couchsurfing experience in padova

yet again, i must take a moment to thank all the people who make couchsurfing.org possible. i have had four great hosts; Oliver - a german guy in shanghai, china, Miguel - a mexican erasmus student here in padova, Emma - a beautiful italian lady in vigodarzere, padova and Roby - an italian student who is skipping this year to travel (i am writing this entry while i am on Roby's couch.)

after getting off the bus from the airport, along with the other filipinos, we walked a few blocks until they found a hotel and me and a couple of them found a taxi. miguel's address was supposedly beside the housing the program was offering to us but turns out i was actually surfing in the same housing i was going to be living in on monday and miguel's flat is right across the other pinoys....what a pleasant coincidence. small small world.

morning after, chatted with miguel and edith, his girlfriend. went to the grocery(Billa) and took the bus to the city center to talk with elisa to fix our papers for the school and staying in italy. then, miguel and edith brought me to the black market at giardini and got my first stolen bike for 15 euros! my first ever illegal transaction in italy! besides jaywalking the night before...first gelato as well! ferrero flavor! they call the flavor bacio which means kiss in english! sono mangiato gelato ferrero! trying out my italian here...


then the next day, Emma picked me up from miguel's and went to her place up north. this was definitely a food trip. although she is a vegan, she still made sure i had meat and bought turkey in the market. many firsts here as well, first tortellini with spinach and cheese inside. my first train ride in italy as well! from padova to vigodarzere which lasted only 5 minutes. she showed me around the city as well...went to the saturday market and also bought my sim card!

right now, i am at Roby's. i met up with him and his friends in the mensa, a university cafeteria. very cool guy, he has taught me the essential bad words and how to get around in the city in terms of where to go, what to do, etc..i had my first drink in italy with him in the city last night and it as all the other things that ive been experiencing was surreal...its cool, chatting with him reminded me of so many things about myself. he likes the same stuff as i do, travelling, into the wild, books, etc...parang italian counterpart.

it has been great and i know it will be even greater. the three hosts ive had here were very essential in making me feel at home. each had shared with me very useful stuff for my survival. miguel with his foreigner point of view on things, emma with her knowledge of so many things italian and roby with his italian college life culture. i should be all set because of all their help.

goes and wanders

p.s. sorry, a bit badly written, thoughts were all over the place. :D
picture with emma and the place where i bought my stolen bike! look closely and there's some dude on his way to bring the bike to an interested client