In Need of a Title

Today was hectic. It started off at about 5:30AM when I woke up. I had trouble sleeping (still getting over jet lag), so when I woke up again at 5:30, I just decided to go ahead and get ready for the day. My weekend in Venice was over, and today was the day that I would finally arrive at Paderno del Grappa for my summer classes. After I showered and all that good stuff, I packed up my things for checkout. I left my bags in my room and headed out into Venice before checkout. I stopped by the water bus dock again to go ahead and buy a ticket to the train station.

I stuck the ticket in my pocket and headed back to the hotel. I grabbed breakfast there, which consisted of sliced capicola, salami, and ham, olives, juice, nutella’d toast, and various cheeses. After breakfast, I went back up to my room, grabbed my things, and checked out of Hotel Da Bruno. This all happened before 8, so the city was still pretty empty. I kind of enjoyed the quiet.

At around 9, I arrived at the San Lucia train station in Venice, and purchased a 9:50 ticket for Bassano (which is where I would then take a bus to Paderno). When 9:50 came around, there was no train -- 10:00, still nothing. Everyone around me (including myself) became very confused, so we found a conductor and asked what was going on. After explaining it to everyone in about four different languages, he let us know that the train was not coming (great), and that we needed to take the train to another city first (can’t remember the name), and then immediately transfer to the Bassano train from there. I hopped on the train, still a little nervous about the detour. I got even more nervous as the conductor started walking down the train cars, checking people’s tickets for correct validation. Luckily, I did mine correctly, but the young French couple to my right wasn’t so lucky. They were awarded for their incorrect validation to the tune of a 50 Euro fine. Needless to say, they were not happy.

After about an hour, I arrived in Bassano, where I went straight across the street from the station to a gazette stand to buy my bus ticket. I had finally made it to a place where it was hard to find someone who spoke English. I knew it would happen eventually, but I wasn’t quite ready for it yet. After sending a flurry of improvised hand gestures to the man at the gazette stand, I finally got a bus ticket out of him. He showed me to the bus stop that was supposed to take me to Paderno on its way to Pederobba. I thanked him and sat down on the bench. Here, I met the only man from Bassano to Paderno that spoke English -- a really cool blind guy. He felt around with his cane for a seat, and after bumping into me, he apologized in Italian. When I responded in English, he said “Oh, haha! Is there a place here for me to sit?” I led him over to the seat next to me, and we waited for the bus together. After about 2 hours, I started to wonder if my bus would ever get there (it was already an hour late). Finally, a bus to Pederobba pulled up, but not in the place that the man showed me earlier. I guess I must have gestured incorrectly. Nevertheless, I got on the bus and pulled out Google Maps on my phone to make sure I got off at the right stop.

I arrived at the Filippin campus in Paderno about 40 minutes later. I signed in, got my textbooks, and headed up to my room to unpack. After I unloaded all of my things into their respective drawers and cubbies, I went back downstairs for our orientation. Not much to say about that except that the man in charge of discipline (a retired Italian police officer) scared us all with stories of past summers where people were arrested, injured, and sent home. He then gave us a wave and a smile and went on his way. Later, I ate dinner at the cafeteria, took a look around campus, and got familiar with my schedule -- yay for 8:00AM classes! Tonight will probably consist of food and catching up on sleep.

Here is my dorm room and the view from my window:

Tomorrow…classes start.