Letter from Italy
Aug. 4th, 2004 05:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nigeltdeJust copied and pasted from the letter I sent my friends and family, because I am lazy and also for posterity :-D
Hi all,
Well, this is my second day in Cassino, a town about an hour and a half out of Rome. The flight to Kuala Lumpur was ok, although the veggie meals are a bit dodgy. The view from the plane of the Outback was incredible. I thought I'd almost missed my plane in KL because I was too busy munching down a croissant and ice coffee from Delifrance (for old time's sake!), but after I'd run the length of the airport I realised I had about half an hour to go. The flight from KL to Rome was a shitter, about 11 hours long, but I managed to sleep a couple of hours. We flew over Kuwait and right along the border of Iraq; in the air you really realise how *there* the rest of the world is; I couldn't stop thinking about what's happening in Sudan and Iraq and the rest.
Half of us are stationed here and half are in Rome. The whole thing is terribly organised; who was going and who was staying was all worked out when we got off the plane in Rome. We're staying in this run-down pensione that works as student accomodation for the local uni and the students have pretty much trashed the place. Only one of the showers works on our floor (I'm on the fourth floor, btw, and there is no elevator--I had to lug my suitcase up about 70 steps! Lainy, my calves are giong to be more shapley than Casey's by the end of this :-D) and we have to supply our own shower curtains and washing powder and everything. We have a bathroom attached to our rooms (they're all doubles, I'm sharing mine with a girl from Perth), but in ours the toilet and the bidet (bidet!) trickle constantly and annoyingly.
This side of Italy is very different from the one I remember from our previous trip. It's very dirty--Rome even more so than Cassina, a least the Rome I saw on the way from the airport--and no-one bothers with recycling. There are no ashtrays and everyone leaves their butts on the ground.
Cassino itself, despite being butt-ugly (it was all built after WWII), is nice enough, and the surrounding mountains constantly remind me I'm not in Kansas anymore. One of the mountains has a ruined castle on top and another has this ancient old abbey, both of which I hope we will get to visit. They are both right behind our pensione The heat is a little difficult to take but when there is a breeze it is really quite pleasant, and I don't really mind not being in Rome (especially because they are apparently much more strict about rules and curfews and so on there). We will be taking a couple of trips in anyway, so that will hopefully be enough.
Starting from tomorrow we will have to attend school from 9 till about 12 at the local uni. We will have three classes: Italian culture, Italian grammar and Italian speaking. The afternoons we will have off and maybe be taken on trips to various places (god knows where, we still have no itinerary), and at night, so that we don't bother the residents around our pensione, between 9 and 1 we'll be bussed off to some ice-creamery slash bar place.
Some stuff here is incredibly cheap; yesterday we bought a six-pack of about litre-and a half bottles of water for about $4AUD.
The Canadians and Argentinians wer supposed to arrive today, but believe it or not there was trouble in Buenos Aries, due to, apparently, political strife--the govt has grounded all the planes. And the Canadians were supposed to catch the same flight as the Argentians, so they are in trouble too. They might get here tonight. I'm looking forward to meeting them, the Agentinians are apparently a riot.
Christ, I've written a bloody essay (which is ironic seeing as I've done next to no homework). In sum, I'm having a nice enough time although I'm a bit homesick (and sick from all of the cigarette smoke in the air) and I miss you all so much. Everyone is really nice but they're not the type of people I'm used to hanging out with (meaning, total geeks). Well, that's it, I suppose. Bye!
Love, Jessie
Italian keyboards are totally fucked up, btw.
Hi all,
Well, this is my second day in Cassino, a town about an hour and a half out of Rome. The flight to Kuala Lumpur was ok, although the veggie meals are a bit dodgy. The view from the plane of the Outback was incredible. I thought I'd almost missed my plane in KL because I was too busy munching down a croissant and ice coffee from Delifrance (for old time's sake!), but after I'd run the length of the airport I realised I had about half an hour to go. The flight from KL to Rome was a shitter, about 11 hours long, but I managed to sleep a couple of hours. We flew over Kuwait and right along the border of Iraq; in the air you really realise how *there* the rest of the world is; I couldn't stop thinking about what's happening in Sudan and Iraq and the rest.
Half of us are stationed here and half are in Rome. The whole thing is terribly organised; who was going and who was staying was all worked out when we got off the plane in Rome. We're staying in this run-down pensione that works as student accomodation for the local uni and the students have pretty much trashed the place. Only one of the showers works on our floor (I'm on the fourth floor, btw, and there is no elevator--I had to lug my suitcase up about 70 steps! Lainy, my calves are giong to be more shapley than Casey's by the end of this :-D) and we have to supply our own shower curtains and washing powder and everything. We have a bathroom attached to our rooms (they're all doubles, I'm sharing mine with a girl from Perth), but in ours the toilet and the bidet (bidet!) trickle constantly and annoyingly.
This side of Italy is very different from the one I remember from our previous trip. It's very dirty--Rome even more so than Cassina, a least the Rome I saw on the way from the airport--and no-one bothers with recycling. There are no ashtrays and everyone leaves their butts on the ground.
Cassino itself, despite being butt-ugly (it was all built after WWII), is nice enough, and the surrounding mountains constantly remind me I'm not in Kansas anymore. One of the mountains has a ruined castle on top and another has this ancient old abbey, both of which I hope we will get to visit. They are both right behind our pensione The heat is a little difficult to take but when there is a breeze it is really quite pleasant, and I don't really mind not being in Rome (especially because they are apparently much more strict about rules and curfews and so on there). We will be taking a couple of trips in anyway, so that will hopefully be enough.
Starting from tomorrow we will have to attend school from 9 till about 12 at the local uni. We will have three classes: Italian culture, Italian grammar and Italian speaking. The afternoons we will have off and maybe be taken on trips to various places (god knows where, we still have no itinerary), and at night, so that we don't bother the residents around our pensione, between 9 and 1 we'll be bussed off to some ice-creamery slash bar place.
Some stuff here is incredibly cheap; yesterday we bought a six-pack of about litre-and a half bottles of water for about $4AUD.
The Canadians and Argentinians wer supposed to arrive today, but believe it or not there was trouble in Buenos Aries, due to, apparently, political strife--the govt has grounded all the planes. And the Canadians were supposed to catch the same flight as the Argentians, so they are in trouble too. They might get here tonight. I'm looking forward to meeting them, the Agentinians are apparently a riot.
Christ, I've written a bloody essay (which is ironic seeing as I've done next to no homework). In sum, I'm having a nice enough time although I'm a bit homesick (and sick from all of the cigarette smoke in the air) and I miss you all so much. Everyone is really nice but they're not the type of people I'm used to hanging out with (meaning, total geeks). Well, that's it, I suppose. Bye!
Love, Jessie
Italian keyboards are totally fucked up, btw.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-05 03:21 am (UTC)Eeee! I can't believe that you're complaining about hot weather. We just went through what I've been told was the coldest July in 30 years! And it hasn't stopped raining! There's been flooding everywhere.
But us geeks are hardy and determined, and will refused to get washed away until you get back *g* We'll hang on by our extendable network cables if we have to! :D
no subject
Date: 2004-08-06 05:31 am (UTC)But I like the cold! Flooding is fun and new! Nah, the weather here has toned down a bit and it's really nice atm.
fuck! turns out I've forgotten sean's and Cameron's emails as well as Michelle's, can you send them to me?
no subject
Date: 2004-08-06 05:35 am (UTC)Sure can. Sean's is frostythegreat@hotmail.com, Cameron's is nabasu01@hotmail.com, and which Michelle were you after? Little Michelle's is mademoiselle_elmoir@hotmail.com and big Michelle's is michelle.lam@student.adelaide.edu.au
Oh, Shelley sends her love btw - she's back from Melbourne. :)