grabbing rome by the balls.

I've been in Rome for exactly a month now, and I'm beginning to feel more settled. This is in part due to the discovery of 'LA5', an Italian cable channel which shows only dubbed reruns of American shows including Grey's Anatomy, Will and Grace and Dawson's Creek! Genius. I'm pretty sure this is how I will learn Italian. Through a complete submersion in American television. There's probably quite a lot wrong with that.

A lot of things are very different here, and you can see why people go on about culture shock. Everyone shouts to convey their feelings, and men on mopeds will rage at each other in incomprehensible Italian while driving. Also, the coffee actually tastes nice, and you drink it in about three seconds, standing up in a very European fashion. And it costs about eighty cents which nobody can grumble with. Of course, the bonus points Italians earn for their coffee, they soon lose when it comes to tea. Now, I happen to rather enjoy a cup of Yellow Label, but it just isn't English. Luckily, my mother sent me out here with a big pack of tea and a jumbo bag of Cadbury's miniatures (which came in handy when I couldn't afford proper food), so I feel pretty at home.

So if you have read my little ramblings a lot, you will know that I like making lists and categorising my thoughts in odd ways. Therefore, I give you my definitive list of things I have decided I must do before I return in Julyish:

1. Write at least one hundred blog posts. I've forgotten how to write, and it's definitely time to get back on track.
2. Go to a Catholic mass. I'm curious...
3. Learn Italian - This one is possibly the trickiest. It's just so easy to get completely caught up in the Erasmus scene without actually talking to all that many Italians. Therefore, it is necessary to work that bit harder to make up for it. I also have already befriended some French people, with whom I want to speak lots of French, seeing as I am neglecting it a little bit. French will always be the one with a place in my heart. 
4. Read - This year doesn't technically matter academically, so I am going to take the opportunity to do what I didn't in first year which is to read for pleasure. The more I find time to read, the happier I tend to be. The one hitch is that I obviously couldn't bring many books, and they are pretty overpriced here. Next time I go home, I will return with a case full of books, I think, and if not, it may be Kindle time. I'm just putting that out there...
5. Learn to make proper Italian food in a proper Italian way. I will never eat a ready meal lasagne again. 
6. Earn some money - Because while I arguably could live off the pitiful amount of money I have left when rent is gone, it would mean living like the old man in that Enid Blyton story where the old man lives alone and never leaves his house and all the kids are scared of him. Anyone else? No? But yes, cash = good, so I intend to find a way to earn some of it in a way that doesn't tie me down or make me just as antisocial as the old man in the aforementioned story. Any ideas would be welcome.
7. Find an Italian drink I actually like that doesn't make me a bit vommy - This one's pretty self-explanatory, but I'm not sure I'm willing to put the risky research in, so for now I'm still on the gin in my oh-so-British way. 
8. Go to one of the islands - Because they're warm and pretty. I nearly went to Cagliari instead of Rome. I'm glad I didn't, but I'd like to pay a quick visit to see what I'm missing nonetheless.
9. Go inside St Peter's - Just so I can get all angry at how rich and hypocritical the Church can be.
10. Master eating two big platefuls of pasta per day without gaining too much weight - I think jogging may be the answer. I brought my trainers in anticipation. 

Just because it would please me immensely if some of you got back into Dawson's Creek. I had forgotten just how dramatic it was!

apologies.

Dearest followers, I know you may not believe me, but I went to much trouble to write an excellent blog post at some point last week (I think it was Thursday), but Blogger went on a rampage and deleted it all. It coincided with the strop YouTube had, so I'm guessing Google was going through some sort of personal crisis, and was not up to the task of matching all my internet needs. Needless to say, I was fairly disheartened, so I did not bother to recreate the aforementioned post, and I instead went out with my friends like a normal human being whose life does not revolve around the internet.

Nonetheless, I have decided to give it another go. I'm not going to write about the same stuff again, because I feel it would lack the same spontaneity and verve, so I'm just going to write one of those rambly posts which are abundant in spontaneity and not a lot else.

I have given it some thought, and I'm pretty sure that Jamie Parker - the fine fellow who plays Scripps in The History Boys - is one of the most fanciable men ever. He's not even all that attractive, but he has a certain northern charm that cannot be disputed. Although I did always quite like Dakin too. And Crowther. I even quite liked Mr Irwin.

Scratch that, I particularly liked Mr Irwin. Cor.

I've been reading Alan Bennett's short stories, which are so beautifully written, I'm pretty much in awe. I'm so sick of reading overly-laconic novels by young writers who seem to be able to do nothing but mimic their predecessors (who tend to have done it all with so much more grace). Bennett writes stories which are actually touching, and honest, and undeniably funny and he is responsible for The History Boys, which I love. If you hadn't already noticed.

Also, at the risk of sounding like the celebrity stalker I am, Caleb Followill - the man with eyes bluer than Joni Mitchell - has got married - to Lily Aldridge of all people! Oh I'm so ruddy jealous!

It's my Italian oral exam tomorrow, and I am absolutely terrified. Hence the blog. Hence the fact that I am once again absent from French Grammar. Shit shit shiiiiit.

To calm us all down, I'll leave you with a pretty song.

cause a scene.

I overslept and missed my Italian verb quiz today because I stayed up too late... learning verbs. What a noob. Therefore, to cheer myself up I decided to write a blog post.

This week promises to be full of stress and general melodramatic woe as deadline(s) loom and exam(s) approach. This time next week however, I will be full of glee and general merriment because I will have got my horrid exam out of the way and written my horrid essay (probably) and it will very nearly almost be reading week! It couldn't come at a more opportune moment. I really truly need the break, and will spend the week thinking about starting reading and watching Sex and the City. At least I'm a realist...

I have been listening to Salteens a lot lately. My normal approach here would be to embed a video, but Youtube doesn't seem to have heard of them , so I'll give you the Spotify link. And if you don't have spotify, there's really not much more I can do to help you. Your life will probably be okay without them, I just think they're quite good.

I can't be certain, but I think my wonderful friend Jess is coming to stay tonight. Since she moved to Bristol in August, I've seen her a grand total of three times. I miss the days when we spent all of our time in the little languages staffroom at school. She would sit and work and I would fall asleep under the table, only waking up when I smelled one of her delicious meals being reheated in the microwave. She was always so enviably good at life.

Gosh this is old.

These protests in Egypt make our little student backlash look somewhat measley and half-hearted. I will not go on to write a massive piece of argumentative prose, because there are many people who understand the situation much better than I do (and many people who are more adept at writing argumentative prose). Anyway, the thing is, what I really mean is that I'm glad it has received the coverage it deserved, I am saddened by the loss of human life, I am impressed at the resilience of these freedom fighters. Scary though, isn't it?

I leave you with this extract from a beautiful piece of journalism in Saturday's Guardian

"In the narrow side streets protesters regrouped, wellwishers on their balconies threw down water for those with streaming eyes from the tear gas. “Wake up Egypt, your silence is killing us,” came the yells from below."

overdrawn. in a nice way...

The frost on the trees was incredible, wasn't it? It's starting to thaw now, which is a shame because (in the words of Aqualung) just for a moment, everything was beautiful. Those in the know reckon that the changing of the seasons is good for our sanity. It keeps us on the ball. Keeps us ticking over. I think this is particularly true for those living on campus when it is very possible to feel a little bit trapped. If the view from your bedroom window alters (even just a little bit. With a covering of white, for example.), life seems a little less samey.

Yesterday was my birthday. You probably know this, because you probably know me. I had an exam in the morning and a full day of lectures so it wasn't perfect. But it was lovely.

One of my modules this year, 'Representations of Modern Italy' was pretty much made for me. The lectures are basically history lessons (mostly on Fascism) with a lot of literature and film thrown in. I think I like it just for the amount of variety. We started off studying poetry by Ungaretti, followed by 'Il Sentiero dei nidi di Ragno' or 'The Path to the Spiders' Nests' by Calvino. I had already read and loved 'If on a Winter's Night a Traveller' by Calvino, so I was pretty chuffed when this turned up on the syllabus. They are very different, but both stupidly good. Now we are looking at the work of Roberto Rossellini who pioneered the neo-realist movement in film. I cried. That's all you need to know.

This week promises to be a good one. We are trudging along to the Christmas Ball on Thursday and consuming much festive alcohol over the week. There are only three days left of term, and Charlotte is coming to stay for the weekend because she gets chucked out on Friday. I shall be back home (if you can call Wolverley that) on Wednesday, and there the fun will really begin. By this, I of course mean that I will put on a stone in mince pies and will watch Love Actually seventeen times. 'Tis the season to be porky and unquestioning.





Good morrow! (I'm coming over all Dickensian. Did you ever watch A Muppet Christmas Carol? Please do...)

sei molto cocciuta...

Now, because I chose to follow my pockets rather than my heart, I am not doing a degree in creative writing. You probably know this because you probably know me, and therefore know a little bit about me. I do know, however, that there are a few people dotted around the world who read this (yes, I'm as surprised as you are) who probably don't know much about me. Please bear in mind that this is not the original premise of the blog post, so feel free to join me in a couple of paragraphs' time if you already know all this about me.

My name is Anna Mary Morgan and I am eighteen years old. I currently study French and Italian at the University of Warwick. I am from Kidderminster which is a bit of a dive. It is near Birmingham which I think is an underrated city. I am half Welsh. My favourite food is goats' cheese, but I also like spinach very much. I put it in everything. I am vaguely vegetarian but I eat fish and I eat meat if I have no choice (for instance at someone's house if they haven't realised and have prepared a gourmet meal). Saying this, I have only eaten meat once since February. My favourite meat is lamb. My favourite film is probably Juno, but I like Lost in Translation a lot. I'm sad sometimes because some sad things have happened to me, but I'm lucky in lots of ways so I try not to let it bog me down. My favourite book is probably something Brontëish, but I haven't fallen in love with a book since I was pretty young and read 'Sophie Hits Six'. I'm not sure how I have friends. I don't like to purchase clothes or books online as much as physically going shopping, but I do it all the time anyway. I really like James McAvoy. I like old detective shows. Berlin is the place I like most in the world. So far. I really dislike foetuses. I am a socialist. I am frustrated by the fact that I'm still not fluent in French. I'm not frustrated by the fact that I'm not fluent in Italian because I started learning it four weeks ago. My favourite band is Bright Eyes. I would like to be either taller or shorter. I would like to be either blonder or more brunette. I would like to be either thinner or fatter. Oh, wait, I'd just like to be thinner. When at home, I live with my mum and my sister and my dog. I miss my dog much more than the other two. Death doesn't scare me. I like floral patterns, but I'm indifferent to flowers. But I like plants. I only fall for people I have no chance with. I always forget to take an umbrella out with me. It always rains on the days I've straightened my hair. I am a Christian, but I put Christian far too far down on this list. This should give you an idea of just how Christian I am. I used to drink, and then I didn't drink for a while, and now I drink a bit again. I don't know how to talk to human beings. I have had a sore throat for a week. This list has fallen into anarchy.

So there you have it, and to get back to my original point, I'm not doing a degree in which I have to write all that much. The other day, however, we had to come up with a dialogue between two people who meet randomly. This was mine:

Emma: Scusa, lavori qui?
Connor: No, ma Stefano lavora qui. È un ragazzo alto e ha i capelli biondi.
Emma: Non importa. Piacere, io mi chiamo Emma.
Connor: Io sono Connor. Piacere! Sei inglese?
Emma: No, sono polacca, di Varsavia.
Connor: Polacca? Davvero? Sei qui per studiare?
Emma: No, sono con un’amica; è una studentessa di medicina. Dove abiti?
Connor: Abito a Firenze
Emma: Ah sì? Che bello!
Connor: No, TU sei bella!
Emma: Grazie ma ho un ragazzo.
Connor: Allora, sei contenta?
Emma: Sì sono molto contenta
Connor: Va bene, però io sono speciale!
Emma: Sì, ma...
Connor: Vuoi venire al cinema domani?
Emma: Domani, parto per Roma!
Connor: Sei molto cocciuta! A presto!
Emma: A presto! Ciao!

I had SO much fun writing it that I feel a little ashamed. She said that it was the only one she enjoyed reading. I'm not sure why I made 'Connor' a bit of a twat.

Can I say 'twat' on here? If not, sorry.

dirty pretty things...

Things I like about university:

• There are very few (if any) children here.
  
• Everyone is clever. Like. Everyone. This means you actually have to think about what you say in everyday conversation. Things said in Kidderminster might not make all that much sense here.
  
• The Guardian is half the regular price
• Contrary to popular belief, you can get away with not drinking all that much. When drunk, I am a pleb, so I haven't done it for a few months. It's a simpler life...
  
• There is a library of foreign cinema. This one pretty much explains itself.
• Ditto magazines.
• It's not far from home, so I can go back if I so choose (I don't, but I'm being hypothetical.)
• It's full of raving lefties. Last week, I stood for ten minutes while a man from the Socialist Worker Party told me that Communism was the way forward. He was so passionate, I didn't have the heart to disagree.
  
• When living on campus, everything is a five minute walk. Of course, it gets a little bit samey, but in theory, this is good. Also, there are ducks everywhere.
  
• My 'lecteur' who is named Thomas and is strangely appealing. Hard to say why...
  

In short, I could probably stay forever. I banned myself from updating during my first week, but as I have no television, I daresay you will be seeing much more from me. You lucky buggers...