Well, it has been a bit too long since I have posted a blog here. I think Iw as a bit unsure of what I wanted to post and thus I did not really post anything. I am just going to catch you up on what I've been up to and then I will discuss what I what to do with the blog.
Seeing as how my last post was after we had arrived at the dorms, there is a lot to discuss. I will just briefly describe some of the key events and what they entailed.
Since we arrived we have already been to the Milan Expo, the Duomo, Stresa, and all around Milan.
The Milan Expo was quite an event. There were exhibits from almost every country and they were all exuberant. We stopped at many of the exhibits (unfortunately not all) including Spain, Mexico, the Netherlands, Belarus, Vatican City, Brazil, Argentina, and Romania. Im sure im forgetting a few but those stand out to me the most. We stopped to get lunch in the Netherlands, where there was an array of food trucks (I guess they re common in NL). A couple friends decided to stop at fhe first one they saw which was meatballs and french fries while I looked around a bit more at the other food trucks. I decided on getting the aptly named "Weed Burger", which was a green veggie burger made with seaweed. It may have looked disgusting but it was so worth the six euros. We then walked around a bit more and stopped in Argentina for aperitivo (traditional Italian pre-dinner drinks/snack). After our drinks we had decided that we had enough of the insane heat and that it was time to head back home.
The next day (at least I think it was the next day, it could have been the previous, who knows) we went to Il Duomo, a huge church and the cultural center of Milan. The Duomo is also right next to La Galleria, which is one of the biggest outdoor malls in the world. It was filled with Versace, Prada, and Gucci stores. The Ferrari store stood right outside of La Galleria, and was an immediate eye catcher to me. I have probably spent at least an hour in the store so far just wandering around and either looking at the F1 car that they have on display or looking at all the model cars that I can never afford. They also had a F1 simulator in the basement, which I most definitely have already tried. Besides the Ferrari store and possibly the store that sells vintage driving gloves and riding gear, not many of the bustling perfume-filled stores have attracted me.
We had classes in the morning everyday last week and honestly they were not too bad. We had lectures on Italian pop-culture, Italian society, and Italian journalism. After most classes I would go to the university cafe and recite my usual "Posse avere un cappuccino e un caprese per favore". The nice old Italian lady behind the counter puts up with my poor Italian skills and by the second day asked me "Coma te ciame?". I did not understand but luckily there was a nice woman waiting for her food that told me: "She wants to know what your name is". I had made my first Italian friend! She is apparently also a post card collector and once she learned that I was from Washington D.C. she asked her coworker, who speaks a tiny bit of English, to ask me to bring her a postcard from D.C.. I don't know where I am going to get one from but I will try and remember!
Today we went to an area called Stresa. We went to two islands, Isola Madre and Isola Belle, both of which were beautiful and with a view of the alps. The first island was filled with green grass, tall trees, beautiful flowers, and peacocks. It was all very beautiful, but it did not really appeal to the aesthetic that im going for with my photography. These islands were more something that I needed to enjoy with my own two eyes and without a lens. Also no matter how many "beautiful" shots I took, they all looked the same and did not even compare to what I was seeing myself. On the second island we toured a small castle and then had lunch on the island. I had tomato and buffalo mozzarella, which as always, was delicious. After lunch we got back on our private yacht (really just a small taxi boat) and were shuttled to a small beach where we relaxed for the next hour and a half or so before it was time to return to Milan. Overall it was a good day, but did not assist with my photography endeavors very much.
Now, to get onto more serious topics, I must decide what I want to do with this blog. I am thinking that I definitely need to post more often, but i dont want each post to be as lengthy as these previous ones have been. I think so far my problem is that I try to cover too much with one post, which is a result of my procrastination. Upon looking at my peer's blogs it seems that the best idea may be to take notes throughout the day and then post them in blog form at the end of each day as a nice closing to the evening. Who knows, I may even attach a picture from the day.
Ciao.