A Very Bad Day

Yes. I am having a Very Bad Day.

Among other things, cell phone service in Italy is different. It's kind of like pay as you go, although there are monthly payments, too. Now that I'm thinking about it, it's kind of difficult to explain. I have a cell phone, with a sim card, and I put money on the card, to pay for my phone calls. It only costs to make calls, not to recieve, which is nice. But, there are hidden fees all over the place. For example, I have "free" texting, but only to Vodafone (the company) users. And I have to pay for the first text message I send every day. And to have this "free" texting, I have to pay 6 euros a month. Or rather, 6 euros are taken from my account, and if I don't have 6 euros on my account, the service stops. There are two ways to put money onto an account: you can buy a ricaricard, or you can go to a Vodafone store, pay there, and they'll transfer the money to your phone. I prefer to go to the Vodafone store, because with the ricaricard, there's a 3 euro service fee. So if you buy a 15 euro ricaricard, you get 12 euro on your account, and the other 3 euro go somewhere else.

I only had 6 euro left on my phone, so today I went to the store to put more money on it. I've spoken with the girl at the counter a few times before, and she speaks English. Today, however, we spoke in Italian:

Me: Vorrei mettere trenta euro per il mio telefonino. (I'd like to put 30 euro on my cell.)
Her: Solo poi mettere venticinque o cinquanta. (You can only put 25 or 50.)

Well, the bancomat (ATM) near my house only gives out 50 euro bills, so I decided to put all 50 on the phone. I knew I'd use it.

Me: OK, cinquanta. Il numero è...
And I proceeded to tell her my phone number, in Italian. She made the transfer, and handed me my receipt. I saw on the receipt that the number she transferred the money to wasn't my number.
Me: Scusa, il numero non è giusto. (Scuse me, the number isn't right)
Her: Mi dispiace, non posso fare niente. (Sorry, I can't do anything.)
Me (in English): Excuse me?
Her: Next time, tell me the number in English.
Me: Excuse me?
Her: There's nothing I can do, the money wen't to another number.
Me: So I just lost 50 euro.
Her: *shrugs*

I left, furious. I know I told her the right number. I practiced saying my number in Italian, for that very reason. But, I had to have money on my phone.. So I went to the bancomat, got another 50 euro, and went back to the store. What could I do? I have to be able to have money on my phone, at least for emergencies. I only put 25 on, the second time. I dont think I'll be using my cell phone much, anymore..

But honestly, how is it possible that there was nothing she could do? I wonder how often this happens. And I wonder who got that 50 euro. Grrrrr.

Well, the rest of my day wasn't bad. I got to school on time (a miracle!) and started the day with 2 hours of tutoring. I didn't make many mistakes, and my tutor was in a good mood, so lessons were more fun than they usually are. This week, I start a new schedule, where I actually have to go to classes and participate. So, after tutoring, I went to my first "real" class: geography, with the first year highschool students. The prof was nice, and the school's library had the textbook that the class is using, so at least I don't have to buy one. After that, I wen't to my usual class, and had a sort of free period. I stay in the class physically, but I dont actually take the class. It's physics. I opted out of physics. Can you blame me? And after that, I went to a fifth year classroom to help teach English. And finally, I had gym today, and as usual, we played volleyball. I've played volleyball twice a week for the past month and a half, but I'm still not any good at it! Gym is fun, though, because it's all girls, and I'm not the only athletically-challenged one.

I came home, and a letter from Kat was waiting in the mail! I made my lunch (pasta with ragù, and a salad) and read it while I ate. After eating, I cleaned up the kitchen, and decided to do the laundry..

Let me tell you, all you Americans, how lucky you are. In Italy, we do not use fabric softener. My jeans can stand up by themselves. We also do not use bleach. I have to scrub all of my white clothes by hand, with harsh soap, and a rough brush, and my socks still don't come out white. Also, we don't have a dryer. I have to plan laundry day very carefully, because it takes my clothes at least 2 days, usually 3, to dry. After scrubbing my socks for an hour, I decided to go on a walk. I was putting on my shoes when my host mother came in to tell me she was leaving, and that I had to stay to open the gate for the guy who was fixing the steps. So, I stayed home and did some studying, and opened the gate for the guy.. 2 hours later.

As he was leaving, my host father came home, so we chatted for a bit, and I left to go to put money on my phone.. and now I'm here, still feeling awful about losing 50 euro. That's almost 75 American dollars. My parents are being so generous with all of this, and I feel bad that there's no way for me to earn money for myself! That, and I haven't gotten anything from Rotary yet. So thanks, Mom and Dad, for everything that you've done (paid for) and are doing (paying for), and sorry about today.

At least Marta's here, and she's doing the cooking tonight. If anything can redeem this day, it's Marta's cooking. I hope everyone else is having a good day! And all you Virginians, enjoy the warm weather. It's something like 40 degrees here. Brr!

No, I would NOT like a ride!

Last night I went to Mass, so this morning I got to sleep in! It was fantastic. I was awoken by my cell phone ringing, it was my Nonna. She was calling to "invite" me to lunch. "Invite" because she told me that she and Nonno were going out to lunch, and they'd come to pick me up at 12:30, so I should be ready then. Ok!

After speaking with my Nonna, I got out of bed and had breakfast in my PJs. My host family went to Alba today, and left early this morning. I cleaned up the kitchen, and got dressed and ready for i Nonni to pick me up. We went to a restaurant in a small town. They ordered for me, and the food was fantastic! I had fish in white wine sauce, and fried zucchini. Italy has turned me into a zucchini lover. I don't know how they do it, but they make zucchini fantastic! The grandparents dropped me off at home, and I did a little bit of studying.

During lunch, Nonna told me that there was a market in town today, and I decided to check it out. While walking there, a car beeped at me. This is a fairly normal occurance in Italy, along with staring, whistling, shouting, and the occasional blown kiss. All those stories you hear about how Italian men behave around blondes are true. Well, the person who beeped at me was particularly bold: he pulled over, and asked if I wanted a ride. I pretended not to understand, but he made a beckoning motion, so I just said no. He said "sei bella!" and drove away. Now, I know that it's normal for Italian guys to do stuff like that, but please. A few weeks ago, I had two men, who were at least mid 30s ask me out for coffee. Ew. The attention got really old, really fast. So much so that I'm seriously considering dying my hair brown!

The market in the center was nice, and fairly big. There was a lot of furniture, along with paintings, knick-knacks, carpets, jewelry, and food. Cheese, honey, jams, you name it. I bought 2 scarfs, one for me (Nonna told me I had to wear one. She's concerned I'll get a cold!) and the other as a gift for my older sister. Her birthday is coming up!

Everybody knows..

That in Italy, saint's remains are normal! They have a name, but at the moment I can't remember what they're called, these saint's remains. But they're all over the place, and I'm not quite sure what to think of them.

I don't remember what saint this is, but the picture is in Milano's Duomo.
Also in Duomo
This is in the Chiesa Sant'Ambrogio. It's not an altar, its a tomb, with the (surprise, surprise!) remains of two decapitated saints inside
This is Sant'Ambrogio, in the flesh! He's the patron saint of Milano.
Sant'Ambrogio, again.
I can't remember if this was in Duomo or Chiesa di Sant'Ambrogio, but its the remains of another saint. I told you there were a lot!
This is the view into the courtyard of my sister's new apartment in Milano!
The stairs up to my sister's new apartment. She's on the top floor, but there's an elevator!
A pretty house above a pastry shop in Monza
The streets of Monza, cobblestone!

This is probably my favorite statue of Mary, ever. I love the crown of stars!
Mmm.. Italian Pastries!
This man thinks the best way for him to earn money is to paint himself gold.
Monza!
Duomo di Monza

This is Rebecca! It was her 18th birthday Saturday!
Ellen, Camilla (she's Italian) and Rebecca
From Left to Right: Allie, Me, Rebecca, Ellen and Steven. We're all American, and I'm the only one in this particular group who doesn't live in Monza.
These are notes a man on a plane gave to Rebecca.

Rebecca had a get-together to celebrate her birthday last Saturday. All the American students living in Monza and I went to her house for pizza, cake, and petite pastries. The food was fantastic, but the company was better! We all shared stores of why we chose to come to Italy, and what it took to get here. I think I was the most fortunate out of all the students, I didn't have any problem at all getting my visa, or my tickets, or anything! My mom sent my passport and some documents to the Italian embassy in Philly, and they sent everything back, along with a visa. For me, that was that. The other students, however, had to be physically present at the embassy. Allie ended up having to go to NYC 5 times before she got her visa! One of the times, she even slept on the sidewalk to keep her place in line! Rebecca didn't get her passport and visa back from the embassy until the day before she flew out! Rebecca is from Northern California, by the way. She had an interesting story to tell, about her flight from California to St. Paul, Missouri: She was sitting on the plane, before it even left the airport, and she started crying a little. The woman sitting next to her said "It's alright, I cried the first time I left home, too." Then, from across the aisle, a middle aged man reached over and gave her the note pictured above.. Read it. That was before the plane even took off. As the plane was taxiing down the runway, the second note was passed to her.. she told us "I was like, 'Oh boy, this is going to be one long flight!'" What an interesting way to start a year abroad.

Troppo Foto!

Well sheesh, this is getting silly! I have way too many photos to upload! If anyone can think of a better way, please let me know.. I only uploaded half of the photos, I'll upload the rest in another post, along with more detals of my weekend and the past week. But for now, I'll describe these photos:

Mustang! American cars are pretty cool.
Ferrari! Italian cars kick American cars' butts.

This was just a pretty little house in Monza, right outside the entrance to the Autodromo.
Ellen and I went on a bike ride through the Parco di Monza. It was absolutely beautiful!
A cute little boy who I couldn't resist taking a picture of.
Parco di Monza, again. Beautiful.
Not only is it really pretty, its HUGE! I'd love to spend a day there.

Watching the race at Monza's autodromo. There were 2 or 3 crashes, which were scary!
Steven, an American, with his host sister, who adores him!
Steven's host sister, Noemi, with Allie (on the left) and Rebecca (on the right)
The amazingAmericans who went to the Autodromo
Some of the race cars. I wasn't really too interested in the drag racers, if that's what they're called.

WEDNESDAY

On Wednesday, I went to my first Rotary meeting. The food was good, we had pasta with salmon, and then swordfish, and then gelato-cake, which was amazing! The guy sitting next to me kept offering me wine, which I found kind of funny, considering Rotary's no drinking rule. After we ate, one of the Rotarians gave a speech about Ancient Roman history. All of the other Rotarians acted like teenagers! They're a bunch of old men (not one woman among them, and my counselor is probably the youngest guy there, and I think hes in his early forties) and they all started pretending to sleep, complete with fake snoring. They made fun of the Rotarian speaking, and when they got tired of mocking him, they all pulled out their cell phones and started texting. I tried my hardest to be a good example for them, and I paid attention. Well, I paid attention for the first 30 minutes. For the next 45 minutes, I daydreamed. I did not, however, use my phone! My mother taught me better!

Luca Capodiferro (literally translates to "Head of Iron") My Rotarian counselor
The other people sitting at my table

TODAY

After reading all about the other foreign exchange student's trips around their towns, I decided it was time to do some exploring. I started with the center, because I know how to get there, and I know how to find it if I get lost. I found 4 Gelaterias within 3 minutes of eachother, and I intend on sampling them all. I started with the big yellow gelateria, closest to my house. So, I continued walking around Gallarate, eating my gelato (I got chocolate, which was good, and almond, which I will have to try again before I decide if I like it or not) I also found out there's an abundance of quaint cafes, and I've made it a goal to go to each one of them before I leave Italy. It was a beautiful afternoon, the perfect day to wander the streets of Gallarate.

The town's main church and the fountain in the center

A pretty house in Gallarate. I have lots of pictures of pretty houses, if anyone wants to see more. Or you could just come visit me, and see for yourself!
This made me want to cry.
When I got home from walking around Gallarate city, I came up here to the computer to sort out the pictures, and look at a map of the city to see where I had gone. I went back downstairs to ask my mom a question, and my day went downhill from there. Sometimes, my host mother isn't the world's most patient person. She doesn't like it when I don't understand something she says, and never hesitates to let me know that. I got a bit of a scolding for not studying Italian enough, and that dampened my spirits quite a bit. I got a bit homesick, mostly I just missed my mommy! I wrote her a nice long ranting email, and felt better. The day was still lovely, so I decided not to waste it, and went for another stroll through Boschina, a rural part of my community. When I came home, my little sister had a hoarde of friends over. They were running around the house, wearing my host mom's shoes, making quite a racket. I hid in my room 'till they went away, then played a card game with my little sister, ate dinner, and made S'MORES! (I love you, Mom!) They hit the spot. I was shocked, though, when my little, 9 year old sister, turned one down! She said, and I quote "Non mi piace i dolci." Which translates to "I don't like sweets." What nine-year-old says that?

Well, I'm going to cut this blog short, becuase I am exhausted, and its already 10:30 here! I'll write again tomorrow, and upload the rest of the photos. As Mr. Grohoski said: "Domani, domani!"

Finally, the internet is back!

Our internet has been down for the past few days. Actually, we got it back yesterday, but I just couldn't find the gumption to actually sign in to my blog, and try to describe my whole weekend, upload pictures, and be witty all at the same time.

And today, I was busy with other things. Imagine! Me, busy! My life in Italy has been far from busy, but today, I actually had things to do! I got home from from school, made myself a nutella panino (as Marta would say, "oh, la miseria!") and proceeded to enjoy all of its caloric goodness. I wrote a few emails, as there were 11, yes 11 emails!, in my inbox, and then decided to do some shopping. There's a grocery store down the street, and we were out of apples, the kind of yogurt I like, and sliced bread. I walked to the grocery store, bought the previously listed items, and also things I needed to make a chocolate torte. I'm not entirely sure how the prices of food here compare to that in the U.S., but I got 4 eggs for 50 cents. Is that good? I know water is cheaper here. I got a huge, and I mean huge, bottle of water for 16 cents. Also, the store sells those really good Ritter Sport chocolate bars for 79 cents.. That might be a problem for me! While I was in the store, I ran into one of my teachers. It wasn't too awkward, but I didn't stick around to chat. I paid for my things and walked home.

It took me a while to make the chocolate torte. Here, we don't have a lot of useful kitchen tools, like a double boiler, or a Kitchen Aid, and I have to do all of my mixing by hand. By the time I leave here, I'm going to have a very strong right arm. I made the cake, put it in the oven, and forgot about it. About 10 minutes after I was supposed to take it out of the oven, I remembered it. It was a little overcooked, but still edible. While the torte cooled, I tried to whip up some cream to top it with. Whipping cream with a whisk is tiring, but in the end, worth it! It was tasty, although I think I added too much powdered sugar. Together, the torte and cream were delicious. I think I'll make it again for my host sister's 20th birthday, which is coming up!

After my afternoon of cooking, I cleaned the kitchen, and did some studying. Yes, here I actually have to study, even though the only thing I'm required to do in school is Italian. That'll change soon, as I'm changing my schedule. I'll start attending math and science, and maybe Italian literature classes with the 1st and 2nd year students, who are 14 and 15 years old. We'll see how that goes.

Today, I read one of the other American exchange student's blog. She updates every day, and I think I might try to do the same. I don't know, though, her style of writing is so different from mine. She can take things that would be boring if I wrote about them, and make them funny! Oh, Kristen, how I envy you and your writing talent. If anyone is interested in reading her blog, it's destinationfurther.blogspot.com.

Well, considering it's 10:30 here, and I have yet to shower, I'd best be off! I'll be sure to post tomorrow, though, along with pictures!

Whew!

Well, I can't figure out how to format my post with pictures. They're supposed to come after the text, but I can't move them! So read the post first, then look at the pictures!

My mommy loves me! She sent me something with PEANUT BUTTER!
Viale Dei Tigli in Fall. The picture isn't that pretty, but the day was perfect! The air was crisp and smelled like autumn, and there was a bit of wind, so the leaves were falling off the trees and blowing around.
Me and my favorite little sister!
Chiara, one of the girls at the school I help out in. I love going there, because the kids are so funny!Nicolo, another student in the class.
My mom sent me these in the care package.. She's silly sometimes
Le Scale, at the end of my street. I lost count at 120.

Chiesa di Sant'Ambrogio (I have more pictures of the church, including some the relics? of Sant'Ambrogio. Do you call a skeleton relics? I'll post the other pictures later.)
Protestors in the Piazza del Domo
Kristen at the restaurant!
Kristin and I in the group of protesters!

My sister's university.. It's Gorgeous!

Today, I went into Milano with my host sister, to see her university. I didn't go to school today because there was a scioppero, which is like a student strike. The Italian government made a new law that I really don't understand, but the Italian students don't like it. So nobody in all of Italy went to school today, to protest.

Today, I had planned on sleeping in, strolling around Crenna, then picking my little sister up from school to take her shopping. Last night at dinner, however, I was talking with my little sister about what time I was going to pick her up from school, when she told me she had been invited to a party today. My older host sister said "Why don't you come into Milano with me? I'll teach you how to use the train!" I didn't particularly want to wake up early on my day off (I have school Mon.-Sat. and church on Sundays), but after thinking about it, I decided it might be fun.

This morning, I woke up at my usual time, ate breakfast, and my host mom dropped my older sister and I off at the train station. We were late getting to the train station, so my sister bought the tickets, and we ran to the train and hopped on just in time.

In the car, my mom had given me a map of the metro. I wasn't quite sure why. But on the train, my sister told me I didn't have to stay with her at the University, and that I could talk a walk around Milan by myself. I was shocked that I was being given so much freedom! A few weeks ago, I asked if I could ride the train into the city with a couple friends (it didn't work out) and my host father got really worried. He wanted to call everyone who was going, know exactly where I was going to be, what train I was going to take, the exact hour I was going to come home, and he wanted me to call every few hours to give him updates. He even wanted to contact the parents of everyone who was going into Milano, to make sure it was ok with them! I know, I know, he was just being safe, but after getting my driver's licence in the US, I'm used to a little less protection.

Anyway, my sister and I took the train into Milano, then took the metro to her college. The train had arrived late, and my sister was going to be late for her class, so she didn't have a chance to show me around. I walked around the university a little, then went to the church of the university. The university is Sant'Ambrogio, built buy the Chiesa Sant'Ambrogio, where the remains of Sant'Ambrogio himself are kept. The church is really beautiful, of course, but I didn't know where to genuflect! I looked for the tabernacle and red light, but couldn't find one. I took a lot of pictures, which are at the bottom of this post.

After leaving the church, I walked back to the metrostation, and took the green line to a station that crossed with the red line, then took the red line to the Piazza del Duomo. The piazza was packed with protesting students, and it was kind of funny to watch the tourists following the flower (tour guides always hold a flower up in the air for the tourists to follow) through groups of students. An asian man came up and asked me if I spoke English (I wonder why he asked me, of all people?) and then asked why there were so many people in the piazza. I went into the duomo and decided to go to confession. The sign said that the priest spoke English, but he didn't. He did, however, know Latin, German, French, Greek, and of course, Italian. I said my confession as best I could in Italian, and surprisingly (or not so surprisingly, considering it's God we're dealing with here), I understood every single word the priest said to me. The only thing I was curious about was the priest wasn't wearing a collar.. and he didn't give me penance! Well, he did tell me I should call my mom, but I don't think that was supposed to be penance. After confession, I walked around the Duomo some more, and tried to take pictures, but I was unsuccessful. Pictures can't do the Duomo justice. It's so amazing inside, you have to see it for yourself! I know that when my parents come to visit me, my mom is going to spend at LEAST 3 hours in the Duomo. That's OK, I discovered a store with AMAZING gelato thats really close to the duomo, so while mom's praying, I can go for a gelato. Win-win situation.

Since I had spent at least 10 euro on transportation, I figured I'd better make the most of my time in Milano. I didn't know what there was to do, though, so I called some of my Rotary pals who live in Milano. One of them, Kristen, happened to be in Piazza del Duomo too! We met in front of the Duomo, and went to a music store, and then went out to lunch. After lunch, we got gelato.. twice. I know, I know, two gelatos is excessive, but there are so many flavors, and its SO good! We walked around eating our gelato (it was actually my first time eating real gelato) talking about how good it was. After we finished our gelato, we said goodbye. Or rather, we said "Ci vediamo in Domenica" (see you Sunday) because there's a Rotary meeing in Monza on Sunday. I took the metro back to the train station, but got there just as the train to my town was leaving. It's alright, though, a train leaves for Gallarate every hour, and the train station was big, with shops. I browesed a bit, ran into some people I know, and had to use the restroom.. I'm only mentioning that, because of the unusual thing that train stations do at their bathrooms: they charge you. That's right, to enter the bathroom, you have to pay 60 cents. The bathrooms were clean, but I think train staions make enough money through the shops, the trains, and the vending machines, that charging for the bathroom is a tad excessive. I got on the train 10 minutes before it left, just to be safe.

My day had been going fabulously, but we all know it's impossible for everything to be perfect. Well, about 30 minutes into the 40 minute train ride, I accidentally bumped a button with my knee.. Oops. I dont know what the button was supposed to do, but something started beeping, and the train stopped. The train started up again, but the beeping continued.. I tried everything I could to make the beeping stop, but nothing worked.. Someone on the train spoke fluent english, and he told me not to worry about it, that it happens, and we were almost home anyway. I felt awful, of course, but everyone on the train was nice. Nobody seemed to care, and two girls who were sitting near me started up a conversation with me. The beeping kept going, and nobody said a word. Had this happened in the US, I'm sure people would have complained. Score for the Italians. I know that this was one of the less enjoyable experiences, but overall, today has been fantastic. Beeping train or not, Milano and Gelato, especially together, make for a great time!