The Weekend :)

Wow, what a packed three days.

Thursday, after our tour of medieval Bologna, we had a very interesting night. We made a ton of new friends and spent way too much time being awake. We met this group of American girls in an Irish pub who were also super sweet and then we met this group of Dutch guys upstairs in the pub. They are hilarious and very sweet as well.

Friday we had intensive Italian as usual, including our first test (although it didn't count). I think I did fairly well! Friday afternoon was spent napping (for my roomies) and watching tv for me. I know I know, I am in Italy and spent a few hours lost in tv land? Pathetic, but I was tired! So sue me. That night we went to Cafe Paris (where we are now regulars...) then on to a club called Lab 16. And guess who we encountered at Lab 16 around 1 am? The dutch boys AND the american girls! But not together. We spent a few hours dancing the night away with the boys then called it a night.

Saturday, we went off to Ferrara, which is a really cute town, very different from Bologna. It is only about 40 minutes away via train which was convenient for us because we could make it a day trip. The town, once you get towards the center, is really low key. Everyone rides bikes everywhere and there are very few cars, although we did see one red ferrari! We took pictures of course :P

The town has a really cool castle in it that we toured. The Ceilings were some of the most beautiful pieces of artwork I have ever seen. I kept taking pictures and thinking "Oh my goodness my family would love this" or "this looks like..." The tower had some incredible views and was only 122 steps to reach the top! Not too shabby. The dungeons offered an awesome perspective of what we see in movies like The Count of Monte Cristo. You realize when you are in it how incredibly hard, if not impossible, it would be to escape. AND there is a moat around the castle... haha good luck convicts.

Fashion wise the town is really different than Bologna. They actually wear colored jackets in Ferrara, tend to dress more American but classier (in general). A lot of the teenagers wear straight leg jeans or skinny jeans and hit top sneakers rather than the Bolognian boots and skinny jeans. I don't know, the styles are just different. Kind of like the difference between New York City and New Jersey. (Ish)

Oh and with the bike thing, teenagers would have two people on a bike, then there were mothers with two or three kids on a bike with them, and then there were the older people, still riding bikes! It was so cool to see that culture.

The cathedral we went into was also very very beautiful. I can't even describe how amazing it was. (Even though it was catholic :P) When I walked in a song popped into my head "Our God is an Awesome God" how appropriate.

The markets were similar to the ones in Bologna but better quality and more unique things. I bought three scarfs for 13 euro! it was great :)

Anyway, the overall trip was so worth it.

I would recommend people going there if they can.

Alla Prossimo!

<3

Medieval Bologna!

Ciao!

Today we got a tour of Medieval and Renaissance Bologna. Extremely interesting because we went to the Medieval Museum (which I will be going back to) and walked through a four part church. It was seriously gorgeous. Actually that whole part of Bologna, the Jewish Ghetto, Two Towers, Church, cobble stone walkways, and back roads was so romantic. Oh, and we found santa there... weird I know.

We have a wine and cheese get together tonight which is exciting but other than that I just have some italian homework :P

Oh and after 9 hours I have already learned so much!

:)

<3

Tough Love

Beware, it's about to get real, real quick.

So, if you only want the good things skip this post and head to the next one...

I warned you...

Have you ever just wanted to curl up into a little ball and escape the reality around you?

Have you ever just really wanted a certain person's hug? Whether it is a friends or parents hug?

Have you ever felt so homesick it brought you to tears?

Have you ever wished people weren't so attached to the familiar and would just break out of their comfort zones and embrace people they don't know?

Have you ever wished you could understand the people around you like you understand the people closest to you? Or better yet that they could understand you like that?

Have you ever tried to get lost in something that isn't real because facing what is real is harder?

Yeah, I have. And man is it hard, especially in a foreign country without your support system.

Welcome to my blog about homesickness everyone. It stinks. (Like that mom I refrained from using my favorite word)

Don't worry though, this experience and God's plan for me here is way bigger than a momentary spurt of weakness. I will survive!

I promise.

Pray for me. That I can trust God completely on this journey. That I can be strong and face all of the challenges of living here until June. That I learn what I was sent here to learn and grow in the ways He has planned.

Grazie

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Italian Archaeology Museum

Buonasera!

Today we went to the post office at 8 am to start the process of our Permisso di soggiorno (that is totally not spelled correctly) which took about an hour. Then my roommates and I came back to our apartment and after some reading we all passed out until about 12. We had to meet at the center at 1 for a tour. Which was pretty cool. We went to the archaeology museum in Bologna right off the side of the Piazza Maggiore. We also went into the political building (the one on Piazza Maggiore). It was interesting because inside was a countdown until the new year and behind it was this massive skull... a little creepy and out of place. There will be pictures on facebook soon!

I did my italian homework and cut up fresh veggies for about 2 hours while skyping Josh and Chris :) I miss everyone so much.

Listening to Sonorha :P Oh, and weird. People in Italy listen to American music... so I don't know what their actual music sounds like yet. BUT I WANT TO KNOW SO BAD!

Haha

Alla Prossima :)

<3

Come ti chiami?

Ciao!

Wow its only been two days of intensive Italian classes (3 hours each) and I feel like I have learned a lot already! I can have a semi-decent conversation with other non native speakers now!

For example:

Ciao!

Salve!

Come stai?

Bene grazie, e tu?

Bene!

Come ti chiami?

mi chiamo Heather, e tu?

Sono (insert your name here).

Di dove sei?

Sono di Budd Lake vicino a New York in America, y tu?

Ciao!

Arrivederci!

Look a slightly functional conversation!

The class itself is kind of dysfunctional in the sense that everything we learn, like vocab, is completely random. Sometimes frustrating but the Professor is so nice you can't complain. And most of the time everyone in the class feels so stupid due to the fact that NONE of us have taken Italian before. Everyone has taken either spanish or french... so the pronunciation is interesting to hear. The professor, Prof. Pasqui, also likes to challenge us with listening exercises and "reading" La Repubblica (their newspaper). OH and during class yesterday there was a strike of taxi drivers outside and we spent like half an hour talking about it! But it was harmless, just loud.

Needless to say, the class has a ton of homework but looks like it will be super helpful when it comes to learning the language (which is good because that's the point of the class :P).

Oh and not sure if I mentioned it before but this Italian guy started firing questions (not rudely) at me the other day... and now we are facebook friends... haha I am hoping he can help me with Italian and I can help him with English, but no worries I will be careful :P I won't be around him alone ever.

ANYWAY, we found out that Monday nights are hoppin in Bologna... which is probably due to the free Sangria at Cafe Paris. However, because we had class this morning (Tuesday) at 9 am we avoided being out too late.

Last night, before Cafe Paris, Jessy and I went to Taylor and Cassie's place for dinner and it was wonderful :) We felt so real life :P We had chicken, pasta, salad, and garlic bread :) Which wasn't burned! It was delicious!

I think that is all that is worth mentioning at this point :)

Alla prossima!

<3

Via Zamboni... keep walking til you hit a zamboni

Last night was our first Saturday in Bologna. So of course everyone wanted to go out. After spending some time skyping with my parents and Renate I got ready with my roommates Jessy and Nathalie. Then we walked down Via Marsala (the road our apartment is on) until we met up with some other girls on our program. From there we headed to Via Zamboni. Yes you read that right "Zamboni" like the ice rink cleaners.

Apparently, that is the place to go for clubs and bars, which we found out before we even hit the street. You can hear the amount of people from down the road! It is insane. Once we were on the road we were amazed at the volume of Italians. From 15 and 16 year olds to 30 year old men. It was definitely an interesting site. We found out where some of our friends were and headed to Cafe Paris, a local bar. I've been told that when the University of Bologna is in session you can't move in that place. Shots are 1 euro, and the bar tenders are all attractive, which probably adds to the overall atmosphere.

A bunch of students from our program were in there and it was nice to see Gabe who had only arrived that afternoon. After spending some time in there we headed to this Irish pub that has 3 bars in it. We went downstairs and people ordered the beers of their choosing. Oh and in Italy, bars (in the American sense) are called pubs, coffee shops are called bars, and clubs just have names.

Anyway, after the Irish pub we went to a night club called Lab 16, which isn't too crowded until around 2 am... it must be a European thing because everyone goes out reallyyyy late. And that may be a problem for me because I like my sleep.

Most of our program was at the club and towards the beginning was a lot of older music then the DJ casually moved towards more modern hip hop music. So, the evolution of dance was from goofy dancing and doing the dances from the 60s and 70s to modern day dancing... you know what I mean. That's when things started to get sloppy. People were hitting on people and dancing and hookup and whatnot... so we left around 2 am because the atmosphere was getting kind of..awkward. haha

Woke up this morning, showered, and ate. Skyping with people later :) So I am going to go explore :P

<3

I think we have a problem...

So, just a little recap on my past 30ish hours travelling to Bologna...

-Took a 7 and a half hour flight from JFk to Rome...

-The flight attendants were mostly male, about 40 years old, and still indredibly beautiful.... we may have some issues... i snuck a picture of them teehee. It'll be on fb in a few minutes :p

-It wasn't a full flight so I got to steal a window seat just in front of the right wing :)

-They showed Real Steel. Which was AWESOME. watch it. love it.

-Didn't really sleep.... awkward

-When I woke up we were somewhere over France and when the skies cleared so that I could see the ground I was able to see the pastures of France and the Swiss mountains later on. It was truly beautiful. Especially the sun rise.

-Had a 5 hour layover in Rome

-everyone past the time reading, wandering the airport, and sleeping. Not me. I read, wandered, played cards, and didn't sleep... oops

-Plane ride to Bologna from Rome about 40 minutes

-I sat next to these Albanian guys. They spoke a combination of arabaic and french. They were going to Bologna to try Gelato for their business... it was an interesting conversation as none of use know Italian and they know very little English. But it was nice to try :)

-No problems picking up baggage, took a charter bus with everyone to our different apartments, and left

So, Natalie, Jessy, and I unloaded at Via Marsala where we live across from the Dickinson Center. Which is awesome by the way. We lugged our lives packed in suitcases to the third floor (which in the US is the fourth floor) and were taught how to open the door to a shared entrance. It is a pain but I think we can handle it. The apartment is super nice, considered a "quiet" room due to the neighbors, and has some incredible views. It's so European :P

Because we were all exhausted we decided to unpack and make pasta for dinner (the school provided some food for us :)). As the food was cooking we all attempted to set up our rooms and computers and everything... unfortunately my internet REFUSED to cooperate. However, after our morning meeting today at the school I was able to get into it. And now my blog post is going up! yay!

We all got lunch together after the morning meeting of logistics and can i just say that I am already love italian food? And all we had was bread, cheese, veggie, and meat platters. But everything is sooooooooooooo delicious. Oh and of course wine. I think I dislike red wine... oh well I guess I will learn.

Well the girls and I are about to go food shopping for the week or so. But I hope all is well and just wanted you all to know that I am alive :)

<3

Skype seshhh

So currently I am skyping with three of my four girls and it makes me finally realize, only four days from departure, and I am beginning to fully comprehend the amount that I am going to miss them. Oh and the amount of things I still need to do before leaving is incredible. I bought some stuff today like converters and neck pillows and stuff. I am also kind of distracted at the minute because of the skype sesh buttt I guess I will blog again after I arrive in ITALY!!!!

Oh and the prayers that people have been offering... KEEP THEM COMING PLEASE. I appreciate all the prayer I can get.

<3