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.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
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.
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.
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