tortelli, piazzas and tango

I went to Italy a little more than a week ago, and although I just got back from Austria, I think I should write about Italy first.

I have been hearing stories about Italy all my life, and I didn't expect it to really live up to the stories, since many of them were from quite a while ago, but upon arrival, I found the Italy right out of my favorite tales, at least in essence. I loved everything-the animated expressions on the Italians' faces as they gave us directions; the crazy driving (it all works as long as no one slows down); the cobbled streets, old buildings, beautiful piazzas and majestic cathedrals; the tasty food (I thought tortelli di zucca, pumpkin ravioli, was particularly interesting). I also loved the language, especially the rhythm of it. I am slightly frustrated with the fact that I could understand Italian almost as well as Croatian, and I've been here for almost four months. This is presumably due to my French, which is quite similar, but possibly also that Italians lend themselves to being understood. Italy seemed like one of those places that just clicked for me and I definitely want to go back.

I went for a Tango fest, and was accompanied by my Rotary counselor, who was so nice to come because I wouldn't have been allowed to go alone, and one of the exchange students from Brazil who just came along for the ride. I've got to say that I felt like I was crashing the party-there were tons of people at the festival and pretty much every one was a great dancer. I took several workshops-in Italian, which I actually though was pretty interesting. I could understand some, my partners translated some, and of course, I learned a lot just by watching. I also went to the milonga each night. The milongas were held in some sort of giant athletics building, with a rubbery floor that was a bit hard to dance on, red plastic tables and chairs around the outside, and colored stage lights. It was very different, and I though it had a fun atmosphere. My favorite night was Sunday. Lots of people had taken off, so there was more space on the floor but still plenty of people to dance with.