I'm getting myself in work mode. the next few weeks, with the next week inparticular are going to be crazy hours working. During the next 5 days i am not only working on 2 projects for school (including a client presentation wed) but I am also working on 7 (yes, 7!) projects for $$.

I've taken to the Italian college student way of paying others to do your homework. Only I dont pay others to do mine, instead I'm the one getting paid. In the last two days I've gone from doing the projects for 2 people, to 7. It will be a lot of long hours, but I need the money and at 50euros a pop it aint so bad. well, when worked out to how much per hour, its not great. but it gives me something funner to work on than my projects for school. And, it means that I will have a little bit of money to do a little traveling to go see friends before I head back to the states. So its worth it, if only for that (and possibly a haircut!)

The first project starts tonight. I just got done meeting with the girl, and now I'll eat some dinner and start working. So if I seem to dissapear for the next week, that's where I've gone... into the void that is known as Flash.

wish me luck

Why is it that whereever i seem to live, those tiny little annoying black ants follow me?! For the past few years every spring/summer they would come pouring out of the woodwork and into the house. My weapon at first would be a papertowel. That quickly changed to a bottle of spray cleaner, as it meant less bending over and effor. Only problem was that left ant bodies and wet floors alover the place (but the floor would be nice and clean when I'd get around to wiping it up!) Eventually I switched to ant traps and those seemed to do the trick.

I think the ants stowedaway in my luggage. The past few weeks I've noticed an ant here or there, nothing bad though. This morning withen 10 min of waking up I had killed over 20, mostly congregated in the corner of the room near my bed. oh lucky me. now I'm extra itchy just at the thought of them, and everytime i think i feel something i think it's an ant.

Looks like I get to go to the store later in search of posion traps.

I'm in a bit of a procrastinating state, so I thought I'd share some stories from the other night. Unfortunately I dont have any photos :(

Saturday night was Notte Bianca in Milan. As best as I could figure out - with about the 2 questions i asked - it is some kind of celebration of spring time. It is probably the biggest party of the year in Milan, with public transport running all night long, and every piazza packed full of people. There were by far more people out than at new years or carnevale.

Our night started out around 9 when some 3 of Beanie's friends from her city arrived. Along with them also came a random guy that one of them had met on the street while asking directions. The guy was kinda strange, but nice and ended up hanging out with us all night. We drank at home for awhile, before heading out at 11. When we got to the metro there was a HUGE line of people waiting to buy tickets. I had never seen that many people at our metro stop before. It was probably atleast a half hour wait if not longer to get tickets. Beanies friends though causually made their way up to the front however, so we only waited around 10 min. When we got to the duomo the piazza was absolutely PACKED. As there was a wait to get up the stairs and out of the metro. We pushed our way along and finally made it someone close to the stage, although off on the side so we were only able to see things thanks to the huge screens. I didnt know most of the artists that we heard, the only one I recognized was Tatoo. It was a big event put on by MTV and a local radio station. Everyone was in good moods singing along and dancing to the music.

We ended up staying at the duomo for only about half an hour before heading down via Torino to the columns (one of the old city gates). On a normal day the walk would take between 5-10 min. That night it took more than 30 due to the crowds. We stopped along the way and bought some beer from one of the many people set up along the street and continued our party as we walked. When we arrived at the columns it was yet again another mass of people. We didnt even try to get out into it, but instead set up camp under the columns where a few of Beanie's friends were already at. From there we heard about some kind of big techno party out by Bovisa, and decided to go check it out. After a quick stop at a bar for more beer and hotdogs for the guys, we hoped on the tram. The tram ride only emphasized the festive air, as there was a group of people with tamberines playing and singing as we went along. We quickly joined in dancing while others who werent in quite as festive of a mood watched on. The ride went quickly, and while when we arrived at the stop we had no idea where to go, it was easy to find the place from the huge group of people going there. It was just a big game of follow the leader.

When we arrived we really werent sure what to expect. Outside the sidewalks were full of people, and as we approached we saw a big building with a long spiral cement path going up a few floors. As to be expected, it was also jam packed full of college kids. I'm not quite sure what the building was, but when we finally made our way up to the top, we arrived in a HUGE room the size of the entire floor, set up with a stage, lights, bars (and fortunately bathrooms!) I think it was around 3 am when we arrived. We dropped our coats by a speaker and set up camp nearby where we danced and drank till 7am! By then the sun had already risen, and the crowd had thinned out a bit, although there were still atleast a couple hundred people there. I would guess there was over 1000 when we first arrived (my highschool had 1,200 students, and it seemed to be more people than that!) We eventually decided to call it a night, as while there was still music playing, it had switched from the party techno to more of 80's pop.

On our walk back to the tram stop we passed by a charter bus where a group of people outside invited us to come along for the ride (jokingly of course) - but we stopped and talked to them for awhile finding out they were actually going quite near to Beanie's town. We had to wait a little while for the tram, and finally made it back to our neighborhood around 8 am. Before heading home to sleep we stopped off at a bar for breakfast. while the others got cafe, (I couldnt even think about getting one, all i wanted was my bed!) I happily munched on my first HOT cornetto (pastry). While I've eaten them plenty of times, I've never been to a bar early enough in the morning to have one fresh out of the oven. It was marvelous. I would consider getting up early another morning just to run across the street and get a hot one sometime.

around 8.30 we finally made it home, and by 9 we were all asleep. Sleep didnt last long though, as people started waking up around noon as the sun shone brightly through the window, and after a couple hours of lounging we decided to head into town in search of food. We ended up getting pizza for lunch, and sat outside at tables enjoying the sun, and too tired to move for a few hours talking. Next it was a quick wander through the center, before heading back home. By the time we got home and Beanie's friends left for their drive back, it was almost 8pm - almost 24 hours after the party started.

While it was definitely a long day, it was also incredibly fun, and different from ANYTHING I've ever done before. I cant imagine anything like this happening in america. At least in sleepy corvallis city wide all night parties dont seem to have been discovered. The way that Italians come together in the piazzas for concerts and parties, everyone together enjoying the spring time (or whatever the even it may be) is something that I know I'll miss about Italy. On nights like this it doesnt matter if you're surrounded by complete strangers, because you're all friends.

I have found a strange new addiction, and i cant get enough of it. The BC (http://www.the-bc.com/) is a student produced parody of the hit show The OC filmed by students at Boston College. I discovered it yesterday through the Apple site, and have since this morning watched all 4 episoides. I'm now waiting for the 5th to be posted. It's a web-based show, with all episoides available free online for download.

While the acting isnt what I would call good, it isnt bad either, and it makes for a lot of laughs. There are a lot of little jokes in it that you may or may not get, depending on where you are from. It's a great look back though at american college life, while throwing in a bit of unpractical plot lines for laughs.

if you got some free time i suggest you check it out. but be forwarned that it can be quite addicting in an odd way.

okay, finally got some pics from the party last week....


Giorgio and me after our run to the store... and yes, the cart is STILL in our house.

Me, Giorgio and Beanie (the roomies) with our not so full anymore pot of goodness

Beanie and me with some of beanies friends whose names i cant remember

and once again the guys whose names i dont remember...

I really need to get better about remembering names...

a wonderful thought just occoured to me: I dont have class until 11 tomorrow. That means i get to sleep in until 9.30.... ahhhh

the last few days have been thouroughly tiring. it's strange, as i used to pull these types of hours all the time, and for weeks at a time rather than only days, often with less sleep. i've gotten out of the habit though, as school is here is much less demanding than back home, and im not working either as i always did before. today was yet again frustrating with my group. we were all supposed to work last night and come with a bunch of ideas to talk about today, and get going on our project. well, we met. between the three guys in my group, they had 4 ideas (3 of which coming from one person....) - i had 4 pages of ideas. Needless to say i walked away from that meeting muttering things under my breath. i'm not sure if they stuck around longer and talked or not. but i wasnt about to waste my time with it, if they're not willing to do the work, then why should i bother. i have no problem doing the whole project myself, but alas we were assigned groups to work with. and while i normally like working in groups, i refuse to let someone (or even worse 3 someones) tag along for a free ride. they want to be part of the group, they need to pull their own weight.

on another note, i've been in a weird mood lately. i think it is because time is winding down here, and i'm starting to plan my trip back home. the only thing is, 'home' is a place ive never been. a state i've never been to. im about 95% sure i'll be heading to virgina to live with my brother. the other 5% is just in case i some how get *offered* a job here - im too lazy to put in the effort to try and find one, as messing with trying to convert my PdiS really doesnt appeal to me. so, the plans have started. ive been looking at plane tickets, and am getting ready to buy. my brother is talking about a great burger place we can go to after they pick me up from the airport, and i already know what my first purchase back in the states will be - one grande iced carmel macchiato coming up.

while i've never been there, it is my brothers house. and as he has moved from one place to another over the years, they've always felt comfortable to me. i never feel like a stranger there. and, this time my dear kitty will be there waiting for me (hopefully, he is 16 so he could go at anytime now... but i have faith he will wait for me). Still, i get an odd feeling thinking about going home, and not having it be Corvallis. Corvallis has for the past 16 years been my home. But I no longer have a house there or family there, and i only have a hand full of friends still lurking around the university. I'm sure at some point I'll find myself back on the streets of Corvallis, but i have no idea if it'll be in the next year, or in another 10 or 20.

I'm excited to be heading somewhere new, to somewhere that daily life seems to run so much smoother, but at the same time i know i will miss italy, and suspect that i'll also miss milano with which i am forming a love hate relationship. I have no doubt that I'll be back to Italy, possibly even this fall/winter. but once again it will only be a vacation, and it will be spent running around from one place to another trying to see friends. vacation is never the same as living somewhere.

It was funny the last time I went back home after 8 months abroad, to experience the culture shock being back in my own city. When I moved to Italy and England I was expecting things to be different, and was prepared for it. But I wasnt in the least bit prepared to face it when i went home. Some of the things I remember most from 3 years ago were:
- having stores be open 24 hours
- how my friends thought I was weird for going to the store almost everyday and buying food for only a day or two at a time (something that had become normal to me here)
- my friends thinking i was weird for cooking food everyday rather than just eating out of a box.
- going to a football game and having the obnoxious drunk fraternity boys yelling the whole time
- the shear amount of drinking done by my friends, and how the night wasnt over until you were puking or passing out
- realizing that it was only about a 20-25 min walk to school, which when i came back seemed like nothing to me having been without a car for 8 months, yet before i left i always drove to school.
- how completely stressed out americans get over school work (and yes, I know I do this too, but less than my friends back home, really!)
- how closed minded a lot of my friends really were
- not having a piazza and a gelateria to meet at in the evening

so, as i think it'll be interesting to look back at in a few months time, and see how things have changed, I've decided to write a list of what I think I'll miss most about Italy and what I'll be happiest to have back in america.

Things I'll miss about Italy:
- Fresh, cheap produce
- multiple cafes during the day
- aperativos
- 5 min breaks always turning into 10 or 15
- good shopping
- hearing italian
- walking to the store
- sms-ing (so expensive in the states!)
- hearing someone's conversation then spending 5 min debating in my mind whether they were speaking english or italian, cause its getting to the point where i dont automatically distinguish between the two anymore.
- going to the bar above the school, getting a cafe in the morning... panino at lunch... another cafe... candy.. another cafe... bottle of water.... and then after it all, and several hours and trips down to the school and back later, finally paying for everything all at once.

Things I'll be happiest to have back in America
- Starbucks! ;)
- 24 hour stores
- access to a car
- wireless internet
- my kitty
- leaving the house in sweats and not getting weird looks
- english
- central heating and airconditioning
- mindless entertaining television watching
- cat napping on the couch

i have to say when i got home from class today i was in a pretty bad mood. i was about to come and rant on here right away, but decided to take a break and read expats and some blogs first. definitely a good idea - great way to relieve stress.

we had a presentation today. not of a final project, but just of what we've been working on. Still, this presentation took a long time to put together (and im sure as hell not looking forward to having to do a formal presentation of our process every week for the next month and a half, as its a huge waste of time to format it all!). I've been working on this project everyday for the last week. And not just a couple hours. yesterday I woke up at 8, was at school at 9 and started working. at 6 i left and went across town to make a copy of the key for the gate on the street (as i lost my keys a couple weeks ago, and apparently there is only one shop in all of milan who can make copies of this particular key), then stopped by the store on the way home. I got home at 8.15. Fede showed up five min later, and we started working while cooking dinner. continued to work while eating, and didnt stop working till 1. I got to sleep at 2, and woke up bright and early again this morning for class. At least we had a good presentation.

I hate presentation days though. no one here has any respect for the work that anyone else has done. during the presentations everyone talks the whole time, is on their computers checking email, watching movies, doing whatever. I went up to the front row, and could still barely hear what the presenters were saying. I'm sorry, but we all did a lot of work, and we all deserve the respect of the attention of the others while presenting. and it drives me crazy that the prof never does anything about this.

i could go on with this rant about a lot of other things that happened today, but honestly i just dont feel like it. reading back over this, its a bit of a wimpy rant. oh well. that's a good thing i suppose, as i have calmed down from a couple hours ago when i was yelling at my group (im not a teacher, im sure as hell not being paid to teach, and i dont see why i should be expected to try and sum up concepts that i spent five years learning into a one minute explanation for the rest of my class. not only is it impossible to do, but if the prof wants the class to do it, then he should explain it to them, not me. of course i think that would go against the rules of the school, as it would require actually teaching something.)

the good news is that our presentation kicked ass. the annoying part is that people in my group who have done almost no work, complained about the working process that im making us use (the process that the prof wants us to use, but did a shitty job explaining, im just fortunate enough to have actually learned it before). and it drives me crazy when one member of my group who we havent seen since thurs, and who has done no work, shows up today and decides that he doesnt like our concept. im sorry, but you get as much say in it as the effort you put in. if you dont work, if you dont meet with us, and dont tell us that you're not coming, you can not just come in and decide that you dont like what we've done. we then had to spend an hour explaining the entire concept over to him, to convince him that it is good, while i try to explain the difference between an idea, a concept, and visual language, and that they are definitely not the same thing. to sum up, we got no new work done today, its almost 7 now, and ive still got way too much to get done tonight. ugh

okay, so it looks like a did go on a bit more. whatever. I think its time for dinner and a hot shower before getting back to work. i need a break. oh, and just because ive had such a frustrating day, im gonna be a rebal and not dry my hair after my shower! ;)

I've been annoyed lately with my digital camera and how slow, old, and bulky it is. (I bought it 5 years ago...) so I've been on a bit of a strike against it. Most the photos on my camera from last night are random pieces of people, or backs of heads so I'll skip posting those. This one turned out decent though of K and me. More photos to follow once I steal them from beanie :D

well, i've been living here for almost 4 months, so i figured it was about time i post some pics of my room. and what better time to do it than right after I cleaned! normally I have more stuff out and it doesnt look so sparce. but we're having a pre-club party tonight, and rule number one of parties is put EVERYTHING away. If its left out, it'll get something spilled on it.


(couch and my bed)


(my bed again, table, blah blah blah)


(giorgio's bed and desk - he hasnt gotten home yet and cleaned, haha!)

well, the dates are set. Friday the 7th i take the nice long 10 hour trainride down to Taranto to see my brother for two days, then head back home monday morning. While he's actually going to be here for about 10 days, he'll be working most of the time so I'm just going to go for the weekend when he'll (hopefully) have free time. And, not only is he bring me syrup (yes yes yes!) he's also bring a coffee mug for Fede - fede loves american coffee so much that he even bought an american coffee maker. only problem is you cant get coffee mugs here! right now he has an old dunkin donuts mug that he bought off of ebay. pretty soon though he'll be drinking out of a starbucks one that'll be nicer than mine!


This is the only foto i got of my brother and me on my computer. probably from around 1992 give or take a year. im not quite sure what he is doing to me, but that pretty much sums up the nature of our relationship - and im sure given the chance he would do whatever that is to me again. looking at the photo now, and noticing my finger, i wonder if he wasnt trying to get me to do the whole "Redrum" thing - afterall, it was halloween :D

Last night while trying to fall asleep a thought occured to me. it's nearly mid march. and as the sun is starting to shine, the days getting longer and the need for a scarf dissapearing, im reminded that my time here is almost done. while i had wanted to try and find work here, ive since decided that i need to be responsible. i've got debt i need to pay off, and the smart thing for me to do is move back to the states. so as i try to find motivation for school, im also trying to enjoy my time that is left here. Spring is beautiful in Italy and I look forward to the coming months, few as they may be.

April promises to be a good month. every weekend is a long one, with numerous hollidays taking place. the real news though, is that my brother is coming to Italy. He'll probably only be here for a few days, as it is just a business trip, but it will be good to see him. Of course he's not coming to northern italy, oh no. Puglia. looks like i got a 10 hour train trip ahead of me. Still, it is a good excuse to go to Puglia where I have never been but have been wanting to go for some time. I am only hoping that he'll have a couple free days so we can explore. He's going to Taranto which I have heard is pretty much just an industrial port town. I'll definitely be taking day trips while he is working, but it would be nice if he was able to come along. He's never been here before and I would love to show him a bit of Italy (even if its places i dont know either!)

In addition to visitng my brother in April, I hope to be able to spend a few days in Macerata. I havent been there since October, and I feel a need to get back. April will probably be my last chance for longer trips, as after that it's only regular 2 day weekends. Not to mention lots of projects. May will be a month full of presentations as projects finish, and June will be spent re-working past projects from the year, and getting ready for the final presentations that we have to do of our work. Before I know it I'll be on a flight out of Italy.

It really is amazing how fast time goes...

well, the visit was a little less painful this time - different doctor, and i made it there and home in less than 4 hours. i left feeling a bit relieved after having a lung xray come out clean. the doctor things this is just the flu dragging on a really long time, and gave me a prescription for antibiotics (6 weeks of a flu is too much). he also gave me the name and location of another doctor nearby who im supposed to go see after im done with the antibiotics. he didnt say why, just that i need to go see him. im guessing just some kind of follow up appointment. who knows. the only bad news is that unless i wanted to head into the center tonight, i gotta wait till tomorrow to get the medicine - everything is closed around here. so looks like i got another restless night ahead of me.

one thing that made me smile at the doctor was while i was in the waiting room coughing every few min (people slowly moved aaway from me) at one point a little old lady came up to me and offered me a hard candy to suck on for my throat. i kindly declined as the cough was coming from my chest and not my throat (my throat is fine if not a little sure from all the coughing) and i had visions of the candy going flying across the room from the force of a cough!

the italian health system remains a mystery to me. like most things in italy, it is overly complicated.

a couple months ago my belly button was infected - dont ask me how, it's not pierced. but it was. i ignored it for awhile because i hate going to the doctor here. but when i started running a fever and it was really flamed up i decided i needed to get something. first stop, the pharmacy. here i was told that normally they could give me something, but since i had had a fever, i needed to see a doctor instead. great. so up i went to the imediate care at the hospital to wait five hours. when i finally saw a doctor her response was "strange, i dont know what it is. ive never seen this before" - not exactly what you want to hear. She then spent awhile looking through a book before giving me a prescription for creme - the same creme that the pharmacy would have sold me had it not been for the fever. she also told me that i shouldnt come there, that i needed to get a "regular" doctor.

"regular" doctors in italy dont exist at clinics like they do in america. oh no. instead there are hundreds of them - all with their own office. these offices often are located on the first floor of an apartment building. And the doctors arent there on a normal basis. only a couple hours a day. and from my experience in macerata, even if they say that they will be there on a certain day or at a certain time, it doesnt mean they will. you also dont make appointments, and there are no receptionists. instead you walk in and imediately find yourself in some kind of waiting room. here you ask who is last, and then take a seat. your turn is after who ever responded.

when living in macerata the school told us which doctor to go to - we didnt have a choice. here though you have to choose. but even that is a complicated process. first you have to go to an agency where you wait inline for while along with a bunch of other people, and they assign you a doctor. this was my journey today.

i've been sick for almost 2 months now - the infection and a series of colds and flus have left me missing half my classes, and pretty darn tired. two or three weeks ago i started feeling better, except i had developed a cough. not your ordinary run of the mill take some cough syrup cough mind you. no, this is a cough from deep in my lungs, which causes me to end up doubled over on the floor from convulsions hacking up hard little bits from my lungs. coughing attacks like this make it a bit hard to sleep through the night, so ive been a bit of a zombie. this in combination with the fact that in less than two months ive gone down three pants sizes - without dieting - has lead me to be a bit concerned.

wishing to avoid the dreaded doctor, i asked a friend back home to talk to his dad for me and tell him my symptoms (his dad is a doctor). his dad's advice, i need to go see a doctor and get it checked out. yesterday i was actually feeling a bit better, but today i woke up feeling horrible. and its just gotten worse over the course of the day. my lungs hurt, front back sides, all parts of them. i feel like there is a filter in my throat blocking half the air, even though my throat is clear. and taking anything but a shallow breath sends me into another coughing spree.

so after class today i found myself waiting to get assigned a doctor. when it finally came my turn to talk to someone, they told me that as a foreign student if i want to see a doctor i need to buy the health insurance. luckily i had bought it, and it was good for a year - unluckily that is a calender year, not a physical year. so i was told that if i want get a doctor i had to go spend another 90euros for the insurance. in the meantime though if i was sick, i could go to the imediate care at the hospital.

great i thought. another few hours waiting. so now im at home making a late lunch and debating whether or not i really want to go see a doctor. the answer is no. but with the pain in my chest and the thought of another sleepless night ahead of me, i think it's best of i go. so after i eat my pasta i get to take another journey to the hospital. oh joy.

for those of you who dont know, i post most of my photos on Ringo. If you have an account feel free to add me, or if you'd like an account drop me you're email and I'll send you an invite!

aparently the church in Milano uses a different calander. so while everywhere else carnivale finishes on wed, here it finishes saturday. So today after meeting with my group this morning, we all decided to head to the duomo and check things out. It's quite a bit different here - not nearly so touristy, but more the people who actually live here. Lots of children dressed in costumes, a parade (which from what i saw of it wasnt that great) and generally chaos. One of the main things to do is have fights with confetti, silly string, and spray foam. Mostly the kids do it, but some adults as well. I wasn't planning on participating, until my friend Antonio bought a can of foam and started attacking me. I quickly got this away from him and started spraying him. of course this meant that he had to go buy another can, and the war started. It was quite fun if not silly, and luckily the foam causes no damage except making your hair a bit greasy :D





antonio decided to start using the foam for street art... his drawing of me - apparently im the devl. >:D





the only bad news - at some point during the war i managed to loose my keys. now it's off to the shop to make copies of my roommates before they close.