Archive for February, 2009

Journal 17 – Milan, Saturday

Saturday February 8th.

Interesting night. That’s the most I can say. After a magnificent dinner of deep friend crab puffs w/ claw and cannelloni – which is mozzarella and beef stuffed hollowed out pasta – along with some wine/beer – with my roommates and three of their friends we went on a grand adventure around Milan. Wandering all about the city and eventually ending up at il Centro – a student/bohemian hang out area which would be best described as an abandoned industrial center that’s been stripped bone bare. Huge open room with cement floors and walls…Spartan at its best. At one end was a large raised platform (loading dock/raised production area) with three DJ’s and two rappers who were singing about the government, rebellion and youth culture. I understood parts but Rap+Italian+Wine+3am+me = Very little understanding. We got there after 2:30 because it was free and Kim and I left around 3-4 taking a taxi home because we couldn’t figure out how to walk home. Nico and Leo returned at 5-6ish and went to sleep around 9.

Sunday was brilliantly sunny. So we woke up around 2 and went over to the park to play basketball. The weather was perfect. We played five rounds with some of the other Italians who were in the park. After basketball I came home, got dressed and got ready to meet Adam’s father, who graciously offered to take us to the oldest restaurant in Milan. After an amazing meal consisting of dumplings and basil, risotto, breads, and Veal alla Milanese, we sat and discussed current affairs and had a great time. The restaurant itself was magnificent with sculptures spread throughout the dining rooms and paintings/art of every wall. Bordering every wall, every 10 feet, were the original columns from the 1600’s. It was a treat to say the least. Adam’s father is a very kind gentleman with a reserved tone and calming manner.

After dinner we walked back to La Scala and then to the Duomo. From the Duomo we each went our separate ways. I came home and went to bed to prepare for work Monday.

This morning I woke at 6:30am and walked down to the ATM to withdraw the final amount for the Caution (deposit) and first month’s rent. Left it on the dresser for Nico with a note and left for work at 7:35. I got to work early and took time to get a cup of coffee to start off my day. I’m afraid it may be becoming a habit. Interestingly enough there is a city ordinance that sets a limit on the maximum charge for coffee. As long as you don’t sit down you can only be charged a maximum of 90 centismi (euro cents) per cafè. After my cup of coffee I sat down and started work for the day.

Sunday and Monday were both exquisite days. Shockingly wonderful – warm, sunny, bright – gorgeous. I could see the alps from my office today which was breathtaking. With the fog and smog of the city I often forget just how close they are…and how massive.

Have a bit of homework to do tonight…Not content to just leave it…have some reading and waiting for an Edict from the Senate… I do hope they make a decision soon.

Ciao Tutti!

Ciao Tutti! Come state? Io sto benino. Non sono cosi cosi…non sono bene…Io sto benino! Haha, Perfetto. Oggi io vado al lavoro and ho letto molto, anche io ho dimenticato il mio cellulare! Terribile. Ma a domani io andro al consulato e ho prendertelo. Questa sera, io ho voglio di andare al discotech, ma, io ho creduto quando. Anche, i miei campagni di stanze hanno voglio e usciamo insieme. Dopo cena noi prenderemo una decisione.

Took some pictures, but not enough to be worthy of an upload. It’s coming up on time to pay rent so tomorrow I’ve got to get a copy of my passport for Il Padrone (the landlord). After we will play basketball in the park near Bocconi and dopo quello mangiamo. Then once we’ve eaten its time to head out dancing – not salsa but going to a college student/aged reggae club. Should be a great opportunity for some culture shock. I’m still tired so sleeping in tomorrow will be much appreciated but I’ll do my best to get some photo’s as well. Unfortunately there has been a lot of fog and its been rainy for the last few days, making any photos I would take pretty miserable looking which is not the image of Milan I want to portray.

Everything is about point of view.

I’ve asked my roommates to help me find some slums and industrial areas undergoing redevelopment for the 2015 EXPO. These projects should provide some excellent photos/research for my urban independent study. Additionally it will allow me to get some ground time in parts of Milan I probably wouldn’t see (slums). Whatever happens it will be a productive day and night. I might even get some writing done regarding the paper and research. Both my mentors here (Ben and Michael) have expressed interest in the paper once I’ve finished it. It will be great to have their input and view as a sounding board to see if its on track.

I’ve been exhausted this entire week. Not sure why but I’ll figure it out. May be missing something in my diet or my system is taking advantage of the relatively light workload to try and catch up from my first week. I think it may also have something to do with going from my college schedule of 8-10 hours of sleep to a maximum of 5 over the last three weeks (since the 20th). Something keeps hinting that its probably a large part of why I’m tired.

Mum and Pa are in Mexico, I’m excited that they have the opportunity to take some time for themselves and relax. They both deserve a good bit of a break.

Alex is working hard and renewing old ties. Good to hear from him and his blog at www.virtualwayfarer.com is always a treat to visit.

I want to hear from my friends across the world! Those of you reading these please leave me a comment or send me an e-mail and update me on what your doing and what you’re excited about for this month!

Watching the Senate and House pretty carefully. The world is holding its breath waiting to see what standard the U.S. sets…a heavy burden for our president. I think his shoulders are wide enough to carry us through.

Time for a nap! More later,
Buona serata, Ciao tutti!

Truly a strong and intelligent man:

“There is no doubt that the very nature of faith means that some of our beliefs will never be the same. We read from different texts. We follow different edicts. We subscribe to different accounts of how we came to be here and where we’re going next – and some subscribe to no faith at all.

But no matter what we choose to believe, let us remember that there is no religion whose central tenet is hate. There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being. This much we know.

We know too that whatever our differences, there is one law that binds all great religions together. Jesus told us to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” The Torah commands, “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.” In Islam, there is a hadith that reads “None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.” And the same is true for Buddhists and Hindus; for followers of Confucius and for humanists. It is, of course, the Golden Rule – the call to love one another; to understand one another; to treat with dignity and respect those with whom we share a brief moment on this Earth.

It is an ancient rule; a simple rule; but also one of the most challenging. For it asks each of us to take some measure of responsibility for the well-being of people we may not know or worship with or agree with on every issue. Sometimes, it asks us to reconcile with bitter enemies or resolve ancient hatreds. And that requires a living, breathing, active faith. It requires us not only to believe, but to do – to give something of ourselves for the benefit of others and the betterment of our world.”

The full text of President Obama’s speech can be found at www.whitehouse.gov
Cheers to an era that works toward the dilution of hatred.

Ciao tutti. Come state? Io sto bene. Oggi io ho avuto una nuova idea. Cerco per informazioni in siti con il fine della .it. è molto utilie. Articoli in google Italia sono molto interesanti.

Mi campagni di stanza mi ha richiesta a usare miei credit card a comprare il internet. I ragazzi mi pagaranno dopo. Ma perchè io in Milano a il primo di maggio io no lo so. Il consulato mi ha detto che il fastweb è molto dificile a cambiare il pagare. Se miei compagni di stanza parlate con fastweb loro sono italiano e forse un po più di facile. Miei compagni di stanza non hanno un credit card so non è possibili a prendere internet. Forse il padrone della casa compro e il prezzo e più il affito.

Oggi io ho letto il documenti dal American recovery. È molto lunghi e io ho bisogno di leggere per tutta la notte. Allora, non per tutta la notte perche questa sera…io andro al Club Tropicana e ballo!

Working on my Italian. Not bad…nice to have roommates willing to help me out with words and tenses. Conditional tense is a terrible thing. Reading is becoming easier and I’m learning a new writing style. Succinct is the name of the game.

This morning there was a bake sale at the consulate. I bought two big oatmeal chocolate cookies and had them as my breakfast at work. For lunch the interns and I went to a farmers market and I bought ¼ kilo of three different types of olives for 4 euro. I also bought a half rack of ribs (4 big ribs) for 5 euro for lunch. I was going to take pictures but today was foggy and rainy so they wouldn’t have turned out.

I’m stoked for salsa tonight. Not sure what we are doing for dinner but will be good. Its 7:15 right now and I need to take a nap if I’m to go out at 11 and have enough rest.

Getting everything worked out piece by piece feels good.

Listening to a few interesting songs: Liar. Kanye west – Heartless. Marlene Kunz. Annie Macdonald. Christian Falk – feat Robyn. Lou reed. Subsonic. Katy Perry. Fabrizio Andre. Franz Ferdinand. Interpol.

Cooking a bit so that’s good. Trying to absorb Italian culture. I’m getting a little of it. Watching Italian TV shows only goes so far.

Ciao, Buon serata.

Salsa and Wednesday.

Alright, so I suppose that all being right and proper, I should pick up where I left off. Last night, I was tired but ready to go out and do some dancing! Nico, Leo, Kim and I went out early to find a bar. We left around 9:45 and made our way to the square celebrating the 24th of May. It was about a 45 minute walk each way plus around 15 minutes at the two bars we stopped at. The square was interesting. It has a huge archway made of marble and a large church is on the north edge of the square. On the south side is another massive cathedral. It seems that the square is a central point for trams and transport. 6 different lines converge there and it offers easy access to the Duomo.

Walking through Milan at 10-11pm at night is much friendlier than Tempe… I can assure you. Despite being colder here, there are people outside the bars and pubs talking, socializing and drinking…Beautiful culture of activity. We made our way back to Club Tropicana and I entered around 11:45.

This next part deserves a section all its own: The salsa scene here is amazing. Flat out, down right, amazing. The club itself is downstairs below a school and the open club – style dance floor had at least 100-200 people on it with another 100 or more in the wings… on a Tuesday! I met up with a colleague from work after wandering the club by myself for a bit and she graciously introduced me to her daughter and her friends from the classes. I immediately started dancing and kept dancing for the rest of the night. My colleague’s daughter is a beautiful young Italian woman with black curly hair and Mediterranean coloring. She was sweet and very well mannered – a great partner to start the night.

The club is three floors below ground. The first floor is ground level with a slope down into the coat check and cover area. There are sets of stairs which lead down into an upper level with bars – built much like VIP areas in clubs across the world. These were empty… on the final level are three bars and a huge open area roughly the size of Paragon where we dance in Tempe. At the front of this space is a stage and a DJ’s booth. Throughout the night (every hour and a half) the instructors – five males and two girls – lead the group in excercises (warm ups and choreographed dances) at breaks. The music was wonderful with 10-15 minutes of salsa, then bachata, with a 5-10 minute run of fast cha cha tossed in before the cycle repeated itself. Dancers were still going strong when I left at 2 AM. The club closes around 3-4 ish I believe. I’m still in shock that the crowd was so thick on a Tuesday. I can’t wait for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I may need to get some cheap dance shoes because with boots I need to be careful of my knee’s…but I haven’t decided yet. I will know after this weekend.

Work went well today. I got three additional assignments to work on through this week. Good chance to test my researching skills. I’ve found a little trick. Because I connect through the department of state version of IE it automatically tells the sites that it is English. If I use the .it endings for sites (such as Google) I get a completely different set of results. A wonderful revelation since as I’m learning more Italian reading these pages becomes less difficult every day. Also I’m researching local politics so using the resources which tap the .it network and not the .com/us network is also more productive. It seems self evident but I only realized it yesterday.

I had a nice talk with my mentor today and we ironed out a few more details about my work and the direction he would like to see me take. Good to have some more direction from him. Makes it easier to work down the right path.

Tonight Mimmo, Kim, Nico, Leo, and I are watching the Juventus vs. Napoli. Nico is excited since Napoli is playing. We’re all sitting around the table drinking and intently watching the game… speaking of which I’d better stop writing.

Ciao!

I’ve been steadily writing and blogging as I’ve progressed through this voyage and have posted my log’s on www.Davidberger.net There you’ll find a more in-depth record of my travels to date. Also I’ve uploaded photo’s from my trip at www.Facebook.com on my profile – David Nathaniel Berger.

Jan 20th 2009 – Milano, Italy. I landed and found my way from the airport to the centre of Milano. Il Duomo. There I waited for a contact I had found through my searching for an apartment – a fellow intern who was awaiting his security clearance before he could begin work. He graciously offered me his couch and I was able to stay with him for the four days it took me to find an apartment here in Milano. During those four days I spent time exploring the city and checking out apartments to rent. Although gracious my colleagues couch was small and uncomfortable. Also Italian custom regarding heat and utilities in these tough financial times is to run the heating system to generate hot water and heat for the shower and after and then run it again at the end of the day right before you go to sleep. Other than that houses stay around air temperature (1-5 degrees Celsius).

It was a boon to have Paul as a contact and as a host as it saved me spending 20-30 Euro per night in a hotel. The four days I spent there were interesting and fun and each night we would adventure out into Milan and explore. We found a few English speaking pubs about a 15 minute walk down Viale Torino from the Duomo. The best of which was a little pub tucked into a tiny alley off to the side of the street across from a large business called FNAC. I met quite a few friendly Italians and Swiss, American’s studying at the local universities as well as Swedes. All in all a great experience to begin my stay here in Milan.

I finally found an apartment on Saturday having arrived Tuesday and moved in Sunday evening around 8. I began work at the Consulate the next day, January 26th at 9AM. I checked in with each department and got to meet and speak with each department head for an average of 15 minutes each. I am living with Two Italians, a young gentleman from Korea in a three room apartment on Viale Bligny, 5 minutes walk from Porta Romana and the yellow metro line which brings me to work each morning and 15 minutes from University Bocconi. My roommates are very nice and energetic. All are students and the two Italians are from southern Italy. Nico is from Naples and Giovanne is from Puglia.

Work is hard but fun. I’m working for Mr. Kidwell in the Political Economic section and trying to get a hang of the way things are done here. Everyone in the consulate is very welcoming and patient. I work 40-50 hours per week and start each morning at 8:00am and finish around 5-6 pm. Stores and shops (internet cafés here close around 8pm and after I commute to get home I generally have about 20-45 minutes of time before they close.

I don’t have steady internet service at my apartment and unfortunately the solution I have found is relatively expensive. After five days without internet access in my apartment I finally found a small internet USB key that uses the local cell phone network to connect. Although expensive it provides access for 1Euro per hour. It is also subject to lost connection which has been very frustrating as each time I connect the minimum time logged is in 15 minute intervals. So if it drops me after 3 minutes I lose 15.

Work is exciting but because I’m dealing with sensitive/classified materials I can’t really talk about it much. Instead I’d like to write about my experience in terms of my personal time.

In the future I would prefer to have housing nailed down before I arrived. I searched for nearly three months without luck and wound up here by shear luck and desperation. Also I would have liked a better understanding of the initial start up costs involved in the internship. Small things I did not think about like sheets and a backup pair of shoes.
I packed a little differently than other interns might have as I will be doing a three month solo backpacking tour after I finish my internship. Because of this I packed very Spartan. I’d like to include my packing list:
4 pair re-enforced wool socks
5 pair thin synthetic dress socks
4 lightweight quick drying intimates
3 full suits –
Pants (2 pair blue 1 pair black 1 pair tan)
Tan, Blue, and Black jackets
Red, Baby blue, cream, salmon, and black shirts.
Blue, Red, Tan, Black ties
Black scarf
Pair of jeans
Hiking boots
Dress shoes
Digital camera
Alarm clock
Outlet converters and adapters
Ipod (amazing)
Battery charger
Laptop
And 2 hats
I fit all of these items in a backpack and hanging bag. I will mail the hanging bag (with my suits) home when I leave for approx. $15-20 dollars. Because I’m working at the consulate I can take advantage of the U.S. APO mailing system (mail overseas as if you were mailing in-country). That will leave me with a consolidated packing list of: Jeans, 4 pair intimates, 4 pair wool socks, 4 button down shirts, a lightweight jacket I’ve bought here, I-Pod, Camera, Outlet converters, Hiking boots, Battery charger, 2 hats. Lightweight and recyclable it also gives me room to buy gifts or other items as I travel. I would like to buy another pair of jeans as these may wear through in the seven months I’m overseas. However as I am traveling from winter into summer I doubt I will require much more than this – anything else I will require I can purchase here.

Milan 2009, February…3rd.

Ciao! Come stai? Va bene? Grazie e tu. Oggi io sono andato a lavoro. Ho fatto una passegiata alla fermata della metropolitana e ho entrato il metro a Porta Romana. Ho uscito a Viale Turatti. È un giorno miserable perchè la citta e coperta in nebbia. Fa freddo e io ho stanco.

After work I headed home, took a much needed nap and will make dinner shortly. It is just now seven so I’ve got some time ahead of me. Some city wide observations. As long as you try and speak Italian and preface the attempt with “Mi dispiace per mi italiano ma,” you should be safe. People react much better and are patient with you as long as you continue to try.

I was very tired today and work was rough in the afternoon. I was struggling to keep awake but got some work done. Mostly as I ride the metro I am reminded how many people don’t enjoy their day-to-day lives or are just pushing through. The amount of worn out, tired faces I see each day riding to work at 7:40 and home around 6:00 is sad. I’ve managed to keep a pretty big smile plastered across my face which, goofy as it might be, has returned some good results. Whenever people make direct eye contact with me I see a little baby smile grow from seeing mine. Always a plus.

Also I seem to catch a lot of models returning from a long days work at the Duomo around 6-7pm. A nice break in the scenery. I’ve found that the closer I get to the big universities the attractiveness of the girls magnifies exponentially. I very rarely see a girl with natural blonde hair, although green and brown eyes seem to be the most common. Raven’s and Brunettes rule this city. Tonight dancing starts at 10:30. Late, especially considering I will wake up at 7am. But worth it. I need some dancing. I need some movement, I need some exercise.

I’m almost going stir crazy being locked up in my office. As nice as the view is and although spacious it’s still too small. There is a gym at the consulate. I think I’ll start taking time to use it. Maybe it will help with the stress and get blood flowing when I can’t keep everything going full steam. Need to make dinner tonight…no one home…quiet… doesn’t seem right. Kim is studying pretty hard for a big exam on the 9th so I’m not sure of his schedule either. Our newest roommate Leo moved in last night (part of why I’m so tired) and has been cleaning the house all day. Mopped the tile, organized, fleshed out and even repaired some stuff here. Pretty neat.

Still struggling to read the newspapers but the content flow went together much more easily in my head today. Take another swing at it tonight and just keep it in my mind. I’ll continue to recognize more and faster. The meaning will become clearer without having to wait for a whole article translation to try and eek out the meaning. That will be nice.

Started writing my 1 week journal summaries for my Internship. Gotta take the papers in for my logs tomorrow and have Mr. Kidwell sit down and fill them out for me. Should be fine. Not much else for tonight, more tomorrow + an account of dancing!

Monday Feb 2, 2009
Today was very aggravating. I know that’s not a good way to start a post but its right on target. Work went well and although it was snowing and dreadfully cold, the day itself was pretty nice. I got to visit with some interesting people and got some office work out of the way. After work I went to the tre (3) store from whom I have purchased an internet key. After much arguing and too much frustration, I finally gave up trying to get my 20 hours of internet time back. I tried for a good 30-45 minutes and talked to four different people all to no avail. The standard answer, “No lo so.” How can you not know why 20 hours of credit is missing? Oh it just up and disappeared did it… really? Then refund it. “Oh no no, it was there. Maybe you did something wrong.” I did something wrong by following your directions? You can’t even tell me why it was used or when, or for what.

Its just not realistic that you can’t track it using the same system that tells you exactly how much credit a person has. I feel used because I’m a foreigner and I can’t fully understand everything they are saying. Instead of trying, its like they are just saying no and not going into it because they don’t want to try and translate. Bullshit 101 – but after 45 minutes of the same answer I finally gave up, paid for a few more hours and left.

As if that was not frustrating enough, it turns out that each text you get from the company telling you how much time you have left and informational numbers costs .20euro. It cost me 3 euro last time I logged on because the automated tre (3) system sent me texts. As if that was not enough, they can’t be turned off. Wonderful… as if I wasn’t aggravated enough now I know that each time I use the internet their system will cheat me out of .20 euro per text, and who knows how many the system will send me. I am furious. I went through all the steps I knew to get a straight answer about the issue, all ending in, “There is no way to turn them off.”… You know there is a way to take my number off the autotxt list. Whatever. I say this and then… boom an answer…the only way to stop it is to email the main service centre, then wait a week for them to put a stop order on all non 3 txt traffic. Which costs 2 euro. Oh wait, the txts I’m getting in system are FROM 3…so what good does turning off all non 3 txts do? Bastards.

Furious I left and took a walk, then headed to the metro and then home.

I returned home, and talked my roommates into buying Internet for the house. Shared between 4 people the cost won’t be much. I just have to use what time I have left on this key and then write it off as a mistake never to be repeated.

I can’t tell you how much I wanted to fight or wrestle or at least go dancing… something to relieve the anger and frustration from today but there was no one here that I know that I could work with. Additionally the dance club I know of is open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays not Mondays… So I ate and drank with my roommates and filed it away for another time.

Work is shaping up, I’m taking more and more of an initiative. I realize that it’s only the second week but I’m learning and pushing myself. That’s what is important. I’m trying to read the Italian paper every day and take apart Italian articles. Trying to understand, already its coming faster but it seems to be taking too long. I need to learn immediately and am frustrated by the slow pace at which I am absorbing information and the language. Patience.

The snow is nice but its destroying my shoes. My right heel is separating and I need to find glue… this is also frustrating. I may need to buy dress shoes. I don’t know if I can fix it or not.

My new roommate is interesting. Graduated college. Cooked us dinner tonight. Tuna and Pasta. Good.

I miss my friends and family. I think more so because today was so damned frustrating. Tomorrow at least I am finished with running errands and problems I can just work and enjoy my evening, take a walk and finally take some pictures. Something I’ve been looking forward to for a long while.

Need to study this newspaper again, learn as much of the words and language as I can tonight so tomorrow I can read a little bit faster.

Love you,