Buon Natale

BUON NATALE (MERRY CHRISTMAS)

It is that time of year. Christmas is here. This is by far my favorite time of year. This year was no different. Being that Milan is in Italy, a Catholic country, they go all out for this holiday. There is so much to do and see. They really make the city look beautiful.

One of the most unique things I think this city had to offer was there muscial advent calander in the Piazza Duomo. Leading up to Christmas starting Dec 1st a sheet with the date on it was removed from the window of one of the main building in the piazza. A muscian would emerge at 6 and play christmas music from 6-6:30. Every night another muscian was added. Thus by Christmas eve there were 24 muscians playing wonderful Christmas music. The following clip is from the 6th day I believe of december. Count the lit windows and see if I'm correct.

As we all know it just can not be christmas without a tree. So a few friends and I, with the help of our special friend Jim, had a small get together to decorate Gavin's Christmas tree. We had some food played christmas music and basically had a great time.

About a week later I attended the Christmas concert at the Duomo, Cathedral of Milan. I found out about the concert from this app I have on my phone that list all the stuff going on in the city, from plays, to music, to exhibition. Its call eventi milano. I highly recommend it if you are planning a trip to Milan ever. This concert happens every year. See a little clip I managed to grab.

Although all of my friends left for the holidays, I made the best of staying in Milano. I even tried my hand at making my mom's famous Ricotta Cheese Cookies. They turned out ok, a little over done but they tasted good so thats all that matters.

A friend of mine from school is from a town right outside Milan called Cremona. It is only an hour by train so, her family invited me for Christmas. What a wonderful way to spend my holiday. I left Christmas eve around 5 I think. The train was fun. It was warm and quiet not may people traveling here on christmas eve I guess. This year that is probably because Christmas was a tuesday so people took the whole weekend off to go home. Christmas in Cremona was great. Lilliana's Family made me feel so welcomed and at home. We had dinner on Christmas eve then watch a Christmas Carol, opened presents and just hung out.

On Christmas Day I woke up to Christmas cake for breakfast. Yummy.  Lilliana and I drove in to town to go to mass at a special church were her religion teacher was the presiding priest. It was also interesting as this church had cloistered nuns. It was one of the most beautiful churches I had ever seen. After mass we went back to Lillian's home for Christmas "lunch". Once again her mom did not disappoint.  I am still not quite sure what the meat was. I thought it was turkey but then they called it a chicken and then some other bird but never the less it was very very tasty. Lilliana and I then retired to the living room where we watch TV and did homework.

On the 26th we woke up and had another cake thing for breakfast this one was a wafer thing with Nutella filling dipped in hard chocolate. SOOOOO good. Then in true mama style Lilliana's mom packed me a lunch bag of stuff to bring home and eat. There was enough food for a few meals :-) . And then I was off back to the train station to head back home. It was really the most perfect way to spend my holiday, in the country with a bunch of wonderful people.

A few people from home have recently asked me of how the best way to give me some money for school and so I found this website called go fund me. On this site you can set up an account for what ever you want. A lot of people do use it for education purposes. So, I set one up. Feel free to give whatever you would like. You can give it anonymously or with your name. Just follow the link below.

http://www.gofundme.com/1r6rzg


May God be with you and your family in this wonderful season. Filling your heart with joy and life. Until we meet again.

-M-

Artisan Fair

A few weeks ago we had a long weekend due to the feast of the saint of Milan. So I had two options. One was to make good use of the day studying. The other was to go to the Artisan Fair that was at the fair ground. Lets think really hard about which option I would choose.

Yes I chose to attend the Artisan Fair. This was such a good decision. The booths were organized by country. First we check out Italy but only for a bit. We ate so many samples of which one was fresh Torrone sooooooooo good.  We then moved on to mexico I believe here we had reallllly good margaritas on the rocks. We walked around south american countries for a while and then moved on to india. Where Gav bought an elephant incense holder and I got a new scarf :-) I later found out that elephants are good luck in asia as well as the number 6. The incense holder has 6 elephants win.

THEN ... GERMANY

We then entered october fest. We had brats and sauerkraut. This was of course followed up with beer. Many different ones. Some good some not so good. There was a pooka band that played edelweiss with glass of water. So cool.

We also made our way to France were I ate cheese from a monk. Need I say more. There were a lot of really good looking sea food but we were going to meet people for dinner so we opted out. next year. I did however try some sparkling white wine from Italy on our way out that was tasty so I bought it only 4 euro winnnn. All in all it was a great way to spend my day.

 Oh did I mention it also was the first snow of the season. Could a Minnesota girl ask for much more. I think not. Next year I think I will do most of my holiday shopping there. It was very fun. Well I'll post again soon with Christmas updates..
Till we meet again

-M-

Gobble Gobble It's Thanksgiving Time

This year was the first year I spent thanksgiving away from home. It made this holiday a bit sweet one. It gave me a chance to reflect on what I am thankful for.

First and foremost, I am thankful for my family as well as friends back in the states without your love and support I would not have become the person I am nor would I be able to be here doing this type of work.

Second I am thankful for the opportunity to come here for school. It has been an experience so far that I would not change at all. I have met so many wonderful people, from many different backgrounds and I am grateful for everything they bring to my life.

My day here on thanksgiving started with Italian class followed by my traditional 5K run. It was a great run even if I did it alone. I finished my 5K in 25 min :-) personal best. The weather was perfect for a 5K. It was a little cool out yet the sun came out at the end :-). I then went home and showered and got dressed for dinner.

 By 2:30 I was over to Luca's apartment where the cooking had already started. Although of course Thanksgiving could not happen without some hiccups. We had to cook with the lights off because in order to use the stove and the oven at the same time the lights had to be off or the power would go off.


We also have no cars and lots of cooking to be done. So, people took a few trips on the metro to get all of their stuff to the apartment. We only had one battle wound and one small fire but noone was hurt and my finger healed just fine, darn chestnuts.

I was able to FaceTime with the family in Minnesota which was very nice. All in all, I think my second family in Milano had a wonderful time and enjoyed the food. No matter if it was their first thanksgiving or their first time cooking for thanksgiving it was a wonderful evening, with lots of food, friends, music and laughing.

Till we meet again,

M

Most of these photos are from Marco Thanks they really captured the evening :-)

Hit the ground running

Over the last two weeks I have been crazy busy. After that last exam you would think I would get some time to breath.... think again. I have been in class basically everyday Monday through Friday since I last posted. I did get a long weekend after halloween as it was a national holiday (all Saints day).

That same weekend my cousin Joe came to visit for a few days. It was nice to see someone from home and show him were I live. :-) I think he enjoyed his time. We did most of the tourist things including going to the aquarium, which was cool as I didn't know Milan had one.

On another cool note I got to fashion a lab coat and gloves during dress up day, Monday. This day was also known as heart dissection day. This was very fun to get to do a little bit of surgery even if my patient was dead.

This week I had to go to the police station to get my permissio (permit to stay). Luck would have it that I had to go to the station in Mascova. This station is the only one that does not do appointments, which means I spent 7 hours and my entire Thursday waiting for an appointment, which took 5 minutes total. Luckily, Nicole was there helping me out so I had someone to talk to and it made me think of the following picture my mom sent me. I showed Nicole and she agreed.

This weekend I decided to stay in as much as possible to get some needed studying done. However... I thought I earned a night out Friday so we went to play some pool. When we got to the pool hall someone pointed out all the car plates on the walls. Check it out :-)

Then it rained all weekend so I got that studying in I needed to. One of the positive things about being at the police all day Thursday Nicole showed me where the catholic english church was. So, at 9 am this morning, I headed down the metro and found it again so I could go to mass. It was nice. It was different from mass at home, with less music, but it was nice to feel a little bit at home even tho I am half a world away.

This week I only have classes three days.. they are full days but still only three :-) so until next time.

-M-

First Exam

Today I had my first exam in medical school.

It was on electrostatics. I was crazy nervous. I'm not sure why. I tots prepared for it. I was up all night studying and going over stuff but still. Anyways the exam was on a computer so I got my score right away :-) acted it :-) so pumped what a great way to start the weekend.

tell next time

M

Hockey

With week one under my belt I was informed that Milan has a hockey team, Milano Rosso Blu :-). Which is pretty cool as if I was back home there would be no hockey to watch. So, last Saturday we took the metro to the other end of the world ( or the end of the red line) to the hockey rink to watch my first Milan hockey game. It was crazy fun. Different then a game in the states but still a lot of fun. The rink reminded me of the rinks by brother use to play at. There were a few pucks to the face, overtime and a dramatic shoot out. We ultimately lost the game but it was quite fun.

Sunday as most things are closed here I went down town for sushi lunch yummy my favorite. We then just walked around Duomo to enjoy the sunday. I noticed that there were very few cars on the road but I thought it was just because of the nice weather. Then I found out that its a thing here in Milan. There are certain days during the year that people are not allowed to drive their cars unless they are taxis or police. This is to reduce the amount of pollution in the air... Interesting. I  tried to imagine the mayor of New York City trying to the Manhattan that guys today no cars. Some how Im not sure they would buy it.

I am now nearing the end of week two of classes and yesterday to my dismay I woke up with a sore throat. That has now turned into a full blown head cold. So I am trying my hardest to fight it off but we will see. Until Next Time....

The Beginning of the End

This week marks my first week in medical school. :-) It also marks the beginning of the end of my life as I know it. I am taking two courses this semester but they are really more like four... physiology, and human morphology ( which consists of anatomy, histology and embryology) I will be in class more or less everyday from 9 or 11 until 4 or 6 depending on the day. Oh ya and I am trying to learn a new language as well. :-P I think I lost my mind. Good thing I got to see a good amount of the city before hand during my adjustment week.

Last week, as well as going forward, everyone has been so welcoming and nice. I met the other foreign students who all showed me the ropes of Milano. As I transferred into the second year all of my classmates have already been here a year. This included our local Irish pub down the street, Murphy's. We have gone to a few aperitivos which are Milan's version of happy hour.... so much better. You pay for drinks and they feed you all of this amazing food. I also went to see the Picasso exhibit, which was super amazing and cool all at the same time. I also thanks to Mike and Lina's handy work got all my errands done down at the Duomo. :-)

PICASSO

It's train time

                               My new classmates have been nothing but nice and wonderful at showing me where stuff is and making me feel welcome. That being said sometimes it would be nice to be able to call my friends back home and not realize it is 3 am there time :-(. For sure it has been a adjustment but all things considered I think it is going very well.

The Galleria

Ciao Italia

I started my journey over to Milan Wednesday at 1pm. That is when my parents and I left our home in Eden Prairie for MSP international airport. Security went quite fast in Minnesota and I had about an hour to kill so I chatted with some other people on my flight. People seem to be very interested and nice when they find out I am traveling for school. Good bye Minnesota hello Chicago.

My Last Look at Minnesota

 I got to Chicago early and did not have to go far to find my gate. This plane was even scheduled to arrive in London early….. that was at first. Then the gas gadgets were not working so we were delayed 2 hours. That meant my layover in London was only going to be one hour. Luckily our pilot flew fast and it only took 7 hours to get here so I had an hour and a half to get clear across the airport.  But I did finally make it to my gate and just in time to change quickly and board the plane. Good bye London Hello Milan.

Italian Alps Ciao Italia

My first look at England

First Sight of School 

I am writing this blog as I am flying over the Italian Alps. What a great way to start my time in Italy. The pilot this time says we are right on schedule which means I will arrive in Milan at 3pm local time and 8am Minnesota time. Well I need to go for now I will update you’ll again once I get settled in my room.

Two full days left in Minnesota

Today marks my last of two full days in Minnesota. I am writing you'll from my new Macbook Pro. It is really nice and will make keeping up with my blog a lot easier. I do not have too much to do still. I just have a few odds and ends to pick up from target today. I had a few people ask how much and how will I be bringing my stuff to Italy. I will be for now just bringing what I can carry... for the most part. I will be checking two bags at the airport then I will have my backpack and carryon bag so that makes kind of four bags. I thought it wouldn't be enough room but right now it is looking ok. I leave on wednesday at 3:40 so I better get off the computer and start packing :-) I will write you all again soon... Maybe from the airport or when I get to Milan. Ciao.

Two weeks out

I am now just a mere two weeks away from the big move. Alot of my friends have already left for school so I do not have a lot of good byes left to say. This is my last week of work and then next week I'll be packing up. :-) I don't have much left to get before I leave. This weekend I purchased my new Luggage. I decided to go with US Traveler New Yorker it had the most positive reviews no matter where I looked.  I also stopped by Macy's with my dad and he bought me a new watch for a going away present. We decided on a Seiko watch that is solar powered so I never have to replace the batter.

On another note I have noticed that I have a lot more international hits and just wanted to say thank to all of you checking in on my blog. Till next time....

Less than 30 days

In less then 30 days I will be leaving Minnesota to move into my new apartment in Milan. In preperation yesterday I went to the bank and made my second payment on my tuition. :-) Also in other news I was Facebooked Tuesday by my new neighbor in Italy. So exciting. She is from Verona and is a second year in the dentistry program. She already agreed to show me around and help me out when I first get there :-) I made a friend already. :-) I will be keeping everyone posted on my where abouts as my days become fewer in the states.

HOUSING

About a week ago I had a skype interview with the director of housing at San Raffeale to determine if I would be accepted to the residence on campus. The interview went well the only question that I got a little stumped on was what american author I felt impacted my life the most. lol considering I only get to read maybe one book a year that is not required this was a hard question however I managed the question ok. 

On Tuesday I got a letter from the Director tell me I had passed selection and would be granted a room in the on campus housing which is just a minute walk to my classes and five minutes from the closest market. So this was great news to hear. Housing was the last thing I need to fall in place now I just have time to work and play for 52 days until I leave for school.  

Chicago !!!!!

In the process of gathering the necessary documents to enroll and move to Milano I found out I had to go to Chicago to have a visa interview at the Italian consulate. So after working a little in the morning at Lifetime Vinnie, my little bro, and I took off for Chicago on June 28th. We drove 6.5 hours and made it to My wonderful causin Lisa Donatelle's apartment in one piece.

After a good nights sleep we woke up around 7 and made our way downtown. We took the red line train and rocked it like locals. the meeting only took a few minutes once they did see me. I was a little nervous at first that they were not going to grant me the visa. I had to leave my passport and they would mail it back. So Vinnie and I had the rest of the day to see Chicago. We went to navy peer and ate allot of food. We then took the red line back to our car and were on the road by 4 pm.

I left the next day for a week up at Nicole's cabin and surprisingly when I arrived home on July 5th I found a package in the mail from Chicago ... In it was my VISA. 

Money Money Money

So now that I have been accepted into school I need to start putting together all my paperwork and securing financing for my studies. This posses a totally different set of obstacle. If I had decided to go to school in the states the financing would have been simple loans, work and scholarships however I like a challenge. Most schools in Italy are so inexpensive that they do not have student loans in there banking systems, and I am unable to get a work visa right off the bat thus I need to secure my own funding for my studies before I leave. I have a few options I am pursuing but if anyone had any suggestions of were I should look into I would be more then happy to hear your suggestions. either comment on my post or email me at madonatelle@gmail.com.

I will be going to Chicago tomorrow to sign some forms at the Consulate and hopefully get my student visa. Look forward to hearing from me again soon. :-)

The Adventure Begins

After years of studying and exams I was accepted into medical school this past April. I will be updating this blog periodically with my how I am doing and any other fun facts about my life so stay tuned.


The adventure began on April 12th, 2012. I flew to New York City for the first time to take the admissions test for Vita-Salute San Raffaele University. The trip was so much fun.









My mom, joan, joined me on this trip and we had a lot of fun. If I didn't get into school I would totally move to New York I loved that city. By far my Favorite place was Eataly. The best food ever and in the coolest location. I loved it you have to check it out.






Just a week later at about 5 in the morning I received and Email from Vita-Salute San Raffaele University informing me that I had ranked 10th with a score of 69. :-)
Thus I began to plan my move to Milano Italy for the end of September.