The Rise and Fall of Premier Prodi

So, in case you haven't heard yet, the Italian government fell last Thursday. Premier Romano Prodi resigned after the senate voted against him in a confidence vote. This appartently is not a huge deal, and actually happens every few years. One of the parties is elected every 7 years (I think), but can be voted out at anytime, which means no partry ever actually lasts 7 years. Christina told me Italy will probably have an election in April, and until then I guess we have a caretaker government of some sort. It was strange when someone told me the government fell then immediately started talking about what we should have for lunch. Anyway, I'm not too worried about it.

But Italian politics are very colorful. During the debate before voting out Prodi, "The fiery session ... included one senator being spat on, fainting and being carried out on a stretcher."(cnn) On Saturday I was in Padova (Padua) and already party supporters were in the streets celebrating with champagne and campaigning for the probable election. Someone even came around to all the houses around mine giving out an extreme communist newspaper, which Christina said takes a lot of courage these days in Italy.

I'll tell you about Padova soon. It was quite the bustling town.

The goal of this journal

The goal of this journal is to keep everyone updated on my activities here in Italia. However, I would like to encourage everyone to leave comments or send me an email (nick.speiserATgmailDOTcom) so I know people are reading. It makes me happy when I hear from you. I do miss home and I look at pictures from home all the time. If anyone wants to bite the bullet and pay for an international call, you can call my mobile phone at (country codes) + 347 223 1625, you'll have to figure out the country codes for yourself, I don't know them for calling to Italy. I'm going to try to set up Skype but I don't really have a good place to use it because I use the internet in a computer lab. I'll let you know if figure it out.

Chapter One

So I've been in Italy for two weeks. I still find it hard to believe I'm here sometimes. I am settled in with my host family: Marco and Christina, a nice Ferrarese couple that decided to host a student this semester. I am their first student, so this is a new living situation for all of us. Marco and Christina both speak English really well, but we mostly speak Italian to each other. At dinner they always ask me what I learned that day and then they start asking questions and using whatever grammatical structure I learned that day; it's kind of like having a quiz every night at dinner. Speaking of dinner, the food here is incredible and Christina is a great cook. She has made lasagne, spaghetti, steak florentine, and even used octopus in one dish. I'm always asking her what the foods are called and then promptly forgetting their names, but I always ask anyway. Marco and Christina provided me with a bike, which I use to ride into town everyday. The bike is old but awesome and Marco called the brand, Bianchi, the Ferrari of bikes. The ride everyday is about 35 minutes each way, so I am definitely getting some exercise. The ride is very enjoyable when it's not too cold outside. Riding through the Italian countryside every morning while it's shrouded in fog is an experience like none other.

The Ferrari of Bikes

Everyone rides a bike in Ferrara at least partially because it is perfectly flat. There are literally no hills, except leading up to the medieval city walls. At the train station there are hundreds of bikes parked around. Around 1 or 2pm when schools get out there are hordes of kids and teenagers riding bikes everywhere. I'm still hoping to see a bicycle gang that has matching leather jackets. Around 6pm people go out for their passeggiata, which is when everyone walks around the shopping streets and socialize with each other. Old men gather in the piazzas and old women window shop. I think every woman in Ferrara must get a fur coat for her 60th birthday because every older woman wears one. Everyone rides bikes, even the grandmas and grandpas. It's great just to sit around and watch.

Ferrara at night

There are about 30 American students in my program. There are a lot of really nice, very friendly people. About half the people are pretty or really good at Italian, and half the people didn't know any Italian when they came. I'm right in the middle, in terms of my Italian skills. CIEE has taken everybody out for a couple dinners and they have been great long Italian dinners with four courses and vine and espresso and everything.

On the first day in Ferrara, as everyone was standing around awkwardly because no one knew each other, people asked the standard questions of name, university, and home city. Upon learning that I was from St. Louis, two different people asked me where I went to high school and knew people from Sluh. A guy from NYC roomed with a Sluh guy at U. of Texas in Austin. And Mary, who goes to Fordham University knows Paul Barker, Joey Mooney, and Stefanie Crane. I was amazed; I'm still amazed. I guess Sluh is pretty big on the national scene these days. And now the international scene. I don't think Mary has ever been to St. Louis, but she thinks I fit the St. Louis “type,” which I think is mainly based on four or five Sluh guys.

I'll write more updates as they happen. Tonight we're dining with Marco's parents who also have an American student with them.