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.