gli azzurri vincano!

Men in suits riding motorcycles. Women in stilettos on bicycles. The people here are so put together that I can't help but be self-conscious... but in a good way (aware of how I look but not really caring what other people think... it's not like I can understand everything they are saying). Fine shoes, tailored shirt, nice pants... is as if many of these Milanesi have walked straight out of a fashion catalogue. Men, straight or gay (and now I really can't tell), wear really nice clothes that, well, are real fine. Things match, look new, go together. Yea, life's different here: the temperature is warmer (up for interpretation...) the breezes are cooler, friends are closer, people are more open, and the emotions are purer (you'll see with the world cup game shown in the piazza del duomo later...).

In the afternoon, when most of you North Americans were just getting up, I was going through boxes of slides in the archive here to find slides from a certain distributor so that they could be sent back to them. Picture a room with lots of file cabinets and piles of orange boxes stacked up on all of them with names of famous people and normal subjects. Sorting through pictures of drugs, people eating, festivals, awards, gay pride, architecture, I tracked down a couple of folders from the desired distributors. After an afternoon sorting through the dusty piles, I went home on the Metropolitana, now savvy of its directions.

Once home, we went to the GS supermercato, although Niki was convinced it wasn't anything special, I thought it was an adventure. Hamburgers shaped like Mickey Mouse, pesto in a jar, rabbit and carpaccio at the meat counter, and tons of varieties of juice. I think I am going to spend much time at the GS...

So night rolls around and Italy is playing Ghana at the World Cup. And of course, we're going to see it in the Piazza del Duomo. Although the Duomo has been under renovation for the past 6 years, the openness of the square along with the beautiful architecture of Vittorio Emmanuelle II were breathtaking. Seconds after our arrival, Italy scored their first goal, thus we were lost in flag-waving, firework-burning, horn-blowing, cheering Italians. The game was intense, drama mounting high, seems like gli azzurri complained of foul-play every two minutes, the Milanesi cheered and booed but were sometimes silent (rare according to Marina). And the night was spent cheering and walking around downtown Milan, quite picturesque I might add. I've noticed the Italians are a people of pure emotions: telling all, showing all, being open and direct. They'll swear ardently at the bigscreen (ma che cazzo fai!) and shake their hands up to the Madolina on top of the Duomo when things go wrong. But in the end they were happy for a victory of 2-0 against Ghana. Saturday we will see the Italians up against the States... oh boy, let the sociological study begin! Once my bag arrives, I will bring my camera everywhere and will click click click away and send out photos. I've been missing quite a bit without my stuff. The good news is I have a mini shopping spree in the works thanks to the missing bag, so today, I'll leave work a little early and go a little crazy on British Airways' tab.