The last 2 weeks were at least full, as unbelievable as "full" may sound for someone who technically does not have a job. Between chapter writing, rewriting, presentation writing, flight to Bucharest, exam, flight back to Milan, classes and research group meetings, I actually did not feel that I don't have a job in the real sense of the word. And the hardest part is yet to come, as more work is just around the corner.
And in the meantime, nature and the World have gone crazy: snow and extremely low temperatures are paralyzing both Romania and Italy. I had the "luck" to fly between them in the middle of this period but fortunately my flights only had slight delays. The funny part is how each of the 2 countries is managing the "apocalyptic" weather.
In Romania they have red code after red code, meters of snow on the roads, closed highways, delayed trains, canceled flights, whole villages isolated in the mountains or in remote areas. They also have the villages around Bucharest that were, at some point, in the same state of isolation as those in the mountains. Even the Black Sea froze, and Facebook was invaded of pictures of the rocks at the seashore in Constanta, covered in snow and ice forming strange shapes. People have been dying in the streets or in their cars, blocked in snow in the middle of no-where on blocked roads. Electric cables are getting broken, and Bucharest has become a hell even for walking. The state of alert has been declared in various areas of the country.
In Italy, on the other hand, people are not less scared of this "furious snow and cold that are happening for the first time in the last 30 years". Rome is swamped in snow, they closed schools and public offices, people are emptying the supermarkets, highways have been blocked or closed, the end of the World is coming, etc etc etc. All this, for 30 cm of snow. How funny can this be? Snow is so uncommon around here that not even buses have winter tires nor chains, not to mention normal cars. Here, as in Romania, entire villages are isolated because of the snow, they say. A few days ago, a train remained stuck in the middle of no-where and so the passengers spent a total of 24 hours in the train.
I could write a novel on what's also happening in other European countries but I guess it's useless, since all of you have already seen this on the news.
And finally Milan... well, Milan is, paradoxically, a little oasis, a bubble of peace in the middle of all this general craze. Of course, it's freezing cold, like everywhere (for Milan, -5 degrees is UNBEARABLY freezing cold, they say). There's a bit of ice on the ground, which quickly disappears in the late morning. Snow cannot be seen on the streets, as someone miraculously makes it disappear shortly after it falls. And anyway snow here is nothing compared to the landscapes described above. But it's not less sad, as I can't do much walking besides the usual home-metro-metro-school-metro-home way. I managed to get a glimpse of the Duomo once since I moved, and that's kind of it. I can't wait for the spring to come, because I want to enjoy this city the way it deserves. I also have to buy a photo camera, I'm currently SAVING MONEY (yes, ME!!!) for this purpose. I guess after getting the camera I will have more motivation to walk around the city, as I miss taking photos quite a lot.
The fact of being busy studying and writing also means that I did not have any time to sew or make anything pretty, and my sewing machine is practically untouched and locked in a closed ever since I arrived. I literally drool at my 30+ kilograms of fabrics, that we carried all the way from Bucharest in the hope that being in Milan will mean tons of inspiration and time to do pretty things. But I WILL take attitude in this matter. It's just... too cold for this now.
My dear 2 friends will visit us next weekend, and I am sure we will all have a great time (and I will get to do some sightseeing again since one of them is really desperate to see the city). And in the meantime... we cook, we eat, and we try to stay warm. Ah and I have just turned down (unfortunately, though I could really use the money) 2 "jobs". It's good, though, to know that there are people nice enough to want to make you do stuff for money here. But unfortunately now I can't afford to waste my precious research time, as the deadlines are fast approaching.
And last, but not least, tomorrow is our 1 year anniversary :).
Love,
La Reina Rana
