Its a good thing Italians talk with their hands

Sorry I haven't written so much lately. I guess I'm just starting to get into more of a routine so I'm not so interesting. I almost have the Internet yay! I can't believe that I've been here a month, I feel like i just got here, yet at the same time home seems like a long way away. I think I like myself here. I feel so much more independent that I ever have before, and I like to think that I'm decently brave. Its hard sometimes to just throw yourself into situations and hope that everything goes well. We are all part of a program for European students called erasmus here and they host parties and trips, we also get discounts, and the other night we were at a party and none of my friends wanted to dance, so I just made new friends who did want to have fun and I was pretty proud of myself. The students I met were from Holland, England, and Germany and they seemed pretty cool. Don't worry anyone, I am friendly, not stupid. Cautious is one thing, but if you are afraid of everyone that you don't know in a new country, you're never going to create friendships.

Oh I saw a movie called Paris, at this little Westhamptonesk student theater that had Juliette Binoche in it (the woman in Chocolat). Its a French film and I thought it was very good. Kind of artsy, check it out if you get a chance.

Hot pudding
Last night I went to this great place with Maria and her friends, its called the Tea Room and I had probably the most amazing white hot chocolate ever. Its not like our hot chocolate, they bring you a spoon to eat it with because its like pudding. YUm! I'm not going to lie, it might have even been a bit too much for me. Italians sure know how to do desert. Her friends were very very nice to me. They didn't all speak English but we seemed to get along ok. I can generally understand Italians because they use their hands so much when they talk. I've been told by some of my fellow classmates that I do this as well. Probably, I don't notice, maybe it helps Italians understand me. I am learning in class that Italians are very visual people in many many ways.

Language
To understand someone without knowing exactly what they are saying though is incredibly interesting to me. Language is important, but its something we take for granted, we generally don't even think about it. But when you get to know another language you start to realize that language is just a tool we have created and its flexible and changeable. Think about how much we communicate without words. Sometimes the words are only secondary to tone and gestures. Maybe try to notice nonverbal communication within your interactions with others. Its more prevalent than you think-

Italian TV
So I never thought it was possible, but the reality TV in Italia can give the US a real run for its money. Maria totally watches them too, its kind of funny. Her favorite is L'Isola dei Famosi which isn't actually too horrible, its basically like survivor but there are two teams, one of famous people and one without famous people. The majority of other reality shows and game shows have near naked women on them and they air prime time when children are watching too. And yah you may think we have scantly clad women too, but the US doesn't compare to this at all. There's this dance show where the girls basically do stripper dances and they compare the girls pictures with and without makeup, its like so you think you can dance/miss America. Then the other night there was a show where all these women in bikinis came out and the contestants have to guess who is the fattest and the skinniest and how many implants the women have and guessing correctly is the objective obviously. I expressed to Maria how awful I thought that was and she was surprised. She was like oh this is nothing, this is prime time, you should see what comes on later at night. We are pretty awful when it comes to TV, but WOW that is all I have to say.


I hope everything is going well. Its interesting to be on the outside looking in on all of Americas craziness right now. Its important, I think now more than ever to have a more global perspective. Most people at least know something about our financial crisis because its not just us, its the whole world that is affected by it. And when I meet people here a lot of times they want to know, actually let me correct that, they want to I think make sure that I am for Obama. I had no idea of the true extent to which Bush has offended the world. When I say I'm American here to Italians or other international people I meet, I almost automatically feel the need to follow it with, oh but I don't like Bush. Somehow this makes the negative stereotypes of America seem lessened in their opinion of me I think. I think in this day it is extremely important for us to take foreign policy into account, and being on good terms with the rest of the world. I don't care if we have boasted for many years that we are the biggest and strongest. It might not be like that forever and if nothing else its just arrogant of us to not care about our relationships with other countries.

All the Italians can't believe that we elected Bush twice, then again they can't really talk because they elected Berlusconi twice and a lot of people don't like him. The man's assets include the company Mediaset which comprises of three national television channels, which hold approximately half the national viewing audience, and Publitalia, the leading Italian advertising and publicity agency. He also owns the largest Italian publishing house, whose publications include one of the most popular news magazine in Italy. He has interests in cinema and home video distribution firms, insurance and banking and a variety of other activities. His brother, Paolo Berlusconi, owns and operates a centre-right newspaper which provides a strong pro-Berlusconi slant on Italy and its politics. Talk about Free speech, and the Italians don't seem to have a problem with this. Maria said that he helped get rid of trash in Napoli (it still seemed pretty dirty to me), and lowered taxes, but that's controversial, because he is in turn taking away funding from institutions like education especially. He is also on trial still for possible conspiracy with the Mafia. The truth in this is debatable, but most Italians I've talked to, including professors, are pretty sure he is working with them on some level/taking bribes and he even pardoned some group on trial the moment he became leader. Its just fishy. Oh yah and evidently Berlusconi likes Bush a lot. Interesting.

This weekend I think I will be going to Pisa for a day and then next weekend we are going to Bologna to visit one of the oldest Universities in the world. It was founded in about 1088ad. So for a little perspective, Columbus found the Americas in I believe 1492, and settlers landed in Jamestown in 1607. So yah, I think we can say old. And we will be making pasta which i already know a little about! and we will be visiting the Ferrari museum! Should be a good time.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Melanie