fairytale gone bad <> sunrise avenue (dedicated)

This is the end you know
Lady, the plans we had went all wrong
We ain't nothing but fight and shout and tears
We got to a point I can't stand
I've had it to the limit; I can't be your man
I ain't more than a minute away from walking

We can't cry the pain away
We can't find a need to stay
I slowly realized there's nothing on our side

Out of my life, Out of my mind
Out of the tears that we can't deny
We need to swallow all our pride
And leave this mess behind
Out of my head, Out of my bed
Out of the dreams we had, they're bad
Tell them it's me who made you sad
Tell them the fairytale gone bad

Another night and I bleed
They all make mistakes and so did we
But we did something we can never turn back right
Find a new one to fool
Leave and don't look back. I won't follow
We have nothing left. It's the end of our time
We can't cry the pain away
We can't find a need to stay
There's no more rabbits in my hat to make things right

Out of my life, Out of my mind
Out of the tears we can't deny
We need to swallow all our pride
And leave *THIS mess behind
Out of my head, Out of my bed
Out of the dreams we had, they're bad
Tell them it's me who made you sad
Tell them the fairytale gone bad

fancy stuff

no comment...

siena, san gimignano, pisa

best trip so far. a weekend in the medieval part of italy, immersed in the countryside, the simple life, the gorgeous views, and the fun times with people from all over the world. it was a trip organised by Erasmus Student Network (ESN) milano and everyone on it had only been in italy for as long as i have. the 3 little cities we visited were so quiet, so pretty, so friendly, i felt like i was in a Tolkien story the entire time.
it started out pretty bad with me going to the bus stop at 6 am and waiting in the rain after returning from the club at 5:30am. but all the bad start was worth the amazing time i had there. best part of the trip was a wine tasting session in san gimignano at a traditional facility that bottles their own wine. the bread, the olive oil, the cheese and of course the wine were extraordinary. i actually know now how good wine tastes like.


the last part of the trip was in pisa, where i was so eager to go and take a picture with the leaning tower. i have never seen a place where people do funnier poses than in front of this special tower which by the way you have to book in order to climb up.




now i understand why everyone i told i was going to milan told me that i would like the rest of italy much better. it was really sad going back to the city and school after such a fun weekend. however, ESN is having a t-shirt competition for all erasmus students and my submissions are totally going to win. the price the next trip for free. i can't wait for the results.
i started out on this trip all by myself, like coming to italy was too, but by the end i was really good friends with 15 people in the bus and we did everything together. i met 4 americans form new york, and they told me there is 50 people from their school here (why is there not from mine?), 2 canadians, 1 german, 1 french, 1 israeli, 3 turks, and some italians. we have already agreed to 3 different events to go together to in milan. i am really excited about taking advantage of all these friendships and visiting all their countries, too. i think it is the most awesome thing to have connections throughout the world and right now i feel like i have a lot.

random

i have been traveling so much lately. out of all the people that decided to come to europe from iit i thought i would be the one traveling the less but not true at all. so far i have been to athens, venice, roma, and istanbul. this weekend im going to see 3 more italian cities on a quick tour, pisa, siena, and san gimignano. cant wait to take a picture holding up the leaning tower. the trip that i want to do the most though, i can not do.

i finally realize how easy the english language is and also how unnecessarily complicated other languages, like italian, are. there is no reason for more than 8 tenses or silly phonetic changes to words. in other words, i don't want to learn italian. speaking english with all the foreigners here is making me forget my english. if you hear wrong english for a long time, can you think it is right afterwards?

also i have this one huge complaint about albania not being recognized as an important country in europe. i was the only one that had to get a visa to get in turkey. not even the brasilians do! brasil is really far away damnit. it seems like a really trivial thing to mention but i am always last in all the lines, and i always have to wait the most, and they always have doubts and check my passport like 300 times. if i am to travel so much, i need at least to be allowed to do so. i really can't wait to get my american passport. its like my ticket to traveling freedom, more than anything else.

it's freaking cold out.

what exists in europe

things i knew:

-coca cola
-mc donalds
-cosco

things i didn't know

-remax (the real estate company!!)
-UPS (isn't this like totally american?)
-foot locker (omg it is everywhere!)
-hard rock cafe!!
-the body shop
-burger king (wow!!!)
-halloween, big time drinking involved (so americanized)
-blockbuster???!!!!

i have a feeling there is more to be added to this list.

writing on a sunday morning

i think i am finally getting used to milan and this new way of life. going out during the week even when there is class the next morning, finding random concerts going on through out the center, finding MTV cameras making some show (actually MTV italy is looking for people, maybe i will apply), seeing giorgio armani ads in the subway, trying to speak italian and communicate in an architectural level during studio classes, enjoying the fact that there is no tax to be added at the end of your shopping because the tax is already included in the price!!! (this is by far my favorite thing), going to soccer matches that i never dreamed i could go see, and in general living the italian life.

wednesday i went to this little italian pub called "entropia". there was a little italian band playing live requests from the pretty drunk customers. they were mainly playing old italian songs that i happen to know (because i learned italian listening to them). so i had the pleasure of requesting two songs which they played for me and they reminded me of old times in albania and greece. the atmosphere in general was very friendly and happy and i think im definitely going back there.

next stop on my traveling schedule is rome. i am going there with my roomates for four days and we have a list of places to go visit. i really cant wait to to go there and discover one more italian city so famous for its architecture. i don't know what i am expecting to learn from these trips, maybe something about architecture that i will only realize years later.

ironic

An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day
It's a black fly in your Chardonnay
It's a death row pardon two minutes too late
And isn't it ironic... don't you think

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought"Well isn't this nice..."
And isn't it ironic... don't you think

Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay
and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything's gone wrong
and everything blows up in your face

A traffic jam when you're already late
A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
It's meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife

And isn't it ironic...don't you think
A little too ironic...and, yeah, I really do think...

vacation is finally over - school begins

so i get back to milan and find my new argentinian roomate (Lu) and my two brasilian suitmates (Ma and Bi), my short cut is Isi as usual. they are the coolest girls ever, we all have different personalities offering something different to the group. Lu is the party girl, Ma is the responsible one, Bi knows all mass transportation, and I... hmmm.... i think i am the decision maker. ahhaaa.

in milano, one goes out every day of the week and by that i mean even sunday and monday. regular restaurants transform to clubs after 11pm and i just witnessed one of these transformations today. they also have this amazing deal they call "happy hour". so from 8pm to 10:30pm one can buy 2 drinks for the price of one and also enjoy huge amounts of tasty appetizers for free. so with 6-7 euros you get two drinks and endless food of your choice. very nice deal!

classes in italy are only once a week but also 4 hours long!!! it is the hardest thing to handle, staying focused for all 240 minutes. but hey at least i dont have to go to the same class twice in a week. my best class so far is my studio, in which i am building a huge transportation center in turkey and for that i am going to istanbul!!! how cool is that! i already got the tickets. i will post pictures soon. there is also this other class about sustainable architecture and about how much the USA sucks for using up so much more energy than the rest of the world. i am not kidding, this is the purpose of the class. lol

2 weeks in athens

athens was a lot of fun and a lot of relative meetings and a lot of food and a lot of feta cheese. so it was great. the first week was kind of chilly so i couldnt go to the beach. the second week i got my period...lol..so i couldnt go to the beach. but i got to take pics of it and that is still fun.

my conclusion is that we work our entire life to make money and not work anymore and we end up not working when we can't really enjoy our money at our full potential a.k.a. when we are old. the most beautiful places in athens, like loutraki and barkiza, which are by the sea and have wonderful clear blue waters, are so expensive to live at that only old wealthy people can enjoy. all this gorgeous locations are inhabited by so many old people and no young ones that is kind of not fair i think. i think old people should let young people enjoy the beach damn'it.


also greeks have this huge thing about eastern women who they think go to greece just to steal greek men from their wives and take their money. there is always shows about this on tv and it is just so funny when you hear them argue this rediculous subject.


oh i also saw santiago calatrava's olympic stadium which is gorgeous but i could not get too close. i heard he got paid like 4 times the actual amount he should have because the greeks asked him at the last minute. he is the bomb though.

but biggest thing i have to talk about is the how much of a party people albanians are. my uncle who is almost 50 is the first one to get up and dance at a party (which i think would sound unheard of for an american), he also almost slapped his son for not dancing and he forced him to learn how to dance. all albanians just dance to the slightest hearing of a note and are suckers for partying big time. it's kind of kool that i am part of this nation. ahhaha.

first days in milan

milano is so much. so much decor, art, monumental, tiles, turns, tiny streets, scooters, dressed up people, egyptians, and cigarettes. i never thought there would be so many illegal south american's so far away from south america. egyptians are justified since they are so close. cigarettes have been killing me. i never thought i would actually feel the difference in the air when i walk in the street and feel my stomach burn from the smoke.

other than that the city is so much different than chicago and excitingly enough it reminds me of albania more and more each day. the center of tirana was designed by the same architects that designed milan... i came to this conclusion.

also weed is very widely used around here. people just offer it to you. and you can smell it everywhere. restorants are open until 1am. but other important stores close at 8pm and are closed every day from 12:30pm to 3pm and on sunday of course. there is like 3 different kinds of buses, tram, trains, taxis. cars park on sidewalks and they drive on them to go to the parking spot.

one of the most annoying things is the tiny sizes of the shampoo bottles and the expensive prices. i think i am going to need to cut my hair to survive here. :-p

but for now im going to greece.

ps: yesterday went to the milano film festival which was really great.

how one little thing can mess up an entire trip

so i go from chicago to new york. it was wonderful. nice trip no problems. my baggages weren't overweight. at the new york airport i meet up with this girl from Latvia. we are waiting together for our flights that leave almost at the same time (which was by the way like 8 hours after i arrived). we go upstairs 2 hours before our flight to check if the lines have started. mine hasn't yet. turns out that her airline does not exist at the airport that day. the flight is not going to happen and that the next flight with this airline is on sunday (we were there friday morning). i felt os bad and tried to help her figure out something... i still don't know what happenned to her. but there is an irony here...

after a while i had to go to my own lines that were formed. when i get to check in the ticket guy tells me i can not get on the flight because i don't have a transit visa. my flight for milan was supposed to stop in dublin, ireland because that is how i bought the ticket without even crossing my mind that ireland is not part of the schengen countries that i hold a visa for. at this point i get so anxious but i still had some hope that could approve my 1 hour stay in the dublin airport since i was just switching flights.

so i call the irish embassy in new york, in washington d.c. and everyone tells me i can not get on the flight that day and that it takes 5 days to issue a transit visa, there are fees to get paid, and there could be no EXCEPTIONS. and then i started crying. i didn't know what to do. i had to get to milan. i had a reservation at a hotel, i had a ticket for greece for the coming wednesday, i had to do paperwork before school started, i just had to do so many things.

i called my brother and ryan, told everyone to look for another flight for me that left that day or the next. after an hour of running around jfk at different airlines, i finally bought a ticket with airfrance for about $2000. this was my only choice considering others included me going back to chicago and buying an equaly expensive ticket because it would be for the next day or so, if i didnt want to miss me my flight for greece.

after being at jfk for 10 hours i finally get on the plane and sit there and think a little. i was so pissed i had to spent so much money out of the loan money i had for living in italy for the next year. at that point a guy comes up to me: are you isida? and i am like yes he is like: you need to take everything and come with me. you have to go through the security check again. it was like the floor fell under my feet (literally, i never thought i would use this phrase). so i go back to security check, i pretty much get treated like a terrorist, they check the lining of my bag, spray air on me, ask me questions. what triggered this was the fact that i had 2 tickets in the same day, i guess... i am so agitated at this point that i forget my laptop there and had back to the plane (cause the flight is almost leaving) but thank god someone came and told me and so i had to go all the way back and then all the way back to the plane.

i don't know how bad this all sounds to you. but it is really bad, trust me. by the time the plane left i was crying so much and making a fool of myself. for once, nothing bad happenned in paris, where my flight transfered this time, and i get on my alitalia plane to italy. when i get to milan my laggage didn't arrive with me but this time i had no energy to freak out. i was so tired after over 30 hours of traveling (since i left my house) and i just went to the lost and found line where i had to wait for 3 hours. when i get to the end on the line, the lady tells me that my luggage should have arrived with the airfrance flight that just landed.

after all of this, i finally get to the hotel in milan and it is only 3pm but for me it feels like the 40th hour. i still cant sleep though cause it is 8am in chicago. so i go on a quest for italian plug converters and phone cards and i finally went to bed at 1am (milano time). the fact that i feel so lonely and out of place is a whole different story that i don't want to explain and i hope it goes away soon.

i only want to see someone familiar now. i miss my life chicago so much. but i chose this and i need to do it.

so i might not have to pay tuition

it is kind of crazy and i can barely belive it. however, the italian university contact just confirmed today that there will be no tuition or fees for me to pay when i go to polimi.
i don't know... i'm still kind of skeptic about this. if it is true, this study abroad trip for one year will be way cheaper than going to iit for one year.
sounds awesome, i know. hopefully it turns out to be true, but that will only be known once i get there, which by the way is in 3 days. only 3 days. oh... i have to call the airport.-

visa: check!

went to the consulate Friday morning, running the entire time since i was late. the place is open from 9am to 12:30pm. how much can one get done in only 3.5 hours? probably just wait a bunch and then leave without getting anything done. fortunately, i got there at 12:15 and found out that it didn't take that long to get the passport with the visa, since i had already been through the long process of the application. like every other European office, there was drama in the Italian consulate: a hot Italian guy (he looked like a model) leaving and saying "vafanculo", a black girl crying because she couldn't prove that she had enough money to go to Italy, a very annoying guard that directed people and wouldn't stop telling me his life story. i have to mention here that i wasn't part of any of the drama and i am very proud of myself for having years of experience at dealing with offices (since i was eleven) and now, i know exactly what they need and i get done pretty fast. here is a little tip if dealing with European offices: they will make no copies for you! you need to provide your own notarized copies of all documents you are providing them with. lol i am going to be making lots of copies of all my stuff before i go to Milan, notarize them here, and don't worry about it there.

one might wonder... why milan?

three years of architecture at iit aren't much help when it comes to realizing what i really like in this field and if i am going to be able to do it. so going to study abroad was my first thought that might help. italy is a place i've always wanted to visit and i've spoken italian since i was very little. the school in milan is one of the best in europe and ta-da! we have a winner: politecnico di milano in milan, italy. im kind of anxious because there will be no other students from my school with me but hey i've done this before, no biggie. and niels is coming second semester but by then i should be all set.

so far, and by that i mean just by looking at the classes i am going to take, i think i am going to like urban planning a lot. i will prolly have an update on this as soon as i start the classes :-p

making money

so this whole working business in the united states... it is so overrated. everyone works so much. i work so much trying to make some money and save for italy but nothing. i work and i work and i spend and i spend. can't seem to be able to save up. now, i am working ..doorguarding..until 4am. when i was last in europe, people didn't work nearly as much, and had fun AND saved up. hopefully it is still the same. i wanna find a nice job in italy, like a waitress or something, maybe a shampoo girl, and get paid in cash and live hapilly. it sounds feasible.

getting visa this friday

this is the last step to being set for sure.

1.accepted
2.ticket
3.room: http://www.residenze.polimi.it/scheda.php?id_progetto=126&id_sezione=1
4.loan
5.visa?

i am so excited!