Pictures from il Gioco del Ponte

And today, the long-waited pictures from the Gioco del Ponte, when Tramontana lost only one game this year:

A walk in the sun...

Since it was very hot today, I went out for a walk... Just me, my camera and the map!

il Gioco del Ponte

Today there was the Gioco del Ponte an historical event held each year in Pisa in the last Sunday of July.

This historically evocative event, called Gioco del Ponte, consists of two distinct but both significant parts: the historical procession along the Arno river which is a huge military parade, and the battle, that takes place on the Ponte di Mezzo during which the two opposing teams give proof of their own physical strength in a strongly competitive atmosphere. Some sources try to date back this game to the classic antiquity. These hypotheses are not confirmed and it is more likely to be a local transformation of the Gioco del Mazzascudo, that from the XI to the XIII centuries was played as a simulated battle in the ancient Piazza degli Anziani, called today Piazza dei Cavalieri.

The game was played between single players, equipped with body armour, cudgels and shields. In the final day the individual battle was replaced by a general battle where the fighters where divided into two teams, respectively called of the “cockerel” and of the “magpie”. The first known edition of the Gioco del Ponte was held on the 22nd February 1568. The Old Bridge, now called Ponte di Mezzo, was the seat of the battle and the aim of the game was the conquest of a part or of the entire half of the bridge occupied by the opposing faction. The players of Tramontana and Mezzogiorno, were divided in a variable number of teams, of 50/60 players each. Each team had its own colours and banners. The participants taking part in the battle, characterised by a man to man fight, wore an armour, a helmet called "morione" and used the "targone" a large oblong and asymmetrical shield, with rounding extremities, made out of lime or poplar wood, over a meter long and weighing around two and half kilos which was also improperly used to attack.

The violence of the fight has always been one of the unchanged characteristic of this game. The desire for autonomy from Florentine domination and the growing competitive nature of the game caused Pietro Leopoldo to find the Gioco del Ponte obnoxious, so that after the 1785 game it was abolished and was interrupted until 1807, the only time when the game was played in the XIX century.

Gioco del Ponte was interrupted again for 128 years. It was organised again in 1935 according to the ancient historical traditions and after the Second World War, in order to avoid physical contact, a cart on rails to be pushed by participants was introduced.

The event is traditionally held on the last Sunday of June and also includes the historical parade with 709 participants. The Mezzogiorno and Tramontana Sides march separately, creating thus two parades of 314 participants each, but at the same time anticlockwise along the four streets running along the Arno river close to the Ponte di Mezzo. There is also a third parade composed by the Judges, that is 81 more participants.

More than remarkable is the scenographic effect of the participants Spanish costumes of the late XVI century, created for the edition of 1935 on the sketches of the art critic Fortunato Belloni, who got his inspiration from some prints of the Medicean age. The intensity of the effort that the twenty heavily-built men of each team put into the challenge is impressive. As in ancient times, victory goes to the team that conquers the Bridge by pushing the cart and all the opponents to the opposite end of the sliding rail.

The different teams of both Tramontana (representing the districts of St. Maria, St. Francesco, St. Michele, Mattaccini, Calci and Satiri) and Mezzogiorno (representing the districts of St. Antonio, St. Martino, St. Marco, Leoni, Dragoni e Delfini) fight in turn. The winner of the game is the side that wins most of the matches. Until 1996 if the challenge ended in a draw (three victories for each side), a final match was held to decide the winner between the selected best fighters for both parties. Since 1997 only six matches were held so that the final result could end in a draw.

Rete Civica Pisana

And here is a quick glimpse of how it is:

New place to stay... temporary

Today I was supposed to move to "my place", but it seems that it was givven to somebody who saw it before me... So, until I or the guys will find me some other place to stay, I will stay at Humberto's... very near of the Piazza delle Gondole. It's called this way because it's the place where the gondole were "partked":

It is also close to the Porta Garibaldi.

First day at work

Today I have started work! Nice office, great people, but I have trouble talking in Italian. I have to find a way to take some courses... Quick! Btw, here is how the Arno river looks when I get back from work:

Today I ate for the first time at the canteen. Now this was another little adventure! When I came here I knew that besides my sallary, I will have 2 meals free/day. At the canteen, students have a special card, with which they pay for the food, €2,5 for 1st, 2nd and desert. But to make the card, I had to go in another place, not at the canteen, as I've been told.

I went back to ask Lisa for directions, but then she tells me that I have to pay for the food, because she wasn't able to arrange so I would get it for free, but that they will raise my sallary with €150/month so that we will be eaven... So I went back, to eat for €2,5... I only think that the 1st was pasta al formaggio, but for the 2nd, I have no clue what I ate! :D The food here tastes better for me, and for €2,5 it's quite enough.

After work, I went with Rafael to buy a SIM, and the operator we chose in the end was Wind, so I can also call home at a bit lower rates. After that we went to a messy supermarket - PAM - and since last night I ate at Rafael's, I bought something to cook. I took him as "culinary advisor" and we bought Gnocchi di patate, Prosciutto Praga, and I found elsewhere some Brazilian soda: Guarana Antarctica: o original do Brasil!

Good food! :D

Codice Fiscale

Today I went with Roberto to make a codice fiscale, something that identifies you uniquely in Italy. This way, I was thinking what is more of the UID in România: the Cod Numeric Personal, or the serie/number of the ID card? :-?

I also need the codice fiscale to buy a SIM card here, but we couldn't find a shop around Media World where we could buy one.

Today I also went to see the house I will stay in: via Carnelutti 14. One room in an appartment close to COOP supermarket and my workplace. The bathroom is shared with another guy staying there and it would cost me €270 + the expenses/4 a month. The area is really quiet and filled with trees that are yet "exotic" for me! I like it!

After that, Rafael met a brasilian friend of his to visit il Campo dei Miracoli, where the Leaning Tower of Pisa is located. Since he invited me also, I tagged along.

And since everyone holds or pushes the tower, Rafael and I tryied to compete a bit:

Obviously, Rafael won! :P

How did Marius get to Pisa?

Today I flew for my 1st time; from București to Bologna. But there is a story behind this...

It all started yesterday, when I took the bus from Iași to București. I left from the Vama Veche station in Iași at 9PM and I arrived in Băneasa at something past 4AM. I have to tell you that it was one of my worstrides by bus, but only because of me. Maybe it was because of all the emotions gathered - 1st flight, 1st job abroad (1st time abroad too), 1st time leaving home for such a long period to manage all by myself etc. - but my stomach wasn't able to cope with all of that! :)) But I did make it to Băneasa:

I arrived there at ~4AM, but my flight was scheduled for 10:35, so I did get to walk around with my luggage and even see a beautiful sunrise:

Next, I had a first-hand first experience about check-in, I found out that I have payed for an extra luggage, that my luggage was a bit heavier than it was supposed to be, I past the frontier custom check, and waited to get in the plane.

In the plane I meet this young lady that was going back to Bologna, for work, and she was very "maternal" when she found out it was my first flight. I got good advice, not only the simple "Please straighten-up your seat, we are close to taking-off", I also learnt how to breathe better and why is it better so sit straight during take-off.

I also met Mircea who was also flying for the first time. He was going to the Isle of Elba, to his brother-in-law so, after looking on the map, we decided we could travel to Pisa together, since his Italian was even worse than mine.

After getting off the plane in Bologna, and being the last one to get his (heavy) luggage, the next stop was the railway station in Bologna: €5 for the bus! There I found very patient, understanding and English-speaking guy at the information booth. Did I mention that besides the tourists, there aren't that many people to speak (proper) English?

But I did get to buy my regionale ticket to Pisa. The route was:

1. Bologna (13:54) - Prato (14:59)
   
2. Prato (15:28) - Firenze Rif. (15:45)
   
3. Firenze Rif. (16:03) - Pisa (17:06)
   

There are some things worth knowing, at least for a Romanian coming to Italy:

• Even the Regionale, that as far as I know is the cheapest train in Italy travels at speeds greater than our Personal or Rapid or even Accelerat!
• That is why you have to use the subway to get to your line and not cross the railway lines (called binari)
• Trains happen to get late, just like back home...
• but... I was in Prato Centrale station and my train was supposed to leave at 15:28, but it was announced to be late. So at 15:15 I tought it would be nice to take a picture of the grafitti on the train.
  
  After taking 2-3 pictures, I was looking at my display and saw my train leaving! I looked at the train and... it was leaving! : But I got in the very next train going to Firenze and I got there in time... only for that train to be late 15 minutes!

In the end, I got to Pisa where Michele (former LCP, and my contact here), Humberto (LCP ellected) and Roberto (VP Talent Management) were waiting for me. After one day of travel, we went to the seaside, eat ice-cream, meet other 2 AIESECers, went for a pizza and beer, went to see Arno, the main river around which Pisa developed, ate another ice-cream etc.

I have to say that even if I might be more used to the pizza back home (plus for €8 we eat a bigger pizza and maybe have 2 beers) the ice-cream here is really the best I ever tasted! And yes, the beer is more expensive than back home...

For the night, I am staying at Rafael, a Brazilian Erasmus Mundus student that has joined AIESEC here, in Pisa...

Well, that's mainly the first day... And Italy is very beautiful and hot! :D

Officially Matched!

As of today, I am officially matched!

EP Form Details
EP Id: SN-Te-RO-IS-2007-1673
Raised By: EP Manager, E-mail: marius.butuc@aiesec.net
Exchange Type: Technical Traineeship
Name: Marius-Gabriel Butuc
Country: ROMANIA
Committee: AIESEC IASI

Matched to TN
TN Id: TN-In-IT-PI-2008-1210
Raised By: TN Manager, E-mail: michele_aiesec@hotmail.it
Exchange Type: Technical Traineeship
Organisation Name: University of Pisa
Committee: AIESEC PISA


Internship Dates
Internship Match date: 11.06.2008

Work Permit needed!

In February I've finished with my graduation project making my Diploma / BSc studies fully complete. After that, the next objective in my plans was an internship through AIESEC:

• Targeted technologies: PHP and/or Python;
• Targeted countries: The Nederlands or Finland!

First problem: To apply for an internship in the Nederlands, I need a Work Permit. To get it, I need to prove that

• I'm still a student - which I'm not, since I haven't enrolled for Masters yet
• the internship is mandatory for my graduation.

Well, then I thought I should broaden my horizon and also think about other countries... Today I found a very interesting JD from Germany, but:

Due to German regulations regarding salaries for interns, an official student
status is necessary to get the working permit and do a internship in the
country, so please make sure you can provide it before applying for the
traineeship.

I hate it!