Erev Rosh Hashanah a.k.a. why I love Jews

This past week has been pretty low-key. I have class every morning from 9-11:30 with a fifteen minute coffee break during which we moosey on over to the coffee bar across the street for our .70 euro caffe. Italian class is going all right. We're moving at a relatively slow pace, which is good for someone like me who is terrible with languages, and are having our first quiz tomorrow. Today I finally feel like I'm starting to understand the teacher much better in class and no longer think twice about pronouncing "ch" like "k" and "ci" or "ce" like the english "ch." VERY CONFUSING at first.

Last night two other girls on the program and I went out to erev rosh hashanah services. It was really tricky finding a place because all the phone numbers I tried were either disconnected or had a message in Italian that I could not understand. Finally a number went through and a man answered with "Hello?" I got so excited that he was speaking english! He was the rabbi and when I asked him what time services were that night, he interrupted to ask me where I was staying and where I was eating. I told him in an apartment and I didn't know where I was eating, probably with my friends. "Alone?" he asked, "No, you come after services with me to my house. Many students will come." We didn't know what kind of service it would be, orthodox or conservative or reform. And we are all reform. We dressed as modest as our wardrobes had and hoped for the best. When we got there we had trouble finding the synagouge because it was in the basement of part of a residential complex. The doors weren't open when we got there and a nice lady sitting outside led us all around, with Maggie's little bit of Italian, to try and find the way to get in. She ended up walking us down a few blocks to a different synagouge where there were some American orthodox Jews who gave us the up and down and told us that the shul we were trying to get to would open soon. So then the nice lady walked us all the way back from where we started. I just kept thinking that I couldn't imagine anyone this nice to escort us to another synagouge and back in the U.S.

When the synagouge finally opened, we were led inside by a Hasidic man who spoke english. The english was the only thing that helped us feel not so out of place with our non-hasidic dress code. We slipped back into the boarded up woman's section and all my feminsit notions from middle school came rushing back in full force. The service was really hard to follow because it was all in hebrew and italian. My ear is so out of practice for understanding hebrew and it wasn't until later at the dinner that I was able to start understanding it better. The woman's section of the synagouge, including a little room where the kids jumped and talked, definately felt a bit like a social hour and less about prayer. Maggie, Briel, and I definately had trouble following the service. A lot of trouble. It was also a very, very short service...maybe 45 minutes? Definately not longer. However there were a lot of students there, not all hasidic or even orthodox. There were quite a few Israelis. So we started to feel a little bit more okay about how we were dressed.

After the service the rabbi led a large group of us back to his house for dinner. We were the only Americans. It was mostly Israelis although they weren't all traveling together. On the walk over we started talking to Israeli guys who were during a eurotrip. The had spent the past week in Rome, Florence, and Venice. It was their first day in Milan. We sat across from them at the meal. The dinner was in the living room/study and there were probably 30 or 40 people who had come over for dinner. It was packed. There were people of varying degrees of religious, reform to hasidic. There were people of all ages. The rabbi's little kids were there, one so young he probably wasn't even a year old. The woman on my right was probably in her sixties and was from Ethiopia. She and her husband live in Israel and come to Milan for one month every year for his business. She told me they also spend a lot of time in China. It was very interesting to chat with her about what is left of the Italian Jewish community, ethnic backgrounds, etc. We talked to the two Israeli guys sitting across from us as many women set dishes on the tables. The food was so beautiful and delicious but we weren't allowed to touch it for at least an hour. We just sat there starving, waiting anxiously for the blessings. We did the ceremonial hand washing, ate round challahs, apples, and honey. They even had fish heads on the table (that still had their eyes and teeth!!!!) to represent the head of the year. Very dramatic. When we finally did get to eat, the food was so delicious. Hummus, baba ganouj, potato egg salad, green salad, pomegrante seeds, rice, potatoes (and fish and chicken for the non vegetarians). The food kept coming and coming and coming. It was definately the most I had eaten at one time since I left my mother's kitchen. During the meal, a thunderstorm broke out. The lightening looked more like a lightening show than weather and it hailed. The Israelis ran to the window to catch some hail in their hands since Israel is a desert and, you know, no hail.

After the meal the rabbi started passing shots of vodka and amaretto. I love Jews. It was so funny. After he had a few, he got up to talk about the story of Chanah and Panina and Chanah praying for her son and I was so excited because I understood a lot of what he was saying!!! Then he started talking about some other things, about what was not his question but God's question or something, and I didn't understand as much. But I was really proud of understanding what I could. And it probably helped that I was already familiar with the haftorah in which I share the name with the main character.

We left around 11:30 because the metro system stops running at midnight and it had stopped raining (although the puddles were deep and dramatic). It was such a fabulous night. The rabbi invited us to services again today and to his house for dinner again tonight. There is a fashion thing tonight to preview fashion week which is at the end of this month and Milan, well you can imagine, big big deal. And I think I am going out to apertivo before hand, as well. Today I bought a pair of sandals for 7 euro that are very, very cute at a shop inside the metro station. I hope the weather stays good for sandals for awhile longer.

This weekend I am going to Florence, SO EXCITED. I cannot wait. But now it is time to use the notecards I FINALLY found (after much grief and searching) and study for the quiz tomorrow. So rather take a siesta...

Ciao!

Birthdays, Pavia, Museums

This weekend was really fabulous. Friday night we kind of got a late start. Two of my roommates and I went out first to hear some live jazz music at the Arco della Pace which is at the edge of this huge park where there is a massive and intricately carved arch that was built when Napoleon had power of Milan. It was so great, this little stage of the jazz band in front of the huge arch. So beautiful, great juxtaposition. From there we met up with two other girls from our program to get dinner. We went to a very nice restraunt where my roommate and I split a pizza. I don't think I can eat out at a place like that for another month, though. They charge for water here. Even worse, they charge per tablecloth. So basically you pay money just to sit down. Bahhhh I need to be economical! The street we went on had a bunch of bars and clubs and things and people were spilling out onto the street. So busy. After dinner my two roommates and I went to try and find this club where one of my roommates had left her shoes a previous night. We asked a group of Italians for directions and it turned out one of the guys was celebrating his 23rd birthday. We were actually at the same spot the jazz concert had been at, on the steps in front of the huge beautiful sculpted arch. So they invited us to hang out with them and we spent a few hours talking to this group of young Italian people. One of them was originally from Canada, one of the was half french and half japanease. I ended up just speaking in my super broken Spanish a lot. It was really great to meet some Italians our own age. Around 2:30 or so in the morning, when the group was dying down and had shrunk a considerable amount we came home.

Saturday a whole group of us took the train to Pavia. I posted pictures in my previous post. Pavia is a smaller city about a half hour train ride from Milan. It only cost 6,10 euro for the round trip. It is so beautiful. The streets are much smaller and it is full of little shops and places to get coffee/panini's/apertivo. I fell in love, I want to live in Pavia. It is the cutest city. I got sandals (finally) for ten euro at a little shop. There was a street market and I got this really pretty blue scarf for seven euro. We got panini's for 3 euro. The street market was really cool. Some stands had racks of clothes, some had tables of jewlery, some sold bags, and some just had random knickknacks like plastic toys and clothespins. After the street market we ran into a Renaissance reinactment fair where people were all dressed in elaborate costumes and they fired a cannon. It was cool to see a Renaissance reinactment in Italy where, you know, the Renaissance actually happened. After that we took the train home and made dinner.

Today we all slept in really late. Finally, my roommate and I went to an art museum nextdoor to the duomo at a museum called Palazzo Reale. We saw an exhibit by an Italian woman who painted in the 1930's and 1940's. After that we walked around the area around the duomo some more and came home. Tonight is my friend's birthday so I think we area going out to celebrate after I get pizza with my roommates and my RA. Italian class tomorrow morning! But it was a beautiful weekend.

Pictures from Pavia

Dinner, Italian Class, Battling Jet Lag, etc.

As the jet lag becomes increasingly more mangeable, I become more and more in awe of the city that I am living in. When everyone told me Milan was an industrial city I was expecting lots construction cranes, chain fences, factories, power plants, etc. Although there is quite a bit of construction (like right on our block in the way of getting to the IES center), I haven't seen anything else that would mark this city as partiuclarly industrial. It is very urban in that there are lots of people working and in commute and there is an extensive public transportation system including trams, buses and a metro. Unfortunately it stops running at midnight. But the buildings in this city are beautiful. Many streets are stones, not paved. The cars are tiny and even high school kids ride vespas. There is a high school just across the street from where we live and in front of if its a long line of parked vespas. I cannot wait to ride one.

Last night I went on a couple tours of the city. In the morning we went on a tour of the center of the city including the Galleria (which has a McDonalds of course), the Duomo, La Scala, fancy expensive stores, various old buildings, and just general beauty. We ate lunch at this place called Luigi's that is on the side of a small, small street. They serve this food that is simliar to a calzone but not as large and doughier. You could get ricotta and spinach, tomato and mozzerella, and then various cheese and pruschetto(sp?) meat types. We sat on the curb to eat them. Here are some pictures of the Galleria:

of course there is a McDonald's...

After that we saw the Sforza castle. The last two pictures up above are from this castle. After this, we saw the church of San Amborsia. This was really cool because it is a medieval church with frescos, mosaics, and relief sculptures. It also has a crypt.

Last night my Italian RA made me and two of my other flatmates dinner. We sat around after that and talked for a few hours about everything from the Palestinian/Israeli conflict to Catholic Missionary Nuns to what our college cafeterias are like. With a 2 euro bottle of wine. Fantastic.

Italian classes started this morning and I am so grateful. It is so hard to get around Milan without knowing Italian. I just feel so isolated and embaressingly American. So I think I'm going to work really hard in and outside this class to learn the language. I really like my teacher. The class is small, there is only 14 or 15 of us in this 100 level section of Italian. Our regular non-language classes will start at the very end of September. After class we walked around the city a bit more on a quest for school supplies. We came back to the apartment for lunch and a siesta. Hopefully tonight we will go out for apertivo and a discotheque. Tomorrow I am going to try to go the market and then Pavia for a festival (it is another city about 30 minutes away by train).

Time for siesta!!!

The Apartment

My bedroom. The closet is on the right and you can kind of see the edge. We have one closet and one desk. My bed is on the right. The ceilings are so high!!!

Okay so this is the coffeemaker. In the bottom chunk goes the water. The connector part has a container/pouch to put the coffee grinds. Then you put it on the stove for a while. Once you here it bubbling its done and the coffee is in the top part. Strange, right? But really cool.

Our kitchen. It even has a dishwasher!!!

View from our living room out onto the street.

Our living room.

Pictures of the Duomo

Ciao!

Ciao!
That's how we say "hello" and "goodbye" in Italy. Kind of like how aloha is "hello" and "goodbye" in Hawaii. I arrived here a few days ago and have been suffering some pretty severe jet lag. I have been sitting through too many orientation lectures at the Universita Cattolotica which is the school that has the partnership with my abroad program. I am living in the most beautiful apartment with very high ceilings. I live with three other girls and an Italian RA. There are three bedrooms, one bathroom, a living room with a tv, and a kitchen. The coffeemaker is like no other coffeemaker I have ever seen. Its this metal pot that has three parts and you boil it on the stove. Also all the doors are very confusing...with latches instead of handles and strange sliding bits that are kind of awkward to coordinate.
When you order coffee here at a cafe or a coffee bar, you stand at the bar because they will charge extra to sit. Also, if you order coffee they bring you a small cup of an espress shot. You can't get the kind of 2o oz iced coffee like you can in the states. If you want more than just a little espresso shot you order a cappucino. However, their espresso shots are quite strong. Very effective (although nothing seems to be kicking this jet lag in the butt). The coffee culture is all very interesting.
We start Italian classes on Friday and I CANNOT wait. I feel like I cannot get around at all. So I am desperate to starting learning some Italian phrases.
Yesterday at the Universita Cattolotica, I was sitting with two other girls on this stone ledge that is in between these outdoor hallways and the grass courtyard (which you are not allowed to sit on- no puget sound style sun bathers permitted) and this short, older guy with a belly came up and said something in Italian to me. We all just looked at him blankly and kind of said "Whaaaat??" and he translated and told me "Not too much time in the sun, eh?" chuckle chuckle chuckle. Hilarious, right? Right.
I will post some pictures of my apartment, its gorgous view of all the beautiful surrounding buildings, and the funky coffee maker soon.
Ciao!