Wait, 6 weeks? Really?
Kind of hard to believe, but there it is...I left my house 6 weeks ago today. Odd. I thought I'd post a little early this week because I have a little free time which won't exist near a computer until Monday.
Okay, this week...the weather was REALLY GROSS for several days last week, so on Friday after I'd bought some amazing shoes (I know, it's weird hearing myself get excited over shoes...and then I hear the YouTube video on my head), Deanna, Sarah, and I went up to Settignano for some of the killer hot chocolate we found. We've decided to make this a habit, as it was the perfect ending to the week. We then went on a mission to find popcorn, and when we'd found it, were wooed into buying some wine, as it was on the other side of the aisle from the popcorn. After dinner and some homework, we ate our popcorn and drank our wine while watching...that movie that came out recently that's a lot like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...I don't remember what it's called in English but the Italian name had something to do with a forest or something. Anyway, we all passed out watching it. It was nice--I haven't had a popcorn movie night in a long time.
Saturday I went hiking in the woods up the mountain from my house. It was GORGEOUS...I think it was made better by the fact that it was the first pretty day in a while, but it was still fabulous. I brought my mandolin and played some on a rock until my butt started to feel clammy from the moss and then wandered a bit more. I found three different cars that had wrecked in the woods a really long time ago and are now just shards of a horrible moment probably forgotten. I also found a set of rocks that looked like they were once a shelter, and it made me think of WWII...I wonder if someone hid in there. I also went to the Boboli Gardens that afternoon, but didn't wander a whole lot. On the way back I got gelato and then stopped by and chatted with Giovanni, letting him talk me into a pastry and a cappuccino. After dinner Sarah and I went to the Festival of Creativity which had a couple of art exibits and some concerts. It was interesting--there was a big stand where they were doing improv rapping, and although I could barely understand them (I don't usually understand English rappers either) it was neat to see the similarities and differences between the Italian and American counter-culture/gangsta groups. Most of the art exibits were political or activistic, and seeing the Italian spin on that was neat too. One which I thought was particularly clever was a picture of the American flag (they'd done this with several countries, which was what I found clever, but I only remember the U.S. one) and then on the side there was a color legend, saying Red=People who support the war in Iraq, White=People who don't support the war in Iraq, and Blue=People who don't know where Iraq is. Says a bit about our country, doesn't it? I see a lot of how America is viewed here, and I feel ashamed for us. Everything that we make a big deal out of is all everyone else sees, and that view is grotesque. I know the U.S. is so much more than that, which makes it all the more painful and shameful to me when I see the image we project.
Anyway, back on track...Sunday I went up to Settignano and read. All bloody afternoon. From an Art History text book. In Italian. *head meets table* It was an odd day because it was Daylight Savings here and I had no idea until about 5:00/4:00, and it kind of drug on, even though it was nice for most of the day.
Yesterday was pretty too, but parts were frustrating because I kept having to backtrack on things. Oh well. When I got home I spent a while talking to Deanna, drinking tea, and eating cookies. Sarah joined in when she got home, and then we all did homework until Deanna and I left for the pool. We only got about 40 minutes of swimming in because the last bus we can take home from there leaves the stop at 9:25 and our swim time is from 8:30 to 9:30. I need to get a tire pump so I can use my bike again! Anyway, Deanna and I did a long warm up and then some "sprints" (quotes because we came in on :45 for our 50s and 1:45 for our 100s...even allowing for the fact that it's meters, that's still poo) and were hit on again by the guy who shares our lane on Mondays. On the way home and while we ate we had a long discussion about past relationships and our philosophies on relationships. Overall, it was a good evening. Then I dreamt in Italian and woke up ecstatic!
Randomly: I've started beating the computer almost every time on Reversi/Othello even on the hardest setting, so I think I'm going to have to make myself a set out of a board and some painted rocks and teach someone here to play. I wish I had Moix so I could see if I've actually gotten any better.
Alright, I need to finish some stuff up and see if I can make the Hebrew class today...hopefully they'll let me sit in and just listen...I'd really like to learn. If not, I'll give up for now and maybe pick up a book on learning German or something. It probably would be a bad idea to learn another romance language here, so we're going with Middle East, Asia, or Germanic.
Oh, I'm trying to post pictures on Facebook, so eventually you'll be able to see some of the stuff I've been talking about. Will work on it more later. I may be hard to get ahold of this weekend--it's Fall Break and I'm going to Germany with some other Smithies, but I'll tell everyone about it next week. Ciao!
Okay, this week...the weather was REALLY GROSS for several days last week, so on Friday after I'd bought some amazing shoes (I know, it's weird hearing myself get excited over shoes...and then I hear the YouTube video on my head), Deanna, Sarah, and I went up to Settignano for some of the killer hot chocolate we found. We've decided to make this a habit, as it was the perfect ending to the week. We then went on a mission to find popcorn, and when we'd found it, were wooed into buying some wine, as it was on the other side of the aisle from the popcorn. After dinner and some homework, we ate our popcorn and drank our wine while watching...that movie that came out recently that's a lot like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...I don't remember what it's called in English but the Italian name had something to do with a forest or something. Anyway, we all passed out watching it. It was nice--I haven't had a popcorn movie night in a long time.
Saturday I went hiking in the woods up the mountain from my house. It was GORGEOUS...I think it was made better by the fact that it was the first pretty day in a while, but it was still fabulous. I brought my mandolin and played some on a rock until my butt started to feel clammy from the moss and then wandered a bit more. I found three different cars that had wrecked in the woods a really long time ago and are now just shards of a horrible moment probably forgotten. I also found a set of rocks that looked like they were once a shelter, and it made me think of WWII...I wonder if someone hid in there. I also went to the Boboli Gardens that afternoon, but didn't wander a whole lot. On the way back I got gelato and then stopped by and chatted with Giovanni, letting him talk me into a pastry and a cappuccino. After dinner Sarah and I went to the Festival of Creativity which had a couple of art exibits and some concerts. It was interesting--there was a big stand where they were doing improv rapping, and although I could barely understand them (I don't usually understand English rappers either) it was neat to see the similarities and differences between the Italian and American counter-culture/gangsta groups. Most of the art exibits were political or activistic, and seeing the Italian spin on that was neat too. One which I thought was particularly clever was a picture of the American flag (they'd done this with several countries, which was what I found clever, but I only remember the U.S. one) and then on the side there was a color legend, saying Red=People who support the war in Iraq, White=People who don't support the war in Iraq, and Blue=People who don't know where Iraq is. Says a bit about our country, doesn't it? I see a lot of how America is viewed here, and I feel ashamed for us. Everything that we make a big deal out of is all everyone else sees, and that view is grotesque. I know the U.S. is so much more than that, which makes it all the more painful and shameful to me when I see the image we project.
Anyway, back on track...Sunday I went up to Settignano and read. All bloody afternoon. From an Art History text book. In Italian. *head meets table* It was an odd day because it was Daylight Savings here and I had no idea until about 5:00/4:00, and it kind of drug on, even though it was nice for most of the day.
Yesterday was pretty too, but parts were frustrating because I kept having to backtrack on things. Oh well. When I got home I spent a while talking to Deanna, drinking tea, and eating cookies. Sarah joined in when she got home, and then we all did homework until Deanna and I left for the pool. We only got about 40 minutes of swimming in because the last bus we can take home from there leaves the stop at 9:25 and our swim time is from 8:30 to 9:30. I need to get a tire pump so I can use my bike again! Anyway, Deanna and I did a long warm up and then some "sprints" (quotes because we came in on :45 for our 50s and 1:45 for our 100s...even allowing for the fact that it's meters, that's still poo) and were hit on again by the guy who shares our lane on Mondays. On the way home and while we ate we had a long discussion about past relationships and our philosophies on relationships. Overall, it was a good evening. Then I dreamt in Italian and woke up ecstatic!
Randomly: I've started beating the computer almost every time on Reversi/Othello even on the hardest setting, so I think I'm going to have to make myself a set out of a board and some painted rocks and teach someone here to play. I wish I had Moix so I could see if I've actually gotten any better.
Alright, I need to finish some stuff up and see if I can make the Hebrew class today...hopefully they'll let me sit in and just listen...I'd really like to learn. If not, I'll give up for now and maybe pick up a book on learning German or something. It probably would be a bad idea to learn another romance language here, so we're going with Middle East, Asia, or Germanic.
Oh, I'm trying to post pictures on Facebook, so eventually you'll be able to see some of the stuff I've been talking about. Will work on it more later. I may be hard to get ahold of this weekend--it's Fall Break and I'm going to Germany with some other Smithies, but I'll tell everyone about it next week. Ciao!