Model behavior/ Bakin’ up a storm/Geneva

Lots and lots to write about!


So Milan Fashion Week began on Wednesday of last week!  Which means models are EVERYWHERE and the Duomo area of Milan is a crazed mix of tents, carpets, people, and cameras.  I stopped by the Duomo and  Galleria on Wednesday afternoon after my art history class and it was so cool!  Most of the fashion shows are in white tents and are closed to the public but some are out in the open and just as I was walking through the Galleria, a public fashion show had just began!  It was so cool to see the models on the runway doing their thing.  Plus, right next to the runway were big see-through globes where you could see the L’Oreal make up artists doing the models’ make up!  I don’t pretend to know much about fashion and I’ve certainly never lived in the center of the fashion world but I also know enough to know that this is a big deal and I thought it was so cool witnessing everything in action.  It’s funny, too, how models just invade the city.  They’re everywhere… on the metro, in restaurants, in clubs… it’s nuts and we're fascinated by them.  My roommates and I talk about how we just can’t stop staring because they live such different lives, lives that we think are exciting and awesome.  I definitely want to make my way to the Duomo more this week and see the rest of what fashion week has to offer.

One of the runways outside of the Duomo

The entrance

Walking into the Galleria

The public fashion show I saw!

The see-through make up areas I mentioned! 

Post-fashion show madness

Before I went to the Duomo, we had art history class in the Sala delle Asse, which is a frescoed room in the Castello near the Duomo.  I’ve never taken an art history class and truthfully never had an invested interest in the subject.  Much to my surprise, this class has been so interesting and has taught me so much already, especially about the history of Milan which is really cool.  The class is called Cracking the Code:  Leonardo da Vinci so the focus is on da Vinci but much of his life was lived in Milan, hence where Milan’s history comes into play.  Da Vinci painted the frescoed room we visited and at first glance, the room looks uninspiring and plain.  However, after we discussed it and our professor provided some history and insight, I realized how much there was to discover.  It was so interesting how much you can learn from art about the time period and how much there is left to guess.  We saw Michelangelo’s last work, an unfinished Pieta sculpture.   This work was so interesting because our professor said that scholars aren’t sure it’s even a Pieta, as they aren’t sure who is carrying who (Mary carrying Jesus or vice versa) or if it’s even Mary at all (her leg is showing, which you would not have seen back then).  The “Mary” figure also has two faces, as it seems Michelangelo began carving her face in one direction and then decided to change it.  I just never realized how much there was to see in a work of art and all the dimensions that go into it.  Plus, it’s so cool that we have the opportunity to learn about a work of art on Monday and then see it in person on Wednesday.  We’ll be seeing The Last Supper later in March, as well, which I’m looking forward to.

Walking to the Castle

Me by the fountain

Fountain up close

The center of the ceiling of the Sala delle Asse

More of the Sala delle Asse

On Thursday, for my cooking class, we visited a panetteria (a bakery).  The panetteria was tucked away, there’s definitely no way I would have known it was there had our teacher not taken us there.  The baker wasn’t ready when we got there so we enjoyed some focaccia bread and waited outside for him.  It was funny, we were the only ones there at first and then like magic, old ladies descended on this place around lunch time!  When he was ready, we went inside into the back and he showed us how he makes the various types of breads that they sell!  It was so cool, he started with the dough and showed us how he flattened it, made it softer, and created the puffy parts that you often see in focaccia bread.  We (mostly he) made all different kinds of focaccia bread, some with cheese and prosciutto, others with mushrooms and peppers, and then some that were similar to pizza.  They have the process down to a science and it was neat seeing how they mass produce all of this bread.   He said his assistant will get in around 3 or 4 in the morning to start making the bread!  The owner actually owns a few other paneterria’s in town and I think distributes the bread they make at this particular place to them.  He said he wants to start a place in the States if any of us were interested and he “was not joking!”  It was yet another very cool, interesting cooking class J  I love all of the "field studies" we get to do in our classes, definitely something unique about studying abroad… not sure if it’s unique to my particular program or not but I enjoy it very much. 

The outside, you really wouldn't even know it was there!

What we first saw when we came in

Flattening the dough

Making the focaccia bread with prosciutto

Partial view of the oven

More bread

What we/he made!

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So this past weekend, I took a little trip down memory lane and went back to Geneva, Switzerland where I lived when I was between 7 and 9 years old.  I took the train from Milan on Thursday evening and getting there was about the most stressful experience ever!  It was definitely funny, thinking back on it, and I can officially cross off “running through a Milan train station” from my bucket list.  OK so I’m running late, of course, and am rushing around my apartment 10 minutes after I had planned on leaving.  I’m trying to shove my purse into my bag with all my clothes because I don’t want to look like the bag lady and have to carry 3 bags.  Bad idea, the zipper doesn’t break but the thing you drag the zipper with does.  I didn’t have time to switch all my stuff to a suitcase so I muscle the zipper to the end and finally close the bag.  It’s 5pm, my train leaves from Centrale at 5:25pm.  In my frenzy, I decide that going to Garibaldi station would be a good idea, being both a longer walk to the metro station than the Zara station (yellow line) and a longer walk through the station than the Zara station.  On my walk to Garibaldi I realize my mistake and hustle a bit faster to make up for it.  It’s okay, Centrale is only 2 metro stops away and I already have my ticket so I just need to get there and hope that my platform number is displayed on the board. 

I swipe my metro pass and continue down to the metro; a metro car comes and I happily hop on, only to look up at the map and realize I’m headed two stops in the WRONG DIRECTION.  I jump off the metro car just before the doors close and climb the stairs up and then back down to the other side, where I realize I JUST missed the metro car going the other way.  Perfect, it’s now 5:10, I’ll just wait another 3 minutes.  The metro finally comes and I hurry on.  2 stops later, I hurry off and officially enter sprint mode, disregarding any funny looks I’m getting with my packed-to-the-brim backpack and bag.  Officially sweating at this point as I’m running up stairs and escalators and across hallways.  I see my platform number, number 3 and look up to realize I am currently standing at platform 17.  Perfect.  I don’t know what time it was at this point because I was too scared to look.  I have to cross all the platforms to get to to number 3 which was the first platform.  I get to number 4 and number 3 is nowhere to be seen.  Number 3 is hidden and a little bit further and I finally get on the train, only to realize I’m on the wrong car.  I got on carozza 6 instead of 5; so, I’m sweating, clearly frazzled and not able to find my seat, perfect.  I get off and somehow miss carozza 5 and go straight to 4.  The man at the train promptly tells me so and after 5 minutes of scrambling in between trains, I finally find my seat.  I was completely discombobulated and I can only imagine what they three other women seated around me must have thought.  I made it, though, which for a long time, I didn’t think was possible.  Geneva here I come!

Annebe picked me up from the train station and we went back to her house.  She still lived in the same house as when I knew her and I actually remembered a good deal of it.  Her house was still beautiful and on the Saleve Mountains, the mountains we could see from our apartment when we lived there and the same mountains I saw on my way to the bus stop every morning for school.  She told me, though, that her parents and sister were moving to Singapore in May, though, for her dad’s business, and that she’d be moving into an apartment then.  It was so good to see her and so fascinating to catch up after 11 years!  It’s hard to know where to start after so long, we’ve grown up so much and yet we’re still the same people.

She cooked me some pasta because, surprisingly, I haven’t gotten sick of it yet, and we just sat and talked for a while.  Time passed quickly of course and we were both very tired so we went to bed.  We got up around 9:30 the next morning because she had an hour class she had to go to.  Suvi, another one of my best friends from Geneva who lives in Finland now but came in for the weekend as well, met us at Annebe’s University and we got coffee at Globus while Annebe went to class.  It was awesome to see Suvi as well and I’m so glad she could come this weekend.  Annebe met us at Globus after her class and then we had lunch and walked around Geneva for a while.  It was so nice to be back and connect the city with the memories of it that I still had.  Afterwards, Annebe and I went to the International School, where we met and attended primary school (Suvi had to meet with the family friends that she was staying with).  It was soo so weird being back there!  Everything was about 20 sizes smaller than I remembered but I still recognized all of it.  Being back jogged our memories, like many things did this weekend, and it was great just sitting on the swings in the playground area rehashing what our lives were like 11 years ago.  Remembering what we did, who we were friends with (and who we weren’t haha)… the teachers, the classes, the trips, the recesses… all of it was just fascinating.  We went inside and saw some of the classrooms then walked around the campus (the actual campus was pretty big… it had kindergarten through high school grades as well as athletic fields, a theater, an amphitheater, and a new cafeteria.  It was so neat being back there, kind of an indescribable feeling.  It was almost as if me going there never actually happened, like my memories are just some strange dream, because I didn’t go there anymore, didn’t know anyone there anymore, and was so young that the memories almost don’t seem cemented. 

Suvi, Annebe, and me by the Jet d'Eau

Me and Suvi!

Me and Annebe!

Annebe and me having coffee in the Old Town

Me by my old primary school!

Our playground!

Being a kid again :)

Sitting on the ledge I used to sit on a lot before school started

Inside where the classrooms are

More of the International School's campus

Me in the amphitheater

After the school, we visited where my family used to live.  Things were surprisingly close (my school, my house, my friends’ houses), much closer than I remembered.  We parked her car and walked around Villette and it was one of the coolest and weirdest things ever.  The smell is what first got me when we stepped out of the car, I got a whiff of something that reminded me so much of Villette that it was scary.  We went to the outside of our apartment and of course everything looked so small.  I give my mom a lot of credit because now I realize how difficult of a task it must have been getting Big Red (our minivan) in and out of our garage and through the tiny streets of Geneva; I really don’t know how she did it!  After we saw our apartment, we walked the route my mom and I used to take to my bus stop every morning.  It was a beautifully scenic walk along the sidewalk overlooking fields with the mountains in the distance.  We got lucky with the weather, too, sun was shining J  I forgot how massive the houses were along that walk, too… there was one with a SKATING RINK outside complete with huge lights for skating in the dark we assumed.  So much money in that area and in Geneva in general, unbelievable.  I remembered a lot of this area, probably because I spent so much time walking along it, which was cool.  I appreciated Annebe taking me to all of these places, I’m sure it wasn’t nearly as cool for her as it was for me, but she was great about it. 

The restaurant almost next to our apartment!  You can see our apartment complex in the background, it's the light tan building to the right of the restaurant.

Our street!

Our apartment!! We were on the top with the semi circle window

Just HOW did my mom drive her giant mini van in and out of this everyday?!  Props, mom, mad props

Walking along the route my mom and I used to take to my bus stop every day!  Saleve Mountains are in the background, which is where Annebe lives

Almost felt like I was back in Italy from this view...

The parking lot where my mom and I used to wait for the bus every morning 

The view from Annebe's house, it overlooks Geneva and is so pretty at night

Picture from her driveway, the field up to the left is where we used to play a lot and is also where many parachuters land from the top of the Saleves

Her garden area

Suvi, me, and Annebe at Demi Lune after dinner!

Geneva at night; a picture from our walk back along Lake Geneva

We went back to her house after and then went out to dinner with Nadia, a friend of Annebe’s.  I didn’t get to meet many of Annebe’s friends because she said many of them went up to the mountains for the weekend, which she said they did a lot in the winter because they all have chalets.  Dinner was fun, we went to a restaurant in the Old Town.  Things are so expensive there, though, I had no idea.  A typical dish was between 26 and 50 francs, about $30 to $60.  Crazy crazy.  We went to a nearby bar afterwards, low key and Suvi met up with us.  We walked around Geneva afterwards and it was cool to see the city at night.  I didn’t really remember the city at night very much just because I was so young and would have had no reason to be out and about in the city at midnight but it was interesting to see the different side of the city.  Suvi took the train back to where she was staying and we headed home.  I slept until 12:30 on Saturday, whoops!  It was so nice to catch up on sleep though, this whole weekend was so relaxing and refreshing, I loved it.  Annebe and I went shopping but didn’t buy anything, like I said everything was so expensive in the city!  We did go to Manor, formally called Placette when I lived there and also my favorite place in the world when I lived there, and once again I recognized the smell right away (they have a  market type area with fresh bread on the ground floor).  Manor is basically a department store with food on the bottom floor and now a cafeteria-style place on the top floor (there were about 6 floors I think!).  It was neat to be back there, even though it wasn’t called Placette anymore. 

That night, Annebe’s Swiss/Italian boyfriend came over and all four of us made chocolate fondue!  We had bought fruit, marshmallows, and biscuits on our way home from Manor and it was so fun… making chocolate fondue, drinking wine, and of course catching up.  Annebe’s boyfriend was shy and could understand English but didn’t dare speak it, she said so it was funny… Suvi still remembered some French and I know some Italian so we did get in a few dialogues back and forth but most of the time it was the 3 of us jibber jabbering about such and such.  I felt bad but he was a good sport.  Annebe brought out the photo album from those years and it was so funny looking at the pictures.  So many memories came back and I forgot how much we enjoyed mummifying each other with toilet paper!  We all noticed how easily amused we were as kids… we’d just go play in the field, trying to catch butterflies or spying on the parajumpers who would land in the field, or make a tent out of chairs and blankets and watch movies like Kindergarten Cop or Top Gun.  Life was definitely different back then.

Stirring the fondue!

The three hard-working chefs hard at work

And finally everything is ready :)

We played some board games after dinner and afterwards, Suvi followed us to the highway so she could get back to where she was staying.  On our way to the highway, we made a pit stop at Suvi’s old house.  We got out of our cars and walked to her house and the park right near it where we spent a good deal of time.  I remembered her house being about a mile away from the park when it was actually almost across the street.  I didn’t remember the outside of her house as much but I definitely remembered the park.  It’s funny what your memory chooses to keep, sometimes it’s the smallest of things and you wonder why you remembered laughing about a lobster at Suvi’s chalet in Verbier but you can’t remember a girl you were friends with for a year. 

This weekend felt like a movie… I feel like it’s so unusual for this situation to occur.  Friends from primary school all meeting up 11 years later in the same city and place where they met.  It’s probably said a lot but it’s true, as much as things and people change, nothing really changes at all.  Annebe and Suvi were almost exactly as I remember them, they had the same mannerisms and ways of talking and expressing themselves as I remember them having.  Apparently I haven’t changed all that much either, as at dinner on Saturday night, Suvi asked me to pass her the water and I said no, sarcastically, and she said you always used to say that!!  I was surprised but said it was probably because that’s what my brothers always used to say to me whenever I’d ask them for something. 

11 years is so long and thinking about how different our lives are now is so weird.  When we lived there, we were almost completely dependent on our parents and older people… parents were making our lunches, driving us places, organizing parties, chaperoning our field trips, and quizzing us on our times tables on the way to the bus stop (at least my mom was).   Now, we take trains and planes solo, we drive places, we go out, we cook for ourselves, we go to universities,  we have boyfriends (well, Annebe does)… we’ve grown up and we’re independent and have such different states of minds.  On our drive to the train station this morning, Annebe said imagine the next time we meet up, where we’ll be in our lives.  Jobs, families, none of the above?  Imagine another 10 years going by before we see each other again… what will our lives be like then?  Saying goodbye to Suvi last night was unlike any other goodbye I’ve ever had.  I’m normally pretty bad at goodbyes but all three of us were dumbfounded last night, standing in the parking lot by Suvi’s house for a good 2 mintues not really knowing how to end it.  Suvi usually goes back to Geneva once a year with her family so there’s a good chance she and Annebe and some of our other friends will see each other sooner rather than later, but me?  Who knows when I’ll be back in Europe next, let alone Geneva.  That uncertainty of when I’ll see her again was almost unbearable.  At least when you say bye to family and friends, there’s always that comfort in the back of your mind that while yes you are saying bye, you will see them again sometime in the near future even if it is a few years later.  With these girls, who knows?  It was so unusual and exceptional that we were able to put together this weekend that it’s scary thinking that it may not happen again.  Like Annebe said, who knows what the next five, ten, eleven years will bring, although it’s quite certain we’ll have more commitments by then and might not be able to hop on a train from Milan or a plane from Finland to visit old friends for a weekend.  I am glad, though, that we got to enjoy this weekend.  I’ve never had lifelong friends like some people I know, who are still best friends with whoever their best friend was in kindergarten, because we moved so much so reconnecting with people who knew me when I was younger was really nice and special.  I don’t really keep in touch with my friends from Buffalo, before we moved to Geneva so these girls are my only real connection to the primary school me.  Being in Geneva for those two and a half years also meant that I missed out on a bit of American culture, which I noticed when we moved back to the States and people would say ‘you never did this?!’ or ‘you’ve never heard of this?!’  But being back there and remembering everything that was so much a part of my life then provided an explanation for that missing piece… it was almost like verifying that I wasn’t just frozen in time for two and a half years but that I just had a different experience than everyone else in the States.  

Time is such a funny thing and it’s moments like this weekend when you realize that it can play tricks on your mind and can pass all too quickly.  So much happens in 11 years, it seems impossible and awkward to be able to fall back into a normal relationship after so much time but after the first few moments, we did a pretty good job of it. Remembering all the people and fun times always helps and I’ll never forget swinging on our old playground swings or ambling along my walk to school, or visiting Suvi’s house at midnight… the entire time fitting together all the pieces of our memories, reaching back into the depths our minds and seeing what’s there. All in all, it was a more than fabulous weekend and Annebe was a great host.  I didn’t get to see her parents or sister because they were in Singapore getting their living situation set up for May but I told Annebe to give them my best.  I also said any time she or Suvi were in the U.S., preferably on the East Coast, to give me a call. 

For now, another 4 days of class (there’s an Abbey’s field trip this Friday so we don’t have class) but I have an Italian presentation in my cooking class on Tuesday which I’m pretty nervous about but we’ll see.  Still on the train home from Geneva so I can put off researching it for a little while longer :)