GO VENEZIA!

A few weeks ago, Venice played its final game of calcio, a.k.a. soccer, and Sara, Elyse, Maria, and I attended. Getting the opportunity to see an Italian soccer game live was actually something I was most looking forward to when I was accepted to this study abroad program, and Venice's D series team did not disappoint me. The Sunday of the game, we took the 20 from San Servolo, then rode over to the normally quiet Sant'Elena where Venice's small soccer stadium is located. Even though Venice's is a low level team, the fans of all ages were excited, wearing the team colors, green, orange, and gray, and some carrying banners, flags, and drums towards the stadium. The four of us headed back along our usual route towards the Dante Alligheri Institute, in front of which sits the soccer stadium. I was so excited at the prospect of getting to see an "authentic!" soccer game in Italy (where, so I have heard, life and soccer are intertwined like ) that when I received the news that I had been accepted to this study abroad program, soccer was the first thing that popped into my head. Sara and I stopped before crossing the canal that leads to the stadium to buy scarves. Firstly, all of us were nervous about the crowd... soccer fans, namely those in a few countries including Italy, can get notoriously rowdy and if we happened to be dressed in the colors of the opponents, we thought we might get into trouble; so, wearing scarves representing Venice's team (orange, green, and black) we figured would keep us protected. Secondly,