No, not the movie, even though I have to admit it is a really good movie. Incredibly depressing, but a really good social commentary on the living/working conditions of post-war Italy.
I saw the saddest thing I have seen in a long time a few days ago. I was walking home from the weekly street market and it was pouring rain and I was about to turn onto my street and I hear some old man yelling "Ladro, Ladro" and then I see this guy riding by on a bike with an umbrella in hand. This old man really was an old man, I'm guestimating he was 85, but not a young 85. Well he tried to run after the thief, made it about 5 feet and tripped, fortunately there was a lady nearby that stopped him from falling. Well i guess this old man had stopped by a Tabbachi, which is an integral part of Italian society I have noticed, and since he was only going to be in there for about a minute he didn't bother locking it up, because it was raining and he would have gotten all wet trying to lock it up. So he was literally in the tabbachi for about a minute, I know because I saw him when he went in. Well I guess as soon as he went in someone came and took his bike AND umbrella.
It's one thing to steal, but then to steal from an old man...that's so cruel, they took not only his bike, but his umbrella too, which really sucked because it was raining.
I don't know why it affected me so much, but it did, it just made me really, really sad.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
Antarctica, you are on my shit list too
So I heard the other day that the temperature out here was going to cool down a little bit and that there was going to be a cold front moving in from Antarctica... Well it definitely moved in, and it seems to have settled in just fine. Monday was such a nice day, not cold at all, warm even and sunny. Tuesday was slightly overcast, but I went to the park and didn’t even need a sweater or anything. Then Wednesday hit and it has been raining non-stop since then. I would be ok if it was only some rain, but the temperature went waaaaay down. It went from a nice mid- to low 80’s to mid- 50’s…. that is one big cool down! Yesterday I had layered on a tank top, a long sleeved shirt over that and a regular t-shirt layered over that, plus my coat (not my big winter coat, but a coat nonetheless) and a scarf, a beanie, and my nice leather boots…. And I was freezing on the walk home from work. They said on the news that it should stop raining tonight; let’s hope they’re right. I didn’t listen to whether or not it’s supposed to get warmer, but I am assuming it will since it is supposed to be just a cold front moving through. Yesterday I heard some man exclaim, “Well, fall is definitely here.” All I could think is this is not fall weather, this is winter weather! Which, if you really think about it, in this area of Italy it is fall weather, I think it just seems colder than it is because it was such a drastic and sudden change. I get a feeling I better prepare myself for a very cold winter; I hope it snows this year, because last year was very disappointing!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Ouch!
I twisted my ankle. Why? Well because I am an idiot and don’t look where I am stepping. I was coming home from work, and since it looked like it might start raining, I decided to catch the bus home instead of walking, plus I was tired from partying the night before and had been sick all day Friday, not that I was super hung over, because I had a bit to drink, but not enough for me to be hungover, but I think something I ate was bad, because Antonio was sick too. A really good friend of ours graduated and we went up to a refuge in the mountains to party. We drank, ate a ton, his family from Sicily brought homemade Sicilian desserts for us, which was awesome and then all the adults left and us “kids” were left with a ton of food and a ton of alcohol. We were up in the mountains so it was freezing cold, like I had a tank top, 2 long sleeved shirts on and my jacket and I was still kind of cold. Around 9 some of our friends made some steak and ribs for everyone and I think it was the ribs that did it, because they tasted kind of funky to me. Than about 10 of us spent the night at the refuge, so Antonio and I didn’t make it home until about 10 the next morning, we had a great time. However, something we ate was bad, because Antonio and I both had a really bad morning!
Anyway, back to my horrible accident… I was waiting for the bus and listening to my ipod, and when the bus pulled up to the bus stop I was trying to find a new song to listen to so I was staring at my ipod while walking to the bus and didn’t see the big pothole in the sidewalk. I stepped right into it and twisted my ankle, so I kind of hobbled/hopped onto the bus and sat down, but my ankle was throbbing. It wasn’t a bad twist, but it was kind of painful, when I got off the bus it wasn’t so bad and it didn’t hurt too much. Then yesterday it hurt when I would make certain movements with my ankle, and it’s a little bit swollen, and if I move my ankle in a circle it’s painful. Hopefully it will stop hurting soon because it isn’t very fun! Next time I will be sure to look were I step!
Anyway, back to my horrible accident… I was waiting for the bus and listening to my ipod, and when the bus pulled up to the bus stop I was trying to find a new song to listen to so I was staring at my ipod while walking to the bus and didn’t see the big pothole in the sidewalk. I stepped right into it and twisted my ankle, so I kind of hobbled/hopped onto the bus and sat down, but my ankle was throbbing. It wasn’t a bad twist, but it was kind of painful, when I got off the bus it wasn’t so bad and it didn’t hurt too much. Then yesterday it hurt when I would make certain movements with my ankle, and it’s a little bit swollen, and if I move my ankle in a circle it’s painful. Hopefully it will stop hurting soon because it isn’t very fun! Next time I will be sure to look were I step!
Back to school, Back to school
I started school on Wednesday. I was terrified to show up to my first lesson, since I was pretty sure I was going to be the only foreign student there, and I was right. However, it was such a terrifying experience. The professor is German, so he speaks Italian slowly, which is great for me. The Italian school year is split into 2 semesters and then each semester is split into 2 modules. Module 1, the one I’m doing right now, I only have 1 class, the only bad things is that the class meets Wednesdays from 8-10, I haven’t had an 8am class in a while, but I bought this really powerful mint gum, which I’ve noticed helps keep me from falling asleep. Thursdays and Fridays class meets from 9-11. The nice thing about the Italian school system is that there are courses that are for the first year and courses for the second year, but you can do them whenever you want. So you could do 1st year courses your 2nd year and vice versa, and you can take as long as you want to finish your degree. So while I should be done in 2 years, theoretically, even though no one ever does, it will probably take ma little longer, since I am going to have extra credits to make up from the equivalent to their bachelors degree, I don’t find out until November how many credits I have to make up. Basically they evaluate my courses I did at UCD and then apply them to the Bachelors degree out here and if there are any classes from the Italian bachelors that I don’t have an equivalent to then I have to make it up out here, so it kind of sucks, but oh well!
I don’t know what it is about Italian students but I have noticed that they don’t really take notes. In 2 class periods I already had like 6 pages of notes, and both times I noticed that the people that sat around me barely filled up 1 page of notes, if that. Do they not care? Do they have really good memories? Or is note-taking not a crucial part of the Italian school system? They must think I am some super anal American because I noticed 2 of the guys sitting around me looking at my notes and raising their eyebrows, like “holy cow”. This class has an American feel to it, because the professor passed out a syllabus and there is like a reading for each lecture, so I am thinking he is new to the Italian school system, where professors don’t really do that. I appreciate it because it makes it easier for me to keep up with the class. The professor said we could either take a normal oral exam or write a paper as our final exam. I asked him if I could write it in English and he said that would be easier for him because it’s easier for him to read English than Italian, and I told him it was easier for me to write in English than in Italian. He asked if I was Italian and I said I wasn’t, that I was American and he was surprised he said that he thought I was Italian and that I speak the language very well, which was nice for me to hear, it made me very happy ☺ So now I just have to see how long he wants the paper to be, because if he wants a 7-page paper, then that’s fine, but if he wants some 15-page paper then it might be more convenient for me to do the oral exam.
Another difference I noticed about the Italian and the American school system is that in my Soc. classes back home concentrated a lot on modern sociologists, I mean we studied Marx, Weber and Durkheim, but not super in depth, and most of the books for my classes were written rather recently. Whereas here most of the reading has more to do with classical sociological theory, which sucks because I’m not very used to it. Like for this class the main text is by a contemporary sociologist named Boudon, but the readings that we use along with it are by classic sociologists like Marx, Weber, Tocqueville, Parsons (not super classical, but not as modern as I’m used to), etc. I kind of noticed this when I studied here a few years ago, but it really hit me when I went through the syllabus and realized yeah I had heard of some of these guys as in, “one of the main theorists in this area was Tocqueville, but we’re not going to study him, we’re going to look at someone more pertinent to today” At Davis many of my professors KNEW the authors of the books we used in class, I definitely can’t say that for the people I’m studying now. It was just a little thing I noticed, but I thought it was really interesting and it makes a big difference in the educational system.
I don’t know what it is about Italian students but I have noticed that they don’t really take notes. In 2 class periods I already had like 6 pages of notes, and both times I noticed that the people that sat around me barely filled up 1 page of notes, if that. Do they not care? Do they have really good memories? Or is note-taking not a crucial part of the Italian school system? They must think I am some super anal American because I noticed 2 of the guys sitting around me looking at my notes and raising their eyebrows, like “holy cow”. This class has an American feel to it, because the professor passed out a syllabus and there is like a reading for each lecture, so I am thinking he is new to the Italian school system, where professors don’t really do that. I appreciate it because it makes it easier for me to keep up with the class. The professor said we could either take a normal oral exam or write a paper as our final exam. I asked him if I could write it in English and he said that would be easier for him because it’s easier for him to read English than Italian, and I told him it was easier for me to write in English than in Italian. He asked if I was Italian and I said I wasn’t, that I was American and he was surprised he said that he thought I was Italian and that I speak the language very well, which was nice for me to hear, it made me very happy ☺ So now I just have to see how long he wants the paper to be, because if he wants a 7-page paper, then that’s fine, but if he wants some 15-page paper then it might be more convenient for me to do the oral exam.
Another difference I noticed about the Italian and the American school system is that in my Soc. classes back home concentrated a lot on modern sociologists, I mean we studied Marx, Weber and Durkheim, but not super in depth, and most of the books for my classes were written rather recently. Whereas here most of the reading has more to do with classical sociological theory, which sucks because I’m not very used to it. Like for this class the main text is by a contemporary sociologist named Boudon, but the readings that we use along with it are by classic sociologists like Marx, Weber, Tocqueville, Parsons (not super classical, but not as modern as I’m used to), etc. I kind of noticed this when I studied here a few years ago, but it really hit me when I went through the syllabus and realized yeah I had heard of some of these guys as in, “one of the main theorists in this area was Tocqueville, but we’re not going to study him, we’re going to look at someone more pertinent to today” At Davis many of my professors KNEW the authors of the books we used in class, I definitely can’t say that for the people I’m studying now. It was just a little thing I noticed, but I thought it was really interesting and it makes a big difference in the educational system.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Update
The last 4 or 5 posts were written a while ago, but since I have found my self internet-less since I got here, I only now had the time to post them. I will be getting internet at my apartment, soon I hope... so that way I can stop bringing my laptop out to the street in order to use the wireless net that Trneto has set up around town. When I do have regular internet inside the comfort of my own home, I will be updating more often.
What if I wanted to sleep?
On Sunday I woke up early, watched some tv, and around 9 I went to lay back down because I was feeling kind of tired. Antonio woke up and we started talking, all of a sudden we hear a trumpet playing the wake-up song (you know, the one they always play in movies when kids are at camp… in order to wake them up). So they like half play it and then it dies down, I turn to Antonio and say, “who owns a trumpet around here?” we both just kind of ignore it and keep talking about school and how his exam period is going, when all of a sudden it starts up again, this time it’s super loud, and it plays the whole song, then there are drums that start up. We both jump out of the bed and go to the window, and on the street are some people all dressed up in medieval clothing and there are trumpet guys, but not real trumpets, those long trumpets that you always see in movies in castles with kings and stuff, well there were those and rows and rows of drummers, then there were flag bearers and whatnot… it was a whole medieval procession that apparently was starting on our street… So they start marching to the drums and it finally quiets down. Antonio and I got a laugh out of it, but I told him I would have been annoyed if I had actually wanted to sleep.
Later on in the day I want to Piazza Duomo (the main piazza in town) and there was an archery tournament going on, and everyone was dressed in medieval clothing there too, and then there were stands all over the place showing how people back then dyed their clothes and how they made fabric and how they did mosaics… and EVERYONE was dressed in medieval clothing, it was really neat. I guess they hold this festival in town every year. I thought it was pretty cool, so I am pretty sure all the kids in town thought it was awesome! I love it when a normal lazy day turns into something fun and exciting!!! It’s one of the small pleasures in life!
Later on in the day I want to Piazza Duomo (the main piazza in town) and there was an archery tournament going on, and everyone was dressed in medieval clothing there too, and then there were stands all over the place showing how people back then dyed their clothes and how they made fabric and how they did mosaics… and EVERYONE was dressed in medieval clothing, it was really neat. I guess they hold this festival in town every year. I thought it was pretty cool, so I am pretty sure all the kids in town thought it was awesome! I love it when a normal lazy day turns into something fun and exciting!!! It’s one of the small pleasures in life!
I am officially a student...again!
I took my Italian language test on the 4th, and passed with flying colors, went through orientation (even though I went through it 3 years ago when I studied abroad, I figured it would be good to freshen up my memory), and today I enrolled in the Sociology dept. as a grad student at the Universita’ degli studi di Trento. I found out some interesting facts about Trento, which I knew when I had done my own research on the university before studying abroad, but had since then forgotten. The dept.’s at the University are all ranked in the top 3 spots in a national ranking they do of universities in Italy. The school originally started out as a Sociological research institute, and later became the 1st sociology dept. to be formed in Italy and most of Europe. It is ranked 1st out of all soc dept.s in Italy and is 1st in Europe. Apparently it’s pretty famous throughout Europe for being pioneers in the sociological field in the European playing field. The University also has the only Cognitive Sciences dept. in all of Italy; it’s the newest dept., which was formed in 2004. The Soc. Dept has a ton of cool opportunities for students, which I am very excited about! Classes start on the 17th, and I’m kind of nervous and kind of excited!
My masters is in the area of societa;, territorio, ambiente (society, territories and [social] environment) …. Basically it deals with questions such as: How to promote economic growth in advanced and mature societies? How to allow the market to grow while safeguarding the environment and societies (such as how to prevent then from being exploited)? And the area that really interests me : How to protect the rights of minorities and promote cultural integration in a multiethnic and multiracial society? This area is extremely relevant in Europe right now especially with the formation of the E.U. and all the immigration from disadvantaged countries. It mainly deals with social populations and their mobility and migration, the social presences amongst these communities and their territorial attachments, economic growth and development in these area and the new transnational dimensions of the economy, culture and social relations. It might not make much sense the way I am describing it, but it is really interesting. It requires a bit of Econ. coursework, but that’s ok, I’ll learn to deal with it! Basically I get a sociological education in social environment, development, urban and rural realities, territorial mobility and interethnic relations.
It looks like I should have some fun classes to look forward to… Urban and Rural Soc., Soc. of Ethnic Relations, Soc. of International relations, Soc. of Immigration, etc. However it also looks like there are going to be some not so fun classes…. Economic Soc. Economic Geography… and the worst one is Social Statistics, I hate stats! I am going to have some credits to make-up from their triennale, because some of these classes have pre-req’s which I never did, but that’s ok… I knew coming into this that I was going to have the Grad work plus some undergrad credits to make up, oh well!
So I am really excited about this. It’s a completely different academic world out here, but that’s another post!
My masters is in the area of societa;, territorio, ambiente (society, territories and [social] environment) …. Basically it deals with questions such as: How to promote economic growth in advanced and mature societies? How to allow the market to grow while safeguarding the environment and societies (such as how to prevent then from being exploited)? And the area that really interests me : How to protect the rights of minorities and promote cultural integration in a multiethnic and multiracial society? This area is extremely relevant in Europe right now especially with the formation of the E.U. and all the immigration from disadvantaged countries. It mainly deals with social populations and their mobility and migration, the social presences amongst these communities and their territorial attachments, economic growth and development in these area and the new transnational dimensions of the economy, culture and social relations. It might not make much sense the way I am describing it, but it is really interesting. It requires a bit of Econ. coursework, but that’s ok, I’ll learn to deal with it! Basically I get a sociological education in social environment, development, urban and rural realities, territorial mobility and interethnic relations.
It looks like I should have some fun classes to look forward to… Urban and Rural Soc., Soc. of Ethnic Relations, Soc. of International relations, Soc. of Immigration, etc. However it also looks like there are going to be some not so fun classes…. Economic Soc. Economic Geography… and the worst one is Social Statistics, I hate stats! I am going to have some credits to make-up from their triennale, because some of these classes have pre-req’s which I never did, but that’s ok… I knew coming into this that I was going to have the Grad work plus some undergrad credits to make up, oh well!
So I am really excited about this. It’s a completely different academic world out here, but that’s another post!
Jet Lag Sucks!
I have been in Italy for a few days now and am having the worst jet lag. I have never really suffered much from jet lag, but this time it’s been really bad. My arms and shoulders feel like they are going to fall off, my whole body feels tired (probably thanks to my horrible trip) and my sleeping habits have been really weird. The other day I took a nap around 6, I was planning on sleeping an hour or two and when I woke up it as 10:30, around 12:30 Antonio was tired, so we went to bed and I was back up by 4:45ish I watched a couple of movies on my laptop. I crawled back into bed around 9 and didn’t get back up until noon!
I have been waking up early…. Between 6 and 8, usually closer to 6, and have been taking naps during the day, I feel like if I don’t take a nap I’m going to die and then end up sleeping more that I had planned on, or getting angry at Antonio for waking me up and being cranky, then it will be 1:30 am and I’m not at all tired. Yesterday I finally stayed up all day without a nap, but was in bed before 9pm, because I couldn’t take the tiredness….let’s hope I get over this soon because it’s really getting on my nerves and I don’t think Antonio appreciates it either ☺
I have been waking up early…. Between 6 and 8, usually closer to 6, and have been taking naps during the day, I feel like if I don’t take a nap I’m going to die and then end up sleeping more that I had planned on, or getting angry at Antonio for waking me up and being cranky, then it will be 1:30 am and I’m not at all tired. Yesterday I finally stayed up all day without a nap, but was in bed before 9pm, because I couldn’t take the tiredness….let’s hope I get over this soon because it’s really getting on my nerves and I don’t think Antonio appreciates it either ☺
United, you are on my list...
...my shit list that is! I have decided that I am never going to fly United ever again. I had the trip from hell flying out to Venice from L.A. I got to the airport around 4:45am for my 7:50 flight; there was a huge queue to check-in (it was a Friday on a holiday weekend), but there was an empty check-in place, so I went over there just to weigh my luggage, I was afraid I was going to be overweight, but fortunately I wasn’t. Suddenly a United rep. shows up and asks me if I was there to check in, I said no and she asked me if I had an e-ticket, I said yeah and she said that she would check me in so I wouldn’t have to wait in such a long queue! I was so excited because I managed to skip about an hour wait ☺ I said bye to my mom (which was drama as always, the woman is going to see me in a month, but cries anyway) and went through security.
I made it through everything in about half an hour, if that. My flight is supposed to board at 7:15, so now all I have to do is wait. I found a little restaurant and had a breakfast bagel and juice, trying to pass the time. Well 7:15 comes and goes and we don’t start boarding the plane. They tell us there is a mechanical problem with the plane and that there is going to be a slight delay (words no one ever wants to hear). They finally board our 7:50 flight around 8:30. We get on the plane and are told that the mechanical problem light hasn’t gone off yet, but that it should be fixed soon and we should be leaving very soon. Well they kept us on the runway for over 2 hours, I managed to watch most of Spiderman 3 while sitting on the plane, and they tell us that they have tried to fix various things on the plane and the light still won’t go off, apparently the problem is the back-up fuel tank (say it with me people: That’s a big fucking problem!!!!!). So they have to fly a part in from Denver, so it will be at least 2 more hours. I only had a 4 hour layover in D.C. before my flight for Vienna left, so at this point I know my whole travel plan is shot to hell. They tell everyone to go to Customer Services to see what can be worked out.
They only had ONE Customer Services Rep. to help out the entire plane, now I knew it would be bad, so as soon as they told us to de-board the plane I grabbed my carry-ons and hauled ass! There were over 150 people waiting in line, fortunately I was around number 15, however it still took me 3 hours to get to the front of the line! By the time I got to the front they had 4 Customer Services Reps. helping people out. I tell the lady I had a connecting flight to Vienna, and that my final destination was Venice, and she goes, “Oh no, International flights are always the hardest to re-route” and I told her “Well I don’t care how you do it, but I have to be in Venice by Sunday afternoon the latest”. I had an exam on Monday morning, and if I didn’t show I would forfeit my right to the University. She spends over an hour trying to figure something out; apparently all the flights were booked. She tells me there is a flight out to D.C. that SHOULD leave at 2, so I look at her and go “should? “ she tells me it is the same plane I had been on earlier and it would leave at 2 id the problem was fixed by then, so I told her there was no way I was going to get on that plane again, I wouldn’t feel safe. So the next flight out to D.C. was at 11:30 pm, I would arrive in D.C. around 7am and she could re-route me via Frankfurt and I would arrive in Venice Sunday morning, a full 24 hours late!
She gave me vouchers for food in D.C. and she waitlisted me for business class for the flight from D.C. to Frankfurt. As I sat down I realized she didn’t give me any food vouchers for LAX, but refuse to wait in that line again, fortunately before I left home my mom made me 2 bologna sandwiches, packed me 2 peaches and a baggie of choc. Chip cookies and one of lemon cookies. By 11:30 pm it was all gone, except for the lemon cookies, which I still have. I passed the time by reading an entire book, listening to my ipod, and exploring the airport.
Finally the time comes to board my flight I get on and al of a sudden some girl says I am in her seat, well United had double booked the seat, so they make me grab my stuff and get off the plane. At this point I was beyond furious, so I go and talk to the guy outside, and chew him out… I was literally yelling at him at the gate telling him about how thanks to his incompetent airline I had been waiting at the airport for well over 16 hours and how it was ridiculous that they were doing this to me, and that I was not moving from the gate if it wasn’t on that flight, so that they better figure out some way to get me on that flight. Well fortunately there weren’t many people around that late at night, because I really caused a scene! Someone didn’t show up in time for the flight so there was 1 empty seat that they put me in.
The night before my flight I had only slept about 3 hours because I was busy finishing packing and I had figured I could sleep on the plane, so I was exhausted at this point. I was unable to sleep on the flight though because we got some pretty bad turbulence. I finally make it to D.C. and go straight to customer services to make sure that my ticket to Frankfurt, I explained what had happened on the other plane and told her I wouldn’t like to find myself in the same situation with this flight, she said I was registered for the flight, so there shouldn’t be a problem. I tell her I had a voucher to be waitlisted for business class and she goes, “well do you have points to trade in or something like that?” I told her no, so she asks why I was given the upgrade and I told her because thanks to United I was 24hours late arriving to my destination. She looks at me and goes, “We don’t do free upgrades, but you can always try” so I looked at her and responded, “It’s not free, I think I more than paid with my time!” and I walked away. At this point I was ridiculously tired, annoyed, dirty, and just plain grumpy. I got even grumpier when I found out that Antonio hadn’t been able to switch days with his co-worker so he wasn’t going to be able to get me at the airport, he had taken Saturday off planning on coming to get me, so basically I was going to have to be on my own on the train rides from Venice to Verona and Verona to Trento with 2 huge pieces of luggage and 2 carry-ons, and Europe in general is not very handicap friendly, so no ramps and no elevators, just lots of stairs. So this piece of info is making me even crankier!
I pass the time at the airport, and am delighted to find that they did bump me up to business class. I get on the plane and was amazed; as soon as I sat down I was offered champagne, which of course I took! The seats were so comfy, and I could kick out my legs and not hit the seat in front of me, the seat basically reclined to a full 180 degrees, so I was able to lay down while I slept. They gave out hot towels, had individual sized toothpastes and toothbrushes in the bathroom, along with facial moisturizers and a bunch of other creams. It was soooo nice, the best part had to be the meal! Normally in economy you get your food in a tin container, well in business class they come around and place a white tablecloth on your tray table and then bring you a white cloth napkin with real silverware (none of that plastic utensil shit in business class) and a Menu…. First they brought out a huge salad, with your choice of dressing and smoked salmon to everyone, then you could choose your main dish and whatever kind of wine you wanted from their wine list… I chose Roasted Chicken with Curry sauce which came with herbed basmati rice and creamed spinach, it was all delicious, it was surprisingly good … the other choices were Boursin Lasagna or Mustard-braised pork medallion! As dessert they bought out a cheese selection with port and Ice cream…. Yummy! As soon as I finished eating I took some sleeping pills (I was determined to sleep on this flight) and knocked out, I woke up a few times, but by the time I really came to we were crossing the English channel. They brought out our breakfast, which was fresh fruit, croissants, tea and coffee, yogurt, juice, etc.
I was ecstatic to have made it to Europe, I knew that in the worst of all situations I could catch a train and be home soon. I checked in to my flight with Lufthansa, and it seemed to be the shortest plain ride ever. We took off, I listened to 3 or 4 songs on my ipod, and it was time to land! The view from the flight was beautiful, we passed over the alps.
I won’t even go over the train rides, this post is too long as it is, but lets just say that I struggled a bit on my own, but I made it and I didn’t even miss a train, which amazed me, I was sure I was going to miss one of my trains and have to wait for the next one, but I didn’t! I finally made it home to Trento, Antonio met me at the train station, it was great to see him after 5 months ☺ and I got to see my new apartment, which is small but really cute and just right for us two!
Believe me when I say that I will never fly United again!
I made it through everything in about half an hour, if that. My flight is supposed to board at 7:15, so now all I have to do is wait. I found a little restaurant and had a breakfast bagel and juice, trying to pass the time. Well 7:15 comes and goes and we don’t start boarding the plane. They tell us there is a mechanical problem with the plane and that there is going to be a slight delay (words no one ever wants to hear). They finally board our 7:50 flight around 8:30. We get on the plane and are told that the mechanical problem light hasn’t gone off yet, but that it should be fixed soon and we should be leaving very soon. Well they kept us on the runway for over 2 hours, I managed to watch most of Spiderman 3 while sitting on the plane, and they tell us that they have tried to fix various things on the plane and the light still won’t go off, apparently the problem is the back-up fuel tank (say it with me people: That’s a big fucking problem!!!!!). So they have to fly a part in from Denver, so it will be at least 2 more hours. I only had a 4 hour layover in D.C. before my flight for Vienna left, so at this point I know my whole travel plan is shot to hell. They tell everyone to go to Customer Services to see what can be worked out.
They only had ONE Customer Services Rep. to help out the entire plane, now I knew it would be bad, so as soon as they told us to de-board the plane I grabbed my carry-ons and hauled ass! There were over 150 people waiting in line, fortunately I was around number 15, however it still took me 3 hours to get to the front of the line! By the time I got to the front they had 4 Customer Services Reps. helping people out. I tell the lady I had a connecting flight to Vienna, and that my final destination was Venice, and she goes, “Oh no, International flights are always the hardest to re-route” and I told her “Well I don’t care how you do it, but I have to be in Venice by Sunday afternoon the latest”. I had an exam on Monday morning, and if I didn’t show I would forfeit my right to the University. She spends over an hour trying to figure something out; apparently all the flights were booked. She tells me there is a flight out to D.C. that SHOULD leave at 2, so I look at her and go “should? “ she tells me it is the same plane I had been on earlier and it would leave at 2 id the problem was fixed by then, so I told her there was no way I was going to get on that plane again, I wouldn’t feel safe. So the next flight out to D.C. was at 11:30 pm, I would arrive in D.C. around 7am and she could re-route me via Frankfurt and I would arrive in Venice Sunday morning, a full 24 hours late!
She gave me vouchers for food in D.C. and she waitlisted me for business class for the flight from D.C. to Frankfurt. As I sat down I realized she didn’t give me any food vouchers for LAX, but refuse to wait in that line again, fortunately before I left home my mom made me 2 bologna sandwiches, packed me 2 peaches and a baggie of choc. Chip cookies and one of lemon cookies. By 11:30 pm it was all gone, except for the lemon cookies, which I still have. I passed the time by reading an entire book, listening to my ipod, and exploring the airport.
Finally the time comes to board my flight I get on and al of a sudden some girl says I am in her seat, well United had double booked the seat, so they make me grab my stuff and get off the plane. At this point I was beyond furious, so I go and talk to the guy outside, and chew him out… I was literally yelling at him at the gate telling him about how thanks to his incompetent airline I had been waiting at the airport for well over 16 hours and how it was ridiculous that they were doing this to me, and that I was not moving from the gate if it wasn’t on that flight, so that they better figure out some way to get me on that flight. Well fortunately there weren’t many people around that late at night, because I really caused a scene! Someone didn’t show up in time for the flight so there was 1 empty seat that they put me in.
The night before my flight I had only slept about 3 hours because I was busy finishing packing and I had figured I could sleep on the plane, so I was exhausted at this point. I was unable to sleep on the flight though because we got some pretty bad turbulence. I finally make it to D.C. and go straight to customer services to make sure that my ticket to Frankfurt, I explained what had happened on the other plane and told her I wouldn’t like to find myself in the same situation with this flight, she said I was registered for the flight, so there shouldn’t be a problem. I tell her I had a voucher to be waitlisted for business class and she goes, “well do you have points to trade in or something like that?” I told her no, so she asks why I was given the upgrade and I told her because thanks to United I was 24hours late arriving to my destination. She looks at me and goes, “We don’t do free upgrades, but you can always try” so I looked at her and responded, “It’s not free, I think I more than paid with my time!” and I walked away. At this point I was ridiculously tired, annoyed, dirty, and just plain grumpy. I got even grumpier when I found out that Antonio hadn’t been able to switch days with his co-worker so he wasn’t going to be able to get me at the airport, he had taken Saturday off planning on coming to get me, so basically I was going to have to be on my own on the train rides from Venice to Verona and Verona to Trento with 2 huge pieces of luggage and 2 carry-ons, and Europe in general is not very handicap friendly, so no ramps and no elevators, just lots of stairs. So this piece of info is making me even crankier!
I pass the time at the airport, and am delighted to find that they did bump me up to business class. I get on the plane and was amazed; as soon as I sat down I was offered champagne, which of course I took! The seats were so comfy, and I could kick out my legs and not hit the seat in front of me, the seat basically reclined to a full 180 degrees, so I was able to lay down while I slept. They gave out hot towels, had individual sized toothpastes and toothbrushes in the bathroom, along with facial moisturizers and a bunch of other creams. It was soooo nice, the best part had to be the meal! Normally in economy you get your food in a tin container, well in business class they come around and place a white tablecloth on your tray table and then bring you a white cloth napkin with real silverware (none of that plastic utensil shit in business class) and a Menu…. First they brought out a huge salad, with your choice of dressing and smoked salmon to everyone, then you could choose your main dish and whatever kind of wine you wanted from their wine list… I chose Roasted Chicken with Curry sauce which came with herbed basmati rice and creamed spinach, it was all delicious, it was surprisingly good … the other choices were Boursin Lasagna or Mustard-braised pork medallion! As dessert they bought out a cheese selection with port and Ice cream…. Yummy! As soon as I finished eating I took some sleeping pills (I was determined to sleep on this flight) and knocked out, I woke up a few times, but by the time I really came to we were crossing the English channel. They brought out our breakfast, which was fresh fruit, croissants, tea and coffee, yogurt, juice, etc.
I was ecstatic to have made it to Europe, I knew that in the worst of all situations I could catch a train and be home soon. I checked in to my flight with Lufthansa, and it seemed to be the shortest plain ride ever. We took off, I listened to 3 or 4 songs on my ipod, and it was time to land! The view from the flight was beautiful, we passed over the alps.
I won’t even go over the train rides, this post is too long as it is, but lets just say that I struggled a bit on my own, but I made it and I didn’t even miss a train, which amazed me, I was sure I was going to miss one of my trains and have to wait for the next one, but I didn’t! I finally made it home to Trento, Antonio met me at the train station, it was great to see him after 5 months ☺ and I got to see my new apartment, which is small but really cute and just right for us two!
Believe me when I say that I will never fly United again!
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