Let's see, Jan 29 was a Friday, so hypothetically I would begin by talking about my weekend. Unfortunately, I have zero memory of that weekend. I can pretty safely guess that I either stayed in or went out, so I either had a very relaxing or a very busy weekend, so no worries either way. Then I had a pretty regular week of school. I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that I have only missed one class so far this whole semester, and that was only because I straight-up slept through it, which means it basically wasn't even my fault. Am I dedicated or what? So, yes, I spent the week attending every single one of my classes. None were particularly noteworthy, which I appreciate, since it means no tests or abundance of homework. This means that I had a reasonable amount of free time, which was swiftly sucked up. 1) I joined a gym. It is very close to my apartment. Almost too close, in fact. It is exactly the distance where it is just far enough to be annoying to walk to, but just close enough so that I look like a lazy bum if I take the bus. So far I've been walking there and taking the bus back, which I feel strikes a pleasant balance. Also, it's cold as balls here, and my workout pants are capris, meaning that snow is literally PELTING my legs when I walk to the gym, that is how dedicated and athletic I am. And so, if I choose to ride the bus back, that is just my prerogative and no reason to judge me, especially since it is only two stops away from my apartment, okay? 2) One of Micki's friends from Chico came to visit her during the week, but she was really busy, so the task of showing him around Torino fell to me, perhaps the worst possible man for the job since I know practically nothing about Torino. Actually, it was probably to my advantage that there was someone in town who actually wanted to go sightseeing, since it meant that I got to see the places too. We went to the Mole Antonelliana, the tallest building in Torino, which was built to be a synagogue but which is now a cinema museum. The views from the top were brilliant, since we went up at dusk, and the ride up in the elevator was pretty cool, probably the closest I've ever felt to vertiginous, since I was watching the museum get smaller and smaller, while the elevator, which is in the center of the building rather than against a wall, ascended into a small cupola where we were allowed to go outside and walk around for views of Torino. I saw a lot of churches and important-looking stuff that I didn't know existed, so I may have to investigate further and visit those things as well. The cinema museum was also really cool, there was lots of interactive stuff and recreated movie sets and on the whole it was one of the more interesting museums I've been to, as well as cheap to get into, though it was marred slightly by the fact that we were kicked out at 7:45 because the place was closing at 8 and that is just the way things work in Italy, so no, you must proceed directly to the exit and that's final. The employees spoke English, too, so we couldn't even stay a little longer by pretending that we couldn't understand them. Those were basically the only two things (one thing, really, since they are the same location) that I showed him, since he was only here a couple days and mostly that's all there is to see in Torino, I think. Nevertheless fun. 3) I had a meeting with one of my professors about getting an internship, and it was successful!!! I don't think it has an official title, but it's at the International Training Centre, a branch of the International Labor Organization, which is a branch of the UNITED NATIONS. My job is basically to research the origins of the ITC and its relevance to Torino, and then write a research paper to that effect. So it's not so much an internship as it is a Centre-endorsed research opportunity, unless the final results ends up being of any particular use to the Centre, then I think maybe it would count. And my professor said if it was any good that he was going to help me try and get it published, which would be brilliant! If nothing else, it'll be good practice for writing my thesis, which I have to get around to when I get back next semester to Reno, so that's good. So now I go in at my own discretion and use the resources in their library, etc. I still haven't decided the focus of the paper yet since I just got started, but it seems interesting so far. AND it's vaguely affiliated with the UN, which is beyond thrilling for me, since I am interested in diplomacy. AND I get 3 credits for it. All told, it's basically the best deal ever. 4) This is going to need its own paragraph because I have a lot to say about this.
4) MY GODFORSAKEN PERMIT OF STAY. Last Thursday, morning classes were canceled so that we could go to the questura, some sort of immigration police station, to complete the next step in receiving our permits of stay (i.e., we still don't have them yet). We all went as a USAC group, and since one of the program coordinators "knows a guy," we got fast-tracked to the front of the line. Now. I try not to complain about things that are annoying for me but quintessentially Italian, like the supermarket being closed at 8 p.m. on a weeknight, but I was PISSED at the questura. Having had to go to Rome once to get my visa renewed, I was fully prepared to wait a few hours in line to get my stuff done. A few, okay, fine. But we arrived at 9 a.m. to the station and I did not leave until 5 p.m. that evening. No breaks, no food or drinks, and we couldn't even venture outside since leaving would mean losing your place in line. Basically we had to get fingerprinted and handprinted and whatever else, and then they had to measure how tall we were. That's it. Doesn't really sound like an 8-hour job to me, but there you have it. So, yeah, the whole experience was definitely balls. But now I'm officially legally here in Italy. And I spent the time getting to know some of the people in USAC that I hadn't really gotten a chance to really talk to yet, so that was fun. We also met some other people who were studying abroad from China/Lebanon/Argentina, who just happened to be at the station at the same time as us. I guess that's about it. On the way home, I was so hungry/annoyed that I bought myself some arancini as a treat. That was good, too.
The next day, I met up with my international affairs professor, who I am definitely obsessed with, to take a tour of the ITC and get to know the facilities. The whole place seems pretty cool and the library was just redone so it's all pretty modern. The Centre is set up a bit like a college campus, in that they have dorms and it's essentially self-contained, and now that my name's on the list (fancy, I know), I'm free to come and go as I please. We also hung out for a bit and had breakfast at the Centre's cafe, so we got to chat for a while and that was cool. Friday night was quiet since we were all getting ready to go to VENICE for the weekend. [insert Venice blog here]
Post-Venice (that would be the past three days), I had a pretty easy school week, since I had each of my classes only once this week. Nevertheless, the week felt improbably busy, since it was full of other shenanigans that managed to keep me occupied. For example, I went to the gym. Once. Pretty taxing, I know. Also, I had to buy a light bulb. That one was actually reasonably taxing, since it required two grocery store trips (the first time, as previously mentioned, the store was closed) and then I had to climb a ladder to get to my bedroom light. I'm essentially a handyman now, available for hire. I also gave a presentation on Sicily for my Culture class, which mostly consisted of me showing pictures of the places I've been and the church my nonno painted (but I mean, whatever, I'm not the granddaughter of like a famous historically important artist or anything, right?). A couple of nights ago, since obviously with classes and an internship and writing for the paper and trying to be a skinny bitch I'm still not busy enough, I met with a woman who got a hold of me through USAC about a babysitting job. Basically she wants her sons to learn English, the theory being that having a babysitter who is inept at Italian will force them to become bilingual. Getting to her apartment was an adventure in itself, since it involved switching buses and other such intricacies. It might have been easier to get there had I not forgotten the lady's name, her apartment number AND my phone. I only knew which bus stop to get off at, so I literally walked to every apartment within a block's radius of the stop, reading all the names on the buzzers until I saw one that looked familiar. So I buzzed it, and was immediately accosted by an old Italian woman clearly not in need of a babysitter, so of course I ran away across the street, as if escaping the situation would make her judge me less (it didn't, I'm sure). The second familiar-seeming name did indeed turn out to be the right apartment, so I met her and her sons, Filippo and Giorgio. The little one was pretty cute, although he tried to draw on my coat, and the older one invited me to play hide and seek (I was mostly impressed that a five-year-old knew how to converse with me in English). Anyway, I'm not sure if I have the job yet, since it depends on whether or not my Italian class gets moved to evenings, in which case I will not have the job since she needs an evening babysitter. I'm pretty neutral about it, since I could use the money and I like kids, but I'm also pretty busy already and I think babysitting would take away from the internship, which would suck since I am trying to be my professor's most brilliant student (these are the words he uses, another sign that he is my professorial soul mate. we have a final paper in the class, and he says "the most brilliant paper" will get presented in front of the class. I WANT TO BE THE MOST BRILLIANT.) I guess these are the things that make my life seem busy. I only had one class on Wednesday, but I was inexplicably away from my apartment from 10:45 in the morning until 6:30 in the evening. I'd ask someone to explain that to me, but it's probably impossible.
Anyway, I guess that's about all for right now. Last night, we went out, which is always fun, especially when there are Italians to drive you so you don't have to walk. This weekend will probably be pretty quiet, since a lot of people are going out of town for the long weekend. I, on the other hand, am staying home, both to save money and to take advantage of an almost-empty apartment. One final thing, I am once again a published columnist! New and improved mugshot this time, thankfully. Click here to read the article. This one's about aperitivo, not sure if I like the article very much this time. It seems a little more newsy than I intended, with much less of the ramble-y charm that I feel makes up the core of my (negligible) appeal. But that's okay, because there are still many more to come! Okay, done for now. Will probably write again after Tuesday, which is when we are going to an ORANGE-THROWING BATTLE in Ivrea. Yes, I'm excited too. Arrivederci! xoxx
I have no more photos yet, but this is the ILO's logo, which practically makes it my logo! Considering immortalizing it in tattoo form on my body. Probably my bum.
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