Idea Verona: Is This Real Life?

Now I know that I have dedicated a large portion of this blog to my travels around Europe but I just want to take a moment (a pausa if you will) to talk about Verona and why I have absolutely zero regrets for studying abroad in this wonderful little bubble right smack dab between Milano and Venezia. These are the top 5 reasons why after each day here, I think to myself "This is not real life."

1. Idea Verona. My friends ask me is this a university? My answer is I have no fucking clue. I guess it is a language arts and cultural school? I don't know, I'm just here to hang out in Europe for 4 months, that's all I know.

2. My classes are a JOKE. Test? NO. Homework? NO. I have had one test since I got here in Italian 1, everyone got A's or A+'s. For my business class, we go on field trips to different factories. Our first trip was to a shoe factory right outside of Verona. I got a free pair of 200 euro suede boots as a gift from the owner. For going to class. If teachers used this kind of incentive instead of I-Clickers, class attendance would sky rocket. Then went to a winery and got a private wine testing. I got drunk with my business teacher and received class credit for it. This does not happen in America. My Italian teacher likes to learn English as we learn Italian. She taught us that in New York, they call hangovers "driving the bus" because they hug the toilet as they get sick and we taught her "Peace out" and who Mario Lopez is. She is going to pass all of us, I guarantee it. For photography class last week, we watched One Hour Photo and went home. This week we went to a park nearby and I got to take pictures just hanging out with my friends playing on a jungle gym. Not real life.

3. Claudio trips. Who is Claudio? Kill yourself.
Haha I'm just playing, but seriously kill yourself. Claudio is the shit. He is my 54 year old program director, business teacher and unofficial mayor of Verona. He is basically our babysitter and he takes us on 4 big group trips during our time here. So far we have gone to Montava and Soave, Lake Garda, Venice and Murano, and in a couple of weeks, we are going to Asiago. Claudio trips are fun for several reasons but the 2 main ones: the FOOD and WINE which are included in every meal we have on our trips. He is a true Italian because he can't stand it when our plates or wine glass are empty and because of this, I usually have trouble standing after the meal. Sometimes, we get lucky and he brings his lovely wife Rita and adorable 9 year old son Pedro with on trips and they keep us entertained for hours. Claudio is worth the extra $1,000 excursion fee I spent on this program just to hang out with him.

4. The people on my program. Shout out to Locatelli where family dinners and drunken pregames are the norm until the threat of deportation is thrown out there (seriously that happened lol). My program consists of 38 of the craziest fuckers I have ever had the pleasure to party with. All so different yet we're all the same. The bad news: I only have a little over a month left with them. The good news: they all go to U of I. Now that is not real life.

5. You can get drunk, get lost, and get a ride home with a random Italian man at 3 in the morning and live to tell about it. Not saying that this happened to me but I have a friend...


They are going to have drag me out of this city, I'm not kidding.
Allora...
Mia