EUROPAROMP

The last of Milano livin'.

2009-05-15T16:50:00.001-07:00

Cono piccolo con limone e caffe.

We frequented Chocolat at least every other day. so yummmy.

thumbs wars.

IES friends at the farewell dinner.

so much love & new friends.

Sexy bar Peep and Show is right across from school. Jesse loved it, never wanted to leave.

Drinking in the streets is legal in Italy. Last weekend festivities + UPSer David came to visit.

My time in Milano is coming to an end tomorrow afternoon. Most lasts have been fulfilled; last gelato (lemon and coffee), last metro ride, last pizza for a very long time (hopefully), last rainy walk down Corso Magenta past the Santa Marie della Grazie church - where The Last Supper is housed. This has been an amazing experience to say the least - definitely the best decision I have made in some time. Milan was the big city I have always dreamed of living in, and being here has quenched that thirst for city-life, at least for a while. I will miss the unforgiving Italian stare and the freedom to give it right back at them. I will miss saying words like "etti" and "ciao ciao". I truly will miss walking everywhere and never feeling bored or anxious to get to my destination. Not even to mention the window shopping....

Now it is on to my next adventure, and then the adventures after that....

I was born wanting exploration, so explorin's what I'll do.

Arriverdici Milano. Te Amo.

Displaced Memoirs

2009-05-15T16:19:00.000-07:00

For my final project in Art 322: Meeting and Working with Artists in Milan, I was 1/4th of the design & communication team which put on the exhibition "Displaced Memoirs". After years of art classes, I decided to step away from the studio aspects of art and take on the challenge of curating a show. Given the limited and difficult to work with space, I think the event turned out pretty well. I was especially impressed with the artists' works -- most are not art majors! Here are some photos from the show:

Unreal Worlds

2009-05-09T01:45:00.000-07:00

Cinque Terre

The skies loomed over the colorful cities as we approached the "five lands" by ferry.

We swam in the Ligurian Sea, then danced to dry off.

The 2 hour hike was mostly uphill stairs. Fun and beautiful, but not while wet. We brought wine to hydrate on the trail.

Kristin will appreciate this cloudage over the Sea.

Venice

This is why I disliked Venice. So many tourists, I felt like I was at a fair.

I bet the gondola drivers hate these people.

Also, I only brought stripped clothing to wear to Venice, unaware it meant I would match the gondola men. Haha.

This cannibalism sight drew a crowd.

This is why I loved Venice. A waterbaby's dream.

The only art endeavor we accomplished in Venice - a city filled with classical art - was stumbling into a Street Art gallery.

Actual Venice Street Art.

The storms were always looming. How unreal does this look?

2009-04-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

Everywhere we went this happened. This video does not even live up to how crazy it got sometimes.

Upon Desert Arrival

2009-04-26T12:25:00.000-07:00

Brahim put in many cassettes on our drives, mostly Moroccan songs that he wildly sang along to. We learned some and became attached to them too. By the end of the trip, we were singing and dancing along to his Bereber music. But just this once, he put in a cassette that was vaguely familiar. It was not until Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies that I knew exactly what we were listening to, and realized how hilarious that moment was. Four American girls, all who had been brought to the Nutcracker by their parents dressed to the nines in furry hand muffs and white patent leather shoes, were barreling through the Sahara Desert in Africa in a 4x4 to the music from their wintery childhoods. Moments before this video was shot, a man in a turban on a moped was in front of us, and a white butterfly flew past our window. The four of us were dying of laughter, Brahim drove oblivious -- "yes, a christmas play, right??".

INSHALLAH

2009-04-26T11:38:00.000-07:00

Some journeys can best be described through the images captured:

Sunrise in the Sahara Desert.

Our co-travelers from Aussie Land.

A merchant in Ouarzazate, he saw me take the photo and came up to the vehicle to "chat" (push me to come look at his things he had to sell).

From a studio that made fossilized goods.

Brahim causing a "speck-tackle", per usual.

The Bereber man finds home.

Daily life in Morocco looked mostly like this.

We found it after seeing its ads everywhere. The owner invited us to his garden to see how things are grown organically.

This boy was helping build a road in Marrakech. When we returned three days later, the road had been completely finished. I will never criticize old world methods again.

The colors, the sun, the old palaces.

View from the top of our Riad in Marrakech. Moroccans love TV too.

On the road, how we saw most of Morocco.

Moroccans work hard for their crafts.

The flag of Morocco: in high concentration when the king comes to town. His picture is also in every place of business.

He told us his name was Brian. He gave us a tour of a Kasbah from the 12th century with two women from Southern USA. He also mistakenly told us he had four wives and many children. Haha, he meant the king of the Kasbah did back when he reigned the region.

Such an amazing trip. I learned more than I ever thought I could throughout the entire semester in those two weeks. Shukran means 'thank you', Inshallah means 'if allah wills', muslims can be very liberal (Brahim was devoted to womens equality in Morocco), and Belguim women in their forties come to Morocco to hire teenage boys for the night (true story, Brahim lost his marbles in a giggle fit when we saw it happen). Everyone really does think America is the promise land, no matter how much animosity they pretend to have. A Bereber man can be much wiser even though he has never left the desert, Moroccans are feisty on ferries, four girls traveling in a pack somehow elicit the name "Spice Girls" througout the country, Spanish people are much like the Irish - very happy, always drunk. Shtool is german for stool.

Un Mese

2009-04-04T09:55:00.000-07:00

So it has been a month since my last post, and while much has happened, all that is on my mind is that I will be leaving for two weeks in Morocco and Spain tomorrow morning!! That is all I will want to share when I get back, so here is a little update on the past month:

Lizzie came and went. I will be seeing her again in mid-may, when I will be taking off from Milano indefinitely and heading to Amsterdam (where she is studying) for a little while. While she was here, we did a lot of city walking, had long chats in various historical places, and went on a dayhike to Lungano Switzerland. So pretty!

The next week brought another exciting visit from Ben! He stayed in Milan for eight days while on Spring Break. Although it was mid-term week for me, we still managed to get out and walk around the city most days (and I still got some study time in). We climbed to the top of the Duomo once we finally found it open (3 times the charm), went to a fair in Park Sempione where prizes in the ring toss included a carton of Marlboros and a bottle of gin, and wandered around the Navigli Canals doing what we do best - exploring alleys and window shopping. It was so nice having him here to show off my newly acquired panini making skills. Many days were also spent eating and sitting in the sun on the kitchen balcony. He brought sunny weather with him!

Last weekend, a group of 84 students went to the smaller towns in Italy: Cemona, Parma, and Mantova for a Cuisine and Culture trip. To prepare, I made a little dish of my own (see last photo). I am getting so good--shocking I know!

In Cremona, we went to a violin maker's shop where I literally sat with my mouth open in awe at how tediously handmade instruments are put together. The craftsman demonstrated the sound quality of different woods and let us smell the various natural ingredients in his homemade varnish. So fun.

In Parma, the main event was dinner. Five courses of delicious food and wine. Highlight: pumpkin ravioli and the best risotto I have ever tasted. We stopped at a parmesan cheese factory on our way to Mantova. despite the extreme stench, it was fascinating to see how cheese is made. The amount of cheese in the little building was almost unbelievable!

Mantova was a quaint small Italian town where I spent most of the day wandering away from the group to take photos. So many little alleys. The town overlooked a beautiful stretch of Italian countryside full of vineyards and farmlands.

Dublino

2009-03-04T07:24:00.001-08:00

Within twenty minutes of being in Dublin, Meghan, Cinnamon, and I walked into a pub where there was a musician was playing Miss American Pie and everyone was singing along. Then the biggest disaster of a wedge occurred. We later found out that it was a bachelor party. At first, my dreams of Ireland being the greatest place on earth were shattered, but soon discovered that what we witnessed was not too far from the true Dublin.

Where else would someone find a potato just laying in an alleyway??

Or be so confused by the locals attempts at giving directions that walking 30 minutes on the "carriageway" at 2am in the rain seems like a better idea than paying for a cab.

(tilt your head to the left)

CONESS!!

We took the commuter train to the coast, Howath Ireland.

True Irish meal: Shepard's Pie and Guinness w/ Cinnamon

Dublin Alley

Spending a long weekend in Dublin can teach you:

1. Irish people are the happiest people I have ever met. Always laughing, and making jokes, even the train ticket seller joked around with us.

2. Dublin is the most impossible city to get around. Streets aren't marked, maps are wrong, locals all drive therefore cannot give adequate directions for public transportation.

3. They are an hour behind Milan...something that took a whole day to figure out. It is amazing how different your day is when you think it is an hour later than it is.

4. Just because we speak the same language does not mean there is no language barrier.

5. that you actually know much more italian than you thought you did. This is realized when you respond to english directions in italian by habit.

6. Italy and Ireland might as well be on different planets they are so different.

7. HOW MUCH YOU MISS STARBUCKS! (or at least coffee shops of the like)

8. Someone in Ireland likes to put cones in weird places.

next few agendas - Lizzie is coming to visit from Amsterdam on Friday. We might go to Florence of Venice by train. Then BEN is visiting from Tacoma the next whole week! Then we are going on a group tour of a cheese factory in Tuscany, and then MOROCCO! jkhasdjheuajkhfbga. That is an excited finger dance. So many things to look forward too.

bBbboooooK hUnnNt

2009-03-04T07:06:00.001-08:00

So tired from running around the foreign campus of Cattolica University to get two books from their library. I was so proud of myself for figuring out how to ask "Dove la bibliotecha della economia?" before my ventures, but then realized - of course - that I could not understand a word of directions given to me. After three tries, I finally tuned into the name of the building one man was telling me. Then it was a trek to find a map of the place, the location, and how to go about checking out the books italian library style. There is no such thing as shelf perusing in Italy which I think is shame.

But now I have the books and I am very excited and proud of my task accomplishment today! Starting a paper two weeks before it is due is also a feat in and of itself! Time to start reading about Economic Clusters and Silicon Valley - in English of course.

MODA

2009-03-04T06:38:00.000-08:00

Milan fashion week is coming to an end, and I was lucky enough to have to attend a day of shows. It was just as I imagined it to be, loud music, skinny models, over the top clothing, and interesting people. I was not that impressed by any of the clothing I saw, but a lot of the models were impressive and the whole day was extremely exciting and sensory overload!

While our class was only invited to one show, we quickly learned that boasting our Americanism, they were quick to let us into any other show of our choice. At one point, all the journalists were yelling things at us. I figured that we were in the way and they wanted us to move fast before the show started. Then I hear la mia professora explain to them that we were "studenti americani" and that they were actually asking us who we were! haha. After six shows in one day, I was exhausted.

I was in Dublin (more later) this weekend during a lot of the big shows, but many students in my program took to the streets for some celebrity hunting and fashion-showing door busting. My apartmentmates met Giorgio Armani, and there were many other Anna Wintour, Kate Hudson, Nina Garcia, and the list goes on and on of those who were stomping around my new locale.

Battiglia delle Aranche!!!

2009-03-04T04:43:00.000-08:00

It seems so long ago that I went to Ivrea, Italy for the Battliglia delle Aranche with my photo professor and some other students. My friend Allison and I broke off from the pack as soon as we saw our peers purchasing red caps and headbands to signify that they did not want to get hit by any oranges. We were there to get messy, and that goal was definitely accomplished!

The battle is a part of their Carnevale and there are a number of teams with carts that drive through the town and create a huge battle of flying oranges. We hung out with three Italians all day and they bought us as much grappa as we needed to forget that an orange to the face might be a little painful.

I don't know if the amount of fun I had in Ivrea can be topped the rest of this trip. There was so much laughing all day. Three weeks later and I still have dried orange smushies on my purse and boots.

EDIT: change of location

2009-02-20T12:32:00.000-08:00

So I am not in Rome. Turns out the tickets were accidently booked for MARCH 20th. The woman at the airport had to point that out to us so we wasted to money getting their and back which is a bummer.

But on the brightside.... on Sunday I get to attend a Battle of the Oranges in a small northern town of Italy. So excited to throw oranges at people -- that will be a great stress reliever to forget about our Rome misfortunes.

2009-02-20T03:45:00.000-08:00

On a Milanese street. That blue guy is now on my bedroom wall.

This is the Pollauiolo Market right on my street every Tuesday and Saturday.

Taking pictures on the metro is only okay when you are with a group of photo students. Awkward.

He fell from a plant onto my table at a bar. I think the little guy may have peed himself.

Chasing cats in Stresa! How many can you spot???

The difficulty of it all....

2009-02-19T15:18:00.000-08:00

...and by all I mean how awful I am at updating already. But alas, I now have my laptop back in my hands, working! Albeit totally wiped and dataless. (Not to mention the day before it arrived, I became Ipod less). The only song I have to listen to is a Tilly and the Wall cover of Outkast's Hey Ya that Ben e-mailed me. Nothing gets me going in the morning quite like a crappy live version recording playing on repeat.

Homework has really picked up; Italian teachers are pretty shoddy at conveying what they want to get across in English. I have no doubt in their native tongue they are respectable and intelligent, but some hardly understand what they are saying to us, let alone how to respond when a student asks a question. The discombobulation of the Italian culture is also very evident in their teaching styles and impromptu assignment giving. This may be an interesting semester academic-wise (which has been at the forefront of my attention this week...even before what my next gelato flavor to try might be).

Well, with that quick update, I leave you with some photos to feast your eyes on. I have to get up in 4 hours for a flight to Rome for the weekend. I promise there will be many pictures and stories to tell after the coming three days.

Some may call it pathetic to be most excited to go to the 1 euro bin at a discount store in downtown Rome my friend Grace has been talking up. I reply: I have never been much for touristy sight-then-gawk traveling, and my rummage skills are beyond belief.

Weekend Festivities

2009-02-09T04:22:00.000-08:00

So I just finished my first photography class and already am in love. Actually I had a very awkward experience following the class where I was exhuberantly talking about how much i already adore the professor (which doesn't happen that often you know, the exhuberant talking) and he was right behind me listening to the whole thing. Oh well, could have been the exact opposite and then way more awkward. It is digital photo which is a little disappointing because I really want to learn about the dark room and my digital camera is not the best, but I am excited to find interesting things in Milan to take pictures of besides the european architecture.

Yesterday I saw a 6 year old girl drinking from a beer bottle. That would be a good picture. My friend Jake and I went out to get lost in the city by taking random trams to unknown destinations. We ended up at a huge cemetary (250,000 sq. meters...HUGE). Here are some pictures of it, although they do not do the monument justice:

We exited the cemetary on the opposite side and ended up in the slums of Milan. I did not even know such places existed in the city so it was interesting to see. I felt a little uneasy because of the amount of cash I had on me, but I put it in my boots along with my credit cards and iPod just in case. I definitely want to go back sometime when I don't have any valuables besides my camera on me.

This weekend was also full of meeting locals. At the bar right down my street we met a group of 20 somethings who were very good at english. They told us about some local places to visit and also that the beer at the Kebap (think local falafel house, but open late and EVERYWHERE...there are two on my block) is cheaper than at the bar, so they buy it there and then pour it into glasses at the bar to hang out. Haha, so clever. Then the next day there was a guy on the metro with a backpack on so Jake and I asked if he was traveling around Europe. Turns out he is from Milan and was just leaving for the weekend to visit friends. He seemed very down to earth and told us a story about his friend losing his hat in a creek. Facebook is amazing because it is so easy keep connections with random people you strike up conversations with on the metro. Hopefully when Pietro gets back to Milan he wants to meet Jake and I for a beer because he wants to practice his English.

I am so impressed with Italians' English. They always apologize for it being bad, but I just tell them it is much better than my Italian, and it is much harder to learn.

I think I am overly lucky, but one day something horribly catestrophic is going to happen to me. I can feel it slowly approaching. Probably something like falling down one of the metal grates on the sidewalk into the subway system right when a train is going by. But at least people can talk about how lucky I was when I was alive. Saturday night I was eating Hazelnut gelato and was said "I really wish they would just give me one of the actual hazelnuts that decorate the gelato display". Not even a full spoon scoop later, a hazelnut was in my gelato. I am also one of the few IES people not cold or sinus ridden. Also, my hard drive crashed and I lost everything, but now Apple is sending me replacement software that I had on my computer such as Word, Excel, etc...but actually I pirated it before so... free software, wishes instantly coming true, indestructive immune system, living in Milano. So lucky.

Tired Fingers

2009-02-05T07:02:00.000-08:00

This is the best tram ever in Milan. It still has those lights on it, not just for holiday....who knows.

Meghan and I cut my hair as soon as I got here, short!!!!!!

The view from my apartment...Via Polliauolo. You can't tell from this picture, but there is sweet graffiti everywhere....especially of Gary Colman's face.

This is the view from the hotel room in Stresa that Meghan and I first stayed in for orientation. Those mountains are Switzerland.

After much deliberation about the pros and cons of blogging about my Milano experience, my fingers finally provided me with a loud YES. It was getting difficult to remember who I had told what, and who I forgot to e-mail, blahh blahh. So here it is - a record of my experiences and thoughts on life abroad. I am computerless in europe, but have access to a lab at school, therefore the blog will be lacking the amount of phots I would like it to have, but oh well.

Ciao.