Day 3!

My legs are swollen from all the walking we did today!
I got up this morning at 7:30 to go running with Sky, a girl in my program, at 8:00. We ran down to the south side of town to the Giardini Margherita, a park just south of the city center. It was really cool to still be in an urban area but to also be in such a green, lush place. I think we were the only female joggers on the streets of Bologna, and we only saw one other girl in the park. It was such a surreal experience!
Maria and I went to the BCSP office later this morning to get started on the big housing search. Calling Italians on the phone is so intimidating! Even with all the misunderstandings, somehow I managed to get my point across to a couple landlords/roommates. Maria and I went to our appointments together today. Strength in numbers! We saw two apartments in the morning and one in the afternoon. They were okay, but neither of us feel like we have found the place for us yet. Tonight I found 6 more numbers to call and emailed 6 people, so hopefully one of those will work!
We went on a bus tour with the whole BCSP group. It was just nice to sit on a bus for an hour! I honestly could not begin to tell you how many miles we walked today! I feel like I'm getting to know the city fairly quickly. Not all the ins and outs, of course, but I can find my way around relatively easily already.
I am getting to know more of the people on our program. I really like all of them, and I really hope we all keep in touch even when we aren't living in the hotel together. I will say more about them later, but I'm too tired to do everyone justice now.
On the way back from our afternoon appointment, which was just inside the city walls, a little too far for either of us, we tried to ride the bus but without success! We couldn't figure out how to buy the ticket once we were on the bus, and then we were supposed to get it stamped or something in another machine, but we were very confused and were getting strange looks from the other passengers, so we got off at the very next stop! Maybe we will try again, but I'm hoping to find an apartment within walking distance so that I never have to take a bus again!
Dinner tonight was at a pizzeria around the corner from our hotel. Erin and I shared caprese di bufala and risotto with vegetables, which were both very good! A wonderful meal out under the night sky of Bologna. A beautiful ending to a very long day.
xoxo

ps. more pix!

pix

Try this link to my album on facebook. It's supposed to be public, so give it a shot even if you don't have facebook. Let me know if it works, because this way will be much easier to do pix this way!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024983&id=1160010007&l=b28793536b

Day Two!

11:17 pm here. What a day! I got up at 7:30 and had breakfast at the hotel, granola with unsweetened yogurt and Italian ham (sooo good!). Then all of us BCSPers had to go over to the BCSP office for an orientation meeting. We met Andrea Ricci, the director. He is soo nice and so very Italian! Also he is living proof that as cute as Italian boys are, they definitely get better with age! After the orientation, we had to fill out a bunch of paperwork for our "permesso di soggiorno" (living permit). Our first introduction to Italian bureaucracy!
After that we all went around the corner to Via Indipendenza (the main drag through Bologna) and got some lunch at a little bar, just like a little restaurant, not like bars in America. I had a wrap with some kind of delicious meat (ham?), mozzarella, and FRESH MUSHROOMS. They toast the wraps and sandwiches right before they give them to you so they are warm, crispy on the outside, and melty on the inside! I also asked for an apple, expecting to just eat it whole, but the guy sliced and even peeled it for me and put it in a little glass bowl. The food here is not only delicious, but also is presented so wonderfully!
After eating, we wandered over to a piazza and sat on the steps for a little bit, then went to a Tabaccheria, like a convenience store, to buy a special stamp we have to have for our living permits. After that, some of us who had not yet bought cell phones went to get them. I bought the cheapest cell phone in the store (29 €) and got the seemingly simple plan that most of the other students were getting. I'm glad to have that checked off my to-do list, but I still need to figure out how to activate it. Cell phone vocabulary is confusing enough in English, let alone Italian!
After that we had to go back to the BCSP office for a housing meeting and then a tour of Via Zamboni where most of the ads about available apartments are posted. I picked up so many, I'm bound to find something I like! Then Maria, Rodolfo, and I went to see an apartment. Maria had already contacted the boy who lives there and made an appointment, so Rodolfo and I decided to tag along. I am so glad I did because interviewing him about the apartment was a lot easier than I thought it would be, and now I'm not as nervous for doing it on my own! The apartment was nice, a little farther away than I would like, and I definitely want to live with girls, so this one was not for me. But it's only the first place I looked, and we have till September 5th to find a place, so I'm not worried. We got gelato on the way back at possibly the BEST gelato shop in Bologna (so said our taxi driver from the airport), La Sorbeteria.
Tonight the BCSP program provided dinner for us at a pizzeria, but we did NOT eat pizza! For our first course we had eggplant lasagna, fresh cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh parmesan, fried zucchini, green olives (with the pit!), and fried potatoes. Second course was homemade noodles in a cream sauce with ham and arugula, which I could not finish! We then had a choice of tiramisu or mascarpone for dessert. I chose tiramisu, and it was PERFECTION. There really are no words to describe the entire meal. It was absolutely unlike anything I've ever had in the United States. Everything here is made with such fresh ingredients. Everyone was speechless at dinner because we could not believe how good it was! We say people eating entire pizzas on their own, which I found incredible, especially since most of them really are quite thin. My American metabolism will not be able to keep up!
Today has been so much better than yesterday, even though yesterday was fun. I think getting a full nights sleep definitely helped, as everything looks better in the morning! Just the few interactions we have had with real Italians today have been fun. I am amazed at how quickly my language skills are returning, simply from having heard Italian all morning during our meetings, and talking with my fellow students. I am by no means grammatically correct most of the time, but I can get my point across. And the Italians we have talked with so far have all been very helpful and nice, especially the guy at the cell phone shop and the boy in the apartment. I am looking forward to finding an apartment and getting settled in!
Still working on pix! Mi dispiace! (I'm sorry)
xoxoxoxo

Day One!

It is 10:46 pm here in Bologna, and I am about to pass out! The last two days have been the longest of my life, full of both frustration and excitement. Flying across the Atlantic was a new and really different experience for me. My flight from Detroit to Amsterdam was delayed on the tarmac for about an hour due to technical difficulties. This meant that I literally had to run (in heels) through the Amsterdam airport to just barely catch my flight to Bologna. Thank goodness there was a couple in the same situation. They were my guardian angels on that leg of the journey because I would never have found the gate and gotten through security as quickly if it wasn't for them. I finally arrived in Bologna at about 11:30 this morning and then had to wait around for a while for my luggage. There certainly has been a lot of waiting these past two days, and I have a feeling there will be plenty more to come! I waited again at the airport because I knew one of the girls, Maria, from my program was scheduled to arrive at 12:15, and I told her I would meet her there and we could share a taxi to the Hotel Holiday. Turns out her luggage was put on the wrong flight, so she didn't come out until almost 1:00 (more waiting for me!), but there was also another BCSPer on the flight, Rodolfo. So the three of us split a taxi and finally reached our destination in Bologna! The rest of the day was spent just walking around the city, trying to find our way around and see what there is to see. Bologna is a bit overwhelming, and not just because I don't speak the language that well. Having never lived in a big city before, it is not at all what I expected. Yes, it's quaint and charming in ways, but for some reason the high level of modernity and the general bustle caught me completely off guard. I do like it, but it will definitely take some getting used to! I will feel much better when I have a real place to live, instead of staying in a hotel. Maria, Rodolfo, Rob, and I found an adorable little "fruttivendolo" (produce shop) just around the corner from our hotel. I got the most delicious, fresh plum and apple I have ever eaten! We also figured out the bus system (eventually) in order to get back to the airport to pick up Maria's bags. We were nodding off on the bus, we were so tired! I think I have met all of the participants in the program (17 total) and they are all really nice! A bunch of us went out to dinner (with wine!) and then the whole group went and got gelato after. Delicious! I had "fragola" (strawberry)! Right now, I am sitting in bed, Maria is sleeping, and I have blisters on my feet. It has been a long day, but a good one!
P.S. I'm trying to put up pictures, but it's taking forever, so I will try again later!
xoxo