Venice and stuff 03.17.09

I am sitting on my roof top terrace in shorts, a tank top and flip flops....the weather is finally warming and I love it! I hear the weather back home has been less than desirable, I am sorry to hear that...but so glad the weather here is getting better! :) I haven’t written in some time - time seems to slip through my fingers here. Last I wrote I was getting ready to go to Venice for the weekend, back in February. My roommate Kelly and I went for a weekend and had an absolute ball. I chose the weekend of the 20-22 because it was during their Carnivale which is a huge festival right before lent...it’s a lot like New Orleans Mardi Gras. Carnivale is known for it’s amazing masquerade balls and costumes. Many Venetians dress in costume and stand in the streets. The costumes vary greatly, there are tons of authentic period pieces with the white wigs and all and elaborate masks and head dresses. Some of the costumes were quit impressive, with headdresses so large they could barely hold their heads up. There was also a wide range of people dressed in what we might consider Halloween costumes, from devils to the cast of 90210. There were people as far as the eye could see. At times you could barely walk through the narrow streets the people were so thick. At first it was exciting, to be surrounded by so many people celebrating, then it just got old. I have experienced Carnivale in Venice and don’t think I will ever again. Kelly and I went out both nights and during the day we did the tourist thing, or attempted to. We went to the Basilica in San Marco, which took my breathe away for the second time. In the evening we tried to hit the hot spots and ended up meeting some Venetians that took us to some of their local haunts. It was a great time and one I will never forget...I plan on going back this summer for a longer stay to see a few of the museums and Burano, a small island next to Murano (we went to Murano this trip). The next weekend we were having a little get together at our flat. We had a planned a few weeks before to have a ‘vino e fermagio’ party and it was a hit. Everyone we invited was supposed to bring a bottle of wine and a cheese to share, we provided the breads, crackers and other small goodies. There were so many different kinds of cheeses and wine it was insane. We got to know a few more of our school mates, and some people we don’t even go to school with. People were dancing, drinking great wine and eating good cheese...what more could you ask for in Italia? We are already planning another get together...a kick off to spring break. Kelly’s friend is coming to visit for our Easter holiday so we thought it would be a good way to welcome her. School is going good, and to be honest flying by. Like I said before the weather is getting so nice and spring is upon us! I am starting to look for a bike, I think it will be a great means of travel this summer. I have seem them for as low as 15 euro...just no helmets...I am still looking. No one here wears helmets which I find strange as I have seen a few accidents. To my poker friends (Rachel, Nik, Taggy...) I have been playing poker here on Friday nights with some friends. We started a few weeks ago, we play Texas hold ‘em tournament style. I have done pretty good, last week I was the 3 person left....I just got stupid, or drunk, whichever way you want to look at it - really all the same to me. :) It’s been fun though, the variety of people has been crazy...let’s see if I can remember....One night we played and then had a dance party afterwards at this guys apartment, I looked around the room and realized I was the only American, like 15 different countries were represented, but anyone looking in would never have known. There was me, Jamaica, Chile, Australia, Norway, Sweden, Turkey, Romania, Greece, Slovakia, Lebannon, Italy, Denmark...I can’t remember the rest. I just think it’s so cool to be meeting people from all these different places, and we all get along and have a great time. Makes you wonder what we are missing in the rest of the world, why we can’t all just get along...we are all the same when it comes down to it. We all want to be loved and love - very simply. The apartment is starting to grate on our nerves. The water never seems to work...we take cold showers regularly, if we get a hot one it’s apleasent surprise. Oh and I almost forgot Kelly and I have a new roommate! A few days ago I was cleaning the kitchen and I moved our little fridge over to sweep and there was a lizard under it! IT quickly crawled into the corner and just sat there. Needless to say I was shocked. Lizards living here would not have been my first guess, but it seems there are swarms of them living near the river - where we live. It was at least 5 inches long....I tried to catch it and send it outside but it crawled up into the heater in the kitchen. We decided it’s a he, we named him, but if I tell you I might have to hurt you....so his name is our secret. If you come visit you might get to meet him, then we could tell you his name. :) I am starting to open the doors the right way. That’s a sign I am adjusting, at least I think so. I am also able to order just about anything in Italian, I might speak slowly, but I can do it. I can also ask you were you live, how you are, how old you are, and what you do...a few other things as well, slowly but surely I will become Italian(sort of)! In April I have two weeks off for Easter break. My friend Espen who is from Norway is going home and he invited me to go with him and I accepted. It may not be a really spring break, heading into the cold. But he promises to show me a good time, going to Oslo among things. We found tickets for super cheap, like 60 euro round trip...really cheap. There is an airline over here that sells tickets for insanely cheap, most of the time you aren’t even paying for the ticket, just taxes on the ticket...so like 20 euro to fly to Spain. I love it! I have applied for a few jobs while here. Two I am very excited about as a tour guide! I think that would be a kick this summer to hold my funny ‘follow me’ umbrella or something...telling people the history of Florence. So keep me in your thoughts that I get it, would make me so very happy! I am going to attach an assortment of pictures, some from our trip to Venice, a video from Venice among other things. Enjoy! I promise to get better about writing....I have been horrible! I hope you are well and I miss each and everyone of you, although I am not ready to come home! :) arrivederci i miei amici, finché scrivo ancora!

Venice and stuff video....

People everywhere......

A Sculpture on the island of Muranofthe sunset when we arrived in Venice....really was that colorPaulo

We wrote our names and other stuff on a wall in a bar near the Realto Bridge...

this what I got when I ordered a vodka sprite the Realto bridge San Marco Piazza

I apologize...none of the pictures are in order...when I uploaded them they got out of order. Also, what I wrote was NOT one large paragraph, again, when I added the pictures something happened, also not sure about the blue links...they aren't links but I can't seem to get rid of the blue...enjoy!

Love,
Katie

Allora, Allora... 02.17.09

Allora (SO in Italian, my new favorite word), I have not written in some time. I know have so many loyal followers, you must all be very disappointed in me. :) I have just been so busy, between the classes and the wine...it’s hard to find time to write about this crazy adventure I am on. Honestly though, I have been busy with school, not a lot of sight seeing these last few weeks. I am however headed to Venice this weekend for the Carnival in Venice so I should have some great stories and pictures to share. My roommate Kelly and I are heading out Friday after school around 2, and coming back Sunday night. I have been to Venice, Kelly hasn’t, it should be good all around.

Life here is beginning to get settled. We sort of have our routines figured out...we have had a few ‘hitches in our giddy-up’ but we are managing. This apartment is old, older than my grandparents parents, so with that comes some issues. We all know the flooding story, the blown circuits, the outlets that shock us every time we use them...now the issue is hot water. When it’s already sub zero in your apartment, the last thing you want is to wake up and take a cold shower. Really and truly makes getting out of bed that much harder. We have been battling with shower for a few weeks now, it truly went out Friday I believe? We keep calling our rental agency and they think we are crazy. They have sent several plumbers here and every time they come the hot water works, we can’t explain to them what is happening as they don’t ever speak English. So we finally got them to understand that it isn’t working, we might get hot water for a minute or so, but after that it is ice cold. A guy finally came today and worked on our hot water heater/furnace not really sure what it is. Looks like a miniature fridge hanging in our kitchen? So far so good. We are both praying for a hot shower in the morning, that might just make my week. It’s been between 30-35 degrees outside...at night its gone in to the 20’s, so it’s cold. I like to think my body is burning a lo of calories trying to stay warm...mind over matter.

But seriously, I haven’t let the lack of warm water allow me to truly enjoy myself. I, Katie Boden, have been going out almost every weekend. Yes, I know, hard to believe...I am usually the homebody...but I can’t pass it up. Going to dance clubs at 3am is beginning to become a part of me. :) Well maybe not a part of me...but it’s fun!

There are things I am still not getting used to. For one, EVERY door in this place opens in, instead of pulling out to get in and pushing out to leave. With this said I have successfully ran into EVERY door in most of Florence. Every time I try to pull to go in, and EVERY time I try to push to go out, and EVERY time I run right into the door. My roommate and I laughed about this tonight, wondering when will we get it? What month will it finally click that it’s the opposite of what we have known the last 30 or so years? I am really trying to make an effort to open doors correctly, but I guess I keep hoping I will find that one, that one door that opens out...I can only dream.

I am also having trouble with the lack of friendliness. Now I am not talking about talking to strangers, making new friends, or casual convo at the grocery store. First of all, I wouldn’t be able to talk to them. Right now my vocabulary is limited to “May I please have”, “thank you”, “my name is and I am from”, “Where is the toilet”, and an assortment of words that my friends and I have chosen to use whenever we like simply because they sound nice? Back to the unfriendly peeps in Italy. I am more referring to the old woman on the street who literally strong arms you off the curb because she wanted by, bull doze might be a better term. Now this lady was maybe 5 feet tall and toothpick, but she could really pack a punch. OR how about the people in the grocery stores that just punch there way through or cut in front of you in line? I don’t get it. Friday is my Italian class and I think I am going to ask my teacher how to say ‘piss off’ or some other type of colorful phrase that will let them know I am not okay with their attitude. I also really enjoy playing ‘frogger’ everyday of my life when I am walking around the city. I will say it keeps me on my toes, but wow, I think there will be a blog in my future of a near death experience...they are insane here.

I promise to be beter about writing on here...posting my pictures and videos. I hope this finds you all well and happy...I am waiting for my visitors, I can’t wait to show you the town. :)

Here is a video of our 'fixed' outlet....

Much over due...02.02.09

I am very overdue for an ‘entry’. I have been busy, sick, busy and a little more sick. My second week of school went really well my work load is pretty heavy...but it’s good, really good. I adore my photography class, which as I have said was a total surprise to me...not on the original roster.

I have made some good friends, gone out several times with them. Last Saturday we went to an all Italian dance club, we were the only non-Italians in the place. We danced till 3am and got home about 4, it was a late night but well worth it....here are a few pictures.








On Monday morning I started to feel not so right, thought I might be getting sick. Maybe it had something to do with my late night over the weekend? After class I went to the pharmacy to try and find an Italian Airborne of sorts. I had a hard time relaying what I wanted, luckily for me a nice British woman was behind me and asked if she could help...she explained what I was looking for. In the end I think I got a dissolvable multi-vitamin...I took a bunch of them, but to know avail I woke up Tuesday feeling much less than myself. I went to class, came home and was worthless. I don’t have school on Wednesdays and was able to do just about nothing all day, lay around and moan. My ears were killing me so I went back to the pharmacy to get something for my head, after sort of talking to them they thought I looked and sounded like I needed a doctor. Maybe they say that to all the foreigners? But I took the advice and went to this clinic, which was the strangest experience ever....after walking around for several hours I finally found the door, mind you it was about as wide as my left thigh, but none the less I found the door. I opened it up and proceeded to go up a very steep and narrow staircase...at the top there was a type of waiting room, but not a soul insight. All of the sudden, out of no where comes the doctor telling me to come into the examining room. She didn’t ask my name, introduce herself, nothing. So I go into this room and she speaks English, but tells me to get undressed and lay on the table - without knowing why I am there? She examines me, tells me I have a virus I tell her my ears hurt, she looks in them and agrees. Then she continues to talk with my while I am sitting there in my underwear about medicines, life, what she takes when she is sick. She then gets out a GIANT pad of paper and begins to write me prescriptions...then and only then did she ask my name. She writes me a prescription for antibiotics and nose drops, I pay and I leave. I didn’t fill out any paperwork, she has no record of me ever being there...very strange. So then I walk to the pharmacy to get my prescriptions. I hand the pharmacist the prescription, she says something in Italian ending in a ‘Si’ and comes back with two generic boxes, hands them to me with my original prescription, I pay and I leave. I get home and look at the prescription and realize she didn’t mark anything, like saying I go the prescription. After much research I find out that my prescription is good for 90 days or something. I can go back and get the antibiotics whenever I want, every day if I wanted. So strange to me. I must also add that the nose drops she gave me are like maple syrup. I was thinking the drops would be like ‘Afrin’ or something, no, maple syrup. I am not on the mend, starting to feel much better. I have laid low most of the week, only going to class and staying in. Everyone else around me is sick though, so I am staying clear hoping not to get something else!

So the weather has been very cold and rainy most of the time I have been here. I finally got an answer to why my apartment is so cold, while everything is so cold. Whatever ‘ancient’ materials these buildings are made of hold all the moisture and rain, thus keeping it super cold inside. The walls probably won’t dry out till the spring...awesome. It was super nice on Saturday so after we thoroughly cleaned our apartment we walked up to the Piazza Michealangelo....we had some amazing views of the city. I am attaching some pics...







So I don’t have much more to say...I joined the newspaper at school, which I find to be a little funny. I really did it just so I could meet other people, trying to branch out and ‘step out of my box’. This is the first time the school has had a newspaper, so we are building it from the ground up. Any ways, we are going around picking jobs and everyone wants me to be the ‘editor in chief’ because my English should technically be the best...not sure it is, but it’s supposed to be. So the group voted me in, fortunately another girl volunteered as well so we are going to co-chair. But I am now the co-chair of the ‘editor in chief’ of the FDA newspaper....so wish me luck as I don’t write, nor have I ever. Oh, I am also a photographer for the paper.

As for now that’s all I have. I did make plans for a trip in a few weeks to the Venice Carnival. It is an 800 year old festival, it’s all about the masquerade so I am very excited...we are going for the weekend. I will say Ciao for now and wish you all well. Hopefully I will have more to tell soon, I hope.... :)