Having only moved into my apartment late Tuesday night, it seems like I had not left the United States on Sunday! That’s the problem with traveling; you just keep going and going and all of the days form into one, because there’s no day or night, no beds or showers, to split up the monotony of jumping from plane to airport to bus to train.
My flight from Washington, D.C. (Dulles) to Amsterdam was relatively short and nice. I had the whole middle row to myself, and managed to sleep for about an hour. I was too anxious to sleep and ended up watching Flight of the Conchords and Vicky Christina Barcelona instead. My flight from Amsterdam to Milan was cancelled and they put me on one later that day, but that kept getting delayed. I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to make it to the housing agency in Milan before they closed and wouldn’t have a place to stay. Luckily my old 3-D design professor, Steve Loar, had told me about one of his past students at RIT and told me to look her up on Facebook.
I sent her a Facebook message and she got back to me and let me know that I could stay with her and gave me her information. By the time I got into central Milan, it was about 8:30pm. I gave Alice a call from a payphone and she told me what tram to take and where to meet her. I got lost and sadly ended up at the stop an hour later than I was supposed to. She was nowhere in sight. An Italian man saw me with my luggage in the pouring rain and took pity on me, making me stand under his umbrella and letting me use his telephone. Alice wasn’t answering the phone so I went back to the central station with the intention of calling someone from home to find hostel information, then planned on taking a cab to one. I called Terence and left him a message but couldn’t keep my voice from cracking up (how embarrassing! but i hadn’t slept for 30 hours at this point and was soaking wet, so I must forgive myself). So then I kept trying for Alice, got in touch, got her address, and took a cab.
I met her friend Raffaele, changed my clothes, had dinner (yummy Milanese Risotto!), took a shower, and SLEPT. I woke up and went to orientation, which is all a blur, got a cell phone, got my monthly student transportation card (only 17 euros per month!!!!), helped others translate the form so they could fill it out, and then went to the Duomo and went SHOPPING, looked at all the things that I can’t afford, and got towels that I had forgotten.
Then I finally was able to move into my apartment. It was a long journey, but I met lots of cool people. I met someone in the airport at Amsterdam studying in a town near Rome, met a girl from Amsterdam living near Bologna on my flight to Milan who took the bus into central Milan with me, and got to know the housing people here very well. Everyone has been friendly so far, the program seems far superior to the one in Rome, and I love my roommates as well. We’re all organized, friendly, here for the right reasons, and won’t bring home strangers! Hooray!
I am going to be in the upper intermediate intensive Italian course, which starts on Monday, so I’ve been able to enjoy my time, sleep in, and explore. I feel like I’ve already got a grip on the city’s transportation and sights. It’s easy! Our apartment is out in the suburbs though, so late at night it’s hard to get back to my apartment…taking a cab is about 16 euros. My roommates and I did that last night when we went to an Erasmus Student Network welcome party at a place called “The Club.” Split between the four of us, it was only 4 euros.
Other than that, I need to plan my courses (which don’t start til Feb 24th), explore my little suburb area more, and enjoy myself before my courses start. I’m thinking of a trip to Bologna to visit my buddy Salvatore!
