What a week. I went to three classes this past week. Not three separate classes for all of their scheduled lessons, but three individual class times. This is not unusual. I tried to go to my Latin American History and Institutions class, but it didn’t happen. I was able to go to both of my Italian language courses and my Intercultural Management Competence class. But I didn’t come here to go to class all day after-all. The best parts of my weeks here are between, and after classes and through the weekend when I spend time with the ERASMUS family.
This past week was one of constant activity and fun. I will begin on Thursday, because Thursday here, as I have said before, is like Friday and Saturday combined at home. Well actually, let me start on Tuesday; St. Patrick’s Day. Italians don’t celebrate St. Patrick’s Day but the Irish and the Americans do. Not only was the 17th a day of Guinness because St. Patrick freed Ireland of their snakes all those years ago, but also because Danielle’s 21st birthday happened to fall on this day. To make a long story short, we went to 700-block and many beers and silly fotos of me wearing a green shirt and squinting in various funny ways later (see facebook), I made the trek back to bed in my room. The next morning, I begrudgingly woke up to go to my Latin American class. I had yet to go because we had a picnic with Danielle for her birthday, complete with pizza and soda and a beautiful view of Urbino. Antonio informed me that his girlfriend would be coming to Urbino that night and if possible, it would be best for him if I could spend the night with a friend or with his friend, with whom he had already arranged my lodging. I told him that would be fine and that I totally understood the need for my “sexile” but that ERASMUS was a family and that one of my brothers would surely take me in. I went into town to my class. I was on time. No one else was. I waited for 30 minutes and when no one showed, I assumed that class was canceled. I still hold this assumption. I walked back to the Collegi with Ola (Poland). An uneventful rest of the day was spent fighting my headache given to me by the Guinness the night before and wasting time on the internet. I feel asleep on the floor in Romain’s room after several episodes of “How I Met Your Mother.” It's funny to watch funny shows with someone who is reading the subtitles because Romain, for example, would laugh a split second before each joke was delivered.
The next day was Thursday. I went to my Latin America class and no one was there again. I went downstairs to ask about it and ran into my professor, the President of the Giurisprudenza School. He gave me a big fat book on Mexican and Central American Constitutionalism that he wrote and I left. I had a short Italian language course later that day and then I was to prepare for Danielle’s birthday party. The theme was black-and-white. I didn’t bring any black pants so I thought I’d just wear my jeans and a white sweater, but my better judgment took hold and I decided to see what Urbino had to offer someone looking for an all black-and-white outfit. €18 later and now I am the proud owner of extremely tight, incredibly bright, white jeans, complete with unnecessary zippers (See facebook photos). That night was a great time. I walked back to the Collegi and slept on the floor in Romain’s room. We had said earlier, that tomorrow, we would go to San Marino for the day. It did not seem likely taking into account the drinking that had taken place that night.
We awoke to the sound of Kevin pounding on the door. “Come on! Let’s go!” Romain and I were not too enthused about the idea of waking up at this ungodly hour (8:30am). Kevin is convincing though, and so off we went. We woke up Taylor and we had assembled our bargain search party. I say bargain search party because there is no sales tax in the Republic of San Marino and everything is advertised as “20% Sconto!!” We dragged ourselves to the bus stop, hopped on the bus for Pesaro and we were off, still feeling weak from the night before, especially Kevin, who had stayed up until 6 am the night before. We got to Pesaro, bought our tickets and in about 10 minutes, we were on a train headed for Rimini. Half an hour later, we jumped on a bus from Rimini to San Marino and after about three hours had elapsed we had traversed, in a very roundabout way 56 km from Urbino. San Marino central is spectacularly beautiful. The city was built around 300 AD and has remained separate from Italy for all of the time. It is atop a plateau from which you can see the mountains far to the east and the sea at Rimini to the west. Every store in San Marino sells crossbows, airsoft guns and liquor. It is like Venice is that way. There doesn’t seem to be too terribly much of a soul remaining in San Marino but at least the tax-free shopping serves as an explanation for the consumerism. We shopped around and looked at pretty things. I bought Absinthe and a pipe. Romain and Kevin bought knives and throwing stars (apparently ninjas originate from Italy. Who knew?). We decided to head down the hill by bus to the real shopping district, or more specifically, a large mall with a well-known musical instrument shop. Kevin bought a very nice guitar with a bag for only €150. Not too shabby. We headed back the same roundabout way and were back by 10:00, give or take a few minutes. I had tea with the Brits and Irish and headed back to my room.
Saturday was going to be an interesting day. Síne (pronounced She-nah for us ‘Murkens) had organized a murder mystery dinner to celebrate Éva’s last day in Urbino. I was to play a controversial political theorist named Martin X. We were all going to bring something to eat and have a big potluck. The trouble was that, being Éva’s last day, playing a game that was somewhat exclusive was not really fair since she wanted to spend time with everyone and not just 10 people. It was decided that we would just have a great time and a potluck in the 700-block. I felt like such an old woman. I made breadcrumbs by hand by crushing up toasts and chopped up parsley I had bought from the market that morning. I rolled pieces of chicken in flour, salt and pepper and then egged them and tossed them in my breadcrumb, parsley and assorted grated hard cheeses and then fried them. Then I sliced cherry tomatoes (which tasted like tomatoes!!) in two with oil and salt and some chopped up fresh basil. How could you go wrong? Others made little tomato dipping bowls filled with deliciousness and couscous and other wonderful things. We all drank a bit and danced and sung until late at night. It was really a wonderful night. After tea, I headed up to bed and tiptoed as not to wake Antonio.
The next morning I woke up bright and early to start cooking again. It had been decided weeks ago that we would make an American breakfast. As word of this idea spread, so did the guest list. Allison and Leanne met me in the 700-block again and we started mixing pancake mix, homemade berry syrup, eggs and cooked ham. The scent of delicious, and verging on the unnecessary amounts of butter mixed with fruits and sugar and everything sweet attracted a crowd. Everyone was happy, most importantly Éva who had to leave in just a few hours. After everyone had finished eating, it was time to take the sad walk to the bus stop to say goodbye.
Éva is such an awesome person. She is nice to everyone, but not in an annoying way. She just loves and radiates love. She really did make my first month here just that much more fantastic. We were quite a large group walking to the bus stop. She would say her goodbyes in stages. The first stage was the night before after her party, then that morning after our breakfast. Allison, Leanne and I were next at the bus stop here in Urbino. Others would follow to Pesaro, and Gudy and Katy would go all the way to Bologna to say goodbye. With people like Éva, saying goodbye is not easy but I know that I will see her again sometime. After a difficult goodbye, the Villa girls and I went for a caffé and a walk. The rest of the day was very tranquil, because it was a Sunday. I had tea twice. I think this hanging out with Irish and British people is rubbing off on me. It’s almost like at home, having teatime.
Today is Monday. I woke up at 9:30, thinking I had a class at 11:00 but soon realized that I was taking the class I thought I had non-frequentare (a legitimate form of skipping class everyday) and I went back to sleep for a bit longer. I got up and went to use the Internet and have lunch at Tridente. Afterwards, I went to the 800-block to walk into town with Katy, Síne, Emma, and Annie. Italian class was slow and long and I hadn’t had coffee yet. After class, Samantha bought me a coffee in exchange for going to the Pharmacy with her to get something for her sore throat and to buy a SIM card. Afterwards, I took a video of Síne unsuccessfully riding a razor scooter down Via Mazzini and then went back to Tridente for Internet.
Here I sit. Right now, the Internet isn’t working. This is not a rarity. I will post this update as soon as I get service. Tonight I may go out to dinner with some French and then there is talk of going to El Piquero because there is no DJ on Mondays and we can play our own music. I don’t really want to though. We will see what this week holds in store for me. More fun is sure to come. This weekend I may go to Florence with Annie and Danielle. I will let you know.
A dopo,
David
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