Scattered Hearts

30th October - 5th November 2016

It's amazing how much people start to care when you go to another country. It's like Italy now has a special meaning to people who know that I've come here. The significance of this comes to light when news about Italy spreads to other countries. What I'm talking about is the earthquake that occurred in central Italy. That area has more frequent earthquakes with the newer volcanoes (or so I am told).

I got a call this morning from friends in India who saw the news and asked if I was alright. I felt so blessed that Italy has now been elevated to a status of "place to worry for". Thank you dear friends!

It is true that home is where the heart is, when people who have an effect on our hearts are or could be distress, we care, we worry. In that way, we have our hearts scattered all over the world. Geography no longer limits us with the technology that our fellow humans have developed. The very fact that you are reading this post from a part of the world that I am not in, is proof of this fact.

(^__^)

While going back home tonight, I witnessed the driver of my bus get off unexpectedly. While coming down from Cognola (a hill near home), the bus made odd screeching noises when turning. This was quite a new experience, I thought it was the brakes failing and that is not a pleasant thought considering the forces of gravity acting on the bus while going down.

Thankfully, the bus driver drove as slow as possible and stopped at a bus station (FERMATA) to investigate. Something was definitely out of order with the bus. After stopping for a few minutes to check, the driver got on the bus and started driving again, he had about 10 stops left on this route (which was uphill from now) so I guess he wanted us all to reach home first. We thank this driver for his choice. Or I'd have been stuck just a hill away from home...not a great prospect at night in the cold (5 degrees Celsius).

(^__^)

HALLOWEEN is here! This festival isn't celebrated with grandeur here. There are events but I didn't see many people dressed to scare.

Since it was a long holiday with All Saints Day (1st November) in the mix as well, a lot of my Italian friends stayed at home for the whole weekend. For them, All Saints Day is about being home and spending time with family. I think that is quite nice.

So, what did I do for Halloween? I made chicken curry! My friends and I decided that it was time to eat some spicy Indian food. The eight of us (mostly spice untested) gathered and created a delicious (I hope) sweet chicken curry. If you're wondering why it was sweet, I (the cook) was as surprised. It was due to the tomatoes. European tomatoes are far too sweet as compared to the ones I'm used to back home. Thus, sweet chicken curry (great for the Europeans I guess!). It's a fun experience when people taste something different which has a different history. It was history and culture that made that curry (the knowledge of it all culminated into a dish). Which I find quite amazing. Our senses like novelty, which is one of the many reasons I love to try new things to eat.

(^__^)

It's right after Halloween and all the stores are filled with Christmas decorations! It's actually a bit sad that we have such few festivals (things to look forward to?)

(~__~)

I had a "conversation" or a "moment of clarity" with the lady at the supermarket counter. She asked me if I wanted a bag (in Italian), all I understood from the sentence were the words "SIGNORA, BORSA? (Lady, bag?).

I replied with "UNA BORSA PER FAVORE" (One bag please)

After I had paid she said "ARRIVEDERCI" and "GRAZIE". I responded as required. It was after a few moments that I realised that I had not spoken a drop og English in that space of time. It was a stark ontrast to the times that I have pretended that I didn't  understand any Italian (which is understandable since I honestly didn't know what to do in this sort of situation)

It is like we prepare for particular situations. We are just racking up experience in different scenarios so that we know how to cope, how to manage. We don't actually know a language but we know particular day to day context based exchanges between people. It's like we're literally learning about a language 'part by part'. Isn't that fascinating?

Albeit that this is was a rather fundamental exchange. Hopefully, I'll just get better and better now!

(^__^)

The following phrase was taught to me by a friend from Sicily (the south of Italy) Apparently, the south doesn't understand the north very well, and vice versa. The context of this phrase is when you like someone romantically. Interesting right?

TI FANNO SANGUE - You make my blood run wild

[Yay! We're finally in the same month! I'm catching up :D I'll put photos up soon! Slow internet... A DOPO (later!) 26th to be specific!]

Break Free!

23rd - 29st October 2016

I came home today to find a sudden burst of noise on the floor where I live. I ran (literally) to investigate and found a party happening two doors down. I unintentionally pushed open the door to take a peek (the door was open) and found many people dancing. This was quite rare for the place where I live. This residential area is know to be quiet and peaceful (the only noise heard would be neighbours' dogs barking).

I didn't realise how eager I was to hear a break in the tranquility surrounding me at home. The people obviously noticed me peeking into their house and invited me in. I thought that it would be quite rude to join them since I wasn't invited to I told them I would come later (basically never). I went home and enjoyed the muffled music while I took some time to read. Sometime later, I heard my door bell ring and I found someone from the party at my doorstep. He said that it had been over an hour and that I should join them. I was happy to accept his invitation and made my way to the party. One of the students in that house had just graduated and this was a celebration party. I had never met some of the people here and I found that most of them were from Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian dance is varied and different from any of the dances that I know or have seen. There is a lot of use of the shoulders and the neck. Back in Ethiopia they would do in this dance in their traditional wear. It is a very free dance, it's like all of your emotions are let out and you are jumping and almost flying without a care in the world. It is filled with fun and it is something that cannot be done if you're feeling reserved. I first enjoyed this flurry of energy and before long I was invited to dance with them as well. There was a lot of jumping involved and they were nice enough to teach me some moves, The shoulder movement was really hard to imitate since it was so fast. The beat of the Ethiopian songs that were being played was faster than the average song and quite enjoyable. The neck bobbing was quite fun and I suddenly realised how similar a lot of the dance moves were with that of animal movements. It was enlightening and I felt like I was getting to know humans better. We all danced for about an hour or so and I learned their Zorba dance/song.

There were some people from Uganda and Nigeria there as well. I was surprised to learn that the music and the dance that they listen to and perform are very different. Uganda dances more to pop apparently.

When I was just about ready to leave, they demanded that I teach them some Bollywood moves. So I asked the DJ to play a song called "Nagada sang dhol" (Jab we Met movie). I tried my best to teach them what I could and they seemed to enjoy the new type of dance moves. Maybe they'll keep it in their arsenal for the next dance off! The Bollywood song reminded a few of the Nigerians that they like to watch Bollywood films in Nigeria. But since the films are in their original language (Hindi), I asked if they watch them dubbed or with subtitles. Their response was surprising, they said that there is usually someone in the town who knows Hindi (who knows why, maybe they learnt it by watching Hindi movies?) and there would be an ongoing translation of the dialogues while the movie is running. That sounds like fun to me! As long as they enjoy it, its not something to complain about I suppose.

The sounds they use in their language is a little different from those that are used around India. It was difficult for my Ugandan friend to say "Sri Lanka", she said that it was like a tongue twister to her.

(^__^)

I buried an onion today. No, I did not wish for it's death, I simply left it in water for too long before cutting it and it grew roots! It would have been fine if it grew just roots but it started spouting green shoots that looked so beautiful and so I couldn't cut it and eat it. As per the suggestions of my housemates we went to bury it. Since we had no shovels we just took a fat knife. It took a while to dig into the soil but we made it in the end! While going to our room I realised that we might have looked like murderers who just buried a body (a muddy knife to cover our tracks?). Who would bury an onion anyway?

Now we just hope that it will grow and give us more tears! (something I don't think I should really wish for :P) 

(>__>)

I learned some interesting things about the countries of my friends today. Each country has its own unique history that cannot be compared with another. The past sometimes leaves a deep impression on the future generations of a country, and sometimes, they are forgotten.

Some German citizens are taught in school that they should not be proud of their country. Growing up in such an environment where you feel guilty about a past that you were not apart of seems quite detrimental to children I would say; but we all grow up eventually. An interestin fact, there is no train line from the east to the west of Germany because the train lines were built when the Berlin wall was in place. So, travelling to the west or the east from either side involves going to the south or the north first. 

Most countries around Russia had been taken over by Russia at some point and therefore forced to learn the way of the Russian; Lithuania was one such country. The stark contrast between the facts taught in school to succeeding generations is astounding. My friend tells me that she and her parents discuss the same historical events with completely different facts (Russian way of thinking vs the Lithuanian way of thinking); talk about a generation gap!

(^__^)

My friends and I finally decided that we want to eat lasagna. The best place for that? Bologna. Why? Bolognese lasagna. Contrary to popular belief, Bolognese sauce is not served with spaghetti and meatballs, that is an Americanised Italian dish that doesn't exist in Italy.

"We will travel across the land, searching far and wide, each cuisine to understand the power that's inside!"

I wonder why we think that each city will be significantly different. When I walk through the streets of Bologna, I see streets that have been walked through by two types of people. People who paid attention to the street and those who didn't. In that perspective, every street can be a goldmine or just a path to a goldmine.

We inevitably find ourselves in sketchy parks so easily and today we found two! One was a beautiful park named after and built for the 9/11 victims of the WTC (it even had a beautiful carousel!). That was quite interesting, they even had a rather corroded piece of steel from the World Trade Center. The other park was crowded with people of all ages and it was here that we came face to face with the sketchiness that I described before.

One guy came up to us as we were walking and tried to offer us something. We passed him by (basically ignored him) and he started cursing at us in Italian! (not words I want to know really). I guess that he felt that we were in his territory and that we should take our business elsewhere if we weren't buying from him (I'm kidding! they were just being sketchy as sketchy goes...)

We finally ate lasagna in Italy. It was delicious! but I actually cannot compare it to any other city in Italy since this was my first lasagna in Italy. Would I come back for it? Yes, just for the lasagna.

On our way back I was finally checked for my ticket! I wonder how long I have been waiting to get my ticket checked. I knew that I would feel guilty if I didn't take a ticket but I was always annoyed that no one checked. Now I felt good, somehow, maybe.

Someone shushed us in the train. First I thought that it was quite rude since it was only 10 PM, but it got me thinking. If we had continued to speak at the same volume when the passenger had shushed us, would that mean that we didn't care what he thought? And if he didn't shush us then that would mean that he would have to compromise and adapt to our 'loud' noise.

Do we really care about other humans? Or do we pretend to care so that our society will work? Do we just cooperate so we an live in peace? Is that what peace is? compromise?

[So, why didn't I post last time? I was busy with college and I didn't have any time to edit...hence I had designed this to be a weekly blog, but that is after I catch up! Nonetheless, thank you for your support and views! I'll be adding pictures to this post later so make sure to check them out! Next post coming on 23rd :D Later!]

Update

Hey everyone! The next post has been 'post'-poned to the 20th of October. The reason? Hmmm..... You'll find out next time! I love keeping you in suspense <evilly chuckles>

I'm slowly but surely catching up! See you then! Maybe you can re-read some posts of mine if you're bored? 

(^__^)

Into the Wild

20th - 22nd October 2016

I don't understand why shoes are so expensive here. It's like the country has advanced so much that they're willing to pay about 200 EUR for a pair of boots! I guess everyone needs distractions from their daily lives, or just a goal to work towards. Nonetheless, I got myself shoes in a twentieth of that price so I am quite satisfied with myself (or will be till they degrade).

I got on a bus to go back home with my shopping bags and there was an old Italian man who wanted to give me his seat. He even helped me when some contents spilled out of my bag while the bus was moving; as a consequence of me wanting him not to help me (since I was much more able) and the bus turning just at that time, our heads collided! (thankfully, he wasn't injured...maybe).

I thought they were chocolate but they turned out to be different types of coffee! I would like a Leonardo Coffee please!

The Halloween season is here!

I found Harry Potter in Italian, sounds hilarious though!

Ha. Ha. Ha.

We love our professor so much he's the source of our graffiti

It's written in German and Italian (am I in Italy?)

I had my very own German tandem today (planned by yours truly). Three of us met up and learned that we can speak to each other in a language that wasn't our first or second. Myself and a girl from Lithuania have studied some German and given some exams but could not hold a conversation in German. And thus, after finding a German who was willing to help us, we made out way to a cafe and started speaking in German! It was so much fun! It wasn't exactly the grammar or the rules that mattered, it was the words and the meaning. Our German friend could understand us even though we made so many mistakes while speaking with her; I commend her for that. We will definitely do this again.

(^__^)

I took the an evening bus after a long time and I saw the city of Trento as I descended towards it. It was a beautiful sight. It felt transient and fleeting, but I love moments like this. This is truly what it means to be in the moment. You can never get back moments.

Italians drive as if they are racing, it is a pleasure to watch them rev their engines and push their cars up the mountains in Povo. But the best part is watching them speed down a straight like they are Formula racing drivers!

(^__^)

I went on a trip to Rio Novella and San Romedio. There is a beautiful canyon amid the dolomite hills/mountains in the valley of Novella. Dolomite are a type of rock that formed sedimentary layers and are beautiful to look at. The narrow canyon is constricting and the very fact that we were going to explore this place was fascinating to me.

Piazza Dante is present in every city I think

This is Piazza Dante near Rio Novella

Italian Monopoly Deal! I miss this game so much!

The valleys around including Rio Novella are filled with apple orchards. This is the season to harvest these apples so most of them were gone. It was quite interesting to learn of the different types of apples, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Fuji, Gala and Ranetta. We were all tempted to pick these from the tree and feel like royalty but of course, life handed us the ones that had fallen on the ground instead. We couldn't really complain since they were so delicious!

Apples galore

I wonder how they harvest? Walking would take too long!

And so I found my answer. Who knew that they could be so tiny!

The Fuji apples are the last to be picked

Ignoring the beautiful lady, do you see the white nets? That's for hail protection

Down a path of no return (we weren't coming back this way)

This is the valley of apples!

Fall came late but I'm ecstatic!

These are the Delicious Red variety I think (appropriate name)

Do not be tempted.

There is a secret in this photo

The secret waterfall beckons

No one walks here I guess (except us)

If only you could survive on beauty

4 different types of apples, can you figure it out?

We all wore helmets so we wouldn't (accidentally) bleed out

Down into the canyon at last

I was scared of dropping my phone into the canyon while taking these pictures and so I trusted my friends to take the pictures for me.

We know not how to come back alive from down there

I did wonder how many died while making this metal path that we walked on

Odd stalactites? Well, it's not exactly a cave

Deep deep canyon

Will we make it out alive?

Quite narrow and winding

We walked through the winding trail/track for about an hour and a half and we didn't realise that we had become accustomed to the darkness of the place. It felt like a somewhat lit cave in a way. So when the light came rushing forth, it felt like a dream...

I'm surprised that no one lives here 

Out of the canyon!

It was refreshing to see some light after being the dark

Cerberus (someone in the trip felt his throat burn when he had a taste, death wish I suppose?)

Cute mascot asking us not to pick flowers during springtime

The tree of death and cerberus live among the beauty here (a forest with thorns)

This was a bridge that was broken so that the fruits on the other side could not be picked by passersby

Can you imagine that here, of all places is a hydro plant making use of the running river? (and it's automated!)

We made it out safe!

Now to see the wider part of the canyon

These paths are treacherous and not for the acrophobics

We walked through the "scenic path" to get to a place called San Romedio, named after a Saint Romedio. His story was an interesting one. Trento and this particular place (a hill somewhere) is about 40 kilometers apart. And for some reason, during the last century, Saint Romedio (a hermit) liked to travel to Trento from here quite often; and he did so on his trusty horse. And horses, like all other things in this world can die, and therefore, Saint Romedio could no longer visit Trento. Can you guess what he did? He found a brown bear (common in these parts) and after making it his pet (who knows how he managed that), he rode it to Trento. Thus, he became the famous saint who had a pet bear. The people living here, stay in honour of the hermit, San Romedio (SAN is saint I think) and have built a tall structure here.

Tall structure with a beautiful view from the top. 

That was all of us!

[Hi everyone! I know that today's post doesn't have that much content since I was so busy and excited putting up so many photos! Hope that you enjoyed the post! I would appreciate any feedback and keep reading! My next post will be on the 17th. Later!]

Extra-Ordinary

13th - 19th October 2016

I had read that a certain telephone company in Italy is known for ripping people off. I was wary, but clearly not wary enough. My contract tells me to pay a certain amount every month and they sent me a message today. 

IL TUA CREDITO DI - 1.66 euro, NON E' SUFFICIENTE. PER RICARICARE CHIAMA IL 42xx0 

Basically, my credit was insufficient even though I had paid the exact amount. This wouldn't necessarily be a problem because my phone was receiving calls and I could make calls but my internet was not working. After going to the store and asking them about my situation, I was informed that there were extra charges for using the internet and I was not made aware of this because it was given to me freely for the first month. They make life good and then they take it away, isn't that how any business works? And what do you know, just as soon as I paid the TABACCHI (the little shop where you can buys magazines etc.), I could use my internet fully. That was quite surprising but I guess they honestly just wanted my money. Sigh.

(-__-)

Tissue in the body and tissue for the nose. Same spelling, completely different meaning. This was baffling to my Italian friends. English has many funny irregularities.

VOI SIETE QUI (You are here)

As expected of Italy, where FIAT is like Mahindra (Indian company)

There was a party organised by the Welcome Office of the university for the international students. Since I had arrived late (classes were far away), I was quite intimidated by the sheer number of people in the great hall. There were a surprising number of countries being represented there. Among them I met, Germany, Hungary, France, Australia, Lithuania, Iran, USA, Bangladesh, Yemen, Sudan, Vietnam, Czech Republic, Poland, Moldova, Sweden, Russia, Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Morocco, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Chile, Peru, Ireland, Spain, Brasil, Philippines, Netherlands, Belgium, Mexico, Venezuela, and last but not least Italy (undercover agents).

Being an anime fan, I was really looking forward to meeting someone from Japan. But, what can I do, sometimes fate has other plans. Once the food had been scavenged by the students it was time to leave the great hall. It was while leaving that this rather odd incident took place. I happened to see an Asian-looking girl leaving from another exit. I immediately ran to her and said "Excuse me!". She turned and out of my mouth came "Where are you from?". In hindsight I cannot believe that I was so rude to her but what was even ruder was what followed. She replied with "I'm from Japan". I was dumbstruck, I could feel joy emanating from me and rising exponentially, my eyes widened and I greeted her in Japanese with "HAGIMEMASHITE, WATASHI NO NAMAE WA TINA DESU. ANATA NO NAMAE WA NANDESU KA?" (Nice to meet you, My name is Tina. What is your name?). She was surprised but answered me right away. I then asked her if she was coming to the event that was planned after this party. She replied in the affirmative. I should have taken my cue and left at that point since I would hopefully (fingers crossed) met her soon; instead, I dug my own grave. I asked her for her number like a little puppy. That could have gone either way but fate was kind to me and she gave me her number (I asked her to tell me her number in Japanese! That was a first for me!). I also told her that it was such a joy to meet someone from Japan. I think she felt elated? Nonetheless, we parted ways and I left for the next event without a care in the world.

(*__*)

Do you see anything out of place in this picture?

Did you see it yet?

Now? Chickens! on a playground! No idea why

Yes ladies and gentlemen, children are also called BIMBO here

Why did they make so many chimneys? Too much chimney work!

Latin: Doubt is the beginning of wisdom

Subway?

Think again!

Burrito!

Free burrito! There was a new restaurant opening in an unfamiliar part of town and they had advertised free food for all who came. We ventured in quite late (after class) to find a huge bustle within the restaurant. We had thought that it was over and were content to just sit and have all the free nachos and salsa (I'm kidding, I would have loved that meal too!). But, since we came all this way (2 bus rides) we had to at least ask (everyone was Italian and this side of town was not known to have many students as residents). We were surprised when we found out that the event was still on and we got our free burrito!

Everyone loves minions and Frozen!

The fog is here and it looms around us

He didn't want me to go. An actual puppy face

A physical manifestation of the students' clouds over their head?

As expected of Italy (1 EUR coin)

Bagpipes are quite rare

(^__^)

I went to discover a new path nearby. I was surprised to find this treasure so close to me.

There was some light

Then there was more light

The path to Neverland

Ever seen 4 branches simultaneously emerging?

So much path!

Like a fairytale...

I reached a plateau on top, I see my house!

He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead, his eyes are closed - Einstein

I wonder if this is how Kings and Queens feel sitting on their high thrones?

The perfect romantic spot

I guess that this place was made to be a park

I was scared to move through the high grass because of snakes. But then I remembered that snakes here aren't exactly poisonous

A storage area? I was wary thinking that someone was watching me from inside

I went to investigate nonetheless, too bad that I couldn't go inside

Back to the path (after contemplating my life)

I came from down there

I was casually walking down when my foot hit a rock and I kicked it unknowingly to the side. This act led to some movement. A creature ran fast across my path. It was the colour that stood out. It was black and yellow. I had heard that brightly coloured animals are usually poisonous so I kept my guard up (right after I took a photo). In hindsight (after using Google), I realised that I had a close brush with death. These fire salamanders can be fatal depending on where they are touched. But, I am alive!

Salamandra salamandra

I apologised to the forest for the disturbance and was grateful for being left alive

Snow on the mountain overnight (Winter is coming.)

(^__^)

Feels like home (popular car back home )

Mozzarella CRUDO (with uncooked meat) It was surprisingly delicious 

That's how the road are 'sweeped'

This truck was backing into the steep path (as expected of Italian drivers)

Load unloaded and heading up the hill (this was in the back of the red truck)

I feel like Snow White when they are so close

Welcome, Fall

I'm on a living movie set

When you realise that Winx club is an Italian production

In preparation for the Venice festival?

I found Naruto (Japanese comic)! albeit in Italian

[Thank you for reading! Feel free to leave any comments or feedback. I will be posting every third day for a while now. So I'll see you lot on the 14th! Have a great weekend! A DOPO (See you later)]