Last night Anita's test went so well. We did the listening portion first. I was the most worried about that so I spent all day listening to the pieces she gave us. I was worried that it wasnt going to go well, I had Chloe quiz me which helped, but not much confidence going in. Apparently no one spent as much time as I did on the listening, and I ended up being the only one to get all the composers, compositions, and movements correctly. Which I was pretty excited about. Besides labeling which composition it is (along with composer, symphony number, and movement number) we also had to analyze the meter, tempo, dynamics, etc of each piece. We turned those papers in and began the written portion of the test. That went pretty well also, and I didnt have too much difficulty. While we were writing she graded our listening portion so we could have that back before we left, I got it on my way out and got a 98% on it, pretty pumped about that one. Anita is a doll and said that if we gave her our home addresses she would mail us the other portion of our test. She also reminded me on my way out to keep in touch, and keep dancing, and let her know if I ever end up performing to a piece by Tchaikovsky.
Dinner was delicious, we all got pasta and then the vegetarians had pasta shells stuffed with spinach.
After dinner I began organizing, but it got depressing so I stopped. Michaela came over to study for Philosophy, which of course didnt happen. We sat and talked and enjoyed each others company, and after an hour she went home. I barely studied for philosophy, I know it all pretty well, and I finished the final paper weeks ago, so last night was relaxing.
I took philosophy this morning, it was a breeze, I had plenty to say and to write about so I felt confident when leaving.
I just finished my paper due for my art class tonight, and took pictures of my fresco to show you all at home. Im currently sitting with Chloe and Kussman in the computer lab, all getting tid-bits of work done while gabbing and laughing and making jokes about the silly volcano that is messing with everyone's plans.
As of now all three of us are fine, but we have plenty of friends who found out this morning that their flights on Saturday are cancelled. Its really a day-by-day process right now, and no one will really know anything till Friday night.
Pray for strong winds so I can go to London with my mamma.
baci
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Splorin' Florence
Since we had a restful evening, Chloe and I got up at nine, ate breakfast, got ready, and were out the door by ten. We went to the market, shopped around. Then we walked through the city to the Santa Croce area, I have never been in the actual church, just around it, so we tried to get in. It was closed of course, so, c'est la vie, ill go the next time in my life when I return to Florence. After that we walked down our favorite street full of bars, through a few alleys and over to the Arno. We went over the Arno, past the Ponte Vecchio and saw a sign for San Spirito Church. A month or so ago in class, Russo was very mad at the seven of us because none of us had been to that church. She scolded us and we all promised we would go. When I saw the sign I told Chloe we MUST go there so I could run back to Russo and make her day. So we went. It is hideous on the outside. It actually is. Its such a bummer because the inside is absolutely marvelous. We went in, looked around, stopped at paintings, lit candles for Ali (Saturday was her 21st birthday) and had our chats with God.
Right outside the church is a little outdoor market. There were fruit and veggie stands, second hand item stands, clothing, books, etc. Very different from the San Lorenzo market which is full of tourists, and all more souvenir-like things. We looked around, enjoyed a completely tourist-less market where everyone spoke Italian. We turned a corner to look at the outside of Piti Palace, but didnt go in because Chloe has already been, and I promised Kussman Id go there with her this week.
We walked back to the market area because it was surrounded by restaurants with outdoor seating, and it was a beautiful sunny day. We picked a restaurant and sat outside eating gnocchi and pizza.
After lunch we took the long way home, simply marveling at and enjoying this city we call our home. Saturday marked exactly one week until our departure, so that thought was looming over us the entire time.
We came home around three, chatted with the girls in Club SoLo, then went back to Chloe's to watch a movie and take a nap.
For dinner Gibbs, Jackie, Chloe, Kiki and I went to a new place right down the street past Piazza Liberta called Perseus. It was an extremely local place. It opened at 7, thank goodness we got there right then, because by 715 every single table was full. There was no english spoken, only italian, which is ALWAYS a good sign. We enjoyed a delicious dinner then headed home to get ready for the night.
We went out to Old Stove for a while but my friend Matt and I got sick of it so we left for Santa Croce. There I ran into a friend of mine that goes to a different school named Ross. We went to a few bars together and then I told him I wanted to go to Secret Bakery. He said that instead of secret bakery he wanted to take me to secret pizza. I agreed and so we went to this pizza place hidden in an alley, pretty difficult to find (just like secret bakery). They had AMAZING pizza, I still cant believe how delicious it was. Ross walked me the majority of the way home, but a bit before my place we ran into a bunch of other kids in my program at the Kebob shop so I went with them so Ross could go back home.
On Sunday we all woke up and spent a majority of the morning fretting about the damn volcano. Many friends who were supposed to have their parents come this week all had to cancel their trips. New flights were booked, and new trains because the Italians are going on a train strike for Thursday and Friday...perfect timing.
The sun was shining, so we put our computers away and went on the terrace to lay in the sun and eat cookies with nutella.
At 4 everyone in GIF headed up to Piazza Michelangelo for the GIF group picture. After the picture we stayed a bit to take pictures with our closest friends, or members of our pensiones.
On our way back Chloe and I stopped at school for mass. It was the last mass of the semester, and way more kids than usual showed up, which was really nice. Our little chapel at school was completely full. Father Brian gave a great mass, a lot to do with being thankful for this amazing time here, praying for our safety upon departure, etc. We stand in a circle when we take communion and I was standing next to Father Brian, he passed it the opposite way so I was the last to get the wine, he nudged me and told me to finish it, quite a task with that sweet of wine. Michaela helped me out and everyone had a laugh because that is just so typical of Father Brian to do.
At the end of mass he reminded us to stay in touch. That we always have his email and no question, favor, or prayer is ever stupid to ask for. He said "Once your Jesuit, always your Jesuit". We really lucked out in getting such a great Jesuit to be with us for the semester. He understands us and is great at communicating with us. We all got up at the end and thanked him and said our goodbyes, then headed home for dinner.
It was eggplant, our favorite. Marinella was all lit up and full of joy when serving it to us because she knows how much we go crazy for it.
After dinner I headed to the library to study. I was in there with mostly all engineers, so we were all cracking jokes with each other about who was there at that time and why.
I love the engineers. Some of them are shy, or difficult to crack, but they are all really great kids. A lot of people in the program dont know them, simply because they either dont go out at night/shyness/whatever it may be. I have managed to become friends with almost every single one, and I couldnt be happier that I did so. They are so much fun and really kind sweet guys. Ted and Craig walked me home at the end of the night since we all stayed till closing. I slept over at Chloe's again last night because my roommate is still deathly ill. She has been sick for over 9 days and its just not getting better. I havent been sleeping there because she isnt very aware of how much she spreads germs, and Im really trying to not get sick.
Its funny to think back to when I lived with Shelbie (a dance major) because whenever either of us got sick we were very conscious of coughing into our elbows, cloroxing door nobs, etc. It's a very different experience living with someone who is unaware of these things.
Anywho I slept over with Chloe and woke up at 9 this morning to head back to the library for studying. We just had lunch, Gnocchi...delicious, and Im headed back to the library now for more studying. Anita Garriot's (classical music) final tonight at 5. I refer to her as Anita because she asks us to, and she also emails with me at least twice a day either chatting about the day or about papers or tests. She is such a character.
Back to the library. Wish luck.
Ciao.
Right outside the church is a little outdoor market. There were fruit and veggie stands, second hand item stands, clothing, books, etc. Very different from the San Lorenzo market which is full of tourists, and all more souvenir-like things. We looked around, enjoyed a completely tourist-less market where everyone spoke Italian. We turned a corner to look at the outside of Piti Palace, but didnt go in because Chloe has already been, and I promised Kussman Id go there with her this week.
We walked back to the market area because it was surrounded by restaurants with outdoor seating, and it was a beautiful sunny day. We picked a restaurant and sat outside eating gnocchi and pizza.
After lunch we took the long way home, simply marveling at and enjoying this city we call our home. Saturday marked exactly one week until our departure, so that thought was looming over us the entire time.
We came home around three, chatted with the girls in Club SoLo, then went back to Chloe's to watch a movie and take a nap.
For dinner Gibbs, Jackie, Chloe, Kiki and I went to a new place right down the street past Piazza Liberta called Perseus. It was an extremely local place. It opened at 7, thank goodness we got there right then, because by 715 every single table was full. There was no english spoken, only italian, which is ALWAYS a good sign. We enjoyed a delicious dinner then headed home to get ready for the night.
We went out to Old Stove for a while but my friend Matt and I got sick of it so we left for Santa Croce. There I ran into a friend of mine that goes to a different school named Ross. We went to a few bars together and then I told him I wanted to go to Secret Bakery. He said that instead of secret bakery he wanted to take me to secret pizza. I agreed and so we went to this pizza place hidden in an alley, pretty difficult to find (just like secret bakery). They had AMAZING pizza, I still cant believe how delicious it was. Ross walked me the majority of the way home, but a bit before my place we ran into a bunch of other kids in my program at the Kebob shop so I went with them so Ross could go back home.
On Sunday we all woke up and spent a majority of the morning fretting about the damn volcano. Many friends who were supposed to have their parents come this week all had to cancel their trips. New flights were booked, and new trains because the Italians are going on a train strike for Thursday and Friday...perfect timing.
The sun was shining, so we put our computers away and went on the terrace to lay in the sun and eat cookies with nutella.
At 4 everyone in GIF headed up to Piazza Michelangelo for the GIF group picture. After the picture we stayed a bit to take pictures with our closest friends, or members of our pensiones.
On our way back Chloe and I stopped at school for mass. It was the last mass of the semester, and way more kids than usual showed up, which was really nice. Our little chapel at school was completely full. Father Brian gave a great mass, a lot to do with being thankful for this amazing time here, praying for our safety upon departure, etc. We stand in a circle when we take communion and I was standing next to Father Brian, he passed it the opposite way so I was the last to get the wine, he nudged me and told me to finish it, quite a task with that sweet of wine. Michaela helped me out and everyone had a laugh because that is just so typical of Father Brian to do.
At the end of mass he reminded us to stay in touch. That we always have his email and no question, favor, or prayer is ever stupid to ask for. He said "Once your Jesuit, always your Jesuit". We really lucked out in getting such a great Jesuit to be with us for the semester. He understands us and is great at communicating with us. We all got up at the end and thanked him and said our goodbyes, then headed home for dinner.
It was eggplant, our favorite. Marinella was all lit up and full of joy when serving it to us because she knows how much we go crazy for it.
After dinner I headed to the library to study. I was in there with mostly all engineers, so we were all cracking jokes with each other about who was there at that time and why.
I love the engineers. Some of them are shy, or difficult to crack, but they are all really great kids. A lot of people in the program dont know them, simply because they either dont go out at night/shyness/whatever it may be. I have managed to become friends with almost every single one, and I couldnt be happier that I did so. They are so much fun and really kind sweet guys. Ted and Craig walked me home at the end of the night since we all stayed till closing. I slept over at Chloe's again last night because my roommate is still deathly ill. She has been sick for over 9 days and its just not getting better. I havent been sleeping there because she isnt very aware of how much she spreads germs, and Im really trying to not get sick.
Its funny to think back to when I lived with Shelbie (a dance major) because whenever either of us got sick we were very conscious of coughing into our elbows, cloroxing door nobs, etc. It's a very different experience living with someone who is unaware of these things.
Anywho I slept over with Chloe and woke up at 9 this morning to head back to the library for studying. We just had lunch, Gnocchi...delicious, and Im headed back to the library now for more studying. Anita Garriot's (classical music) final tonight at 5. I refer to her as Anita because she asks us to, and she also emails with me at least twice a day either chatting about the day or about papers or tests. She is such a character.
Back to the library. Wish luck.
Ciao.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Cinque Terre!!!
Cinque Terre was unreal. We left around nine, arrived about 1, and set out on our hike. We decided before we started that we would do the ENTIRE thing, all seven miles, which on average takes 5 hours (Being young girls we did the actual hiking in just under 4 hours, but when you include the stops it took a bit longer). We know a lot of people who went, but only did one or two towns, but we figured that would be silly to go all the way to Cinque Terre and not see it all. I was with Chloe and Kalea (thank goodness for a small group). We hiked from town to town, stopping in each for a bit to enjoy the personal characteristics of each. The hike was easy in the beginning, but definitely got more challenging as we went on. Each town was sweet and unique. We stopped in one for a quick lunch of caprese and pasta and continued on. The sky was clear, the sun was shining, and it was so warm out, the perfect day for a hike. We got plenty sweaty but enjoyed being in the sunshine. The hike was a lot of up and downs, over and over, and staircases.
About half way through we stopped for a while at Vernazza, we met some retired American men who we discussed with whether being retired or being abroad was more of a vacation. They were hilarious and we always love running into Americans because they are so fun to talk to.
As we were heading back onto the trail we ran into Kiki and her parents. Faj was a bit sweaty to say the least, he didnt necessarily wear the right gear...and Kiki was overjoyed to see us and get to finish the rest of the hike as a group. We did so, all together, which was nice because we stopped more so her parents could take breaks. The hike is pretty tough, we all got winded. I enjoyed the breaks because it gave me time to take more pictures. At the end of the day I had about 160 pictures from the day alone.
A majority of the hike I was being over-dramatic (shocker) and screaming about the epic beauty surrounding me. I was in shock basically the entire time. I wish that I could use the right words, or even have good enough pictures to explain to someone who has never been there what the place is like. It is so phenomenally beautiful it blew my mind.
We spent the hike getting so excited to jump in the ocean at the end, but by the time we got there the air was chilly and we figured for our coughs and runny noses, the cold ocean probably wasnt the best idea.
We parted with the Moline family and hopped on a train back to Florence. We were exhausted, sweaty, covered in dirt, so going out didnt sound like a good idea either. We walked Kalea home and Chloe and I went home, showered, put on sweats, hopped into bed and watched a movie until we fell asleep.
About half way through we stopped for a while at Vernazza, we met some retired American men who we discussed with whether being retired or being abroad was more of a vacation. They were hilarious and we always love running into Americans because they are so fun to talk to.
As we were heading back onto the trail we ran into Kiki and her parents. Faj was a bit sweaty to say the least, he didnt necessarily wear the right gear...and Kiki was overjoyed to see us and get to finish the rest of the hike as a group. We did so, all together, which was nice because we stopped more so her parents could take breaks. The hike is pretty tough, we all got winded. I enjoyed the breaks because it gave me time to take more pictures. At the end of the day I had about 160 pictures from the day alone.
A majority of the hike I was being over-dramatic (shocker) and screaming about the epic beauty surrounding me. I was in shock basically the entire time. I wish that I could use the right words, or even have good enough pictures to explain to someone who has never been there what the place is like. It is so phenomenally beautiful it blew my mind.
We spent the hike getting so excited to jump in the ocean at the end, but by the time we got there the air was chilly and we figured for our coughs and runny noses, the cold ocean probably wasnt the best idea.
We parted with the Moline family and hopped on a train back to Florence. We were exhausted, sweaty, covered in dirt, so going out didnt sound like a good idea either. We walked Kalea home and Chloe and I went home, showered, put on sweats, hopped into bed and watched a movie until we fell asleep.
Crazy fun week
Finished my painting on Tuesday...it actually looks pretty good. Im kinda bummed I cant bring it home since its so big and heavy, but Ill take pictures of it.
Wednesday after classes I went to San Lorenzo market with Jennie and Angela to get souvenirs for our families. We were there for hours, walking around and having a great time. When we were done I stopped in the Medici Chapels for a bit. They were beautiful and enjoyable, but I still dont see what the big deal is about them. They werent that cool, haha. I didnt stay long, but maybe Ill go back. Its free with my Uffici pass so I probably will.
Kiki's parents were in town this week. On Wednesday night they took Kiki, Chloe and I out to dinner at one of our favorite, tiny hole in the wall restaurants. Its amazing food, and no tourists because its so hard to find. We had a great time with them with great conversation. Kiki calls her parents Faj (as in father) and Jack (short for jackie). We talk about our families all the time to each other, so thats how I know them. At one point during the dinner they made it clear to Chloe and I that we were more than welcome to refer to them as that as well, haha so we did.
After dinner we forced them to come to Trivia night at Old Stove with us. It didnt take much convincing because they were both excited to come and meet more of Kiki's friends. They came, Faj (her dad) got on the guys team, and the rest of us girls formed our own team. We basically stopped playing and just hung out with Jackie. We bought tequila shots and put one in front of her. She looked at me and said "Annie I havent done this since my 20s" and I told her that was perfect because she was surrounded by girls in their 20s. She did it, like a champ. It was awesome. After trivia we stayed for a bit of the live music but then headed out. We went to Lions Fountain, and on the way pointed the way home to Faj and Jack. I dont like Lions Fountain very much, just because its so full of American Students, but we went because our Calcietto team went to the finals and lost in the end in Penalty Kicks. They were all at Lions so we went there to show our support and hang out. Kiki and Chloe both went home early, so I stayed with Annie and Roy. Kussman showed up soon after, so she and I went to Angies bar and danced, and then to Michelle's bar to say hello and hang out.
Thursday was sad. Last day of classes. Horvath told our Philosophy class that "Every semester you guys come, I fall in love with all of you, and then you leave." She got teary-eyed, and then took a picture from the front of the room of her point of view when looking at us. In Italian we went to the market!!!
Russo is about 80..she walks very slowly. There are only seven kids in my class, but they tend to forget that she is a bit slower. Everyone was waiting out in front, and when Russo made it to the door I was standing there holding it and she looked at me and said "Ecco Me!" (here I am!). I died with laughter, mostly just because thats our favorite phrase, and we say it ALL the time. Anyway, I stayed with Russo the whole time on the walk, she walks slowly, so I stayed back with her. We talked a lot, she pointed things out to me on the walk there, we continued to grow to love each other even more than we already do. She got all sentimental, got me teary eyed. She told me she lives alone, so its sad for her to not get to cook for a big family anymore, and how much she would love for me to come back to Italy and stay with her. She gave me her email so we could keep in touch. As we were walking through the market she was sharing some of her favorite recipes to me (of course all vegetarian, she finally accepted that I dont eat meat...haha). She said to make sure to keep up the emails especially so she could email me her recipes and then have me tell her how they went after I cook them. We laughed and giggled together, walked by one meat man that was playing music so danced a bit. All the other kids were ahead of us, chatting about their own things or doing whatever, but I was glad to spend all that time with Russo, it was great. She stayed back at the market to wait for her next class, and we headed home.
After lunch Chloe came over and she and Annie and I walked around the city. We went and got gelatto at La Carria and sat on the bridge and ate it. Then we walked around to different stores on the other side of the river. We went into some antique shops, and stores full of things the people must have been collecting for ages. I thought of my dad a lot and how much he would have loved some of the stores we went into. After we went up onto the Terrace, laid in the sun and drank some beers.
For dinner, Chloe, Annie and I went to Quatro Lioni. Its one of the more famous restaurants in town, and I hadnt been there all semester. Everyone says "You must get the pear pasta". I thought to myself, EW, but ordered it anyway. It was absolutely magnificent and I LITERALLY scrapped my bowl clean it was soo good.
On our way to the bar we decided to hop on the Carousel in Piazza Republica. We walk by it everyday, and have always thought we should ride it, but never had. It was all lit up and running, so the three of us hopped on and enjoyed spinning around on our fake horses.
We met out friends at Cafe Bigalo, but Chloe and I left early to go to Santa Croce. We went to Rex, where we ran into a guy named Scott who goes to school with us. Scott is 32. He had a rough time in college, ended up in rehab, but then turned his life around and went back to school. He had always studied abroad and thought he might as well do what he wanted, so he is. He is really an awesome guy, fun to talk to because his life has been so interesting. I say good for him for turning his life around. Everyone deserves the chance to do what were doing.
Chloe and I also stopped by Kikoya where we made new friends, drank sangria, etc. On our way home we ran into Jack, Spencer and Brooks, so we turned around and went back out with them to Lions Fountain. There, I proceeded to do the ENTIRE dance from Beyonce's Single Ladies video with one of the bar tenders. He is quite gay to say the least, so he was completely in character. He played the part of Beyonce and I was one of his backup dancers. The floor was cleared for our performance, and we got plenty of cheers. We shared a big hug afterwards and took pictures of course. It was such a blast.
The nightlife here is so unbelievably fun. We rarely have a night when we go out and dont have a ball.
I love it here. The most. This week has been too fun.
Wednesday after classes I went to San Lorenzo market with Jennie and Angela to get souvenirs for our families. We were there for hours, walking around and having a great time. When we were done I stopped in the Medici Chapels for a bit. They were beautiful and enjoyable, but I still dont see what the big deal is about them. They werent that cool, haha. I didnt stay long, but maybe Ill go back. Its free with my Uffici pass so I probably will.
Kiki's parents were in town this week. On Wednesday night they took Kiki, Chloe and I out to dinner at one of our favorite, tiny hole in the wall restaurants. Its amazing food, and no tourists because its so hard to find. We had a great time with them with great conversation. Kiki calls her parents Faj (as in father) and Jack (short for jackie). We talk about our families all the time to each other, so thats how I know them. At one point during the dinner they made it clear to Chloe and I that we were more than welcome to refer to them as that as well, haha so we did.
After dinner we forced them to come to Trivia night at Old Stove with us. It didnt take much convincing because they were both excited to come and meet more of Kiki's friends. They came, Faj (her dad) got on the guys team, and the rest of us girls formed our own team. We basically stopped playing and just hung out with Jackie. We bought tequila shots and put one in front of her. She looked at me and said "Annie I havent done this since my 20s" and I told her that was perfect because she was surrounded by girls in their 20s. She did it, like a champ. It was awesome. After trivia we stayed for a bit of the live music but then headed out. We went to Lions Fountain, and on the way pointed the way home to Faj and Jack. I dont like Lions Fountain very much, just because its so full of American Students, but we went because our Calcietto team went to the finals and lost in the end in Penalty Kicks. They were all at Lions so we went there to show our support and hang out. Kiki and Chloe both went home early, so I stayed with Annie and Roy. Kussman showed up soon after, so she and I went to Angies bar and danced, and then to Michelle's bar to say hello and hang out.
Thursday was sad. Last day of classes. Horvath told our Philosophy class that "Every semester you guys come, I fall in love with all of you, and then you leave." She got teary-eyed, and then took a picture from the front of the room of her point of view when looking at us. In Italian we went to the market!!!
Russo is about 80..she walks very slowly. There are only seven kids in my class, but they tend to forget that she is a bit slower. Everyone was waiting out in front, and when Russo made it to the door I was standing there holding it and she looked at me and said "Ecco Me!" (here I am!). I died with laughter, mostly just because thats our favorite phrase, and we say it ALL the time. Anyway, I stayed with Russo the whole time on the walk, she walks slowly, so I stayed back with her. We talked a lot, she pointed things out to me on the walk there, we continued to grow to love each other even more than we already do. She got all sentimental, got me teary eyed. She told me she lives alone, so its sad for her to not get to cook for a big family anymore, and how much she would love for me to come back to Italy and stay with her. She gave me her email so we could keep in touch. As we were walking through the market she was sharing some of her favorite recipes to me (of course all vegetarian, she finally accepted that I dont eat meat...haha). She said to make sure to keep up the emails especially so she could email me her recipes and then have me tell her how they went after I cook them. We laughed and giggled together, walked by one meat man that was playing music so danced a bit. All the other kids were ahead of us, chatting about their own things or doing whatever, but I was glad to spend all that time with Russo, it was great. She stayed back at the market to wait for her next class, and we headed home.
After lunch Chloe came over and she and Annie and I walked around the city. We went and got gelatto at La Carria and sat on the bridge and ate it. Then we walked around to different stores on the other side of the river. We went into some antique shops, and stores full of things the people must have been collecting for ages. I thought of my dad a lot and how much he would have loved some of the stores we went into. After we went up onto the Terrace, laid in the sun and drank some beers.
For dinner, Chloe, Annie and I went to Quatro Lioni. Its one of the more famous restaurants in town, and I hadnt been there all semester. Everyone says "You must get the pear pasta". I thought to myself, EW, but ordered it anyway. It was absolutely magnificent and I LITERALLY scrapped my bowl clean it was soo good.
On our way to the bar we decided to hop on the Carousel in Piazza Republica. We walk by it everyday, and have always thought we should ride it, but never had. It was all lit up and running, so the three of us hopped on and enjoyed spinning around on our fake horses.
We met out friends at Cafe Bigalo, but Chloe and I left early to go to Santa Croce. We went to Rex, where we ran into a guy named Scott who goes to school with us. Scott is 32. He had a rough time in college, ended up in rehab, but then turned his life around and went back to school. He had always studied abroad and thought he might as well do what he wanted, so he is. He is really an awesome guy, fun to talk to because his life has been so interesting. I say good for him for turning his life around. Everyone deserves the chance to do what were doing.
Chloe and I also stopped by Kikoya where we made new friends, drank sangria, etc. On our way home we ran into Jack, Spencer and Brooks, so we turned around and went back out with them to Lions Fountain. There, I proceeded to do the ENTIRE dance from Beyonce's Single Ladies video with one of the bar tenders. He is quite gay to say the least, so he was completely in character. He played the part of Beyonce and I was one of his backup dancers. The floor was cleared for our performance, and we got plenty of cheers. We shared a big hug afterwards and took pictures of course. It was such a blast.
The nightlife here is so unbelievably fun. We rarely have a night when we go out and dont have a ball.
I love it here. The most. This week has been too fun.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Welp, I gave a speech....
So last night was the end of the year dinner. We all got all dressed up, girls in dresses and heels, boys in suits (for the most part...)
Club SoLo had a pensione pre dinner party up on our rooftop terrace. We took pictures and hung out for a while before all walking over to dinner together. The restaurant was huge, and gorgeous. All 150 of us basically took over the entire restaurant. We sat, had bottomless wine, and ate our hearts out. We had a salad with tuna, awesome penne pasta with eggplant/tomato sauce, and then potatoes, veggies, and cream puffs for desert. We all walked around from table to table, socializing, saying hi to friends, etc. At one point, Dr. Burke (Dean) got up and made a speech, it was awesome, of course, he is an amazing guy. He talked for a while, had half of us tearing up, and got a standing ovation when he was done talking. Then the speeches began. He first called the president of the students, Spencer to say something. Next, he called on Laura. Laura's GIF history is long and complicated, but he said that her strength was one to be proud of. She said a few words, got teary-eyed (which is shocking for Kuss) and everyone cheered for her. From there, a bunch of students got up and said things. A lot of year kids said things, the ones who are really active in activities, etc. Brooks said a few things, so did Garrett, Ralph, Justin, Sean, Mia, Ari, etc. Anywho, there werent many semester kids talking, and even less who were not from Gonzaga. Shelly, a member of the Student Life staff came up to me and asked me to say something. So of course I took the mic, not hard to get me to say what I feel on a microphone to a hundred people. Not lying, I had had a few glasses of wine...but all went well. The gist of it was like this...
'I came here from a different school only knowing two people. It was a scary plunge to take at first, but one I was willing to dive right into. I knew girls from LMU, but decided to live with a random. It was the best decision I ever made, and my roommate has had a huge impact on my life here abroad. She is sick and not here, so shout out to Rooms! (Then a bunch of people screamed for Rooms shout out). I continued on talking about how amazing it was to come to a brand new place, with complete strangers, and in less than a few days, feel as though I had found 100 new best friends. I thanked the entire group for welcoming me with such loving arms and giving me the happiest semester of my life. Apparently I was quite poetic about it. I was holding my glass of wine - Kuss called me out on that mid way through, causing another applause... I decided to keep it fairly short and sweet so I signed off with a "We all know I could talk for days, so Im gunna wrap it up..." (getting me plenty of laughs since we all know I can talk for days to anyone) I wrapped it up with the quote I left you guys with yesterday. I told them there was a song by the Fruit Bats that had a line that says "We wont loose the beat if we just keep clapping our hands....(then said) The way I interpret that line is that, although we will be hundreds of miles apart, keep in touch, because these friendships and experiences dont have to end here. Ciao."
I got a standing O, haha, not sure why. Maybe because I was so overly poetic about it. Of course I would end with a quote, I would do that. A lot of it is a blur simply because whenever something like that happens you dont realize it till its over; that happens to me with dance shows all the time, or when I give speeches in class. Ill be like, wow that came out better than I thought it would, cool.
Anywho, when I walked back to my seat one of Elizabeth's (roomie) best friends stopped me, she was crying. She told me that what I said about Elizabeth was so amazingly sweet, and that if had Elizabeth been there it would have meant a lot to her. Today when we woke up, Elizabeth had already heard about it and came and gave me a hug. Another few people came up to me and said they loved what I had to say. I was really shocked to be honest just because I was one of the only two spring semester kids to get up. But hey, glad it went well considering I had a glass of wine in my hand :)
Shelly got on the mic afterwards and said it was a testament to the amazing kids in the program, because before a few days ago, Shelly had no idea that I didnt go to Gonzaga. Thats the beauty of the program. Everyone here meshes so well. There really is no divide, its amazing.
After everyone spoke everyone was basically near tears and we all got up and hugged, took pictures on the main floor area. Yannick and I danced a bit to the music playing (he is the only boy here who knows how to actually dance and lead well! And Im pretty good at following thanks to my Dad and Grandpa for teaching me)
Afterwards we went to a bar called Slowly for Amanda Ito's birthday. We got the whole second floor to ourselves because there were about 50 of us who went. After that we went to the shot cafe for a bit before turning home.
For philosophy today Horvath took us to the San Marco Monastery. It was awesome, the school paid for our entry in, and Horvath took us all around it. She of course knew every little thing about every aspect of it and gave us a complete tour full of information. She continues to boggle my mind with the amount of knowledge she has.
After that, In Italian, Russo didnt make me participate. I have lost my voice, almost completely, so she was sweet and said if I felt like contributing more I could, or to whisper and have Yannick repeat it for me. I hate not participating, of course, so I mostly whispered to Yannick so I could still be apart of the class.
Headed to painting now. Wish luck.
Ciao
Club SoLo had a pensione pre dinner party up on our rooftop terrace. We took pictures and hung out for a while before all walking over to dinner together. The restaurant was huge, and gorgeous. All 150 of us basically took over the entire restaurant. We sat, had bottomless wine, and ate our hearts out. We had a salad with tuna, awesome penne pasta with eggplant/tomato sauce, and then potatoes, veggies, and cream puffs for desert. We all walked around from table to table, socializing, saying hi to friends, etc. At one point, Dr. Burke (Dean) got up and made a speech, it was awesome, of course, he is an amazing guy. He talked for a while, had half of us tearing up, and got a standing ovation when he was done talking. Then the speeches began. He first called the president of the students, Spencer to say something. Next, he called on Laura. Laura's GIF history is long and complicated, but he said that her strength was one to be proud of. She said a few words, got teary-eyed (which is shocking for Kuss) and everyone cheered for her. From there, a bunch of students got up and said things. A lot of year kids said things, the ones who are really active in activities, etc. Brooks said a few things, so did Garrett, Ralph, Justin, Sean, Mia, Ari, etc. Anywho, there werent many semester kids talking, and even less who were not from Gonzaga. Shelly, a member of the Student Life staff came up to me and asked me to say something. So of course I took the mic, not hard to get me to say what I feel on a microphone to a hundred people. Not lying, I had had a few glasses of wine...but all went well. The gist of it was like this...
'I came here from a different school only knowing two people. It was a scary plunge to take at first, but one I was willing to dive right into. I knew girls from LMU, but decided to live with a random. It was the best decision I ever made, and my roommate has had a huge impact on my life here abroad. She is sick and not here, so shout out to Rooms! (Then a bunch of people screamed for Rooms shout out). I continued on talking about how amazing it was to come to a brand new place, with complete strangers, and in less than a few days, feel as though I had found 100 new best friends. I thanked the entire group for welcoming me with such loving arms and giving me the happiest semester of my life. Apparently I was quite poetic about it. I was holding my glass of wine - Kuss called me out on that mid way through, causing another applause... I decided to keep it fairly short and sweet so I signed off with a "We all know I could talk for days, so Im gunna wrap it up..." (getting me plenty of laughs since we all know I can talk for days to anyone) I wrapped it up with the quote I left you guys with yesterday. I told them there was a song by the Fruit Bats that had a line that says "We wont loose the beat if we just keep clapping our hands....(then said) The way I interpret that line is that, although we will be hundreds of miles apart, keep in touch, because these friendships and experiences dont have to end here. Ciao."
I got a standing O, haha, not sure why. Maybe because I was so overly poetic about it. Of course I would end with a quote, I would do that. A lot of it is a blur simply because whenever something like that happens you dont realize it till its over; that happens to me with dance shows all the time, or when I give speeches in class. Ill be like, wow that came out better than I thought it would, cool.
Anywho, when I walked back to my seat one of Elizabeth's (roomie) best friends stopped me, she was crying. She told me that what I said about Elizabeth was so amazingly sweet, and that if had Elizabeth been there it would have meant a lot to her. Today when we woke up, Elizabeth had already heard about it and came and gave me a hug. Another few people came up to me and said they loved what I had to say. I was really shocked to be honest just because I was one of the only two spring semester kids to get up. But hey, glad it went well considering I had a glass of wine in my hand :)
Shelly got on the mic afterwards and said it was a testament to the amazing kids in the program, because before a few days ago, Shelly had no idea that I didnt go to Gonzaga. Thats the beauty of the program. Everyone here meshes so well. There really is no divide, its amazing.
After everyone spoke everyone was basically near tears and we all got up and hugged, took pictures on the main floor area. Yannick and I danced a bit to the music playing (he is the only boy here who knows how to actually dance and lead well! And Im pretty good at following thanks to my Dad and Grandpa for teaching me)
Afterwards we went to a bar called Slowly for Amanda Ito's birthday. We got the whole second floor to ourselves because there were about 50 of us who went. After that we went to the shot cafe for a bit before turning home.
For philosophy today Horvath took us to the San Marco Monastery. It was awesome, the school paid for our entry in, and Horvath took us all around it. She of course knew every little thing about every aspect of it and gave us a complete tour full of information. She continues to boggle my mind with the amount of knowledge she has.
After that, In Italian, Russo didnt make me participate. I have lost my voice, almost completely, so she was sweet and said if I felt like contributing more I could, or to whisper and have Yannick repeat it for me. I hate not participating, of course, so I mostly whispered to Yannick so I could still be apart of the class.
Headed to painting now. Wish luck.
Ciao
Monday, April 12, 2010
"you really are meant to live on the beach..."
On Saturday, we went to the beach. I could not have been more excited to finally see the ocean and lay on the beach.
We left in the morning around 10, I went with Kalea and Mary to the food market to grab some dried fruit to snack on for the day and we were on the train by 1045 headed to Viareggio.
We arrived, stopped by a supermarket for cheese and crackers, and went to the beach. We sat there for HOURS. Sean and Kalea laid down and fell asleep, but Keagan, Kussman, Mary and I sat and talked for hours. I went swimming in the ocean, I had to, but no one else was wanting to stand the cold water. We laid in the sun, snacked on our crackers, played card games, etc.
The title of this post is what Kuss said to me at one point in the day, and its the truth. I love the beach/ocean more than anything in the world. I could sit on a beach for hours and never get bored of it. I felt so at home on the beach, looking out over the water with the breeze on my face, basking in the sun and being unbelievably thankful that I was in that place at that time.
We stayed till the sun set, around 7:30 p.m. Then we walked down the boardwalk for a bit, down to the boats. I thought of my dad and grandpa a lot because I knew that they would absolutely love this place. The seafood looked and smelled amazing at the little restaurants along the water by the boats, but we didnt have time to stay for dinner. Our train was at 8:30 so we ran back to the train station and were back home by 10:30.
Kuss (Laura Kussman) and I made a pact to go out every night. Not necessarily to bars/drinking/whatever, but just to leave the pensione, walk around the city, and see it by night. Everyone else was exhausted, so just Kuss and I went out. We had a blast of course, its hard not to with Kuss. She is literally one of the most light hearted, easy going, fun people I have ever met in my life. We found a little hole-in-the wall bar full of Italians. We met the owner and the waiters and sat and talked with them for a long time. They were really fun and sweet people and loved the company that Kuss and I provided. On our walk home we stopped by Santa Croce to see it all lit up (one of my favorite places to see at night), and walked home.
She slept over with me because my roomie was gone for the weekend.
Sunday was a lazy day full of homework and chores, but we did go out to Gato for dinner.
People keep talking about the end, because its so soon, less than two weeks now. Its the last thing I want to talk about. It makes my stomach churn. My closest friends here dont go to LMU, so I wont be seeing them often, its hard to think that they wont be in my life every single day.
I dont know how to express how blessed I am to have met some of these people. Its funny how people can come and go in your life and have the most unbelievable impact on it in such a short amount of time.
There is a line from a song that came out last year that says "You wont lose the beat if you just keep clapping your hands". This pretty much explains how most of us are going to try and handle leaving one another in just 12 days...
We left in the morning around 10, I went with Kalea and Mary to the food market to grab some dried fruit to snack on for the day and we were on the train by 1045 headed to Viareggio.
We arrived, stopped by a supermarket for cheese and crackers, and went to the beach. We sat there for HOURS. Sean and Kalea laid down and fell asleep, but Keagan, Kussman, Mary and I sat and talked for hours. I went swimming in the ocean, I had to, but no one else was wanting to stand the cold water. We laid in the sun, snacked on our crackers, played card games, etc.
The title of this post is what Kuss said to me at one point in the day, and its the truth. I love the beach/ocean more than anything in the world. I could sit on a beach for hours and never get bored of it. I felt so at home on the beach, looking out over the water with the breeze on my face, basking in the sun and being unbelievably thankful that I was in that place at that time.
We stayed till the sun set, around 7:30 p.m. Then we walked down the boardwalk for a bit, down to the boats. I thought of my dad and grandpa a lot because I knew that they would absolutely love this place. The seafood looked and smelled amazing at the little restaurants along the water by the boats, but we didnt have time to stay for dinner. Our train was at 8:30 so we ran back to the train station and were back home by 10:30.
Kuss (Laura Kussman) and I made a pact to go out every night. Not necessarily to bars/drinking/whatever, but just to leave the pensione, walk around the city, and see it by night. Everyone else was exhausted, so just Kuss and I went out. We had a blast of course, its hard not to with Kuss. She is literally one of the most light hearted, easy going, fun people I have ever met in my life. We found a little hole-in-the wall bar full of Italians. We met the owner and the waiters and sat and talked with them for a long time. They were really fun and sweet people and loved the company that Kuss and I provided. On our walk home we stopped by Santa Croce to see it all lit up (one of my favorite places to see at night), and walked home.
She slept over with me because my roomie was gone for the weekend.
Sunday was a lazy day full of homework and chores, but we did go out to Gato for dinner.
People keep talking about the end, because its so soon, less than two weeks now. Its the last thing I want to talk about. It makes my stomach churn. My closest friends here dont go to LMU, so I wont be seeing them often, its hard to think that they wont be in my life every single day.
I dont know how to express how blessed I am to have met some of these people. Its funny how people can come and go in your life and have the most unbelievable impact on it in such a short amount of time.
There is a line from a song that came out last year that says "You wont lose the beat if you just keep clapping your hands". This pretty much explains how most of us are going to try and handle leaving one another in just 12 days...
Friday, April 9, 2010
I LOVE Club SoLo
Club SoLo is what everyone calls my building. On most days when we go out everyone comes over to our place before hand to hang out and get ready before we leave. The kids in my building are awesome. We all get along amazingly well and always have a good time. Most people want to live here. Its the best.
A lot of people went out of town yesterday, but a good chunk of kids, and a fun one at that, stayed in Firenze this weekend. After lunch we went up to the terrace in our swimsuits and played Monopoly and had some cocktails in the beautiful sunshine. We were up there for hours. We decided around 5 to put some clothes on and head out. We went up to Piazza Michelangelo for sunset and spent an hour or two up there hanging out and enjoying the view. Then we headed to dinner at Dante's. One of the best meals I have had in Florence. A simple penne with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil, but the sauce was absolutely unbelievable. SO delicious. After dinner we headed over to Kikoya, as always, our favorite spot to go. We ran into Kylie and her friends there, as always and hung out with them. I found a seat at the bar and ended up talking to the guys next to me for a while. Diego, the bar tender was excited to see me, and I him, he is one of my favorite bar tenders here. Had a dragoon or two and walked home with Kalea, Garret and Preston at the end of the night. It was a LONG day but such a fun one.
Woke up today and everyone was exhausted. We finally began to function, got dressed, and headed out for the day. We went to a sandwich place that had amazing 3 euro sandwiches and sat on the steps of Santa Croce to eat them. We stopped at the School of Leather, then went to Santa Maria Novella and sat in the grass in the sunshine playing board games and throwing a frisbee.
Then we went to San Lorenzo Market. Jackie got a leather jacket and I got a bracelet for a friend at home.
We came home, laid in big bed and watched TV, then went to Il Panda to pick up Chinese food and ate it up on the terrace.
(In the room next door to me are three girls. Kuss, Mary and Christina. They pushed their three beds together to form one big bed, and thats how we refer to it.) Were all back in big bed now, hanging out and taking it easy tonight because we plan to head to the beach tomorrow!! Hooray. I cant even express the amount of happiness I am experiencing from all of this beautiful sunshine. Honestly cant believe there are only two weeks left. I try not to think about it, ever, because its so depressing. I never want to leave. For now, Im just loving how unbelievably happy and in love with life I am.
Ciao.
A lot of people went out of town yesterday, but a good chunk of kids, and a fun one at that, stayed in Firenze this weekend. After lunch we went up to the terrace in our swimsuits and played Monopoly and had some cocktails in the beautiful sunshine. We were up there for hours. We decided around 5 to put some clothes on and head out. We went up to Piazza Michelangelo for sunset and spent an hour or two up there hanging out and enjoying the view. Then we headed to dinner at Dante's. One of the best meals I have had in Florence. A simple penne with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil, but the sauce was absolutely unbelievable. SO delicious. After dinner we headed over to Kikoya, as always, our favorite spot to go. We ran into Kylie and her friends there, as always and hung out with them. I found a seat at the bar and ended up talking to the guys next to me for a while. Diego, the bar tender was excited to see me, and I him, he is one of my favorite bar tenders here. Had a dragoon or two and walked home with Kalea, Garret and Preston at the end of the night. It was a LONG day but such a fun one.
Woke up today and everyone was exhausted. We finally began to function, got dressed, and headed out for the day. We went to a sandwich place that had amazing 3 euro sandwiches and sat on the steps of Santa Croce to eat them. We stopped at the School of Leather, then went to Santa Maria Novella and sat in the grass in the sunshine playing board games and throwing a frisbee.
Then we went to San Lorenzo Market. Jackie got a leather jacket and I got a bracelet for a friend at home.
We came home, laid in big bed and watched TV, then went to Il Panda to pick up Chinese food and ate it up on the terrace.
(In the room next door to me are three girls. Kuss, Mary and Christina. They pushed their three beds together to form one big bed, and thats how we refer to it.) Were all back in big bed now, hanging out and taking it easy tonight because we plan to head to the beach tomorrow!! Hooray. I cant even express the amount of happiness I am experiencing from all of this beautiful sunshine. Honestly cant believe there are only two weeks left. I try not to think about it, ever, because its so depressing. I never want to leave. For now, Im just loving how unbelievably happy and in love with life I am.
Ciao.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Lets be honest, Im on a four month vacation...
No classes Monday....a holiday. We did homework, laid around. Most everyone came to lunch and some even dinner, in our pajamas. In the middle of the day I went on a walk with Chloe, Kiki and Kussman down to the Duomo and to get some Gelato. I stopped by school with Kuss to print out some papers, came home, went on a run, then dinner.
After dinner I got dressed and ready and left with Kuss, Brooks and Garret to go to Kikoya, one of our favorite bars. Carter Brown and Kylie McAllister were both there. Carter is visiting from Amsterdam, and his 21st birthday was monday night. It was SO good to see him and Kylie. We spent the night reminiscing about highschool and telling one another about our semesters.
Tuesday was the only day this week I had all my classes. In philosophy, we walked down to Piazza San Marco to go into the church. Our teacher took us from painting to statue, telling us stories and giving us historical facts. Then we walked over to Piazza Annunciata and went into the church there as well. She told us more interesting information, mostly about Michaelangelo and how this church is a place he used as a hideout from the Medicci family.
Italian was the usual. A lot of laughing and playing around.
Painting was also the usual. Frustrating, messy, but fun.
We did an "Around the Pensioni" dinner Tuesday night. In groups of 25 we walked to each pensione and had a course. My group had pasta first, located at the Nazionale pensione. It was delicious. The vegetarian pasta was amazing, apparently the woman who owns their pensione used to be a professional chef, we could tell.
We had bruscetta here, salad at Savonarola, and hamburgers (veggie burgers) at Gallo. It was a fun night. Cool to see the other pensioni and to meet the people they live with.
THat night we went to Trivia. Our new favorite Tuesday night event. It starts at 8:30 and for 10 euro you get all the beer you can drink for 2 hours. About 20 to 25 of us always go and we break into teams of 5. (This week was awesome because about 15 of the engineering major kids came. We NEVER see them out, let alone drinking. They were a blast to hang out with outside of class for once.) Kiki, Chloe, Keagan, Kira and I were all on a team for trivia. We were thankful we had Keagan this week because one entire round was just pictures of album covers that we had to label, so Keagan dominated that round for our team. Luckily there was also a science round, I was excited and got our team enough points to pull us from 4th into 2nd.
Sadly we ended up in a tie for second with the group of boys next to us. The team who won got a 50 euro bar tab and once again (just like last week) bought everyone a shot with it. We are all very loving and sharing towards one another, haha, its great.
Karaoke begins when trivia ends. By that time, everyone has had enough beer to be willing to sing and dance. EVERYONE signed up for a song, literally. I signed up to do Michael Jackson's, Man in the Mirror, and obviously no one was shocked about it. My friend Kalea sang with me, and Chloe and Alexandra ended up jumping on stage as well. It was awesome. Everyone sang and danced along and were happy to hear an MJ song...everybody loves MJ :)
Wednesday at school was hilarious. Sooo many kids had gone out the night before so all of us were telling/hearing stories and entertaining our teachers with our tired eyes but smiling faces.
After lunch all the girls in my pensione headed upstairs to our rooftop terrace. We were in our swimsuits and took beach towels and laid out all afternoon listening to music, reading books, and doing homework. It was a dream. It was so warm out, not a cloud in the sky.
After dinner a few of us considered going out again, but decided that a full night of rest would be a better idea. We all went to sleep fairly early.
One of my classes was cancelled today so I only had Italian. I technically only had 2 days of school this week which is why I gave this post the title it has. We had a quiz today in Italian though, but it went pretty well.
Im staying in Firenze this weekend and couldnt be happier about it.
ciao.
After dinner I got dressed and ready and left with Kuss, Brooks and Garret to go to Kikoya, one of our favorite bars. Carter Brown and Kylie McAllister were both there. Carter is visiting from Amsterdam, and his 21st birthday was monday night. It was SO good to see him and Kylie. We spent the night reminiscing about highschool and telling one another about our semesters.
Tuesday was the only day this week I had all my classes. In philosophy, we walked down to Piazza San Marco to go into the church. Our teacher took us from painting to statue, telling us stories and giving us historical facts. Then we walked over to Piazza Annunciata and went into the church there as well. She told us more interesting information, mostly about Michaelangelo and how this church is a place he used as a hideout from the Medicci family.
Italian was the usual. A lot of laughing and playing around.
Painting was also the usual. Frustrating, messy, but fun.
We did an "Around the Pensioni" dinner Tuesday night. In groups of 25 we walked to each pensione and had a course. My group had pasta first, located at the Nazionale pensione. It was delicious. The vegetarian pasta was amazing, apparently the woman who owns their pensione used to be a professional chef, we could tell.
We had bruscetta here, salad at Savonarola, and hamburgers (veggie burgers) at Gallo. It was a fun night. Cool to see the other pensioni and to meet the people they live with.
THat night we went to Trivia. Our new favorite Tuesday night event. It starts at 8:30 and for 10 euro you get all the beer you can drink for 2 hours. About 20 to 25 of us always go and we break into teams of 5. (This week was awesome because about 15 of the engineering major kids came. We NEVER see them out, let alone drinking. They were a blast to hang out with outside of class for once.) Kiki, Chloe, Keagan, Kira and I were all on a team for trivia. We were thankful we had Keagan this week because one entire round was just pictures of album covers that we had to label, so Keagan dominated that round for our team. Luckily there was also a science round, I was excited and got our team enough points to pull us from 4th into 2nd.
Sadly we ended up in a tie for second with the group of boys next to us. The team who won got a 50 euro bar tab and once again (just like last week) bought everyone a shot with it. We are all very loving and sharing towards one another, haha, its great.
Karaoke begins when trivia ends. By that time, everyone has had enough beer to be willing to sing and dance. EVERYONE signed up for a song, literally. I signed up to do Michael Jackson's, Man in the Mirror, and obviously no one was shocked about it. My friend Kalea sang with me, and Chloe and Alexandra ended up jumping on stage as well. It was awesome. Everyone sang and danced along and were happy to hear an MJ song...everybody loves MJ :)
Wednesday at school was hilarious. Sooo many kids had gone out the night before so all of us were telling/hearing stories and entertaining our teachers with our tired eyes but smiling faces.
After lunch all the girls in my pensione headed upstairs to our rooftop terrace. We were in our swimsuits and took beach towels and laid out all afternoon listening to music, reading books, and doing homework. It was a dream. It was so warm out, not a cloud in the sky.
After dinner a few of us considered going out again, but decided that a full night of rest would be a better idea. We all went to sleep fairly early.
One of my classes was cancelled today so I only had Italian. I technically only had 2 days of school this week which is why I gave this post the title it has. We had a quiz today in Italian though, but it went pretty well.
Im staying in Firenze this weekend and couldnt be happier about it.
ciao.
Monday, April 5, 2010
I fell in love with Munchen
Munchen is the German word for Munich. We obviously loved the fact that it was Munchen, because it sounds funny.
We left for Dachau concentration camp Friday morning. It was an hour outside of Munich. We got there, broke up into two groups of about 25 and headed out on our tour. The first question of the day was answered by none other than yours truly. I love history, and ended up answering most of his questions about the Holocaust and WWII. When did Hitler begin coming into power? 1933. What event happened in America and effected the rest of the world in the '30s? The stock market crash and therefore Great Depression. What sparked the beginning of WWII? The annexation of Austria. What year and if possible what month was this camp liberated? April 29th, 1945. Yes. I answered all these questions. I was on my game.
Otherwise the tour was extremely sorrowing, depressing, sad, and eye opening. Its entirely different seeing the camps in pictures as compared to actually being there. The entire site was quiet, eerie. We saw the monument stating "Never Again" in five different languages, the Catholic, Russian, Jewish, and Lutheran monuments on the site. Our guide showed us their sleeping barracks and took us to the crematorium. We saw the ovens, the chimney, the gas chambers, everything. Some kids were shocked by how much they showed us, and honestly I was too. A few people were unable to make it through the entire tour, and many didn't enter the gas chambers, crematoriums and holding rooms for the bodies. It was an extremely moving experience. Right when we were done with the tour we went to the Monastery directly behind the camp for a Good Friday Vigil. Father Brian led mass, as always (were so lucky he travels on all our trips). He had a few of us participate in reading the Gospel and I was one of them. Everyone, Catholic or not, came to the mass, which was really nice, it was good to all be together after being apart for our tours. Father Brian told us great stories and really got us in the holiday spirit.
We left, somber from our mornings events, and decided the Hofbrauhaus was the best way to change gears. It was Kiki, Chloe, Stina, Ant and Mich, Brooks, Tuck, Carl, Alex and I. We originally planned on only having one stein, lunch, and leaving. It didnt work out that way though. We all had lunch and a stein and then a second round was ordered. We met other kids from the States, one of which goes to school with, and even had class with Nick Rivers, one of mine and Brooks close friends from highschool. We hung out and talked with them for a while, and had another stein. The hours passed, new friends came and went. We saw other Gonzaga kids, met Germans, old and young. Suddenly it was night time. I met a group of German kids that were super nice and sat with them for a while. The kid next to me Lucas was a doll, and the only one who spoke English. Kiki, Lauren, Kira and I sat with the guys, had another Stein, and enjoyed learning German toast songs with them.
Everyone in our group slowly began to leave, and at midnight, the Hofbrauhaus closed. I was with Chloe. We left to find the metro. We got there fine, but when it came to finding where to go, we had some trouble. We found nice people who showed us where to go and how to get there, how to get our tickets, etc. We thanked them and went on our way. On the metro we met another kid, named Greg. Greg was from England but studying in Munich, as always, 6 degrees of separation led us to know someone similar. We ended up joining him and his friends at a bar. They were really sweet, fun kids. We talked about studying abroad, our experiences in our cities, etc. Around 4 the exhaustion hit, so Greg called us a cab and sent Chloe and I directly to our hostel.
Side Note: By far, Munich quite possibly had some of the nicest people we have met/hung out with/encountered in all of our traveling. As you can tell.
Slightly hungover we woke up the next morning, and went on a bike tour through the city. Our tour guide was crazy. Funny, out going, sometimes tried to be too funny, but all around enjoyable. I got a yellow bike (YES) and even better, they were all beach cruisers. Munich is pretty flat, so the bike ride was very leisurely. We stopped at famous sites, learned about the city, etc. The sun was shining, it was warm, we all took off our coats and soaked up the sun. We went to the second largest garden in the world, and in it, a huge beer garden. We stopped for lunch and a beer.. well, some people had beers. I had a fanta. We got back on the bikes and rode to a place on the river where surfers can go to ride the waves that come from a place in the river that is dammed up. We saw more sites, nude people laying out, kids playing, churches, statues, etc.
Yannick had been messing around on his bike all morning. Doing all kinds of tricks, and obviously making me nervous. I warned him a plethora of times, and always heard back. "Okay mom". By the end of the day he had flipped off his bike and completely annihilated his hands. I hated saying I told you so, but after wrapping up his hands, I did. haha
After the bike tour everyone broke up to do their own things. Chloe and I went with Tucker, Carl and Brooks to the BMW world and Museum. It was really cool. Beautiful cars, interactive areas to learn about them, etc. Tucker and Carl are huge car fanatics and sat there telling Chloe and I ALLL about engines and every part of a car you can imagine. It was fun to learn about what they love and see the cars. The museum had cars from the 1930s all the way till now. We fell in love with all of them, of course.
After the museum we went back to the hostel, napped, and Chloe and I left for mass. No one else had wanted to go because we were warned of the length of mass. Chloe and I are used to longer holiday masses though, and decided it would be weird to have an Easter without going to mass. We went, and couldnt be happier we did.
The cathedral was HUGE. It was St. Michael's Cathedral (google it). It was greatly damaged in WWII (as was 70% of Munich) but was restored to its original architecture after. We walked in and saw people standing, and were confused. We walked farther in to see that every single pew was completely full and that hundreds of people were standing, and even more were just sitting on the floor. The place was packed. We saw that there was a balcony, so we went to find how to get up there. We found a staircase and made our way up. Every light in the cathedral was turned off, the place was completely black. Then, the priest and about 20 alter boys and girls came in holding candles. At each pew, the person at the end would have their candle lit, and pass on the light to their pew. As the priest and alter kids made their way down, eventually every person held a lit candle. It was quite a sight to see. Chloe and I were bummed we were candle-less, but enjoyed the beautiful sight nonetheless. We were able to follow along for the most part, understanding when each reading happened, and the Gospel. We whispered to each other the stories we guessed they were telling. We guessed when the Apostles Creed happened and the Our Father, and recited them quietly in English. When it came time for communion, a man motioned us to follow him. There were about 8 people in our balcony with us, so we all followed. We passed the sacristy, and Chloe and I both got nervous. He opened a door and all of a sudden we were on the Alter. Actually, behind the alter is a better description. We were in a long line of people, walking towards the back of the church, and then when the line swerved turned to face out towards the rest of the church, it was an unbelievable sight to see the hundreds of people getting communion. A nun gave us our communion, and we headed back to our seats. They used incense, and the alter kids were a huge part of the ceremony. They were broken up on the two sides of the aisle, boys and girls, and from inside to outside, from shortest to tallest.
The mass lasted 2.5 hours, and at the end, Chloe and I stayed to look around the church and see the pictures from the war. We went to meet up with our friends at a bar after and went home early with Kiki around 1.
Sunday we had to wake up early and head over to Neuschwanstein castle. It was two hours outside of Munich, and when we arrived we had about an hour to wander. We went into shops, walked down the streets, got postcards and went into a restaurant for hot chocolate. We began the trek up to the castle. It was about a 30 minute uphill walk to get there, and, walking next to Chloe (6 ft tall) was more of a sprint. On the way up we ran into other Gonzaga kids playing a new found game. A sort of battle of sexes. The girls would give the boys a word that EVERY girl would know, and the guys would try to guess what it was. And then the boys would do it back. We started with Bangles. Every girl knows that Bangles are metal bracelets. Kirk defined it as "When your bangs are all tangled up." We realized this was a PERFECT road trip game and the girls and guys teamed up to come up with words before we got back on the bus.
The tour through the castle was short and sweet. They took us through a few rooms but only on one floor because a majority of the castle was never completed. It was meant to have over 110 rooms, but only 16 are completed. She told us some history, we asked a million Disney questions, and she answered them happily. We argued over whether it was Cinderella's or Sleeping Beauty's castle and she didnt have an answer. She did however, tell us that one of the paintings in the castle is what inspired the man who came up with the story of Bambi. King Ludwig lived there alone, he liked being alone she told us. He had an obsession with swans, and had a man made cave built in it just for fun. The castle is built up on the mountain for the sole purpose of looking down on his father's castle. He only lived there 152 days before he died.
We left the castle, a bit unsatisfied, but when we caught the view of the outside again, felt better. The outside is really whats stunning about it.
On the walk down we stopped for "snow balls" doughy balls covered in sugar. Obviously delicious.
On the bus we played our game. Us girls used mostly clothing and accessory terms, and the boys gave us car and sports terms. We won, big time. I knew most of the sports terms so did Amanda and Kiki and one of the other girls knew the car terms. There were some we had no idea about, but the guesses they would come up with were hilarious. We gave them; Romper, clutch, wedges, bangles, and spanks. Carl did get romper, but after Kirk and Cooper took some funny guesses.
I got ERA, RBI, Intentional grounding. Kiki explained cylinders and horsepower. They were frustrated we won, and we all sat to watch the on-bus movies.
It took a long time to get home because of the rain but we finally made it home by 10. We were all pretty bummed to spend our Easter on a bus, but Shelly and Linda (student life staff) gave us chocolates as a present.
I got to talk to the family when I got home, did some homework, STILL have not unpacked, and went to bed. Today has been spent in jammies, writing papers, blogs, putting up pictures, and recovering from a long, fun, weekend.
Lots of Love and Buona Pasqua!
We left for Dachau concentration camp Friday morning. It was an hour outside of Munich. We got there, broke up into two groups of about 25 and headed out on our tour. The first question of the day was answered by none other than yours truly. I love history, and ended up answering most of his questions about the Holocaust and WWII. When did Hitler begin coming into power? 1933. What event happened in America and effected the rest of the world in the '30s? The stock market crash and therefore Great Depression. What sparked the beginning of WWII? The annexation of Austria. What year and if possible what month was this camp liberated? April 29th, 1945. Yes. I answered all these questions. I was on my game.
Otherwise the tour was extremely sorrowing, depressing, sad, and eye opening. Its entirely different seeing the camps in pictures as compared to actually being there. The entire site was quiet, eerie. We saw the monument stating "Never Again" in five different languages, the Catholic, Russian, Jewish, and Lutheran monuments on the site. Our guide showed us their sleeping barracks and took us to the crematorium. We saw the ovens, the chimney, the gas chambers, everything. Some kids were shocked by how much they showed us, and honestly I was too. A few people were unable to make it through the entire tour, and many didn't enter the gas chambers, crematoriums and holding rooms for the bodies. It was an extremely moving experience. Right when we were done with the tour we went to the Monastery directly behind the camp for a Good Friday Vigil. Father Brian led mass, as always (were so lucky he travels on all our trips). He had a few of us participate in reading the Gospel and I was one of them. Everyone, Catholic or not, came to the mass, which was really nice, it was good to all be together after being apart for our tours. Father Brian told us great stories and really got us in the holiday spirit.
We left, somber from our mornings events, and decided the Hofbrauhaus was the best way to change gears. It was Kiki, Chloe, Stina, Ant and Mich, Brooks, Tuck, Carl, Alex and I. We originally planned on only having one stein, lunch, and leaving. It didnt work out that way though. We all had lunch and a stein and then a second round was ordered. We met other kids from the States, one of which goes to school with, and even had class with Nick Rivers, one of mine and Brooks close friends from highschool. We hung out and talked with them for a while, and had another stein. The hours passed, new friends came and went. We saw other Gonzaga kids, met Germans, old and young. Suddenly it was night time. I met a group of German kids that were super nice and sat with them for a while. The kid next to me Lucas was a doll, and the only one who spoke English. Kiki, Lauren, Kira and I sat with the guys, had another Stein, and enjoyed learning German toast songs with them.
Everyone in our group slowly began to leave, and at midnight, the Hofbrauhaus closed. I was with Chloe. We left to find the metro. We got there fine, but when it came to finding where to go, we had some trouble. We found nice people who showed us where to go and how to get there, how to get our tickets, etc. We thanked them and went on our way. On the metro we met another kid, named Greg. Greg was from England but studying in Munich, as always, 6 degrees of separation led us to know someone similar. We ended up joining him and his friends at a bar. They were really sweet, fun kids. We talked about studying abroad, our experiences in our cities, etc. Around 4 the exhaustion hit, so Greg called us a cab and sent Chloe and I directly to our hostel.
Side Note: By far, Munich quite possibly had some of the nicest people we have met/hung out with/encountered in all of our traveling. As you can tell.
Slightly hungover we woke up the next morning, and went on a bike tour through the city. Our tour guide was crazy. Funny, out going, sometimes tried to be too funny, but all around enjoyable. I got a yellow bike (YES) and even better, they were all beach cruisers. Munich is pretty flat, so the bike ride was very leisurely. We stopped at famous sites, learned about the city, etc. The sun was shining, it was warm, we all took off our coats and soaked up the sun. We went to the second largest garden in the world, and in it, a huge beer garden. We stopped for lunch and a beer.. well, some people had beers. I had a fanta. We got back on the bikes and rode to a place on the river where surfers can go to ride the waves that come from a place in the river that is dammed up. We saw more sites, nude people laying out, kids playing, churches, statues, etc.
Yannick had been messing around on his bike all morning. Doing all kinds of tricks, and obviously making me nervous. I warned him a plethora of times, and always heard back. "Okay mom". By the end of the day he had flipped off his bike and completely annihilated his hands. I hated saying I told you so, but after wrapping up his hands, I did. haha
After the bike tour everyone broke up to do their own things. Chloe and I went with Tucker, Carl and Brooks to the BMW world and Museum. It was really cool. Beautiful cars, interactive areas to learn about them, etc. Tucker and Carl are huge car fanatics and sat there telling Chloe and I ALLL about engines and every part of a car you can imagine. It was fun to learn about what they love and see the cars. The museum had cars from the 1930s all the way till now. We fell in love with all of them, of course.
After the museum we went back to the hostel, napped, and Chloe and I left for mass. No one else had wanted to go because we were warned of the length of mass. Chloe and I are used to longer holiday masses though, and decided it would be weird to have an Easter without going to mass. We went, and couldnt be happier we did.
The cathedral was HUGE. It was St. Michael's Cathedral (google it). It was greatly damaged in WWII (as was 70% of Munich) but was restored to its original architecture after. We walked in and saw people standing, and were confused. We walked farther in to see that every single pew was completely full and that hundreds of people were standing, and even more were just sitting on the floor. The place was packed. We saw that there was a balcony, so we went to find how to get up there. We found a staircase and made our way up. Every light in the cathedral was turned off, the place was completely black. Then, the priest and about 20 alter boys and girls came in holding candles. At each pew, the person at the end would have their candle lit, and pass on the light to their pew. As the priest and alter kids made their way down, eventually every person held a lit candle. It was quite a sight to see. Chloe and I were bummed we were candle-less, but enjoyed the beautiful sight nonetheless. We were able to follow along for the most part, understanding when each reading happened, and the Gospel. We whispered to each other the stories we guessed they were telling. We guessed when the Apostles Creed happened and the Our Father, and recited them quietly in English. When it came time for communion, a man motioned us to follow him. There were about 8 people in our balcony with us, so we all followed. We passed the sacristy, and Chloe and I both got nervous. He opened a door and all of a sudden we were on the Alter. Actually, behind the alter is a better description. We were in a long line of people, walking towards the back of the church, and then when the line swerved turned to face out towards the rest of the church, it was an unbelievable sight to see the hundreds of people getting communion. A nun gave us our communion, and we headed back to our seats. They used incense, and the alter kids were a huge part of the ceremony. They were broken up on the two sides of the aisle, boys and girls, and from inside to outside, from shortest to tallest.
The mass lasted 2.5 hours, and at the end, Chloe and I stayed to look around the church and see the pictures from the war. We went to meet up with our friends at a bar after and went home early with Kiki around 1.
Sunday we had to wake up early and head over to Neuschwanstein castle. It was two hours outside of Munich, and when we arrived we had about an hour to wander. We went into shops, walked down the streets, got postcards and went into a restaurant for hot chocolate. We began the trek up to the castle. It was about a 30 minute uphill walk to get there, and, walking next to Chloe (6 ft tall) was more of a sprint. On the way up we ran into other Gonzaga kids playing a new found game. A sort of battle of sexes. The girls would give the boys a word that EVERY girl would know, and the guys would try to guess what it was. And then the boys would do it back. We started with Bangles. Every girl knows that Bangles are metal bracelets. Kirk defined it as "When your bangs are all tangled up." We realized this was a PERFECT road trip game and the girls and guys teamed up to come up with words before we got back on the bus.
The tour through the castle was short and sweet. They took us through a few rooms but only on one floor because a majority of the castle was never completed. It was meant to have over 110 rooms, but only 16 are completed. She told us some history, we asked a million Disney questions, and she answered them happily. We argued over whether it was Cinderella's or Sleeping Beauty's castle and she didnt have an answer. She did however, tell us that one of the paintings in the castle is what inspired the man who came up with the story of Bambi. King Ludwig lived there alone, he liked being alone she told us. He had an obsession with swans, and had a man made cave built in it just for fun. The castle is built up on the mountain for the sole purpose of looking down on his father's castle. He only lived there 152 days before he died.
We left the castle, a bit unsatisfied, but when we caught the view of the outside again, felt better. The outside is really whats stunning about it.
On the walk down we stopped for "snow balls" doughy balls covered in sugar. Obviously delicious.
On the bus we played our game. Us girls used mostly clothing and accessory terms, and the boys gave us car and sports terms. We won, big time. I knew most of the sports terms so did Amanda and Kiki and one of the other girls knew the car terms. There were some we had no idea about, but the guesses they would come up with were hilarious. We gave them; Romper, clutch, wedges, bangles, and spanks. Carl did get romper, but after Kirk and Cooper took some funny guesses.
I got ERA, RBI, Intentional grounding. Kiki explained cylinders and horsepower. They were frustrated we won, and we all sat to watch the on-bus movies.
It took a long time to get home because of the rain but we finally made it home by 10. We were all pretty bummed to spend our Easter on a bus, but Shelly and Linda (student life staff) gave us chocolates as a present.
I got to talk to the family when I got home, did some homework, STILL have not unpacked, and went to bed. Today has been spent in jammies, writing papers, blogs, putting up pictures, and recovering from a long, fun, weekend.
Lots of Love and Buona Pasqua!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
endorphins.
Before I get into my running story.... Philosophy is awesome, competing for first place of best class Ive ever taken.. Every day we have been talking about topics that are in either Homo Faber (the book we just read- awesome book) and our class book. Subjects like friendship, abortion, politics, relationships, etc. We finished the subjects on Wednesday. At the end of class she said, "You will pick the subjects for the rest of the semester." Anything we wonder about, question about, or just want to talk about. She is amazing. We came in today and someone said "Prostitution; I just got back from Amsterdam and want to talk about it." We spent the entire class talking about Prostitution, sex education, the youth of today, we got into every possible facet. Its great getting to hear everyones opinions, give our own, and have constructive conversations. And she always chirps in with information, stories, everything. She speaks five languages, grew up in a communist country, and has lived in Italy for the past 20 years, she has a lot of knowledge to share. At the end of class she said, what do you want to talk about next? We threw out subjects, and she said "How about we discuss and walk? Its been so beautiful out." We all got so excited. That is EXACTLY what we wanted to do. Cant wait for class on Tuesday.
Anyway...
Ive run every day this week. Thank goodness. I needed it. With all the eating, drinking, etc, running feels great. Today by far wins best run.
I got out of Russo's class at 11:40. I got home by 11:45 and set out. I ran down to the Arno and along it for a few blocks. The next part wasn't too fun because of the OBSCENE amount of tourists; past the Uffici, Piazza Signoria and the Duomo. Then I went down Via Cavour and asked a police man the time (in Italian). It was only 12:25. Not enough time to go back and shower, so I figured I'd run all the way till lunch started. So I passed through Piazza San Marco, down the street to Piazza Santissima Annunciata. I passed that and went down farther to a park I've passed through before. There were four little boys playing soccer. I stopped and watched for a while, then gained the confidence to walk up and ask to play. "Posso giocare?" - may I play? The boys were very welcoming and I joined for a bit. It was a blast. I was on the team of the two that looked no older than 5 years old, against the other two, who had to be at least 10. (obviously unfair for the two little ones). Time was running so I had to leave them, I thanked them for the fun time, and one of the little boys hugged me good bye. My heart melted.
I continued running, saw people who were obviously lost and asked them if they needed help. They were from Calgary. I asked for the time, 12:45...still doing great. They asked how to get to the David..they were way off from the correct direction. I explained to them how to get there, using street names and land marks, etc. They were so sweet. They were so excited and asked what I was doing here and why I knew my way around, etc. They were spending their Spring Break in Florence. We said goodbye and went out ways, I kept running. I ran to Piazza Liberta and stopped to sit on a bench. There is a beautiful fountain in the middle flanked on either side by two huge, beautiful arches. I literally live 30 steps away from this piazza, and have never really seen it. It was great to finally sit and enjoy the beauty of it. I picked some little daisy flowers and finished the run by going the very round about way back to my pensione. I walked in at 1:03, just in time, the first course was being set out as I walked in.
The run was needed. Cleared my head. Enjoyed the beautiful weather in my beautiful city. Put me in a sensational mood, and of course, got my heart rate goin.
We had veggies and pizza for lunch, and fresh strawberries for desert...They have given us strawberries the past 3 days, each time with whipped cream :) the best.
I just finished packing, now just hanging out with Jackie in the room before I head off to Munich for the weekend.
Living la dolce vita.
ciao.
Anyway...
Ive run every day this week. Thank goodness. I needed it. With all the eating, drinking, etc, running feels great. Today by far wins best run.
I got out of Russo's class at 11:40. I got home by 11:45 and set out. I ran down to the Arno and along it for a few blocks. The next part wasn't too fun because of the OBSCENE amount of tourists; past the Uffici, Piazza Signoria and the Duomo. Then I went down Via Cavour and asked a police man the time (in Italian). It was only 12:25. Not enough time to go back and shower, so I figured I'd run all the way till lunch started. So I passed through Piazza San Marco, down the street to Piazza Santissima Annunciata. I passed that and went down farther to a park I've passed through before. There were four little boys playing soccer. I stopped and watched for a while, then gained the confidence to walk up and ask to play. "Posso giocare?" - may I play? The boys were very welcoming and I joined for a bit. It was a blast. I was on the team of the two that looked no older than 5 years old, against the other two, who had to be at least 10. (obviously unfair for the two little ones). Time was running so I had to leave them, I thanked them for the fun time, and one of the little boys hugged me good bye. My heart melted.
I continued running, saw people who were obviously lost and asked them if they needed help. They were from Calgary. I asked for the time, 12:45...still doing great. They asked how to get to the David..they were way off from the correct direction. I explained to them how to get there, using street names and land marks, etc. They were so sweet. They were so excited and asked what I was doing here and why I knew my way around, etc. They were spending their Spring Break in Florence. We said goodbye and went out ways, I kept running. I ran to Piazza Liberta and stopped to sit on a bench. There is a beautiful fountain in the middle flanked on either side by two huge, beautiful arches. I literally live 30 steps away from this piazza, and have never really seen it. It was great to finally sit and enjoy the beauty of it. I picked some little daisy flowers and finished the run by going the very round about way back to my pensione. I walked in at 1:03, just in time, the first course was being set out as I walked in.
The run was needed. Cleared my head. Enjoyed the beautiful weather in my beautiful city. Put me in a sensational mood, and of course, got my heart rate goin.
We had veggies and pizza for lunch, and fresh strawberries for desert...They have given us strawberries the past 3 days, each time with whipped cream :) the best.
I just finished packing, now just hanging out with Jackie in the room before I head off to Munich for the weekend.
Living la dolce vita.
ciao.
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