(L-R): Roshni, Me, Alex, Sohta, Matt, and Charlie at our dinner party

Stage set-up for the Italian TRL Awards in Piazza Duomo

Inside the Galleria (first "mall" ever!) at sunset

Duomo at sunset (behind scaffolding)

Entrance of Castello Sforzesco

I'm not quite sure why the Milanese insist on wearing their winter coats when it's 65 degrees F out. I came to school today in a layered t-shirt, and on the way I got very odd looks. Hopefully I won't have to wear my twelve pound winter coat when it's 80.

I finally solidified plans for the second part of my spring break. I am going to meet Mike, Lindsay, and Nichole in Naples on the 16th of April, and then we are going to spend 1 night on the Amalfi coast, see Pompeii the next day, go to Rome for the next 3-4 days, and then spend the last three days on Sicily. We started by buying our plane ticket from Sicily to Milan on the 25th. So, it's just a matter of working backwards.

Last Thursday night I went to the Verdi Symphony again. The night had a Spanish theme: they played selections from the opera Carmen, Capriccio Espagnol by Rimsky-Korsokov, etc. It was really cool.

On Friday, Charlie and I had a dinner party for a few people at our place. We made lasagna for the first time, and it actually turned out alright. We also had salad and actual American cookies. We found the mix for it at the grocery store (for the equivalent of about $7), and they were definitely worth it. We try to do a big dinner party once a month because they are actually a cheap alternative to going out. After, we rented the movie White Noise, probably one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

Saturday, I went to the Castello Sforzesco with Charlie and Alex. They have a bunch of municipal museums inside that are free for the hour before they close. We saw the Ancient Egypt exhibit which housed many interesting artifacts. AND I saw my first mummy! After, we walked around the city a bit and discovered they were setting up for the Italian TRL Awards for MTV in the piazza of the Duomo. We decided we had to come back to see some of the actual show later that night.

Saturday night was Notte Bianca (White Night), an all-night party that Milan has when spring arrives. To celebrate, the metro and stores stay open until 5 AM. So, we decided to go back to the TRL awards that night at about 11, and it was packed when we got there. We moved up toward the stage a bit and saw a few performances. It was really interesting to see how Italian MTV works. The rest of the night was kind of a messy blur. Mostly, because after these performances, so many people had shown up at the Duomo that we could hardly get through the crowd. The five of us got split up and I got stuck in an area where people weren't moving and some were starting to get smashed. It was actually really scary. After about 45 minutes, I got out of the mess, and I decided to walk to a less crowded metro stop. The metro was still insanely packed. We couldn't get ahold of each other by cells either because we were all down waiting for the metro at different locations. So, by the time we all got back to my place, we were cranky.

For the last two weeks, my voice teacher was out of town because she was doing an opera in Florence. Yesterday was my first lesson back, which was a little scary because I had to learn two pieces in that time. She warmed me up to a high C (crazy), and she was pretty happy with the progress I had made while she was gone. She gave me some intense breathing exercises that she wants me to do "from today until the rest of my life". The routine is supposed to take a half hour and is meant to train my muscles more because I am "still a bit lazy" when it comes to technique.

I must be off because I have yet to do some research for a presentation I have to give this afternoon. Hope you like the pics in this post!

I am now done with my three midterms. I had my Contemporary Italian Art History one Monday morning, History of Italian Theatre on Monday afternoon, and my Italian test yesterday. They weren't bad at all, just a lot of writing for the first two. Yesterday before Italian, however, I was hurrying to the metro in the rain and I slipped on the disgusting subway stairs in front of about five people. It was quite embarrassing. So my left side got kind of filthy and my right hand somehow got all cut up from my umbrella. I then had to pay 60 cents in the metro station to wash up in the restroom. And I ended up bleeding on my Italian test a bit. Ah well.

Friday we tried to get into an Irish pub called Murphy's Law for St. Patrick's Day. It was so packed though that we physically couldn't get inside. We ended up going to another place instead. Francesco and Giuseppe tell me that the holiday isn't a big deal here. Apparently, Italians consider it "another American holiday where they can justify getting ridiculously drunk in search of their Irish ancestry".

Saturday Alex, Sohta, and I went to an aperitivo at a place called Rew in the St. Agostino area. We had been studying before that so we decided to take a break. Charlie went to London this weekend: he said he had a really good time. It'd be nice to get up there, but I don't think it's going to happen on this trip.

Also, on Saturday I did a little shopping and I bought sunglasses. Real Italian Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses. Yes, they were a little pricey, but they were one of the few things I wanted to get while I was here, so I don't feel guilty. And now I look like a real Italian.

By the way, the Geleteria Borsieri opened a few weeks ago, and it is incredible. It is right across from our apartment and they have great, cheap gelato. It took me a week or two to exercise restraint, but now I'm down to one or two a week.

I am actually starting to get a little worried about my living situation for next year. I know I want to live off campus (ESPECIALLY after this semester), and the one person I know I'm living with for sure (Rebecca) is in China on study abroad. And the internet in China blocks all American internet sites, so that means that I am the one who has to be searching Craigslist for 2 bedroom apartments etc etc. Which is fine, but I'm getting a little concerned since most Mac kids are securing housing for next year around this time.

I know I promised more pics this week, but I didn't follow through. It was kind of a lower key week with studying for midterms and stuff, so I will definitely get some up for next week.

I'm in the market for a haircut at the moment. I'm not quite sure how that system works here, but Francesco recommended a few places around the apartment. I have a minimal vocab when it comes to hair terms, and I doubt that a place that charges under 50 euro will have an English speaker working there. It should work out, as long as I don't end up with a euro-mullet.

I'm also debating whether or not I should buy an actual spring jacket here. It's so impractical in a place like Minnesota when it goes from 30 to 80 in two weeks, but here it might be a necessity. Or I will just rough it and buy sunglasses instead.

On Thursday night I went to the Verdi Symphony again where we saw a Schumann symphony and another by a 19th century Russian I hadn't heard of. Again, amazing.

I went to an aperitivo on Friday night with Alex, Roshni, and Emily. It was a bit nostalgic because it was at the same place where I had my very first Milanese aperitivo.

Then on Saturday, we had a "Boys of Via Borsieri 30" fest. This consisted of the fellows in our building (me, Alex, Charlie, and Sohta, the newcomer). We went to an aperitivo at Mexicali (definitely one of the best bangs for your buck in Milan) and then met up with some others at a club later. Good times.

Francesco and Giuseppe went home over the weekend because their semester just ended, so Charlie and I had the apartment to ourselves. It was nice to be able to stretch out a bit.

Last night I saw an incredible play with my theatre class called L'ultima sera di Carnevale (The Last Night of Carnevale) by Carlo Goldoni. The big ensemble cast was fairly young, and it was in a small, hip theatre. We were in the second row (about 5 feet from the actors), and the acting was really good. It definitely gave me a better impression of Italian theatre than Liola.

I haven't been taking many pictures lately. Maybe I will make it a goal to get on that and then post some here next week.

By the way, if you haven't noticed, my English is going to pot.

Carnevale is finally winding down. Milano had its big celebration on Saturday. It was a little more "family-friendly" than Venice's. A lot of kids in costumes spraying me with silly string, etc. We stopped by an actual carnival with rides on Saturday afternoon just north of the castle. Those rides would SO not pass American security standards.

Today is "Women's Day" in Italia. Appearently they get a day.

I saw my first Italian play on Thursday night called Liola. My whole theatre class went. It was crazy. The audience clapped through the whole thing and the lead female role was played by a famous Italian showgirl who was making her stage debut. That really got the crowd excited. Overall, the acting was much "bigger"...it reminded me quite a bit of an American soap opera.

There was another public transportation strike on Monday after class, so I decided to walk home from IES. I had always relied on the metro and it's mystical abilities to teleport me around Milan. But after walking home, I realized the city is actually much smaller than I had originally thought. It only took me about 35 minutes, which is only ten minutes longer than my subway commute takes me. It's a nice walk, too.

I am starting to decide where I want to go for our obscenely long spring break (two weeks). I know I'm going to Nice, France and Venice (again). I think I want to do Rome and some of Southern Italy for the rest of the time. I need to get working on that.

Today is the two month anniversary of me being here. It seems more like it's been two weeks.

A few more pictures from Venice:

One of the many Venetian canals and gondolas

Looking down on the festivities of San Marco square from the bell tower

Gondolas

On Murano, the infamous island of glass-blowing

Charlie and me in our pimp Carnevale masks

An example of some Carnevale costumes


I spent the last three days in Venice with Charlie, Torre, Emily, Kelly, Esin, and Carola. Our hotel was on this island called Lido, a more laid-back resort island about a 10-minute boat ride from San Marco square. It is great: they use boats there like we use cars because they have canals instead of roads.

It was Carnevale there, the big 10-day festival of debauchery before Lent begins. It was absolutely insane. It was hard to move around the islands a lot of the weekend because there were just so many people. Especially in San Marco square.

They treat their Carnevale costumes as serious business...I saw some of the most elaborate costumes of my life this weekend. We bought Venetian masks before we left Milano wore them most of the time walking around. Mine is sweet.

We didn't do too many touristy things while we were there just because everything was so busy and it was more fun just to walk around and see the city. We had a few nice dinners: one night I had gnocchi (pasta-ish potato dumplings) with a roasted pumpkin sauce. It was definitely noteworthy.

On Saturday, we took a boat to the nearby island of Murano. This island used to be the home of the merchant's and glass blowers because their kilns would often start fires. We saw a glass blowing demonstration and walked around the island to see the glass products in the stores.

That afternoon we walked through the Jewish Ghetto portion of Venice: the word ghetto actually originated here. It was a really cool area.

It is impossible to navigate Venice because there are hardly any street signs and the small streets lead to bridges over canals and are quite maze-like. We had fun just getting lost and wandering around.

This is definitely my favorite Italian city I have visited so far. I am going to go back in a few months when it isn't as crazy and then I will do more of the sights.

I stayed in Florence last Wednesday through Friday with my friend Virginia from Mac. It was interesting to see how other Americans live abroad. When I got there Wednesday, it was pouring, so I bought an umbrella from one of the pushy-umbrella-men on the street and went exploring. The town itself is smaller than I thought, it's really easy to walk around the whole thing in an hour or two. I stopped in the Salvatore Ferragamo shoe museum when the rain got really bad. He was a smart man.

On Thursday, Virginia had a midterm at her art school, so I spent a good 10 hours just walking around and seeing the sights. I started at the Uffizi, the famous museum of Renaissance art. After that I explored their large duomo in the center of the city and climbed to the top of Brunelleschi's dome and saw the panoramic view of the city.

By the way, I had the best gelato of my life at this place called Vivoli on a tiny side street. It is supposedly the best in Italy...I can believe it. I don't understand why America can't do ice cream like that.

At sunset, I crossed the famous bridge full of expensive jewelry, the Ponte Vecchio and went to the Piazzale Michaelangelo, a large park that overlooks the city. I just sat up there for awhile and listened to my ipod. It was great.

Virginia and I went to the Accademia on Friday morning and saw Michaelangelo's David. It is actually breaktaking by the true definition of the word. It is much bigger than I thought. The definition on the sculpture makes it hard to believe that he completed it in just three years.

When I got back to Milan, I started to transfer my Florence pictures to my computer and I accidentally deleted them all! I am still really pissed at myself. I can't believe I did that. I took a ton of really cool ones, too. Ah well, I need to stop thinking about it.

As much as I thought Florence was pretty, I am glad that I study in Milano. About half of the people there are American study abroad students and the other half are tourists from America and Japan. It kind of hurt me hearing English everywhere...it was almost like taking a trip back to America for a few days. It just took some of the charm away.

It was interesting to hear what some of the Americans there thought of Milan when they visited. Basically, the summary of it was: "it's a big, dirty city where no one speaks English". I'm not sure what they expected being that it is in Italy where people speak Italian. Ah well.