Rescued by a Man with a Pipe

Poste Italiano

Today had all sorts of adventures. It began early with a trip to the poste Italiane, where we went to apply for our permits of stay, because to stay in the country more than ninety days we need to have not a visa (which is solely for entry) but the proper paperwork. That part was actually rather uninteresting, with a lot of waiting around, but I did give the lady my phone number in Italiano, which was fun. After that we headed to school for our Italian lessons; now I'm in intermedio 1, which is a much better fit for me. In intermedio 2 I think I would have learned to say a lot of things but I would have skipped the part where I learned to say it well. The class is fun and just the right level for me.

Julia, Maya and Kayla on the bus

After the lesson, around 3, Simon and I walked around Siena a bit, theoretically looking for the stationary store I had passed many times, but we weren't looking to hard and we never quite found it. It was a nice walk though because it was snowing! Not enough to stick, but it was pretty and pleasant to see, albeit cold. The original plan for today was to go to the hot springs spa that is somewhat close to Siena but because of the snow the trip was postponed until Sunday.

On the walk to Fontebranda, where school is held

Instead I ended up walking around with five other girls from Lewis and Clark, and, wouldn't you know it, we ended up doing a bit of shopping (facciamo la spessa). In the city center (centro) of Siena, near il Campo there is a main street called via di citta, which

had lots of trendy negozio(stores). Normally, I'm sure they would be very expensive, but at this time in January all the shop windows absolutely scream SALDI SALDI SALDI, becuase the stores are clearing out their inventory in order to make space for the spring collections. And here, when they say saldi, they really mean saldi. I found a jacket that is almost exactly what I had given up looking for in the states. It cost 40 euro, and is surprisingly warm. I wore it out tonight and was perfectly toasty. Later, I found some sosck/slippers that are perfect for la casa, because in Italy no one is EVER barefoot. I've been wearing socks around the house but everyone in the family wears slippers. These cost only 3,45 euro.

La mia giocca nuova!

On the way out we stopped at a ATM. Now, lately, I had been having trouble with speaking Italian becuase although my comprehension is good and I know the words and how to form the sentances, I had had a hard time spitting them out, specifically getting my mouth around the words. Earlier in the day I had stopped in una farmacia to buy some thing for allergies, because I had been sneezing non stop for the past couple days (I decided I was allergic to Italy. Also, I learned the word for sneeze is starnuto). I knew exactly what I wanted to say: hai qualcosa per l'allergia? But for some reason I couldn't get my toungue to say "qualcosa," and the man ended up offering to speak English. So at this ATM there was a man in line behind us, and so I decided I need to practice a bit. Nothing big, I just asked if he knew a good place for appertivo (Scusi, sai un buon posta per l'appertivo?). He told me (in Italian) that he didn't know a good place for appertivo, but gave me the card of a resteraunt that he said was good to eat. A successful conversation! I was very excited about this.

Madisen and Maya on the escalators (!) up the hill near the Duomo

After the shopping we decided to look for a bar for a glass of wine, and happened across a small place that said "bar sporto" above the door. Inside, a glass of wine cost only 1 euro, and the old couple that I can only assume owned the place were very friendly. The woman talked to us a lot in Italian, and even thought we were English! At one point Madisen was telling a story in English but she wanted to be included so she had her tell it in Italian instead, and that was very much fun to watch. We think we may become regulars there.

Heather and me at the Bar Sporto

After that bar, Madisen wanted to find another, so we headed to the Neuovo Caffe Grecco, which is a lovely place for coffee, and from what I saw in the display, food as well. We split a bottle of wine between the six of us, which worked out perfectly, and we all had a very good time before finally heading home for dinner.
Once I got home I found that since Alessandra was going out with a friend, it was Renato's night to cook. He made delicious pasta carbonara, and invited me over to see how he did it. It was fun to watch and gave me a chance to speak more Italian, which was practice I needed (the wine helped a bit too, since I was more relaxed). Dinner was fun and festive, and I mentioned limoncello in conversation at some point, so he pulled some out and poured us a small bit after dinner. Of course, I didn't drink much of mine because it was much to strong for me and I didn't want to drink any more right then. Renato also pulled up google earth and showed us all his favorite places in Sicilia, where he's from originally.
Finally, Julia and I got ready to go out!
Since it's our first friday everyone wanted to go out and see the nightlife, and since a few girls in the program are here for a second semester they knew all the best places. We went to one bar where we had drink and, as it turned out, karaoke! It was a lot of fun singing along and dancing, especially since most of the song we're american songs from the 90's, such as hits by Blink 182, Five for Fighting, etc. However, when the bar got croweded I was ready to get going, and luckily it was just in time for the last number 10 bus!



Unfornately, the number 10 bus at 24:20 takes a different route than normal, and I got confused with the stops and ended up in the wrong place! I didn't know where to go and there weren't any people around. I wandered a little bit because I figured that Siena is not so big, I'd most likely find something familiar eventually (of course, it's been 4 days, so familiar is a relative term). Eventually, I happened across a man walking and smoking a classy looking tobacco pipe, so I decided to ask for directions. I knew that the bus stop I wanted was by the soccer field, but I didn't know the word for field in Italiano, so I asked for the place to play soccer. At first he was surprised as to why I wanted to play soccer, but I explained that it was 'vicino a' the place I wanted to go to. At this point he had me switch to English (I think he wanted to practice too!). He told me there were two soccer fields, but I wasn't sure which one, because I didn't even know there were two. He was very nice and gentlemanly, and walked with me past one and then to the other, probably for aroung 40 minutes. His name was Andrea, and he seemed to enjoy asking me about where I was from, what I was doing in Siena, and what I thought of Italian and American politics. Eventually I recognized that we were near the post office from that morning! At that point I had no trouble finding where to go, but Andrea told me that we had walking in a big circle and ended up very close to where I had met him! It was a lovely walk though, and he told me he had come outside to walk before bed in the evenings. He walked me all the way to the bottom of the stairs leading up to my building before saying goodbye, and he told me that he hoped he would run into me if he was ever lost in San Francisco! I had quite an adventure, but now I know much better the streets around my neighborhood!

Overall the day was exhausting but exciting and fun all around. I hope I meet more friendly Italians the next time I get lost.