bits and pieces

*me, Daria, Olha at Kristina's apartment for a dinner cooked by Sorin, another classmate*

With about 2.5 weeks to go, my classmates are beginning to have bittersweet feelings about leaving Milano. We are all suddenly realizing that we haven't seen as much of the city as we planned, we haven't traveled through Italy as much as we wanted, and we certainly don't know as much Italian as we expected. We have things to see, presents to buy, places to go, things to eat, learn, attend, etc.

Luckily, our classes are ending, so we have a bit more time to do all of these things. With the end of classes come exams, which are now filling our schedules. Last week I said goodbye to statistics. Parting was not sweet sorrow. In fact, there was no sorrow involved. The course was difficult and very theoretical, and the book was very..... hard to describe..... the author constantly made jokes, which was weird. For example, there is a mathematician who came up with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. In the caption of the picture of Kolmogorov, the author wrote: Here is Kolmogorov, wishing he had a Smirnov. It's funny, but it's statistics. So basically, the book is like oil and water-- when you force them together it's weird.

What else happened last week..... well, I had caviar for the first time. The taste was like sushi, but the texture was a little greasy, and each fish egg exploded in your mouth when you chewed it. It was a salty, not unpleasant experience.

A few of my classmates and I live on the same floor in our residence hall, about 4 of us. We share a kitchen with 2 or 3 others. One of the people we share a kitchen with is Spanish, and this person shares our kitchen with about 8 other Spanish. None of them live on our floor, they all have their own kitchens, but they store, cook and eat each meal in our kitchen. Their meals last for hours, and cooking for 8 requires a lot of time. We began a small, quiet war with the Spanish. We were outnumbered, so originally we would cook quickly and get out of their way. Then we remembered who "owned" the kitchen, and began to go cook in larger groups (3-4 people). If we get there first, they have to go somewhere else (preferably to their own kitchens) and we are left in peace. I think we must have called a truce somewhere along the way (largely owing to the fact that 2 of my comrades are names Olha, which is pronounced "hola" which the Spanish think is really funny) and now we co-occupy the kitchen, mostly in harmony.

I'm sure more exciting/entertaining things have happened in the last week, but I can't think of them now. Let's see.... oh, last night I went to see the Christmas lights decorating a famous street in the fashion district. I thought it would be lit when I got there, but I arrived in time for the pomp and circumstance. There were children singing, photographers, tv crews, famous people, a jazzy band, and other musicians performing. And the street was packed. Shoulder to shoulder. I arrived by myself, but I was supposed to meet my classmate and her sister there. I found them, but only after shoving myself through the crowd, elbows out, saying "permisso! permisso!" over and over again. It was a nice event, with a woman dedicating Christmas to the children, singers, a children's choir, a celebrity in a store behind me (no idea who he was, but he was signing autographs and people were taking pictures with their cell phones while exclaiming), and the jazzy band, who glided nicely from a rendition of jingle bells straight into--- Hello Dolly.
Since when is Hello Dolly a Christmas song and why does Italy have an obsession with this particular tune? In Venice, our tableside musicians played Hello Dolly on the accordion. Is there another Italian/Christmas song with the same tune?
Anyway, I had to leave the ceremony before they turned on the lights, so I hope to go back. I'd like to finish window shopping at all of the famous stores as well. There are always lots of women in fur coats walking along these streets.

*Kristina, me, walking in the fashion district. soon more lights will decorate it*

Il Cenocolo

As the time in Milan dwindles, the classes are beginning to end. Last week I finished off a semantics class (study of meaning) and a neuroscience class. I am very happy to be finished with both. I loved the topic of neuroscience, but our professor is so incredibly frustrating that I'm thrilled to be done with him. At least, for now. Out of all of the supervisors for my thesis, he is the one who I would like to work with since his research is the most interesting. But I'm avoiding thinking about that for now. Semantics is a nice topic, but incredibly complex. I didn't like the theory we learned for the class, or the way the professor taught it. The theory revolves around truth-- it says that you know the meaning of a sentence if you know in what situation it is true. So "snow is white" is true if snow is white. Everything is circular and logical, but it doesn't (in my opinion) reflect language use and is therefore dumb.
But they're over, so now we have 3 classes to go! Statistics will go out with a bang this week -- a written test, an oral exam and a final paper. I'm planning on staying in this weekend to study, but we'll see how that goes.




Today I had the great fortune of seeing il Cenocolo (the Last Supper) painting by Leonardo DaVinci. The painting is located in a museum, which is built in the refectory of the church, Santa Maria della Grazie, which was my favorite church to date. The refectory has been a stable, a prison, a home to soldiers, and was bombed during World War II. The painting has made it through much distress, but only with several restorations along the way. Part of the painting is gone, due to a "foolish man" who cut a door into the wall of the painting, getting rid of the portion with Jesus' feet. It really is an amazing work of art-- DaVinci was a genius.

USA-week

The EMCL program here in Italy has thrown all of the students for a loop in giving us separate schedules for each month. The first month we had 3 classes, and the second, we had the same 3 plus 3 more. Now the classes are overlapping, two are finishing and one more has yet to begin. This makes for a very hectic schedule. Mon-Thurs, classes are held from 8:30 or 10:30 in the morning until 4:30 or 6:30 (usually). Sometimes we get a break in between, but on Mondays and Tuesdays we plow straight through. This is the last week of such a busy schedule, but that means that final exams for the classes that are finishing are coming-- soon.
Even with the crazy schedule, I have more free time here than I ever did in Athens. It's strange to come home from class and have the entire night to do homework, read, email, talk, cook, etc. So there is a strange balance (for me) between the busy-ness of the classes and the relaxing evenings.
I only have a little over a month left in Italy, and I feel like I don't know the city of Milano very well. Our campus is far away from the city center, and since we travel on the weekends, I haven't been around the downtown area very often. I'm hoping to change that now that I have money and a bus pass. If only my professors understood that I have things to buy and places to see!

Every week there is a "country of the week" for the international students. The various clubs around Milano have country theme nights when international students get in free. My classmates and I like Old Fashion, because in addition to free entrance, there is free food and a performance based on the culture of the theme country. Last week the theme country was---- USA! I went with my fellow American (originally from Ukraine) to snag a brownie (which was advertised in the flier and was NOT available). The food was horrible-- hamburgers, hot dogs and the elusive brownies. However, the Italian versions of these American staples were even worse. The hamburger was a greasy half-patty. That's it. No bun, no nothing, just half of a congealed hamburger patty. The hot dog was also cut in half, and pre-placed in the buns. Any American knows that the hot dogs should be kept separately from the buns until just before serving, otherwise the hot dog will be cold. There were no brownies, but some sort of white cake with cherries. French fries were also served, but this is a pretty international dish. America was not well represented, culinarily speaking. Of course, in addition to the country themed food, there is always an Italian buffet with tomato-mozzarella salad and pasta, which is always delicious.

*We're holding a paper that is advertising USA-week. we took a much cuter picture later next to the USA poster in the club, but I accidentally deleted it...*

*Olga eating "American" fries*

*me and my cold hot dog*

The performance was break dancing, which was very entertaining. All in all, the Old Fashion excursion was a disappointment for the dinner, but an excellent evening for a break dancing show.

*break dancer 1*

*break dancer 2*

*break dancer 3*

*Roma*

*memorial to Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of a united Italy*

Last weekend I traveled to Rome for 3 days with my classmates Olga, Olha and Felipe. We had planned on taking an overnight train (roughly 8 hours) from Milano to Rome, but after we packed up everything and got to the train station, we found out that the train was sold out. The next train didn't leave until the next morning, so we went back to campus (after taking the wrong metro twice) and decided to book online in the future.

We got on our train to Rome and were thrilled that it was so comfortable and fancy. We paid a bit more for these tickets, so it made sense that the cabins in the train were so much nicer. Unfortunately, we were sitting in the first class section and were kicked out after about an hour since our tickets were second class. By this time there were no seats left in the second class compartments, and we spent the next 5 hours sitting/standing in the corridors between the compartments. I myself sat on the stairs of the train, so nearly every stop required that I got up to stand in the tiny train bathroom while people passed.

But, we made it to Rome and found our hostel, who had given away our rooms. thankfully, they got us other rooms in a hostel owned by a Korean couple. it was nice enough, with free internet and free breakfast, and they gave us a nice discount.

The first night in Rome we went to the Colosseum, just to look at it, and to look at a bit of the ancient roman city center, called the Roman Forum.

A new exhibit had opened at the art museum, and I snuck myself and my companions into it. The guilt of sneaking in tainted my time there, looking at an exhibition of Paul Gauguin's work. But everyone else seemed happy to have gotten in for free....
Next we went to the Tritone fountain, where people jumped in after Italy won the World Cup. Supposedly, the phrase "all roads lead to Rome" originated from the fact that all roads lead to the Tritone fountain, so you are supposed to throw a coin over your shoulder, making a wish that you will come back and it will come true.

*Tritone fountain*

The next day the plan was to get up early to go to the Vatican, but we didn't all get up early enough and were only able to see the outside of St. Peter's Cathedral. After this, we separated and Felipe went on his own. I think he was tired of shopping with us. We girls walked back through several piazzas to the Colosseum to try and get inside, but we missed the open hours by only about 10 minutes and were left to walk around the city and see more piazzas.

*St. Peter's cathedral, Vatican City*


*Piazza Navona*

We also saw the Pantheon, which is the best example of ancient Roman architecture and is still in excellent condition. The painter Rafael is buried there.

*Pantheon*

Later in the day, we toured an ancient Roman house, which was discovered underneath the church of St. John and St. Paul. According to church tradition, this is the house formerly owned by John and Paul, and is also where they and other martyrs were buried and was the first home church for believers in Rome. It was a really great find, since hardly any tourists were there and it was such an incredible thing to see. Roman houses were made of brick and had hardly any windows, but the murals and the floor tiles were still intact in several places.

*one of the rooms inside of the Roman house we visited. the figure with outstretched arms on the far right side of the mural is highly disputed-- for those who think that John and Paul owned this house, it is supposed to represent a (Christian) female worshiper, while others link the image to pagan symbolism, saying she is a worshiper of one of the Roman gods*

The last day there we went to the Vatican, but were only allowed to enter the Vatican Museums, which were very nice. They were all connected together, so it's actually like one giant museum with areas ranging from Egyptian museum areas to Roman, to rooms painted by Rafael, to giant tapestries, to a modern art area. All of these museums lead to the Sistine Chapel, which is beautiful but very overwhelming. People are supposed to be respectful and refrain from talking and taking pictures, but no one follows this. So there are guards shouting at people to be quiet and kindly reminding people to put their cameras away. The paintings are all amazing and incredibly detailed in symbolism-- which is even more amazing when you realize that Michaelangelo had never really painted before doing this.

*wall painting by Rafael, in the Vatican*


*Sistine Chapel*

After the Vatican, we had about 4 hours to try and get into the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. We ran through the city, only to find a long line to get into the Colosseum. I suggested moving to the very short "for touring groups only" line, where they don't actually check to see if you are with a touring group. Our 1 hour plus wait was reduced to only 5 minutes. The Colosseum was very nice, especially if you get an audioguide or tour that will tell you information about the games there. After this, we went to the Roman forum, where you can see the remnants of palaces and temples, some of which are surprisingly still fairly intact.

*me inside the Colosseum*


*Roman forum*


*from the Roman Forum, an old temple next to a new building*

*me inside the Roman forum, in the gardens behind the Palatine hill, where the emperors lived*

Then we left, took the metro to the Spanish steps (which are often featured in movies), sat, took a picture and went to the train station to come back to Milan.

*spanish steps*

The trip to Rome was the longest trip I've taken, but it was also the fullest, since Rome is completely packed with of monuments, historical and modern sights. My biggest disappointment was my camera. I took over 100 pictures, but during my visit at the Vatican, the screen said "card error" and when I checked later, only about 20 pictures were left. The pictures here are from the Internet or are from the 20 pictures I had leftover.

$$$$$$$$$$

I have finally received my scholarship, that was supposed to have come at the end of September. There was a lot of confusion, and I still don't know exactly what went wrong, but in the end, they just sent it yesterday with a money telegram and it came overnight. So now that I have money, I don't care as much about the lack of communication and organization from Potsdam.

When I checked my bank account this morning, I couldn't believe my eyes! I kept staring at the page, for I expected to see 39 euros, and instead, I saw the beautiful number of over 4000!!! Of course, quite a large chunk of it will be gone very soon, after paying people back and paying for rent. But still... I'm very happy, because now I can buy a bus pass and travel into the city whenever I want! Also, I can now go shopping.... I am in Milan after all.

I was so excited to have money that I documented the moment in pictures:

*money*

*me fanning myself with money*

*new prada bag*

*** Note: The fanning self with money was a staged situation, and the Prada bag is (naturally) a fake, that I bargained with a man on the street for.... also, I have been reading books about real hardship (Angela's Ashes, Sea Glass), in which the setting is either the Great Depression in the US or the Great Depression in Ireland, which was even worse. The main problem with not having money here was just being annoyed-- I always had food, I always was able to travel and generally enjoy my time in Italy (thanks to my parents and my classmates). So although I have complained about not having money and being poor, in truth I have never been poor and am blessed to be in this program. Now I feel even more blessed, having my scholarship.

Synesthesia

Today I heard about the phenomenon of synesthesia for the second time in this program. I had never heard of it before, so I did a little research of my own to try and understand it better. It's pretty fascinating. Basically, synesthesia is when people experience colors related to different stimuli (usually letters or words). So, when someone sees the letter C, they will see it as a color, and that color will always be the same for that person. Then they will see whole words as different colors. My classmate Kristina is synesthetic and sees my name as lilac, and "Italy" as yellow. It doesn't interfere with reading, but they have reported that it's annoying to see colored fonts because often the colors don't match their own colors.
Other people are synesthetic for music, and see colors according to pitch. Some people even experience different tastes according to different words, or associate personalities with words or letters.
Typically, more women are synesthetic than men, and it appears to be passed down genetically.
When our professor started talking about it, Kristina mentioned that she is synesthetic. Everyone is so fascinated with her and with the topic, and I hopefully tried to analyze if I see colors as well. But I don't... life would be more colorful if I did, but I can't change the way my brain sees things I suppose.
Unfortunately, this topic was pretty unrelated to what I am supposed to be studying, so I have been spending my time understanding this and not my actual assignments.... so back to work!

Venezia

I'm a bit behind updating the blog with pictures.... The last couple of weeks have been filled with studying, as we had two tests. The first was a neuroscience test, and the second was syntax. This week they are adding another 3 courses to our schedule, along with extra hours for department seminars when we hear visiting scholars talk about their research. It's all interesting stuff (apart from statistics) but it's a bit overwhelming. So I probably won't be able to travel as frequently. Which is why I'm glad I went to Rome this weekend. Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures to share, as my camera deleted about 130 yesterday. I will borrow some from my classmates whenever they share them with me.
In the meantime, I will share pictures from Venice (Venezia).

Venice was such a beautiful and mysterious city. The moment you walk out of the train station, you are in front of a canal filled with gondolas and small motor boats. Instead of a metro system, there is a ferry system to transport people around the island or between smaller islands. Our hostel was located on a smaller island, so we took it a lot.
The streets of Venice are typically very small and very intertwined. It's ridiculously easy to get lost, but my classmate Kristina has been there 7 times and led us through the maze of bridges and canals with great ease. We mainly walked through the city, looking at different views, different churches, famous piazzas, etc. We stopped to shop (only a little) and window shopped in the expensive districts. We had dinner on the first night in a quaint little restaurant, very out of the way. The waiter called me capricious. I still don't know why. After dinner a group of men came in and played songs at our table. The first song was Italian and created a wonderful atmosphere, but the second song was Hello Dolly which was strange to hear coming from an accordion in Venice.

The second day we walked through the city a bit and toured the inside of St Mark's basicila (which is enormous, the ceiling is completely covered with golden murals of Biblical stories and saints) and then took the ferry to a small island. There are two main small islands off of Venice, Murano and Burano. Venetian glass is made in Murano, which looks mainly like a small Venice. Burano is built in the same fashion as Venice, but all of the houses are brightly colored and very well-kept and it is less touristy off of the main road. We went to Burano, which was my favorite place. The sell lace, glass jewelry, scarves and more along one main street, but you are free to wander among the canals and houses. I don't think I saw a door that was duplicated-- even the doors were all beautifully unique.
After Burano, we went back to Venice and walked through a few more piazzas before going to the train station.
Here are the photos:

*Venice*

*in front of the basicila of st. mark*

*birds attacking me in the piazza of st. mark (technically, i asked for it... i pretended to have food in my hands)*

*gondola in venice*

*at dinner, posing for a picture to send to potsdam, begging them to send me money (which they still haven't done)*

*luckily, my classmates bought me dinner: polenta, sausage and ribs. i was going the healthy route*

*day 2, island of burano. all of the houses are painted in bright colors*

*beautiful burano*

*burano*

*all of us in burano: olga, olha, me, kristina daria, felipe*