My impromptu 2 1/2 month trip to Milan, Italy....and everywhere in between....with my boyfriend Shane :)

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Socialization & Singing


I haven’t written lately because I got out of the mood somehow. But now, after a lovely relaxful weekend, I am back.
Friday proved to be the best day I’ve had ever since we got to Milan. It started out with me dressing like the locals do—an extra-long shirt that serves as a dress, paired with opaque tights (which are also very warm) and matching stylish boots. I had been wanting to try this out ever since I got here, but until a couple days ago didn’t have any tights. The goal of the day was to go across town and do some major shopping at a grocery store Ryan told us was pretty cheap. Thankfully, this time Shane was with me. We set out for the metro, and 5 minutes into it I realized that I really should have dressed like the locals in the form of FLAT boots, not high heeled ones. Especially considering I had spent the better part of the past two days in bed and not on my feet. But I marched ahead, determined to get back into shape the way I used to be when I walked all over town in Poland…in high heels.
Unfortunately, Shane only knew the general area of the store, not the location, so we ended up walking quite a ways trying to find it. Of course, this put me and my runny nose, cold body, and throbbing feet in a less than desirable mood, and I finally insisted (or maybe snapped) that we return to Ryan’s place to see if he was in the lobby to tell us where it was at. He wasn’t, but the guy at the front desk was kind enough to show us on a map. Turns out it was in the same spot we had been earlier. We probably walked right by it.
I’d have to say it was worth the trek. This store had the cheapest produce I’d seen yet, and we also found baking powder, among other rare American items. Not to mention they had regular shopping carts, not just the little plastic baskets that roll and never seem to be big enough.
Perhaps the cart wasn’t a blessing, because we had only brought 3 large shopping bags with us, no backpack. And we had a lot of heavy things. But we loaded them all up and Shane graciously carried the heavier ones on our long journey to the closest metro. Now that was a killer. Our fingers lost their circulation and Shane’s index finger didn’t regain it until two days later. My feet felt like they were on fire, and my nose chose that time to run incessantly. We finally made it back to the apartment, and once there I was incredibly happy for our trip; it filled up our fridge and cabinets more than they had been yet.
For supper we were supposed to meet with some of Shane’s classmates at an aperitivo, which is a bar/restaurant where you buy a drink for about 8 Euro, which also gives you access to an all-you-can-eat buffet. I opted to change my outfit for this occasion, since we had to walk a little ways past the train station to get there. My feet were still burning even after taking my boots off for a few hours.
We found the building easily, and had to walk around it before we found the side entrance to the executive lounge where we were supposed to be. Upon entering we discovered that we were the first ones there. Shane hated that, but we found the two spots reserved for the class and waited. This particular aperitivo turned out to be a plush lounge consisting of bench seats similar to large beds with tons of pillows on them, and large round seats surrounded small tables to eat on. Talk about “lounge” literally! I decided I was in love with it and want a room in my house to look similar. The ceiling was made out of sheets, there were candles all around, and the atmosphere had a very relaxed feeling.


Eventually the classmates showed up and we all dined to our heart’s content. Even though we were happy with the food, we were told that it was by far not the best, compared to other aperitivos. All of Shane’s classmates spoke English of course, and were very friendly. We spoke for a long time to a friendly American girl who has traveled all over, knows the ropes of the city, and gave us some good tips.
After a couple hours of eating, socializing, and lounging back on the comfortable pillows, everyone started to make their way out. Jane, one of the 2 women there from Shane’s college in the US, decided she wasn’t ready for the night to end and wanted to go downtown. We decided for the sake of socializing that we would go too, and it ended up being a group of 7 that traipsed down the streets, a couple of whom are hilarious and made us laugh nonstop over funny tales of living in Italy. We ended up stopping at a little restaurant with outdoor tables, and I had a cup of really good hot chocolate. I couldn’t help but think that this was the most fun I’d had since we got here. I loved the company—people who were funny and full of life. It reminded me of my PTA classmates, who I miss dearly.
Alas, all days have to come to an end and Shane and I walked back to our apartment full and happy. The plan was to head to church in the morning, which we had yet to try to find. Unfortunately that night I couldn’t sleep though. I tossed and turned until 5:30am, when I finally got up and got online to pass the time. Around 6:15 I went back to bed, only to toss and turn some more until 8am, when I finally fell asleep. Well. We didn’t go to church that morning. It turned out to be a very boring day because of that. On a bright note, I did get to call my parents over skype, using the new microphone we bought Friday.
Sunday
Today I was awakened to what is becoming a very familiar song played by the man next door. Only this time he had decided to accompany it in a very loudly singing voice. Normally I wouldn’t have minded, but it was so loud that it penetrated my earplugs. I kept thinking, poor Shane, if it’s this loud to me, it must be really loud for him! Soon after this I heard him rustling around in the kitchen, so I knew it had driven him out of bed.
I finally got up and checked my email. Nothing. Shane had a meeting with his classmates over a project and decided to take the computer, so I had no choice but to be computerless and, ugh, study all day. I put it off by trying to mend my holey gloves, only to discover that apparently I took the needle out of my travel sewing kit and never put it back. Great. That makes one more thing I brought that is completely useless to me here. I don’t think I ever mentioned that list. Our phones no longer give us the correct time since we’re out of the US, our electronic translator’s unique batteries are dead, the adaptor we need for the outlets here is broken, and now I can’t use my sewing kit. We keep discovering more things we had that are useless to us here that we could have left at home and saved luggage room and weight.
I actually ended up having a great time listening to music with Shane’s expensive noise-cancelling headphones while I studied, and I actually got a lot studied. Hm. Maybe Shane should take the computer away more often.
After Shane got home and we ate dinner, we were sitting in our room when our neighbor’s extra loud music came on again. This time it was Christian music, as usual, but in English. And he was singing at the top of his lungs. It was so loud that even my music through my headphones was no competition. Normally I wouldn’t really mind, especially since it was music I liked, but Shane couldn’t concentrate on his studying and I couldn’t concentrate on this blog. Finally I decided to go over and talk to him, since it was obvious at this point he spoke English. He came to the door with his little boy on his shoulders. I explained to him the problem and he said he hadn’t known anyone lived there. He was very friendly and asked all about what I was doing here and where in the U.S. I was from. I could see his smiling wife in the background, and I wondered about their frequent yelling fights. He promised to keep the music down and encouraged me to feel free to knock on the wall if it ever got too loud.
How nice. We have an English speaking neighbor beside us and above us.