Last Friday we rejoiced with the first snow in Siena of the season. For someone who is lucky to see rain at home...ever, snow is an amazing phenomenon. It's like relaxed rain that waited in the sky for too long and got frozen floating to the ground. Snow has everything rain has but it's less wet. Go snow! It was beautiful to see Siena fully decked out with all the decorations for christmas up, and the snow falling.
There has been big proposed changes to the university system in Italy, and the government wants to cut funding to universities and privatise the system, as well as removing the "ricercatore" position. As a result, university will be less accesible to students, and for things such as eating at the mensa, the price will double. The proposed reform has caused such a stir among students, professors and ricercatore alike, that barely a week goes by without some kind of strike or protest. This week, I got involved in a massive protest through the streets of Siena, the university faculties, and even the Mensa. Thousands of students chanting in Italian, which you kind of have to just mouth the words to, and shout as loud as you can, because it's quite indecipherable. There were drums, free food, it became more like a festival than an angry protest, but it worked, because everyone knew what we were yelling about.
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