Va Bene

The past two days have been pretty tiring, lots of orientation and meetings to attend but it's all been really useful and I've learned so much!  Yesterday after orientation, my program organized for us to go to Noon bar for "aperitivo" which is a tradition popular among the Milanese; it's sort of like happy hour in the U.S. except you pay for drinks and then the appetizers are free.  It was so much fun! The bar was two levels and IES reserved part of the top level for us so we ordered drinks and then waiters brought around trays of an assortment of cheeses (including brie!!), meats like proscuitto and what looked like salami, and bread including foccacia bread and pizza-esque bread.  It was delicious and we had a blast, this is such a cool ritual that younger Milanese people have and I think the U.S. should adopt it as well :)  We went out to our first "disco" after that which was fun, too!

Today we had a 2 hour guided walking tour of Milan which was really interesting.  We got to see many different parts of the city, including one of Giorgio Armani's houses and Via Montenapoleone which is basically the holy grail of shopping.  This street, as well as the area around the Duomo, had pretty much every high end brand you could imagine and many of the stores' headquarters or main offices are also located here.  Of course we couldn't go in since they were "shop by appointment only" but it was so cool to see them. 

It's funny how many inconsistencies there are in Italian culture.  For example, the interiors of many places including our apartment are so bright and colorful but everyone walks around in black; our tour guide explained that many homes and green areas are not visible from the city (they are behind walls) because Italians don't like to flaunt their wealth, yet they drive around in ferrari's and BMW's and wear Armani suits; Italians can be very 'touchy' in an endearing way, yet they just about run you over every time you try and cross the street (I am 100% certain I will get hit at some point across these next 5 months haha).  It's been really interesting noticing these differences as well as the differences in American and Italian culture.

After our tour, we had lunch and my friends and I had some gelato for the first time!  It was delicious and dangerously close to where we'll be taking classes ;)  We had a few more seminars afterwards and they also explained the field trips we have this semester which include a ski trip, a cuisine field trip, and a day trip to the abbey's.  After that we had to go to the post office to start the process of getting our "permesso di soggiorno's" (permit to stay).  It took 2 hours for about 10 of us to sign 3 sheets of paper and pay 30 Euros - Italian bureaucray at its finest.  This was also just the start of the process, too, as one of the IES staff directors said that we'll also have to make 2 trips to the police station before actually receiving our permit to stay card, perfect. 

We're all pretty tired but still running on adrenaline so I think we're finally going to the grocery store near our apartment soon and then maybe aperitivo part two after that :) Oh and this was pretty cool,  Milan is listed as #5 in the top 41 places to go in 2011 by the New York Times! Check it out at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/travel/09where-to-go.html?_r=1

Side note: the Italians really know how to enjoy life!  No one works too hard, they drink wine all the time, cafe's and gelatteria's are everywhere, most shops are closed on Sundays, we have "quiet hours" in our apartment from 2-4pm which I'm assuming means that this time is reserved for rest during the day, and eating and drinking wine are integral parts of daily life :)

So far I've met some really interesting people, people from all over the world and people pursuing really interesting things.  Everyone has been so friendly and our program has been incredibly organized and helpful to us during our first frantic days here, which is great.  I still feel pretty helpless here despite learning so much in my first few days and I can't wait to not feel like a foreigner anymore.  When we went back to the cafe we went to the first morning, the two guys inside laughed but they love us... we plan on being regulars there :) 

And now some pictures!!

 The hallway of the spa!!

view from our balcony

view from the other side on our balcony

our living room

hallwayy

littttle kitchen

my room!

what I wake up to every morning :)

our favorite cafe close to our apartment on our way to our school!

a group of us at aperitivo!

Duomo

Giorgio Armani's house

Benvenuti a Milano!