3 things I miss from Italy

• Crema di limoncello (that's what heaven must taste like)
• Malvasia (I would sell my soul for a bottle right now)
• Francesco (did I mention they are at random order?)

Learning Italian in Italy: the good, the bad and the info

The story starts with me wanting to learn Italian and continues with a bunch of Italians who travelled last February to Bratislava, told me how beautiful Bologna is and inspired me to search for schools, finding by pure chance one that offered me a 4-month internship in exchange for the course.

I have to say that I was not a total beginner; I had the most basic knowledge of grammar and thanks to french and spanish, I could more or less understand. I followed a 4-hours-a-day course for a couple of months, passing the Celi 3 exams succesfully in June. Then, a big pause and in October, a 10-hour packet of private lessons that almost gave me the Celi 5 (C2 level). Almost, because I only passed the oral part. Ok, the C2 level is anyway high for only 8 months of learning the language, but, to be absolutely honest (and it's the first and the last time I admit it), I do believe that if I had been more focused and determined, I would have made it. Stupid me.

Study the language at the country where it is spoken is something I can not reccommend enough. The progress achieved was incredibly fast and deep, what was taught at school was immediately after practiced in the streets, learning became an automatic procedure. Of course, I needed a little bit of patience for the first days, when all this linguistic input had left me almost silent (or english-speaking). But after a couple of weeks... I still remember my friends' faces when one day, seemingly out of the blue, I started having long, coherent discussions on their mother tongue. By the way, Italians' incompetence on english (sorry guys) also helped :)

Bologna turned out to be a wise choice too - even though by chance. It is beautiful, historically and culturally rich, full of students, vivid and lively, not too small (doesn't let you get bored), not too big (doesn't prevent you from meeting people), not too touristy (you can easily avoid hanging out with tourists or foreigners). Plus, from there you can easily visit the main cities of the northern Italy, and there are also some Ryanair flights to the south (personally, I didn't travel that much, but it's good to know you have the option).

The school I went to is called Madrelingua; they were great! I felt welcome and at ease from the very first day, everyone has been helpful, friendly and supportive, from the teachers to the directors. They were always there in case I needed something, ready and willing to answer my questions and find solutions to the problems I faced - from learning difficulties to coping with the bureaucracy while preparing the exams applications. I can not thank them enough. Here is their website (the Greek part is my work, impressed much?)

Welcome to Bologna

There is no place like home, but there are some places that remind you of home and living there is easy and pleasant and makes you feel exactly like home, which might be strange if you have got used to not living at home. Confusing?

This is how confused I felt my first days in Bologna. It's Italy, Mediterranean, just five steps away from Greece, sounds and smells like home. So here I am, back where people are on the streets and laugh and shout and talk to you and joke around and make you feel totally relaxed and comfortable.But I was used to living in Bratislava, remember? Where it snowed non-stop, people were locked in their homes or half drunk in the bars and you hardly met someone outside (it was winter and cold, they had a point).

So my first days here, this mixture of familiarity and strangeness made me appreciate even more my new life: every single moment made me feel more and more that I'm back home -whether that was due to the people or the weather or the food- without losing nothing from the zest of the new. However, it was the people I met, who gave Bologna a place in my heart. They showed me around, lent me their homes, taught me the first words, helped me communicate and introduced me around. Bologna offered me the warmest welcome and will always remind me of the kindness of strangers and that we can still count on it.

(Ok, I am living here the last 4 months and I should have written this a long time ago, but better late than never.)

Vita alla bolognese

What I like:

• Beautiful Bologna itself
• The ice cream
• The aperitivo
• Moscato and Limoncello
• The summer cinema in Piazza Maggiore
• People in the parks
  
• The cute bars
• Lying on the grass at the riverbank

What I don't like:

• Extremely "al dente" pasta
  
• Double consonants (+ my inability to pronounce them)
• That coffee time lasts only 15 minutes

What I did:

• Managed to learn Italian
• Read Gianni Rodari in original version
• Went to Perugia
• Changed my haircut
• Discovered my cooking talent
• Salsaed and tangoed and poledanced
• Fell in love