centro sociale

One of the best parts about this weekend was my experience at the centro sociale in Bologna called Crash. A centro sociale, or social center, is essentially a "public" space that students and young people have occupied and use to throw parties, have concerts, protest any number of things, and generally just hang out. I use the word "public" in quotation marks because in the case of this centro sociale, as with many, it is not so much public as it is abandoned.

This is a phenomenon that I find incredibly interesting. As Chiara explained it to me, the students occupy these spaces because they find it outrageous that in order to go out to dance or drink in Italy, you have to pay a cover for a club or discoteca and then more money for drinks, which, depending on the city and the venue, can end up adding up to anywhere from 25 to 50 euro for a night out. So they occupy these spaces as a protest against these institutions. In my opinion, this is an effect of the vast difference between the university experience in Italy and that in the USA. At college in the US, you generally go out to dorm parties or parties thrown by friends, and at most you pay for the alcohol you buy for yourself (and maybe late-night pizza). Since there is no real dorm life in Italy, this inexpensive option does not exist, and thus, the need to create one.

Another difference, however, is the concept of the active response. When I'm home in NYC, if I don't have the money to do something, I simply don't do it. I'm not outraged that I can't afford to go to clubs, I just don't go. There has been no active effort that I know of to occupy an abandoned building and create a free party space. Maybe there is, and I don't know about it. But I think there are certain cultural restrictions as well. First of all, there aren't that many abandoned buildings. Second of all, they're very close to inhabited buildings, which means someone would notice right away if you occupied one. Lastly, the centri sociali are fairly functional; this one had a bar with beer taps and a full stage with a sound system. Chiara tells me that they had these things built and are in the process of paying off their debts to the people who built them. Could you even find someone in the US to build a bar in an abandoned house? And would they do it without any kind of reimbursement?

So many questions!

Anyway, here is a link to the headlining performance, Kaos One. I couldn't understand a word, but the crowd at Crash went crazy for him...

Bologna!

Here are some pictures from my weekend in Bologna. Despite the rain and the cold, it was a fantastic weekend. I got to spend some quality time with some wonderful people who I don't see that often while eating delicious food, making some new friends, and visiting one of my favorite cities in Italy.







delicious Greek lunch:




Scenes from around town, especially our night out at the centro sociale - Euro-hip-hop night!

worst. weather. ever.

What began as a rainy day ended up as an inch and a half of slush and snow covering the entire city of Milan. Cold, wet, rainy. And, of course, it had to be the same day I was going to see the room I'll be renting for the next two weeks. The room is adorable, but finding it was un casino, and by the time I arrived in Isola (a really cute neighborhood) I was drenched and freezing cold.

All I wanted to do when I got back to my hostel was to curl up in bed with a cioccolato caldo and the kinder chocolate I've been hoarding, but instead I had to get to the Stazione Centrale to catch a train to Bologna. So that's where I am now! Reuniting with the long lost Richichi family & co (goal: get Chiara to NYC for Thanksgiving 2010). Pictures will definitely be up when I return tomorrow!

of late

I realized that I promised to upload some pictures, and then promptly forgot to do so. Here they are:
These are pictures from San Bernardino Alle Ossa, a church in Piazza Santo Stefano. The official explanation is that these bones were donated to the church from the nearby ospedale, but rumor has it that they're really the bones of murdered, illegitimate children of the medieval Milanese court.



This afternoon, I met up with some friends to check out a delicious creperie in the Navigli:


Crepes with crema di mandorle e fragole. Mmmmmm

Here's the delicious pizza I ate the other night:


Last but not least, I've really been noticing the tops of the buildings in Milan. Some of them are so beautiful:

a great wednesday

things that made today wonderful:

I saw this outside the school this morning. Che carino.

These machines are one of my favorite things about Italy, and I want one in my home. It's a Lavazza coffee machine that makes you capuccini, espressi macchiati, espressi lunghi or corti, cioccolati caldi, really whatever you want. It costs about 50 centesimi and the coffee is good. It makes every morning better.

After lunch, either Anna Maria or Laura usually give me a ride to the train station so I don't have to take the bus. Both of them were busy this afternoon, so I waited around in the mensa for Filippo, one of my favorite professors I've met so far. He drove Giuseppe, another professor, and I to the train station, but first we stopped un attimino at this amazing pasticceria, where Filippo insisted on buying me a tray of pastries to bring back to my hostel with me. Everyone is highly concerned that I'm not eating enough since I'm in a hostel (this isn't true, I eat a lot of crackers and bresaola ... haha). Then we stopped to prendere un caffè before I took the tram back to the centro.
I taught my first lesson of real material today: Einstein's theory of relativity and World War I. I'm not exactly an expert on these things, but it's comforting that the point of the material isn't to necessarily learn about this history of Great Britain and the USA, but to learn the language through historical concepts. I wish I could choose my own subject matter, but I guess this will have to do.

second day on the job

Second day at work, and I must say, things get more confusing over time, not less so. Here are some examples:

1) I sat down with the two main professors I'm teaching with, Anna Maria and Laura, to figure out my schedule. I don't have everything in writing yet, but it looks like I'll have Mondays and Wednesdays off. I might have to come in on some Mondays but only, and this is a quote, "if it's not raining". I don't know how we'll plan that in advance. This is so quintessentially Italian I don't know what to do with myself.

2) I met a strange professor today in the mensa who requested I come into his class to sing such classic tunes as "White Christmas" and "Home On The Range". I said I'd think about it.

3) I still haven't met two of the English professors, even though I've been there for two full days and spend a fair amount of time in the teacher's lounge. Where are they?

Other than these slight conundrums, the day was fairly enjoyable. The kids continue to crack me up. It's especially entertaining because, for the sake of really improving their English, I pretend I don't speak Italian, so they don't know I understand everything they say. One young man said, as I entered the class, "if I know she was coming I would've worn a tie". Hahahaha

I'm having dinner with tutte le ragazze di Smith tonight at a pizzeria napoletana. Pictures will be up asap!

non mi piacciono i lunedì (I Don't Like Mondays)

Oh, The Boomtown Rats. When you wrote that song, you were really describing a 22 year old away from home with too much time on her hands, weren't you? Thought so.

I told myself I wouldn't sleep past 10, but I fell asleep before I could set my alarm and woke up at 11. I figured I would catch up on some details I missed in my past blogs before showering and setting out for the day.

1) On my first day teaching, I entered each class and gave the same, introductory spiel: "Hi, my name is Sara. I'm from Brooklyn, NY. I just graduated University and I will be here for three months." I then ask the students to ask me questions. This is a slow process. I know they have them, but are too apprehensive about speaking English to actually raise their hands. So if the question-and-answer thing really isn't working out, I start by asking them one simple question that does not have only one simple answer: What do you think of the United States?

I've had a lot of success getting some good conversation from this one question. Some inquiries include:
Do you miss Brooklyn?
What is the weather like in NY?
How old are you? (I'm not telling them)
What do you think of Berlusconi?
What do you think of Italian men?
Do you like Obama?
Did you vote for Obama?
I liked Clinton. Did you like Clinton? (Yes, at least three students asked me this. They were all boys. Call me crazy, I think it has something to do with Monica Lewinski... I didn't have the heart to tell them I was 13 when he was President)
And last, but not least: What do you think of Obama's idea for public health care in the US? (Yes, someone actually asked me this question)

Now that we've covered all the basics, I'm really interested in how the actual lessons will pan out. I also definitely have to rivisitare my English grammar. Second conditional? Third conditional? Present perfect continual tense? What?!?

2) Remember how I said that at the opera, there were groups of old men who were all friends who knew all the lyrics to Don Giovanni? Well, I ended up talking with one of them during the entire intermission, and he kindly offered to sell me a ticket to Rigoletto for tomorrow night, since he had extras and since he got them at a reduced rate since he's a member (or something, didn't understand all the details). If I don't have to get up at 6AM to go to work, then I might go!