Buenos Aires

This morning, I could not get out of the bed. I think I walked too much yesterday. I woke up around 8:30am and just laid there. Eventually I fell back asleep and woke up again around 10. Still couldn't move. At 11:30, I finally rolled out of bed. We had a team meeting today at 2pm, but I had forgotten that Rita and I had italian class at 2:30, so I emailed Ashley this morning and told her we would only be able to stay 30 minutes but could join the group afterward. I also thanked her for allowing me to tag along to 10 Corso Como. She emailed me back right before I left the apartment saying it was no sweat. Right before I left to go up to Bocconi, I received an email from Stefania that she had sent to our team in response to the email we sent yesterday asking to meet with her. I won't get into the details of the email but essentially, she told us she didn't have time to meet with us, and that her job as a tutor was not to help us, but rather to review our deliverables. Ok, I won't even comment on that, except to say that other tutors have been meeting with their teams daily, providing guidance, and feedback on a regular basis. And Stefania met with two other teams yesterday. I will leave it at that since I've been quite enjoying my stay here in Milan and refuse to let anything or anyone get me down. When Rita and I got to Bocconi at 2pm, Carmen was the only one there. Folks slowly started trickling in, and everyone was up in arms about Stefania's email. We have a funny group. Whenever something happens that makes no sense to the rest of us, Carmen says "ah, yeah, but that's just the Italian way!" even though she is from the Phillippines. And Kathleen had printed the email out, with her own personal comments (ie. expletives) written on the sides. I advised the group that since the tutors did not see the need to provide direction, we should compile our research in a manner that we think is most effective for our client. I honestly believe the tutors are very confused themselves which is why they are hesitant to provide direction, so if we give them an idea of where we are headed with the project then at least they have a starting point to provide feedback. Stefania mentioned that she wanted to see something in writing by this Sunday. Great. So we decided to just start putting together a draft presentation based on our research, and we will compile to send to Stefania by Sunday.
Rita and I left about 10 minutes into the meeting (since it didn't start until about 2:20) to meet Susanna for italian class. Today's class was about descriptions. We were supposed to describe a friend. I chose to describe my mom (she qualifies as a friend!). I managed to say my mom is very kind, friendly, and social, that she likes to travel and go on cruises, her profession, hobbies, and favorite things, etc., etc....all in Italian. I'm getting better! The second part of the class focused on adjectives, and we began reading an Italian story, but we didn't get to finish b/c we ran out of time. Today's class was a makeup session for that class we missed two weeks ago, so we will meet again tomorrow for our regularly scheduled class at 2:30pm and finish the story.
Since Susanna is always our key to what's going on in Milan, she had printed out the information for tonight's "Notte Bianca", all night shopping event. However, she pointed out that the date and the day listed did not match (it said Wednesday, July 11th and today is the 9th). Since she wasn't sure which was correct - the day or the date - she took my cell phone # and said she would find out and text message me to confirm. She is such a sweetheart. Later on, she confirmed that the event was today. She also told us about a supermarket we haven't been to near the university. Apparently, last week they had "American week" in celebration of July 4th, and they had peanut butter!!! I know, this isn't such a big deal to y'all but I would pay a hefty penny for some peanut butter right about now (preferably Jif, Skippy or Peter Pan). They don't sell it in the supermarkets here. It's very hard to find. She said they also had a lot of other American foods. So we added it to the list of places to check out.
After class, we decided to head straight to Corso Buenos Aires, to get a head start on the all night shopping event. Rita is not quite the shopaholic that I am, so we weren't planning to stay all night, but we did want to check out the area. Apparently though, we should have waited. Because later in the evening, they closed the streets off, and had outdoor entertainment, music, and food while you shop. We saw them setting up as we were leaving the area.
Corso Buenos Aires is the longest shopping street in Milan, and in my opinion, it's similar to say, Fordham Road in the Bronx, Broad Street in Newark, 125th Street in Harlem...you get the picture. Except that it is very uncommon here in Milan to have a major shopping street that extends so many blocks. I kept hearing that it was an area with cheaper shops, and knockoff designer bags, but that it was still worth the visit, so I wanted to check it out. The first few blocks were promising. There was a Tommy Hilfiger store, a Calvin Klein jeans store, a Timberland store, and a Nike Milano. There were also several "temporary stores" (that's what the signs on the windows say), which seem to be very popular here. Some are designer specific, while others sell items from multiple designers. The first few stores we checked out were promising. We went into H&M, which had 70% off signs in the window (I was thinking they must be selling stuff for 2 euros b/c H&M is normally heavily discounted). They had a nice selection of sale merchandise, but I didn't feel like fighting with the Italians who had taken over the sale racks. I did, however, find a flower bow for my hair (I'm a fan of these, and it's one of the things I specifically go to H&M for). At 70% off, it was 0.9 euros. Amazing. That's less than I would have paid in the states. I debated whether or not to buy it b/c I wasn't trying to stand on any long lines just to buy a hair bow, but luckily there weren't any lines so I was able to get in and out quickly.
Unfortunately, the rest of Corso Buenos Aires was a bit of a disappointment. I think part of it was that there were many Italian branded stores that I just wasn't familiar with, and many of the items in the windows looked alike from store to store. There was very little that was eye-catching or unique. We did pass a Basketball Central store though, which sold NBA gear - quite an odd sight to see in Milan. And a Sephora, which I believe is the first Sephora I've seen in Milan. We got through the entire street pretty quickly (ie. about an hour) but I wasn't quite satisfied. So, we decided to go into COIN department store - it's like the mid-level department store chain here, something along the lines of a Macys. I actually found a very cute belt within minutes of walking into the store. It was 23 euros plus 30% off. That was much better than the 42 euros I debated spending on a belt the other day in Duomo (it was VERY cute...I found myself still thinking about it days later...but for 42 euros, I could have a pair of shoes). Besides, the belt fit my waist perfectly. Y'all know my waist is tiny, so belts are also a difficult purchase for me. Usually they require that I get additional holes punched in them, which is such a pain. So finding one that fits just right is a miracle! I ended up buying it.
After leaving COIN, we stopped into UPIM, which is the lower end department store here, something along the lines of JCPenney or Kohls. They had swim separates, and Rita has been looking for a swimsuit, so we went in to check them out. She found a couple of swimsuits to try on and headed to the fitting room, so I just walked around the first floor browsing. 15 minutes later when she still was not out of the fitting room, I walked back there only to find her still waiting to get into a fitting room. Goodness gracious. There had only been one person in front of her when she first got on line. So, I walked around some more, and went downstairs to check out their intimates. When I came back upstairs she still wasn't out, and my legs were tired, so I went outside to sit and wait. She finally came out, and after all that time, the swimsuit had the nerve not to fit! Bogus! Apparently, the fitting room hold up was b/c they don't have limits on the number of items you can try on, so folks were up in there trying on ten million outfits, taking forever. I am learning to appreciate that 6 item maximum. UPIM ended up being our last stop b/c I was tired (physically, not in spirit - I wanted to shop all night), and Rita was hungry. Bad combination. We walked back through Corso Buenos Aires and hopped on the tram back to the apartment. I debated resting, and going back out to shop since there is an all night shopping event going on...even as I write this! But I'm not trying to get kidnapped in Milan all b/c I went out by myself at night in the name of shopping. It's not that deep. Besides, our Swiss outlet trip is back on for Friday, and that's the shopping I'm most excited about. Apparently, Sabrina (our team member from Shanghai) has to leave by 3pm on Friday (our meeting was scheduled for 2pm), so she asked if we could move the meeting up. I used that as an opportunity to request that we move the meeting up to 10am and end at 1pm. That way, Rita and I can make it to the outlets. The bus leaves at 2pm to go to the outlets so that should give us plenty of time. I've only heard back from a few folks, who are all fine with changing the meeting time, so it's looking like a go.
I passed out when I got home (I told y'all I was physically exhausted). Now I'm up. We have a team meeting at noon tomorrow, then italian class at 2:30 so I need to get some rest. I'm off to count sheep. Ciao! Here are the pics from Corso Buenos Aires: http://picasaweb.google.com/keeshaun/CorsoBuenosAires