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 …
Peter Kane
Finals
I woke up this morning in a running frenzy. There had been no alarm. I searched frantically for the time and found my phone buried under pages of notes on my desk, unplugged and dead. …
Old Venezia
I was in Venice trying to find the train station. It was getting dark and I was lost in the narrow streets that bend and twist over skinny canals. Walking through the old downtown feels …
After Class
I met Gaetano, Roberta and Simone on the second day of my History of Italian Film class. They showed up late and sat near me in the crowded lecture hall and during class I got …
Miss America
I miss my mom and my sisters and my brothers, I miss eating dinner with them after driving back to Oregon from Madison, going to class all day and walking around campus seeing my friends …
Money
I do not like to waste time worrying about money. It comes and goes like the tide, I just want to ride the waves. But when I consider the tsunami of debt that will come …
The Routine / The Escape
I am writing this to further procrastinate my studies. The second week of classes at the University of Bologna is finished and by now I have gotten used to the routine of waking up, making …
L’americano
It was almost midnight but Via del Pratello was crowded with people, flowing out of the sitting areas of the bars and into the narrow street that during this time of night unofficially becomes a …
First Impressions
In Bologna you walk slow. The sidewalks in the center of the city are all covered by tall arched porticoes, so you can walk for blocks in the rain without getting wet. People sit outside …
In Transit
From the widow of a high-speed train, Italy slides swiftly by, the land changing before you. From Naples to Rome the brown rocky mountains in the center of the country turn to green rolling hills …