New Roommates, Design & Dance

Last Monday, my roommate and I were accompanied by two Latvian student artists. Quite different from the two of us, but at least from the perspective of rent, necessary. The evening and the following day were largely spent helping them get settled in. It was a strange experience in a way. Being the native English speaker in the group, almost by default, I became the acting head of the household. That day, I created some of the ground rules and got to know my new roommates in a way I feel my godfather would.

Wednesday, it was back to school again, for a very long day of an “Empowerment” class and more introduction presentations. How I love school.

After Thursday’s classes, I took an Italian language test (with no preparation), just to see how much I’ve forgotten and need to know. The answer: a lot. But I don’t think getting back into the language will be nearly as difficult as learning Mandarin.

My roommate, a Russian classmate and I had dinner that night in the ‘design’ district of town. It was good, but nothing you couldn’t find elsewhere.

By the end of Friday’s classes, I realized that although I’m enrolled in a masters program, the same type of people remain as every other educational program I’ve been in: the smart, the proud, the teacher’s pets, the clueless, the troublemakers, the weird, the quiet, the happy-go-luckies, and me.

That evening, a bunch of us visited a “design library club” and had aperitivo (the only type of evening meal that is reasonably priced in Milan). While there, I invited the group to my apartment for yet another party. This time, it was organized by our new Latvian roommates. It was a quieter party, with “ambient” music and a lot of cigarettes. Near the end of the night, I had to set the limit and say no more. The next morning, the new roommates agreed it was too much. It’s going to be really challenging living with my roommates for many reasons, but I’m not afraid of it.

Saturday was a mix of things from shopping to email, and exploring downtown. It was also the day, my Chilean roommate officially became my fashion designer and critic.

And on Sunday, he accompanied me for my morning routine. We ended up roaming around another ‘design’ district and going into a ‘designer’ store with super-weird and super-expensive things (Eg: a wallet there cost €1500. €1500! When was the last time you had €1500 in your wallet? The wallet costs more than the money you’d put in it!). After that, we explored the complete opposite side of the city of design: Chinatown. It was a nice break from the superfluous, and a nice reminder of my life one month ago. In the process, I found my first dance destination in Milan. A hall by the name of Caffe Caribe. Fridays being “Latino Americano” night. Man, am I excited!