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Wednesday 23 January 2013

Notes of a Wanderer

Leave the house without a map in a city you have never visited. Does it matter if you get lost and walk around the back streets for an hour? Depending on the time of day not really. Explore everywhere.

Don't be afraid of meeting new people, it is part of the experience. 

Use whatever means possible to make yourself understood. Even if it means miming a lightbulb to the lady in the supermarket.

Become a local don't just follow the tourists. If there is a bar or restaurant jam packed with natives on a Tuesday night there is bound to be a reason. It is probably a good sign if there appears to be no order to proceedings and everything seems to be a bit crazy.

The people who stare at you on the street are curious, not rude. When they start to shout at you then there is probably a problem. 

Appreciate what is happening in the place you are in. It doesn't matter if things are falling apart elsewhere.

Take pictures. Not of buildings and famous monuments but of the funny moments and the people you shared everything with.

Don't buy eggs that are already hard boiled. Unless of course you want eggs that are already hard boiled. Look at what you are buying properly otherwise your hungover self will hate you later.

Wear comfortable shoes. No one likes the grumpy person with blisters.

Don't climb out of your bedroom window to take pictures. At least put shorts on rather than a skirt, it might be easier.

I think that is about everything I learnt this week. I will probably think of other things. Maybe. 

A room with a view


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Friday 18 January 2013

Arrivederci Bergamo! Hola Murcia!

After three months of living in Italy my time has drawn to a close. It makes me a little sad to know that I will no longer wake up and walk out of my front door to be greeted by the mountains or that I won't be nearly run over by a Vespa before I have made it to class. As much as I have complained about Bergamo to my friends, family and anybody else who is unfortunate enough to listen, it will always have a small corner in my heart.

The night before I left we sat reminiscing about everything that had happened to us in this crazy land. It took a good hour and a half before we confirmed we wouldn't change a thing.  The weekly aperitivo on a Thursday night was responsible for most of our stories but there were also other treasured moments. The trip to the mountain lodge sealed our friendship and was the beginning of some of our best adventures. Running around the streets of Bergamo in sheets on Halloween pretending to be ghost and trying to scare people in cars was also a highlight. Rome was so incredible that it has its own post! There are so many moments that I keep remembering for various reasons which all made my time in Bergamo amazing. Thank you to Whitney, Ellie and Sarah Jane for providing some brilliant entertainment and also moral support when Bergamo wasn't being so great (quite a lot).



The question is am I fluent in Italian now? Is the Erasmus experience working? At first I thought I knew about as much, if not less Italian than when I first arrived. Other than asking for two bus tickets or a caffe latte I didn't really feel like I was talking an awful lot of Italian. However, since arriving in Murcia I have actually had a nearly fully functional conversation with my Italian housemate. I say fully functional as I am now beginning to confuse my Italian and Spanish together (again). Nevertheless, it does prove that I must have taken in and understood a lot more than I actually realised. So, if you are contemplating an Erasmus semester or two then it is more worthwhile than it first appears. Even when you feel downhearted and stare blankly at people for at least 15 minutes until you understand what they have said, you are probably better than you think.

Murcia is a completely different place to Bergamo and after reading Martha's stories of the city I am hoping there will be a lot more to tell. But for now, I need to start figuring out what everyone is saying all over again.



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