Spinning Around the World: September 2014

Today marks three weeks since arrival in Padova. Time is going by ridiculously fast it blows my mind. I think that time has just progressively been speeding up! Regardless, a lot of things are going on here, lots of fun is being had, and lots of learning is underway. Our whole Boston University group is going on a weekend trip to Firenze, departing tomorrow morning bright and early at 9am from the train station (which is about a 40/45 minute walk from where I live). We will be visiting several galleries and museums tomorrow and and saturday and we will be doing some off the beaten path explorations (necessity). Three of my friends and I will be staying two nights at a hostel and the other 6 will be staying at an Air B&B. It's exciting!
Last weekend we went to Verona for the day and we were blessed with the perfect temperature and the perfect amount of sunshine dancing down upon us. apart from going to see the casa di giulietta, (too crowed with tourists) we roamed around and stumbled upon some of the most beautiful bridges, buildings, churches, narrow streets, steep green hills rising up in the peripheries, and of course little cafes. It was amazing.
I've been doing a lot of socializing with italians. In the element! It is one of the most amazing sensations that I couldn't possibly do justice with my words. this language sometimes gives me shivers. My italian has improved quite a fair bit, predominantly my understanding (which i would say is at about 90%) and writing... We had to write a composition for our Italian class and the paper I ended up writing to my surprise came out very stylized-- metaphorical and poetic and very quite Tess.
On the academic front things are going well, learning so much every day that at the end of four hours of class in italian i'm exhausted! in a couple weeks we will begin our courses at the University of Padova, i'm hoping (so extremely) to take a french language, literature, translation and mediation course. At the BU academic center here i'm taking two courses with core focuses on emigration and immigration-- one is just that, in a historical mind frame, and the other is a migrant italian literature course that focuses on works of literature written by either immigrants who have spent a majority of their lives in Italy or those who were born here to parents who immigrated. These works of literature are so beautiful-- they offer us so much perspective both culturally and literarily. Immigration into Italy and the concept of "lo straniero," or the foreigner, is often a topic of discussion. It's really interesting to be studying a topic so currently culturally relevant that I hear people at the dinner table or in the bars talking about it almost every day.
There is really not too much more to add at this point, just that things are really wonderful here and i don't know if I'll ever be able to leave. The other american students are really wonderful. We have become a little clique-y which is better in my opinion because being in a big group of 11 americans is horrendous. (even though they are wonderful people). That being said though, we do all get along really well and when we do have to all do an activity together we have loads of fun.
I'm trying my best to show that not all americans eat fast food, not all americans are monolingual, not all americans are culturally ignorant, not all americans dress poorly, not all americans tote guns, etc, etc, etc, without dissing my country of origin. I have discovered though that the way to get the message across that not all americans are arrogant and to disprove the aforementioned stereotype it proves pretty helpful to not be ashamed to carry myself as an individual and to not associate myself in the conversation as 'american'; rather as a child of the earth.

xxx Baci xxx

Verona Arena

colors in the sky

happy people

the kittens are growing up!

good morning little princess <3

So here I am, all you loyal blog-followers, sitting in my room in the Sacra Famiglia neighborhood in the ridiculously wonderful city of Padova, feeling a gentle bliss. The sun is shining radiantly and there isn't a cloud in the sky. The kittens are playing right outside my window and occasionally the little kids next door giggle and shriek in Italian as they play in the yard. Windows open (always) and the fresh end-of-summer-air drifts in and out of my room.
Literally so much has happened since arriving here a little over a week ago, it feels like it's been a month (in a good way) and the life has been ridiculously non-stop (also in a good way). Talk about new experiences, new faces, new places, new tastes, smells, temperatures, streets, piazzas, everything. It is all new and so so beautiful. I can't believe how much i've grown in just these last 10 or so days.
I would like to do a brief re-cap for you all, as daunting of a task that seems to me as my fingers click across my keyboard...
And so here we go: there are 11 american students here , myself included, 9 of which are from Boston University and two of which are from other schools (which I can't remember right now). We come from all different places across the states and we all have different stories. It's a little (miniature) american melting pot of 20-something-year-olds. At present we all are getting along, thank god, and we are enjoying immensely exploring this city and all the experiences it has to offer. All the locals say that this city is small, that there's not that much to do here, but I just want to say, in contrast, that this city is very big, and that there are SO many things to do. (especially considering that Trani is actually a small city).
On the topic of locals--I've made so many italian friends already its wonderful. I would say that i'm pretty blessed with my host family situation, principally regarding the attitude with which they run their house, but also because my host sister Marta is wonderfully social and accepting, she is opened minded and we get along very well--she has taken me out a few times and i've gotten to meet her friends. But, as I am focusing on a period of my life in which PROACTIVITY is essential, i've also made some wonderful friends on my own initiative. I think my abilities with the language have been essential, because i'm really able to communicate, socialize, and even touch on deeper social, cultural, and political topics in Italian. I can imagine that without my italian everything would be a little more difficult.
I am so very comfortable here. I haven't been this content or happy for a long time. Something inside of me is finally at peace and now all the person that I am is able to look at life and say " i'm so grateful to be here, this life is so beautiful, this person that I am is beautiful, this world is my pearl( i think they say that?) " etc...
Anyways, on to other topics, such as adventure: On my first friday here I went to Ferrara, which is a little city slightly south of Padova, like an hour-ish in car. To orient you, lets say Ferrara is near (just north) to Bologna. There was a festival going on called Bunkers Festival, in which street musicians come from all over to serenade the city-- on every street corner you stumble on a little cluster of people surrounding a solo-musician or a band, swaying or outright dancing to the multitude of genres from rock to jazz(the best) to some electronic mixing, to drums, etc. It was amazing! I went with Marta and some of her friends and for about 6 hours we talked non-stop in italian. Let me just tell you that this is a ridiculously beautiful experience, that words cannot describe, and that someone will only understand if they've had this experience on their own. Regardless of how insanely wonderful this experience is, (speaking for that long in a different language) , it's also very exhausting. and when i finally got into my bed at like 330 in the morning I was out for nearly twelve hours, basically losing my first saturday in Padova (I'm not too worried though, there are so many more to come!)
Next topic is academics, because from monday the first to thursday the fourth i had my first four days of classes at the Boston University academic center at Galleria Santa Lucia near Piazza Garibaldi in the center of Padova. the first and foremost detail of this academic center is the fact that it is staffed by the most wonderful, interesting, insanely intelligent, thoughtful, and passionate people. My professors are amazing-- and considering that the average class has about 5 students (seeing as how we are only in 11) the learning environment is very intimate and enriching. everything is taught in italian. It's going to be demanding, but doable. I would say that I'm definitely not feeling stressed or overwhelmed for the academics, but we've only had one week of classes so there's really no saying yet! My classes include: Advanced Italian Practicum with Claudia Baldelli, Migrant Italian Literature with Laura Lenci, and Immigration and Emigration in Italy with Gadi (I can't remember his last name!). They are all wonderful and intellectually stimulating, especially the literature course because it's a relatively new field of study and very dynamic and thought-provoking. the academic director Elisabetta Convento is completely lovely and so helpful, as is Bonnie Ponthier, the student affairs coordinator. I also love Mara who basically dealt with all the legal documentation and visa paperwork for us and is entirely sweet and personable and a joy to see. I basically love all the faculty and staff at this mini-university.
I will also be taking a course at l'Universita' degli studi di Padova, which will begin in the beginning of october--hopefully ill be taking a french class.
Yesterday five of us took a day trip to Venezia and we were blessed with a beautiful clear day there, with sunshine, gentle breezes, and not to stifling of a heat. we drank wine in the piazze, ate pizza in Piazza San Marco (which was ridiculously over-priced but delicious) and walked probably a total of 4 miles exploring the narrow alleys and streets, walking along canals, admiring the architecture, and chatting amongst ourselves. I asked for directions about 50 times no joke--for a directionally gifted person like myself, Venezia was like a maze. We had an amazing time. It's so easy to travel!
I'll add a few photos, but other than that, I think i've covered most of the main big details. So welcome to my Padovian life! I hope to keep you posted from time to time when life allows :)

Uno Spritz in Piazza dei Signori