Y2-11: Weeks 22 & 23, free hugs, Italian Cabaret and ‘Guys and Dolls’!

Hey everyone! It’s been and will be pretty hectic as I have a couple of deadlines coming up, but I’ve managed to squeeze in this post for you!

SU Officers elected for 2016/2017

On the Monday I met up with one of the MA in interpreting here at Bath to talk about my situation. My idea so far is to become an interpreter and eventually work in the European Parliament or Commission. Despite there still being a long way until that happens (I’m still on my second year of Uni and need to do an MA and have years of experience etc.), I think it is never too early to start gathering information. It was a great opportunity to clear up some questions and now I have a better idea of what direction I have to take. Had some debate over Skype with the family about it and still have a lot of research to be done but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it! I also went to boot-camp which has now become a thing. Hard work but the sore muscles mean it’s doing something!

Week 22 was Volunteering Week, organized by VTeam. Every day was dedicated to a topic such as poverty, health or environment, with various activities taking place both on and off campus. Even though I would’ve liked to help out more, I could only volunteer for a day, but I had a great time nonetheless. So, on Wednesday it was Health Day and there were a few charities on campus such as British Red Cross or the Great Western Air Ambulance. I was assigned Parade, where we were giving out free hugs to cheer people up and hopefully get them interested in the volunteering opportunities at University. Initially I was only going to do three hours but since I didn’t have much else to do, I stayed there helping out from 11am to half past 3pm. The weather was lovely and sunny despite it being a bit chilly on Parade, and I met a lot of amazing and funny people and had a great time (there were also a couple of awkward situations involving hugs and photographs but they were well handled ;) ). I really encourage everyone to give volunteering a try; I have always enjoyed my experiences! After that I popped into town to do some shopping and studied at home for the rest of the day.

On Friday we got our marks from the January exams. They went alright. I’m quite happy with my results, but I must say I can feel the raise of the bar from first year. Marking has got tougher but I’m still managing to get good grades.

I’d say the weekend of Week 22 was pretty efficient. I binge watched ‘Orange is the New Black’, finishing the first season and starting the second. I swear, this series is hilarious and it’s becoming a bit of an addiction... And I did some work: cooking, reading for my Italian presentation due in two weeks, Erasmus research… The Erasmus thing involves so much paperwork! And I also struggled to find the unit catalogue of the University of Siena, but in the end we managed to find it and I have now narrowed down my preferences. I will be meeting with the Year Abroad Officer next Tuesday to discuss my options, and I will also be meeting up with some fourth years who spent their year abroad there. The more info, the better!

On Saturday I also skyped Sara, my Italian tandem exchange partner from Parma. She seems really nice and we had a nice long chat about films and literature and England, until the connection got so bad we had to wrap it up. Apparently it was snowing heavily in Siena, while here it has been grey and cold all week (it actually snowed a bit last Friday, but it didn’t set).

I started Week 23 by finally getting round to skyping Sofia, who is au-pairing in Utrecht. It was lovely to have a chat with her and catch up. Hopefully I’ll manage to visit her before I leave in the summer, but it will depend on my exam dates and I’m not too sure I’ll be able to fit it in. She had been on a short tour around Italy and gave me some tips and recommendations of where to go and stay. Great for next year! I also skyped Tami in the evening, who in turn is au-pairing in Dublin. I think I will definitely be meeting her before I leave, be it in Dublin or in London, but we’ll see as again it depends on my dates. It was also great to catch up with her! And, honestly, I can’t remember the last time I’ve used Skype so much!

On Tuesday we met up with Adalgisa to discuss the seminar presentations about Sei personaggi in cerca d’autore and arranged to meet again on Thursday, just our group, to split the work and plan the skeleton of our presentation. The hard thing is that we are quite a large group and so splitting up the topics was a bit complicated. I am doing my part on Pirandello’s play within a play idea and have so far finished up with my research. Tomorrow I will organize the content properly for our next meeting on Tuesday so I can also start my write-up. Honestly, so many things going on! I also watched some Orange is the New Black on Tuesday night. Oh, and I got a job as Student Ambassador during the June Open Days. My first actual paid job, only for two days right before leaving Bath, but it should be good experience. Basically, I will be showing people around and helping with directions, setting up the day etc. Promoting the University, who wouldn’t like to study in Bath?

The two cool things that have happened this week, since I’ve spent most of my time studying, reading and researching (and I think it will be like this for a while still), have been the Italian Cabaret and ‘Guys and Dolls’.

On Friday the 4^th the Italian department organized a soirée in Claverton Rooms for the Italianists. It was great! They set up tables and decorated the place really nicely. The girls and I got a table, ordered some wine and had a great night. They had prepared a show, presented by a fourth year and Max, one of my mentees (who did amazingly by the way!), with different numbers ranging from songs to sketches and the like. There was also pizza during the interlude and a dessert competition. The cake that won was amazing! They had sketched the map of Italy on the icing and stuck little flags with pictures of monuments from the different cities- impressive! Dulcie, another one of my mentees, danced La Tarantella and did a great job! Another one of the numbers that I liked was a sketch about English people travelling to Italy. And the best part of the night, a sketch by the teachers! It was a fabulous and hilarious surprise. We all enjoyed it and laughed so much! After the show was finished they played some Italian music but half the people had already left by then. Only two other girls and I remained as representatives of the second year… I left around midnight, once it had finished. I really had a lovely night.

And, finally, last night I went to the closing night of ‘Guys and Dolls’. The BUSMS team had been working on the show for five weeks and all the hard work was worth it because the show was amazing. Here is a sneak peak of the rehearsals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS9W2UMz-fc Three of the four nights sold out and with reason. There is so much talent in there and I had so much fun watching the show. Managed to get there with enough time to get a good seat and ended up sitting next to the choreographer, director and assistant director ;) I had never seen the musical before but I really enjoyed watching everybody have a great time and a couple of songs got stuck in my head afterwards! My idea was to leave after the show, but as it was the last night, the show afterparty in Fountain was after de-rink. I told myself I’d only go for a bit, but I ended up staying a lot longer than I intended… Don’t really regret it though. I had a nice night dancing with Roberta and the others, and got a little jealous I wasn’t part of GnD! Hopefully I will be able to join Encore, but will have to see how I fit that with my degree – shows are amazing but rehearsals take a lot of time! Congrats everybody involved in the show!

So, I am now wrapped in my blanket with my hot-water bottle on a gloomy and cold Sunday afternoon. I have actually managed to do a lot of work even though I came back at 3am yesterday and have been a bit of a zombie today. Thank God, because I have an exam this week and another exam and two deadlines the week after. Fortunately, then I will get Easter break and will get the chance to chill at home in the sun for a bit (not that it means I won’t have work to do there too though…). So, next post will come up during the holidays. Stay tuned for that!