Ladies in the Night

Friday August 31, 2007

As Sonja, Jenn, Amy, Leah and I waited patiently or not so patiently waited at the bus stop to make our trek into Milan’s city center. We joked on whether we looked like ladies of the night, all dressed up sitting at the bus stop. As minutes turned to a half an hour, peoples' moods were steadily declining. I suddenly became disappointed I hadn’t followed my temptation to walk into Opera’s community center, where I could hear polka music wafting through the air behind the green leafy bushes. In my mind, I could see 70 year old men dancing with their 70 year old partners and I longed to just sit and watch, and if I was lucky get a dance myself. Of course not knowing the bus schedule yet, we instead sat diligently waiting, careful to not miss our bus. I half chuckled because it was the first time all of us would have to navigate multiple trams and streets to get where we were going. We had merely, ourselves, our cell phones and some more experienced people ready to come rescue us, if we really struggled. When April told us to get on the number 9 and take three stops, I laughed because we really didn’t know where the stops were and if we were counting right. After some serious walking, and a chance encounter with Jenn C, from ASM, we found the place we were looking for. Some in our party were a little grumpy after all the walking. All of us were in heels. The cobblestone streets made my feet ache, which has turned out to be nothing new.

But Amy and I were not grumpy at all, instead we found ourselves chuckling as we weaved our way through the streets commenting on vespas we liked and watching all the people that had haphazardly filled the streets as they sipped their beer. The place we entered looked like a somewhat plain restaurant with an old 1970’s cash register out front. As we made our way through the maze of narrow hallways, past the kitchen with the smiling Italian cooks, past the bathroom with a line of customers waiting, we suddenly were faced with an expansive room, stone lined pathways, bamboo trees dividing the space and the giant glass roof opened to let in the shining moon. People were eating at tiny tables, drinking on huge couches, or loitering in any open area. I tried not to look like a seven year old with a new bike, but in that moment I suddenly became very excited that I had resisted my urge to dance with the 70 year olds.