I wasn't going to be blogging, but after my friend Emma, who has her own study abroad blog I changed my mind. I tried journaling...that worked for about two days.
I'm going to be spending the semester in/around Parma with Pitzer College's program here, which is affiliated with the Universitá degli studi di Parma. Anyway, here's a map of Italy (another idea I'm blatantly stealing from Emma) to show you where I am:
Parma is located in the north of Italy in the region of Emilia-Romagna and is especially well-known for its food and music history. I've already had some parmigiano reggiano and prosciutto — it's amazing. I'll post a recap of the last few days below. Thanks for reading!
I left for Italy on Wednesday the 23rd from Reagan airport to New York's JFC, where I'd depart to Milan. I met up with eight of the nine students of my program at the gate, and we mostly sat around talking about Parma and our own college. Turns out the ninth student was assigned to the seat next to me on the flight!
We had some issues before we departed mostly because of the weather in New York, but we eventually took off and began the ~8 hour flight. As someone who can sleep just about anywhere I was extremely disappointed to find out that I couldn't sleep on my flight. We landed in Malpensa airpot in Milan around 7:30AM local time, so about 1:30AM EST.
We collected our baggage, went through customs (which was way more nerve-wracking than necessary), and went searching for the shuttle bus that would take us to Milano Centrale, the train station. I got to use a bit of Italian to do so, which was exciting, but what was less exciting was finding out there wasn't enough space on the available shuttle AFTER my bags were loaded and having them almost drive off with all of my belongings. Thankfully, I retrieved my things, and we got on the next available shuttle for 10 euro. We got off at the first stop, and asked the driver if this was Centrale. He didn't say anything and for the second time in a 3-hour period, a bus almost drove off with my stuff. He angrily told us to get back on the bus, and we did.
Eventually, we did reach Centrale and found our program assistant, Silvia waiting for us. We bought our train tickets (10,25 euro) and made our way inside. After two hours, one of waiting and one of being on the train, we finally arrived in Parma. It was a little damp, but still nice considering the predicted rain forecast. Our host families met us at the station before we all headed to our respective homestays. My host brother picked me up in his car. If I had known I would've had to carry my stuff up and down 6 flights of stairs I would've packed lighter.
We got to our house, about 15 minutes away, and I immediately began unpacking. He also told me we had WiFi, which basically made my life. Exhibit A:
My host mom got to the house about 10 minutes after us and after introducing herself, we ate lunch. After that I had some down time so I continued unpacking until I finished. My host brother works at night, and my host mom had plans for the evening, so I wound up in the house alone, which was fine, and went to bed early for orientation the next morning.
Day 2: venerdì, 25 gennaio
ORIENTATION. Eight of us met downtown in Piazza Garibaldi, located on the ponte di mezzo (middle point) of Parma. I managed to take the bus and walk there without any issues! We took the bus to Via Taro, where our program is held and began orientation. We discussed cross-cultural issues, safety, etc. etc. from 9:30-12:30 before returning home for lunch. My host mom picked me up and showed me how to walk home from the site, which only took us about 15-20 minutes. I also found out I'll be in the intermediate Italian class, meaning I don't have to take the bus everyday! At least not for a while. We returned to around 3 and did more orientation things.
Day 3: sabato, 26 gennaio
We had a scavenger hunt in Parma today! We found the Centro Barilla (con una cinema, uno supermercato, etc.) e Stadio Tardini! Also, apparently, pharmacies (una farmacia) don't sell nail polish remover - it's only available in perfume shops. Fun fact.
That night we also had a welcome party with our host families and other students in the area. There were Italian students (some of them are our tandem partners to practice Italian/English), other Americans, and some students on their Erasmus trips. Here's my Italian mamma:
The party was great! We hung out with some other people that night and got massively lost on the way home and ended up taking a cab.
Day 4/5: domenica, 27 gennaio & lunedì, 28 gennaio
Sunday was a slow day - I mostly hung out at home and went to a local supermarket called CoOp. It had a great variety of food. My host mom bought some prosciutto e formaggio e pane for my dinner, which was, of course, awesome.
TODAY was more orientation stuff. Pretty self-explanatory. I'm home for the evening and am going to read up on Parma. Tomorrow we're going to deal with more bureaucratic things (like our permissio di soggiorno) and registering at the University of Parma.
Also happy birthday to one of my oldest friends from home! Tanti auguri, Liz :)
Buona sera!
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