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*