Day 37: Here's the Mail it Never Fails!

     Um where did September go!?!? Time has been flying! I slept in til 12:30 because I couldn't get to sleep last night until after 3. Caroline and I went to the post office and I got a letter!! From my mom!! Mail is my favourite :). Then we went bag hunting. We didn't find anything we loved, but I ddin buy one of the Long Champ bags that I wanted all month. It's purple! We got back around four and I napped until 7. I am always so tired here!
     After dinner tonight, Caroline and I went for an hour long walk. It was really nice weather and we didn't want to waste it. We got gelato and found the green dome, which turned out to be a synagogue! Mystery solved. It took me foever to fall asleep tonight because I'm so excited for the weekend! We have to wake up at 7 though, so buona notte!

Day 36: Classes, Presentation and Quiz, Oh My!

     I practiced my oral presentation on counterfeiting 4 times before class. Then I spent the entire class waiting to present. Of course I had to wait until 2 hours had passed to go. And I think it went really well; the class paid attention at least. Then I had my Italian quiz. I forgot how to say bridge, although that was one of the first words I learned here... exhaustion much?
     I got to watch Covert Affairs today! I found a way to stream it here (sadly, I don't have hulu OR pandora!) At 10 pm, Caroline and I went out to Kikuya and the Red Garter. We were going to hang out with Chloe but she ended up getting lost and didn't show up til 2 and by that time we had left. A car literally followed me when we left to go to Blob to stare at me, and when it drove past, the guys inside were hollering at me. Rude! They would never get away with that in America; I was horrified! At least Blob was fun, making the night better. There was live music. We stayed out until 11:30; Derek literally begged us to stay, but I was so tired. I hadn't even drank anything but water all night because I wanted to stay up and go to the clubs, but that just wasn't happening tonight. Oh well!

Day 35: 4 Years

     I can't believe it's been four years since Auntie Ciara passed :(. I think I'm starting to get sick; I'm completely exhausted all the time. I had italian tody, and we reviewed for the quiz tomorrow. She's not putting much on it, surprisingly. Quizzes here are different; it's like high school. After class, I went back to my room, but the cleaning lady was there so I left. As I was leaving the building, I ran into Caroline, and so we went for a walk together. We stopped for some gelato and explored Firenze. As we were heading back, we discovered an awesome light store next to our house. It sells the coolest random stuff.
     I had to walk quickly to my Wine Marketing and Business class so I wouldn't be late; time had flown while we were exploring! I studied my index cards for Italian during class because once again we weren't learning anything in this class. Takei and I spent two hours skyping this evening. I miss him soo much! I spent til 1:30 in the morning working on my international marketing oral presentation for tomorrow. It's on counterfeiting, and I had to make a powerpoint. I hate when I'm the only one presenting :(.

Day 34: Project Success!

     Today I had photography at 9, per usual. I didn't get out of bed til 8:40, yet I still managed to have breakfast and get there exactly on time. Our projects were due today and I had been super nervous about it. The subject was "Around Florence", and so I had photographed bikes. My professor liked my collection of ten pictures, so I'm pretty satisfied with myself.

     I also got to practice layers on photoshop. Then we went to a park because for the next two weeks, our project is landscapes. Chloe and I left after we got a few pictures and she showed me her appartment. It was giant!! They had a piano and two patios and a common room, and a few other rooms. It was so nice! I still had an hour to kill after I left her appartment, so I went home, changed, got some gelato from Carraia which is across the river, and then went to class. Jogging club was cancelled and so I just read and did homework tonight. Mafalda and I wathed youtube videos together, and she and Caroline quizzed me with my index cards. It was a really fun night :)

Day 33: We No Speak Americano

     I've been frustrated by my limited vocabulary in Italian, so I started making index cards of all the words I should know and want to know. I'm hoping this will expedite my learning of the language. Italian class today was fine; we're working on in versus a, which is annoying because it doesn't really have rules.

     Marco and Rebecca had dinner with us tonight. They barely spoke english and so most of the conversation went over my head. Rebecca ever acknowledges Caroline's or my presence. It's always awkward when she's here. I started reading 'The Help' tonight and I couldn't put it down! I love it! I'm on page 91. I don't want to finish it too quickly because books here are expensive but it's sooo good!

Day 32: Hating Mosquitoes

     Last night I slept about 20 minutes. A mosquito kept attacking me and I could hear him but I couldn't see him. I got so frustrated that I just got out of bed at 4 am and hid in the bathroom from the bug. I brought my laptop with me so I wouldn't be bored, and ended up skyping Tom for 2 hours. By that time it was 7:30 am. I went back to bed when Caroline woke up because of the bug and killed him! I spent he rest of the day sleeping and doing homework.

     Tonight, we went to the restaurant near the Duomo. I got the pomodorini-pesto dish that I got last time, because it is phenomenal. When I went home, I skyped Katie F for an hour. It was so nice how much I got to talk to people from home today!

Day 31: Happy Birthday Anna!

     Today Caroline and I visited a church that had Michelangelo's crucifix in it, but we couldn't see it because they closed off the roo that it was in. Then after that was a bus, we went grocery shopping, and then went to Gusta Pissa. Amore, the really cute waiter, was there. We don't know his name, so we nicknamed him Amore. He's a fashion marketing major and half English, half Italian. :)  We ended up sitting with a couple on their honeymoon; I gave them a ton of tips on what to do/see and where to go/eat. After the couple left and we were about to leave, Amore came over, and we told him he should go to Blob that night. He said maybe, because he had work at 9am (Blob is normally after hours so that would mean noo sleeping!). He's so nice :).
     Caroline and I walked around after lunch and then went home and napped. Time flew! Then we met up with Nick and went to Marina, a Russo-Italian restaurant. Caroline and I went out to Blob. There were only irish people there, and I talked to one of them for awhile; he was from Cork. I got carded for alcohol tonight; really? I'm pretty sure I don't look under 16. And he served me last night without carding me. Lamee. Amore ended up not showing up while we were there. But we stayed less than a half hour, and then went home to bed because we were super tired.

Day 30: Pisa

     Today Caroline and I woke up at around 10:30 and got ready to go to Pisa! We didn't get on a train until 12:50 pm though, because we couldn't figure out what train to get on. We had to get on La Spezia and by the time we figured that out and got our ticket, we had one minute to catch our train. We literally ran through the station but managed to catch the train. Phew! The train ride was an hour 10 minutes.

     Once you arrived in Pisa, you had about a 15 minute walk to get to where the Leaning Tower was. The train dropped you in Pisa Centrale, which you'd think would be where the cool things are, but apparently not. But it was So worth the trip! It was really leaning; it doesn't make sense that it's still standing! The baptistery also leans a little. The architect should've thought these things through. But if it wasn't for The Leaning Tower of Pisa, there would be nothing cool about this place, so I guess he did the town a favor and brought in tourism. We took our tourist picture, which was so much fun to do! It's also fun to take pictures of people standing like idiots trying to get their tourist picture.

     We didn't go up in the tower because it cost fifteen euro. But the cathedrale was only two euro so we went there. I was in the presence of a saint! I lit a candle for my grandmother, and then we went back to Pisa Centrale. We only had to wait ten minutes for a train! The ride back felt like forever, but it was the same amount of time as the way there. Caroline and I were really tired after Pisa, so we just hung around the house until dinnertime.

     After dinner, we went to Club Blob. It was a great time! I paid for membership, which was only ten euro. The first floor has a bathroom, a dance floor, a dj booth, a stripper pole, and a bar. The second floor has seating, tables, and a foosball table. We met some really cool people. The bartender looked like Johnny Depp, and gave us all free shots. It was a really great night :).

Day 29: Tired Thursday

     Today I had international marketing. She rejected our group project about Smart Water, so now we have to think of a new idea for the project. It's pretty annoying because we had to write a synopsis before she accepted it. I also got my individual project and so I have a presentation in class next Thursday.
     Italian class dragged on today. I was so tired from the week! After class I went back to bed and stayed there for the rest of the night. Caroline and I didn't go out because we were both wrecked from a long week.

Day 28: Mercoledi!

     Today was a very productive day! I woke up at 9 am and just couldn't get back to sleep. So I got through all my email and things I needed to do for back home/ at Bentley. Then I ran for 45 minutes, took a shower, and got my usual panino at Cafe Amerini. Italian class was boring today because most people were hungover (what were they doing on a Tuesday night, I have no idea).
     In wine marketing, we had a guest speaker. It was pretty interesting; he owns his own winery and has a lot of fields. I was late for dinner with the family tonight; they started without me! Lame! After dinner I did my homework and then went to bed. This has been a long week!

Day 27: Sick :(

     Today I had photography. We learned the basics of photoshop. It was really interesting, and it's definitely a great skill to have. Sadly, my external doesn't work on a mac. So I have to find another way to move my pictures. We had break at 11:30. I went back to the appartment, stopped at Caffe Aerini, got a panino, and then went back to class. I started feeling really sick and ended up blacking out, so the professor let me go home. I slept until my Italian class. I still felt really sick, but it's not acceptable to miss class here, so I had to go. After class, I stayed in bed and watched movies all night. I couldn't get to sleep until around 2 am, which wasn't fun. But finally today is over!

Day 26: Running!

     Today I woke up and went for a long run all through Firenze. I love running here, especially around the bridges. The sights are gorgeous and it's sometimes fun to dodge the tourists and cars. After showering, I went to Italian. I got 100% on the quiz I took Thursday! I was pretty tired after class, so i took it easy the rest of the day. Dinner was quiet today, but I did speak a lot of Italian! It's getting a tiny bit chillier out, so Luisa gave me an extra blanket. Woo! Now it's bed time because I have a long day of classes tomorrow.

Day 25: Amalfi Coast: Capri

     Today was one of the best days of my life. I woke up at 7:20 after a really good 7 hour sleep. We got breakfast at the hotel; granola and yogurt di fragola! I miss that! Then we put our bags on the bus, and walked to the port. It was a cool walk; the stairs were cut into the mountain and were very steep. The boat left Sorrento at 8:45am. The ocean was the most beautiful colour of blue. I guess I'd describe it as dark azure. The trip was a half hour, and then we docked at Capri. We took another boat from there for a tour of the island.

     On the tour, we stopped at the Blue Grotto. It was 12 euro 50 for the most amazing experience of my life. You got off the big boat we took for around the island and got into a smaller boat that fit four plus the man who was rowing. I went with Cassie, Kendra, and Caroline. You had to lie down to get into the cave because the opening was so small. The cave glowed light blue because the sun reflected off the water! It was the most spectacular thing I have ever seen. When you looked forward, toward the back of the cave, it looked like a regular cave. But when you faced the tiny entrance, everything was lit up from the water. I went swimming in it! It was a nice cool temperature, and I felt like I was dreaming.

     After that, we continued our tour around the island. It was a lot of fun. The ocean looked fake because I have never seen something so clear and the colours were gorgeous. Around the 3 mountain things that stand for the sirens in Greek mythology, they let us jump off the boat and swim! The water was soooo salty! After that, we went under the 'lover's arch'. The tour around the island was definitely the best part of Capri.

     We visited the mainland of the island as well. You had to take a cable car to get to the top. Then We got 4 hours to explore. We got lunch and saw a lot of shops. I planked on the railing at the edge of 2 cliffs! Cassie, Caroline, and I went to Anacapri. It was so calm and peaceful there. We took the bus to anacapri, but took a taxi to get back; it was a really fun ride! The taxis are open so it's like a big convertible. We had to wait in a long line to take the cable car back down to the waterfront, and then got a boat to Napoli (super dangerous place run by the Italian mafia). We got our bus from there to go home. We stopped for food along the way, and got home at 1:20 am.

Day 24: Pompeii and Sorrento!

     Today I woke up at 4:45 AM. You could see a ton of stars because all the lights outside were out (the rest of the world was sleeping, unlike Caroline and I!) I got ready and finished packing for the Amalfi Coast. At 5:30 we left for the train station. I was convinced I was going to foget something, but we are only going for one night so I'll be fine even if I did (*note: I didn't forget anything!). After Luca, the teacher leading the trip, got our names, we put our stuff in the coachbus and picked seats together in the middle of the bus, nearer to the front. I slept off and on until 9:30; they woke us up by playing Back in Black, which was Awesome!

     They had woken us up so we could get breakfast. I got a broche (croissant). Yumm. The rest of the way there I was too excited to sleep. It was freezing on the bus; everyone was complaining about it. Finally we arrived in Pompeii.

     Pompeii was awesome!! It was a city that had been preserved from 62 to 79 AD, so it was so interesting. In 62 AD, there was an earthquake which knocked the town down, so they had to rebuild, and then in 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted and preserved everything in the ash. We saw bodies of people and children that had been covered in the hot ash. We also saw their 'bars'; they had a version of a keg: they took jars and filled them with wine, and then put them in the table. Once the jars were empty, they changed out the jar. They also had 'crosswalks' for when it rained because otherwise you couldn't get across the street. They were elevated rocks so people wouldn't get wet. The whole time it reminded me of Abbey Road/ the Beatles. We also made some new friends! Cassie and Kendra, who are awesome :) There's not really much else to say about Pompeii; it was a really cool visit though.

     I did see Mount Vesuvius, and it looked like a mountain, so I'm pretty much over my fear of volcanoes. While leaving Pompeii, tehre was a live band dancing around. I also tried some limoncello: crema, melone, and regulare. I liked the cream one the best, but I don't love limoncello, which is good to know! Then we took a bus from Pompeii to Sorrento. It was up a really winding road and was kind of scary! When we got to our hotel, Michelangelo, Caroline and I took a nap until dinner. The dinner was paid for through the trip. It was really nice.

     After that, we went through the city as a group with Luca, to a limoncello factory. We got to try more limoncello. After, Caroline, Kendra, Cassie, and I broke off from the main roup and explored the town. It was so beautiful, and a really great way to end the day.

Day 23: Boboli Gardens

     Today we woke up at 9:30ish. We brought Luisa a pastry from Caffe Amerini to her work, cuz we are the best host students ever! Then we went across the Ponte Vecchio and went to the Boboli Garden. We got free tickets because we're students woo! When I got through the security I did a little dance, and the guard laughed at me and asked me to do it again. So now every time we go in there I'm definitely going to have to dance. The gardens were nice. It would be a great place to run or have a picnic, because it's green and hilly.

     Afterwards, we went to Gusta Pizza. The guy there told us to talk to the waiter because we were similar ages, so when we were leaving I said, "Sei molto bello" :) Basically, he loves us now. Hopefully that means free pizza! Their pizza is amazing; this time I got Caprese. Caroline and I spent the rest of the day relaxing. Dinner was fun because it was just us, Mafalda, and Marco. Marco and I tease each other relentlessly and have a ton of fun doing so. I miss when he's not at dinner because he makes it a ton of fun :)

Day 22: Heels and Police Officers

    Today we made our gropus in my international marketing class. Nick, Kyle, and I are going to be in a group together! The project doesn't seem too hard either. After that class, I had Italian. The quiz was not hard at all; I stressed out all day about it, and then it ended up being a piece of cake that I definitely aced. We had a group competition in class today. Whoever conjugated the verbs faster on the board would win. We ended up having a tie.
     Caroline and I had dinner on our own tonight. It was nice to have it be so quick, just like in America, instead of an hour or so. The we got ready to go out! We started out at Astor, and then we went to Kikuya. There was a group of Bentley kids already there, including Nick and his new friend. Caroline and I had dragoons and had a competition to drink them quicker. It took like a half hour, but I finished mine first! #winning :) On our walk home, guys kept stopping us and talking to us. We actually met this really nice group of 7 guys that were between 30-32. They talked to us about Florence, and then left. They were super sweet. I am NOT wearing heels again in Florence. I ended up falling on the cobblestones, and a cop helped me up. I told him my feet hurt and then he kinda just walked away. It was really funny. And now it's really late and so I'll go to bed!

Day 21: Michael Jackson's Number One Fan

    I can't believe that it has been three whole weeks that I have lived in Italy. Or that it's already Wednesday. This week is flying!! I like that school makes time fly; especially when Tuesday is halfway through the work week :p Today I didn't have anything to do until three pm, when my italian class is. I walked around and just relaxed like the Italians until classtime. We have a quiz tomorrow in Italian! Eek!
     I saw the funniest person when I was walking down the street, coming back from my Italian class. She had black curly hair and bright red lipstick on. She had a white cropped top on (literally cropped to like below her bra…). On her back she had the stay calm and… crown and under that it said King of Pop. If that wasn’t bad enough, I pass her, and on her stomach in large letters and crooked it said Michael Jackson. Did I mention she was about 50 or 60? Yeah. Cool. It definitely made a better walk home though.
     Italian Class went fine. I also had my first Wine Business and Marketing Class. It was really boring; the professor barely speaks English and has never taught before. He showed us youtube videos most of the time of how oak barrels are made and how grape skins are removed. Not fun! At least I only have it once a week!

Day 20: Homemade pizza

     Today was a really busy day. I had photography at 9 am. My professor is super nice, but he's not very organized so we usually get a solid half hour on facebook and our email before class starts. We watched a movie about Elliot Erwitt. I really like his work. After we finished the film, we got a forty minute break. Nick and I got really good panini. After the break, we had a "field trip" to a hotel, where there was a gallery of Erwitt's work. It was right near the Ponte Vecchio. We got an hour to venture around town and take pictures. Chloe, a girl from my class, and I walked around together. We went to an ice cream shoppe right next to the meeting place for the group, and we got really good gelato! The professor let us get out of class 45 minutes early, so I went back to the house.
     I love getting out of class early, because then I have time to return all my photo equipment to my room so I don't have to carry it all around Firenze and look like a tourist. I checked my email, and I had one fro mLuca. I get to go to the Amalfi Coast this weekend!!!! Luckily, his office was in the same building as my italian class, so it was really easy to fit in everything I had to do today. In class today, we learned soo much! We learned food and regular conjugation of -are verbs. This will be so helpful for my speaking ability with my host family :) I love italian class! I took a nap after class because I was so wiped out.
     We got homemade pizza for dinner! It was really good crust, better than all the restaurants. We had margherita and quattro formaggio. Yumm. We also got to have a pastry with yellow cream in it for dessert, and it was Fantastic. The shop that she buys them in is right next to the house, so I'm definitely going to check this place out. Then I skyped Tom for an hour and 45 minutes. Skype is definitely one of the best inventions ever.

Day 19: Florence Shore?

     Today I woke up at 9:30 am, and had the most productive pre-noontime since I got to Italy. I paid my lab fees for photography, I handed my letter in to Sabina, got my new schedule (I switched into Wine Business and Marketing, yay!), and signed up for jogging club! The line for clubs was literally an hour long, and a lot of clubs were going to have a waiting list within the hour, so I was really glad I was super productive this morning. I felt so proud of myself to get that much done, when usually Italians just chill and put things off until tomorrow. Success!
     I had Italian class today, and we have another new student. We learned about time and articles. Our homework was to go to a grocery store and write down some items in each category (verduras, fruta, carne, etc). It was actually a really cool assignment. I did it right after class because I didn't want to have the store close before I did my homework. Fun times!
     After that productiveness, I went to my Italian class. Our homework due tomorrow is to go to a grocery store and write down certain types of food that we find. Awesome assignment!? I think yes. I decided tonight that I want to go to the Amalfi Coast, so I emailed the guy that's leading a tour this weekend to see if it was too late to go. I'm waiting on his response. Its 240 euros, but it looks so beautiful, and it seems totally worth it. I'd also get to go to Pompeii, which was on my Italian bucket list. And I'd get to go with my awesome roomie! So I hope he says yes.

     For dinner tonight, we had tortellini with spinach and cheese inside. Not ham!! Luisa said tomorrow we'll make Margherita, and I thought she meant the drinks, but we're making pizza, which I guess is as cool :p Where did I learn to make pizza?? Italy! Afterwards, Mafalda, Caroline, and I watched Jersey Shore. They go to Astor! I go to Astor bar too! It was soo weird to watch, because I recognized most of the places they'd go. Which was also really cool, besides the show being classless. We watched two episodes, then ventured out to get some gelato. I got Bacio (yum!) and yogurt nutella (yuck!). We were out later than usual tonight, leaving for our walk/gelato at 10:30, and getting back around 11ish. I have class tomorrow at 9 so I should probably go sleep!

Day 18: Never forget 9/11/01

     Today I woke up at 1:17 pm. I woke up a few times before that, but I kept going back to sleep; good sleep is rare around here when your neighbors are as rude and loud as ours! I spent a lot of today watching videos about September 11, and then Tom and I skyped for an hour. That's pretty much all I did all day, until Caroline got home at around 8 p m.

     We went out to a nice dinner at a restaurant next to the Duomo. I got fettuccine in a pesto sauce with tomatoes. It was truly fantastic but I still couldn't finish it all (Italian portions are giant!). Then we walked around town for a half hour, chilled at the steps of the church Santa Croce. Michaelangelo and Dante are buried instead. We went home, and our neighbors were terrible. The kept playing the same 5 notes on a piano, over and over again, for 2 hours. TWO HOURS. The notes were always the same. You'd think they'd know the song an hour in, but not these people. Grrr. Trying to sleep now.

Day 17: Fiesole

     I woke up bright and early at 9 am. I forgot we don't get breakfast on Saturdays, so I got cereal, and all the family was having coffee around the table. It took me all day to realize this, but I now realize why they were surprised to see me up. Oops!

     After that I got ready and went to the Duomo to wait for Nick. Nick showed up a half hour late, and I was just about to leave when he showed up. While I was waiting two guys sat down next to me and started talking to me. At first they were nice, but then they were calling me "bella" and asking me if I wanted to get coffee or was my boyfriend (I told them Nick was my boyfriend so they'd stop asking me to leave with them) the jealous type, and they just wouldn't leave me alone. I kept calling and texting Nick but he didn't answer. Grr.

    FINALLY he showed up and we got a 10:40 am bus to Fiesole. We explored the town and parts of the outskirts. It had very beautiful views; the whole time I wished I had brought my zoom lens. We spent most of the time walking uphill. Urban hiking! Nick got us lost four times. Finally, I lead the way and found an info center and a map. We stopped for lunch in the center at a touristy place, but the fettuccine with pomodorini e basilica dish I got was really good. It's really hard to get bad food in Italy; I've only managed to one time. We also talked to two girls next to us; one was visiting Firenze, and the other taught English abroad (which is exactly what I want to do!). They were really nice, and we stuck around an extra twenty minutes talking to them.

     After more urban hiking, we found a secret trail that clearly no one had walked on for awhile, if at all. I was scared of ticks and bugs, but it was very beautiful, so we kept walking. It was definitely worth it. The end of the trail led up to a random side street and a driveway. After that, we took the bus home (around 4ish). I skyped my mom for an hour. I miss her lots! I spent most of the rest of the day just relaxing and planning trips I might want to go on while I'm here. This weekend was definitely needed.

Day 16: Having Fridays off is great!

     Today I slept in until 10, and then walked to Sabina's office to switch into Wine Business and Marketing. Sabina is my advisor while I'm here, and she's already done more than the ones at Bentley. Go figure. I won't know until Monday if I did get switched. I walked back to the house, and then at 1:45, Caroline and I went out to meet up with Nick on the Ponte Vecchio. We went to "Gusto Pizza", which has some of the best pizza and a really great atmosphere. Afterwards, we walked around and explored 'the other side of the river'.

     Caroline and I went back over the bridge and bought the books for our classes. We also got the leather bracelets that I have been eyeing since the first day. I love them! And I finally found a three prong charger!! It only took 16 days! I was so relieved to find it, and it only ended up costing eight euros. After such a seemingly busy day, I got back to the room and took a nap until 7:45. Dinner was really late tonight: it started at 8:45. tonight we tried these pastries that had chocolate and rice inside, which was actually good! After dinner, I was still tired, so Caroline and I just stayed in tonight and chilled out. We couldn't sleep though, because our obnoxious neighbors downstairs are literally screaming to one another. They are so loud all the time! Besides them, it was a good day. Having Fridays off is a great feeling. I love three day weekends!

Day 15: I threw it on the ground!

     Today I had international marketing from 12 to 2:30. Nick, as well as a ton of other Bentley kids, are in my class. It seems like it's going to be an easy enough class. It was the same professor as my international politics class. She remembered me! Then I had Italian from 3-4:15. And now it's finally the weekend! I don't even know what I did until dinner at 8:15. We got to have homemade pesto sauce tonight! Then Caroline and I got ready for a night out!

     We tried Cafe Bigallo, but we didn't like it, so we left after 10 minutes. Nick met up with us there, and then we tried to get him to cross the river but he wouldn't. Then we went to Kikayuso (I still don't know how to spell or say it, because I never look at the sign!) I got a blowjob (the drink!) there, which was really good. I had to teach a couple of the American girls at the table next to us how to take the shot. After that, Nick, Caroline, and I had a round of Irish carbombs and I finished mine like a champ. We decided to walk around after that. Eventually, Nick left us, and Caroline and I started to walk home. I found a watch with three faces on it. The biggest one didn't work, so I decided to pretend I was in a Lonely Island music video and I THREW IT ON THE GROUND!! It was actually really fun to do, but now I can't get the song out of my head. Oh well! It was a great night :)

Day 14: Two Weeks Already!?

Today I didn't have class until 12, and the building is two minutes from my house. The class was international politics, a class that I was really looking forward to taking. It was a huge letdown! I have definitely taken that class before; it was exactly like GLS 116 mixed with GLS 102. I was so disappointed. So I think I'll switch into a lit class or advertising or something.
     In Italian today, I kept asking questions that we end up doing in a later lesson plan. It can sometimes be frustrating when you speak two other romance languages, because you know what grammatical things to look for, when most other people don't think of that immediately. For example, I wanted to know what was the polite form to address someone as a you. In french, it's vous, but in Italian, it's lei. And we're going to learn that tomorrow.
     I worked on changing around my schedule until dinner. Tonight's dinner was amazing! It was pasta with my favourite sauce, fresh bread, and salad! At dinner, I said, "sono figa!" to Mafalda, which I thought meant I'm cool, but apparently it's slang and also means, "I'm a vagina." Oops. At least I didn't make that mistake at a club or something! Ater dinner, Caroline and I went to explore to the end of the bridges. We saw an outdoor movie with a ton of Italians watching it a nice area by the river. The reflection from the buildings on the river was just breathtaking. It was such a nice night out. But then again, all nights in Italy are beautiful. :)

Day 13: Photography Class

     Today I woke up at 8 and went to my photo class. Photo is from 9-2:30. It was kind of boring because we just learned about the history of how a camera was made instead of learning cool techniques on a camera. It was not what I was expecting, but I'm hoping future classes will be better. Then I had Italian class at 3. My back was to the sun, and I got a sunburn during class. Ouch! I still love that class, though. Patrice (the french girl), and I talked again. I just love speaking french; it makes me so happy!
     I went back to my room, finished the one book I brought, skyped for an hour, organized all my photos into folders like my professor told us to do, and then we had dinner. Marco's girlfriend was with us today. He had made tortellini with ham inside, told me it was vegetarian, and I almost ate it! But I didn't believe him, and then when he realized my question, he was like, "No! Don't eat it, there's meat!" So I had soup again. But that's okay, I was just so relieved I hadn't accidentally eaten meat! After dinner, Caroline and I went for a run. It was awesome to run through the city. It's absolutely gorgeous out at night, so I was super happy to get out and run.

Day 12: Funniest dinner ever.

     The grandmother of Mafalda and Marco is house sitting while the rest of the family is at a wedding in Rome. She doesn't speak any English, so communication is a little difficult. This morning at 8:45 am, she hurst into my bedroom saying "Breakfast! Mangiare!!" really loudly. Caroline had already left for her class. I was really confused, but she stayed in the doorway until I got out of bed. She had bought fresh bread, and gave me blueberry jam. I never had blueberry jam until today, but it is so delicious! I went out and did some exploring after that, and then had an Italian class at 3. I loved it. There's nine Bentley kids and two others. I forgot how great language classes are when they aren't too easy (like the French class I took freshman year)!
     After class, I talked to one of the girls not from Bentley; she was from Paris. We spoke in french, and walked back to the Duomo together. She is really nice :) I went back to my house, met up with Caroline, and we went out and bought some notebooks for class. Before dinner, I skyped Tom for 2 whole hours!

    Dinner today was hilarious. It might be one of those, 'you had to be there' moments, but I'm sharing it now anyways. We had soup. During dinner, Luisa, my host mom, was asking about our families. When talking about my sisters, I said, "One is 14, and one is 16, but the 16 year old one is turning 17 in two weeks." And Luisa said, completely innocently, "Oh, is your sister a virgin??"

     Caroline and I both stopped what we were doing, in shock, looked at each other, then burst out laughing. I literally couldn't stop laughing for 15 minutes. We knew she didn't mean virgin, because she had asked so nonchalantly. Apparently, she was asking if her zodiac sign was a virgo. But even after knowing that, we couldn't stop laughing. Best. Dinner. Ever.

Day 11: Relax!

     Sundays in Italy are supposed to be a day of relaxation. Most of the places in the city shut down, and you spend the day with your family. Caroline and I definitely did a good job just hanging out all day. We went for a walk around 2 to get lunch. We would've gone earlier but there was a torrential downpour and we were trying to avoid being out in the rain. It was really slippery out. When we got back, I read and napped.
     At 8, I met up with Nick at the Duomo and we went to dinner together. We searched for a place for an hour (because someone got us lost on the creepy part of the city), and then found a restaurant near Moyo and Bacco called "Matina." It's a Russian-Italian restaurant. I got gnocchi in tomato sauce with feta cheese. It was the best dish I've had yet. The service was great too. When we left we realized we were right next to Moyo, where we were supposed to meet up with Nick's roommate to grab the key. It just so happened that they were walking right towards us when we walked out of the restaurant, so we had perfect timing. Billy walked me to the arch near my house, and then I got back at around 10:15. It was a nice, relaxing day! :)

Day 10: Moosehunting?

     Today I woke up at 11, showered, and then went grocery shopping with Caroline. It was confusing and exciting and fun all at the same time! I bought yogurt and blueberries. Big spender, right here! We dropped our groceries off at the house and then went out to lunch with nick. We went on a long walk to get pizza, but it ended up being worth it. On the way back, Caroline and I found a cute park. It took about a half hour to get back, so we started to get ready for our night out.
    So we went to a fancy restaurant with Florence For Fun and 150 other study abroad people. It took three hours to get all the courses because they hadn't anticipated this many people coming. It was alright; most of it wasn't cooked long enough but we were all hungry so we didn't care too much. Afterwords, we went to Club Space, which is the coolest club! It was two floors of dancing, a floor of bars, and then one floor for VIPs. We were really tired so we didn't stay too long, but it was a lot of fun to see. Nick asked us to go to Kikasyo bar that he loves after, and so we ended up staying out until three am. I was having trouble staying awake, probably because I didn't drink anything but water all night. It was a fun night out but now I can't wait to sleep!
     Word of the night: moosehunting. Verb. Definition: when you see someone you like, but their best friend is all over you, so you hook up with the best friend instead of the one you had liked. Then in the morning you regret it. Used in a sentence: "Friends don't let friends go moosehunting."

Day 9: Orientation

Today Caroline and I woke up at 8 am and then went to orientation. The first building we had to go to was the Odeon, and it was only 2 minutes from our house. It was boring, and you didn't even get to meet new people; you were lectured at for a few hours. Part 2 of orientation wasn't any better. Here we got our schedules and learned of discounts we can get. Caroline, Nick, Jeff, and I snuck out early to eat because we hadn't eaten since breakfast. I got ravioli. Then I went home (orientation ended 5 minutes after we had left), took a nap, and facebooked a little. Dinner tonight was at 8:30. We had spaghetti with the best tomato sauce, bread, and the most delicious Caprese salad that Luisa made.
    Toinght, Caroline and I dressed up and went on a pub crawl. We only went to three bars; there were free shots of blue curacao and vodka at the first one. I wasn't really in the mood to drink, so I just chilled and met people. We did meet this guy T, who is an awesome Australian guy who works in Firenze. His job is to get people to go to pubs or something, and he's definitely great at his job because most people in Florence know him. We got back at like one in the morning, and I skyped a little. Tom figured out how to fix my skype sound, so now I can real skype again!

Day 8: Firenze!

Happy New Month!
    Today I woke up at 11:44 am. I love sleeping in! Caroline and I got breakfast: bread with nutella. Italians don't really do breakfast, so this is their version of it. Then we explored all around the city and took tons of pictures. We had tomato and mozzarella paninis for lunch on the other side of the river, and then went back to the house at around 4:30. We showered and got ready for a night out.

     Marco, the 21 year old son of Luisa, joined us for dinner tonight. He speaks english very well. After dinner, Caroline and I went to Astor bar, where we met up with all the Bentley kids. Drinks were 3 for 10 euro, which seems like a good deal here. I have a new favourite drink: malibu, vodka, and pineapple juice. We walked around the Duomo (the bar was right next to it), and then Caroline and I walked Shelly home. We got gelato along the way. It was homemade and very good. I got chocolate mousse and almond. Yum. By the time we got back to the room, both of us were so tired we fell asleep within minutes.