Learning Italian is Fun: Phrase of the day: Bo . . . ma

Me - So I'm doing an independent study involing both management and design.
Professor - Bo . . ma. I am old. Perhaps somebody mentioned it to me earlier, but I don't know anything about it. How is doing both management and architecture possible?

So I spoke to one of the professors that was supposed to give me some guidance regarding my independent study and it seems that he was not aware that I was even doing it. He has offered to help in anyway with contact information, resources, etc. I'm just surprised that he knew nothing about it.

Kent State University leases the Palazzo dei Cerchi for its study abroad students in Florence. Part of the agreement is that we must keep the palazzo in good condition. Some brief history of the Cerchi family can be found on wikipedia. The building was built in the 13th century and is older than the more iconic Palazzo Vecchio. I have taken a few pictures but it's difficult to convey the feelings that the palazzo evokes. Since it's an old building, Kent has had to add stairs and even intermediate levels because the floor to floor height was so large. The building still has some terracotta floors from the 15 century. The frescoes that are on some of the walls are protected by government and are ugly. Most of them have disintegrated and there are only patchy and faded blotches of frescoes. Perhaps I am a bit too insensitive. However if it doesnt really appear to be anything, what's the big deal?

Anyway, my luggage did arrive on Monday, so that was nice. I can finally wait a week or two between laundry days. It's still unbearably hot.

Orientations have generally been boring and common sense reminders. We've had various people come in and speak to us. All of the teachers have had a round of talking, but they also brought in Police Inspector Michele who warned us about "Disney Land syndrome" and Italy's national sport: women. Each semester there are between 6000-7000 US students who attend about 30 different universities situated in Florence. Many are undergraduates who like to drink alcohol and now don't have to worry about being underage. This leads to disney land syndrome and bad decisions. Michele also warned us about the behavior of creepy italian guys and how they play the "national sport". The best reaction is to have no reaction. Anyway, he told us that the girls will miss all the attention once they get back to the States. He also mentioned that because of how annoying italian men are, italian women have learned to block it out and thus have become unfriendly and cold.

I would say the police inspector tells the truth. He warned us that he was not going to be politickally correct all the time. He mentioned the pitfalls of dealing with illegal street vendors, illegal aliens (tons of north africans illegally come to Italy), yada yada yada. Generally a good speech, but stuff that people should know.