B-O-L-O-G-N-A

I have arrived! It's been about 10 days now in Bologna and it feels like I've been here for years (kind of). I'm all settled into my apartment, which is just superb, and finished my first week of classes. My apartment is just 10/15 minute walk from school and a short walk from the city center, GREAT location. It has 2 bedrooms and a large living area. I get along really well with my roommate and I think I've really lucked out with the living situation.

Classes have been challenging, yet interesting thus far. I'm taking Survival Italian for 2.5 hours a day and Microeconomics for another 2.5 hours. It's a lot of class time, but I think I've already learned a lot just after 1 week! You probably wouldn't know though, if you heard me attempt to speak any Italian. I think I've retained a good amount then I try to say a simple sentence to a waiter or whoever and it comes out as Italian/French/Portuguese/English mush. I guess it can only get better from here.

Hey! Surprise! I'm making some friends! The people here are really great and utterly fascinating. Each life story is more interesting than the last. I have friends from Egypt, England, America, Ireland, Austria, Germany and the list goes on. I have a feeling I will be learning just as much from my peers and friends as I will from my classes. We have been doing a lot of socializing since we only have a couple classes and the real work has yet to start. After my class gets out at 7:30, we usually go eat dinner and drink wine and beer until about 9:30 when we meet up with other SAIS students in a Piazza or (oddly enough) an Irish Bar near by (it can accommodate the large crowd that we generally travel with [which I think should begin to diminish soon {I hope}]). Anyway, it's been a lot of socializing and small talking and drinking, so I'm not sure I've exactly begun the Italian lifestyle just yet (other than the drinking. The Italians drink a lot.).  I've also eaten a LOT of pizza. We will set out for dinner determined not to get pizza for the 3rd meal in a row and find ourselves at a Trattoria eating a bigger pizza than the last one we had. It's hard not to eat it when it's SO good and SO cheap.

Last night we went to a football game, Forzo Bologna vs. AC Milan. It was quite an interesting experience. All the Bologna fans crowd into 2 sections on one end of the field and the Milan fans crowd into 1 section on the other end and there are tons of empty seats in between. These fans are very intense! I think I had more fun watching the fans than watching the game (Bologna lost 1-3). Then afterwards, we got pizza!

All in all, so far so good. Bologna is a pretty city, albeit covered in graffiti. It's very old and it smells like pee everywhere, but it's got character! I'm excited to explore it more in depth. The weather has finally cooled down from the sweltering 104 degree days and is now almost chilly. I'm looking forward to Fall in Bologna, although I know my free time will be limited with classes and studying. Luckily, I'm also looking forward to my classes. Anyway, I miss DC, but I'm quite happy to be here! If anyone would like to visit, I just discovered I have a fold out couch, so come on over!

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