Andare alla citta

This installment is about my trips into Venice. So far I have been almost ten times already (for example, today I went three times.) Going into Venice is a little hectic now in the afternoons, since there are a lot of tourists here for the Carnivale celebrations. It's exciting to see everyone wearing masks and elaborate costumes. It's also very mysterious. It makes you wonder: who are these people who stroll around Venice in masks and costumes? (Left: Piazza San Marco, Campanile and the Palazzo Ducale)




Anyway, the tourist traffic clogs up Piazza San Marco (although I love the events that take place there at night - for example, there were people on stilts in giant dinosaur costumes that made really loud noises and bend over to snap at tourists heads. Yeah, actually check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPR189R8qKM. And then there is also a group of 12 or so musicians in black robes that played renaissance brass instruments. They must have been on remote-controlled wheels because they looked like they were floating. And oddly, they played "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin. Didn't find a video of that though. I saw all this on Sunday night with Jason and Brian - it was pretty much my first night in Venice. And it left a lasting impression - mystery, exoticism, and of course confusion. The three of us ate at a trattoria between San Marco and the Rialto. It was so nice to just relax after such a long day of traveling.

Yesterday, Monday I guess, we had our orientation for Venice International University. Haha, up until now it must have seemed like I'm not actually going to take any classes at all.... That's not the case though. Luca Pes, the dean of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, opened up the semester, and then we were led through several montagne of paperwork. Still working on that actually... there's no telling when I'll be done, although it doesn't matter if I finish so long as I'm actually working toward it. E come va in Italia. (To the right is the view from my balcony, by the way).

On Monday night I met up with Emily and her friends from Queen Mary University in London. It was so much fun to see a familiar face! I met her at the lion column in San Marco and then we strolled through the winding streets to Rialto, where we ate dinner. I got to know a little bit more about Emily's university and her friends were a lot of fun. So much fun, in fact, that they convinced me to get a gelato with them. This made me have to run back to the 10:30 vaporetto at San Zaccaria which I missed by literally seconds. (Don't feel bad Emily, I had a great time and would miss another vaporetto to meet you guys again). But I learned from this that Venice doesn't want you to be on time. That's how things work here - it doesn't matter when you get there, but it's how you spend your time that matters. The pace of this city is also more mysterious, if that makes any sense. You can't see more than forty feet ahead of you on average since the streets are so twisted.

Today, like I said, I went to Venice three times. First, I went to the vaporetto station at San Zaccaria to process my application for a monthly boat pass. I got it, no problem - I think my Italian's getting pretty good. Then I followed my map to the supermarket, SUVE, where I bought some cereal, water, crackers and cookies. Basically, junk food, I know, but we're not allowed to cook in the halls at San Servolo (even though some people do). I liked going in and picking out the Italian products. Hopefully I will become friends with some students from Ca' Foscari University - most of them actually live in Venice. I'll be able to cook with them if that's the case.

Anyway, as I was coming back to San Servolo, I found some friends, (I'm butchering these names horribly) Dajun (Born in Croatia, Lived in Germany until age 10, then moved to Charlotte (I know!!! Unbelievable) and goes to Duke), Tim (Not my roommate - different one, goes to UVA), John (BC - Connecticut) Judith (Munich) and another one of her friends from Germany. (Ok, so maybe Dajun was the only hard name). These friends tried to get their paperwork processed for a monthly student pass from San Zaccaria to San Servolo, but the woman at the window didn't seem to want to help them out. I mean she rejected their documents. They came back to me (I was waiting alongside) and they told me the story. So I went up to the window with my receipt for the monthly pass and spoke some Italian, explained their situation and how I was able to get my papers passed. So the woman at the window finally agreed once she saw my documents, and I was pretty impressed with my language skills.

I got lunch with Dajun and Tim at a Rotisseria near Camp San Bartolomeo. In the afternooon, we went back to VIU for a meeting about an Italian residency agreement, which is a beaurocratic task that will actually take longer than we are here to process.

Tonight, I went out again with a group of 17 - I think we were all Americans. It was good to be in familiar company, but I do want to get some experience outside the bubble. We ate at a fairly inexpensive restaurant and spent a lot of time laughing and enjoying one another's company. Venice is deserted on the weeknights, which is a good break from the crowded streets during the day. The city looks more mysterious at night as well. We somehow magically managed to find our way back to San Zaccaria for the 9:30.

Tomorrow I have my first lessons. I'll let you know how they go.