Festeggiamo!

Just as I expected, Bologna, being a big city, is a lot more happening than Lecce.  Tonight I was stuck in my room eating nutella and studying for an exam (after only 3 days of classes!), but this weekend I got to experience a few different sides of Italian night and social life (that's a nice way of saying there were a lot of parties).

I have to give a lot of credit to the girls of Forni for really taking us under their wings and inviting us to tag along with them when they go out.  I feel a bit useless socially--it's the opposite of working at Time Out and always knowing what cool things were happening, and I haven't quite acquired enough Italian to be a witty conversationalist.  Also, there's no way I would have been able to navigate the bus system alone; that too is going to take some getting used to. 

Friday night, Liz's suite mate invited her, Sarah, and I to attend a concert along with a group of her friends.  It was part of a festival taking place in the periferia of the city, and was free aside from a suggested donation to Unicef.  Fiorella Mannoia is apparently a very famous Italian cantautrice (singer/songwriter), but her music wasn't quite my style.  I will, however, give her credit for being a very good enunciator, and I was actually able to understand a lot of her lyrics.  I've had this song stuck in my head for days now:



Saturday night, a bunch of us went to a party for Erasmus students (the main exchange program at UniBo).  It was at a discoteca and was basically just like home--sorry Zack, but it looks like kids from all over the world like dancing to the Black Eyed Peas.  I'm beginning to understand why, back at Wes, there were so many groups and activities aimed specifically at international students; in some ways, it's easier to bond with people from other countries than with the Italians, if only because we're all in the same place here, trying to learn the language and fit in.  It's nice having a mix of both in my dorm--Italians who can show me the ropes and other exchange students who can sympathize when things get frustrating. 

Sunday, Sarah's roommate, who's from Cameroon, invited Sarah, Liz and I to a surprise birthday party for one of her friends (I guess the surprise was that she didn't know some of her guests?) in another dorm.  Most of the people at the party were from Cameroon as well, and we learned some African dance moves while enjoying homemade fried plantains, kebabs, beignets, and other really delicious foods (since we were in Italy, there was a gelato cake for dessert).  Here, I became one step further removed from having any idea what was going on, since everyone primarily spoke French.  It was pretty embarrassing to have to ask people to repeat themselves in Italian, and then still not be completely able to understand them, but it definitely put things in perspective; when I got back I was relieved to only hear Italian in my dorm.  Liz and Sarah have both taken some French (Liz is majoring in French as well as Italian) but I don't know if that made things more or less confusing. We sang "Happy Birthday" in all three languages and returned to Forni exhausted, just in time to get some rest before class the next day.