One month update

I have now been in Milano for one month. Here are some recent updates:

1. I joined the church choir.

Last Tuesday, I went to the choir practice in the evening. It was my first time traveling in the city alone and at night, but everything went very smoothly except for being locked out of the church, but I just followed someone else in, so it all worked out. The people in the choir are very welcoming and friendly, as well as being (on average) considerably older than me. There were 3 american woman and 1 british woman who happily translated some of the songs for me. There will be a choir festival next Sunday, and in November they will entertain at one of the local nursing homes. So if I'm around those weekends, I will join them.

2. I finally did laundry.

After a month of not having clean clothes, I have washed them. For an entire building of 200+ there are 3 dryers which are constantly in use. So, I have various wet items hung around my room. Since I waited a month and am doing it all at once, there are a LOT of items.

3. I went to Lake Como.

Yesterday I traveled with two of my classmates, Olha and Felipe, to Lake Como for the day. It was beautiful-- nice weather, relaxing lake, old villas, etc. Sadly, no George Clooney, who apparently owns a villa there.

4. I went salsa dancing.

Also yesterday, I went salsa dancing with Elizabeth, who works in my residence hall, and Felipe. Everyone danced in Puerto Rican style salsa, and everyone looked very professional. The people dancing had all been students in the dance classes offered there and so were very talented and precise with all of their movements. I was pretty tired and mainly watched, but it was a nice experience.

5. Classes are in full-swing.

Last week most of my classmates had our first exam (I was exempt) and we are anxiously awaiting the next exams coming in the next two weeks. This means a lot of reading on our own, since the books are huge (the syntax book for linguistics is 700+ pages) and we are never sure how hard the tests will be. I keep falling asleep while reading neuroscience. I've got to work on that.

6. We are poor and angry.

The anger is only directed at the people in charge of the program. All of my classmates are upset, as am I, because our scholarships have still not arrived. They told us to expect them a few days ago, after already postponing the payment 2 weeks. None of it would be a big deal, except that they made a HUGE deal about signing a contract with us about when the payments would be received. And earlier in the summer, they said to bring money to provide for 2-3 weeks. We all brought extra money, but not enough for 4-5 weeks, and not enough for second rent payments, etc. I'm still hopeful that the money will come tomorrow, or the next day, but many of my classmates have become jaded and don't expect it for weeks. Cross your fingers...

What else... not much... I'm currently enjoying some pumpkin pancakes my classmate Libei made... so I guess I have to buckle down and study now...

Ciao ;)