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.