Sabato 21.02.09 Our Trip to Carnevale! We were so excited, we didn't sleep but a few hours before our 5:30am wake up call. Left Arcobaleno at 6:15am to make it to Bocconi to meet the buses for a 7:00am departure (which turned out to be more like an 8:00am departure). We needed 4 double decker buses to accomodate 335 people (out of 400 international students) and no surprise, it took about 5 hours to get there door-to-door because of the sheer enormity of our ...

Sabato 14.02.09 Tired after our trip to Firenze, Hilary and I slept in and then celebrated Valentine's Day by exploring the weekly San Agostino Market. It's set up in the shape of a cross with the top section devoted to food and flowers with the rest focused on clothes and miscellaneous items. The food was so fresh: there were carts dedicated solely to cheeses and then others to meats and a variety of fruit (actually one kind that I had never seen before) that...

Giovedi 12.02.09 After a very short night, Hilary, Zandi, and I left Arcobaleno at 5:45am to catch a 7am train to Firenze (or Florence in English)! We struggled to stay awake so that we might catch glimpses of the Tuscan countryside but soon succumbed to sleep. Awoke three and a half hours later to find ourselves in the capital of Tuscany itself. Trekked over to our hostel on Borga dei Greci and were met by a lovely woman who showed us to our country-charm r...

Mercoledi 11.02.09 Today was the last day of my intensive language course which meant I spent all morning taking a written exam and all afternoon in oral presentations. Our class was such a good one, even the presentations were fun and interesting to listen to. And the exam wasn't bad either, no doubt that I passed. We celebrated yesterday with a small surprise party for our teacher, Barbara. As soon as she had finished the test review, we switched on Itali...

Sabato 07.02.09 The paperwork is OVER! I had my appointment at the police station and after a 3 hour wait for a 10 minute fingerprinting session, I'm finally LEGAL! Bocconi had a special arrangement with the police so that they were open just for us on a Saturday from 8am to 11am (kind of reaffirms what a racket they're running). Guess who got the 11am spot? That's right, me. And those of you who have known me for more than 5 minutes would agree that that's...