Late Update...............

Hello all,

So let’s see…I haven’t written in about 7 weeks is it? Yes I know it is horrible and I really should update more. I am dedicating this update to Mattson and Peter Uihlein whom emailed my mother to express their desire to see an update. Luckily my Mom wasn’t feeling that pushy because I finally friended her on facebook. So here we go….

In the last few weeks I have been following the same routine as before, so basically I will share some high lights.

February 13^th: Carnevale was taking place in February and we decided to have a huggggggggge party to celebrate. To come you had to wear a costume! It was just like Halloween, but Italian. I guess the closest thing we have to carnevale is Mardi Gras and I tried to explain that we don’t really celebrate that everywhere. So everyone dressed up (I lent out 2 of my dresses so some of my guy friends could turn into my girlfriends, Davide is in the pic). It was very fun and I met a lot of people that night.

February 23^rd: It was the 23^rd of the month again so we had our big photo exposition. I always enjoy this! Here is a link to the pictures.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2652221&id=13952754&l=43dc5727b9

February 24^th: This was the last official day/night of carnevale and so Simona and I decided to head to Venice for the night! Simona did her undergrad degree there so we met up with a bunch of her friends and we even hung out with the teletubbies. We ended up at an outdoor 70’s concert and we danced the night away. He is the link to these photos. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2652230&id=13952754&l=56eee02095

3 weeks ago I went with a group of foreigners to Mantova! Mantova is about 2 hours from Bologna and it is famous for virgil and for being mentioned in Dante. It also had some part in WW2 that I don’t quite understand.

Anyways I went to Mantova with 2 English boys, 2 British Girls, a Turkish girl, and a German girl. We took the train over and then spent the afternoon walking around the town. It was a cute place and we saw some nice sites, none of which I remember the significance. Mantova is also surrounded by lakes, so it is sometimes compared to Venice. We set off from the train station to find a lake only to discover when we were back at the train station to go home that the biggest lake was right behind the station.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2659430&id=13952754&l=b33594dcb9

That was a success. I then started hanging out with this group of foreigners which turned out to be pretty fun. The next night we headed over to Nesli’s house (Turkish Girl) for a rousing game of Monopoli and the we went dancing. The night after, I had everyone over to make s’mores at my house. Luckily S’mores are super American so even the English got a treat of something new. I had my friend Luca visiting as well. He is from Bergamo (almost Milan) and we worked together at the Italian Camp, along with Simona.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2660262&id=13952754&l=4151e80963

Since then life has been pretty relaxing. The weather is getting nicer and on Friday a big group of Americans went to the Giardini Margherita (the biggest garden here) and had a great time just laying out and eating a huge picnic. We even kicked a soccer ball around for a while. We are planning on having small scrimmage games in the coming weeks as the weather improves. Sorry all of you in the Midwest have snow!

So I hope this satisfies some need for my blogging and I am sorry and will try and keep up.

This weekend I am going to Palermo (biggest city in Sicily!) so I will update with that!

Love, Kelly

Ciao All,

So It has only taken me a little over 2 weeks to update my blog…if I do it every two weeks you will get around 10-14 more excellent long entries. Haha!

Ok so let’s go back to January 23^rd. On the 23^rd of every month we have a photo exposition at our apartment. The photographers change each time, but my two guy roommates and their friends organize it all.

So January rolled around and we put up 2 series of photos by different photographers. My apartment has very high ceiling and a large living room which is all white, that is why this event takes place at our apartment. So all day the house was cleaned and organized and finally it was 6. I got dressed and then went out to help set up the apertivi. We had spritz (wine wine or prosecco mixed with this red stuff called apertivo) and small snacks. There were potato chips and Silvio (the guy with the dreads) made some delicious foccacia pizza. He is Napoletano so he knows how to make pizza right.

A little after seven people started to come over. Around 830 it was so packed it was uncomfortable. I got to meet all of my roommates’ friends and I got to introduce them to my Italian friends and American friends. The show was officially over at 10 but the good friends stayed over. We all just ended up drinking and hanging out until about 230 I called it quits and went to bed.

I don’t really remember what we did that Saturday, it probably involved walking around the city and stopping for a beer or two.

So Sunday nights I now have a ritual. Every Sunday at 930 Desiree and Flor come over to watch Tutti Pazzi per Amore (everyone is crazy for love). It is this fabulous tv series about two families and all this love and baby and other goo. It is really quite fabulous. So 233cdothey come over and my roommate pasqua watches as well. We drink wine and just veg out watching this wonderful program, which I consider educational since it is in Italian.

So that was Sunday night and then the rest of the week went by quickly.

Friday came around and that night I had two American girls over and my friend Simona and my roommates and we all drank and hung out until about 1 am. I know what you are thinking, ok so then you went to bed. WRONG. 1 am is still early so of course Simona and the two Americans and I went out. We went to a club where they have lots of concerts and just danced to the dj for a while. Italy is slowing making me nocturnal!

Saturday day my friend Joe (he goes to the U) came to visit from Florence. We went shopping to get him a jacket since he came to Italy 2 weeks before without a jacket! Crazy! We got him a jacket and then I showed him around the sites.

That night Desiree, Flor, Nora, Joe, and I went out with my roommates. We went to club a little outside of the city and danced for a quite a while. We ended up getting tired and my roommates wanted to stay so we decided to trek it back. After 30 minutes we finally made it home! The next day I made my roommates French Toast and something kind of like Bacon. They looooooooooooooooved French toast and I have made it 3 times this week! The baconish thing they liked as well, but it wasn’t the right shape or consistency.

I took Joe to the station and he took the long train (one hour) back to Florence. That night I watched tutti pazzi per amore as always! Haha.

Monday I went to my first real Italian course! I was sooooooo nervous. The class was Italian Literature but it was under the major of Geography (school system is different here). So my class is pretty cool so far because we talk about Italian Literature, but with a focus on the locations and where the author comes from. I have it Monday 11-1 Tuesday 9-11 and Wednesday 9-11. That is a lot of listening and note taking. The class is more than half guys, which is weird, but understandable since it is under the major of geography.

We talked about the syllabus and then the teacher lectured about Dante. After class I introduced myself and it was so nerve wracking. The professor was very nice and I have officially decided to take the class.

So that was the last week of my pre-session Italian class as well. Tuesday we talked about a book we read in class and then Friday I took 2 exams, one on grammar and one on history/culture. They weren’t so bad and I just happy to be done!

So This last Friday (after the exam) I had dinner that home and then Pasqua, Costanza, Laura (pasqua’s friend) and I walked around the city looking for something fun to do. We ended up at this Jazz club but it was a bit snobby and full of older people so we left to head back to the apartment. Right under our apartment are 2 bars that are famous for their shots. We ended up meeting Silvio, Antonio and Silvio’s friend Carlo.

My roommates new obsession is this shot called the Agricola. Agricola means farmer in Latin and was a Roman Emperor…I assume the name comes from one of the 2. Fundementaly the shot is just a shot of rum but you chase it with a slice of orange dipped in espresso grinds and sugar cane. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the dips so I just used orange. So around 3 am we decide to go out again. Crazy I know, but hey my roommates are Southern Italians, they are famous for being a bit crazy! So we went to an alternative disco/club like thing, but I didn’t really like the music. We stayed there until 5 and then walked around the city until 7 am! We finally returned home and I went straight to bed, but Silvio, Carlo, Costanza, and Pasqua went out for breakfast and to walk around! They finally made it back by 11 and then we all passed out until afternoon.

Later that afternoon I had the window open I heard a whistle. Our window looks right into another window and my neighbors wanted to chat. 3 nights before Costanza and I got a little silly and we made light signals into their room until they saw us. So this time we actually talked and they invited me over for coffee.

It turned out that they have an American roommate whom I had met because she is on my program but for the year. So I met all of them including their two week old baby bunny! I love him!

Saturday night I felt pretty good and ready to go out again. That night the boys decided to do shots at our house! Insanity! We had a wonderful dinner of Horse. Haha yes Horse. In southern Italy they eat horse during the winter. It was surprisingly delicious, but I kept singing my little pony and pretending to be sad just to tease Antonio because he was the one who made it.

So after dinner we ended up doing agricole! I know crazy. Costanza ended up getting too tired and went to bed and Silvio had pulled an all nighter so he did as well. So Pasqua, Lucia (Francesco’s gf), Franceso, Antonio, and their friend Matteo and I all went out to a club called Locomotiv. It was a pretty fun place and we ended up dancing a lot. We made it home around 5 and guess what….I made French toast for everyone! Haha. I got to bed around 7…seriously I am not nocturnal. I slept until 2 and then just hung around until tutti pazzi per amore!

After the show we went to Soda Pops (a bar a lot of exchange students go to) to meet up with Desiree’s roommate to sing Karaoke! We stayed there for a while and then headed home because I had class today.

Class went well…I am kind of shy to talk to anyone, but tomorrow I am going to ask someone a question I already know the answer to just to start a conversation.

I went to Desiree’s house for lunch and she made me pasta. I then went grocery shopping and then stopped at Simona’s for a coffee. Friday we are having a carnival party here! Carnevale is for a few weeks during February here in Italy and also in south America! It is basically like our Halloween since you have to dress up! I am very excited and I haven’t figured out what I would like to dress as. Hmmm

I only have about 8 new pictures to put up so I will wait a bit.

Ok well if you have any questions or comments I am here.

Take care and be safe.

So I should really get on updating my blog....but I have homework so instead I will just post a link to some pictures. I really will update my blog. I swear!


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2638231&l=55944&id=13952754

Oh and I forgot here is the link to all the pictures from Bologna. I will put up the gravellona toce pictures later!

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v122/Eyeforan1/Bologna%20part%201/

The password : bologna

BOLOGNA

Hi there!

So I left Gravellona Toce on the 8^th to go visit my friend from Michele who went to Thailand with me. He lives in a town called Novi Ligure and it is famous for chocolate. He showed me around it was a pretty cute town and bigger than Gravellona Toce. I only stayed there for one night and we just went out for appetizers and then had some good old Italian pizza for dinner. It was a Thursday night and the holidays had just ended so most of Michele’s friends had left town for University. We hung out with his friend Francesco and just drank some beer and talked. The next day Michele and I went for some delicious Nutella pastries and then he drove me to the train station. I lugged my bags onto this train and then got off at another station and then lugged my bags on another train until I finally arrived in Bologna. I got off in Bologna and called my friend Simona. Simona and I worked together at Lago del Bosco, an Italian language camp offered through Concordia language villages. She asked me what track I was on. I replied 6 and she said she would be right there. She called back and asked if I was right on six or right by it. I explained again and she said she would be there in a minute. Then she called again. She said I am at track six where are you? I replied no I am at track 6 where are you? Then a random guy told me I was at track 6 Ovest (west). So I was like Simona I am at 6 ovest…6 ovest….6 ovest. COSA (What)? She responded. She didn’t understand until the 7^th time I said ovest and she went oh, OH-vest not ovest. So finally I see her coming up the stairs and we do the running and hugging and jumping thing. IT IS AMAZING to see her. This is the first time in 1.5 years I am seeing my fabulous co-counselor and I was soooooo happy. Well we grabbed my bags and we started walking back to her apartment. It wasn’t that far and I got a mini tour as we went. We finally got back to her apartment and we sat back and relaxed. We couldn’t stop hugging and kissing cheeks! Finally we calmed down enough to go grocery shopping for dinner. Simona made me Pumpkin risotto and we hung out with her roommates. The next day Simona had to go back to her hometown for a few hours. So I hung around the house and made some lunch while I waited until the time passed and I could go pick up my friend Desiree from the train station. Desiree and I worked together last year at the school of public health survey center and then had Italian class together this year. She found a cheaper flight if she arrived just 2 days earlier so she asked if she could stay at Simona’s place as well. Simona being so nice as she is said yes. So it turned out that Des’s plane got rescheduled a bunch of times because of 3 inches of snow in Madrid. She finally got into Bologna at around 630. Simona was back by then and we both helped her lug her stuff back to the apartment . That night she was dead so we decided to stay in. Giulia (Julia), one of SImona’s roommates, came back to the house around 1030 with some friends and we all got to drinking beer and wine and talking in the kitchen. A nice night just hanging out. Sunday Simona Des and I did a little shopping, but really just relaxed more. Sunday night we decided to do aperitivi. Aperitivi is a little like happy hour but better. Between 6-9 (before dinner) almost every bar you can buy a spritz (prosecco and campari) or wine or prosecco and with that drink you get to eat as much you want from the buffet of appetizers. When I do this, I usually eat a lot and then count that as dinner! That night we went to a really good one that cost 7 euro for the drink, but then we got enough food to be dinner. So Des, Simona, Simona’s roommate Katia, and I went to this café’ right by the 2 towers (the city is famous for these) and then afterwards we walked around and stopped and got some very good beer at a place called Arteria. It was like cool underground (literally) club/bar and there was some snl/comedy sports show going on with a band to play afterwards. We all got different kinds of beer that were on tap and they each came in their own glass. We finished our beers and then watched the political artsy humor skits for a while and then decided to call it a night.

The next day I saw 7 apartments. I liked 2/7 enough to live there and hoped they would call me back soon. In Italy you do not choose the apartment, but instead the flatmates choose you. I had to make a good impression on everyone to get chosen to live there. 2 days later the apartment I liked the best called me back and asked me to come back and meet the last flatmate. I did and they said they wanted me to move in!

I have 4 flat mates. There is Antonio (23) and Franceso (21) whom share a double, then Pasqua (27), the sister of Fra, whom has a single, and then Costanza (23) my roommate! They are all from Puglia ( a region in southern Italy) and they are all very chill and nice! I have lived here for about 5 days now and I already feel at home. I am very happy I am rooming with them and our apartment is really nice. I will include pictures on here and more on photobucket. We eat/cook together half the time just depending on schedules and levels of hunger. Lunch is around 2 and dinner around 9! It isn’t hard changing my schedule and I like eating real meals at home instead of getting a sandwich out. I cook twice a day everyday and then just eat cornflakes for breakfast. I like this kind of life!

My program started last Monday and I meet the other people. They all seem pretty nice, but having Italian friends is more important to me. I hang out with Desiree and Flor (she is from UPenn). My roommates and I usually hang out the most, but I have fieldtrips and class with my program for these 3 weeks.

So for the first week I was helping other people find apartments since I found mine so quickly and just going to meetings about safety, drugs, medical stuff, and whatnot. Our class started Monday and it is ok, but I am not having that much fun. Tonight I have some homework to do and then I will probably just hang around with my roommates.

Friday night we have an event at our apartment. Fra and Antonio have 2 friends that are photographers and we are hosting aperitivi at our apartment with a photo exposition! I am really excited because I can invite friends and meet more Italians! Life is good and hopefully I will update more frequently now!

Love you all!

My address is

c/o Fiormarino

Kelly Crawford

Via Irnerio 23

40126 Bologna Italy

BYE!

Ciao!

Ok just a warning before i start this. I am typing this on Elo's mini computer (the size of a book) and I may make some errors that at 1 in the morning I am too lazy to correct. We'll see.

So let's see...not very much is new since new years really.

I have been looking for apartments online and i have a few leads, but I have to wait until I arrive in Bologna to see them and meet the possible roomates....I am thinking happy thoughts.

I have called about 5-6 places and 3 are looking pretty good. I will be arriving in B0logna on Friday and will probably call them all Friday evening to meet up saturday.

On saturday my friend Desiree is arriving! She is flying into Bologna and then taking a bus to the train station where I will meet her. Desiree is another girl from the Universityof Minnesota and will be on the same program. We had italian class together this year and worked together last year.

We are both staying at my friend Simona's place for the weekend before our program starts. Simona worked at Lago del Bosco (Italian camp) with me last summer and she is my best Italian girl friend and it will be amazing to get to hang out with her this semester!

She has been great in helping me find a nice apartment in the right area with the right people. I am probably going to end up sharing a room so I won't have to pay as much.

So Today (January 6th) is the day of the Befana. It is a very long story about an old lady, but in the end she is like as friend of Santa. Last night kids hang up their stocking and today they open them to find sweets or coal. My Papi gave Elo, My Mamma, and me our own befanas. They were filled with candies and candy coal as well. I am so excited to have my own Befana!

Here is a link to the legend. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Befana

I was pretty excited to celebrate the Befana today too because they put on a small play every year and grill out. Elo also told me that when she was little they used to burn a witch (doll thing) as well. She doesn't really understand why, but I thought I should include it.

Well my excitement was dashed. Today it snowed. 3 inches probably in all but the "bad" weather made the postpone the celebrations until sunday...I leave Thursay. SAD!

The snow has closed all schools and has cancelled some exams at the universities. So weird because it is NOTHING compared to what we get.

Everyone has been off work since before Christmas. My parents hunting and fishing store has been open along with other bars, but most jobs have been very relaxed until tomorrow or even until monday. What a nice break to have!

Tomorrow I am going to have to repack my bags. THAT is going to take a while haha. Then I will probably visit the store because otherwise I will get bored. It is fun to pretend to work at the store and I try and help as much as I can. Tomorrow evening I am going to Watch Elo play volleyball and then we will probably hang out for a while because it is my last night.

Thursday Elo is driving me to this mall that is close to my friend Michele's house. She wants to take advantage of the sales and help me out.

Michele was abroad in Thailand with me. He goes to School in Virginia so he is only in Italy for Christmas break, that is why I have to see him now.

So I am staying at his house for one night and then taking the train to Bologna where Simona will meet me at the station.

Well that is it for now and it might be a while before I update. You can expect photos in maybe a week....sorry!

Love you all and take care.

Don't forget you can call or email me!

Ciao!
Right now I am in my parent's armory and hunting shopping using the internet to start my battle of finding an apartment in Bologna. First I will take a little bit of time to talk about the New Years!

For New Years in Italy it is a tradition for the girls and guys to wear red underwear and bras. I don't understand why exactly but I think it brings you good luck in your sex life. I didn't wear either because they didn't go with my outfit....hahah oops, but either did my sister and so I think I will be fine.

We started out the evening at Emax cafè. We had this huuuuuuuge dinner. First was the apertivi which was a plate with 6-10 different types of apetizers. Then we had our first plate which was Gnocchi and ravioli. Then the second plate which was 2 different kinds of meat. During this we drank wine and ate bread. At midnight we also had spumante (sweet fizzy wine) and Panentone with chocolate sauce. It was all very good but filling so to burn some calories I recruited the other girls at the table to dance.

For the holiday they had a band playing music from the 60s 70s and 80s and almost all of it was american. We danced like goons and took breaks to relax and allow the others to smoke.

Afterwards (around 1am) we went to a local bar/disco called Stragalò. It was really big and new since I had left. It was pretty fun just to hang out and drink and because I was American, I got some of the local guys to buy me drinks. Haha it was great!

I have been seeing all of my friends from when I was here 3 years ago and it is soooo strange. When I first came to Italy I didn't speak any of the language, and when I left I spoke ok but my grammar was horrible. Now, after working at Italian Camp and studying at University, I am soooooo much better. Really. I can actually understand everyone and respond! It is amazing how much easier everything is now that I can speak well enough. After these 6 months I think my Italian will be amazing.

The night was great just hanging out with friends and showing off my ability to swear in Italian. Elo and I returned home around 430, which is early for new years. With our dinner at Emax we also paid for breakfast, but we decided we would rather sleep. We went home and slept until 1.

New years day nothing is open at all. ZERO. So we all stayed home and lazed about. Weh ad veal for lunch and pastry type things for dessert. It was so nice just lazing around and I even watched the Sex and the City movie in Italian.

That night our friend Longo (his name is Daniele but his last name is Longo) had us over for dinner.

Everyone always talks about the cultural difference in Italy and how women have more defined roles in Italian culture as housewives and cooks. I think it is interesting though that Italian men usually know how to cook.

Longo made us Whiskey Pasta (penne pasta with ragu and cream and meat and a bit of whiskey), then this pork dish, and finally he Made Tiramisù. WOW it was all delicious and accompanied by beer and wine it was great.

After dinner we played playstation. See Italy isn't that different! First we played a racing game on Play station 1 and then the boys played a soccer game on playstation 2. It was nice just hanging out and we were all so tired from the celebrations the night before.

Today was another lazy day for me. This is a nice vaction for me but Elo still has exams coming up so she has to study. We went shopping today to take advantage of all of the sales. I got a skirt and a small cover up. The fashion here is a bit different and it is hard getting used to. Uggs are actually starting to become popular here too! haha

I finally have a working cell phone so if any of you out there feel the need to call my number is (from america)

011 39 334 852 4900

Remember I am 7 hours ahead...but we do stay up later here so just call before midnight! haha.

Well I cannot post photos for a while because it takes too long and I don't really have the access or time yet. Sorry you will just have to immagine.

Happy new year!