Tuesday, September 12, 2006 Le Classe

Oh my. Such fun we’re having! Today was the first day of classes, and I had Italian Style this morning. The thing about gorgeous old fresco rooms with 18 foot ceilings and terracotta tile floors is that the echoes keep you from actually hearing anything anyone is saying. Later, I had Italian and my professoressa, Monica, sounds like she’s been drinking scotch and smoking since age 4, molto raspy. Somehow, I made it through her class, but tomorrow I’m sitting very close up. After that, I had Renaissance Italian Literature, and was one of 4 students. The professor speaks very quietly and that room is on the street side and the air conditioning rattles. I thought the language barrier was going to be tricky, but that’s a piece of cake compared to the reverb.

After class, I walked home with roomie Melissa. We met Karen at home and then went to purchase textbooks. Syracuse and NYU have campuses here, and they put their books on reserve, and since I had several of the same texts, I was not actually able to buy them. I’m thinking about going tomorrow and saying I’m from Syracuse in order to get the books, but I’m afraid the cargo pants hippie man will remember me from Accademia Italiana (go Frescoes!). The good news is that I have less than half the reading for my classes here than at GW. Phew. I might actually get through it and still have time to get to the Uffizi before I leave.

I have a cell phone and groceries, did I mention it? Big day! Yesterday was grocery day. We walked there, it’s about 20 minutes away by piedi. When you get produce, you have to wear a plastic glove and then battle many housewives for the scale, where you put your veggies and hit a button with the pic which then prints out your price on a sticker for the bag. I love foreign grocery stores. I could browse around all day and ponder the difference between Italian Colgate and American Colgate. But my roommates were not having nearly as much fun as I was, so I wrapped it up (meanwhile forgetting chicken stock and honey) and walked back to the apt with them. Today, Liz said the whole way she was thinking “Just one more step, just one more step” and Melissa’s bag ripped less than halfway home. Karen O’Boston and I will train these girls up to know what city life is all about. They said they were going to take some wheely luggage with them next time. I can’t wait to see some broccolini stuck in the zipper.

So my phone wasn’t working and so the girls and I went back to the little ick place that we got them so I could get a new one, and they wanted to look in the shop across the street where we got our bags yesterday. Sascha (the very nice man who marks up his bags and then gives you a 35% discount without you even having to bargain) almost sold Liz a bag, but not quite. About 30 minutes later, they went into a lingerie store nearby and Karen and I sat on some concrete pylons and talked about how the reality of school and the months ahead is setting in. We both felt a little sad and stressy today. And what do we know, here comes Sascha with 2 glasses of champagne from the restaurant down the street for us! We felt much better about things after that (not after the drinks, after a friendly Fiorentino did a nice thing for us). Everyone really is just trying to make sure we’re happy. It sure makes things easier. La Dolce Vita indeed.

Tomorrow is Italian Cinema (that’s CHIN-ema) with the same prof I have for Italian Style. I like him, but he smells funny and can’t hear in the echoes either, and sometimes I try not to shout which causes problems. Not only am I going to come back with my Midwestern accent intact, I’ll be screaming it. End day eight.