Ciao a tutti!
I have
moved to la bella Italia for my
Erasmus study exchange and, let me say, it looks promising. I will be here
until July, whenever it is I finish my exams, and I plan on making the most of
it: travelling, speaking the language, meeting new people and eating as much
Italian goodness as I can whilst attempting to keep my figure (wish me luck on
that!).
I moved on
the 26th of January. I had to be around for the 1st of
February since I was going to take a preparatory Italian course before the
start of the semester. I thought it’d be a good idea to bump up my Italian
before I started the other courses, rather than wait around at home. So, on the
26th I woke up at crazy-o’clock again to get the 7am flight to
Madrid. Mum and Dad dropped me off at the airport and it was emotional as
always, but I think I’m getting better (if that is not the case, then the anxiety
of moving definitely held me up). I slept the whole trip to Madrid and then
grabbed some food during the short layover before my flight to Florence. It was
so strange to hear Italian people on the plane. I was sitting next to a Spanish
tourist couple, but there were also a lot of Italians aboard. The airport at
Firenze is super small and I was lucky enough to get both of my suitcases – I
was worried the big one wouldn’t make it through the layover and I’d be stuck
with the cabin bag for a few days, but phew! Getting the coach to the train
station was pretty straight-forward and, given that I haven’t practiced much
Italian over the past six months, I was quite proud that I understood what I
was being told and that, in turn, I was able to make myself understood. Italy
reminds me a lot of Spain- the centre of Florence is beautiful but the
outskirts are quite dirty and run-down, like the bigger Spanish cities. I had
to drag my suitcase to the autostazione
to get the bus to Siena; good thing I’d googled the location because it was
quite hidden away! I bought my ticket at the office and the driver helped me
open the baggage hold because I couldn’t do it myself (what? I’m sometimes
useless…). The trip through Tuscany was long but alright; it was lovely to see
the sun shining over the hills and it’s nothing like I remembered/imagined.
When they say Tuscany is hilly, they really mean it. I arrived in Siena earlier
than I expected, just as the sun was setting. I’d googled the way to my airbnb
and it was supposedly only ten minutes away, but I hadn’t counted on the cobble
stones. I gave up within two minutes and took a taxi instead. The city looked
like a labyrinth at first (now I’ve more or less found my way around) so a taxi
was a good decision. The driver took me to the wrong place at first but then he
corrected himself and dropped me off at the Duomo from where I only had to go
down a short road. Landu and Ada greeted me and helped me bring my baggage up
to the top floor. I had the house to myself so was able to choose the room – I
went for the individual one with the nice window view and Internet connection.
Landu gave me a map and explained where the supermarkets and the bar for
breakfast were, so I rested a bit and then went out to the Piazza to grab some
dinner, took a shower and went to bed. Also, I hear the clock tower bells every
hour fml
My actual
first day in Siena was pretty efficient. The airbnb I’m in is really centric
and Siena is quite small so I can walk anywhere I need to go. I have everything
I need to keep me going the first few days before I move into a flat: cooking
stuff, shower, internet and washing machine. The weather over the first few
days was really nice – sunny but chilly – which helped a lot as I did a lot of
walking. Don’t have to worry about gaining much weight, walking up and down the
hills will help with that! The Piazza is nothing like I imagined. It’s a lot
smaller and it’s concave! And Siena is generally much smaller than I thought –
which is handy but eventually might be limiting too. It’s like the Italian
version of Bath: picturesque and full of little streets and laundry hung under
the windows covering the terracotta coloured buildings. The Duomo also looks
amazing – a proper Italian Rinascimento creation! And the views from the
balcony of the airbnb are my favourite, for sure:
I was woken
up by bustle in the streets so I got up and ready to go have breakfast at the bar-gelatteria. My breakfast is
basically a cappuccino and a pastry – tastes great but not too healthy, is it?
I then headed to the University Welcome Office where I was told I had to wait
till registration day but that in the meantime I could contact my Erasmus
Coordinator to discuss my subjects, so I sent him an email. I then went to TIM
and, after coming and going a few times, got my Italian SIM card up and running
[let me know if you need my number]. I also went to the Tourist Information
Office which wasn’t very helpful – I got some information about the museums and
different walking tours I can follow but they didn’t have information about
transport. A girl told me how to get the bus
urbani though; you buy the ticket off a tabaccheria
which I find so strange! I then headed to Piazza Gramsci to check the buses
and then shopped at the “big” Conad supermarket, which is in fact quite small
and very, very packed. Back home I
made lunch and tried to put my life together and plan things to do the next few
days – turned out, there was not that much to do so I ended up with a lot of
free time to binge watch TV shows and sleep in…
I headed
out the door while there was still sun and set out to explore the more
student-y side of the city – I found a Tiger shop and a cheap multitienda kind of place, yay! I failed, however, to find
my faculty. I was actually outside it, but missed the sign lolz. Oh, and I
found a dreamy vintage shop too, who would’ve known?
On Saturday
I had my house viewing but I got there early so I popped into the nearby
Basilica Cateriniana di San Domenico. It was a massive building with a
noticeable lack of decorations, but the view of Siena from the nearby street
was breath-taking. The house viewing went well and I decided to get the flat so
later that day I paid the deposit and we’re currently sorting out the contract.
Apparently, I’ll be sharing with another Erasmus student who’ll come along in
late February and I will be moving in next week.
That same
day Jess arrived in Siena so I helped her get to her airbnb and we met for
dinner. We decided to get one of those pizza slices to go and sit at the Piazza
before exploring the city. It was good to see someone from Bath and having news
of what my coursemates are up to. Having spent the last few months in a more
isolated location, it’d been ages since I’d seen anybody from Bath!
On Sunday I
decided to sleep in and skip breakfast. I took a shower and updated the blog
and then had lunch before meeting Jess to go out and explore. We managed to
find the Università degli Stranieri where we were to have the language test a
couple days later. We went past Porta Camollia and down the escalator (yes,
escalator) to go down the hill to the station. We also found a big(ger)
supermarket and a decent-looking sushi place. Making a list of potential places
to try out!
On our way
back to the Piazza we went down the road off the Basilica and found the best
view to take pictures – the sun was setting and you could see both of the big
hills in Siena with the house stacked one on top of the other. I swear, it is
so beautiful!
Then Jess
came over to use my kitchen and we discovered that someone had been around the
house. I really don’t know what happened. I assumed someone had moved into the
other room but then I there was nobody around. Later that night I heard someone
in the living room and it was Simonetta, the owner who told me there was
someone (or so I understood), but then the following day whoever was there
seemed to have left? I don’t know; it was so weird…
Monday and
Tuesday were quite boring as it was that in-between moment before starting any
lessons so I didn’t have much to do. I binge watched a lot of Glee, which I
hadn’t seen in ages because I fall out of it quickly. I did some shopping and
found a really good place to get cosmetics and house stuff, so I bought some
towels and will be going back to get bed linen once I move into the flat. I
also did the groceries again and cooked some garbanzas – tbh, I’ve pretty much lived out of garbanzas weekly since I‘ve had to cook for myself. And the weather
got cloudy and rainy, so I ran some short errands but spent most of my time in
my room just chilling: watching films, reading, revising some Italian, doing
laundry, trying to sort out more paperwork… The Wi-Fi doesn’t work well with my
laptop and it keeps making it crash so I’ve been relying on my mobile phone
which is not ideal...
On
Wednesday we had the Italian language placement test and it was a disaster of a
day. Jess and I got there on time and all, and the written test went absolutely
fine – so much easier than what we are given in Bath. Then we were told to wait
outside for the oral test: they’d call us in as they marked our written test.
Well, all good and well. We met new people, all international. An Argentinian
guy, a Norwegian girl, a Swiss guy, two Mexican girls and even a Spanish girl
from no other but Tenerife! What are the odds? However, there were also tons of
Asians and something seemed a bit off… Nearly 2 and half hours later, we
realized we’d done the test in the wrong place; with the internationals, not
Erasmus. I mean, it was the same test, but we were worried we’d be left out
from the actual Erasmus group as we were supposed to have the lessons in the
afternoon, not the morning… Well, we enquired – turned out our tests hadn’t
been marked yet and neither could we find anybody who actually knew what was
going on… So we waited to have our orals and then, about five hours after the
start of the test (omg Italy are you always this way?), we were given a timetable
and told to go downstairs to reception and ask there. The lady downstairs gave
us another timetable – same Italian level but different times, and told us to
wait for the lists to be put up sometime between 2 and 4. I then went home for
lunch and chilled until three-something before heading back to check the list.
Got there; no lists yet. They’d be up at 5. Like wtf. Anyhow, I waited and they
eventually put them up. I was level C1, morning lesson. Apparently, the higher
levels are small groups so we only have lessons in the morning, but it clashed
with the University registration the following day… Eventually someone came and
said that the Erasmus students missing tomorrow was a justified absence so no
problem, but honestly, Italian paperwork takes literal ages, it was so annoying.
I then came back home, stopping on the way by the supermarket and running a
couple extra errands. I got a new patch for my famous backpack and also broke a
decorative dish while trying to turn on the light. My luck could not be better
-.- At least I had yummy fish and veggies for dinner…
Then on the
Thursday it was registration day so I met with Jess at the venue. There were
not as many people as I thought they’d be, but considering that we’ve arrived quite
early, it was fine. They gave us all the formal info about choosing the modules
and the Erasmus paperwork and all that. In late February we'll have the proper induction though. The Erasmus group guys seemed pretty
excited about the Welcome Week which is promising. We got our ESN discount card
and then I went back home for lunch. After lunch I tried to use the University
connection to get some stuff done on my laptop… but exam season, alas no place,
alas ended up at Jess’ place using her connection and here I am.
Hope you’ve
enjoyed this post - I know it's a bit all over the place but I've had to write it in chunks. I can’t believe it’s already been a week since I arrived.
Hopefully things will get going soon. A presto!
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