01/13/10

I feel like an orphan. There are cots lined up on the walls, blankets strewn over metal bed frames and ½ way open suitcases piled at the end of beds. I can’t remember the last day and I can’t fall asleep either…

So when we got to Milan we picked up a straggler-Kevin (28 yrs. old), he was going to Rome to stay with a friend and break dance for a month-so he would ride the bus w/ us to Centrale Stazionale in Milano. Our baggage didn’t come out at the baggage claim, and in the midst of waiting around and trying to find our bags, somehow Kevin and I ended up exiting the area, ended up on the other side with no one that spoke English and couldn’t figure out how to get back in to where the rest of the group was, we found out his bank card didn’t work here, and I had to go back through security for the 5th time. We took a bus to Milan..


I can bet you will never guess the first place we headed for in Milan. Really. Don’t judge, we were desperately trying to find free Wi-Fi, so we sat outside to test it out. The only time I went into this place was for the bathroom. But if I did go in I could have ordered a beer with my happy meal. Kevin ended up using the Internet café next door, but they charged you 3.50 euro by the half hour, I think. He had to message his friend to call his dad to phone his bank…or who knows what he was trying to do. He apparently only had 20 euros on him and no cell phone. Loco.
We bought train tickets for 11pm that night to leave for Macerata…and found a sandwich bar in the train station. We also met Juan, from Brazil. He was leaving for home in the morning after traveling all throughout Europe with a couple friends for a few months. We hung out at the café for awhile but by that time had lost track of Kevin. Juan helped us drag our luggage to the station and find the train when it wasn’t on any of the schedule boards and we were all freaking out. Grace gave him her blanket she stole from 1st class on one of the planes because he was spending the night in the train station. He was so nice to us.

Our compartment was full, bags stuffed to the ceiling overhead. There were 6 of us…Us 3 girls, an older Italian couple, and a man from Morocco. They didn’t speak English, but they helped us with our luggage and Grace, who knew more Italian than we did, talked a little with the Italian woman, who was very sweet. The train ride was 5 hours…but it felt like 10. We switched trains twice, once in Ancona and once in Citvitanova-Marche. I hardly slept. I had no idea what time it was or when we were supposed to switch so every time the train stopped, I’d jerk awake and strain to read signs.

We got on a train in Ancona and met 3 girls from Poland going to Macerata to the University to take their exams, they told us. Between the 3 of them, they could speak like 5 different languages…I just feel like a dumb American, but they said most Italians in Macerata only speak Italian. I guess that’s no different.
Anywho, they led us as far as they could on the way to their apartments and showed us which direction the hostel was...there were no taxis at 5:30am there. And we’re probably too cheap to get one anyway. They said it was hilly. They’re weren’t joking. So we get to the top of this cobblestone hill, panting after pushing and carrying 70 pounds of luggage up these hills before 6 in the morning, in the dark. And then the girls are like “Okay, you go straight and then left and through gate and wind through streets, okay?”
Haha.
We found the first piazza and literally collapsed on the ground with all our bags. There were a few locals around setting up the market later that morning. We must have looked crazy. I took a video of us wandering around through the streets trying to find the hostel. We got lost and by then it was just really funny. There were cars zipping around the alleys and we’d smash ourselves against the wall, trying not to get run over. I don’t know how exactly we finally found it, we had a map, but it wasn’t the best. There was a wall and a buzzer. A man opened this tiny door and led us up some stairs and took our passports…it was like 7am, I think when we got there. We didn’t wake up until 2pm.
The buildings are freezing because the are so old and not insulated well. We took a tour of the city and Filiberto brought us to the AHA center where we talked, went out for hot drinks. I had some really good hot chocolate.
The girls are all really nice. We had dinner at the hostel and then used the internet downstairs, of course everyone was online. I should have written on the computer instead of in my notebook on the way here so I could copy and paste. Sorry if I don’t get pictures up quickly everyone! The internet is slow in the hostel and it takes forever to load them, so when I can find a café with internet I’ll post some.
I feel pretty good about it all so far-I just feel calm right now. Maybe it’s the jet lag. But I think I’ll love it here.
Buona notte, Macerata.