Buongiorno from Italy!

So I have now been in Italy for three full days and I decided it was high time for my first blog post. I arrived in Italy on late Tuesday night and checked into a hotel room for the night. Since I have been living out of my suitcase and backpack as I waited to move into an apartment here in Bologna. In addition to housing there are many other things I needed to get taken care off. I need to fill out a bunch of documents for my official residency here (which also means pay a bunch of taxes). I also had my first class on Thursday in advanced Microeconomics. So all in all I have been quite busy trying to settle in here.

Today I finally got housing. I am living in a three bedroom apartment with an American and British student. The apartment is quite nice and seems to have been remodeled lately. I pay about $700 a month for my apartment, which includes utilities and furnishings, all in all a good price considering the market here.

half of my bed room

Other half of my bedroom, I like the desk and the doors you can see leads to my own personal porch!

The Kitchen

So after I picked out my apartment I was able to move in right away, so I did so. As I only a suitcase, my large backpack, and some personal things it did not take too long. The next thing I did was go grocery shopping. Being in Italy I figured I would try my hand at pasta. I must admit that my pasta tasted quite bland and was far from the best I have had. I figure I have all year to try and improve my cooking (and it needs it!).

My first supper, I have made this meal before and it is normally good, I think the sauce I bought was just not very good.

When you move into your first apartment you start to realize all the little things you do not have that are somewhat essential, for example toilet paper, dish soap, and other random exciting objects! One thing I do miss from back home is air-conditioning! I now very much understand why it is so common for Italians to take the hottest months off and go to the coasts. It has been close to or over 90 degrees every day here and the humidity is very thick. Needless to say I am looking forward to the weather beginning to cool down here in the upcoming months.

As you can tell the first week has been a lot of getting adjusted to the area and settled in. For now I am happy to stay in Bologna and explore the city more (which is quite nice), before I branch out and explore some other nearby regions (Tuscany?).