last days

(I should preface this by saying I wrote this in the Madrid airport where the WiFi didn't work.)

Deanna likes to say that your last days in Italy are a hell of a time to diet. So really, no sane person does it. Especially when you’ve studied there for 4 months and know all the best gelato & pizza places in town. And you want to eat there every day for 2 weeks before you leave so you can always remember it. It’s kind of pathetic, really, but it tastes so good that you kind of don’t care.

Of course, this means we had to visit our favorite pizzeria twice in our last week and eat 1 pizza each both times. I think the owners were really sad when we told them we were leaving and asked them to take our picture with our pizzas. We were regulars, you know. They even knew what we usually ordered (“Un’emigliana e una bufalina?” she asked when we sat down and said we didn’t need menus.) But of course this time we switched it up and got 2 bufalinas because… well, I’ll be honest, those are the BEST. Simple, super-Italian, and just plain good. And so began the saga of the last Slurp pizzas of our study abroad experience (I phrase it that way because I know I will be going back to Ferrara and eating there again).

No more Slurp... :'(

We also had our last sun-bathing in Piazza Ariostea (I got burnt… but I did it the Italian way—I wore my bathing suit in the piazza! Well, not the whole thing, but I did wear the top, lol.) So the plane rides, as you can imagine, were super comfy with half my back burnt. It isn’t too bad, though, it’s just rather extensive. It should be gone in a few days in exchange for a nice, Mediterranean tan. :D

One of the hard parts was saying goodbye to the 21 people I have seen every day for the last 4 months… or practically every day. But I think all the last dinners, last experiences, last whatevers were great ways to remember all our fun times and say goodbye without really meaning goodbye forever. At least I expect everyone to visit New Jersey! Lol. There were 5 Rutgers students in the program, so that’s quite a big reason to visit.

On Tuesday the 3 girls in the other apartment hosted our last CIEE group dinner (not the one sponsored by the program, but the last one in their apartment… of which there were many before). Alyssa organized a load of fun stuff for us to do like superlatives (yours truly was voted: most organized & most likely to talk about sports with many other nominations like most likely to be in bed before 9—not true, I swear!!), “yearbook” entries on banners made for each of us which everyone had to sign, and a SCAVENGER HUNT. Except this one was more fun than the one we got in the beginning of the program. Maybe also because it wasn’t freezing outside. So if you saw any of those weird pictures on fb: yeah, that’s what we were doing. If not… here are a few gems. (And to get back at those people who don’t read my blog, everyone here gets bonus content: a video of me cartwheeling in front of the Duomo, which I refused to post on fb.)

Sit on Claire's broken bike.

Kiss a stranger.

Straddle a sphinx at the Duomo.

Get an old man to flip you off (we just asked nicely!)

Mustaches! (My personal fave)

Free limoncello shots after sprinting around Ferrara. Alright for only having large bills in my wallet!

Those are just some gems. You should be aware, though, that my team kicked butt and won the competition. Personally, I like to think my little sacrifice of my dignity helped in the team win. (Hey! I never said I was good at doing cartwheels!)

Of course we also had a program-sponsored CIEE dinner at the Bociofila (the place where all the old men play Boce and eat… a lot). And it was warm enough to sit outside the whole night!! Lol. I think you can tell how much I like warm weather, huh? ;) We got posters and prizes for the photo contest—I won best photo of life in Ferrara (and ironically, it was a picture for my thesis research, not for pleasure… haha). Technically it tied, but they said the people at the copy shop LOVED it and they wanted to use it for the CD covers (we each got a copy of photos from the program), but because it was a vertical shot it didn’t fit properly. Then again, only 6 people sent in photos and there were 5 categories. So I really hope it wasn’t a consolation prize.

Market Sunday in Piazza Trento Trieste

We also got posters and although they are not as cool as some of the past years (I mean… how cool can white paper get in comparison to bright blue, orange, etc.?), it is nice to have a reminder of all the fun times on a poster that I didn’t have to organize or make myself.

Madrid was fun too. Even though the Bologna airport ruined my mood for most of the day—I can honestly say small “international” airports no longer hold any appeal for me. Take me to Madrid, JFK, Newark, Munich, London… anywhere but Bologna!!! After waiting 3 hours—JUST TO CHECK IN and get a boarding pass!!—I got to the counter and they told me I can only have 1 carry-on (that’s 1 personal item OR carry-on, not a purse and bag or something. Oh, no. Because their airport is so tiny nothing bigger than a single propeller plane flies out of there (just kidding, but you kind of get the point I think). They usually put the other carry-on item in the hold for you since the overhead bins are too small. And then the employee told me that my bag looked too big and made me weigh it to then inform me that carry-ons had to be under 10 kilos or they needed to be checked—for 60 euro! Jesù Christo!!! Nowhere on American Airlines’ website does it say that, so either the employees of Bologna enjoy getting people to pay exorbitant amounts for an extra bag or they are jerks. Or both, really. And I had to run back-and-forth between the check-in counter and the “cashier” because you can't pay for your extra bag at the counter. And the cashier, FYI, can’t answer any of your questions. Ever. So do not try to ask. $60 I wouldn’t  mind… but 60 euros translates to about $80 right now with the exchange rate. Exorbitant, am I right? Whatever. In Madrid—in a REAL international airport with real planes—they didn’t even look at my carry-on. Okay, so technically it didn’t fit in the little basket, but it’s not my fault they closed off one end and my wheels stick out a teeny bit. I know it fits in the overhead because that’s where it resided on my last transatlantic flight here.

Madrid, the city, was very cool. I think Spain might make its way onto my must-visit-again list. How beautiful (if a bit brown) and warm and lovely it is here. And the people are very nice even though I don’t speak much Spanish (okay, I’ll be honest, almost ZERO Spanish). The protest was interesting too. At least, that is, watching them talk about it on the news and thinking—was I near that news van? Lol. No troubles, though, just a lot of police vans, barricades and people chanting. I didn’t go through the square once the crowds formed, just on the outskirts to the Metro station—which is SO clean, nice, organized… and cheap! My hotel was just perfect: free shuttle to-and-from the airport, 2 blocks from the metro station, nice people who could understand my broken Spanish/English. 

Palacio Reale

Plaza Major and my yummy frozen yogurt w/ strawberries & mangos
(Sorry I look such a mess. 6 hours at airports and 90+ degree weather at 5pm can do that to you and your hair.)

The infamous protest that was all over the news last night.

As awesome as the Madrid metro is, thumbs up and bumping your butt against the doors is prohibited. LOL. Or maybe its step carefully if you have a peg-leg. I can't tell...