Milan, Italy - July 11th

In class today, we had the best professor thus far. He was a film expert from the UK, and lectured on the themes of Neorealism in Rome Open City, The Bicycle Thief, and Big Deal on Madonna Street. He also talked about the history of cinema after WWII and the role it played in establishing Italy's identity when it had no past to look to. After class I ate a quick lunch and met the rest of the class back at the dorm where we watched an Italian thriller from the 70s called Deep Red. Although the movie was a little ridiculous at times with an odd soundtrack and the actors would switch back and forth between Italian and English, I really enjoyed it. When it was over, I came back upstairs to start working on my paper and blog. I was planning to skip the group dinner on the water by the canal, but when I found out it was free I decided to go. The restaurant we went to was an appertivo where you pay for a drink and then get free appetizers, which are pretty common in Italy. The partying side got the best of me and I decided to stay out and have more fun with everybody else. I had a few more drinks and walked around the canal from bar to bar until it was time to catch the metro back. In the dorm, I vaguely remember skyping with Mom and Sarah.