I got 99 problems but traveling ain't one.

No 21st century trip out of the country is complete without the stress of having your debit card hacked and deactivated. If that's true, then I can go home with that box checked on my list of things to do over here. When I left The States two weeks ago, I was hoping to leave that box proudly unchecked. Sometimes (often) things don't go according to plan.

Somehow my account was hacked, and BOA needs to send me a new debit card. They said they're expediting it. But I don't know whether they said they're sending it within 48 hours, or it should be here in 48 hours. Judging by the luck I've had with BOA recently, I'm going to assume the former. Which is ok, I still have some cash to live on in the mean time. Nothing like a little adversity to make everyday, 21st century, online banking feel real convenient.

Oh and my internet at home is out for about a week. My roommate accidentally knocked our router off the table and it broke. Not that big of a deal, I can live without internet for a while. I wasn't planning on having internet at home when I signed up to live over here anyways.

It's not all bad over here! I've been having an amazing time over here and I'm learning the language a bit. I can understand a lot of what I hear, but putting sentences together and having actual communication is still quite difficult. Today marks the end of my second week of classes, sometimes I forget that I'm even over here to go to school.

I've taken a lot of really amazing pictures since I've been here.

River Po - 15 sec exposure : f/3.5

I'm headed up to Milan this weekend. I already have my train ticket and my ticket to the AC MILAN game. Mi piace il calcio Italiano. I think that it's going to be an amazing experience. I'm going with my roommates Joe and Cesare. Way too excited.

I have so many trips planned already, this semester is going to fly by. This weekend I'm headed up to Milan for Sunday. Next weekend Bryan Steele is coming to visit. Words cannot explain how vibrant that reunion will be. Then we're going down with some friends to the Cinque Terre (staying in Riomaggiore). The weekend after that, I'm going to Venice for Carnevale. Throughout the semester I have trips planned to Amsterdam, a Switzerland/Germany trip (shout out to the big bro), Prague, Barcelona (What up Houdini), Dublin, Alicante (Shout out to the Big Cat). I also have tentative trips to Sardegna and Firenze (Uhnn Caze what up girl). There are so many other places to see that I'll probably leave to visit in the summer. As of right now, there are only a few more free weekends that I don't have traveling planned. Should make for an exciting time.

This is Riomaggiore

Ciao!

Long walks

I just got home from a much needed long walk. I'm going to try to make a habit of it. In Italy, Sundays are considered sacred. They're a time to spend with friends and family. I'm starting to understand the meaning behind this. I knew that taking a chance, and moving to Italy for six months would be a life changing experience. It's what everyone was telling me. My friends. My family. Myself. But I don't think that I ever really understood what it meant, and definitely no idea what it would feel like when it was happening.

I set out of my apartment with my earphones in and a good playlist blaring on my ipod. I headed down my street with no tangible destination in mind. I knew there was a park that I had never been to or seen about two Kilometers north, so I went in that direction. I made it there quite quickly, took a few pictures, walked through, circled back through Piazza Castello, and headed down Via Po. In America, we tend to rush everything. Meals. Driving. Diplomacy. Especially walking. When we rush things, we don't take the time to enjoy them (Or in the case of diplomacy, we often do a poor job of it). In America, I feel that the process of doing something is often only seen as what happens in between points A and point B. Over here, I feel that the process is more important than the end result.

View of Mole Antonelliana

I never thought that I was an especially swift walker. I didn't realize it until tonight, as I was walking down Via Po. Via Po is one of the major streets in Torino, and the sidewalks are almost always flooded with pedestrians (especially on Sunday evenings or in the early weekday afternoons). As I walked down the street, I realized that I was passing people right and left. I didn't have any place to be, but every few seconds I was bobbing and weaving to get by the leisurely Italians. So I slowed my pace, and walked as fast as the Italians around me. It felt quite strange. But I liked it. Every few minutes, I caught myself speeding up and passing people by. Then I'd slow down and get back to neutral. I walked around the cobblestone-paved streets of Torino for about an hour and a half before I made it back to my apartment on Via Mazzini. I'm learning a lot about myself over here, and I hope that the next few months will be a very transformative process. I think that it will be for the better.

For those of you who were hoping to read this to find exciting stories about my adventures, I'll try to have that next time for you. (Believe me, there are already plenty of great stories). But I'm feeling a little reflective today, so this is all I've got.

This is a Discoteca I went to this weekend.

Ps. For those of you that I've skyped so far, it was fantastic to see you.

Shout out to Chico State.

My first 48 hours outside the US

(This part was written Sunday, January 13)

Well, I made it. Let me start by saying that I am absolutely exhausted. It’s 11 PM here and my roommates just left to go out to a bar in downtown. That’s right, I’m sitting in my apartment and not going out to have fun with my new friends. I’m unbelievably jet-lagged. I’ve gotten about 9 hours of sleep in my last 72. But, for anyone worrying about me over in The States, I’m fine, I’ve moved in to my apartment, and I’m preparing for tomorrow. 

My flight left San Francisco International Airport at 2:40 on Wednesday. The day started out quite sad, I had to say goodbye to everything I’ve ever known. Then the excitement took over as I got to the airport. I met up with a group of people waiting in at my gate that were also in my program. There were about 18 of us on the flight from San Francisco to Frankfurt. The night before my flight, I tried to stay up all night so that I could be tired and sleep on the plane. Good idea Marcus right? Wrong. I have never once been able to sleep on a plane, I don’t know why I expected myself to be able to do it now. I have some non-prescription sleeping pills I got at costco that I hoped would knock me out. I was dead wrong. After we were served our in-flight meal I took my first pill. I waited about an hour for it to kick in. Nothing. By the end of the ten and a half hour flight I had taken three of the pills and gotten about 30 minutes of sleep. I got into Frankfurt 10:40 AM local time, or 1:40 AM California time. I found the gate with the rest of my group, then a few of us went to have a drink. Then I got onto my second flight from Frankfurt to Torino.

Flying over the Alps was possibly the most amazing thing I have seen in my entire life.

Our flight got in to Torino about 30 minutes late, not a big problem for me yet. I’m tired, but fighting to make it through the day. I met with our whole program and we took a bus into the city to stay at a hotel for our first night in Italy.

My first night in Italy I went out with some of my new friends to an Irish pub called Murphy’s. It was fun. I had a pint of delicious German beer called Erdinger. Ok, I had a few pints. The pub atmosphere was cool. The crowd wasn’t Irish at all, or English speaking, which was cool. A few of the people I was with spoke some Italian, but I was at a loss for trying to talk to the locals.

(This part was written Saturday, January 14)

I barely slept that first night. I got to bed around 1 AM but I woke up at 6 and couldn’t fall back asleep. We had a meeting to move in to our apartments at 10 AM. I met my roommates and we headed over to our apartment a few blocks away from the hotel. I’m living with two Americans and an Italian. One of the guys, Joe, was new to the program, like me, and Nate has been living here since the beginning of last semester. Nate speaks Italian very well. Cesare, my Italian roommate, speaks English quite well. I’m going to be surrounded by the language, even at home. They’re going to be able to help me learn so much better than if I were living with 3 other Americans that were learning Italian for the first time.

It was Nate’s birthday about a week ago so we went out to dinner at a pizzeria across the street with my roommates and a few of their, and now my, Italian friends. Delizioso! That night I finally managed to get to sleep. About 12 hours. Woke up at 1 in the afternoon. I went out and went grocery shopping with my roommates. The food here is amazing. Especially the desserts. I’ll post more next week once I’ve spent more time here. I’m trying to use my computer as little as possible.

Being here is going to be an amazing experience. I’m loving it already. It’s scary being in a place where I can hardly communicate with anyone, but it’s only going to get better in time. Ciao! I’m going to watch the 49ers vs Saints game at a bar about a block away from my apartment later. Americano

Send me emails or post comments on my blog if you want to hear about anything specific!

Oh and this is the view from my apartment window. NBD.