A Russian Abroad: Secondary Thoughts.

I meant to do a weekly update every sunday - always ambitious in my case to try to keep something going on a regular basis - but of course I got distracted doing other stuff. I will now endeavour to do an update every couple weeks without a specific day in mind - hopefully that will help.

Last Thursday I went to a special ceremony for the signing of the Magna Charta Universitatum which is a document of fundamental university values and rights, and was first signed in Bologna in 1988 by 388 rectors of main worldwide universities. It was actually a great ceremony because different heads of universities were there wearing their finest, and not least because Umberto Eco showed up to give a speech (he's very important in the world of literature and academia) and the first thing he did was to say "pardon the pun but there is a loud echo in the room" - everyone laughed. Anyway, he went on to explain how amazing universities are (as a body of people wanting to learn and share their learning with each other) in terms of developing thinking and bringing people together. A university is a place where everyone has come to learn. They have come to share ideas, develop current ones and be exposed to knew ways of viewing and understanding things. Bologna University - the oldest university in the western world, founded in 1088 - started with a small group of academics who came together to learn and research honestly and independently from any other establishment. I never really considered before how lucky we all are to have the opportunity to also go to such an establishment with completely liberal access to such an amazing amount of knowledge.

I was lucky enough to spend two days (one night) in Verona which is a mere 9€ train ride away. I was blown away. It is unbelievably beautiful, like a fairytale in fact! No wonder Shakespeare set his story of Romeo and Juilet in this very place. I did indeed go to visit 'Juliet's house' and I did have a picture taken on the balcony. It has to be done of course, however I have to say I was much more impressed by the beautiful churches the city had to offer. One dating back to 1117 A.D., they were absolutely stunning inside and though when I returned and showed pictures to my friends the reply I got was that 'they all look the same', personally my breath was blown away every time I stepped inside one of the churches. Chiesa San Fermo even had an underground church which had been preserved from the Roman times! Unbelievable. The amphitheatre was, of course, also very impressive and I'm already planning to return next summer to watch an opera there. I was with a family friend and with stayed with a women who was so kind and generous and typically italian, giving us an unbelievably big meal including the starter, pasta as a primo, meat as a secondo, and dessert. Waking up in the morning, I walked into the kitchen to find the table laden with a grand spread of food for breakfast. It would have been enough to feed at least ten! The only downside to the city was the amount of tourists. I saw about five or six groups of german school kids alone which seems to suggest that german schools are having a few days off...? After two days of trying to fit in seeing as many sights as possible and taking close to 200 pictures (75% are probably of churches), I was ready to return to Bologna where I'm already starting to feel at home.

A few last little things:

Contrary to popular belief that one will only find 'eurotrash' music in the clubs of european cities, I managed to find a couple places with some great house music (I'm not trying to be 'edgy', I just like the music) and I have been promised there are many more to be found. I met a girl who's in her fourth year of studying at the university and has lived near Bologna all her life and she has promised to show me all the secrets Bologna has to offer - I'm so excited. She also warned me about learning italian from southern Italians... I'd better beware.

The blond thing seems to be a big thing here. The majority of my italian friends are calling me 'bionda' (blond one) and I have benefited from a sufficient number of free drinks because of it. I'm not complaining but it is bizarre!

I've taken to trying to watch some Italian TV everyday in the hope that it will improve my listening skills and it is very very bizarre to watch Dr. Who, The Big Bang Theory, and Desperate Housewives (all favourites over here) dubbed over in Italian.

I got into the orchestra which is good news! Although I'm slightly worried as the rehearsals will be in italian and I've recently realised that they have different name for all the keys and some instruments so I might struggle to keep up!

I have met an unbelievable amount of spanish people (there are probably 3 spanish people to every other erasmus student), and italian is so similar to spanish that they speak in spanish and we reply in italian and everyone is understand no problem. In fact, I seem to be slowly learning spanish without even trying - wish that could happen with the others languages!

Thank you for reading :-)

baci e abbracci from a russian abroad xxx