New photos!

Here are some recent pictures from My Life in Lugano. It’s been hard to keep up with written blog entries, but I do a better job on Facebook! If you have one, find me on there 🙂 Or–email me! Here at Franklin, my email is erin.kuykendall@student.fc.edu. I’d love to catch up!

Doing cartwheels in the castle at Bellinzona, after receiving my Swiss Residency card!

And like all college kids, we occasionally have baguette battles…this time, Lauren was the victor.

Ponte Tresa, in Italy! Just a very short train ride away, you cross the border into Italy and on every Saturday morning you arrive to this market, that sells everything from fresh fruit to gerbils.

Letters are easily the most exciting part of college life.

One of the shots taken by an upperclassman here, named Pierre! He wanted to practice taking portraits, and I wanted to practice looking stunned in a field. Everybody wins!

Lauren and I in Munich, for Oktoberfest! We rented a smartcar for the weekend, and drove all the way there from Lugano. We also slept in the smartcar! It  was a blast (Oktoberfest, not so much sleeping in the tiny car.)

Hey look, sometimes I go out! This is a picture of my friend Cecilia and I taken by a photographer at a club here in Lugano. I would know, because I’m hip.

A picture my other roommate, Renee, took. Walking around wet and foggy Milano in the fall. Beautiful!

The first snow on the mountains in Lugano. This is how I walk to class every morning!

From my 2 week trip to Venice, about which I will write more soon. Stephanie, me, and Alejandra on a Venetian boat!

Ooh, Halloweeeeen. This is Lauren and I as zombies!

Halloween part two! The roommates and I were the three blind mice.

I have been babysitting for an Italian family here in Lugano–this was taken when I escorted their daughter to her horse riding lessons at a stable in the mountains of Italy.

“Only those evil live to see their own likeness in stone.”

Why? (Band)

Tea Party Pictures!

not a bad setup, right?!

and this wasn’t even all of the food.

all the ladies…and Abhi.

When everyone was late for the party…..(meet Lauren, one of the roommates!)

So I’d say we ate a lot.

we love Abhi!

Savannah, Scout, Lauren and I…all giddied up!

Polka dots.

Roommates!

On Our First Tea Party

Today….was a beautiful day. Today (9/18), we threw a tea party! We called it our Friendship Appreciation Tea Party. My roommates and I invited some of our favorite people, and dressed to the nines. It was a big deal, people. The first event we’ve put on in our little apartment, and it was a success! We sent out invites on facebook, asking people to bring a mug, a cute dress, and some finger food to contribute. The roomies and I wore our polka dot dresses, and decorated the table, and bought a bunch of cute food, that was delicious too! Reminds of Texas, which I am starting to miss dearly. I miss my red cowboy boots, and dainty southern foods at superfluous parties, and even country dancing, at which I am quite bad. 

 

Either way, the party was a huge success. We even got a boy to come. I’ll post pictures in the post after this! 🙂

 

Love to everyone in the states! Hope everyone is as happy as I am. 

A Pictorial Update

did I mention I found friends I could make music with? So happy.

Renee and Lexie…before we got kicked off the train.

 

Us at the beautiful duomo!

Inside Milan’s train station.

Help….someone help me….

the duomo!

The Galleria!

doors of the duomo!

Inside the Galleria.

The Castle!

Signed by Da Vinci.

the painting by Da Vinci.

Michelangelo’s sculpture…Mary holding the limp body of Jesus.

The friends we met on the way home!

On My First Trip to Milan

Today’s trip was a bonding experience with Roomie Renee! Renee is from the Bay Area, and her school back home hosted lots of foreign exchange students…some from Milan! So today, we decided to finally visit Milan, and Renee’s friend Andrea was kind enough to be our tour guide for the day. 

 

So the plan was to leave right at 9, Saturday morning. 

We woke up a little late….missed that train.

Decided the next one was too early….so skipped that train.

Finally decided on the 10:30 train….SPRINTED all the way to the train station downtown….only to watch as the train pulled away from the station.

 

At that point, there was not much left for us to do but laugh. And laugh we did, all the way home. Sometimes life is so unfortunate, or throws you so many curveballs, that you can only either cry, or just think about how funny that story will be to tell later. Who wants to be sad?

We started back home (in tears from laughing so hard), and ran into our friend Lexie, who joined us on our quest to reach Milan. We finally got aboard the 3:24 PM train, and settled down into our seats for the hour train ride. When, all of the sudden…a train official came and checked everyone’s tickets. Lo and behold, we bought the wrong tickets! We were booted at the station in Chiasso, the border city between Italy and Switzerland. Luckily, Lexie speaks sufficient Italian, and we sweet-talked our way into staying on the train. Insert rebel yell!

Once we reached Milan, we found Andrea and some of his Italian friends, and did all the necessary touristy stuff. We saw the beautiful beautiful BEAUTIFUL duomo, and the nearby “galleria”, done in breathtaking Baroque style architecture. We were harassed by men selling roses and other trinket, and also by a “bachelor party” who “needed a picture with us,” and “would we please kiss the groom’s cheek.” This was not the first time a “bachelor party” had requested that. Upon questioning Andrea….this is the Italian equivalent of “Hey baby, can I have your number?”

We walked with Andrea to Castello Storzesco, the castle there in Milan, currently undergoing renovation. Italy used to be divided into many different “kingdoms,” so each province has a castle where that ruling family used to live. This is Milan’s! Inside the castle was a magnificent (and free!) museum, housing artifacts found in the area. It also possessed a painting by DA VINCI (as well as a ceiling he painted), and an amazing sculpture by Michelangelo. I was in tears. Literally.

We grabbed a quick coffee (ooh, so European..), and headed back to the main square to a rooftop bar overlooking the duomo, which was also a fancy-pants grocery store. Bought too much. What else is new? I can’t control myself around food.

The immigrants who come try and sell roses and things like that are referred to as “rosario’s” by the people of Milan…one of them gave us free roses, although Andrea did pay him back 🙂

Roses in hand, we began a walking tour of downtown Milan. We stopped and ate lunch at a place Andrea said is famous among the people of Milan, called Luini. It’s a panzerotti! They sell filled pastries…sort of like a Hot Pocket, except delicious. 

We took a cab to an area called Naviglio, which we were told was where all the cool kids hang out. It’s a bunch of hip restaurants, and shopping, and bars, and music. Wandered around until we found what may be Milan’s ONE vintage store, where I bought a faaaaaabulous leather purse to carry all my books in. 

Dinner was had a Mexican restaurant called Maya, that was surprisingly good, but unsurprisingly, not actual Mexican food. Next door we had primi piatte, which is how you say first course in Italian. In italy, you have a pasta as a first course, then you order your meat as your main dish. 

On the train home, we ran into three other kids from Franklin! We also ran into several reallllllly drunk Italian boys, who made loud rooster noises alllllllll the way home. Once again, all we could do was laugh. 

 

Pictures to come!

Photos!

On 8.27

Today was my favorite day so far! It was the last day of summer (orientation too, meaning classes begin tomorrow), and it definitely out with a bang.

We went as a class to Valle Verzasca, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. The scenery was truly impeccable, and I could not believe how close the buses were cutting it space-wise. There were moments when it would have been all too easy to reach out of the bus and grab a croissant from someone’s breakfast table.

We stopped and ate lunch at a playground by a glacier-fed river, where some of us (the brave? The foolish?) waded into the freezing water. We’re talking hypothermia-inducing, here. Honestly, the surroundings were so beautiful that it was hard to notice the cold, although the gradual numbing sensation helped as well.

Then, we loaded up to the buses and made a small hike up to a huge waterfall. It felt PHENOMENAL! Chilly, misty, and quite windy. We took pictures and admired the view, then headed to a nearby bridge/swimming hole filled with both locals and other tourist-y groups. Lauren and I, as well as a good portion of our class, jumped off a nearby rock into the river, about 6 meters tall, into the FRIGID water, for the amusement of the groups of warm people watching. They call it the Franklin Baptism. Some students pulled off backflips, or dives…I was lucky to get away with my pencil dive. As much as I gripe about the water, I would do it again in an instant. It was SO worth it.

My night ended with a celebratory trip to the best gelato shop in town, and possibly the world (as told to us by Franklin alumni): -9 Degrees. I got Lady Godiva, and then was pointed towards the cheesecake flavor by the man behind the counter. It was so delicious I wanted to die. After that, we walked about the beautiful lake, laughing at stupid jokes, and just enjoying our new lives and the people that God placed in them.

As if it could any better, our next door neighbor came over later with a basket of figs and peaches from her family’s farm in Southern Italy. 

Sylvia Plath

“From that pale mist
Ghost swore to priest:
‘There sits no higher court
than man’s red heart.'”

All My Sons

“Every man does have a star. The star of one’s honesty. And you spend your life groping for it, but once it’s out, it never lights again. I don’t think he went very far. He probably just wanted to be alone to watch his star go out.” -Arthur Miller, All My Sons

Spent a bit of the afternoon discussing this quote with my roommates. SO blessed to have roommates who are not only fun, but who I can have genuine intelligent conversations with.