Merry Christmas from SAIS

Well early tomorrow morning I head home for Christmas break, so it is only fitting that Dr. Plummer showed up for my last class before break dressed up as Santa. Dr. Plummer will leaving SAIS to work for the OECD (which is a really big deal!) after this semester. His gifts , Economic Journals, were probably the equivalent of coal to most people but at SAIS they are enthralling literature!

Waltz 101

It has been quite the busy couple of weeks leading up to Christmas break here in Bologna so I have not really had any time to do much traveling this month since going to Venice. Yet even amid all the readings, papers, economic problem sets, and presentations I managed to find some time for some fun tonight!

As you may remember in February I will be going to a Venetian Ball! Well if one is to attend such a ball one should be properly prepared! It really would be a tragedy if someone spent the time and money to go to a ball in a palace in Venice and did not even know how to Waltz! Lucky for me I have had some experience Waltzing in the past in high school shows and theater classes, but that was quite awhile ago. So tonight the ball committee here offered the first of two crash courses in Waltzing! So I of course attended to brush up my skills and learn some new moves! The teacher for the evening was actually a student here who used to do competitive dancing when he was younger, and he did a great job. We learned several different step types, including the Venetian Waltz (which is much faster and more difficult), as well as how to properly ask someone for a dance and escort them onto the ballroom floor (apparently you must do it properly), and how to properly thank them after a dance. All in all the event was a lot of fun and at least we can all say we have some idea of how to do things properly when the ball arrives in early February.

Here is a video of our teacher dancing with one the girls who attended. Enjoy!

Venice

Well just like last weekend, for better or worse I took Saturday off from Homework and took a day trip. This time with two other students to Venice! No doubt it will be my last side trip before I head home to Minnesota for Christmas break on the 17th as I have plenty to accomplish between now and then!

This was my second trip to Venice, but it was still a lot of fun. We spent our time wandering the streets, canals, shops, gelaterias, piazzas, and churches in this completely unique town....and of course we spent some time in the most time honored tradition in Venice, getting lost in the endless maze of streets, bridges, canals, and dead ends.

As I said this was my second trip to Venice and I noticed a few differences. First off the last time I was there was at the beginning of May and I must say that the number of tourists on Saturday was much more preferable! (something about cold December weather seems to keep them away...nothing for a Minnesotan though!). Another difference is that parts of the streets and main square was under water! I had heard about this phenomenon but it was not in affect that last time I visited.

I also saw some similarities, gondola rides are still out of my student prices rage and San Marco Basilica is probably one of my all time favorite religious sites along with the Cathedral de Notre Dame de Paris! The combination of Golden Mosaics and Marble make for a very impressive aura inside the basilica.

If you want to see pictures from my day please checkout my facebook album.