Comin' home for Xmas.

Going home today, returning to Bari on January 6th.
I am looking forward to two weeks without being asked "Where are you from?".
And of course I am happy to spend Christmas and New Year's at home. At the same time it's a very strange thought to leave Italy, I hope I won't forget all my Italian in those two weeks.
Probably won't write anything until January 6th.

A very merry Christmas, happy new Year and happy holidays to everyone!

Floods and Christmas lights.

There are two things I'd like to talk about today:
1) Bari's inexistent canalisation.
We've had some really bad weather these last days, it kept raining and raining and raining.... Well, okay, as a German from Bonn I can't really say I haven't ever seen any rain before, so I took my umbrella and wanted to go out. I hadn't quite expected the catastrophe that was awaiting me outside: my street was flooded. There weren't just puddles but at least 20cm of water everywhere in the street. This was the first time I noticed that I had never actually seen any gullies here. Since I needed to go to the supermarket I made may way out of the street anyway. There weren't any people in the streets, some cars were trying to make their way through the streets that had turned into rivers (it seemed). State of emergency. I actually got to the supermarket (it was deserted, not even the beggar who is usually always outside was there) and when I came back to my house, I was completely soaked from head to toe.
For the rest of the day and night, I stayed inside. The next morning, it was still raining and the circumstances hadn't changed much. By now, the streets are accessible again, but I am praying everyday that we won't get anymore heavy rain.
This explains why Italians don't understand how we can put up with our -much worse- weather in Germany. Yes, we have more rain and it's much colder in GER, but we are much better adapted to these "harsh" conditions - we have heatings (yup, in many houses here there's no heating), canalisation systems and much more...

2) Christmas in Italy.
Of course I won't be here for Christmas, but I have been observing Italian Christmas "customs". Everywhere there are lights - bright, coloured, blinking lights (not very classy to my mind!). You can see an army of Santa Clauses climbing almost every balcony of the city. There's tons of "living" wannabe-Santa Clauses who are strolling around in the city (also decorated with bright blinking lights), some playing Christmas songs on a trumpet or flute that make your tympanic membrane explode.
In the supermarkets people wait for hours in loooooong lines to buy some "Panettoni". A panettone is a kind of cake that you buy in a huuuuuuuuuuuge box, and according to Jan Weiler ("Maria, ihm schmeckts nicht"), it's just disgusting. Well, I tried some and it really depends on the sort of Panettone. Last time at the supermarket I saw a man with two shopping carts full of panettones waiting in line. I counted them, he bought at least 60. I was so vexed I hadn't taken my camera with me, the sight was too amusing... an old Italian, barely noticeable in between those two huge shopping carts with piles of panettones.
After seeing "A Christmas Carol" yesterday I am finally somehow in the christmas mood. Although, without the traditional German Christmas market, I'm not quite there yet.

Merry Christmas, happy new year and happy holidays to everyone!

Chaotic cartoon nights.

Yesterday, we went to a concert. At least I thought so. My friends told me to come, it would be great, blabla... I went in and was shocked: there was a huge monitor displaying cartoons for children, accompanied by loud childrens' music. I turned around to ask my friends if we were mistaken in that place, but they were already enthusiastically dancing. To childrens' music, the type of "Heidi, Heidi, Deine Welt sind die Berge...". Sorry I don't know any English cartoon songs, but imagine really annoying childish music with a very simple repetitive chorus.
So finally the "concert" started. 4 girls and guys dressed up as cartoon characters jumped on a stage and started to play "rock" versions of those stupid childrens' songs. I felt like I was put in a really bad movie... I couldn't believe at least 200 grown-ups were enthusiastically dancing and singing those songs. I mean, come on... at first I found it fascinating, but after a while it got boring. This kind of music is exactly the reason why people in Cologne get so drunk at Carnival... you can't put up with the music without alcohol.

Back in Bari.

Well, what can I say, Siena was great! It made me realize what I miss here in Bari: some socially active flatmates who are there to talk to you, have a beer with you, watch tv with you, cook with you....

Here are some peculiar things I noticed about Bari:
1) Very often, you see someone talking to a door. After a while, you realize the person has rung the doorbell and is now talking to someone inside the house through an intercom system (Gegensprechanlage). It's very common to do so, ring the doorbell, say who you are and then chat for a while about the weather, how you are, blabla. I find this very strange. Even if you only talk for 5 minutes, why don't you just go in? If you don't want to see each other, then call the person!

2) Yesterday, I went to the cinema to see "picture of Dorian Gray" (which is very disappointing after having read the book by Oscar Wilde). The cinema was packed. I have noticed this before, but the crowded cinema just made me realize it much more: Italians don't just watch a movie quietly. Every single scene needs to be commented. In some especially peculiar scenes they cheered and shouted. Example: Dorian tells Sibyl that he loves her - everyone clapped and cheered. This resulted in a noise level that made it very hard to understand the movie. Although it's also quite funny.

3) Forgot about it. Tomorrow.

Off to Siena!

Going to Siena this weekend to visit my ex-flatmates and the two English I met in September. Very excited to go there! I caught a plane to Pisa and back for only 10 Euros, can you believe it? Well, thanks to Ryanair.
I'm in a rush so I will only tell you on a short note that I saw a Shaggy concert last night - the first concert of this sort I've ever seen, and it was very disappointing. He was there not even for an hour from 1 to 2 and shook his hips and all his bling-bling. But the Italians loved it. Oh well... gotta go, have a nice weekend!

Culture and routine.

Long time no blog entry. Partly because I have a lot to do, had a visitor (my dear mother) :-)) and every day life is getting a hold of me.
But I do have something new to post: I am amazed by the amount of cultural events that are organized here in Bari. There seems to be some different kind of film festival every week, at different places, about all kinds of topics. Last week I went to "Balafon film festival" for two days and saw movies from Malawi, Egypt, South Africa and Camerun. Have you ever seen any movie from one of these countries? Probably no, because Hollywood makes us blind for the rest of the cinematic culture on this planet. Another day I went to see an old Italian movie which was also part of some film festival, and last week there was another European film festival... and for students it's all free!
I don't think we have this variety of authentic interesting films even in Cologne. Maybe in Berlin, I don't know - but who would have thought I'd find it in Bari, city of 400.000 people in poor southern Italy?
And there's more: literature sessions on women's role and oppression in Iran, English-Italian cineforums, Spanish music...
Bari surprises me more and more, it has much more to offer than I'd have thought.
Tonight, by the way, we're having a Turkish dinner at my place. :-)

Surprise!

Today, 2 out of 2 professors came on time. My jaw dropped to the ground, and I am having trouble fixing it back into my face.
If this happens again, I might just die out of surprise.

The infinite chaos of Bari's Policlinico.

It all started off with a simple question - I asked the girl sitting next to me in class how I could find out in which group (afternoon course) I am and where this class would take place.
What followed was an odyssey of the clinical setting (which is as big as a middle-sized city itself!).
The girls in my class, at least the ones I talked to, were convinced that I needed to go find some professor and sign something/subscribe to sth... but they weren't all that sure. One of them accompanied me to the central information to ask if I had to do anything special to subscribe to that class (I thought that had already happened). They told us to go to some professor who was supposively  responsible for our year. Went there, after 20 minutes walk got there, found out after asking 3 different secretaries that this guy is not responsible or at least said he wasn't responsible. Went back to info centre to ask for the right name. Got another name, but, surprise, noone knew where we could find this new guy. They knew the rough department which has branches in different parts of the clinical setting, walking to all of them would have cost us at least 2 hours. We spent at least an hour searching for this person, but noone had ever heard of him. (And he's not just some nobody but our class coordinator...).
Went back to class. One of the other girls told us she thought that I was already on the class list and didn't need to subscribe to anything else. Someone else said there was no need to subscribe, I could just go. Went back to info centre to ask for group lists (this was my original question, in which group I belonged and where I had to go later). Well, group lists don't exist. A couple of phone calls later, they mysteriously found out I was in group 14.
I spent two exhausting hours running around in Policlinico, for nothing. Well at least I got to know another person of my class who was really nice and helpful.

And now the biggest surprise of all: of course, no professor appeared in the afternoon. Today afternoon class also didn't take place because the professoressa is out of town. For the rest of the week, there are no more classes scheduled. Can you believe it??

University. Workout. Routine.

I'm afraid I'm writing a bunch of nonsense now, but life isn't always exciting... I've been in Bari for 5 weeks now and normal everyday routine is starting to get a hold of me...
News: Today some special classes were supposed to start, and I was very much looking forward to them - practical stuff in groups of 5 students, actually in the hospital and not in the lecture hall. But, we're in Italy, so it was no big surprise that these courses were postponed and are now supposed to start next week.
When I came to lectures today, I was expecting our psychiatry professor, instead there was another lady who I'd never seen before. It turned out that some witty university employee had had the brilliant idea of changing our complete schedule this weekend, and noone knew about this.
Well, at least I'm not the only pinhead here who never gets any information before it's too late. When I return to Germany one day, I'll be a much calmer person. I don't think anything will be able to possibly upset me after a year in this chaos-country. (You might think now "Poor girl, she needs to come back home...", but hey, this is fun - imagine living in a place where nothing works... then you don't have to work either! Perfect, isn't it?).

On a less funny note, I'm getting serious about my workout plan. Of course, my running partner wasn't very reliable (he's Italian, what can I say...), so I needed to find some plan of my own. Let's just say that I'll be a completely different person in four weeks if I stick to my workout plan (and I will stick to it). If you're interested in seeing me running around like a horse in a circus in Bari's only "park" (more like a playground), come by and visit.

Today was a warm day. Wore only a t-shirt at lunchtime, at night it's quite cool and there's a strong wind coming from the sea.

Ok - let's see what surprises await me tomorrow! It sure never gets boring in bella Italia ;-)

Pics, once again.

I reorganised the pics section. I now have an album for every place I went to. If you become a fan of my pictures, you can follow changes more easily and will get e-mail alerts whenever I upload new pics.
Ok?
Once again the link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Amrei.in.Italia

Bari nightlife.

Went out with Lucrezia and the other girls last night (those who I go out most frequently with).
We went to "Über alles", supposively a German pub - it's run by Italians and has a Bavarian theme to it that seems to appeal to Italians and makes them pay more money for beer. Oh well.
In fact, the pub does look very Bavarian, the interior is completely made of wood and there's a lot of blue-white ribbons and Oktoberfest posters. The first thing that didn't fit in was noticeable from the outside: really loud hiphop and reggae music, which just doesn't suit at all that rather rustic ambience. It was really funny seeing a bunch of Italian hiphoppers (another antagonism that just cannot exist, it's so absurd) going crazy in a tweedy Bavarian pub to reggae music, dancing next to the picture of Cologne's dome (yup!).
I don't think there's any place in Germany that is similar to this one.

Update.

Haven't been writing in a while, Ralf is here visiting for a week and we're doing plenty of trips - went to Matera (Unesco World heritage, where Passion the Christ was filmed), Trani, Grotte di Castellana, Alberobello, Bari of course, Valenzano... ecc. The region of Puglia and Basilicata is stunningly beautiful!
I will post pics soon, as soon as he's gone and I'll have more time to spend in front of the computer.
It's been a great time and I'm sad he's going to leave soon.

Aftermath.

Instead of feeling my sore muscles, I feel the effects of last night's "Vodka connecting people party". Erasmus life sure ain't no stroll in the park.

Hurts so good....

Today was another splendid day. Blue skies, sun, but only about 18 degrees and some strong wind coming from the sea.
I went running for the first time in about 2 or 3 months. Since I came to Italy, I haven't exercised at all and feel a little, um, chunky... ;-) I found a running partner though, and together with him I'll hopefully be motivated enough to get in shape again. We went to "city park" (sad to say, but it is the only park in Bari). I thought we'd be running inside the park, instead we ran around it because it is so small that running inside would make you feel like a horse in a circus. If you run around the park though (on the street next to the cars, very healthy, argh), one round makes one kilometer. You see how tiny this park is. We actually made six rounds in 40 minutes, which I thought was decent for not having done anything in months. I will feel it tomorrow though...
We have another appointment for sunday, and hopefully, if we keep this up (2 to 3 times running a week), it will get me back in shape pretty soon and I can take part in the Bari marathon in the end of november. (I'd only do the 10k distance though...).
Do it!

A strange day.

Today was just weird, but I guess this day says a lot about Italy.
I forgot my keys at home. I discovered that when I returned home at about 1 p.m., and of course, none of my two flatmates were there. I called them, but their cell phones were turned off. Rang the doorbell a thousand times. Then left a note at the door asking them to call me as soon as they get home. Then sent them text messages.
It was actually the first cold day today. I didn't have a jacket with me because I only need 5 minutes to go the clinic, so instead of freezing to death I decided to go to the centre and stay somewhere inside. I actually bought a pullover. After bought a panini to eat something. Went home again to check if anyone was there yet. Nothing.
Went back in town, it was so cold (18 degrees) and went to the bar of an Italian I met earlier, who had lived in Germany (Freiburg) for 12 years and just returned to Bari 2 months ago. I met his daughter (Sonia, 21), who spoke perfect German with a southern accent. We talked for a long while and I was served a wonderful hot chocolate and some pastries.
Then went home again, and here's the curious part: it was 7, my flatmates still weren't there, which is unusual. I was afraid that they might have left Bari to go to their parents' house (about an hour from Bari), and their cell phones were still switched off. So instead of sleeping under a bridge tonight, I decided to break into our appartment. I had discovered that Antonello had left his balcony door open and wanted to enter our balcony (third floor) through the neighbors' window... a little dangerous, frankly, but instead of sleeping at the beach...

I rang the neighbors' doorbell and hoped they wouldn't call the police... I had never met them before and didn't know how they would react to a foreign girl with a strange story, kindly asking them to let her break into the neighbors' appartment.
I was warmly welcomed by four girls, all university students. They laughed loudly at my plan of breaking into my appartment... but they didn't call the carabinieri, made me sit down in their kitchen and offered me some coffee and figs and we started talking... and talked... and talked... and talked....
until Alessandro, my flatmate called. He had read my message and was really worried about me. At about 8.30, my keyless adventure was over. But now I have about 5 new friends, 4 of them live next door and invited me to eat with them on Sunday. And to come over for a coffee whenever I want.
(Leave your keys at home some time and find out who you'll meet...).

Picture update.

I posted some new pics on picasa. From now on, I will not put any more pictures into the Toskana albums (obviously). So check on Bari/Puglia and every other new album you might find. The toskana pics will also be deleted in a while (a month or so) because there's only limited space and I need to clear it for new pics.
If you want any picture in the original size, let me know and I'll send it to you via E-mail.

Fall is coming...

After a splendid day yesterday we got storms now (strong wind, some rain, temperatures of about 18 degrees) and it seems very autumn in Bari. I guess summer's over now... che peccato (what a pity). I am still hoping the warm weather will come back for a few days, but leaves have started falling and in the head of the Italians, it's already winter (they dress so warmly that you could think it's below 0).
I am enjoying my Italian life and already feel a little Italian. I also feel that my language competence is getting better and better.
Alla prossima!

Did you know that....

...in Italy, there are no nuclear plants.
...the mean temperature in Bari is 16,4 degrees (Bonn has 10,3 degrees, New Orleans 21,4 degrees)
...with almost 40 millions of visitors each year, Italy is the fourth most visited country of the world.
...ice cream cone and pizza are Italian inventions.
...the average Italian consumes 26 gallons of wine each year.
...in the last 65 years, Italy had more than 60 governments.
...98% of all Italians are Roman Catholic.
...about 55% of all 34year-old Italians still live with their parents. (!!!)

Erasmus trip.

Yesterday I met the other Erasmus students in Bari for the first time. There are about 150 students in Bari (not a lot... the city has about 350.000 inhabitants, so 150 get lost very fast/other Italian cities have thousands of Erasmus students. But this was a reason for me to come here since I'm more interested in meeting Italians).
With two busses packed with 130 students, we went on a tour of northern Puglia and saw a village, a castle, and Trani, a really nice city about 50km north of Bari. I liked Trani best, it has a really picturesque port and a lot of small, cheap, family-run restaurants. Will definitely go back and spend more time there.

Meeting the other Erasmus was quite interesting. The biggest group are the Spanish (about 80% I'd guess), who form a closed group and talk Spanish all the time. There is not really a chance to access that group, and I don't speak Spanish anyway. The Spanish also live together in shared flats. I talked to a somewhat more open-minded Spanish guy yesterday and asked him why the Spanish are not interested in socializing with anyone but Spanish people... he told me that the reason is simple: most Spanish speak neither English nor Italian, just Spanish. Thus, it is much easier for them to stay in their "Spanish group" and avoid contact to people who don't speak Spanish. I don't quite understand why they came here, though... they don't seek any contact to Italians either and obviously don't speak any Italian.
The other big group, although much smaller than the first, are the Polish. Most of them are really open-minded, friendly and interested in other cultures. They speak a lot of languages: English (all of them, and quite well), German (some), Russian (most), French (some), and most have at least a basic knowledge of Italian. I enjoyed meeting them.

Then there's a couple of French and some Turkish people, and, surprise... almost NO Germans! I met two German girls, one of them quite strange, the other one was quite nice.
Spent my day mostly with two Turkish girls, Gamze and Nihan, and some Polish people, and, of course, chatted a lot with the Italians who went on the trip with us. I was surprised to see that my Italian skills are better than those of most other Erasmus students. It's quite strange... some people even asked me on the trip to order some ice cream for them in a gelateria or asked me if I could ask for a price... these are really basic things that everyone should have learnt after 2 days in Italy! Some of these students have been here for a month, and they don't speak a word....???!!! I don't get it. Even without doing a language course, you can sit down with a dictionary sometimes and look up some important words. I do it every single day.

The trip was a blast though, and ended with a huge party in a disco here in Bari. Today I didn't get up before 2 p.m. and felt really wasted.

The weather forecast is promising rain for the next days... oh well, time to sit down and study some.

Bari Street Life, University Life and more.

I met some really nice people here (all Italians) and went out with them two times. Sunday we ate pizza and went to a bar, and yesterday we went bowling. The Italian way of bowling is something that definitely needs to be experienced... everyone is shouting, jumping, clapping, dancing etc at the same time. I don't think I ever had so much fun bowling, it was such a "drama"... after, we went to another pub. Well no actually we went in front of the pub after we had bought a plastic cup of wine inside. Italian nightlife is all on the street, and cars are the furniture... people sit on cars, eat pizza on cars, lean on cars, dance on cars, put their wine bottle on the next car...
Went to lectures today and was thrilled by the Italian timetable, as always, everyone was "on time", which meant that everyone arrived within two hours of the actually scheduled time. No use going on about this...
Going to lectures is obligatory, and occasionally someone checks on that, but nonetheless, more than half of the students prefer to stay home. And noone cares. Well, if I were Italian, I'd probably much rather stay home than endure five hours on these torture banks that they put into our lecture hall. They are designed in a way so that you can never lean back without a sharp pain in the back that makes you immediately sit straight up again. No joke. This way, it's hard to fall asleep. In Germany, I never follow any lectures (they make me fall asleep), but here I actually enjoying listening to them, it helps me very much in learning the language.
There is no lesson that is not interrupted at least twice by the prof's cell phone ringing. In Germany, profs turn around embarrassed and switch of their phone. Here, they always answer their phone with a melodious "pronto!" and then go on talking for a couple of minutes. Again, noone cares. The prof wants to talk to his wife about what's for dinner? So what, be it.

It's October and I still run around in a T-Shirt and skirt! Perfect blue sky, sun, 25 degrees... what more can you ask for? I'll tell you next time.