Weekend in Ferrara

My first night's sleep was a little strange. I started getting sleepy early and dozed off on the couch with the dogs for a few minutes before going to bed. Then I was up from 4:30am to 6:30am twiddling my thumbs, reading, and finally surrendering to being completely awake and straightening my hair. A couple more hours of sleep and it was time to head to Ferrara. I rode a motorcycle for the first time ever that day because my host dad offered to give me a ride to the train station on his. It took about 10 minutes, and even though the house is in a very city-like neighborhood, it is all fields and farms after a couple minutes drive in the car. Plus, it was a beautiful, sunny day so that was a plus. I loved it but I was still a little nervous and had jelly legs at the end. The next time I go to the station though I'll probably have to take the tram, bus, etc. From where I am, it is apparently a little more complicated to get to that particular station (Milano Rogoredo) than it is to get to the main station (Milano Centrale) but it's worth it. The prices are a lot lower from Rogoredo.

Milan is in Lombardy and Ferrara is in Emilia-Romagna, so the trip isn't so bad. The map shows all the regions of Italy. Just to give you some context, Venice is in Veneto, Florence and Pisa are in Tuscany, and Rome is in Lazio.

Anyway, Giuseppe was there waiting at the station and since we were both starving we went straight to an all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant for lunch where tiny plates of food come by on a little conveyor belt that never stops. 10 euros per person. We went out with a couple of his friends that night but other than than we didn't really go anywhere else this weekend. I'd been to Ferrara before, but this time I couldn't get over the crazy amount of  people riding bikes on the narrow, cobblestone streets and passing by from behind and in front with inches to spare. It kind of gives the city character though. Lots of people on foot, on bikes, and only a few cars. One last adventure we had was getting an Italian Sim card. I was told it would take 2 hours to activate and we are going on about 36 now...I asked around and apparently results may vary when it comes to activating phones. I might still have to wait a couple of days. If you haven't heard from me that was why. Also, I didn't really have internet access over the weekend. Soon, it will be all set though and you can reach me easily through Whatsapp. Message me if you want my Italian cell number.

Tomorrow, I've got some more of the paperwork that needs to get done before I can technically legally live and work here and then Tuesday, I'm meeting with the advisor at the high school to talk about my schedule this semester. She said I'll probably start teaching next Monday the 6th instead of the 1st as we'd originally planned. Italian flexibility! Sounds great to me because by then I will be over any latent jet lag, have a better idea about the classes I'll be helping out with, and will have had time to get some lesson plans together. In the meantime, hopefully I'll get to know Milan a little better! My host sister is actually taking me to the phone shop again tomorrow at the mall and I actually plan on asking her to be my gym buddy because apparently she goes every day. For those of you who know me, yes, I know I never go to the gym but I figure it would help me get a routine going here. Teaching is definitely time-consuming, but I still have quite a bit of free time and I'm trying to think of ways to fill it..I know Facebook makes it seem like trips to Europe are all traveling, but if you are actually here to work you kind of need to construct a real life!