Life is definitely settling down here in Siena. We have hit the 2 month mark, and everything is becoming routine. Although, walking to uni some days, you look up and take in the medieval buildings, the hundreds of years of history in the walls around you, and you remember how lucky you are to be studying here. I moved out of the student residence about a month ago, and am now living in an apartment right next to one of Siena’s biggest churches (see photo above, I couldn’t work out captions), which also happens to be right next to the economics faculty, handy when you have classes there. Just a roll out of bed away. No excuses for not getting to class. In terms of finding apartments this time of year in Siena, the peak season when most of the apartments are on offer for this semester is August/Semptember, after this period it can be really tricky to find an appartment in or close to the city walls. There are a few websites you can use to track down appartments, and I would recommend taking a look at these before leaving Australia, just to get an idea of prices etc.
It has taken a little while to adjust to the University system over here. It seems Siena in particular has had some financial difficulties with some “money gone missing” over the past few months, and because of this, there has been a spot of striking from time to time. Most subjects have lectures in 2 hour blocks, a drain for the concentration span, when it is all in Italian. I just write down everything I hear. The Italians go crazy with their note taking, so it’s a good idea to make friends, if you don’t catch everything in the lectures. All my subjects have 2 hour lectures, 3 times a week, which is a pretty big workload for artsy subjects, but there are no assignments over the course of the semester, just an oral or written an exam at the end. Some of the professors are very lenient and sympathetic towards exchange students, but others will expect a lot of work. There are two blocks of exams, one half way through the semester, for the first module, and another at the end of the semester, for the second module. I had an exam 2 days ago, so I went to speak to my professor to see what in particular I should know about, but he said not to worry about doing that exam, I can just do one exam in January instead. I think this makes both our lives easier because it’s lowing the workload for them as well.
We found a great pizza place just around the corner from our appartment, which we’ve become regulars at. The Pizzaolo (pizza man) even offered for my brother to come and stay at his house if I get sick of him during his visit. He is always up for a chat, I think he gets quite bored on his own in the pizza shop with the french news on all day. His pizzas are have a bucket of fat and a truckload of salt on top, but I keep on going back, just for the Piazzaiolo.
Living expenses can be quite high in Italy, especially if you do a lot of travelling. But if you are a stinge, there are always alternative ways to get by. It is very common to find double rooms in Siena, like the one we have. I don’t have any problems with sharing a room, but I guess it’s pretty important that you find someone you get along with to share a room with, otherwise it could destroy your experience a bit. One feature that can cut the living costs down is the “Mensa” system, which functions like American stye cafeterias. I would compare the food to that you find at Melbourne University’s colleges but with an Italian twist, and everyone is able to access the Mensa, not just exclusively college students. It’s incredibly cheap at 2-2.50 euro for a meal, so in theory you could live on about 5 euro for food per day. In theory.
The weather: not because I’m running out of topics to talk about, but this is something you should consider when you choose your destination for exchange, because it can make such a difference to the atmosphere of a city. Until October in Siena, the weather is quite sunny and spectacular, but it does tend to get a lot of rain in the winter months. This means a lot of wet wintery boardgame weather days.
The great thing about Siena is that everything is so close together, just a short walk away. The town is small enough, so that you will run into someone you know on most wanders down the streets. You don’t want to be making enemies in Siena, because you will be seeing them again.
