Americana senza tetto!

I am the worst blogger ever.

Maybe not, but I apologize sincerely to my few loyal readers (Mom and Melissa) for not having posted in over a week. A lot has been happening; in fact, too much to recount in one blog entry. So in the interest of saving you all a lot of boredom, I'll just cover the main points!

Sylvia texted me a few days ago to say that she gave the apartment to another girl (the one with my piccolo principe). It wasn't meant to be, I guess, but it was awfully nice of il piccolo principe to come all the way to Bologna to say hello! Hehe :) So, the hunt for an apartment continues. Finally I got sick of searching through advertisments and calling strangers who speak at light speed, and decided to make an annuncio of my own which I posted on the student bulletin boards. Here it is... I'm really quite proud of it:

The top says HOMELESS AMERICAN! and then it goes on to describe what I'm looking for. I got several calls, and one of the places is really great. I spent over an hour talking with the roommates, and actually sang with them. It was awesome. They also have two snakes and two turtles, and since I've never been allowed to own a reptile due to my mom's snake phobia, I'm very excited! Hopefully it will work out, and if not, the search will continue!

I also got some less appealing responses. For example, one guy had a single room available, but explained to me that it would just be me and him living in his house. I told him I wasn't interested, but later received the following text message. (Translated for your convenience, of course): "I have your room, you will pay 250 euro and I will not ask you for sex." Needless to say, I didn't respond and haven't heard from him since.

I have exactly 6 days to find a house before I actually become "Americana senza tetto"... So, please send happy thoughts my way. Preferably, happy thoughts with a washing machine and wireless internet!

In addition to searching for an apartment, I've been participating in (mandatory) activities organized by my program. Our most recent excursion was to the nearby city of Monte Sole, which was the site of a major Nazi invasion during World War II. On September 29, 1944, the Nazi soldiers destroyed the town, killing nearly all of its inhabitants in an effort to stop the efforts of Resistance fighters. We heard the story of one of the only survivors, a man named Francesco Pirini. He was 17 years old when it happened and only survived the attack because his mother had sent him into the hills that morning to pick herbs. He witnessed the invasion from the hillside, and couldn't do anything to stop it... he lost 13 members of his family that day.

Pirini's story was incredibly sad, but I was amazed at his resilience. He has obviously led a beautiful and happy life, despite the trauma that he went through at such a young age. He has an amazing laugh, which we heard over and over again as he told us about his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I was so happy to hear him laugh, to see that he sees life as a beautiful and magical thing. I'm very glad that I was fortunate enough to meet him, to hear his story and shake his hand.

My not-so-abundant free time this week has been spent mostly at a local month-long festival called Feste de L'Unita. It's really incredible - there were hundreds of booths and cultural events from all over the world. There was salsa dancing, live jazz, indian food, brazilian food, (I can't actually list all the different types of food, there were too many!) mojitos, and even ice skating. That's right, we were "Americans on Ice" in the middle of the Italian summer. I'm proud to say
that I didn't fall, although there was much flailing involved. As you can see here, I remained standing due to the valiant efforts of Leslie and Mike.

Tonight, Leslie (above) and I went to dinner with our friend Anna, an Italian girl who works at our study center. After dinner we walked her back to her apartment and chatted for a bit. As she was saying goodbye, though, her door closed behind her and she was locked out of her apartment! After many failed attempts at lock-picking, and even more failed attempts at scaling the side of the building, Anna called the fire department and asked them to send someone over to open the door.

... They sent an entire fire truck! When the huge truck first pulled up, I was stunned. When the eight Italian firemen in full uniform jumped though, though, I couldn't help myself. It was so ridiculous that I was overcome with a fit of giggles and couldn't stop laughing - Anna explained to them that it was because I was American and didn't know what was going on. They made a big show of opening the door, (trying to impress us, I guess) and one fireman gave me his phone number! I think that's just the Italian way, but regardless - Luigi the firefighter will be the first person I call next time I lock myself out of the house.

Well, that just about sums up the most memorable moments of my week. I'll end with a photo that Leslie took of me walking through a meadow at Monte Sole. It sort of looks like I'm walking into the sky, at the start of a grand adventure! Fitting, don't you think?