Me Amo mia bici!

Sorry it has been so long...this little thing called grad school kept getting in the way....:)

Bologna is a fantastic city for biking around and I've been wanting one for awhile, but it seems like the bike goddess' were working against me.  Since I'm just here for a short time and the only type of crime here is bike crime, I decided to get a used bike.  

So a few weeks ago there was a bike auction....it was CRAZY!!!!  The city takes all the 'abandoned' (stolen) bikes in the city and then auctions them off for 20 euros- some of these are great deals, others have no brakes and literally are falling apart, alot of old and funky ones.  People ride them around and the announcer lady starts screaming numbers and whoever screams the loudest and gets the most attention wins the bike!!!!  And you would think this would be right up my alley - but no the Italians scream louder than me! And it was a sweet reminder of SF, people were in bear costumes, banana outfits, crazy hats, wigs, horse balloons, some had painted their chests, with the announcer's name saying "Rita, give me a bike (in italian of course).  There was even a joker!

I was not prepared for this, so all I had was an umbrella and screamed wildly, at one point I even climbed up on a friends' shoulders, who's 6'4 but no dice.  This went on for 2 hours and I left empty-biked-handed.

I spent the following Saturday going all around bike shops, throughout Bologna, but they were all closed or not selling bikes.  The bike shops, are open in the afternoon, I think because they steal the bikes at night, and then spend the morning "fixing them up"

So I tried one more time and found this little shop with used bikes, and even though others were in better shape and more practical, I could not resist the bright red bike, with the basket and silver light.  As I pedaled home happy with my negotiating skills in Italian and y new shiny bike, I thought there was an odor.  When I got home and saw that my hands were now shiny red and silver, I realized the pain hadn't quite dried yet - this was definitely stolen last night!!  But as soon as the paint dries, I will be very happily pedaling around :)

 

Around town!

Even with classes and trips to Ikea, I've been walking around  the city alot, checking out lots of cool architecture and wandering down quaint streets, checking out little cafes, nibbling on biscotti and just feeling really happy (and sometimes disbelief) that I am living here!  Here are some pictures from around town!

(I apologize in advance for shitty layout...  Blogger program needs some work when you upload more than 2 pics)

Above Saint Sebastian

Views from around town

A pope!

A big church near my school!

This used to be the Bourse (city stock exchange) and now its a gorgeous public library!

One of the many quaint streets

2 of the city's most famous towers and the one leans more than Pisa!

The city has a whole network of underground canals, here's where it comes above ground

The main Church St. Peter, it was suppose to be the biggest in all of Italy but then a Pope stopped it so now its only the 5th-largest and half done.

The famous Neptune Fountain

More views

The Main Square - Piazza Maggiore

Update on Life in Italy!

So its been a bit of time and I promise to be better about it...but I've started school.  It's definitely a little intense, I have 2.5 hours of Italian every morning and the 3 hours of microeconomic theory 3 times a week - it's before the actual semester starts so its a semester crammed into 5 weeks...but its good to ease back into this stuff, right?

It actually feels great to be back into the academic environment and already I have gone to 3 lectures; one on expansion of the European Union, the situation in Kosovo, and heard from the head of the Austrian Central Bank on stabilizing the Euro and policies that have taken in response to the economic crisis (which was actually really interesting) as well as a pianist who despite being egotistical and liked to about his female conquests, played a great concert!

It's also been fun to have some great political conversations with other students and I realize I know so little and have so much to read!!!

Socially, its been fantastic too!  I've definitely got to go dancing already twice, I just love the European discotheques, they just play lots of fun music and everyone dances, no DJs, no covers, just cheesy and fun music!  I've found a place to go running, Ghiardinia Marghertia (appropriately named! ) and I even got a intercambio with a real Italian going.  

My roommate Andy and I both like to cook so we have been having lots of fun, from making pizza and trying out different crusts, to taking turns making everything from veal cutlets and polenta to big pots of soup and stewed chicken!  And of course no meal is complete withou gelato.... :)  

1st Day of School!!!

This is it!!!  Its for real now!!!  I am a student again.....AHHHHH!!!!

I had my first class on Thursday, MicroEconomic Theory!  I actually already took it, but since its been 9 years (ouch! I feel old) I had to retake it.  But this is a good thing because I am easing back into school.  Its actually a semester crammed into 5 weeks (I'm also taking an Italian class) and then I will have orientation and start taking a full coarse-load at a normal semester pace.  

So how did it go?  Well I have to admit, I was very scared for that first class and there was alot running through my mind.  I felt like I couldn't take notes fast enough, I was intimidated by 22 year old peers giving textbook answers, it was hard to pay attention to someone lecturing for 3 hours on elasticity of prices, I need to buy a calculator, did the professor really mean we had to study economics everyday, what if i don't pass, readings, problem sets, an exam worth 40% of my grade???!!!!  Oh God, This is really happening!

The following morning I had to take a Calculus test, but I actually think I did ok on it and I even took a test in Italian (I don't know any Italian!) but I must have made some good guesses because I ended up in a class level 4 (out of 6!) - time to hit the books!

Even though the big switch feels a little daunting at times, I am really excited for these new challenges and it feels good to be in an academic setting again.  I promise not to write too much about boring school stuff but I will keep you updated on living in Italy, the food, trips, and interesting anecdotes.

Oh and lucky for me, our first reading was on the economics of the Food Stamp Program....watch out class, I have some ideas!!

Settling In!

Hey Everyone!!!

I'm Settled!!  So I apologize for not posting in the last week, but it was full of moving things like buying a cell phone (you get 4000 texts here and the plan is only 10 euros a month!!!), unpacking, stocking up on food, applying for a residence permit (a zillion Italian  forms - difficult!), purchasing Italian health insurance, figuring out the Italian washing machine (an actual very, very hard task), trying to find/buy all those little things I forgot to bring, starting classes, meeting new students, taking my first math test, and at every utterly confusing point compensating by eating gelato!!!!  Yesterday I ate gelato 3 times.  This may be a dangerous coping mechanism.

This translated into a Lemon Gelato

Gelato aside, I feel very excited and fortunate to be here, so far everyone is really nice and I'm meeting some pretty interesting students from around the world!  

My apartment is great, it's in the university district so super busy and lots of life, but has a quiet balcony and tons of sunlight.  I'm living with a British student Andy as well as another American (who we are convinced is a spy - but thats a different story!)  I tried to live with Italians but it was a little difficult to rent an apt when one does not speak the language and needed to sign a 9 month lease.  So I will look for an intercambio but I am committed to learning Italian!  

The view from my bedroom window:                 My Apartment: Via Irnerio 22 (my room is the    3rd from the left and 2nd from the top)

The Anxious Apt Hunt!

Looking for an apartment in a foreign city when you don't speak the language has got to be the most stressful thing ever (and maybe the dumbest)!!!

I'm not sure if I'm developing an anxiety disorder as I age but I definitely was kicking myself for not looking for an apt online before I arrived, or learning Italian and having a cell phone that worked, or giving myself more than 3 days before school started to find a place to live, checking my bank balance, or maybe bringing a friend (i.e. my Dad) to help me make a HUGE, expensive decision when one is jet-lagged, hungry, confused and knows nothing and no one.    

Despite these shortcomings, I started the apt hunt.  After a hot day of climbing up lots of steps and looking at more than 20 apartments, I realized it was after 7pm and I didn't like anything.  I wanted a bed bigger than a twin, in the center of town, with lots of light, quiet, and maybe 1 other roommate.  However now that I am not working I had to scale down my price range and after seeing lots of dark, moldy flats, outside the city walls and with 6 roommates (not ready to be a start of Real World in Bologna), I realized I needed to make some compromises.  I couldn't swing the sunny, quiet, 1 bedroom, sterile bathroom I shared with nobody in the center of town like I had in SF...I was a student again.  

Eventually I stumbled upon a British student who was living in a 3 bedroom.  It was near the center of town, a 10 min walk to school, close to the train station, sunny, but a 4 story walk-up, super noisy, 2 roommates, 1 bathroom and I'd have to share it with at least 1 boy...ugh! But it had alot of old Italian charm, a balcony, was sparsely furnished and I could sign a 9 month lease...so after a sleepless night and frantic emails to my Dad and Jessa, I signed it!

After moving my stuff in (i.e. dragging my suitcase over cobblestones from the hotel and up steps) and sharing an espresso with my new roommate, I felt my anxiety start to disappear.  It was a little more that I was hoping to spend but my new felt peace of mind suddenly seemed worth it.

Don't worry I will post pictures soon!

Back to the Backpack (ok a suitcase this time)

So after spending a fantastic summer in San Francisco, where I got to see lots of friends and family, cook, relax, do lots of fun things, go on some favorite runs and even get in some studying for grad school...I packed up my bags and headed to Bologna, Italy for the first year of grad school.

Normally, I'm not an anxious person, but the week leading up to my departure included alot of stomachaches and alot of tears, at one point I even called my mother explaining my symptoms thinking I was sick, until she explained to me that it was simply nerves...who knew?  

On the plane I decided to read some information from the school, which only left me more anxious (and nauseous) as I realized how little I had done to prepare for this trip!  Why hadn't I researched this more?  Why did I not have an Italian phrasebook?  What's the point of reading a book that gives websites to go look at, when you don't have internet access and its too late? Did I even have health insurance?  Where was I going to live?  There were only 2 pages on Bologna in my guidebook!!! 

After 11 hours in aisle 46 (this section of coach couldn't even fit my short legs!) I landed in Frankfurt to switch planes and looking at my passport I realized it was almost 9 years to the day that I flew to Germany to spend a semester of undergrad and I thought if I could do it at 19, I can definitely do this at 28.  

Besides more wisdom (hopefully), I did have:

-some breadcrumbs in my backpack leaving a trail back to SF (old school GPS), 

-a St. Christopher in my wallet to keep me safe, 

-stones from my friend Judy including Hematite: to help keep inner peace, Citrine: to stimulate the intellect and mental activity, Jade: to reduce fear &banish negative thoughts,

-lots of postive vibes from friends and family, 

-oh and both a Visa AND a MasterCard!

As I got to Bologna I found that I was smiling and calm... :)

G is for...Breadcrumbs?

Guanajuato, Guatemala, Guanacaste
When I looked back and thought of the places I studied, people I met and sights I saw, I tried to think of a theme for this trip. I learned Spanish, although still have a lot to accomplish, it was an empowering experience to come down here by myself, and great to meet interesting people of all ages, from around the world. I thought having gone to all places beginning with G must mean something as I definitely didn’t plan it that way so here are some of my favorite G words en espanol that have a significance with this trip.

Galleta - cookie - I love cookies! And while they have not quite mastered the concept of pastries in Latin America I did find American style chocolate chip cookies in Guatemala (at a local bakery) that I ate way too many of but they definitely were very comforting …and of course when I came across margarita cookies, I was pretty thrilled.

Gallo - rooster - I finally get the reason why they are a symbol of waking and early mornings, roosters were in all 3 places and are insanely loud! Its impossible to ignore them! However the crow all the time and their idea of morning is NOT my idea of morning.

Gauchos - cowboys - My Costa Rican family has a horse farm and I am thankful for being introduced to farm life.

Geckos - geckos - for eating the mosquitoes in my Costa Rican house

Gente - the people - everywhere I went, I met incredibly nice people and I really appreciated how many people opened their homes and families to me. Especially the volunteering projects in Guatemala made me realize how the majority of the people live in this world.

Girasol - sunflower - so many pretty flowers in Central America and such bright colors too. Sunflowers represent happiness and overall I was very happy here (until I got good enough Spanish to read the news)

Goce - pleasure - lots of fun times and pleasures which I indulged in, everything from ice cream and pina coladas, to beach vacations, waterfalls and volcanoes

Goerne family - my family in Mexico that was absolutely incredible

Gracias - thanks - I am incredibly thankful for such an amazing experience, having the opportunity to start learning another language and culture, and seeing so many amazingly different things.

Grande - good - from food to experiences it was all good!

Gratificacion - rewarding - So many aspects from building a stove, to getting around, to being complimented on my Spanish were rewarding experiences

Gringa - white girl - the further south I went, the more I stuck out.

La Gripa - the flu - and used to describe pig flu, while I was lucky to not get it, I did get another La Gripa in Mexico which is strange for me as I am never sick. But the striking headlines of pig flu added an element of drama to everyday life.

Guadalupe - the virgin of Guadalupe that is more popular in Mexico than Jesus - nothing wrong with people worshiping a woman!

Guantes - gloves - My host mother in Guatemala screamed that I needed Guantes for the cold. I didn’t believe her but somehow she found a pair of men’s ski gloves from the 80s, in a region where there is no snow. She made me take them for my hike to the tallest mountain in Central America and I have to admit they came in pretty handy.

Guzman family - my family in Guatemala for introducing me fried baloney and bowls of warm milk.

The breadcrumbs are still in my backpack despite all the places, packings and unpackings, somehow they are still in the crevices, but they will help lead me home…

Its been an amazing 3 months and I’m sad to leave, but I know I will come back to visit these places, yet I am also excited to go back to SF and see Brian and my friends, my family, and start the next chapter.

Thanks to everyone for reading!

The Chicken Saga continues....

Our Mama chicken and chick were eaten because they didn’t like their house and instead slept in trees, like they did during the time of our grandparents, according to me host mother. Well they said they would be vigilante, I came home the night after the coyote ate the chickens and my host father was relaxing in the hammock with a shotgun. At 12:15 the exact same time the coyote visited the night before (apparently coyotes are very punctual creatures), I heard the dogs barking and a loud sound. (the shot) My host father thinks he got the coyote because he heard 3 loud gripes far away which means a coyote is dying. I tell you living on a farm is never boring….

Ostriches, Crocodiles, Warthogs, Oh My!

I was feeling a little tired from the last few weeks (the farm gets going at 5:30, so I’m up by 6am, which is helpful as I have a 50 minute walk to school but I am not much of a morning person…

Anyway I decided to rent a car and tool around CR, I was so excited when the guy pulled up with a Jimny, the tiniest little 4wd, stick shift and a spare tire bigger than it. Off I went to Tempiste river valley, on the other side of the peninsula. Over dirt roads, up mountains, and through gullies. I had a blast and arrived at a nature reserve for native animals of Costa Rica.

I must make a disclaimer. My camera does not have zoom, so all of these pics are the actual distance I was from these ferocious animal, hence this would never be allowed in the U.S.
This ostrich followed me around and even nipped at my back luckily I had my backpack on (ostriches cn be extremely dangerous) and held an ostrich egg.

Tapirs and the baby tapir has a very distinct coloring with a series of stipes and dots that hanges after 6 months














I think this is an ocelot and endangered cat that is a cousin of the leopard














Maybe their version of a deer and some other odd piggy animal

Also saw some emus, large ostriches and peacocks and of course a Toucan!














Capuchin monkey and Spider monkey





More Monkeys!



The Spider Monkeys going crazy!

Peccary - a prehistoric hog that is native to this rain forest and makes an awful sound!














Faced all my squeamish fears however I declined to go inside the monkey cage but held a baby iguana and a baby crocodile (there was tape on its mouth)

Never been fascinated by birds, but the colors were pretty incredible of the parrots and toucans. There were these beautiful black birds, that had white shiny dots and red heads, a big black bird with a yellow puffy mouth, and then the Rosette spoonbills, pink ones that had bills that were shaped like serving spoons, skinny and then a big wide piece at the bottom.Big tall bird Jaiburu (almost extinct) made the weirdest sound and it puffed up a big red thing around its neck - like a woodpecker sound and the beak looked like wood.





There are also lots of crocodiles in the rivers, I declined a boat ride (it was very pricey) but also seeing how big these animals were and how quickly they ate a whole chicken, made me not want to get in the water with them.


Feeding Time!!! Remember no zoom!!! And never would be allowed in the U.S.

After my private tour, I headed over to the Chorotega (an indigenous community) village of Guaitil, which is famous for its pottery. It looks like most little Costa Rican towns, a soccer field in the middle, houses around the field and a white open air catholic church.

The art of pottery has been in the family for hundreds of years and the families still work together, in fact the women are the matriarchs of the businesses! Every family has different designs and techniques, but they make a clay mixture from the earth that includes using the sand that an iguana has used to bury their eggs in, mixing it with their feet, and eventually carving it. There are only 3 colors they use white, reddish/orange, and black, zinc, iron and magnesium, all found in the earth. They paint their colors and etch in their designs, then use quartz rock to smooth over and give it a natural high-gloss shine, and when its all over it goes into the middle of clay over. Around the sides is a wood fire that creates a fire over 1000 centigrade! After 45 minute it comes out and voila!

After treating myself to a piece of pottery as I now felt like I could buy a souvenir since I only have to lug my backpack t the airport, I headed to very touristy Tamarindo for some pizza, salad and ice cream as I was in need of something a little different than rice and beans.

A perfect end to my last weekend...

Spanish Lessons

So as I am nearing my last week, some of you may be wondering how the actual purpose of my trip - to learn Spanish - has gone so far. After 11 weeks of rather intense Spanish, 4 to 5 hours a day of classes, a few hours of homework, and conversation with family and neighbors, I think its coming along pretty well. Some of my most exciting accomplishments:

-Straightening out a huge messy confusion with rental car agency over the phone en espanol
-Going out with my host sister and her girlfriend, salsa dancing and being able to gossip with the girls about boys, other girls’ outfits and the bar's music choices - some things are the same across cultures:)
-Reading the newspaper
-Going to a doctor who only spoke Spanish (I had gotten a very stupid-and embarassing!- infected ingrown hair in my armpit)
-Talking with my family about American politics, the environment and how the coastline is developing
-Telling the story of my encounter with the pastry thief on the 22 bus in SF en espanol

That being said there are some days I can barely order a medium. And if I talk to people without teeth I can't understand a single thing. And I definitely am still completely confused by telenovelas and am struggling through a book written for pre-teen girls called Pantolones Largos (long pants). This subject of weaknesses brings me to my pronunciation…

The other day I asked my teacher if my pronunciation was muy mal (very bad), she cringed and said, not muy mal, but mal (bad). Ouch! So this past week we spent perfecting my pronunciation and the subjunctive tense. One of these exercises included giving a very short presentation to the rest of the school. While I have never had public speaking fear, all of a sudden having to speak in front of people in Spanish was INCREDIBLY nerve-wracking and suddenly I had public speaking anxiety even though I just had to read something. Especially having to pronounce the word geomorfologico (hey-o-more-foe-laa-hee-co).

Sadly, my English grammar and vocabulary have also seemed to go to shit, so now I speak 2 languages muy mal!

The saga of the chickens

Life on a farm seems to provide me with endless entertainment...

Last week after I had 2 wild turkeys in my kitchen (not the alcoholic kind), I then had a crab get in, and the following day a toad. My host mother must think I’m nuts coming up every day “Discuple, pero yo tengo uno (fill in animal here) in my cocina, por favor ayudeme” (Excuse me but I have a BLANK in my kitchen, please help me).

However last night I heard the guard dogs barking and barking alot. Concerned about serial killers and intruders, I made sure the door was locked, put my ear plugs in and went back to bed. This morning, however I noticed that a mama hen and baby chick were missing. Apparently last night as the chickens slept in the lime tree (I didn't know chickens slept in the top of trees), a coyote came shook the tree until they fell out, and then ate them!!! My host mother was upset as you can imagine and told me tonight that we will be 'vigalante', i.e. they will shoot the coyote if they see him...hmmm not sure what to think about all this, but it makes me thing of the book Prodigal Summer which highlights the differences in opinions between shooting coyote to protect your investment and saving the coyotes.

The late mama hen and chick These baby chicks were spared by the coyote

More Videos & Photos from Arenal!

For some reason these wouldn’t upload last week, so here they are. I also must point out that the pictures of the volcano with smoke were taken from the most dangerous place to be, all the green in front was a town in the 1960s. Our guide told us in advance of our escape path in case of an eruption since we would only have 20 to 30 seconds to evacuate….another thing that would never be allowed in the U.S.





Here are pics from the La Fortuna Cataracts...and incredibly powerful waterfall that you hike down to the bottom of a valley. I got to swim in the lagoon, yet another thing that would not be allowed in the U.S. and it was like one of those pools that make a current so its hard to swim.






































Under a 'fake' waterfall at the thermal baths


This video is from these really cool leaf ants. They are almost blind and walk up to 1 km, the cut up leaves to carry back home. One big ant puts it on its back and a little ant then gets on top helps steer as well as lick off all impurities off of the leaf. Then these ants take it into their ant hill where they break it down and use it to feed the larvae. Alot of work...