Images from the Heart

The roomies and I spotted this billboard while we were out and about one night. "Smart listens to the head. Stupid listens to the heart. Be Stupid." This got me thinking, though I'm sure not in the manner that Diesel intended...

Studying abroad lends itself toward almost an overwhelming amount of intellectual engagement. The brain is working overtime to learn a new language through intensive study and immersion, to learn and to see history and culture, to learn life skills and city survival tactics, etc. In order to get the most out of this amazing experience, as well as to stay sane, I think it's also important to tune into my heart as well as my head. For example, wandering through the streets of Milan with no concrete agenda or true idea of what I'm seeing just to get the feel of the city, to understand the culture in a less definitive concrete way, to focus on little details that are missed in the grand sightseeing tours. Here are some images dear to my heart from the heart of the city. I realize they are hardly as grandiose as the Duomo cathedral, but I hope your heart can find some measure of delight in these images.

- Ciao for now

Less lost, per say, more so ending up where I didn't intend...

Somehow, no matter how detailed my directions are, no matter how long I stare at satellite images on Google maps, I struggle to get to my intended destination. I blame this on the haphazard nature of Milanese city-planning. Remember what I said about the city being laid out like a spider-web? As you might imagine, streets tend to not go straight for very long, and also tend to change name by the block (making it very hard to try to "run into" a street).

No matter, though I don't consider myself to be a very spontaneous person, I love to explore and don't really mind ending up somewhere other than I intended. And I usually serendipitously end up exactly where I wanted to be right when I'm ready to hop back on the metro toward home. Yesterday I was trying to find Fabriano, a stationary store, of course. I wrote out careful directions, and ended up losing myself in some incredible pedestrian-only, pebble-cobblestoned shopping district that was a fusion of ooo-la-la and quirky.

After two hours of ambling about, I stopped to take a picture of yet another random church plopped unceremoniously in the middle of more shops, turned around and there, literally right behind me, was Fabriano! I think one of the most striking thing about wandering about Milan is how you can be walking through narrow, ordinary streets lined with shops and apartments, just buildings upon buildings, and then suddenly come to a small piazza with an incredible old cathedral, usually guarded by some misplaced statue (more on that later). I really don't know how to convey this experience, it's like wandering through a dense forest and coming upon a clearing that has somehow managed to maintain its stillness as everything else filled into every possible space around it. These little piazzas seem commonplace to the Milanese people who seem to breeze right by the neighborhood cathedral without the slightest indication of anything other than vague disinterest. I, however, am constantly taken aback by the breaks in the ordinary line of buildings, and often pause to whip out my little camera. No captions for these pictures, I don't really feel qualified as I really don't know where I was, what they are, or anything about them other than they caught my eye.

Fine. Rose, bud, thorn (aka a Reflection).

Disclaimer: I resent this corny exercise of reflection, but being a good friend, I am willing to admit the usefulness of this format. This one's for you, Joe.

Rose (aka something good): I really like my roommates. I feel lucky to have been placed with such fun, adventurous and grounded girls. This is a picture of Kim, me (obviously), and Gina before going out dancing on Saturday night. Unfortunately, with four girls, one inevitably ends up holding the camera (but I already put up a picture of me and Sammy, so it evens out)!

Bud (aka something I'm looking forward to): I'm really excited to travel outside Milan. I'm going to spend this next weekend in Milan doing more exploring close to home, but after that, let the travels begin! My (tentative) first trip- Grenada, Spain to visit Kate.

Thorn (aka something bad): Omnipresent cigarette smoke + lack of fabreeze. It seems like people are smoking everywhere I go, especially when I go out at night. As soon as I leave my apartment, my hair and clothing soaks in at least a hint of that stale smokey smell. Bummer.

Virtual Sightseeing- The Duomo

The Duomo, the third largest cathedral in the world, is located in the heart of Milan (the middle of the spiderweb), which is 6 stops down from my metro stop. Coming out of the Duomo metro stop is a breathtaking experience, even before you reach the top of the stairs, the spires of the Duomo dominate your entire view. I am still awestruck each time I pass, but the Milanese seem to breeze through the piazza without a second glance! This giant cathedral was started in 1386 and construction continued until 1813 (although due to the literally never-ending maintenance, upkeep and cleaning, many argue that the Duomo is never truly finished). Never a city to permit falling behind the times, the exterior was constructed in the french inspired gothic style which was at the time of construction very avant-garde.

close up of the two men at the base of the outer left tower (if you look at the bottom left corner of the picture above, you can see how these larger than life-size statues are dwarfed by the entire facade)

from below

the little cherub faces below the two men- one seems to have been either restored or replaced

one of the side doors

I hope you enjoyed the mini tour! I will have more pictures when the weather isn't so grey and gloomy, but I couldn't resist giving you guys a little teaser.

Ciao for Now!

Note (for Tori, mainly): All the pictures that appear on the blog were taken by me unless otherwise specified.

Apartment Tour

I was pleasantly surprised by the spaciousness and homeyness of my apartment. To explain the spaciousness bit, all I can think of is that apparently over 90% of the Milanese live in apartments, so they really are more liked stacked homes than temporary housing. And to explain the homeyness, my apartment used to be a family's residence, or as my Italian RA explained "a place for a young family to grow up." They have since grown up, and the apartment is now owned by two middle-aged sisters who rent it to IES. They left much of the furnishing and odds and ends, such as the books on the shelves, the trinkets in the bureaus, pictures on the wall, which would otherwise be sold at a garage sale.

The apartment has an entrance hall, to the left a living-room/dining room, to the right a kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom, and the RA's suite comprised of a bedroom and bathroom. All the floors except in my room are marble. The ceiling are quite high, and the whole apartment gets plenty of light. Here's a visual tour:

Here's a peek into the living room from our front entryway

opposite view of living room

This is the view from the balcony that runs across both bedrooms and the living room. I am in a city!

Here's our kitchen, little but fully stocked and with all the necessary appliances (though you do have to physically light the stovetop with a lighter)

Here's a close-up of my living space, my little bed, dresser, big window! and ample built-in closet. Note the great chandelier!

Here's our little bathroom, complete with a bidet (yet untried...)

I think this should give you a pretty good idea of the place. Now I have to go scrounge up some lunch.

Ciao for now!

Music on the Metro

We got on the metro (I'm becoming quite used to this whole public transit thing) this morning on the way to the Duomo (I'll post pictures later, but I recommend googling it, AMAZING!) and at the second stop these two men hopped on with their instruments. One had an accordion and one had a violin and the started playing Ode to Joy. They stayed on for another stop, and as the sound filled the entire metro the usually brisk and formal Milanese men and ladies started smiling. The men finished up and went through to collect money and hopped off to catch the next one. It was such a fabulous way to start off the morning!

Ciao for now!

Up or Down?

The moral of the story in Milan is to look up! The building facades (that weren't destroyed in one of the previous mentioned decimations of the city) are incredibly intricate. I promise there will be more pictures of buildings to follow- but here's a close-up to start you all out, plus a bonus picture of the castle that sits smack-dab in the middle of the city.

The other supposed moral of Milan is to look down. First off, if you don't, you will probably miss your metro or tram stop. Second off, there are apparently tons of gypsies and thieves waiting to pluck the valuables off gawking tourists. I haven't experienced this yet, but I think I'm doing a decent job fitting in since people typically try to speak to me in Italian. I even got asked questions in the grocery store and the post office today by unsuspecting Milanese ladies today! My unfortunate current answer - non parle!

I think part of the reason I am fitting in (aside from not shouting in English like many other students) is my slightly puffy, slightly shiny, new, 14 oz. down jacket. The Italians LOVE their glossy puff-coats, especially in purple (which was the "it" color last season). Here's a picture of me (in my nice American-Milanse-fusion coat) and my apartment-mate Sam at aperativo last night.

Ciao for Now!

The ABC's of Milano

Here are some of the basics that I've picked up in the first few days.

A. Milan is like a spider-web. The city was built in rings rather than a tidy grid system with numbered or alphabetical streets. This can in fact make things very tricky. So far, we have spent most of our time getting lost and un-lost. I'm almost to the point where I think that I can kind of, maybe, possibly get around. Wish me luck!

B. Milan is like a cockroach. No matter how many times you think you've squished it, it rebuilds and keeps trucking. Apparently the city has was established around the same time as Rome, but the reason there aren't ruins around every corner is because Milan has been decimated by wars, natural disasters, bombing, etc around 40-50 times (the last being World War 2). So congrats, Milan, you are resilient.

C. Everyone who's anyone rides the ATM. The ATM is comprised of the busses, trams, and metros all over the city. Though the streets are always full of cars, I have yet to ride a tram or metro where people aren't jostling for space. The trams are full of all types of people, from genteel frou-frou ladies in huge fur coats, to business people in pressed suits, to pre-teen kids, to flocks of American students such as myself! Even the US Milanese Consul prefers to use the ATM to calling up a private vehicle. And bonus- my apartment is mere blocks away from both a bus and the metro, which as I stated, I'm starting to get the hang of!

I'm off to aperativio, ciao for now!