Jordan's Posts

Apparently Jordan is only blogging in Italian.  This is odd, since I am pretty sure he is the only one reading this blog who knows Italian.  I just wanted to apologize for all the readers who are really curious as to what Jordan is doing, but can't read his posts.  At least he puts pictures up for you guys.
Luckily, all you readers have me, so you wont be too far out of the loop.

The Butcher

So, I really need to learn Italian.  My small knowledge of Italian is really compromising my ability to shop in Italy.  My roommate and I were at a covered market the other day, and we wanted to get some steak for dinner.  We went up to the butcher and read the name of the steak we wanted to him.  With the aid of pointing, this was easy enough.  But then we had to figure out how to tell him how much we wanted him to cut for us.  This was a series of odd hand motions and gesturing.  After a long and awkward period, we finally got a cut of steak.  And it was delicious, totally worth the trouble.
But yeah, my Italian skills need a lot of work.  Especially if I am going to start haggling for shoes.

discotecha

Last night we went to a discotecha.  It was in a touristy area of the city, Campo di Fiori.  So I don't know if we got the full Italian discotecha experience.  But it was open past 2 and there was no cover charge.  So my roommates and I went a little after midnight.  There were about 20 of us, so you can imagine the difficulties that arose.  As soon as we got inside we all lost each other.  Luckily I was with two other girls and we were able to stick together.  Dancing was fun, but the drinks were way overpriced.  5 euro for a beer and 10 euro for a cocktail.  Then again, these are the same prices you would expect for find at a club in Manhattan, so I guess it is just what is to be expected.  We danced for a while, American music is incredibly popular, but it is not the usual top 40 songs we are used to.  The discotecha is also a great place to practice Italian.  I was able to meet some Italians and ask them their names (Come te chiami?) how old they were (Quanti anni hai?) and if they study or work (Studi or Lavori?).   I was also able to tell them that I study architecture (Io studio architectturra) and that I live in Travestevere (Vivio travesterve).  Needless to say, I was pretty pleased with my conversational skills.  I also got to practice saying "no" and "goodbye" to the Italian guy who wouldn't stop following us around.  Luckily we left the club sin Italian men, and were able to make it home.  Of course, we relied on the guys in our group to carry the keys, and we lost them, so my friend and I stood outside the apartment yelling for someone to come downstairs and let us in.  "Pantheon Institute, open the gate!"  We were rescued in a matter of minutes.  Overall, I'd say it was a successful first night out.

Living in Roma

Ciao to all!  It is my second day in Rome and I am just starting to settle in.  The past two days have been very hectic because we had a lot of orientation events.  The hardest part was actually getting to the events.  Of course my roommate and I instantly got separated from the rest of our housemates (not that they knew where they were going either) so we got lost.  I had my first lesson in asking Italians for directions.  Luckily we knew what piazza the building was in so we could easily ask "Donde Piazza del Collegio Romano?".  Of course, understanding Italian directions didn't work out.  Luckily Italians talk with their hands!  Eventually we knew we were close, so we went in to a hotel and asked the concierge "Parla Inglese?"  She gave us great directions, but we still arrived late to the meeting.   The rest of the day involved a lot of introductions, professors handing out syllabus, and more getting lost.  By the end of the day I had major blisters on my feet.  I have been so exhausted because of the jet lag, running around the city, and not eating enough.  Today was a calmer day, we only had a short orientation meeting to pick our classes, then we had the rest of the day off.  My roommate and I went grocery shopping.  My favorite foods are great prices here!  A box of pasta is .45 euro, a loaf of fresh bread, 1.00 euro, tomato sauce, 1.50, and olive oil for 3 euro.  It felt so good to buy some food, now my shelf in the kitchen isn't empty!  Tomorrow we will go to an open air market to shop for produce and meat.  I hope I will be able to find some farm fresh eggs too!  The eggs were a bit pricey at the grocery store. 
My apartment in Rome is really cool- It is more like a dorm than a traditional Roman apartment.  The building used to be a monastery, so it has a beautiful central courtyard, arched windows, and a lot of history.  My apartment is the whole fourth floor, so I live with 14 girls (2 per room) and 4 boys.  It actually feels a lot like home in Bennington, we have a large common room and a cute kitchen.  The whole building is students, but I only know a few people in the other apartments so far.  The location of my place is perfect, I have a view of the river from my room! Pictures will come as soon as I get my luggage!
More news soon, classes start tomorrow (which I am less than thrilled about, I just want to walk around here!)

i giallorossi

Mai stato un tifoso di uno squadro specifico di calcio. La mia famiglia non sono italiani nel senso culturale a dunque non si guarda il calcio, no si sono tifosi. Cominciavo a guardare il calcio quando ho scoperto che di domenica il cannale internazionale mostrava le partite più importanti della settimana che subita passava. Anche a questo punto non posso nominare tutti degli squadri del serie A. conosco forse due calciatori … Totti.
Sono bugiardo, conosco uno, ma lui è un giallorosso, e quello è l’unica cosa d’importanza per me. Ho subito guardato la partita fra Roma e Catania. Non mi chieste dove perché non era legale, ma non importante perché l’ho guardato. Il sito che usava non era buono. Infatti, ho mancato l’ultimo gol che permetteva Roma a vincere. Lo stream era rotto durante tutti i momenti più importante della partita ma l’ho seguito tutto del radio sportivo italiano. Adesso imparerò più della mia nuova squadra. Se ci sono soldi, vorrei andare a un partito allo stadio olimpico a Roma per guardare i miei giallorossi.

Really Long Weekend

Were on break, so who cares. I intended to read all of an Italian translation of Pamuk's "Istanbul" and Jill intended to practice Italian everyday, but we got lazy. Jill leaves Thursday so shes out of time. I go back to Newark later today this is the end of me giving her lessons. This is what happens over break. You get back to Mt. La-La, you are tired from the semester, you want to meet up with all the people you haven't seen. Next thing you know your watching Modern Marvels: Cheese and reruns of American Pickers.

I think I gave her the tools she needs to "butter/ladder" her way to at least an understanding of the language so that she can tell when a shop is closed for calcio or a strike or something.

I'm in the mood to watch some Fellini today so maybe La Dolce Vita or La Strada can make up for like a week of not practicing.