Note: What follows is a work of fiction. While the characters in the story- including I, Pier, the narrator- are inspired by real life, their existence remains limited to the confines of the author’s imagination. …
Fall 2018
Hungry for More
I spent the week of Easter with Giovanni’s family in Pescara. His parents live up the street from his grandma and his cousins are around the corner. He’s got an uncle with a restaurant on …
Bella, Act 1
Note: what follows is a work of fiction. While the characters in the story -including I, Pier, the narrator- are inspired by real life, their existence remains limited to the confines of the story. When …
Hamerica’s
It was 1am and we had closed an hour ago but still the dining room was full of customers, sitting and talking like they had no plans to leave. My coworkers were tired. It was …
Not a Tourist
I returned to Bologna with Future’s new album rattling through my earbuds, feeling like a boss. The plane made its last decent and I coasted along the city’s red roofs and medieval towers framed by …
Wide Awake in Wisconsin
I walked into The Double U on my own. I’d been home for a few days but hadn’t told anyone I was coming to Madison. The bouncer eyed my ID with some misplaced sense of …
Finally Back in Wisconsin
Since landing at O’Hare the first day of January, I have spent every waking moment of my winter break with friends and family doing the very things that I had so desperately missed while I …
Saying ‘Dankjewel’ to the Netherlands
It’s hard to think back to August, before I came abroad. Living here for five months has transformed me in so many ways. I have met some pretty amazing people and have been able to …
The End of the Beginning
By mid-December in Bologna the air is grey and wet and cold. The humid wind digs into my bones and I cannot escape the chill of the coming winter. The rain turned cold and falls …
Exploring more of Europe
Since I last wrote about my weekend adventures (a couple of blog posts ago, back in October), I haven’t mentioned all of the recent places that I have been fortunate enough to travel to. Nearly …