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. …
UW in Bologna
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …