last days in ferrara

The last week in Ferrara without classes would have been an optimal time to explore the city, visit some close cities (like Modena and Ravenna) or have some picnics out in the parks. But good 'old mother nature was not on our side. I ended up spending a lot of time at the apartments or at the house because it was too miserable to ride my bike anywhere let alone try to travel elsewhere. I did manage to see the castle on Thursday with Caitie before our final dinner. We got accosted at the top by a very nice, very verbose man who wanted to know our real american opinions about Obama and the oil spill and health insurance without letting us have a word in edgewise. As we were walking around the tower there were blue skies north of the city and dark ominous ones to the south. Guess where the weather comes from in Ferrara. Ill give you a hint: three minutes into our tour it started torrentially downpouring.
We finished the tour of the castle then got our bikes and went back to her place. If there is a silver lining to this story its the fact that I was exasperated enough to try riding my bike and holding the umbrella again and this time I succeeded and had no near-death colissions with italian motorists. Score!
We stayed at Caities until the final dinner and I went early to play soccer. A lot of you probably know how "well" I play soccer and for those of you who dont Ill just say that the game began with me getting hit in the face with the ball as I tried to stop it from getting into the goal (unsuccessfully) and ended with me tripping over the ball and falling in slow-motion into a split position the colapsing on the ground completely. Basically, Ricardo (one of our italian directors) beat all of us single-handedly. But it was really fun :)
Also fun was the showering situation afterwards because there were at least 6 of us who wanted showers, guys ang girls, and the shower stalls didnt have curtains. But we figured it out and made it to dinner on time. Dinner was amazing. We had an anti pasta of meats and yummy cheeses (who ever thought you would hear me say THAT) and little carmelized onions and sundried tomatoes. Then we had one of the best cappellacci dishes i can remember. It was made the Mantova way, so the pumpkin and parmesean were mixed with a sweet almond flavoring and the sauce was creamy and sweet like a dessert. Jenna and I ate a TON because Derek doesnt really eat and AJ didnt like them. Then we had a meat course, but the cappellacci was the most memorable part. Everyone had submitted their best photos and we all got a copy of a disk with everyones pics and the slideshow was playing throughout dinner. There was a photocontest at the end and I won for "La Dolce Vita3 categorie with my pic of Keester at the 4 hour sicily lunch stuffing her face with pasta.
Afterwards we went to the piazza and to the apartments for awhile and made it back to the house by 5am after taking Catie and Andrea home on our bikes. The next day was pretty low key but I did eat a delicious caprese pizza for lunch, gelato from K2 afterwards, and said a final goodbye to our directors. For dinner Clara made lasagna alla bolognese and we all took pictures together after the dessert of fresh ferrara strawberries with sugar. Teresa and I gave Clara a frame with our picture in it and I gave Paolo the ciee shirt i had won for the photo contest. Then Paolo and Clara went to bed and Teresa and I went to the apartments and to the piazza one last time. It was a pretty chill night and Andrea and I fell asleep on one another for an hour or so. We all rode to Andreas and said goodbye there then went back to our house around 5 again. Teresa stayed up the whole night but I decided to take a couple-hour nap before my train/plane the next day. I didnt set my alarm right because Clara had to wake me up and I got ready really fast. She had made real toast for breakfast and everything but I couldnt really sit down and enjoy it because i got up so late :( I said goodbye to Clara, who said between tears, "I didnt want to come to the train station so I wouldnt cry!" And I was of course crying too. Paolo drove Teresa and I to the station and I said a less tearful goodbye to Paolo then Teresa helped me carry my stuff and get a ticket. FORTUNATELY I was on track one and didnt have to drag myself up and down stairs. Everyone was hurrying to get on the train so Teresa and I said a shorter goodbye than was necessary for a whole semester of sisterhood and she helped me onto the train. She left and the doors closed and I realized that a) this was a 2 level train so I would have to drag my stuff up or down 2 levels to have a seat and b) the train wasnt leaving for another 10 minutes. So I just sat down on the stairs and tried to get some zzzs
The ride to the airport was uneventful except that I didnt have to pay the bus ticket somehow. Then at the airport I found out that they werent even checking in for my 12:30 flight until 10:30 so I got there (the usual in America) 3 hours early for nothing. I talked to a sweet Italian couple who also got there 'on time' while we were waiting, and realized how much better my italian has gotten in the past semester. Not only did I have something to talk about with them, but I had a general understanding of where they said they were from and understood almost everything they said to me.
Around 10:45 they started checking us in and I got sent to another window to pay for my overweight bag then had to go back to get my boarding pass then through security. They didnt even make me take my liquids out at security and it took all of 30 seconds. I got a croissant and my final italian coffee for breakfast, which I realized later on the plane was a very stupid idea because I couldnt sleep. Idiot. And with that I end this post and will start a new one all about France!