As you can tell from the new layout of my blog and the video above, I am learning to customize and embed videos on here. I am now uploading my videos to YouTube so that it'll be easier to post them here so hopefully that'll make this more fun to read.
This week flew by and it's hard to believe that it's already the weekend. I think tomorrow I am going to Bergamo for a day-trip but we still haven't officially decided on anything. The Milan Fashion Week (one of the big 4 around the world) starts this week so maybe we will be able to see something interesting, although the official events are all closed to the public. The other 3 big fashion shows around the world are New York, London, and Paris. After being here for 5 weeks I have begun to get a better sense of the way people dress here and I think overall people dress much nicer here than in America (though we all probably already knew that). I filed my taxes yesterday and am going to be getting money back and I think I am going to spend some of it on new clothes. Unfortunately, everything here is really expensive so I probably won't buy too many things but it should be interesting. The fashion culture here is really different than at home because it seems like everyone puts a lot of thought into what they wear and that is simply not the case in the US.
It seems like EVERYONE here wears super shiny winter jackets haha even the little girl in the picture is wearing one!
I also just realized that I have been eating out a lot lately! On Monday, I went out for a friends birthday, on Tuesday I went Iguana again, and Wednesday I went to an Irish restaurant to watch the Champions League (Inter beat Chealsea 2-1 here in Milan!!). Again, I was unable to get tickets to the soccer game but the atmosphere was electric at the restaurant. Sky Sports (basically the British version of ESPN) was at the restaurant trying to interview Chelsea (a British team) fans, but I think they were in the wrong place because 99% of the place was cheering for Inter. After both of Inter's goals the entire restaurant was practically shaking and I couldn't help but join in on the screaming and jumping. After the game we all went to a club called Old Fashion and we all had a great night. I had heard that it was a cool place, but so far it was definitely the most fun I have had. Great music, great people, great night.
Since I don't have classes on Fridays, my school week is over and it is nice to be able to get a little bit more sleep and relax. This morning I had to go the northern part of Milan with Marine, my french roommate, to get a codice fiscale which our landlord has been requesting for weeks now. Most people here need one for tax purposes but it is very unusual for someone who is only here for 6 months to get one so hopefully they don't try to make us pay taxes or something. After we were done getting the paper we went to Burger King next to the Duomo since she had never been there before!
Look at how expensive the burgers are (nearly $8.50)!
Tonight I am going out to an aperitivo and then probably out to a discoteca so that should be fun! If any of you have any suggestions or recommendations for trips I should make leave a comment on this post! Have a great weekend!
Here is a cool video from the subway station at the Duomo, it's a piano!
If I wasn’t already sure how much I relied on the internet during the course of a normal day, there is now no doubt in my mind! Like most of my peers, I use the internet throughout the day, from reading the news, checking Facebook, reading emails (my Wharton friends know what I mean), and staying in contact with my friends and family. Unfortunately, I still don’t have internet on my computer so I’m posting this from my iPod. Thanks to my brothers, who helped jail-break my iPod, I was able to get an application that I can use to blog for free.
The past few days have been pretty busy for me! I can’t remember if I blogged about this earlier but the first few nights in my new room I could barely sleep because it got SO cold in my room at night. I even stumbled around in the middle of the night to try to figure out how to turn the heat up but had no success. After a couple nights of no sleep and using my pea coat and towel as a blanket I bought two really warm blankets and a pillow and I have been sleeping like a baby ever since.
I also went grocery shopping this week which was fun, although not THAT much different than home. Some things I noticed though were that the pasta aisle is HUGE, there has to be at least 3 times as many different types of pasta then I can get at home. There is also a lot less variety when it comes to cereal so I stuck to the usual (Special K Red Berries) although there’s something about it that makes it taste different. I also got some Nutella which no Italian seemingly leaves the grocery store without. After pasta and pizza it’s probably up there with the most eaten things- At restaurants I’ve even seen huge buckets of it. Haha I’ve had Nutella filled donuts, pastries, and cookies here- it’s delicious. I also got a Brita water pitcher so that I don’t have to buy bottled water which should be good. Yesterday I also did my first load of laundry and have my clothes hanging in my room to dry. They actually dried over night so I was surprised by how easy it was to dry them- I’m starting to really like the simple life.
Now to the more exciting part, I saw Inter play a soccer match against Fiorentina in San Siro stadium!!! It was incredible. Milan is home to two of the best soccer teams in the world, AC Milan and Inter, who both play their home games in the same stadium. Right now, Inter is ranked 1st in the Italian soccer league so it was really cool to see them play. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t great and it was on a week night so the stadium was only like half-full but the atmosphere was still electric. I shot a couple videos and took a bunch of pics so when I can, I will post those for ya’ll. Inter won the game 1-0 so it was cool to see them score and hear the crowd chant and see some of the players I grew up watching on TV, like Zanetti, Cambiasso, Riquelme, Materazzi, etc. I will definitely try to make it to more games, especially since it only cost 10Euros to get in!
Another highlight for me this week was when I went to Burger King and Via Monte Napoleone. Anyone who knows me well knows how much I enjoy an occasional Whopper and wow, it was just as good as ever. It was crazy expensive though! A value meal costs like 8Euros which is roughly like $11, which is like 3 times more than it costs in the US. No wonder everyone is so thin here, it’s actually cheaper to eat healthy which is definitely not true at home. Via Monte Napoleone (not sure if I spelled that right) is essentially the 5th Ave or Rodeo Drive of Milan, except much more impressive in my opinion. I will go back on a nicer day and take pictures but all of the stores are extremely nice and all of the most famous designers have their boutiques there. I read on the internet that some of the designers can be seen in their stores on some days although I don’t think Giorgio Armani or Donatella Versace were there when I was. Maybe one day I’ll be able to come back to Milan and buy a suit there!
This weekend a group of people from school were planning on making a day trip to Verona, a nearby city, but it has been raining a lot so we ended up not going. This coming weekend I signed up for a trip to Venice for Carnival though so I am really looking forward to that. I will probably go regardless of the weather, I just need to buy an umbrella!
My friend Yash from Penn has been trying to get me to watch the movie the Godfather and read the book for the past two years and I finally saw it last night! The weather was pretty terrible so I didn’t want to go out so I watched the movie and I am glad I waited to see it because I was able to understand some of the Italian in it! I really liked it and now I need to watch the 2nd and 3rd movie.
The last time I wrote, we still had an empty room in our apartment, but we are getting a 3rd suitemate in a week which should be exciting. She is Italian and was here moving some things into her room a couple days ago and she was really nice. Between her, my other roommate, and I we can collectively speak Italian, French, Spanish and English so this is going to be a really awesome experience for me. I would never have had this opportunity at home! She said she’s not moving in until next week though because she’s going to NYC to work at the Fashion Week there. I’ll have to ask her to go shopping with me so I can start dressing better once she gets back!
Once again, I hope everything is going well for all of you! I am having a great time here in Milan and am excited to hear how you are all doing! Sorry for any typos in this post- writing on an iPod isn’t ideal! My Skype screen name is maldonado.camilo so please add me and lets chat soon!
I studied in Milan for a semester (1/2010 - 6/2010) at Università commerciale Luigi Bocconi on exchange from the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton). I had the time of my life and kept this blog so that my friends and family could follow along!
