Perugia - First Impressions

Its been one month and twelve days since I arrived in Perugia. A lot has happened in that small space of time. This city is very unique. Firstly, the centre of town is full of students, student apartments and student bars. The streets of Perugia themselves are like never ending labyrinths that, on arrival, seem virtually impossible to navigate. As with most new things, you adapt fairly quickly and learn the areas that you need to know.

All the foreign students in Perugia have left everything behind and arrived with only themselves and several suitcases. They don’t have their safety network of friends, or family commitments like they would back home. This can be quite delightful, as, if you ask someone what they are doing that evening and whether they would like to go out for dinner/go out to a bar/have dinner at your house, most of the time the answer will be “Yes”! Therefore a lot of socialising happens. The fact that most apartments are cold, cramped or uninteresting is probably part of this too.

I, personally have found that almost everyone I meet, I can get along with and happily spend time with. My theory on this is that we’re all here for the same reasons and often have similar interests and motivations.

Perugia has been described as a “pressure cooker”. This description is right on the mark. Everything seems more intense, or distilled. The writer was talking about intimate relationships at the time but I think this description also applies to friendships and other experiences here. I can put some of my favourite music on my ipod, walk through these streets and even on a dull day its seems more alive and the music seems more meaningful. It gives me those excited little stomach flips.

Right now I am in good spirits as this week or so has been rather eventful.

Sunday night (14/02) Andreas and I decided to meet for aperitivo and perhaps shisha a bit later. I arrived slightly before him at Shamrock Irish Bar.  He arrived and we greeted and he said “I have a bit of a strange proposition, or, request for you”. I prepared myself. “How would you like to help with Karaoke at RockCastle on Mondays. Basically, you sing when other people aren’t singing, you help people choose their songs, help them get their microphones, get a little tipsy and talk to people. Oh and you get paid and you get free drinks”. Well, I didn’t know what to say except “Yes” it was possibly the most perfect job ever offered to me in my entire life, and I didn’t even ask for it! He continued “Yeah the girl I had backed out and I needed someone else who could sing to do it”. Aw, and he comes with flattery too! So the next night, I arrive at Rockcastle bright and early at 10.30pm and meet the DJ, Rudy. He seems like a nice guy and he’s a great singer. It turned out to be a great night. It was exactly as Andreas had explained. I was so happy with how it went I helped sweep the bar afterwards! I also got paid 30 euro for less than 4 hours work.