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!

Pineapples, Wasps and Rocks

I swear, this title is relevant. I promise.

Friday was the big test day. Basically I had to write a composition and she would check if I've improved, which I had. And then I read an article and she asked me questions about it, it went well. I like Guia a lot, she comes in from Rome every day to teach me so I appreciate it.

But she keeps on pointing out Neapolitan things in my Italian that I didn't even realize. Oops.

Then I went to a concert at Piazza Dante with Alessia and Eugenio. The group comes from Naples and they're basically Bob Marley wannabes. Then Annarita and her group showed up. After awhile I got tired and Eugenio and I left. On the way home, I FINALLY had a gelato. Which was my best idea EVERR because I had pineapple and strawberries (two different scoops). It was...fantastic.

Then we came back and fell asleep and woke up at 6,30, headed out the door about 8. We got to Scalea about 11, 11,30. It's a small town, it reminded me a little bit of home. The weather was sooo nice and Scalea is a beachtown, so we went to the BEACH! YESS. IN OCTOBER. I was happy. Eugenio and I stayed at a cousin's house who wasn't there. There was a wasps's nest outside and they kept on attacking. We then went out with Alessia and ate dinner. By the way, Italians put french fries in/on everything - they don't eat it as a side. I had a "hamburger" with french fries IN IT. Wtf?

Then we went to the beach the next day (today). We were there for about 6 hours. The nice thing about their beaches is that they have rocks instead of sand, so no mess! I am nicely tanned. And I was nicely relaxed until we got back to Naples. I didn't miss all the noise, to be sure.

Classes start this week! Let's see how it goes!

Oh the life

So let's see.

Yesterday I went to class. Came home and fell asleep for a couple of hours. Then I went out with Alessia to her friend's place where we ate couscous and they complained about the government. I mean, it's Italy for peep's sake.

Today I woke up, went to class. Tomorrow is the last day of the "intensive" Italian course. Which has basically been me chatting with my professor, watching movies, listening to songs. We did grammar every once in awhile but basically, I know it. There are the quirks but in general, I'm on it like white on rice.

I came home and fell asleep. And now I've been working on my written part of my test tomorrow. I finished that and now I'm going to go back to sleep.

I really wish I could post pictures on here. Basically I'm on the Internet on windows on my computer, but I have a Mac. I can't use the Internet on Mac, it just doesn't work with this system I'm using, for some reason. And to put pictures on my computer, I need to use Mac. So I'd have to put them on Mac and e-mail them to myself but...I can't. Dilemma.

Tomorrow I'm going to a free concert. And then Saturday I'm going to Scalea (Alessia's hometown). So you won't hear from me for awhile!

Arrivederci!

Kevin

*side note*

Today I was walking home and there was a group of 15, 16 year olds surrounding a motorized scooter. The oldest of them said to me,

"weee, guaglion!"

to which i responded

"ch' vuo'?"

and he said, in surprise,

"volevo prenderti in giro, ho pensato che non parlassi o' nnapulitan'"

to which i angrily responded

"fatti cazzi tuoi, t' sfong e rin'"

and he laughed so hard he fell off his scooter.

translation:

hey dude

what do you want?

i wanted to make fun of you, i thought you didn't speak the neapolitan dilaect

mind your own fucking business, i'll kick your ass.

yeah.

don't mess.

It never ends

Howdy ho, everybody -

There's not too much to report with what's been going on, actually. Just the usual social commentary and the witherings and doings of my day.

Monday I went to class. Then we went to a pizzeria (we being Alessia and a lot of her friends) then she went out and I stayed home.

Tuesday I went to class. Then I waited around for Serena for awhile then I came home. Eugenio came over and we ate. Alessia went out and I stayed home.

Today is a brutal day for me. I woke up sad and it still hasn't gone away. I know the reason why but I'm ignoring it.

I'm actually feeling a little homesick, but not for the reasons you'd think (which makes me a bastard, but I'm ok with that). I miss the dependibility of America, you know? Here it's always chaotic and...I don't know how to describe it. But it's trying, to say the least.

And I've come to find out the same exact problems I had in the States are still here. Vabbe.*

But I did realize something - I haven't had gelato since I've been here. I've had like 6 or 7 pizzas, haha. I've also lost some weight, which is uplifiting.

I booked a ticket for Milan, October 22-24. Yesssss.

Friday's almost here.

I really wish I could update this more

So I have good news and bad news for you.

I now, officially, have the Internet.

Bad news?

I can't post any pictures! It's a long story, just trust me on this one.

I don't really remember where we last left off but...

Some highlights:

Friday! haha

It was Eugenio's mom's birthday and I wanted to get her something nice because, well, she's done a lot for me. And I like her a lot. While I was walking home I stopped by a random store full of silver knick knacks and I started talking to the woman. Turns out she was Brazilian! I spoke to her in my pitiful Portuguese and she suggested I buy a frame (Angela had just bought a new house) and she gave me a discount of 20 euro just because I talked to her for awhile.

We went out. I ate fried pizza. Good God. I thought I was going to LOSE weight walking so much but I feel like it's going to be the opposite...

Eugenio, Alessia and I went to Napoli sottoterranea (Naples undergound). There's the undergound city of Naples back from the Greek/Roman times that they used during WWII because Naples was the most bombed Italian city. There were some passways that were so tight and claustorphobic I was afraid to get stuck!

Then I went out with Annarita and Rita. We walked around downtown Naples and went to a bar where they taught me a bunch of Neapolitan cursewords, which was a riot for them.

Today the museum's were free and open so we went to one of the world's top Archeological museums in the world to watch a Japanese dancing exhibition. Then we saw some statues and walked round. And now I've been cleaning, doing homework. I called home...which is something I've been meaning.wanting to do for awhile.

This weekend I'm going to Alessia's hometown to see another area. And I want to go to Milan to visit Katie. And Venice to visit Rose. And Sicily. And Germany to visit Kelly. And England/Ireland to visit Sara. And France to visit Melanie...I have to cut some of these out...And I need to take more pictures :-/

Whoops.

I hate not having the Internet. With that sad, here's what I've been up to:

Buon pomeriggio,

Well, hi. I’m sure I remember writing this thing some time ago. But unfortunately things have turned out to be pazze* and I haven’t had anytime to update. So the last time I left you was on Friday, giusto*? Well, today is Tuesday. So here is what I have been up to:

Saturday I woke up early to meet Eugenio. We went to his house and picked up his mom (who came in from Venafro) and took her to the jewelry store, which was nice. Then we ate lunch at his sister’s house (tiny macaroni shells with potatoes) and looked for an Internet company. I had finally gotten a hold of a cellphone from Eugenio’s mom, which made things a lot easier on me. Basically how it works in Italy is that you can get the Internet using your cellphone card to connect and you can pay for the service. We tried going to Wind (which is my cell phone company) but it was closed. So he brought me to Montesanto (where I live). Alessia and I were walking to the metro station where we were to meet Serena when a kid about 17, 18 ran up to a woman of about 50 years and tried to grab her necklace, causing her to fall. But he didn’t get it and she was alright – but Alessia was pretty shaken up. We then rode the funicolare* up to Vomero and then took the metro to Piazza Dante and then back to Montesanto (so I could see how the system works).

Then Eugenio came and picked me up and we went to Annarita’s house. I really missed her – I also go to see Rino, his friend, Cristina (Annarita’s sister) and Salvatore (Cri’s husband). We ended up driving around for awhile and went to Salerno and had pizza but I ate a calzone. This thing was bigger than my head! I managed to eat it. By this time I was pretty tired, after a long week and traveling and the time change (it was about 1am) but the others wanted to stay out, I ended up falling asleep while we were talking. We got back about 4am to Eugenio’s house.

On Sunday we went to Angela’s (Eugenio’s mom) house in Venafro, which is right about an hour by car. It’s such a beautiful area and they have such a wonderful house. We ate sooo much. I ate mozzarella cheese balls covered in cream, ham with ricotta rolled up inside, sautéed chicken, pasta al ragù, gateau (which is a potato, cheese, ham slice of heaven!) and then babá which is a Neapolitan donut type thing. Then we ended up going back to my place then I went out with Alessia and her friend, Michela.

So here we are to Monday! My first day! I woke up but was exhausted. It takes about a half hour, 35 minutes to get to my university from where I live by foot, so I woke up at 8 but got out by 8:30…and I had class at 9. So I rush and managed to get to building by 9 but the elevator is so busy and chaotic there that I ended up waiting for 10 minutes for it to arrive. I met my professor I will have just for the next 10 days, Guia.

We basically worked on my pronunciation, stress, fluency, comprehension and listening skills. That took four hours and it was exhausting. On my way back to home, I was walking with my iPod in my backpack and the headphone (I only had one in my ear) trailing out. Halfway home someone runs up, tries to pull off my backpack and decides instead to open it so everything falls to the ground. I talked to a couple of people about it and they said it was just some idiot being and idiot – he wasn’t trying to rob me (seeing as it was 3pm and in a crowded piazza). So now I walk with my laptop back instead of laptop. Live and learn.

I came home and some friends of Alessia came over, Carmen, Michela and two others (unfortunately I don’t remember their names). We had fun, sitting around talking and cooking eggplant and penne. I ate something called a bombeletta di cioccolato which was a wonderful concoction of donut and chocolate. Then Eugenio came over and we went looking for Wind with Alessia, but it was closed. So we did some grocery shopping, came back and I fried chicken nuggets and French fries while watching one of my favorite shows, Le iene (The Hyenas) and basically they are sort of Fox Fix It Line and they chase down people who have done bad things or they report about how backwards Italy is, it’s funny and I understand it. Ci piace!*

Then I woke up this morning and went to class. Guia and I talked about the article I read for homework then we fought with the computer for a listening exercises but it didn’t want to work. So I watched a couple of interviews with the writer of Gomorra, which is a book that puts the spotlight on the “mafia” in Naples. They put a hit out on him so he rarely does interviews, always put in a safehouse. By this time I was dozing off because they were talking so fast and it was dark and I was tired. Then I came home and Alessia and I cooked lunch and I did laundry.

This has been an experience let me tell you! First they don’t use dryers. They have a tiny washer that runs for about 2 hours, then you hang your clothes outside, which was a horrifying experience for me because I was so nervous to drop something. BUT. I did succeed in doing it, by myself. I did take pictures. When I have the Internet (which I desperately hope is for tonight), I’ll post some pictures. Sorry that I haven’t had any time/access to the Internet to update!

Ci vediamo in questi giorni,

Kevin

*crazy, right?, cable car, we like it!

(later on)

Hola,

Ok. So Eugenio couldn’t find a parking space and ended up just stopping and I got into his car. We went to the Wind store and the guy was really friendly. And to get the deal for my phone I needed a new number so he gave me a new SIM card and I bought another one for the Internet, which is unlimited access for 20 euros, split between me and Alessia, so ten euros. We came back and Alessia had skipped town to Salerno for the night so I was left to try and cook something. I ended up throwing some pasta, ham, lots of provolone and hot dog into a pot. It was alright, it was missing some panna* which made it sort of…blah. We ended up watching X-Factor (type of American Idol) and then going to sleep. I woke up and was getting ready for the day and I saw the clock and I was running behind. I got to L’Orientale and Guia and I watched some more of those interviews. Then we talked about the camorra and then she made me write and edited it. Then we talked some more. I went up to Serena’s office and I had access to the Internet! Hallelujah! But…it was like 6, 7am where you guys are so no one was online. Then I went to meet one of my other professors and he was ready to start teaching today…

Serena had to explain to him that classes didn’t start today. But he gave me the books anyway. Then Serena and I walked around Naples for awhile, I came back, grabbed a few groceries for dinner tonight, put away my laundry and mo* I’ll start my homework. I don’t have the Internet or a new number because I left the SIM cards in Eugenio’s car and I’m not going to see him tonight, he has things he needs to do.

Ok, I’m off to homework!

A un domani,

Kevin

*cream, *right now (in Neapolitan)

p.s.

STILL NO INTERNET. Humbug.

Giovedì

We we,

Today was another hectic, Italian day. I really feel like this is going to be my experience with Italy – last minute plan changes and lack of communication. But it’s fine, Costa Rica prepared me for this. I woke up, caught an open network and was on it for about 15 minutes and then was kicked off…again. Then I headed out the door on my own little adventure. I kept telling myself, “destra alla Cumana, sinistra alla Piazza San Domenico”* which is the longest path but also the most straight forward one there is to my university. I sat around and read for a few minutes, waiting for Serena to show up. We walked over to the port to a post office but they were closed, so we took a taxi to another post office, sent off the permesso di soggiorno. And headed back to L’Orientale.

Which was sort of a waste. I learned one, maybe two things. She warned me about local culture, money, classes, stuff I had already figured out. While she was filling me in on the train/tram/bus system I was nodding off – unfortunately I slept poorly the night before because of the noises on the street. But just like in Costa Rica, I’ll get used to it. Then after that Eugenio called and he picked me up. We went shopping for a few things, his best friend Luca showed up to get something for his brother’s birthday. Then we went and got a coffee (I have been crabby all day due to exhaustion). Then we went to Eugenio’s sister’s house and ate dinner and then he dropped me off. And here I am.

I talked to Alessia for a little bit. Apparently I made a brutta figura* because no one had shown me how you leave the courtyard – I tried to just open it but that didn’t work, I saw a keyhole and put my key in and out I went. There was a women there on her phone and apparently she tried to warn me but I thought she was talking on the phone. So that was…perfect? Yeah, ok. But tomorrow will be nice, I get to see Annarita and I don’t have orientation – I have weekends off. Now it’s midnight and I need some sleep!

Baci,

Kevin Regan

*right at Cumana (a train station), left at the Piazza San Domenico, bad impression

La vita napoletana

Bondì!

Ok, so..wow. A lot has happened. This is going to be a long post – let me warn you. This is the first time I’ve had a chance to update. It’s actually about 7am right now. I woke up with a mal di pancia* and because of the time change I can’t go back to sleep. Comunque*! After we last spoke, I made it to Brussels and had the most torturous 5 hour wait in my life! Luckily on my plane to Brussels I met a women, Nancy, who was also going to Naples to visit her daughter who had just had a baby on the Navy base here. We walked around the airport, exchanged money and that lasted for about…two hours. Then we just kind of sat there and tried not to fall asleep.

Then my plane to Naples kept on being delayed and kept on being delayed by ten minutes and by the end I got into Naples almost 40 minutes later than expected. Then we got off the plane and took a bus to the arrivals area and waited for our luggage. For those of you who already know, you know I have HORRIBLE luck with receiving my luggage when I travel internationally. Well…I ended up waiting for almost TWO hours for my bag but luckily, it did come. I was ready to dare uno schiaffo* to some Neapolitan men who kept on cutting me off to see the incoming baggage.

Then I came out and saw Serena which was such a nice pleasure. We grabbed a taxi and headed to my place, about a 20 minute ride. Then we got to my place. Oh. My. Gosh. I am going to upload pictures as soon as possible but believe you me, it is more than I expected. It’s simply divine and simply, Neapolitan. Walking up to my apartment I heard people shouting in Neapolitan, “We we, me ch’ vuo’ fa’ staser’?”* and “Te rap’ a’ capp’ sce’!”*. I met Alessia, which was a bit comical because I’ve come to learn that most Italians, when they first met, shake hands. But then afterwards, when they’re ready to go, they kiss each other’s cheek. Well, Alessia was expecting to kiss me on the cheek and I was expecting to shake hands, we ended up colliding and laughing. I surprised her with how well I spoke Italian. I dearly love my apartment and she’s a lovely girl. The area is full of kind hearted and quite nosy Italians – which I’m perfectly OK with!!!

I ended up unpacking halfway and then Alessia made dinner (penne with le zucchini and prosciutto) when Eugenio arrived. He and I then finished unpacking everything and he left and I happily (and tiredly, because I didn’t sleep at all on the flights) went to sleep.

This morning I woke up, took a shower and Alessia and I walked to my orientation (also where I will talk classes, al Palazzo Mediterraneo dell’Orientale). I had already been there before with Serena so I was a LITTLE familiar with the surroundings, which is comforting. We got there, I met my Architecture professor – she’s studied with some famous people at some famous universities and spoke English 100% perfectly (although with a British accent!). She seemed wonderful, I’m actually excited for the class. Then I met some administrators and for the rest of the morning we talked about CIEE, what they’re about, what I’m to expect, how to handle emergencies etc. etc. But tomorrow (or I should say today, seeing how early it is) we’re going to cover academics and things. Anyway, then we had lunch with a bunch of Serena’s students (who all spoke English). And it happened, again.

Everytime I’m with a large group of Italians who don’t know me, they’re ALL sooo nervous to talk to me, especially if they speak/study English. They feel that I might not speak Italian very well or that I might judge them for their English. So it takes them a minute to warm up to me, so I always put forth an effort to be charming in Italian. Usually after the second time of meeting me, they’re ready to be friends haha. But we ate at La figlia del presidente, which there is a famous pizzeria that’s named the president and so to start a chain they have the president’s daughter and the president’s son. And then we went back to L’Orientale and ate a ciambella* that a girl named Assia had made. It was a lot of fun because I got to talking linguistics with a boy named Gateano and then I spoke in Portuguese with another boy named Jon (I think). Then we went back to Orientation and we finished early, much to the surprise to Serena. We went up to the CIEE office and filled out a permesso di soggiorno which, in Italy, after you get your visa you have to stop by a police station but before you do you need to send in a request to be summoned by the police station to sort of say, “Hey, I’m here in Italy with a visa so in case if you arrest me or something, I won’t have illegal status!”. This morning Serena and I are going to drop that off by the post office. Then I came back to the apartment (it takes right about 25 minutes walking) and then Eugenio came over. Alessia ended up going out and he and I cooked spaghetti with olio (that was flavored with garlic). Eugenio ended up leaving and Serena had called him with some bad news – she wasn’t going to swing by to pick me up and Alessia has something to do.

So I’m on my own this morning to find il Palazzo Mediterraneo by myself! But I remember the street fairly well and it’s not too difficult to get to, it’s just a map is kind of useless because street names aren’t written, they’re just sort of known by Neapolitans haha. It’ll be interesting.

But before going to bed last night I was looking for an open network and managed to find it. I was online for oh…about ten minutes before they figured out that I was connected and put a password on it, haha. So this weekend I need to get one of those wireless flash drives, a cellphone (which I’ve come to find out is essential), a bigger converter for my laptop and some groceries.

But anyway. Now that I’ve written a lot, I should probably get off of here. I’ll try to post these (what I’m doing is writing them in a Word document and saving them) the next chance I get. I feel sort of disconnected from my home world right now, which I suppose is a good thing but also a bad thing. Anyway. Pictures to come!

Ciao cari miei,

Kevin

*stomache, anyway!, to slap/hit, dude, what do you want to do tonight?, I’m going to kick your ass, idiot!, a donut/cake dessert

Traveling...ugh

Ciao a tutti,

So I want you to appreciate this moment – I am super dedicated. As of this moment I am on my flight from Philadelphia to Brussels and I am blogging. Dedication? I like to think so.

I really wish that I never have to meet four o’clock in the morning ever again. That’s what I said when I rolled out of bed this morning. – to which I forgot as I hurriedly threw everything where it belonged and ran out the door and to my demise it was raining outside. I got to the airport and while checking in and I almost passed out – quite literally – because I realized I couldn’t find my passport. Then Mom came up and showed me where it was.

Then we had a teary parting. I waited for my flight – went to Philadelphia with no problem. But then I had the daunting task to pass 8 hours in the airport…I didn’t fare too well. And I must say, what the heck American dollar? You’re sucking real bad for me.

I’ve met a ot of interesting people, like I always do. I’ve spent about half the flight (right under 7 hours) gabbing with a woman from Belgium but has Spanish parents. I don’t have to much to update on.

I just don’t know what to expect from Italy. I don’t know what to expect. I don’t feel apprehensive or nervous. Just sort of…holding my breath before the plunge, I suppose. I’m supposed to be living with a girl named Alessia. It should be interesting. I get into Naples about 4pm and then I’m going to my apartment (I will post pictures as soon as I can) then the next day is sort of orientation. Apparently classes don’t start until October but language training and orientating myself to the city goes into full effect.

So, sorry if this was kind of a boring post, I don’t have too much to update. The next one will be pictureful, I promise (that ism if I have the Internet…)

Ci sentiamo domani,

Kevin

The night before leaving

So today was a day for reckoning, according to yours truly. And I leave for Italy tomorrow. Naples. Gosh.

It started off poorly, waking up late and running over to my grandparents. And then coming back having my computer fixed then finishing up last minute details, then making said computer crash, then having repair man return, then tacos and Becky and packing. And now I'm tying up more loose ends.

Generally a blog is like New Year's for me - I don't ever keep up with it. But I'm really really going to try this time. I really want to.

Packing my bags was a little stressful, actually. I never had that problem before, with weight. But now everything's squared away. I'm about to go to bed (I wake up in four hours).

I'm headed to Philadelphia from Kansas City then to Brussels (in Belgium for those of you who don't know) then to Naples - where I will find my new digs with my room mate, Alessia. So with this first post, I bid Kansas City a goodnight and a good morning to Philadelphia.

Ci vediamo,
Kevin