London

London deserves a post all to itself.

But while I'm thinking about it, I really can't think of anything interesting that happened this past week. I had a little test for one of my classes, which was dumb. I dislike that class anyway.

So London.

I left about 6:40, I liiiiike British Airways, they give you sooo much leg space. While we were landing, I got to see London at night, it's a city that just twinkles. When I landed Sara wasn't there, but we met up in the airport.

That's when the hecticness started.

We took the train to downtown London, then took the Tube. 1.) I love the Tube 2.) We didn't get lost, at ALL. We got to the hostel, which was a new experience for me. Six people to a room, you make your bed, communal bathrooms. It was huge, 7 floors of rooms. We went out and ate some fish and chips, of course.

Then Sara and I woke up at 6:30am, managed to get out of the hostel by 730ish, we grabbed something to drink and started our day. We took the Underground (the Tube) and tried to find Big Ben by ourselves, but we bought a map and eventually made it to the stop. When we got there we were like, "Where is it?" and Sara looked up and it was right in front of our faces. Words really cannot describe this.

We walked around, saw Parliament, Westminster Abbey (where the Prince is rumored to get married in April), a lot of buildings in the area. We wandered around into St. Jame's Park, then over to Buckingham Palace, saw the guards: we're pretty certain the queen was there. We went to Hyde Park which was decked out for Christmas, we had decided to go back later to see the lights.

We did sort of a random all over the place trip after this. We went to Notting Hill for the movie for Sara. We went to a street full of bookshops so I could pick up some books for my Italians. Then we went into an epic search for Pizza Hut, where I got hit on. We went to King Cross's station and saw Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter, which was cool. We saw St. Paul's Cathedral and Old Bailey (which is....basically the Supreme Court, let's say). Saw Fleet St., from Sweeney Todd. We then went to the Tower of London, walked across Tower Bridge, saw Shakespeare's Globe, walked across Milennium Bridge (saw London Bridge, which was not, in fact, falling down). We also saw the London Eye

Saw St. Paul's Cathedral again, went back to Big Ben and saw it all lit up, also gorgeous. Then we went to Hyde Park, it was fantastic. We bought some souvenirs.

By this point, we were both exhausted. We had walked for about 10 hours, with a one hour break to eat lunch. But I dropped Sara off at the hostel and saw a friend of mine.

The next day we woke up, left the hostel and headed towards Gatwick. Unfortunately we kept on picking the wrong station to go to, either one didn't have service to Gatwick (the airport) or they HAD service, but not on Sunday. Finally we got to one, we went to the airport, said goodbye (but only for about 12 days!). I waited around for quite some time in the airport. I like how efficient they are but they don't tell you your gate number until one hour before your flight, so you have to hustle on over. I met a couple of Neapolitans and we got to talking.

Then on the way back I sat next to a lovely young British girl, who was in the Navy and flies home every once in awhile. We talked the entire way back. Eugenio picked me up from the airport and then I sort of collapsed in my room. I took some Nyquil because my allergies are kicking my butt.

Today was a bad day. I was exhausted but managed to go to my lesson anyway, but I was a stick in the mud. My professor eventually just got tired of it and we got into an arguement. And then I went and picked up my permesso di soggiorno. I mean, really...this situation is absurd.

What could have taken about 2 minutes, took two and a half hours. When we got there there was a huge crowd, you had to grab a number (we got 192) and then they would let you walk into the room by your number. When we got there, there was no order. Instead of going by number, people crowded by the door that led to another room where you would pick up your permesso di soggiorno.

They tried going by number, but they had little windows,sportelli, that you would walk up to, they had 4 of them, by your last name: A-F, G-L, M-R, S-Z. Confused? So was I.

But as people would go in by number, they soon realized that there are more people with last names that are M-R, so they would let you by your number and your last name. Example: Regan, 192 - so if there was someone with Mirek, 170, they could go in before I could. It was complicated. There were so many people, yelling, pushing, sweating. I had a mini panic attack and fainted (I was surrounded by people pushing on me). I'm fine, though. Apparently I'm a little claustorphobic.

Then we waited in line at the window, which I got to the M-R, he laughed and sent me to S-Z, so I had to stand in another line, when I finished she sent me to another line, because she said I had the wrong line. So by the end I got to the right line, the woman opened up an envelope, took out my permesso di soggiorno, made me make a digital thumbprint, handed me the card and said, "Arrivederci." Literally. That's all I needed.

So I was exhausted, upset and grumpy. So I took a taxi home, not even thinking about it. But when we stopped I realized I had no money, so I had to run to a bank and withdraw some money, but it would only let me pull out 50 euro,, which put me into overdraft.

It's been a bad day.

Sorry for the long post.

-Kevin

Bentornato?

Soooo I know it's been awhile. I knew this would happen, unfortunately. I know myself too well.

So when we last left our epic story, I was sick. I had to skip class, even. But I did manage to go to my Thanksgiving (but not on Thanksgiving day) meal. It was wonderful. When we got there though, they told me I couldn't buy anything from the stores on base because it would "hurt the economy" because I technically live in Naples. So when we got there, Eugenio and I got to baking cookies (I made a bajillion). Then we had the lovely turkey. It was my friend's first Thanksgiving as a couple, so they started off their own new family traditions with us, haha. There was turkey, STUFFING, yams, cranberry sauce, corn that was cooked with butter, sourcream and cornbread, bread, ham, greenbean casserole and of course, pumpkin pie. It felt a lot like home.

I then brought back some American ingredients that don't exist in Italy (baking powder, baking soda, Hershey's cocoa powder, chocolate chips, DR. PEPPER, Reese's, Poptarts). Then I started baking up a storm during the week. I made Lamington's for a friend who graduated, I made a chocolate cake with chocolate icing for Alessia's birthday and then I made more chocolate chip cookies (they are in BIG demand in Italy). On Tuesday, Alessia had her birthday and that's when our friend, Gaetano, graduated. We had a nice party for them both here (I had brought some of my cookies to the owner of our apartment building that afternoon to butter her up, because I knew we'd make a lot of noise).

Graduating is really interesting in Italy, it seemed a lot like defending a Ph.D thesis, to me. You go to a building, there's a panel of professors, you talk about your paper, they ask you questions, you answer, then you speak in your studied languages (at L'Orientale, you study 2 languages, at least). It was cool to hear some of the languages that are rarely studied in the U.S.: Polish, Hebrew etc etc

The rest week kind of flew by. I didn't do too much. I went and saw Passione with Serena and Alessia (it's a documentary-type about Naples music) which I ended up falling in love with for various reasons. One of the cooler reasons was because it was filmed here in Naples and almost every scene, I have been to. I'd like to make my students watch it when I come back to the States.

This weekend I went to Matera, which was fun. It's about a 4 hour bus ride from here, it's in a region called Basilicata. We got there about 9pm and the owner of the B&B came and picked us up because after 8pm in Matera, the taxi's charge double. The B&B was really nice, newly restored. Matera is a city built like a cake, levels upon levels. Every building had a street above it, I don't know if I'm explaining it very well. The owner was a bit....annoying and bossy. She kept on insisting that I didn't speak Italian very well and that I wasn't understanding her. She even told other couples in the B&B to not try and talk to me because I don't speak Italian very well. Whatever, you know?

Saturday, Serena and I took a tour guide and walked around the city with him. I saw a lot of the city. It was where they filmed Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson, King David and a famous Italian movie called, "La lupa" or (She-Wolf). A lot of it was sight-seeing and kind of wandering around. I enjoyed it. We went to two museums and one of them had a free jazz concert, which was fun. Then we took the bus back to Naples on Sunday, which was another 4 hours by bus.

A sidenote I wanted to point out: Italian hotels and Italian bed and breakfasts are the polar opposite of ours. For example: Italian hotels, you have to pick up your room key and drop it off everytime you leave/come back to the hotel. They're also more expensive. Bed and breakfasts, they give you your key, you come and go when you want and are a little cheaper. It's an interesting phenomenon.

So some exciting news: I'm going to London this weekend (very exciting), I get to see Sara (even more exciting. But then I found out that she is also coming to Naples (the second weekend on December). So that's great. I hope it does work out though, almost every time someone has mentioned coming to Naples, it falls through. Let's hope for the best! :-).

Apparently our water is leaking through to the apartment below us, although everytime the plumber comes he says it's not us, apparently while I was gone, it got really bad. So now we can't use our water until the figure it out. Oh joy, haha.

I've started listening to Christmas music (there are decorations already here in Naples)

A little update

So I'm actually updating in a week since my last update! I can't believe it!

I'm sick. This suuuucks. On Monday, I was walking home when there was just a torrential downpour. My umbrella broke and I got drenched. I made it home and crawled into my covers. My throat hurt a little bit but it was fine. I woke up yesterday and was feeling horrible but I trekked to class anyway. But when I came back I collapsed in bed for awhile.

I woke up around 4am this morning shivering, I put on two other comforters and went back to sleep. I woke up and tried to go to class but I just couldn't do it. I've been in bed, dozing, on and off all day. I didn't do anything too exciting the previous weekend, Eugenio came over, Alessia had dinner with some of her friends.

This coming weekend, though, I'm excited for. I hope I get to feeling better by Saturday. Do you guys remember Nancy? Well her daughter is still here in Naples and she invited me to Thanksgiving. I can't do Thanksgiving on the 25th because it's just difficult to move around, plus I'm leaving for London that weekend so it's just easier to do it another time. They have a newborn so if I'm still not feeling well, I won't go (although it would break my heart).

So I'm going to take advantage of this post that has no news to talk about a few Italian things.

1.) Italian light switches.
http://www.instablogsimages.com/images/2010/03/26/swarovski_switches_UlWmp_12_360x125.jpg
They look like this. And are so annoying. Because I can never remember which one works for which lights. Or where they put them. They put them on the outside of the room instead of inside.

2.) The Italian "pausa" (pause)
This is really irritating for me. In Italy everyone has a lunchbreak, most of Italy has it for an hour. And when this happens, everything shuts down. Grocery stores, post offices, office supply stores (only restaurants stay open). But in Naples the pause lasts from 1:30 to about 4:30. This drives me crazy because I don't finish with class until 1, sometimes 2. So if I want to grocery shop...I have to wait around forever.

3.) Italian classrooms
It's the funniest thing. I have class at 12, with other Italian students. If I get to the classroom by 11:05 every seat, except maybe 2 or 3, are taken. Either they show up, put their stuff down and leave or they hang out there. There are 66 seats. There are 115 students. And yes, it is normal to sit on the ground in these classes. And then the professor shows up late. Like, 15 to 20 minutes late and then lets the class out early by 20 minutes. In America the general rule of thumb is 10 minutes for a professor, 15 for a doctor and if they don't show up, you leave.

4.) Italian airports
Once you get to your gate, you check in, you don't walk right to your plane like in America. Nooooo, that's too easy. Instead, you get on a bus that takes you to your plane. Even if you can see the plane from your gate.

5.) Italian traffic
Ok, so I know everyone already knows it is crazy. But I mean, I gotta tell you. As SOON as the light changes green if you aren't moving, they're honking. ZFor me, at least, I have about a 10 second tolerance. And crossing the street? You'd think cars would be the worst, but they actually slow down or stop. For me it's those damn motorbikes. They weave in and out of traffic and almost run me down everytime I cross the street (I'm talking about traffic because I can hear them honking).

6.) Dialect
From my experience, most foreigners don't have as hard a time as I do, because I'm in the south and everyone speaks in dialect. This is such a hard barrier to cross because most people are more comfortable in Neapolitan. Today an old woman stopped by and was asking me stuff in dialect and I couldn't understand her at all.

7.) The lack of carpets
Cold feet, lots of lint. Enough said

8.) No closets?
You would think a country obsessed with la bella figura would have closets. They have movable wardrobes or wardrobes that take up an entire wall but no closets.

9.) Desserts
They are not sweet, at all. And they're dry. For example, cakes have no icing. It's difficult to explain. Sometimes they'll put powdered sugar on something. They like to use liquor in a lot of their desserts. But I mean, it just doesn't have the same..."oomf" if you get what I'm saying?

10.) Electrical outlets
I knew when I first got here, this would be a problem for me, haha. Each outlet has only one plug-in, instead of two. Each room has only one outlet, generally. You're lucky to have two. It's a game of negotiating what electricity you need to use first, haha

So, I mean, I guess I should update

Sure, it's been what, like two weeks? So let me try and remember what's happened:

Milan - shocked Italians with my Italian speaking abilities, shocked them even more with my pasta making abilities. Walked through Milan. Got abandoned. Saw a turtle made of animal fur (gross). Saw Katie. Went out to "Texas Town" which is a little bar in Milan. Milan people have funny accents, haha.

Overall, a good weekend. A little hectic and stressful but good company made up for it. I didn't want to go back to Naples

The following weeks? I don't really remember anything particular. Besides the fact that I rode on a Vespa with a gorgeous Italian woman who drove while the sun was rising. Yes, a fantastic and oh-so-true stereotype of Italians. It's been raining and been a little cold here in Naples.

There's also the problem of trash. Basically, the city of Naples has no where to put it so they make tiny little landfills all over. Recently they wanted to open one in a national park next to a town where there was already a town. Of course, they rebelled. So trash builds up. And there's a lot of it. So now they're looking to put the trash somewhere else but other cities are rebelling when they try to put it there.

This weekend I went to Sicily. It's gorgeous, hot and a little boring. There's not too much to do (I say this because I am biased by Naples). In Naples, every corner there's something to see or do. We left for Palermo and we were delayed and delayed. We finally made it there, then we had to take a bus and then we took another bus to the hotel and got lost. Instead of getting there, we got there at 7.

We walked all around Sicily. It's cute. Don't stay in just one city, I found out. And goodness do you eat well in Sicily. I had arancini which is a kind of meat covered in a rice ball then FRIED. Oh god. Sooooo good. The pizza sucked though (I'm an official food snob, now).

Coming back was a little harrying. We tried to catch an earlier flight to miss the storm we would be flying in later to no avail, so we had to wait in the airport for about 8 hours, which suuuucked. Then flying back was nauseating. I apparently have a fear of turbulence. I feel sorry for Eugenio's thigh.

And now I'm here. And don't want to travel for awhile now, by plane. I am looking forward to London. I'm not going anywhere until the third weekend of November, to Matera, with Serena. I would like to go to Florence but I don't have the money for a train ticket :-/.

So, that's all! Ciaooo

Fall?

So something I've been angry at Naples for awhile now, haha. Fall is nonexistant here. I wake up, its 65 degrees. I go to bed, its 65 degrees. But it's not just a 65 degrees, it's a humid 65 degrees. So when its 65 degrees, it's hot. When it's cold, it's cold. And to avoid sweating like a pig I wear shorts. And I've now heard FIVE people in ONE day calling me crazy.

Anyway.

This previous weekend was relaxing. I like Venafro a lot. We didn't do a lot, watched movies. I learned how to make gnocchi. Sunday, Angela (Eugenio's mom) invited 9 people to come over, so that's about 14 people in total. It was....insane. At first I laughed because it really is the Italian stereotype: loud and eating. I couldn't understand anything they were saying as they were yelling in dialect.

This week has been relatively calm. I finally had class with other Italian students. It's going to be an easy class, I feel. They're going to teach us how to "analyze" literature. Oh boy. I did make a friend though.

Something happened yesterday while I was walking to class..and I'm not relatively comfortable talking about it. I still don't understand it.

But I'm fine. I'm doing better. Although I've almost finished all my peanut butter :-/.

As fall comes, I find myself missing fall. And missing Truman. I rrrreally want to tutor/teach again, I miss it a lot. It's hard to believe that October is almost over.

Going to Milan tomorrow. Super excited. Yessssss.

What a week

Wow, so...what a week, huh? It's been awhile since I've posted. So here are the recaps:

On Saturday I met up with Nancy, got ripped off by a taxi driver. We went all around Naples, she had crocche', gelato and bought some limoncello (yuck, that's too strong for me).

Sunday I went to Eugenio's mom's house. I've been there before but I was shocked this time by the wonderful thing that I've been missing...which is silence. Glorious, unadulterated silence. On the way back we got stuck in traffic for oh, three hours. This should have been an omen for my week!

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday sort of flew by. Did the whole class thing, going out and meeting people: I've made friends with a little old lady who sells bananas.

Then comes today.

Basically, if you're going to be in Italy for more than 90 days, you need a permesso di soggiorno. Which is bullshit, but Italy anyway. I already have my visa. But you have to send the application of a permesso di soggiorno from the post office, they give you a date and you go to the Immigration office. Well, Serena and I went to the office and there was a line. We got there for number 25 and our number was oh....142. So yes, I did wait five complete hours.

To find out I have another date with the office in about a month and a half's time. What the heck. That was...awesome, haha. But then Serena and I went out for a ride on the town, taking the bus to some wonderful places. Then I did some groceries and now I'm here.

I'm feeling kind of down. For reasons I wouldn't like to divulge here. But also not sleeping very well because of loud neighbors, being alone and other things do get to me (I have been sleeping well the past couple of nights because it's raining). I just feel very...unwanted.

So I'm definitely looking forward to traveling. Milan, Palermo, Matera, London, Rome. I want to fit in Venice, Florence and Germany.

What a week

Ciao a tutti,

So it looks like the last we left off was on Sunday. I've been alone all week because my roommate stayed in Scalea and she isn't coming back until Monday. Anyway.

Monday I had my Italian class with Guia which was identical to the same thing we had done for two weeks. It wasn't anything too interesting. The walk home was, though. I was walking and singing, "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen when a group of American tourists passed me and they stopped and started belting it out together. We had a jam session. By far, one of my favorite moments in Italy.

Tuesday I had my first lesson with Bianca, my arch. professor. I simply ADORE her. She speaks English, practically fluently. But she has a British accent. When I can't understand her it's not because she has an Italian accent but because British people pronounce some words differently. I really enjoyed it. On my way home I stopped by and talked to a little old lady that's about 80 years old who sells bananas by the metropolitana by my house. Then I went out with Eugenio, Annarita and Rita to see Bite Me. It was quite amusing for me because I would laugh when Italians wouldn't and they would laugh when I wouldn't, just to show a cultural humor difference.

Wednesday was SUCH a long day. I met up with Bianca because my architecture class is one hour in the classroom, 3 hours on site, where I see what we talked about in person. We saw a couple of museums and churches, it was really cool to see what we talked about. Then I came home, did laundry, went to my private tutoring with Professor Vecce. We walked around and talked about what I read. I came home and was exhausted, I had walked for almost 6 hours.

Thursday was tranquil. I went to class. It was my grandma's birthday, so I called her. Eugenio came over, we cooked and ate.

I am going to become a professional ironer - I ironed all my stuff last night (I felt very Italian).

Today I had my one hour lesson with Bianca and now I'm here. I have homework, boo.

Tonight Eugenio's coming over. I don't know what we're doing.

Tomorrow I'm taking Nancy, the woman I met on my travels to Naples, around Naples before she leaves the country. The poor thing hasn't left the military base since she got here, almost a month ago!

I'm getting frustrated with trying to plan travels. Everytime I plan something, it falls through. The fact that I can't skip any classes is a major drawback for me. I'm glad Milan, so far, has been going well.

Some updates about life: my grandma (who had her birthday on the seventh) had a small hospital problem - I'm still not sure what happened. She's still in the hospital. And I found out a friend of mine recently passed away in a car accident. It's been bothering me and I don't really know why.

until next time!