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.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, September 10, 2007
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.-
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.-
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