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.