Long time,
no see. Life in Siena has got quite hectic and I haven’t even started the
semester yet… So grab a cuppa ‘cause this update is a long one.
First
things first, I know have an Instagram account (yeah, I know, I should’ve made
one earlier but better late than never, right?). Go follow guys! Lovely
pictures of Siena and my trips to come!
Now, to
what it’s been like in Siena thus far.
The Italian
language course started quite well. My class is made of around 15 students and
we have two sections throughout the morning: more grammar/vocabulary with
Cecilia before the break at 11am and then a more cultural lesson with Letizia
afterwards. I usually meet with Megan and Jess to walk up to the Università
degli Stranieri each morning, which is good exercise and means I can mentally wake
up on the way. Everybody in the class is really nice and there are students
from all over the place: Russia, Ukraine, Santa Lucia, Suriname, Greece, Japan,
Korea, China… I believe I’m the only Erasmus student doing C1 at the moment,
but that’s ok, I’ve still met new people. At this point, however, I have
realized that the course isn’t as great as I expected it to be. I thought it
would be more efficient and, given that Italian lessons in Bath were actually
really intense, I feel like this course is quite slow and we don’t cover much
in four hours… Don’t get me wrong, I do think it’s helped me adapt back into
Italian and I can definitely follow people when they talk, but I don’t really
want to spend two hours reading a text about social media – the content-time
ratio could be improved. I don’t know if it’s because of the level I’m in or
what, but I can’t wait to finish the course next week and start doing more
interesting things.
We’ve also
been meeting up with the people we met when doing the Italian test. We’ve tried
out a couple different clubs with different experiences depending on the night.
There aren’t a lot of options in Siena but I don’t really mind. It reminds me
of La Laguna, where you go to a bar to dance and have a drink but mostly to
socialize. I kind of missed that. Bellavista
on a Friday has offered different experiences. First time it was Jess, Étienne
and I who went there and we definitely arrived troppo early so we had a couple drinks and, although by midnight
the place was filling up and we were joined by Vero and two other Spanish girls,
we were quite tired so decided to head back home. The second time we went was
last Friday - Jess, Megan and I, this time proper late Italian/Spanish style. I
must say the girls were clearly outnumbered in the club that night and we
experienced a few awkward situations in the dance floor. I mean, feeling like a
prey is not a particularly enjoyable experience. It was fine though, and we
ended up chatting to a group of Italians outside and sharing mandarines with a
very drunk student. It was quite funny. Another club we’ve been to is Al Cambio on a Wednesday which seems to
be a popular student night. They play tons of Spanish music which was great the
first time but gets repetitive quite soon. It was jam-packed last week but I
really had a great time.
Another
cool place to go is MeetLifeCafé which is a café in Via Pantaneto I’d probably
describe as hipster but where you can actually get an English sized café to
drink whilts having a nice conversation. Jess and I went there with Étienne,
Suzanne and Vero and I had the largest coffee ever – literally a cappuccino in
a pint glass. It was insane. That same day, which was a Saturday, I came back
to the airbnb to find that someone had moved into the other room and it was no
other than… Megan! I mean, the world is so small but it was hilarious because
Jess and I had assisted her in the trip to Siena over the phone and suddenly we
were flatmates for two nights! Out of all the airbnbs in this town, we both
ended up in the same one. We went out for dinner at Trattoria La Cellina and
had some pasta (hadn’t had carbonara in ages) and caught up on our Year Abroads
– it was lovely!
That same
night, I was already in bed ready to go to sleep when Vero messaged me and said
she was going to the Erasmus party in Contrada dell’Onda with some Spanish
girls in case I wanted to join them. I was so tempted to stay in bed but if
I’ve learnt something in the past couple of years it is to grab opportunities
and I thought this one would be a good occasion to meet people, so I got
changed and joined them. We went to Piazza del Mercato and Via Dupré for a
couple drinks before going to the party. This is usually my favourite part of
the night, when you can actually talk to people. I love to dance too but I like
to be able to have a conversation also… Vero and I didn’t have tickets and we
were planning on buying them on the door but apparently they had full capacity
already. We did, however, manage to get in by sheer luck. So, Vero borrowed
Elena’s ESN card to get discount entry and the bouncer asked if we were on the
guest list, in which Elena was. While the guy was trying to find our names, a
bunch of people pulled up at the door causing utter chaos and the bouncer
literally went “Oh well let them both in they’re on the list”. We weren’t actually
but thanks a lot! Free entry for the night! The party was good – there were
tons of people but we were so late that rather than dance we ended up chatting
in the smoking area. Believe me, all the people I meet are either Spanish or
Italians who speak Spanish. Quite convenient for me but not ideal for language
improvement! I ended up having a really great night so I’m happy I got out of
bed!
On Sunday I
literally slept, packed my stuff in order to move out of the airbnb the
following day, and then went to the Consorzio Agrario Siena to grab some pizza
slices with Megs for lunch. I must say they were so good. Jess joined us later
to go for a walk around Siena to show Megan around: the scenic views, our
faculty… And then we did some work trying to figure out our modules for the
semester. I had to change some of my options and have finally settled on Lingua
Francese, Storia e Critica del Cinema and Retorica e Linguaggi Persuasivi. They
seem quite interesting so I’ll see how it goes…
I moved
into my flat on Monday 6th in the afternoon. Leaving the airbnb was
crazy because I rung up Simonetta to give her the keys and she showed up randomly
an hour before I left. Megan and I were just working in the kitchen in the
meantime and she sat at the computer and put on some garbage TV until a couple
arrived and they closed the door. I’m assuming she’s a doctor and gives private
appointments but I swear the whole thing was so strange… Anyhow, I took a taxi
to my new accommodation and met with my landlady to sign the contract. I had to
share the flat with the previous tenants – three Portuguese girls – for the
first couple of nights until they left. It was fine since they were really nice
although didn’t speak much Italian nor English. Mornings were a bit awkward
since I had to wake up early to go to my lessons but it was fine and I got to
meet some other Portuguese people who came over for dinner before the girls
left. All really nice! I’m super happy with my flat; it’s the perfect size for
two people and has pretty much all I might need for the next six months. The
views from the balcony and my room are amazing and so is the location: central,
near the bus station and taxis, the supermarket and the gym. Really cannot
complain. I will be sharing with another exchange student who actually happens
to be studying French and Italian in Bristol (what are the odds?) so I hope we
get along, he seems really nice.
 |
| The views from my bedroom window. |
These past
few weeks we’ve also had to run quite a lot of errands. We’ve had to go round
the Welcome Office a few times to sort out Erasmus paperwork and module choices
as well as find out how to print and get our Learning Agreements signed. That
was definitely an adventure because we went to our Erasmus Coordinator’s office
– which took us a while to find that alone – and then he wasn’t there but in
the other faculty building on the other side of the city so off we went. Took
us ages to find the place and had to wait for him but he seems really nice and
we got our paperwork sorted. I’d say that by now we know more or less our way
around the different buildings of the University. Our faculty is San Niccolò
but we didn’t manage to find our library and the lack of working space struck
us. I mean, they have the space but no tables? Idk, I guess once we have the
Welcome Week with someone actually showing us around the buildings it will be
much easier… We also tried the mensa or
canteen which is a really decent option for lunch – you get a lot of food for 4
euro. Ok, it might not be the best food ever but 4 euro for a first, second,
dessert and drink is really good… I’ve also found out Italian administration
and bureaucracy is even slower than Spain. It took me nearly forty minutes to
get stamps from the post office – I must say, that place might be called post
office but it looks like sending things is not a priority but rather paying
bills and working as a bank… I also had to go to the Agenzia Estatale to get my
Codice Fiscale for my contract. Fortunately the process is quite easy as you
only need an ID and to fill in a form on the spot, but the office is only open
in the morning which meant I had to skip class.
Another
adventure we went on was that of trying to find the Complesso Universitario
Sportivo which is outside the walls. We had to take a bus and when we arrived
it pretty much looked deserted. Just as we were leaving we ran into the
secretary who gave us the information on fencing and volleyball. Fencing
sounded really promising but too much hassle to be bothered to take the bus so,
instead, we looked for gyms in town and I’ve joined one down my street with
Megan for a month to try it out and see how it goes. I am keen on doing a few
group sessions as I’m lacking physical exercise that is not walking… We’ll see;
I have high hopes. I also want to go jogging one of these days. I’ve found out
that the Fortezza Medicea is the only flat place around so it’s the best spot
to go running and I actually live quite nearby so I will be heading out soon
for a run… The views from it are amazing. Over the past days we’ve actually
found a couple sweet spots with great views – can’t wait till it gets a little
bit warmer and we can just chill outside under the sun!
On Saturday
the 11th we decided to go on a day trip to Florence. We left quite
late since we’d been out the night before and we were in need of some sleep. We
took the midday bus and arrived in Florence around an hour later. The coach
trip reminded me of the excursions we used to go on in school, it was quite
nostalgic! Once in Florence the day was sunny and gorgeous and we basically
walked around and saw the main monuments: Santa Maria dei Fiori with
Brunelleschi’s Cupola, the Arno River, Ponte Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria,
the outside of the Galleria degli Uffizi and we climbed up to Piazza
Michelangelo for the view of the city while the sun was setting. It was
amazing! We had lunch in Ditta Artigianale, recommended by Lexi. We had to wait
for a table but it was definitely worth it as the food was really good. Jess
and Megan had croque monsieurs while
I had some avo-salmon toasts. It was so yummy! We also ate some great gelato in the train station at Don
Nino’s. Mine was coffee and nocciola flavour
and it tasted wonderful! We also attempted some shopping but need the new
season to arrive… We’ll be going back there for sure – in my case to visit the
Duomo and Galleria, and in their case to do some more shopping!
On Friday I
had lunch at Fa Lu’s house with some other girls from the course. It was a
lovely sunny day and we made home-made pizzas and apple crumble. The food was
really good and we sunbathed and played football. I then had to go back to the
Piazza because I was meeting for coffee with Maureen, a girl from Belgium, to practice
some French. It took me a while to switch to the other language but fortunately
I haven’t forgotten as much French as I think. She gave me some tips on Siena
which was great and we will be meeting again in the future.
On the 15th
I had an awfully long day with the Italian catch-up session in the afternoon
which meant I had 7 hours of Italian. We attended a lecture in the Liceo about
Elsa Morante’s novel Menzogna e
sortilegio which I found quite interesting. We hadn’t read the novel but
the feminist and psico analitical point of view offered in the lecture was
really interesting and I found I could follow all of what was being said – all
in natural speed Italian. On my way back home I met with Megan to buy Jess’
cake since it was her birthday and we took it to Il Pomodorino, a nearby pizzeria with some pizzas that are
to-die-for. The girls, Vero, Jess and Megan, came over to my place before
dinner and we surprised Jess with a couple of presents before heading to the
restaurant. The place was packed and the pizzas delicious. I went for a Quattro stagioni but I really want to
try the white pizza with pear and cheese- it sounds great! The waiters were
super nice and we surprised Jess again with the cake (despite them taking a
while to bring it out!). After that we came back to my house to have a couple
drinks before going to Al Cambio. We had fun and met a few people, including
one of the waiters from the restaurant!
Hope you’ve
enjoyed the blog post. I’ll try to post regularly but can’t make any promises
as I’ve been fairly busy and it’s just going to get busier. The next few weeks
are looking promising with the end of the Italian course, Welcome Week and the
start of the semester! I’ll keep you lot updated.
A presto!
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