figaro at La Scala on Valentine's Day with Charlie. We got rush tickets for 10 euro, and I bought the incredible program (it's a huge book with color photos, etc) for 15 euro. Granted, our seats were ridiculously bad (standing, we had to lean over a row of people to see half of the stage), but the opera was amazing. I still can't believe that I saw The Marriage of Figaro at La Scala. We are going to try to go back on Saturday night and get slightly better seats. OK, that's enough of that.

By the way, applause in Italy (maybe in all of Europe?) is an artform. For example, at the end of each of the four acts, the audience applauded until the cast came out from behind the curtain. Then, for curtain call at the end of the opera, the applause lasted for a full 12 minutes. Crazy.

It's been raining here for the last week. Let me tell you, trying to pass Italians on the sidewalk is a feat of its own, but when each of them is carrying a giant Fendi umbrella, it's extra fun. You either just have to ford through or buckle down and walk behind them at the pace of an 95-year-old American woman with a walker.

We don't have class on Wednesday through Friday this week, so I am going to Florence. I am staying at Virginia's apartment, a friend from Mac, so that will be fun. I think some other IES kids are going down, so we will be meeting up with them too. I hear that Florence is incredibly touristy and everyone speaks English, but it's definitely a must-see place.

Then on Sunday, I am going to Venice with Charlie and others for Carnevale. I am really excited for that...we have been looking at masks and costumes, but Giuseppe told us we should just wait until we get there to buy anything. More to come after that...

I'm throwing in some pics of the apartment as requested by my mother. This is part of our hallway. The doors at the end lead into a decently-sized living room equipped with a piano, sofas, and a partially-functioning TV.

Our long bathroom.

Where we get our eat on.

How often do you see a stove and a washing machine next to each other in America?

Charlie's and my bedroom. This is Charlie's half.

Note my bed and fashionable Italian comforter on the right. Looking out that window, you see busy Via Borisieri five floors down.

Sadly, I didn't see Katie Couric or the Today Show when they were broadcasting from Milan. I actually didn't know it was happening until it was too late. But if you saw it, I walk through that area (near the Duomo) practically everyday.

Classes are going well. Most of them are fieldtrip intensive, so a lot of times we will have a lecture for one day a week and go see something (an exhibit, play, etc.) the other day. It's nice to have all of the classes going now instead of just Italian, but I hope that my Italian keeps progressing the way it was in the intensive period.

One thing that really ticks me off about Italy is the fact that whenever you try to buy something, the clerk always asks you if you have other money that is closer to the exact amount. Example: I was in the grocery store the other day just buying milk and bread. Of course, I only had a 10 on me, so when I went through the line and the total was 3.75 I was in big trouble. The lady asked me if I had smaller money, and when I told her "No, ho solo un dieci", it was almost like she wasn't going to sell it to me. Finally, she caved in and made change for me. It drives me crazy.

On Thursday night, we went to the Verdi symphony at the Auditorium di Milano. They played a Schumann piano concerto and a Prokofiev symphony. The pianist for the Schumann was probably my age and was inhumanly good. Once again, it was an amazing experience.

Hanging around Milan this weekend was really fun. After class on Friday afternoon, I went exploring around the city with two other IES kids, Alex and Rachel. We went to this church where the sanctuary is made out our human skulls and bones. It was awesome/creepy. The rest of the weekend was basically aperitivos and clubs...good times.

The arena from the outside.

 

This is at the top of the Arena in Verona two weekends ago.

For as unorganized as the Italians are, they sure do know how to plan a strike. Basically every form of public transportation is having issues at the moment, so they plan strikes weeks in advance and only have them for a few hours at a time. For example, this morning ATM, the metro company, went on strike from 8:45 AM to 12:45 PM, so I had to come to IES two hours before my class started so I wouldn't have to take a cab. I'm not sure what they accomplish by having 4 hour strikes, but hey, whatever works for them.

This week all of the IES classes start and I have Italian class for four hours a week instead of fifteen. I had to move my schedule around a little because of some conflicting classes, and I am taking

Art in Northern Italy from the 50s to the Present: The Laboratory of the Contemporary
Beginning Italian
History of Italian Opera (Independent Study)
History of Italian Theatre
and my voice lessons

...for a grand total of 18 credits. It should be good. The best part is that I have no class before 11 AM, which means I don't have to leave the apartment until 10:30.

Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) opens at La Scala tonight and runs for all of February. I think we are going to try to get in on Thursday by doing student rush for 12 euro. This is a pretty good deal considering the best seats at La Scala are about 210 euro. I am probably too excited to see it, and I may even go twice if I can get in.

Today I have a voice lesson at 3:30. My voice teacher thinks that I am potentially a tenor, so she is giving me a lot of new music that is higher than I am used to. We'll see how that goes. The other day I bought a voice recorder at FNAC, the Italian version of Best Buy, for 60 euro. Kind of expensive, but it will definitely be worth it to record my lessons with Patrizia and save them on my computer.

The other day I had my first Italian interaction where I don't think the other person knew I was an English speaker. It was short, I was just ordering lunch in a cafe, but it was great. And yes, there actually are some blond native Italians.

First Abbey

IES kids trekking to the first abbey.

Starting on Thursday, it started snowing in Milan. By the end of Friday, it snowed 12 inches. Apparently, this is the largest snowfall Milan has seen since the early 80s. Giuseppe said it hardly ever snows here, and this amount of snow here seemed apocalyptic. Everything shut down, and the normally crazy drivers just didn't know what to do with themselves. It started melting on Saturday, though, and now it is all gone. That was an interesting experience.

Thursday night I went to the symphony at the Consevatorio di Verdi. IES has 4 season tickets that cost them an arm and a leg, and the music students get preference to them. So...free professional concert. The orchestra played a Schubert concerto and it was absolutely amazing. I have never before heard a live group of this quality. It was here that I realized how lucky I am to have 5 months in this incredible music capital.

On Friday, IES sponsored a trip to the gothic abbeys of Lombardy. We braved the snow and a tour bus took us around our area to see two different abbeys. The monks gave us tours and they were really pretty with the snow and all, but it was freezing and I was happy to return to our apartment at the end of the day.

Saturday I took a daytrip to Verona with Mike, Anne, and Lindsay. The train ride is about 90 minutes, so it's not too far away, but there was absolutely no snow there and it was 50 degrees! The town itself is small and quaint. We climbed to the top of the Arena di Verona, an amphitheatre built in the first century. Now, they use it for a huge opera festival each summer. From there, we went to the Capulet house that inspired Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. Commonly referred to as la Casa di Giulietta, it is a huge tourist attraction and people go through the house and stand on her balcony. We spent the rest of the day just exploring the city and experiencing the wines of the locality.

I've been to a couple aperitivos this week that have been pretty fun. I am starting to plan trips I want to take during the semester. Charlie and I just booked a hotel in Venice for Carnevale at the end of February. Carnevale is the Italian equivalent of Marti Gras, only it is a much bigger deal and everyone gathers in Venice for a few days of revelry before Lent begins. People get dressed up and wear masks and the whole nine yards. Most of the professors say it is absolutely beautiful, so a lot of IES kids are going.

Some people on this program are just traveling every weekend. They seem to have buckets of money to burn on a semester-long European travel spree. I don't really have the kind of cash to do that, but I'm fine with that. I really want to feel as if I live in Milan, and I want to get to know the city really well. So, I'm going to try to limit my trips to maybe one or two a month.

Apparently, Brad & Angelina are getting married at George Clooney's villa in Lake Como (about an hour away) this weekend. The town's abuzz....