So now I'm going to start talking about what it's actually like for an Australian to live in a small university town in Italy. But first things first: let's get the pronunciation right. Macerata is not, I repeat NOT, pronounced Musssssssserata. Say it with me: "Much" + "e" (as in "E"llen or "E"dward) + "rata" (as in pro "rata"). That's right, Muche'rahta, and if you throw in the Italian "r" you will even impress the locals :) Anyway, I'll start by answering some common questions...
Where am I living?
I'm staying in a house for female students, 5 minutes by bus to the city centre, but I often choose to walk, as the weather has been beautiful so far. I have my own bedroom and bathroom, and I share a kitchen, laundry and living area with a bunch of other girls. I think when semester starts I could be sharing these with up to 12 girls, but so far there's only been 3 or 4 of us, so it's been really nice.
What is Macerata like?
Macerata is a city built on the side of a mountain. They call it a hill, but you can take it from me it's a mountain. The views from almost anywhere are absolutely beyond belief, and the air is so pure you can see for miles in any direction. I had this idea that Europe is totally polluted, I thought I'd heard that somewhere, but I can't see any signs of it here. You stand at a lookout point (which is practically any place where you're not looking up at the mountain itself) and you can see details on the horizon sooo far away, but it's not blurred at all, the mountain edges are sharply outlined against the sky. I don't know how to explain myself, but trust me, it's amazing. The photos absolutely do not do it justice, you can't get that feeling of depth in a photo, it's just breathtaking.
The downside of this is of course the millions of stair cases and ramps that must be traversed no matter where you want to go. And for someone like me, who has no trouble losing my way in flat places, I am now managing to get lost in 3 dimensions. Seriously, on my first day here I was looking for Piazza della Liberta (Liberty Plaza) which is basically the dead centre of the city. I asked a lady where it was, and she's like "Oh, you took the wrong turn back there. Go in to that building, climb the stairs, and you'll be close to the plaza when you get to the top." I'm thinking to myself, "You have got to be joking!" but not knowing what else to do, I followed her instructions. I went in, climbed at least five flights of stairs, and exited at the top. And there was the plaza, not 100 metres away!
The city seems to me to be divided into 2 parts, the city centre/inner city/city proper/old city and the rest. The inner city is surrounded by a thick wall (Jericho springs to mind!) which looks positively medieval. Inside the streets are narrow and cobbled, the buildings super old, and there are churches and statues and fountains everywhere. Outside the walls, the city resembles regular cities that you would see around the world, with wider streets, lots of shops, public gardens, apartment blocks, etc.
Do I feel safe here?
This is an interesting one. All I can say is that from what I've seen so far, there is an absolute abundance of police around here. Whether this is an indication that there is a lot of crime, or no crime at all I couldn't really say, but basically it's hard to feel frightened when there are police cars driving past you every 30 seconds. I am not kidding, I have seen at least 4 different types of the regular police cars (Polizia Locale, Polizia Municipale, Polizia Provinciale, Polizia Statale) since I got here, and this is in addition to the black Carabinieri cars buzzing around everywhere (Carabinieri are a different kind of police, not sure exactly what the difference is, I think they report to the military or something, rather than the government). So to answer the question, in terms of crime, I feel quite safe where I am.
Regarding traffic, well that's another matter. Crossing the street was a terrifying experience for me in the beginning, I was convinced I had no chance of survival whatsoever if I ever dared venture off the footpath. Anyway so one morning I was hovering at the edge of an intersection, trying to pluck up the courage to cross, when I see a lady, who was pushing a pram, calmly stroll across like 10 metres up the street from me!!! I couldn't believe my eyes! First I was outraged that she could dare to risk the life of her child like that, and then I was amazed to watch all the cars just stop and wave her across, without a single honk of their horns. I was determined to try it out at once. And guess what, it works! If you just hold your head up high and look confident, the traffic waits for you whether you have right of way or not. Well anyway, it's worked so far. But if you guys don't hear from me for a bit, then you can assume that my theory was fundamentally flawed and I've been flattened by a Fiat somewhere in the bowels of Macerata...
Anyway, I've got tons more I could write, but this post is already mammoth in size, so I'd better leave it for now and write another one later. Don't forget to leave a comment if you stop by, I just love reading from you guys! :)
