Ragazzi Italiani

The happy hour yesterday was a lot of fun. It was completely free for unlimited appetizers (aka dinner) and a cocktail casual. I met a few more people, Danielle from Canada and Jenny from California. There really are people from all over the world involved in this program, and it's extremely convenient that everyone at least speaks english. The location, SHU Cafe, was a really funky joint, so I liked it a lot. The ceiling lights were made out of oversized computer chips, the walls were covered in mirrors that appeared cracked (just an effect) and the two huge pillars in the middle of the room were enormous arms, complete with hands holding up the ceiling. Very post modern.

We got back to the dorm just after 10 and started to hang out outside. I was sitting relatively alone a little later in the evening, when a group of kids walked outside who I'd never seen before. I quickly discovered they were high school age italian guys who simply live in the area and seized the opportunity as a chance to hone my italian skills. They could speak broken english, and with my bad italian, we were able to carry on a pretty lengthy conversation. More people from the dorm joined us and Mark and I had a good time talking to them, and of course learning some of the vocabulary overlooked by italian text books. They are actually coming back tonight to make pasta, it's also obvious they are interested in meeting the international women (I didn't have the heart to tell them that all of the girls are going out tonight), but they will make a late dinner, I bought some wine, so we will probably just hang out again this evening.

This morning I had my first class, International Marketing. The room was overcrowded, but I managed to get there early enough to get a seat. My professor seems like a smart guy who knows his stuff, and his italian accent isn't so bad that I can't understand what he's saying. It seems like it will be a pretty easy course, that is if I can make it there on time (8:45 AM... bummer). After class I was pretty worthless and slept away a good part of the day. At 6 I had another italian class, after which I sat down for some aperitivi with my classmates. My favorite italian custom thus far.

Tomorrow morning I don't have any regular scheduled classes, so Mark and I and anyone else who we can recruit tonight will be heading for Lake Cuomo. It's a pretty simple day trip, but I'm looking forward to it. This will be my first official trip outside of Milan, so even though it's a small one, it will be a good time.

But I do have a pasta party to catch to have a great day / night everyone and I will be sure to blog after Cuomo.

Ciao.