La Prima Settimana

Being back has been awesome.

Returning back to the great ol' EU has been fantastic. When I left Spain there were so many unanswered questions, doubts, and thoughts that I have been able to clear up since I've been here.

My first stop here is Milan, where I am visiting Mario, the student my family hosted 2009-2010. He's still in university here at Bocconi, so I haven't seen the entire city yet. But what I have seen, is really nice.

Mario and I infront of il Duomo

Yesterday, there was an earthquake. The current death count according to this BBC article is 16, with atleast seven people missing and 14,000 homeless. Here is a link to an article: BBC Earthquake in Italy

The first earthquake hit sometime in the morning. I was sitting next to another girl in a lecture class and we both thought the two guys behind us were shaking our bench (the seats are long benches, not individual desks). I just kind of ignored it at first, thinking they were trying to get our attention, but as it kept going I thought it was weird at 'how flexible the benches were.' The projector was shaking a bit, and when it finished the teacher asked- "earthquake?" It wasn't until everyone looked at each other to realize we all felt the same thing. The second earthquake struck when we were at lunch, but none of the people I went to lunch with felt it.

So that was yesterday. This past weekend I traveled about 2.5 hours in bus to a small town called Aosta to visit Nicholas. He was in our AFS chapter when I was in Spain- and I met him at the arrival orientation that was in August. He stayed with my family a few times while I was in Spain, and invited me to come up and see a different part of Italy for the weekend.

Aosta is a small town, about 40,000 I believe, or says my iPod. It's in the Swiss Alps, about 30 minutes from France and 45 from Switzerland. It's a pretty town, filled with Roman Ruins and the beautiful scenery of the mountains. It was definitely very different than Milan, but really interesting to see.

The town is very old, filled with ancient artifacts and surrounded by a whole line of castles. I was told that the castles were able to communicate by fire to send messages from one to another- that's how  close they were to each other.

Saturday I saw the town, and Sunday we headed out by car and went through the mountains. We also visited il castello di Fenis, which are included in the pictures below.

Some festival going on right next to the ruins-
everyone was dressed up in some type of traditional costume.

The main square in Aosta.

Beautiful, no? I was later informed that it is a common place
for the ederly to commit suicide. :(

Waiting for the tour at the castle of Fenis.

Nick and I.

Castello di Fenis

We drove down the side of the mountain for maybe an hour or so? And we went all the way down to the end of the road. Along the way we passed some type of animals- I don't know the name of them in English, but it was kind of cool to see them. The longer the horns are the older they are- it's like a tree. The rings represent one year. There were also people there who hiked up the mountain and skied down. The trails ranged from about 1-3 hours.

First national park in Italy- opened in 1922.

The animals seen throughout the mountains in the background.

We also passed by and took pictures of Monte Bianco (the highest point in Alps, Western Europe and the EU)- which we could see from a distance. You have to look closely in pictures even though it was bright and clear when we were there.

Monte Bianco



Another Castle


So that was this past weekend. I don't have many pictures from Milan soon, but I'll get some posted next week or so.

Italy is great. I haven't had that big of a communication problem since I can understand a great deal of Italian. I can understand a lot of what is said, how much depends on the topic. Things such as directions are about the same as Italian.

Being here in a country with a different language reminds me of my first few weeks of exchange. Although it's weird, because I understand more Italian in my first week here than I did Spanish my first week in Spain. I am amazed at how much Italian I've learned in only a week. It definitely comes a lot easier since I already know Spanish. There's an art to listening to a foreign language- the rythm, breaks, expressions, it's almost like you have to learn what is going to be said next. But it's been fun nonetheless. It's nice to be learning a culture for the first time again.

I'll touch breifly on the differences between Italy and Spain. Not much. I have found the people here to be less "on edge" and more welcoming. Everyone I've met has been over the top nice. People in stores aren't overpersonal like Americans, but aren't rude either. The stereotypical ice cream and pizza and pasta here is just like the say- the best of the world. Milan has a smaller metro than Madrid, but they have trams and trolleys above the ground. People here dress nicer- you see that the money is directed towards designer clothes, cars, etc. Things are a bit greener in Milan than Madrid (granted it's further north), but overall the two cities are pretty similar. I'll catch up on this later when I discover more.

For now, that's about all.

hasta pronto, amiciii
-mb