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I know I have only lived here two weeks, but from the moment I heard their name I was in love. When I asked the girls at university about them, they sighed about it being the best they had ever had, telling me to try it straight away. When I found them on facebook I became even more infatuated, until finally, the night arrived. From the moment I tried my first gelato from Kopa Kabana gelateria (gelato shop), Siena, I knew I had found the one. Yes, it may sound tragic, but if you tried the gelato here and met the men (so far - I'm not writing off Italian men just yet) you would understand. I have had my fair share of gelato during several trips to Italy, and now fancy myself as a bit of an expert, so you have it on good authority that any visit to Siena will be significantly improved by a trip to Kopa Kabana. My first 'coppa grande' (big cup) of ricotta e fichi (ricotta and figs), ciocco-arancia (chocolate orange) and house special Kopakabana (rum and coffee) will be remembered forever, or at least until I find the next 'best ice cream in Italy'.
Of course, I haven't just been eating gelato (which by the way is NOT ice-cream, it's made with milk so it's healthier- bonus!). I have also been learning Italian. I'm doing an intensive Italian language and culture course over 2 months at the Universita per Stranieri di Siena, and so far everything is going well. After my placement test I was initially placed in level B2, but moved up to C1 after a couple of days. For those of you not familiar with the European language levels, there are 6 of them (A1,A2,B1,B2,C1,C2), ranging from A1 (basically you know how to say 'ciao' and 'gelato per favore') to C2 (basically fluent). Even though I've only been in Italy for 3 weeks so far, I have started to hear myself improving 'piano piano' (slowly slowly) and the words are now flowing out of my mouth as quickly as the gelato is going in. I've even started using 'magari' (sorry, no English equivalent!) and the imperfect subjunctive without thinking (magari ci fosse piu gelato!), which makes me very happy! It's quite a shame that after these 2 months I'm moving to Spain where I will forget all the Italian I've just learnt! Some of the most useful vocabulary I have learnt so far, I have to say, are swear words. It is surprising how important it is to recognise these words when you hear them, even if you never use them yourself. Durham University year abroad prep: a few vocab lists wouldn't go amiss, grazie.
This type of vocabulary become particularly useful when conversing with young Italian men, or young men pretending to be Italians. Scarily, a group of male Albanian immigrants here in Siena have decided it would be a great idea to pretend to be Italian and target female foreign students, obviously deciding they will have more luck pretending to be Berlusconi than they will as Borat. Apparently, this is not a phenomenon which is just isolated to Siena, so watch out year abroad girls! There are several ways you can catch them out:
1, listen extremely carefully to their grammar (which does unfortunately involve talking to them until they make a mistake),
2, compare their accent with another 'real Italian' close by, or
3, they aren't the most creative bunch when it comes to adopting Italian names, so by the time you meet the third 'Marco' out of their friends, alarm bells should start ringing. Marco = RUN
Unfortunately, Albanians aren't the only group of strange foreign men. Since my university is for foreigners, there are a few too many who like to give 'baci' (kisses) every time you see them. I love baci as much as the next French person, but there is a line where this kind of greeting goes from 'continental' to 'creepy'. This could just be me being the cold, reserved English stereotype, but I like to think I can spot my creeps as well as I can spot my gelaterias. Considering all of this, I should probably be optimistic. So far the only real creepy men have all been foreigners, not Italians, and any Italian man who makes gelato is a friend of mine.
Thankfully for my waistline, there is no gelateria in the residential area of Siena I'm living in (last mention of gelato for this entry- I promise. Gelato.). I'm living in the 'Casa dello Studente', which is a student residence for Italians (and the odd foreigner) who study at the university here. It is exactly the same as any student residence in the UK, so I feel quite at home! I'm also sharing a room with an Italian girl at the moment, which is great for practice. Unfortunately, my blonde hair screams 'FOREIGNER APPROACHING' every time I walk into the complex, but apart from this little inconvenience it is a great place to live for someone wanting to be immersed in the language. The only thing it is missing is a swimming pool, as it has been rediculously hot here recently (some days reaching 36 degrees), and you can't exactly walk around in your bikini top and denim short shorts if you want to fit in and 'look Italian'. I must remind myself though that I am English, and therefore should NEVER complain about hot weather and a lack of rain.
Plans for the next week or so include Firenze (Florence), Napoli (Naples- i.e. Mafia town, I am a bit scared) and Capri. If there is no blog entry after 2 weeks then I apologise but I have been captured by the mafia.
A dopo,
Baci xxx
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