Milan, Italy – July 4th

I awoke to the sound of my phone’s alarm. After showering and getting dressed I went downstairs to find I was too late for breakfast. I went across the street to our little supermarket and bought a box juice and a loaf of bread which I ate the whole way to class.

We watched a Neorealism Italian filmed called Open Rome which depicted the Italian resistance fighters during the second world war while Rome was occupied by Germans. It was filmed in 1946 just after the war had ended so the scenes were really accurate. Despite it being in black and white with English subtitles, I thought it was a pretty good movie. When it was over, the group split up to get lunch. I walked back to Luini’s where we tried to go the day before for Italian fast food. The place was packed but the service was so quick I only waited in line for a few minutes. I got a mozzarella and spicy salami panzaroti which is a lot like a calzone. It was less than three euros and tasted delicious. After lunch, I met back up with the group and together we took the metro a few stops down where we met our professor for the day. I can’t remember her name, but she was from Spain and was very tan, skinny, and could not have been older than thirty. She led us down the street and into a park where the Castello Sforzesco, an old castle built by a wealthy family who helped found Milan, was located. There we sat in the grass while she taught us about Milan’s history and helped us learn some Italian phrases. Then we walked through the castle, by a few fountains and down another pedestrian street lined with shops towards the Duomo at the center of the city. Our lesson ended with directions to cheap places for us to find drinks and other young people to meet. We had an hour before going to the Milan school picnic for dinner so a bunch of us sat down at an open café and got some drinks. From where we sat, we had a front row view of the Duomo at sunset. When our break was over, we followed Dr. Wright to another park for our picnic with the rest of the study abroad students at the University of Milan. Took us a while to get there, and by this time the group was tired and getting eaten by mosquitoes. However, our spirits rose when we found the free food and drinks once again catered in our own private courtyard in the park. I got a plate of food and sat on some steps with other students. I met students from Egypt, South Africa, Belgium, Moldavia, Columbia, and Venezuela. While we ate, we talked about Milan, their countries, and America. They eventually left and I joined the rest of the group who were busily downing champagne. For a while we just stood in the park drinking champagne and enjoying the scenery. It was getting late so I came back to the dorm and sat outside with some of the other kids for a while before going up to the room and going to sleep.