3/10/09
I feel like today was really long, not in a strenuous “oh my god, I’ve had such a long day” kind of way, but in a “wow, a lot happened today” way. It all started at 7:30 AM, when I woke up to do some last minute hard-core studying for my art history exam at 9. I think the exam went pretty well. I mean, I know I got some things wrong, but I also know I got a lot of stuff right. I’m not tearing myself up over it because, like I said, it doesn’t factor into my GPA. Weird. Anyway, I finished the exam in about an hour, and so Alyssa and I decided to sit outside, get a coffee, and study some Italian. We went to Bar Pitti, which, I swear, has the best panini in the city. Colleen joined us shortly after we finished our coffees, and we all got sammies and enjoyed the sunshine. It was a beautiful day, and none of us wanted to waste it inside. Alyssa and I popped back home for our books, went to Italian but, dun dun dunnnnnn, Italian was cancelled again today. I’m thinking our professor is really, really sick, because she never misses class. It kind of sucks that we lost our only two days of review for the final. Some people are freaking out. I am not. If I don’t know the tenses by now, I’m not going to learn them in a day before the exam. Anyway, since class was cancelled, Alyssa and I met up with Andrea and Mattia. I bought new sunglasses. We ate gelato. It was nice walking outside, and we ended up at the Pitti Palace. Alyssa bought some Florence tourist cards, and we taught Andrea and Mattia how to play the game Bullshit. It was really nice and really fun. Afterward, us girls went home, had a snack, watched a Gilmore, etc. I’ve been studying off and on for the rest of the day for my literature and Italian exams, and I feel pretty ready. I also took a really nice nap and talked to my family for a long time, because it’s my little sister’s birthday today. I spent way too much time on the internet, but it was worth it. Anyway, that’s the majority of what happened, at least all the good stuff. Tomorrow is another early day because of the exam, so I’m going to head off to bed. I still hate the mold.

3/9/09
Yup. Didn’t blog for a week. Oopsies. There are a few reasons why this didn’t happen: 1) I was tired, 2) when I was tired, I was sleeping, and 3) when I wasn’t tired, I was gone. So, we’re going to do this list-like, since that’ll be easiest.
Monday: Still exhausted. Went to all three class. Bought milk and cereal. Came home. Did homework. Passed out. That’s essentially it.
Tuesday: A bit more eventful. Got up for class, and it was cancelled, so I went back to bed until 11, when various noises from my phone woke me up. Got ready for Italian and went there. Dropped stuff off at home, then went to the library with Alyssa. We got a multitude of movies: Philadelphia, Gangs of New York, Psycho, and something called Spartan. Went to the 99 Cent store to get notebooks, napkins, etc. Dropped that stuff off, then went to the bigger supermarket to stock up. Came home and put stuff away. Fell asleep again. Dinner while Alyssa and I watched Philadelphia. Bar with the boys, but came home fairly early due to my exhaustion.
Wednesday: Watched a movie in class, which got let out early. Went to Italian. Post-Italian, still exhausted, I came home and passed out until I heard Colleen’s music. Thinking it was like 4:00 or so, I went out to see if she could turn down the music a little. When I re-entered my room, I found out it was 6:00 and I had slept for about 3 hours. Oops. Made some dinner. Watched Gangs of New York with Alyssa and passed out.
Thursday: I can not for the life of me remember what I did Thursday afternoon. We were wracking our brains last night and nothing came to us. I know I went to class, and then…. Blank. I may have napped. Anyway, it was nothing eventful. I made some din, but who knows what, then Jen joined us for an evening out. It wasn’t wild crazy, but really fun. We just danced and watched other awkward people dance.
Friday: Sushi lunch with some girls from my Italian class. $10.80 for all the sushi you want? Done and done. And it was quality. Afterward, I went to meet Larissa and Emily and we finalized spring break plans, figured out money, etc. Then I came home to study a bit more for midterms (I had also been doing that this past week). I got tired of studying, so I decided to wash the dishes that were lying around. Well, just like in If You Give A Moose A Muffin, it didn’t end there. I cleaned the dishes. Then I went through all the dishes in the cupboard to see if any were masquerading as clean when they were really dirty. Then I washed the counter and the placemats on top of it. Then the other counter with the foam thing on it. Then the foam thing. Then I took all the little pieces off the stove and washed those. Then I washed the sink. It was a few hours before I was done. I also did some laundry. It was productive. I then made dinner, called the parents, etc. before getting ready to go out with the boys. They actually came over first, and then we all went out to Twice. And I didn’t get robbed there this time, so that was good. And I saw “Dante’s face” in the ground. Italian urban legend…
Saturday and Sunday were great! Alyssa and I went to Livorno to see her family. Well, technically we took the train in and out of Pisa. Giorgio met us there and graciously watched all our stuff while we climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Yes, it was frightening. Ok, so, they’re all, “Its safe! Its safe!” But is it? IS IT? On the first balcony there’s a bar that maybe comes up to your waist, then some netting, but let’s be honest: if someone shoved you into the bar and pushed you over backwards and you fell onto the netting, it wouldn’t do shit. You would fall. And die. I thought that was scary until we were at the 2nd highest level. There were 3 or 4 steps. On the bottom one, the bar, once again, maybe came up to my waist, but at the top step, I could’ve jumped right off if I do desired. I don’t think there was even pansy-assed netting. And you could see straight down. I managed to keep my freaking out to a minimum though. The top was cool, because you could mostly just see out, which was better. You could see the entire city. Then we walked down the very little hallway quickly, amongst the many Asians trying to push past us in the other direction. It was a big tour group.
Giorgio took us on the scenic route to his home, which is in Constiglioncello (I think…). We went past the U.S. Military camp, and there were whores outside. I think they were the first actual whores I’ve seen in real life. We met the rest of the family, and they showed us this really cute apartment in this home where we would be staying. Then they gave us tea and we talking in Italian. Giorgio spoke some English, but his wife doesn’t speak any. She and her sister, Dahlia, both speak Italian and French. Alyssa also speaks French. So between the 3 languages, we could pretty much always understand what was going on. It was a lot of Italian and it was hard and I don’t think I should have to take the mid-term anymore. Since it was national Women’s Day this weekend in Italy, they took us to a chocolate festival and to dinner to celebrate. In the restaurant, there were some kids running around. One fell on the floor, and the mom proceeded to yell, “Stupido! Stupido!” then kicked her kid. I thought it was a tad inappropriate, to say the least, and it only make the kid cry harder. And made me like her a lot less. Giorgio ordered all the appetizers, because Alyssa and I didn’t know what a lot of them were, so we told him to pick. Believe it or not, each Italian totally out-ate Alyssa and me. Stuffed, we went home and passed out.
So Saturday, to sum up: train, tower, whores, chocolate, sleep
Sunday was equally busy. We had breakfast at 10, and it was the most delicious thing ever. And they packed up and sent us home with anything we seemed particularly enthusiastic about. We got cheese, tart, and cake. Plus all the food they bought for us and put in our room. We literally came home with a bag of food that they bought for us. Every time we tried to stop eating, they’d tell us, “Mangia! Mangia! Mangia!” and cut up more food for us to eat. After packing up and fighting out food-coma instincts, we piled into the car and went to Lucca. I swear, I think we saw 5 churches. They took us around and toured the whole town to us, which was really nice. It’s a walled city, but what’s really cool about the wall is that it’s a hill on the inside and the top (aka the top of the wall) is a boardwalk that goes around the entire city. There are big paths and trees and tons of people walking pets and children since it was a beautiful day out. We saw pretty much the whole city before they brought us to the train station and waited for our train to arrive.
So Sunday, to sum up: “Mangia,” churches, walls, train
Oh, also, we went to see this really old house that their relatives live in a tiny town near theirs. While we were there, a really, really, really old and small Italian woman came trotting across the street saying, “Oh, I’m so glad it’s you! I saw you’re light come on and wanted to check!” etc. etc. Then she went away. A minute later she comes back with fresh eggs from her chickens for us, shoving them in our face to take. They graciously took the eggs, and the old, small woman trotted back over to her house. Then a window opens. She sits in the window and watches us. The window closes. Moments later, another window opens. She sits there and watches us for a while. Then the window closes. A minute or so later, the door opens, and she sits in the door and watches us until we leave, waving goodbye. It was pretty cute and funny. This woman was what you picture old Italian women to be like.
Now, today, I’ve had two mid-terms. Neither were particularly brutal. They were straight forward and stuff. Anyway, they’re done with. My hard one is tomorrow. It’s art history. I know I should care more than I do, but the class doesn’t factor into my GPA, so as long and I do decent on it, it’s not a big deal. I remember the paintings, and it’s pretty easy to identify the artist once you know what to look for. When in doubt, the painter is Giotto. When in doubt, the patron is the city. When in doubt, the architect is unknown. Honestly, most of these have one of these for part of the answer. I’ll look over my notes more and study tonight, of course, but what’s the point in killing myself over it? There isn’t. I’m just not used to being easy-breezey about school. Also, Italian got cancelled today, so Alyssa and I came home and watched Psycho. We have like a ½ hour left. It’s real good.Another thing this week has been the battle with the mold. I’m getting really bad allergies from the mold by the window in my room. Apparently it comes back every year, to which I ask, “Why don’t you spray the walls during the time nobody lives here?” Hmmm, I don’t know, Allie. That’s an excellent question. Maybe if I had you wouldn’t be breathing toxins. We couldn’t get a hold of our landlady, so we talked to Iris at school. She was surprisingly rude to us, but she called our landlord and they’re coming tomorrow to look at it to see what’s needed. She told me to open my windows. Well, I do every single day, and for longer than our landlord told me to. She told me to sleep with my window and door open. Well, if both are open, one will slam shut, thus ending the sleeping. Plus, bugs and noise from the window and noise from the door open. I mean, come on. There’s no reason why our apartment should have mold this bad unless it’s an ongoing problem and, quite frankly, I can do nothing about it because it’s 10 ft. above my head. Come on. They’re coming tomorrow to look at it and are going to clean it on Thursday. Hallelujah.
Ok, I’m exhausted from trying to recall the past week. Goodnight.

3/1/09
I. Am. Exhausted.
Friday was, yet again, a good day. Alyssa went out to walk around in the afternoon, making stops at the phone store, the bus station, and McDonalds. Which were great and productive? All of the above. We made a quick stop at the grocery store to get things for dinner that night, but I still need to go make a major run, seeing as I’m now out of milk, juice, eggs, and bread. That evening, Alyssa and I went over to a girl’s apartment from our Italian class named Savannah (who, p.s., has a rad apartment) to study for the quiz on Monday. There were about six of us there from the class, and while we didn’t study 100% of the time, it was nice to hang out with them. We had to leave early because of our plans for the night, so we rushed home (good thing she didn’t live far away) to shower, make dinner, etc. We then went out to the discotech, which is pretty typical, especially for this week (though I’m not sure why), and met up with the boys. It was packed and we all danced and had a great time. Once again, the time got away from us and we didn’t get home until late. Ooooofta.
Yesterday was a big day in a big way. We got up in what could be classified as “morning” but the normal world, so early for a Saturday. After packing some sammies, we walked to the bus station to go to San Gimignano. Mr. Bus Man told us the easiest way was to take the Siena bus and switch… though he didn’t say where. So we missed our first bus stop in the town we didn’t know we were supposed to know. On the way to Siena, Alyssa asked the driver where we should get off, and he replied that we missed our stop. He graciously stopped another bus going to San Gimignano, and we ran through the traffic to get on it. Also, his horn sounded like an ice cream truck. Through all the driving, we think we miss the stop to San G., so we’re about to get off the bus again, when the driver tells us we haven’t gone there yet. After 3 hours, we make it to San Gimignano. Keep in mind it should’ve taken us 1 hour and 15 min. to get there. Way to go, us. Eventually, we enter through the gate to the impressively walled town. Once we were there, we had a great time. We looked in all the shops, climbed to the top of the town and up a small tower. You can see in every direction for a billion miles, I’m pretty sure. After we felt we had explored the town sufficiently, we found a cute restaurant in the main square to eat dinner at. While Colleen ate her chicken, Alyssa and I got hot chocolate that resembled hot pudding in the best way. With plenty of time back, we made our way to the bus stop. We get off to switch busses at the main bus building. We wait. It says the next bus to Florence is in 5 minutes, so we wait. Then it disappears from the board. No such bus came. Crabby and angry at public transportation, we go to sit inside. A half hour later, an American comes up and asks me if I’m lost. I reply that we were waiting for a bus that disappeared and now we have to wait. His friend comes to join him, and their both dressed in suits which makes me think, “hmmmm.” They’re wearing name tags, but I don’t want to stare, and, besides, they’re offering to help me get home. They take me to the other room just as the train to Florence is leaving. Bummer. They offer to help me buy tickets for the next train, which is in an hour. I ask them what they’re deal is (politely), and it turns out, oh, hey, they’re Mormon missionaries doing their 2-year duty in Siena. Apparently, my helplessness called to their vow of charity. We went to go check the next bus, and it turns out we’ve been reading the wrong sign for busses. “Placeplace via Firenze” is a street in the stupid town we were stuck in. And the next bus to Florence wasn’t for an hour and a half. Aaaawwweeesssooommmeee. I find my roommates, the Mormons explain how they’re Mormon, and we take them up on their offer to help us get tickets. The Mormons get us good to go, we thank them, then they scurry off to do their Mormon deeds. We find a wooden bench, because the metal chairs were cold on our butts. Tired, frustrated, and cold, we start playing the game “I went to visit the Queen and I brought….” We got to “Quints” when four random 26-year-old Italians come up an invite us to help celebrate their friend’s birthday. They’re all wine makers and just happened to bring their wine in celebration for their friend. Um, ok? How do we meet these people? Anyway, we talk to them, and they’re on our train, so we sit with them on the train. Names were a difficult thing for them. “Colleen” was the easiest one, but sometimes came out “Colleeny.” “Alyssa” they could say, but they often confused it was “Anastasia.” “Allie,” well… they couldn’t get the “a” sound, and it was sometime “Aleene” but usually “Airline.” Finally “Alassandra” they got. This put us in a significantly better mood for the train ride back. We tried to speak as much Italian as possible, and helped them with their English. Shortly before we reach the station the “birthday boy” tells us his birthday is December 9… They said they just wanted an excuse to talk to us and couldn’t think of another reason, which is kind of funny. Anyway, we tell them we’ll see them at the club they were going to, which had live music, which I’m all about. Plus, they all liked The Beatles, The Who, the Chili Peppers, Janis Joplin, The Police, and The Doors so how bad could the club be? They said it was called “Lunas” and “Lunus.” Turns out the club was really called “Loonees.” We made it there eventually, and they were very nice. The music was good (Chili Peppers, Beatles, U2, the Police, etc.), the company was good, and one of their girlfriends said I spoke Italian well, so that made me happy. We left fairly early because we were all tired from the busses, trains, and walking, but I’m glad we went because it was fun. And we got Kabobs on the way home so… cha-ching.
Today I’ve literally done nothing. I know I said something similar about Friday, but today I have literally done nothing. At least Friday, the late afternoon and evening were productive, but today I’ll have none of that! Going out to places with people 5 nights in a row has made me exhausted, and I’m ready to spend the evening at home. Aside from going to use some free internet at Friends bar, I’m going to stay in my bed. It’s been grand so far. Alyssa is even picking up milk and oranges for me, so I don’t have to go grocery shopping until tomorrow. Money. I have some more work to do (study more for Italian and write a movie response, maybe start a paper), but it’s totally do-able. I’m also going to look up flights to Granada tonight for going over Easter to visit Elisa! Woo hoo!! Also, I had avocado today, and it made me think of Colleen. Also I lost an earring backing and I found it, which hardly ever happens, so that was great. Ok. That’s all for now.

2/27/09
So, basically, I haven’t written in forever. Here goes nothing:
Sunday: Went to Venice. We had to wake up early, which I think we all know I don’t like, but once we got on the bus we were all asleep. We arrived in Venice around 12:30 after taking a ferry down the Grand Canal. The city was absolutely filled to the brim. From the ferry it looked like an ant colony, with flows of people moving different directions, but you can barely see the individual people. We had to get lunch first, because we were all starving, so we ate some delicious pizza/pasta before heading down the main street along the canal. There were so many costumes!! A lot of people sported the 18th Century ball-gown outfits, which were all really elaborate and beautiful. Some were less classy, like the Banana man and Telletubbies. There were lots of kids dressed up as well; some spidermen, some monsters, some princesses. I got a lot of good pictures that I’ll put up on facebook. There was also some traditional street theater, which was great. It was in Italian, so we didn’t watch tons of it, though. Plus there was so much to see. We also saw a catwalk set up in Piazza San Marco, and I think it was a costume contest, because there were different groups and these people had the most elaborate costumes. We spent the majority of the day just walking around, people watching, and taking pictures. We all got masks as well. Mine is ice blue and gold, with feathers, of course. It’s beautiful and made in Venice, so extra cool. The bus ride back was the worst part of the day. I had drank coffee, our driver was on crack, and was dehydrated. In short, I very nearly got sick many times on the ride back and remained in a state of questionable digestion for hours. Pretty, right? I managed to keep the puke down though. I knew you were wondering.
Monday was when my really awesome, incredible week ended. Italian was awful that day, because none of us understood what was going on. Plus, I was exhausted. Plus, my phone was out of credit still. Plus, I didn’t want to go to photography. I was really just a crabby pants because of Italian. The day did get better though! We went to the Odeon to see Milk that night, and it was inccrrreeedddible. I can’t even express how much I loved that movie, and I’m ecstatic that Sean Penn won for best actor, because his performance kicked Brad Pitt’s performance’s ass. I also realized that this year may have been the first year I’ve seen all the movies nominated for Best Picture. I was happy Slumdog Millionaire won. I love love loved that movie. I would’ve been happy with Milk as well. Both were incredible. I cried during Milk, both at the happy and sad parts.
I’ve been a little social butterfly this week, which is completely exhausting for me. Once my school work is done (I’ve become a big fan of the library for it’s free internet so I can get everything done quickly), I’ve gone out Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and will again tonight and maybe tomorrow. It’s not even that I’m hugely partying, because I’m going to all my classes and doing all my work, and if you hugely party, you can’t do that, but people just go out to socialize with people, like, every night. Tuesday we met up with the boys and went to a bar to hang out then went dancing. They very kindly walked us home, which I liked. Wednesday I went dancing with my girlfriends at a discotech, and we danced all night long. I stayed out way later than I intended, but we were just having so much fun dancing with each other. I’m glad my friends here like to go dancing. Every time we go, we have a great time. It wasn’t a tragedy that I was out late, since I only had one class yesterday. Then last night we met up with the boys again, and I had a great time hanging out with them. We met at the discotech, but Alyssa, Emily and I ended up going to a bar later with them. We thought we were going to do karaoke, but it wasn’t going on when we got there. Oh well. Another time. I hope I speak for everyone when I say it was a great night out. We did get home late again last night, and Alyssa and I immediately went to bed, after splitting a delicious kabob. I slept straight through until 12:30, proving yet again that socializing is exhausting. Other than Monday, though, it’s been a great week, just really, really busy.
I also had to give a presentation on Futurist Music this week, and that went well.
In other major news, Emily, Larissa and I have spring break all booked! We’re flying into Liverpool Thursday night, going to the Beatles museum on Friday, then taking the train to Bangor, where we’ll meet up with my relatives. We head to their town, where we’re going to a concert that night. We’re staying in Wales through Monday. Monday night we’re taking the ferry over to Dublin. We stay in Dublin at a sweet hotel/hostel thing until Thursday morning, when we catch a plane down to London, and remain there until the end of our trip. We got some great deals on planes, trains, hostels, etc. and I think we’re all really exciting. The excitement level is, of course, based on our fake Irish dancing to Flogging Molly after we finished booking everything. Oh yeah. Now we just have to figure out what we want to see, and that’s all fun stuff! Plus, Alyssa and Nick are going to come meet up with us in Dublin, which is a-ma-zing. I’m getting really excited now.
And now it’s time to study and grocery shop before another amazing night. Alyssa’s roommate from home is in town from Rome tonight, so we’ll see her. Plus, I think people are coming over. Plus, there’s Italian study party possibly early in the evening. Plus, Alyssa and I have become pretty good at making really good meals, so there’s dinner to plan. Basically, life is busy and just great.
And believe it or not, that's the Reader's Digest version of this week.

2/21/09
Ok, so it’s been a few days. Wednesday night was busy and I was thoroughly exhausted through all of it. First I went to dinner with Larissa and Ali and chilled with them, which was both delicious and fun. Then I went to meet the girls from Italian class. Of course, I had forgotten that we were going to get appertivo before the movie, so it was a good thing I ate really early with Larissa and Ali and pretty late with the Italian class. The movie we saw was called Questa Piccola Grande Amore, which basically means “this young, grand love.” It didn’t have subtitles, but I was still able to follow pretty well. I definitely didn’t understand every word that was spoken, but probably about ½, so I knew enough. I’m pretty sure that Italian movies stopped having happy endings once neo-realism rolled around. The whole movie was about two people, Andrea and Giulia, trying to be together, despite a billion (sometimes really minor) problems, and then they don’t end up together? Ok.
Seeing as I love Thursdays, Thursday was a great day. After sleeping in past 7:30, we watched a movie for Italian class with one of the beginning courses, which meant we got subtitles. The movie was called Le Fate Ignoranti (the spelling might be wrong), and it means “the ignorant fairy.” Antonia, the protagonist, discovers her husband, Massimo, was having an affair after he’s killed by a car at the beginning of the movie. Then she finds out he was having an affair with a man, Michele. Antonia and Michele become friends and stuff and try to get over Massimo’s death. It was entertaining, but Michele was a bad fake-crier. And Antonia looked a little like Meg Ryan. Good class. Afterward, I came home to make lunch, etc., before going over to hang out with Emily. When I was about to leave, someone buzzed our apartment, so I looked out to the window, and it was a two older women. I assumed they had the wrong apartment, so I didn’t say anything and pretended not to be. They kept ringing, so I did the really mature thing and waited for them to give up and leave before going over to Emily’s. We chilled at Emily’s apartment, and Keyana and Melissa joined us once they were back from class. Emily and Keyana had been invited to a get together at some kid’s house from their Italian class, so I went with them. There were at least five different languages spoken at this party: Italian, English, French, Arabic, some German, a little Russian. It was difficult to keep up, but a lot of fun. They were mostly Academia people, but we were the only Americans there, which was fun. We stayed until 11:30 or so, when I got really sleepy and started sneezing. It’s still a mystery as to why I started sneezing, but it lasted until last night, and now it’s only a sneeze every once and a while. Hopefully we’ll hang out with those people again. We exchanged numbers with them, so we’ll see. Then I came home and fell asleep after 2 days of exhaustion.
Yesterday was a lot of fun as well. After sleeping in (hooray!), Colleen and I mostly hung out at the apartment for the day. I went grocery shopping, which I desperately needed to do, did some organizing, and planned spring break. Well, researched spring break and made up a preliminary plan, but I think it’s a good one. It includes Liverpool, Wales, Wigley fun, and Dublin thus far. So I was productive! We made some delicious dinner here before Jen, Emily, and Keyana came over to have some wine and chill. Afterward we went out to the club, where we stayed until it closed. We met up with some of our Italian friends there. And before we knew it, it was almost 3 in the morning. Time flies when you’re having fun, I suppose. When we left the club, we went to get kabobs (yes!). We lingered before going home and ceremoniously falling asleep immediately.
Today I’ve literally done nothing. I slept in again, showered, and… that’s about it. I have a job interview over the phone at 6:00. I’m nervous, but prepared. It’s good to be nervous, right? Let’s hope it goes well. Afterward, we’re going out to dinner with the girls, and I think our school is hosting a carnival night at a club tonight, so we might go to that to get in the spirit for Venice tomorrow! I’m super pumped to go to Carnival tomorrow. We have to get up early, but that’s just fine. It’ll be worth it. And we can, once again, sleep on the bus. And… that’s about it!
Update: Had the interview. Nailed it. Got the job. High five!! I’m so so so soooooo excited!!! She really only asked me one question, but she said my resume was really detailed and in depth, so she didn’t have many questions. Because I can work all summer and all day, I get to work with all the different age groups. She said I get to be her right-hand person with everything, which is incredible. I can’t believe. I’m so excited and so happy. I will have worked at the two largest theaters in Minneapolis, which is difficult to do, and I’m doing a happy dance while thanking the gods of theater and karma. And I just had a delicious dinner at House of Sizzle and am fully prepared for the on-coming food coma. This week has been incredible.

2/18/09
Um, that past couple days have been great! I slept like a maniac on Monday night, and woke up feeling much better. It was the coldest it has been here yesterday! I have Renaissance Art Tuesday mornings, and yesterday was an “on location” day at the duomo here. This meant starting outside to look at the architecture. I was raining, so we were all having trouble writing notes and keeping our fingers from freezing, until it started to snow huge flakes, at which point Rocky (our professor) said, “Ok, this is ridiculous. Go get a coffee and meet back here in a ½ hour and we’ll go inside.” Which is exactly what we did. It was quite nice. It was still cold inside the duomo once we came back, but at least it wasn’t raining and we were able to sit down while we took our notes. I didn’t know the cathedral had so many architects! People kept dying off and getting fired, not to mention a little something called the Black Plague right in the middle of everything and the Opera procrastinating on building the dome. I always love going to that class. Besides (or maybe because of) the lovely voice in my ear, I learn a lot about the marvelous-ness that was the Renaissance. Plus, we usually get out of class a little early. Molto bene! Italian was also good, because we moved on from Passato Remoto, though the battle continues and so far I’m losing against the evil tense. We’re (re-)learning pronouns, which isn’t easy, but not nearly as hard as Passato Remoto. With the afternoon free, I went to the library to return some movies and, who would guess, but Sciusià was in! Honestly, it was quite possibly my lucky day. And I managed to have a whole conversation in Italian with the help desk person, though I’m sure she was humoring me. She did think my movie choice was “impressive” though. The only downside to my day was that I bought some juice, and when I got home I realized someone had already opened it and drank out of it. Yuck. So I had to go back and get a new juice. The conversation with the clerk consisted of me saying “someone already drank this juice” and him asking “was it yummy?” Eventually I communicated that it was not I that drank the juice, therefore I do not know if it was yummy, and it had been drank in the store. I got a new juice. Colleen, Emily and I headed across town to see Amalie Rothschild speak, and it was bbbbaaaalllllllllllleeerrr. She photographed at the Fillmore East from 1968-1971 when it closed. She met, hung out with, and photographed The Who, The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Tina Turner, Ray Charles, The Band, Jimmie Hendrix, John Lennon and mmoorreee. It was basically two hours of me being really excited. I must say one of my favorite parts was a film clip of Yoko singing terribly and somebody put a bag over her onstage. I laughed real hard. Her stories about the Grateful Dead trying to spike everything with acid entertained me as well. She took some incredible photos and I’m going to look into getting her book. After that I came home, chilled for a bit, then Keyana and I went to Red Garter (connected to House of Sizzle) for some good times. And good times we had. I don’t normally go out past, like, 11:00 on weekdays, but it was totally worth being exhausted today. I’d do it again. Eventually I made my way home and slept like a rock.
Morning came too soon, but I was surprisingly on time to class and able to participate. It was literature class, and it was mostly presentations, so all I really had to do was ask questions about Futurism, which isn’t too bad. We didn’t even talk about the reading, but we will next week. Then we watched a movie about two authors, but I couldn’t tell you the name if I wanted to. Hopefully we’ll finish it next week and I’ll know then. Half of Italian was spent talking about books, which made me happy. I’m always up for a discussion on Faulkner, Fitzgerald, or Foer, which I happen to be reading at the moment. Tonight looks like it may be a big night again, so I’m resting this afternoon. I’m going to dinner with some friends, then meeting up with my Italian class to go see a movie that’s entirely in Italian. Good idea? Not sure. I think it’s a distinct possibility that I’ll sit there staring in confusion for 90% of the film. Good learning experience, right?
Now my M.I.A. jam just came on.

2/16/09
Rome was really fantastic!! We were running the whole time (not literally, but you know) so no time was wasted! Getting up at 5:30 sucked ass, and sleeping on the bus wasn’t the most comfortable thing, but once we started going the places the trip was awesome. First we took the train to the Spanish Steps, which were completely full of people on Valentines Day. The street was packed with tourists, beautiful Italians, and people selling crap, and it was magical. Then we jetted over to the Trevi Fountain, learned about it (though I couldn’t really hear, so I didn’t learn much), and threw some coins into the fountain backwards over our shoulders, Lizzie McGuire style. Once again we were off, this time to the Pantheon, also full of people, learned about the church’s history and the hole in the roof. And off again (!) to Piazza Navona to look at the buildings, fountains, and Egyptian column/post things that mark the four directions of the city. After we had 15 minutes for lunch, and we wolfed down our food like starving children. Most of us hadn’t eaten that day, except for whatever we could find in the dark at 6:00 in the morning, and it was now almost 2. I know, right? After wolfing, we blazed across the city to the Vatican! Walking on the street I ran into two people I knew from totally different contexts walking together, and it was such a weird coincidence but cool. We waited in line before learning that Arcadia never sent out money in to see the Sistine Chapel. Most of us decided to go anyway, so we waited in line once again, got a student discount, and moseyed our way through the art galleries, elaborate hallways covered in maps and tapestries, and the Raphael rooms covered in frescos. It struck me as a little odd that monks commit to a life of poverty and the Vatican is dripping with wealth. I know they’re not the same thing, but both monks and the pope/bishops/etc. give their entire life to Christianity but in completely different ways. Something to ponder, anyway. Finally we made it to the Sistine Chapel. I found a place to sit and look for a while, and luckily it was right next to a personal guide who was telling two people all about the Sistine Chapel. When I stood up, I think my hand slipped over the plastic cover and landed on the actual wall, but I’m not sure. Our group stayed looking at the chapel for a real long time because it’s something that doesn’t lose its awe. You know how sometimes you look at a painting or movie or sculpture or building or whatever, and it first it seems like the most amazing thing in the world, but after 5 minutes you see how, well, it’s not. Yeah, that doesn’t happen with the Sistine Chapel, and I think it’s tied with The Last Supper in my book. Looking around the room, every person just stood there with their jaws dropped. We couldn’t figure out what the last section of the painting was of, though. It’s creation, Adam and Eve, sacrificing the ram instead of the son, the flood, then…… the last one is still a mystery. Anybody know?
That night our program went out for the free traditional Roman dinner, complete with two appetizers, pizza, dessert, and diet coke. Since we are all college students, we take advantage of anything free, and pretty much ate until we couldn’t eat anymore. Afterward, 10 or so of us, primarily girls, went to a classy bar-lounge thing for a bit, but we were all so tired that we were in bed by midnight. I coughed pretty badly all night, but still managed to sleep.
Day 2: Took advantage of the free breakfast after getting up early again (7:30 am… rough for a Sunday). Once we were packed up, we went to a church (whose name is slipping from me right now) where the whole ceiling was covered in gold leaf. I remembered it from last time I visited Rome, but even now I’m having trouble keeping track of the details. We couldn’t stay long because mass was going on, so we kicked at pigeons outside. Next we went to the church were Michelangelo’s Moses is. THAT I had never seen before, and it was awesome. You can’t go right up to it, or else I might have accidentally run into it or something. Also, they have a relic of Peter’s chains that he wore while imprisoned. I couldn’t hear where the real ones are. Actually, maybe they are the real ones… hmmm. Next it was Coliseum time, and we spent a long time there, which was wonderful! Since the weather was absolutely perfect both days, we could take our time walking around the open structure and, at times, pretend to be animals fighting. We spent an equal amount of time going around the Forum, and our guide Maurizio pointed out all the different time periods in the ruins. The pace was much more relaxed, which made it more enjoyable for me, though Saturday was great as well. After the forum, a bunch of us went to go see Baccio la Verità or The Mouth of Truth. The myth is that you’re supposed to stick your hand in the mouth, and if it doesn’t bite it off, then you’re truthful and innocent. We leisurely wandered the city after that, picking up some panini and gelato before heading back to the hotel to meet the bus. We were all exhausted last night after getting home, and I pretty much passed out after I finished my dinner, but it was totally worth it.
Today is a little less fun. The sun is peaking out, but I’ve got a mad migraine, which is why I’m writing this now. I went home after cinema because I was starting to see spots in my vision and get dizzy, so I should technically be in Italian right now. I told some people in my class to tell me teacher what was up, though, and I’ve only missed one day, so I think I have the best attendance in the class. Missing today is OK. I’m still debating about whether or not to go to photography later. We’ll see. I think I probably just didn’t get enough sleep over the weekend, and combine that with grinding my teeth and the curse of the gods, and you’ve got a migraine! Now I’m off to sleep.
Update: Well, I slept for most of the day. After I ate some dinner, I was feeling better so I went to see Benjamin Button with some friends. It was great, but definitely long. My butt was asleep by the end. I’m not sure what they could’ve cut, though. Also, I’m not sure how I felt about the end. Cate Blanchette and Brad Pitt were both great though. I’m curious to know how much they had to animate when they were making them both really old. It’s worth seeing anyway. My head is worse now, so I’m going back to bed. That is all.

2/13/09
The last two days have been great! The weather has been beautiful and I think it helps everyone’s mood, even the many sick people roaming our school. Once again, Thursdays are beautiful because I only have one class, leaving plenty of time in the morning to do laundry, make a delicious brunch, and get ready for the day. We went over the Passato Remoto, which everyone grumbled through. Honestly, there are so many irregular forms you can hardly call one regular! Luckily I’ve technically learned it once before, so remembering it is slightly easier… at least the regular verbs… After we all walked over for some delicious gelato with Monica, our teacher. She described it as “ice cream like it used to be made!” I had actually been there before, but it was years ago when the Thomas and Wigley families stayed in the hotel across the street from it. I remember it being delicious then too. All their flavors are seasonal, and I think there will be delicious fruit ones once it’s spring. After class Alyssa and I went to get out Italian book. We walked around for probably an hour Wednesday night and couldn’t find the freaking store, when in actually we walked right up to it, just not past it. Stupid. It was all made ok because we got Gusto Pizza that night… mmmm… Anyway, we found the store, bought the book, and went home to chill for a while before going to see Frost/Nixon at the Odeon Theater. Aside from being the coolest movie theater ever (with big stuffed seats, a balcony, glass dome, and stage like an opera house), the movie was awesome. I actually saw the stage version in Minneapolis over winter break, and I thought the movie was just as good. And Mr. Darcy was in it. And he was blonde. That part was a little weird, but he and everyone else was great. I moseyed back home for a while before going out with some girls. We hit up the fish pub, which was eclectic as always, briefly stopped into 21 (mostly to use the bathroom), walked around a bundle, and got kabobs. All in all, a grand night.
Today I stayed in bed late, because it was the only day this weekend I’ll be able to. And I got homework done so… all around good and productive! Then I explored the city with Keyana and Emily. We finally found a cheap art supplies store, so I got a sketchbook and pencils, which I intended to do when I first got here. I also got a little coin purse for 5 euro on sale (hollah back!). And more gelato. We met up with Jen, Larissa, and Ali and went to House of Sizzle again for dinner. My burger was delicious, though some girls said theirs were a little undercooked. Now I’m home, all packed and ready to go for Rome, charging my ipod and fully confident that I have everything I may need or want (except my cough medicine… yeah, still fighting it off a little). We have to get up at 5:30 tomorrow morning in order to be at the bus station by 6:30 am, because Rome is apparently 4 hours away. I thought it was much closer. I was wrong. I’m really excited for the weekend!! We’re going to see great stuff, and my friends and I decided to have a girls night on Saturday for Valentines Day, which will be fun. I’m curious about the hotel situation, but we’ll find out soon enough. Anyway, that’s it for now, so ciao for the weekend! Happy Friday the 13th!

2/10/09
Classes!! Hooray!! Yesterday I had cinema, Italian, and photography. We’re still doing neo-realism stuff in cinema, but now we’re moving on to the boundaries of it, what qualifies as neo-realism, what themes are maintained throughout time, that kind of stuff. In the second half of class we watched The Battle of Algiers. It was super intense. There wasn’t really a protagonist or anything though. I mean, there were reoccurring characters, but the story didn’t follow one person’s journey, which made it seem more “for the people.” Very interesting. We had our first test in Italian and, as expected, the articles kicked everyone’s collective ass. I did well on the grammar part, which was really the only part I cared about, so I’m good. I’m finally distinguishing and using tenses! Woo hoo!
Because the weather was so damn nice yesterday, we went outside for basically all of photography to shoot photos. We worked on showing moving in film, so isolate the shutter speed to show the movement of an object while the rest of the photo is still and clear. I thought every picture I took blew, but there are a couple decent ones as I look at them on the computer. Same with the aperture photos. Then I had to take a picture of the whole class, and I had no idea what to do, so that picture actually did blow. I’ll try to upload some good ones. Also, the park where we shot was filled with dog poo, so the class was really photography and an obstacle course all in one. That night we watched the Sopranos. We’re budgeting the episodes left on my computer.
I went to Renaissance Art bright and early this morning. It’s a good thing our professor isn’t boring. The subject matter is definitely interesting, but at 9 am in a dark room, it’s easy for a lecture class to become monotonous. Luckily, this class isn’t. We did Siena today, mostly looking at the duomo there and the main square. Actually, a lot of the class was focused on the basic architecture of the building, because it was built in stages and, despite being a prime example of Gothic architecture, has traditionally Gothic stuff lacking from it, like continuous lines from the point of the high point of the building. Yeah, Colleen, I’m learning stuff. I didn’t know there was supposed to be a whole other part to the cathedral either, so I liked that part.
After shopping with Alyssa this afternoon, we stopped by the library. Bad news was the De Sica films I wanted weren’t there. The good news is that they exist and will be returned this Saturday. I’ll be in Rome on Saturday, but I can stop by Monday and pick them off when I return the DVDs we got today. Tonight all three of us watched Red Dragon. In the dark. Choices, ladies. It was frightening. Ralph Finnes was a nutter in that film. I spazed a few times, but did indeed keep my eyes on the screen the whole time. Except when I was blinking. We watched a Gilmore to get over it, the one where there’s a fire at the Independence Inn. I brought Season 3, well, basically because Jess is in it. Pretty.
And now I must go to sleep because, as Scarlet would say, tomorrow is another day… at Terra… or Palazzo Pitti. I’m adapting now.

2/11/09
Well, quiet day today so far. I found out I need to buy another Italian book, which is kind of a bummer. We started on Passato Remoto, and all the information I had been pushing out of my mind from 2nd semester Italian came screaming back to me. It’s such a weird tense, and I haven’t really heard it used… well, unless it was being used and I couldn’t recognize it because it’s such a weird tense… Boo on it. Only 3 of us were in Lit class today, so I tried to say things, especially intelligent things. Then we watched of movie of an Italian actor. He spoke really, really fast and in a northern dialect, so I couldn’t understand a lot of it, but our teacher kept us up to date. Now I’ve returned to my room per un piccolo nap. It’s Wednesday, so that means we get to watch another episode of the Sopranos tonight. And I only have 1 more class until the weekend. I’m going to try to get as much of my homework done tonight as possible, because of Rome this weekend and, you know, generic hooplas. I also picked up the Rome itinerary today and it looks great, even though it requires me to get up early in the morning. On Saturday (Valentine’s Day, no less), we’re going on a guided tour around the area of the Trevi Fountain. Yes, I intend to act like Lizzie McGuire and throw a coin in. Hopefully I won’t hit someone in the head with it this time though… yeah… that might have happened… We’ll see a whole mess of stuff around there. Then it’s Vatican/Sistine Chapel/St. Peters in the afternoon, which I’m excited about. I may have touched a Bernini sculpture and the side of the Sistine wall before as well… but who is to say, really? The next day is “Imperial Rome,” so I’m guess that’s the Forum, Coliseum, etc. Looks like it’s going to be a great weekend! Better to be doing something on Valentine’s Day than just sitting around. It’s really probably my least favorite holiday because 1) it’s pretty made up. Sure, trace it back in time to some singular event if you want to, but even if all that is true, I seriously doubt singing Hallmark cards and chocolate were the original intention. 2) If you’re in a relationship, there’s all this pressure to do something exciting. Even if you don’t care and say “We’re not really doing anything for Valentine’s Day,” and you’re perfectly happy with that, people still respond with, “Awww, well, that’s ok…” Yes. Yes, it IS ok! 3) If you’re not in a relationship, you once again get the response, “Awww, well, that’s ok…” for your solitary existence. 4) It’s really a holiday that’s best when you’re in lower school because you get to give cards to all your friends and decorate a shoebox to put your own cards in. Honestly, those are my fondest memories of Valentine’s Day. I accept and understand other people enjoying the day by having a nice dinner, going out with someone special just to be together, etc., but the pressure some people put on each other to say “I love you” in an extraordinary way can be ridiculous and just superficial a lot of time. Of course, my bitterness towards this holiday could be because I’ve never had an outstanding Valentine’s Day past the age of 10. And that’s my Valentine’s Day rant. Better to be looking at Michelangelo’s painted ceiling and dead popes than watch You’ve Got Mail or Sleepless in Seattle on TBS three times in a row because the world won’t accept your public single-ness or coupled indifference to this greeting card holiday. At least for me.
Ok, nap time.

2/5/09
What an easy day. Slept in, danced around in my empty apartment while I was getting dressed and ate some Special K Frutta Rossi. Who knew the red berries could be so delicious? Went to class, where we talked about my future. I discussed the possibility of me doing Teach for America, and people wondered about my obsession with Minneapolis/Minnesota. There’s no way to express it, I guess. Afterward, Alyssa and I found Emily, who came shopping at H&M with us. I bought the last skirt they had of the pretty one that was in the window, which is dark grey/black and flippy. Hooray flippy skirt!! It’s got a little 1920’s in it. Anywho!

2/6/09
Well, I clearly got distracted yesterday. Inevitably there was something shiny. Actually, I think I got hungry. All us roomies made dinner and had a nice little apartment dinner. I made chicken and roasted potatoes. I’ve discovered I’m not too shabby a cook. I mean, I’m not making anything super tricky, but chicken, potatoes, different pasta sauces, etc., and so far everything has been edible! So there you go! Mmmmmm potatoes. I missed potatoes. I like food.
So after we ate we all hung out in our common area and chatting, discussing and myriad of things which were all fun and informative. Later Ali, Larissa, and Andy came over with a little wine, and we told more stories, though I didn’t listen to any about the Saw movies. Ick. We told a lot of weather stories, and I’m not entirely sure how they came about… Andy told one about a macroburst that happened in Rockford that he witnessed, and, seeing as he was outside when it happened, it’s pretty amazing he didn’t get blown away.
I’m still very excited about my flippy skirt. I’m going to wear it out tonight.
Believe it or not, I’m actually starting to get a little sick of pasta. I’m not as sick of it as my roommates, probably because I switch the sauces up more often, but I’m craving meat that’s not chicken. I can’t handle raw red meat, so I haven’t made any for myself, but I’m mad craving a burger or steak or something. I think we’re going to dinner tonight at some place called The Sizzler or House of Sizzle or something like that, but they’re all about the steak and burgers. Later at night it turns into a club (which is pretty common here), so we’re going early to 1) beat the crowds, 2) avoid techno while we eat, and 3) maybe get free stuff. Usually if you go early and you’re the only person in the place you’ll get something for cheap/free. At least that’s what I’ve found.
I finally did laundry today. Well, it’s in the washing machine as we speak. The fact that we have no dryer has deterred me from doing it, because I don’t want to leave my clothes on the line outside when it’s raining everyday. It’s a good thing I have plenty of underwear.
Speaking of rain, yesterday had THE weirdest weather. When I woke up it was cloudy, then there was a huge downpour of rain, then it was sunny, then cloudy, then sunny, then a mild thunderstorm. Yes, Alyssa spotted lightening and we both heard the thunder. It was very, very weird. Rainy again today too… boo…. At least its not constant rain, right? Just cloudy with some rain. Better than constant downpours.
I’m a little too excited to have my internet back and have been using it more than usual to attempt to connect to the world from my apartment. Here, at school, I can get on the internet on their computers, but my computer, for some reason, won’t connect to the WiFi. I’m nervous to bring it back to the computer man here, because he wasn’t in the mood to help me last time. I also don’t want to pay for someone to try to fix my WiFi. I guess I’ll just use my 3 Internet. It’s only 1 euro per hour, which is good. Otherwise I may kill this wireless network.

2/8/09
Friday night proved to be epic. After trying to use the internet at school, I took a nap. I had a little headache (and have had a little one every day since) and wanted to knock it out before the night. We went to House of Sizzle (yes, that is the name) for dinner, and we were the first ones there. Everything looked delicious: burgers, steaks, fajitas, deliciousness. I opted for a burger. Then a group of, like, 10 guys came in, mid-twenties looking. They pulled tables together next to ours. Turns out, they were all members of the Cabinieri, which is the police force here. They were all pretty hilarious. One told us a story of when he went to Miami is “two zero zero five.” Apparently there was a typhoon and he met a witch. The rest of them played us all the American music they had on their cell phones, including “Le Who” and Guns ‘n Roses. They all sung along, which was pretty adorable, and tried to chat with us as much as they could. “Oh My God-ness!” As we were leaving, Alyssa and I turned around and invited them to Yab to hang out with us later. Then we went home to get ready.
Around 10:15, Alyssa, Keyana, Emily and I, clad in our new clothing, rocked over to Ali and Larissa’s apartment, where we hung out until about midnight, when we emphatically agreed it was time to dance. Yab, as it turned out, had a 13 euro cover charge, and there was no guarantee of awesomeness, so we decided to run to TwentyOne. Now, ok, we were sad we wouldn’t see the policemen, but there was no guarantee they’d show up either, and we do have their facebook. I’m giggling. It was such a surreal experience. Anyway, we headed to TwentyOne. There are a number of good things about this club. 1) We know the bartender by name. We get discounts. 2) Allie runs into people she’s been hoping to. That sounds vague, but I don’t care. 3) There’s a separate area from the dancing room to hang out in. 4) No cover charge. 5) Fun dancing music. We had a GRAND time. We met up with Colleen and some other people there, and it was great. Dancing was fun, especially since there were fewer creepers than in previous times. Alyssa and I walked Emily home, then came home. We didn’t realize how late it was until we got home and immediately went to bed.
Exhausted, I slept in the next day. In the late afternoon, us roomies did some shopping, though I didn’t buy anything. We also found a Chinese restaurant! Now, it wasn’t as good as Jade Fountain, but really, what Chinese food is? And this place was waaayy cheap for each course. The beef and broccoli and hot and sour soup were my favorites for the night. We also got some delicious gelato on the way home. Strawberry and chocolate is my combination of choice at the moment.
I just realized how much I write about food on this thing. What can I say? The food is real good here.
When we got home, full and happy and tired, we really didn’t have any desire to go out. Colleen is sick, Alyssa was tired, and I additionally had a little headache. So we stayed in and watched three episodes of the Sopranos. Ooooooh my god-ness!!! What a good show. I also Skyped with my mom and found out I have an interview for the internship I applied for this summer. I hadn’t heard anything from them, so I was nervous I wasn’t being considered. The job is by no means mine, but it’s good to know I’m in the running.
Today was equally chill. Slept in, did my reading, studying, and photography project, went grocery shopping, etc. Not a whole lot of interesting stuff. Tonight will be relaxing as well. We’re making Tacos for dinner. Well, we’re going to try to make tacos for dinner. They had a “Fiesta” section at the grocery store we went to, which was different from our normal one. I think the epic-ness of Friday justifies the lazy, relaxed-ness of yesterday and today. Totally called for. I also have an Italian test tomorrow on presente, passato prossimo, imperfetto, passato remoto, futuro, and gli articoli. I’m feeling pretty good for it, but I confuse when to use imprefetto and passato prossimo sometimes. I’m trying though! I try to speak whenever I can, and I think I’m getting better. Anyway, I should probably study. Pace, tutti!

So my internet died. Here's all the updates. yeah, it's a lot:
1/28/09
Well, stay-in-bed sickness took hold. The fact that every joint in my body ached and my throat burned meant I went straight home after Italian on Tuesday, passed out, and stayed in bed the rest of the night, only emerging to get a gelato, which did help my throat. My energy was zapped and I needed to stay in bed. I decided not to go to class the next day unless I felt significantly better. In the morning, I didn’t feel better at all. In fact, I felt a bit worse, so I called school, told them what was up and that I was staying in bed, and they said fine. I proceeded to sleep, eat cereal (for lack of energy to make food) and watch 30 Rock for the rest of the day. Until… dundundun!! The football game! Yes, indeed, we had tickets to Florence vs. Napoli last night, and my ticket was already paid for. Being the cheapo I am, I wasn’t willing to let that money go to waste. I saved up my energy and trekked across town to the game with FlorenceForFun. Ooooo my goodness. I’ve never seen such angry fans in my life. The away section was glassed off from the rest of the crowd, which was probably a good idea. We scored the first goal, and everyone was jumping around in happiness, and everyone started motioning for Napoli to suck it. A minute or two later Napoli scored, and the Napoli fans raced down the stadium seats to the glass while our face ran over to the other side of the glass. Everyone was yelling and gesturing generally disgusting things. Then they brought in the security and police, who made a line blocking the area in from of the Napoli fans from everyone else. On the other side of our section, a group of people got sectioned off completely by security from the rest of the crowd. We think we must have missed a fight when we were watching all the yelling. When we scored again, our fans went nuts, pushing through the security line, or at least getting right up to them in order to yell at the “Napoli whores” to “suck their *swimsuit area.*” The funniest part was that they guys that wouldn’t give up were a couple 50-somethings. One took off his belt and started whipping it at the glass. It was confiscated by security after that. His friend had a scarf that he used to illustrate the various things he/Florence would do to Napoli fans. Even when security was in full-force, these guys kept coming back. I thought it was great! Yeah, if a full-blown riot had broken out it probably would’ve been more frightening, but I trusted Alexander Petrovsky (or the police chief guy who looked exactly like him) to keep things under control. We were in the front row of this section too, so we got a good view of all the action, both on the field and off. Basically, I’m really glad I went and want to go again. Unfortunately we can’t sit in the section with all the huge flags and where singing started because we’re not members of the EU, but that’s ok. Our section cheered, jumped, and sang with the rest of them. Honestly, I’ve never seen people that angry about a sport, and it was awesome. Never ever ever would those people have been allowed to stay in the stadium at a U.S. game. I was a grand ol’ time.
This weekend I’ve decided to go to Milan with my friends. I’m feeling a bit better, even though I still have a cough, but I’m not achy anymore and the swelling in my throat is going down, so I think I can manage Milan. They started planning yesterday while I was bed-ridden, but I decided to join in, mostly because a) it would suck to be the only person here this weekend and b) I really want to see The Last Supper in person. So! We’ll take the train up, stay two nights, and train back down. First to pick up some Dayquil…
Baby steps…

2/3/09
Long time no blog.
Last Thursday was quite possibly the easiest day of class ever. I only had Italian, any most of the class was taken up by going to get our books. Afterward, Alyssa, her boyfriend Nick, and I went to see the Medusa exhibit at the Uffizi. It was in a separate little building and was completely free, which was rad. I could only read about ½ of the informational panels because it was completely in Italian, but I caught a bit at least. I always like going to museums. I feel all cultured and crap afterward. And, again, this will sound really American, but it’s incredible to see the really old artifacts that have survived. There were journals and books from the 12-or-1300 (I can’t remember for sure), old armor with Medusa by the heart, trusses with Medusa hair. After the culture, we hiked up the hill to the Piazza dei Michelangelo. On the way up these long, old stairs (which are something Catholic… someone help me out here. There were crosses and you’re supposed to climb up the stairs on your knees.), there was a cat commune. Yes, a cat commune. They had little houses and kitties were running in and out. One tried to smack Alyssa. It didn’t have claws and she was wearing a coat, so it was funny, not frightening. The piazza had the most incredible views of the city and we got there right as the sun was starting to set, so Florence looked incredible. Pictures to come on either facebook or some sort of webshots deal. We looked around a bit, counting multicolored umbrellas (even though there wasn’t a cloud in the sky) of the large groups of Asians, then headed up to the church there. Name? Non lo so, and mass was going on so we couldn’t sketch around inside, but there were these elaborate crypts outside. There was one of a husband and wife, both born around 1914. The husband died in 1944 in WWII and the wife died 60 years later in 2004, and she waited the whole time for him, and was then buried with him. Nick and I did a verbal “awwww.” Well, I did. Nick’s was on the inside. We walked down the hill just as the sun was setting.
That night I went out to dinner with Ali, Larissa, and Ali’s friend Emily. I got soup for my throat, which was delicious, and the house wine was good. Alyssa and Nick joined us after their dinner. Things got a little heated when the subject of Yoko came up. Note to the world: saying you like/admire/enjoy the art or music of Yoko is a strike against you in my book. Trying to defend it makes it worse. Insulting my knowledge about the Beatles is one sure fire way to get me to peace out. Emily apparently did not know this, even after I said something this effect. I guess she wasn’t listening. She left, and the rest of us went to Fish Pub, where the drinks are cheap and the music is partially calypso. We had a grand old time.
I spent Friday morning trying to get my computer fixed to connect to the wireless internet at school with no such luck. My internet went out at home on Tuesday, which blew. Then I came home, packed, showered, and went off to Milan with Keyana, Jen, Morgan, and Colleen. I was in a separate car on the train and my photography professor was in my car, which was a cool/weird coincidence. I mostly read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which I’m really enjoying. And it was lucky I was in a separate car, because everyone else had to pay 12.50 euro for not having their ticket stamped, and the conductor took pity on my and didn’t ask me to pay, probably because I was alone and look a bit helpless. Colleen and I opted to get a cab to take to the hostel, which was great and cheap. I think I overextended my knee, because it was popping and stuff. It’s totally with all the weird terrain/cobblestones here. We found a place called Shut Up! Pizza, and decided to get some delicious late-night food once we were all checked in. I proceeded to pass out. However, I slept awfully because I was paranoid about keeping Morgan and Colleen awake with my cough. I tried not to cough, but then an explosion of cough would come out, waking me up. This lead to me getting tired much earlier in the day on Saturday.
Highlight of the trip: definitely, definitely, definitely seeing The Last Supper. Once again, I got in for cheap. The money gods were on my side. I only had a 50, and they hadn’t gotten their change for the day yet, so I got in for 3 euro, which I had in change, instead of about 5 euro. We had to go through a series of doors to enter to room and had 15 minutes in the room. All three of us almost cried when we saw it (well, each separately, but we all said the same thing afterward), but I managed to keep it together. It’s one thing to see a picture of it and a totally different thing to see it in person. Each person in the painting is so specific and expressive. It was incredible. That’s really all I can say.
Other highlights: The duomo, which is completely white (covered or built out of marble) and huge. It has tons of spires and towers, and the inside is covered in stain glass. I’m pretty sure it has the entire bible depicted in stain glass. I could identify one starting with Genesis, another one just on the life of Jesus, and a third with a little Revelations. It also had this creepy statue of a devil carrying an empty person. Literally. It was like everything was sucked out of its body and only the skin was left. Icky. The glass, sculpture, and alter were all super intricate and enjoyable. AND, outside they had a huge booth/trailer thing advertizing a music festival they were having there this spring, and they had fake Abbey Road cut outs. I took a couple pictures. It was awesome. Then people tried to give me friendship bracelets/sell them to me/steal my stuff, so I ran away. Immediately afterwards we went shopping in the 1st mall ever, which, of course, is filled with all designer stuff. We spent most of the time in Prada, dressing up Jen. I almost bought a Prada coin purse, the cheapest thing in the store, but opted against it. I kind of wish I had bought it so I could say, “Oh, yeah, this is my Prada mini-purse from the store in Milan. Nbd.” Morgan went back to the hostel because she was sick with a fever, and the rest of us enjoyed a lovely dinner, minus a creeper and his girlfriend/sister/who knows who kept intently looking at and watching Colleen. It was weird. That night Keyana, Jen, and I, looking good, all went out to Noon, which was the classiest bar I’ve been to yet. We had a grand time hanging out, listening to quite a mixture of music, and doing a little dancing. We were a hit.
It snowed Sunday the entire walk to the train station. Then we had to wait for 3.5 hours before our train left. Enough said.
Almost caught up!
Yesterday was a full day of class. I don’t know how I got the homework done, but I did. We did neo-realism in Italian Cinema class, which I love, so even though I was 15 minutes late (slept through alarm), I enjoyed the class. I want to go join the library (still have to do that…) and rent out all the De Sica and Rossallini (those spellings are probably wrong) films. I was going to go today, but it’s rainy again. I ran home after class, took the fastest shower ever, made a sandwich, and ran back to class. Hooray for well located apartments! We’re still review in Italian, which is more than helpful. Photography was mostly lecture yesterday, but I actually learned what some of the functions on my camera are. That night I just did homework and slept. It was nice to get a good night’s sleep after the weekend of sleeping on a questionable mattress.
I love my Renaissance Art and Architecture class. We went to Santa Croce. Rocky, our professor, knows more about that church than I thought existed, not only what’s there, but what’s not there anymore, why it’s there, etc. And he has a good voice, so I don’t mind having it in my hear with a little portable radio set. Basically, it’s an awesome class.
Tonight should be a good night. I have a little more homework to finish for tomorrow, then I think a few of us are going to see Revolutionary Road, which I REALLY want to see. Hooray for Kate and Leo! Also, Tuesday nights are Beatles Nights at a club called BeBop. I haven’t gone, but, um, hello! Apparently they have a live band playing Beatles all night long. SO, we might go to that. AND, I will hopefully have internet again at home. Alyssa figured out why it isn’t working, and I must say, 3Internet is fully of tricky bastards. When it logs your time, it logs it in 15 min. increments. So, if you’re on for 2 minutes, it counts it at 15. If you’re on for 16 minutes, it counts it as 30. They conveniently forgot to tell us this when we bought in internet. It’s still cheap, and now we know, so we can watch the time more carefully. But there were bunches of times were I was online for 5 minutes or less, checking email and skype, and those were all counted at 15 minutes, hence I’m out of time. They reopen at 3:30, so I’ll call them a little after that and get this whole thing sorted out.

2/4/08
Revolutionary Road last night was intense. It’s incredibly sad, but I thought it was very well made and acted. I can see why Kate won the Golden Globe for it. But why, I wonder, did they not nominate Leo? Can’t Leo get some love? It’s Titanic at the Oscars all over again…
After the movie, Larissa, Alyssa, Nick, and I went to dinner. Nick got cow stomach under a fancy name and somehow convinced me to try it. I almost legit threw up. The outside had the texture of bread once it’s sat in French onion soup for a while and the other part was like calamari, but chewier. It just tasted like the sauce, but I couldn’t handle the texture one bit and it took all my manners to swallow it. We did go to BeBop after, but it wasn’t the scene I expected. There were too many wasted bitties running around giving us study abroad students a bad name. There were probably 5 girls for every 1 guy. The band was good, and once we found seats, they were fun to listen to. When we decide to leave, it took us about 10 minutes to walk 15 feet to the exit. While sandwiched between Larissa and some guy behind me, my one arm protecting my purse, the other jammed between me and Larissa, five guys walked by and ceremoniously grabbed my butt as they passed. I turned and said, “Really???” They didn’t hear. I thought it was trashy. I walked home, chatting with home on the way. I really don’t feel unsafe walking home alone before midnight. After midnight, there are less people out, but if you’re in a group you’re fine. Alone, I would probably take a cab. I mean, it’s not super dangerous, but better safe than sorry, right?
Classes today were pretty typical. I tried to keep the conversation going during my lit class, because lit classes are boring and awful when nobody talks. Thankfully I had finished the reading, so I had things to say. After classes, I met up with Keyana and we went to the library to set up accounts. It’s free and all. You can check out 8 books, 2 DVDs, and 2 CDs at a time, which is pretty fly. Yeah, fly. We also got internet cards. You get up to 1 hour free on one of their computers and 3 hours free on your laptop. High five!! After that I walked to the train station to find the 3 store there to get more internet time. Once that mission was accomplished, I walked home. I swear to God, every time I walk alone I get followed, not in a creepy way, but in an “American Girl in Italy” photo way. People yelling “Oh my God,” “Oh, you dropped something you better come back,” “Gimme kiss kiss,” etc. The older gentlemen (like old… like 60+) say polite things in Italian. The younger not-so-gentlemen just watch you and say whatever they know in English, like “Oh, my heart” and “ciao you girl.” It’s harmless, and often funny, and if nothing else, it’s a confidence booster, even if it’s only because of my blonde hair. And it happens more often when I’m alone then with other people. Anyway, this happened again the entire walk back home. We started watching the Sopranos season 1 and it was awesome. I’m really happy to have the internet again. Now to skype!

Well, hello again!
Bad news. I’m sick. Not like stuck-in-bed-can’t-stop-shaking-from-a-fever-and-considering-applying-for-an-organ-donation sick, but my throat is really sore and I have a hoarse voice, and tonight my sinuses feel a bit shut down as well. And I’m kind of achy all over. But I’m pumping the vitamins, thinking about drinking my orange juice, and attempting to sleep a lot. Wooo hoo! And Emily has chewable tablets I can eat tomorrow that made her feel better when her throat felt the same way. It’s comfortable to know I’m not the only one. Or something like that. Anypoo, that’s what’s up right now.
Yesterday I woke up unable to concentrate on anything besides the sheer pain pulsating from my throat. Shortly after that, I went to get pizza. Now, listen, on my very first day in Florence I walked by a purse store near school/my apartment and saw the prettiest purse in all the land. I refrained from naming it, but I said hello to it every time I walked by it, which was multiple times a day. While the prettiest, it’s not the cheapest in all the land, though not outrageously expensive either, but I patiently waited for it to go on sale. Then, yesterday, as I prepare to say “Hello, pretty purse!” I look into the window and—gasps—it’s not there anymore! I don’t know what to do in my state of shock, and Alyssa gives me the brilliant suggestion of going in the store and actually asking about the purse. I know, right? She goes to GWU. They’re smart there. Anyway, I go in, ask, and the woman says that, yes, they had sold that purse and, no, they didn’t have anymore. I left the store a little sadder, a little shorter, and ready for pizza. We ate pizza and it was good. On the way back, OMG, it’s back in the window!! I run into the store (not really, but emphatically walked), ask the woman if she found another one (which of course she had), and she says, “YES! I would’ve called if I had your number to let you know! And I found it in black and blue as well!” “Gasp!” I say. “I’ll see the blue!” Could it be the purse magically reappeared?? AND IN MY COLOR?? I took it as a sign and bought it on the spot. Jazzed from the purse, I went home and ate the rest of my pizza. Sore throat? What sore throat? I had a new purse! That night I went out to dinner with the roomies and some fun girls, Ali and Larissa. We ate yummy salads and cake. Well, Alyssa and I split the cake. The rest had gelato. Came home, read, passed out.
Today: Class seemed particularly long and I was particularly not in the mood to be learning, seeing as all I wanted to do for most of the day was curl up in my bed and watch movies. Luckily I don’t have too much homework, so I can do that pretty soon. After 8 hours of class (3 hours of film, 2 hours of Italian, and 3 hours of photography), all of which I enjoy normally but just slightly less today, Alyssa and I went grocery shopping, smiled at the cute bartender in the wine bar on our way home, and made delicious pasta sauce with a pesto/cheese base. Cooking is fun. Then we watched a couple Gilmores, and here I am! It was a busy day with class and everything, but not uber strenuous, and I’m once again looking forward to passing out. My throat is feeling slightly better since I’ve been drinking water like a maniac all day, but I think I need to find some cough drops tomorrow. Only two class tomorrow (cash money!), so that should be do-able. Plus there’s a Beatles band playing at a club tomorrow. I’ve already informed my roommates that we’re going.
It’s weird to think we’ve already been here two weeks. On the one hand, it’s gone so incredibly fast, and on the other hand, it feels like we’ve already been here a month. I mean, I know my way around the main parts of the city, the deli man says hello to me when I walk by (though we’re not at the point where he knows my particular sandwich yet), and the milk doesn’t taste weird anymore. It’s so incredibly to walk down my street and see a palace where the Medici family lived, as well as the royal family for the 5 years after Italy’s unification, take a left and walk over the only bridge that wasn’t bombed out during the wars. I have a feeling it’s all going to go really fast, just based on how many trips and stuff I have each month. Oh! Oh! On that note!! Elisa and Matt are coming to visit, and I’m 95% sure I’m going to get to go up to Granada over Easter, which will be rraaaaddd. I’m super excited about this!
I should read for a bit. That’s all for now!

I am exhausted. It’s been a really busy couple of days.
I only had one class Thursday, which was glorious. I could sleep in and then come home right after class. Alyssa and I also went to a little veggie market and bought cheap, delicious green things (like broccoli) and diet Coke. We chilled at home in the evening, watching Friends, cooking pasta, etc. That night Alyssa, Colleen, Keyana, Emily and I went out to 21. Now, the facebook invite said the club opened at 10 and the specials ran until 12, so we arrived a little before 11. Oh, well, the club REALLY opened at 11, so we were the first ones there. Fortunately, we and the twin bartenders got along quite nicely. I would call the evening a success, minus the creepy guy who wouldn’t leave me alone all night. Apparently if a girl is dancing with her friends, it means she’s waiting for a guy come dance with her. Heads up: not so much true. And pulling people’s hands off and shoving them away doesn’t always work either. This is when it is helpful to have guy friends. Other than the Grabby McGees, the night was great and we danced, danced, danced. Then, our lives changed.
In Florence, it’s illegal for restaurants to stay open past 1 AM, but heard about a kabob place that stays open until 5 AM. After 21, Colleen and I are hungry, so we pull Alyssa on our adventure to find said kabobs. Well, we find the place. The lights are off and it looks like nobody’s in there, so we knock on the door. Kabob Man lets us in and makes us the most delicious wrap we’ve ever had, specially made to order, for 4 euro. It was truly our greatest find. We munched all the way home and went back the next night as well. I have a feeling we’ll soon be on a first name basis with Kabob Man.
Friday was a wonderful day of sleeping in, chocolate, books, and non-sketchy Italian men. These were all separate activities. After slowly waking up, my roommates and I went to the Chocolate Festival in Piazza della Santa Croce. There were tons of booths with all the chocolate you can imagine. Colleen and I bought hot chocolates (cioccolatto caldo) that were literally melted chocolate with a little milk. Though they were small cups, neither of our sweet teeth was large enough to handle the richness of the chocolate. I bought a coconut milk chocolate truffle and went on my merry way to exchange a book for school and get store credit for a return. So, check that off the list. The weather was kind of rainy (which is, apparently, typical for January), so Alyssa and I came home, and Colleen joined us soon after. Colleen and I decided to go out and meet two guys she met the night before. Other people were going to meet us, but considering we had to be up early the next day, their decisions to sleep were understandable, and probably the smarter choice. Despite some awkward moments, we girls had a fun night and topped it off with a kabob.
Today we awoke at the butt crack of dawn. I still maintain that if the sun isn’t up, I shouldn’t be either. Mix this with not going to bed until late (at least later than I should’ve gone to bed), and you’ve got a rough morning. I slept on the top floor of the double decker bus pretty much all the way to Siena. Once we got to Siena, I had just gosh darn good time! It was a little rainy, but not bad. We split into two groups, since so many people went on the trip. We went to a cathedral with the finger and head of Saint Catherine, which also had the only picture painted of her when she was alive. We stopped off where Saint Catherine lived, took a walking tour through town, got some coffee, and then did the Duoma of Siena. I had been there before, but it was just as incredible going back. I can’t handle how detailed everything is in this particular duomo. And I really liked the Bernini sculptures. I may or may not have touched one. There’s no way to tell. I spent a lot of time in the library this time around, looking at the old manuscripts and the Donatello sculpture (I’m pretty sure… it’s late at night. I could be confusing them). Afterwards, we were all starving and went to lunch.
The bus ride from Siena to San Gimigniano was a little busted. My food hadn’t quite settled, and we drank a lot of water and coffee at lunch, and the roads were very, very windy. I’m not the only one that got car sick. Once we stopped, Alyssa kindly popped me some meds. Since it was raining something awful in San G, we didn’t spend as much time walking around and went to a café, where I, thankfully, found a Sprite to calm my stomach down further. We all agreed we should come back to San G later in the trip, once the rain stops, because the town is adorable and the views are beautiful, but you couldn’t see any of it when it was raining that hard. When we got back, we got McD’s (I’m pretty sure there’s only 1 in Florence, and it’s right by the bus/train station) and bee-lined for home, soaking wet, sore feet, and hungry. We had had a lot of fun, but were ready to be out of the rain. Then I passed out. Then I wrote this.
Tomorrow should be a relaxing day of reading, homework, and grocery shopping. I’ve checked ahead, and the weather is supposed to clear up next Wednesday through Sunday. Hallelujah!
I’m also trying to figure out how to put up pictures. If they’re not up here, check Facebook.
Pace, tutti!

Well, the weather kind of blew yesterday again. Periodic spitting rain.
I had my first Italian Medieval and Renaissance Art class yesterday morning. It’s going to be wonderful. We did the typical first day syllabus thing and the introduction to the class thing, then went on a walk around the city learning about the origins for Florence. I’m pretty sure our professor knows just about everything, and he has a great talking voice so he’s not boring to listen too. We started in the ancient Roman forum, which is the modern day Piazza dei Rupubblica and wandered around the center of town, ending in the Piazza della Signoria. Rocky (our professor) covered from 700 BC up through the political “calm” in the 1380’s, which is when they put all the statues up the square (since they weren’t super concerned about them getting destroyed daily anymore). Anyway, it was a great first class. The tests will be hard, but they won’t factor into my GPA anyway so… NBD. Afterward was Italian, and I’m confident that it’s getting better. Alyssa and I meandered around town afterward. We found a cheap shoe store, and I bought cheap cute flats for my currently mangled feet, as well as slippers with flowers on them. Both necessities, if you ask me. Then we checked out the 99 Cent store, where I got all my folders, notebooks, and toilet paper. Yeah, they sold toilet paper for $0.99, and its way softer than the $1.30 toilet paper at the super market. I know you’re all very concerned about Italian toilet paper, and I’m sure you’re just excited about this find as I was. They also had Rasta candles, if you’re interested. Alyssa and I finally got to FlorenceForFun to buy soccer/football tickets, but we didn’t have cash, which you need to buy the tickets, so… we left.
Today I evidently had a big “GIVE ME FLYERS” sign on my face, because I had a billion shoved in my face. Two of them were for the same free sushi, to which I wanted to ask, “What’s wrong with the sushi that you’re giving it away for free?” Free raw fish? Eeeeee, I’ll pass, thanks. During my first Modern Italian Literature class, we went to the library in central Florence (which is right next to the hospital… which is good to know…). The building dates back to around Dante’s time, and used to be a nunnery. In fact, Dante’s wife’s father owned the hospital (or something like that. Professoressa’s voice echoed and was periodically hard to hear). Anyway, you can get a library card for free, 3 hours a free wireless a day, and check out books, music, and movies. Pretty rad, right? Plus, there are no tourists there. It’s all Italian students, which is a bonus for me when studying. If I’m going to study around people, they should be studious. (“It’s repetitive.” “And redundant.” “It’s repetitive.” “And redundant.”) I didn’t have my passport, so I couldn’t get a card, but it’s a nice walk from the apartment and near the Duomo, so I’m sure I’ll be back there soon. Italian, once again, was pretty good. We’re doing review, so I feel the tenses coming back into my brain. You know, like they do.
Colleen and I meandered around town today. We went back to FlorenceForFun, booked the soccer/football tickets, and tickets for a day trip to Carnival in Venice. We inquired about spring break, but they need 30 people to go on the trip to make it happen, and since nobody has spring break at the same time as us, it’s a question mark as the whether the trip to Greece will actually happen. We decided that either way, we’re going to Greece, either via FlorenceForFun cruise or… you know… not. What’s nice about the FlorenceForFun trip is that everything is planned, so you don’t have to worry about finding places to go and stay and getting admissions. We’ll see. We also found a hair straightener and ate street waffles and I got 4 kiwis and 2 bottles of milk. It was a big day.
Now I’m back at the apartment and my feet hurt. It’s been a wonderful couple of days. You may be thinking “Allie, you sure do like to meander around Florence a lot.” And I would say, “Well, yes, it’s just about my favorite thing to do in Florence with free day time.” Took a power nap earlier, organized my new class books (though I need to return two. One we already have in the apartment, and the other has a page ripped out, which shouldn’t happen for the million euro I paid for the books), and made risotto. And I fully intend on skyping tonight. I’m quite a happy camper.

Buona Sera!
Today was molto freddo! Rainy and kinda blah. BUT, I got to go to two new classes today. First, (not so) bright and early was Italian Cinema. The schedule looks really good, and we’re going to cover Italian film from silent movies to modern day. I’m really excited about the neo-realism section, since I like neo-realism films in general, and the few old Italian films I’ve seen have been from this era or slightly after. Since it was cloudy out today, the room was all dark and warm, and the music from the silent movie clips tempted me to the brink of sleep, but once the lecture started I was alert. Note to self: get coffee before class. After Italian Cinema was Italian class. I’m 90% sure I’m in the wrong level now. Our teacher speaks REALLY fast, completely in Italian, and doesn’t stop for us to write stuff down. By the time I’ve written down what was on the board and figured out what it says, there are 12 other things to write down and we’re on a different subject. Hmmm. I left a little crabby-pants, but Photographing Florence cheered me up. Our teacher is super sassy, which I love, and it sounds like it’s going to be a relaxing yet fun class. Plus, on the way back, Alyssa and I bought a delicious cannolli and éclair from a bakery with a cute older Italian working the floor. We split them and they were DeFinest Luxury. Probably only 2 people in the world will understand that reference, but that’s ok. Since then, I finished my book, did my Italian homework, made delicious chicken with zucchini and mozzarella for dinner, and started a new book. On there’s rainy days it’s quite unpleasant to walk about in the cold rain, and it was really nice to chill and read. I just finished yet another Janet Evanovich book (they’re just too funny and awkward) and started Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. I know the narrator is 9, but the first association I made was to Holden Caulfield. Maybe it’s just the writing style. Anyway, I think we’re going to watch another movie since Colleen and I have early class tomorrow. Tomorrow I’m planning on walking around a bit after class, making my way to Paperback Exchange perhaps, and enjoying the city. That is, if the weather is nice. Knock on wood!
Ciao Ciao!

First Sunday in Italy

Ciao Tutti!
I arrived in Italy late late Monday night. The trip over wasn’t too bad, minus the fact that NWA lost one of my bags. Upon arrival in Detroit, my plane decided to sit on the ground for an hour before pulling into the gate. As a result, I had to run across the airport to make my flight to Paris, and my bag didn’t quite make it on board. Luckily, the bag I did get had some underwear in it. And my heart felt a new joy a few days later when my bag showed up at school.
We’ve only had one day of classes, and one of my classes was cancelled that day, so I’ve had… one class. I got put into intermediate Italian, which is quite possibly a huge mistake. There are three girls in our class who speak pretty fluently, and the rest of us get confused. A lot. Tomorrow I’ll have Italian Cinema, Italian, and Photographing Florence. I’m currently signed up for one-too-many classes. Hopefully one will scream “drop me!” by the end of the week. Each class only meets once a week, but for three hours. Luckily, I have no classes on Friday, which is molto bene for travelling, etc.
I’m living with Alyssa from GW and Colleen from Purdue, and our apartment is cosy. It’s small, but we decorated today, so it feels much more home-y. We’re starting to find out way around the city. I’d say I can make my way around at least the main streets of the city centre. Our apartment is also in a great location. It’s literally around the corner from school, which is super convenient. It is a 5-10 minute walk from the Piazza dei Republica, and right near the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens. I, at least, really love the location. It’s pretty quiet at night, but busy during the day, and everything we need is within our neighborhood. The past two days have been really relaxing, probably due to the fact that we were running all week long. Quick recap:
Monday: flying flying flying. Sitting sitting sitting in the airport. Driving driving driving to the apartment.
Tuesday: Tours of Accademia Italiana. The school is mostly Italian and international students, which is pretty rad. They fed us, gave us a placement exam for Italian, then we went on tours of the city in small groups. That night, some of us went out to dinner at a restaurant on the river, got gelato, and sketched around town a bit.
Wednesday: All the Arcadia program students got the typical orientation talk. We also learned about this permit to stay thing we had to have, and it turned out we had to run all over to buy stuff for it and make copies of 95 different things. And all of us had to use the same copier within 2 hours. It was intense. After that got done, though, we went on a bus tour of some more of the city, driving up into the surrounding hill towns. We ate at a delicious restaurant called Enotecha La Sosta del Rossellino, which had the best gnocchi IN THE WORLD. He makes it from just potatoes, and nothing else.
Thursday: Got into school at 8:30 for the permit to stay stuff, then walked across town to find the internet store. Once that mission was accomplished, I made my way back to school for Italian. After, I dashed to the other building for Mixed Media, but it was cancelled. So, I walked back along the river… and got followed most of the way back. Usually people during the day just stare at you, and it’s only at night when they’ll actively call you and follow you. Fortunately my evil stare sent them away. Yes, I have an evil stare. That night we went to a club called Twice, where I got 20 euro stolen out of my coat pocket. I took it out to buy something, but we got distracted talking to people, so I discreetly slipped it into my coat pocket. Evidently someone was watching, because when I went to grab it the 20 euro was no more. My shoes also killed my feet, but they’re currently recovering. It was a sad day feet-and-money-wise, but still a fun night.
Friday: Slept in. Went shopping with Colleen and Morgan during the day, FINALLY finding a curling iron. I found it at a phone store. Sure, it would be easiest for them to be at a cosmetics store or a pharmacy, but when you find a curling iron at a phone store, you feel like you’ve really earned it. That night, 12 of us went to a place called Yab. For girls, the dinner, a bottle of wine and a bottle for water for ever 4 people cost 1 euro. For guys, it cost 25 euro. Sometimes it pays to be a girl. The whole night only cost 4 euro for me. Beautiful.
Saturday: Slept in. The apartment was quiet when I woke up, so I assumed Colleen and Alyssa had woken up during AM hours and were off gallivanting. False. They emerged around 3:30. We played the lazy game yesterday, watching Friends, getting settled in, and Skyping to lovely people back home.
Sunday: Slept in. Went grocery shopping. I decided our kitchen/living area needed to be a bit more home-y, so I started decorating. Mid-decorating, I open a drawer to put something away and discover bliss. In the drawer is 2 whisks, strainers, many kitchen utensils, bottle openers, and (drum roll please) a wine bottle opener. Now, we have been looking for a wine opener since we got here, because we had a bottle of Italian wine bought (by Colleen) and ready to inaugurate our trip. What commenced was a classic struggle between (wo)man and inanimate object. Days earlier, people at tried, to no avail, to open the bottle with a fork, knife, and brute strength. This made getting the cork out with a regular opener mighty difficult. In the end, we had Colleen standing against the wall holding the bottle, me sitting on the floor, legs on the wall on either side of her, pulling with all my might, and Alyssa taking pictures. Eventually, (wo)man won. Sorry, inanimate object. I’m sure we’ll battle again another day.
Now I must sleep, because I have to awaken at 7:30 AM. It’s almost like being in high school again. Only way better, because I’m in Italy and not in high school.
Ciao ciao!