For those of you who are fans of Carrie & Co.s saucy antics in the big apple in the famous series Sex & the City, we dedicate this entry to the bigger, better, sexier, shenanigans of the Parma people in the Park! We salute you!
You see, a leisurely stroll for Hannah and I through our local park in Parma not only consists of the lovely Autumn leaves falling from the trees, the occasional Italian child, whizzing past on their bike or the view of the geese gliding along the lake, but also the embarrassing sight of 2 Italian lovers re-enacting all the positions of the Karma-Sutra. The only consoling factor in this GREAT display of affection is the fact that they still have their clothes on. If Hannah & I owned a video camera with X-ray vision, we could make a fortune in the Pornography industry.
Our interactions with the extrovert race known as the "Italian" doesn't stop there, however. During another leisurely stroll of ours (yes, we don't really have much to do here!!!), through the city centre, we came across an old gentleman, who looked at us a little perplexed. You might be thinking (as did we), that he's going to stop us and ask for directions. We soon discover however, that our gentleman friend is not lost, but has simply preyed upon us to vent his anger on the cost of bread & vegetables nowadays. Another experience of ours, albeit a less pleasurable one, was when we went into the local hotel, to enquire about room prices. We'd not been stood at the counter for more than 2 minutes, when an old Italian man, turns around, and shouts at us "f
ing tourists"!!! You can imagine our shock considering we had been speaking Italian to the receptionist, and we were generally minding our own business. Now you can see why we've had to make adjustments to our swearing: it's necessary to be able to communicate with the old people of Parma.
Last but not least, we'd like to mention a new phenomenon we've encountered here in Italy. That of furry tea. Recent studies have shown that:
"English tea" (i.e. PG Tips/Tetley) + Parmalat milk = furry tea!!!
We've learnt the hard way, that due to this chemical reaction, one must only drink three quarters of one's tea.
ferijen
Sounds like you're having a fab time. My sister was an erasmus student in Udine and is now living near Bologna, having graduated last year. She had a fab time - Italy seems to be such a fantastic place to be a student. Enjoy yourselves!