Tiffany – Milan – Ending My Exchange and Welcoming My First Visitor!

Mom really enjoyed the Duomo

Class is over! Let the traveling begin! Over the next month, I have plans to visit 5 additional countries and I am SUPER excited. Today, I finished my final presentation, bid farewell to Bocconi and traveled directly to the train station to pick up my best friend, my Mom! Everything was going so well until I received a call from my Mom while en route. Our plan for her to take the regional train from the airport to Milano Centrale station was ruined by a train strike which actually occurs pretty often in Milan. Mom had to take a bus to another station and with the help of a very kind passenger from Nigeria was able to call me to tell me that she would have to meet me in a different location. Another random act of kindess. :)  (see previous blog post for reference). 

Halftime at Italy vs. Germany

Mom has really been a trooper. While it took me almost two weeks to recover from jet lag, she was able to take a quick nap and head out with me to the Italy vs. Germany soccer match at San Siro Stadium. She was also amazed by the huge crowd, incredible stadium and extremely passionate fans.  Tomorrow we head to Venice and I am really looking forward to exciting times with Mom. 

Tiffany- Italy - Random Act of Kindnes

Today was a rainy day so I went to the laundromat to dry my clothes. Many apartments here have a washing machine and a clothes line outside for drying. At the laundromat, there was a sign on the dryer that I couldn't completely understand so I opted to type it into my phone translation app before loading my clothes. A man spotted me typing (and probably looking rather confused) and approached me with a sentence in Italian of which I could make out about 3-4 words. We both quickly realized that my understanding of Italian and his understanding of English were about the same. Despite this, he reached for my coin and started the machine for me.
We spent about 10 minutes discussing basic personal info in broken Italian/English. He was from Cairo but has been living in Milan for several years. He also has a sister who lives in the US but has never traveled there himself.  Right in the middle of the conversation he asked me to follow him and with plenty of hesitation I chose to oblige. We went next door where he offered me some coffee and managed to tell me in broken Italian/English that he wished me good luck in my studies. We then went back to the laundromat where he grabbed his clothes, kissed me on both cheeks and went on his way.

These types of random acts of kindness are what inspire me to travel the world, meet its people and strive to be a better person. 

Tiffany - Milano, Italy - Flash Mob!

For the final project in my Brand Management class we worked with Janssen (pharmaceutical company under  Johnson & Johnson). Our task was to propose a digital strategy to support their Diabetes Awareness Campaign. In Italy, the prevalence of diabetes has grown in the last 10 years from 3.7% to 5,5%. More than 3 million Italian citizens have diabetes and it is estimated that at least one million people have undiagnosed diabetes. 

There I am, under the R

As part of the campaign, Janssen organized a flash mob and we were invited to attend. The flash mob was held in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele (right in front of the Prada flagship store :)) Several of my classmates and I reviewed the dance steps ahead of time and attended the flash mob. This was my first flash mob experience and it was actually  really cool. They ran the dance routine 3 times and I finally joined in on the 3^rd time (see picture: I can be seen above the “R” in Cure).

Tiffany - Milan - Benvenuti a Milano!

Saturday, Oct. 12th - I woke up on my flight about 40 minutes before landing in Milan and got an amazing view of the Swiss Alps. Reality has it...I'm here! After a 90 minute venture to our new apartment, we set out in search of food and let me just say...my first Italian meal did not disappoint. I ordered spaghetti con pollo which came out looking sort of like chicken lo mein but was SO good. Definitely going to have to run daily so I don't blow up.

Sunday, Oct. 13th - Today my roommate Erica and I decided to venture out. We took the metro 3 stops away to the Duomo di Milano. The Duomo is an amazing Cathedral which has been around since the 1300s. The area around the Duomo is full of shops and restaurants which we definitely took full advantage of. My favorite aspect of the day was walking around and people watching. Milan is such a trendy, eclectic and diverse city. I feel like I should have made a more concerted effort to finish my Rosetta Stone before leaving home as I struggle to understand basic communication. Going to try to work on that while here. With that said...lo vado a letto. La mia prima classe e domani. Buonanotte!