Carnevale!!!

Yesterday, one of my dreams came true. I went to Carnevale in Venezia. It was incredible. Besides the fact that the city itself has beauty everywhere you look, the costumes for Carnevale are absolutely unreal. They are so extravagant and detailed and no two people look the same. I don't know whose these people are, I'm pretty sure just regular people, but they dress up and have crowds of people take their picture literally all day.

It was a beautiful sunny day and definitely one of the warmer days we have had. Picking out a mask was a blast. There are endless options. We explored the city most of the day. There was something to see wherever you looked so we did not do any of the typical touristy things you do when you are in Venice. However I did have to pay a euro fifty to pee. It's a constant European problem. You spend hours looking for bathrooms or deciding what thing you are going to buy so you can use the bathroom. Ridiculousness. The end of the day held a special place in my heart because it of course involved dancing in Piazza San Marco. The festivities included a DJ set, but he was a lame DJ because he was unable to incorporate any of our requests into his music because it was a "set" program. First of all, what kind of DJ are you? Second of all Hellllooo. We are American. We can help you pick songs that aren't years old. But that's okay cause we danced the night away anyway before following the approximately 214 signs back to the train station. Sometimes I think the signs send you in a circle through the back alleys just to mess with you. But we all made it safe and sound and happy.

Nationalism

Our homework for class today was to write a composition about how living in a different country and speaking another language is like having another identity. Judith and I were discussing our composition and she told me that she has never felt more American than here in Italy, which contrasted some of our discussion in class. I pondered this idea on my walk home and it is indeed quite interesting. With America themed parties and American flag print clothing all the rage these days and the great ease with which one can start the well known U S A chant, it seems that Americans are bubbling over with pride for their country. But if you cannot know hot if you don't know cold, and cannot know good if you don't know evil, well how can you ever truly know what it means to be American if you have never experience another culture? Many Americans are quick to jump up and aggressively defend what is it to be an American, but how can you ever really be sure you really know what that means?

La Giostra

Today I rode the little carousel in the corner of Pratto delle Valle (Meadow of the Valley) which is one of the parks in town. I, naturally, was the only person on it. I rode the lovely little pink horse named Rosie because the woman told me to, but unfortunately it didn't go up and down. Oh well. Italy can't stop me from being a little kid.

Little Tidbits

1. I have yet to lay eyes on a microwave or a dryer. 2. Self-serve cigarette machines exist in numerous quantities. 3. Dogs have way more fashion than I ever will. 4. Dogs go to the bathroom on the sidewalks, and it is not always cleaned up. 5. Mannequins have more stylish haircuts than I. 6. Italian women are born with an innate ability to walk on cobblestone streets in high heels. 7. Ugly babies are possibly culled from the gene pool. 8. Chocolate cookies are totally acceptable to eat at breakfast. 9. Sometimes you have to buy a coffee just so you can pee. 10. Even though that door has a handle that looks like you should pull it, you probably have to push it. 11. Approximately 75% of the population thinks fur coats and fur vests are attractive. 12. Men are not afraid of their feminine whether they express it through polka dot umbrellas or tiny dogs with coats.

Palazzo Bo

Today we took a tour of Palazzo Bo, which is one of the academic buildings of the university. However, it contains some really cool stuff. Galileo taught there back when he was a professor of mathematics at the University and the Palazzo contains what is suspected to be Galileo's lectern from which he taught. No one was ever quite sure if it was really his lectern, but they have it roped off and on display because no one ever wanted to throw it out in case it really was his. The Palazzo also contains the first anatomical theater where students would watch as their professor dissected human corpses. The tour guide mentioned that one person had the job of finding corpses to dissect, and often professors would give their bodies to science after they died. I could only imagine having a professor for class and then dissecting his body some time later! And to save the best for last: a statue of Elena something something cause she has four names, but she was the first woman graduate in the entire world! From the University of Padova, I'm so proud. Her degree was in philosophy.

I think the history of the University is really interesting because it was founded when a group of students from Bologna decided they wanted a better education so they broke away and founded their own university and devised a way to pay their professors to teach them. I also learned today from my Italian friend Linda that all students in Italy are able to go to university because if your family earns less than a certain amount per year, you are able to attend for free. It's an interesting contrast to the so-called American Dream, where if you work really hard you can do anything even though higher education is ridiculously expensive. So good job on that one, Italia.

I Colli

Sunday was an absolutely gorgeousssss day. So warm and beautifully sunny. My friend Cayla and I took a bus to the Euganean Hills, about an hour out of the city. We just wandered around and essentially walked up the road to the top of one of the hills with some little side trips along the way along random paths. The vistas were stunning. The lush green valley with scattered rooftops and brightly colored houses with the snowy Alps looming in the distance. It was picturesque Italia, peaceful and serene. It was nice to take a break from the city, and appreciate a completely different side of Italian life.

We wandered the property of this villa, it seemed like a vacation spot, but we weren't really sure. Afterwards, we ran back down the hill, definitely one of the most incredible runs I've done, even though it wasn't that long. After exploring the local bars, befriending a few of the baristas, and playing on the playground, we surprise missed our bus. Apparently we had to go to a different stop a little up the street in order to return home. Luckily (in reality thank all heavenly gods) that it was the second to last bus and not the last, so that we were ready to go when the last bus came and made it safely home.

Bologna

As Judith and I walked to the train station at 7:30 this morning and it was already cold and raining, I told her that today was going to be an adventure. And was it ever. We successfully made it to Bologna without any problems and began our rainy day with the main piazza and the main church. The cool thing about Bologna is that it is a lot more touristy that Padova, so when you speak a full sentence of Italian, the Italians are impressed instead of quickly trying to speak English to you. We stopped into a museum with a really cool old library and an anatomical lecture hall. For lunch, I dined on some fantastic tortellini. I was quite proud of myself for taking charge of the map all day (clearly following in my mother's footsteps) though I will definitely be passing that duty on to someone else for the next trip. Then came one of the highlights of the day - climbing the Torre Asinelli. Although it was foggy, we still got a nice view of the city climbing up those 500 steps. The walls had these little holes in them at the bottom so water on a day like today would flow through and not get trapped on the top of the tower. All of a sudden, we heard a commotion. Turns out Judith dropped her Nalgene water bottle AND IT ROLLED RIGHT THROUGH THE HOLE AND FELL OFF THE TOWER. It the most horribly comical thing ever. We don't think anyone died...and we couldn't find a shattered water bottle anywhere so I don't know what happened. Afterwards, we walked through the University and a park with statues, so I of course mimicked them, my favorite thing to do. I had this FANTASTIC crepe with pistachio-flavored filling. It was so delicious. I bought a happy little scarf in this interesting market and then we returned to the train station. We arrived minutes before the train left so in the commotion, Judith, Marissa and I couldn't purchase our tickets in time before the train left, but we sent our other friends along because Amanda was sick. We decided to take the next train, went for a coffee, and returned and got on the train. We soon realized something was wrong. And that's when the day went downhill. Although we paid for a slow train, we accidentally got on the fast train and had to pay an extra 23 euro!! Ahhh the worst. It was so expensive. So that was a damper. Marissa and Judith discussed saving money on food, but as we all know, I cannot skimp on food in any way. So I will make up that money somehow. At the end of day, we finally returned sopping wet, but it was all definitely worth the adventure.