Uno

10.02.06 (date, European style...Feb 10, 2006)

Yay!! I finally am able to start this thing up for all you beautiful people to read. I decided to number these by Italian numbers so not only can you see what Im up to, but you can also learn to count in Italian!! Entertaining and educational!

Ok, well just to do a quick recap, since this was started late in my journey....I arrived in London on Jan 12, had a hellish time at the airport, but spent three days and hit all the highlights London has to offer. The weather was really crappy and everything is crazy expensive there, so I was ready to leave. The pound is worth $2!! To put that nonsense in perspective, I exchanged $80 for 40 pounds. And I just barely made it the three days with that, I had to eat some really cheap meals. And you would think you were getting a good deal...like a crappy sandwich, some weird chips and a water for say, 5 pounds. But then you would think about it, and it was like, wtf? I just paid $10 for this terrible meal! It was no good. But I did get to go to a Russian Winter Festival...it was really interesting. There was some crazy entertainment.

Moving on, I was ready for Italy. We spent the first 3 weeks in Florence, which is such a beautiful city. There I took an intensive Italian language class. It wasnt too terribly hard, but of course, since I am retarded, I made a B+. I still dont really know how that happened, but whatever...at least I didnt fail. We had the cutest and nicest teachers with the greatest accents. I loved being in class just to listen to them speak. We would do 2 hours of grammar stuff and then 1.5 hours of conversation. While we were there, we stayed in the Hotel Porta Rossa, which was right in the middle of the city. It was not far from the Florence Duomo (it took me awhile to realize that every city has a duomo), which is this enormous church in the middle of town. Seriously, its huge. And its so weird because youll just be walking down the street, mouth watering over gelato in the window and all the SALDI! (sale) signs and then BAM! The duomo and its enormity would hit you in the face as you turned the corner. Everywhere we walked was just amazing. And every day on the walk to school, we walked across the river and could see the Arno and the Ponte Vecchio, which is the main river and the really famous bridge in Florence. Also while we were there, we took a 3 day weekend to Venice. This is probably my favorite place so far. It was soooo beautiful. It is everything you see in pictures, only a thousand times better. I seriously want to go back and live there at some point in my life. If not live, at least get engaged there. I am going to have to decline my future fiancee unless he proposes on a gondala, in Venice. I dont ask for much. Anyways, the weather was crappy when we first got there, but it was beautiful the last day and a group of us took a gondala ride. It was soo pretty. Of course, the batteries on my camera died, but I am going to steal pictures from friends as soon as I can. Our gondolier was kind of lame, he talked on his cell phone some on the ride, and I think he was just making stuff up about where people lived and stuff. And, he didnt sing or anything. But it was still amazing. And we went to a bunch of churches and museums while we were there. We had art historians as our guides, so we learned a lot of really cool stuff. There is so much art here..espcially Christian art. Jesus and Mary are huge here! Everywhere you go! Its interesting, but I am so excited about getting into the mythology stuff and everything. We also went to Siena for the day while in Florence. It is such a cute little town. Its very quiet, but it was a nice break from busy Florence. There is this huuuge square in the middle of town (i forgot the name..St. Marks maybe?) where they have this crazy horse ride every year that lasts like, 10 seconds. Anyways, this quick recap is getting long so...Florence was amazing...on to Rome!

Rome is HUGE! There are soooo many people, everywhere you go it is soo crowded. But, I LOVE IT! There is so much to do and see, I am never bored. Me and 3 other girls (2 from Minnesota, one from Virgina) live in a Residence a couple blocks away from the Vatican. We got the crappier end of the apartment stick, but its ok because we have wireless, a porch and most importantly, hot water. And, its ok because we have fun together and there are a lot of other international students in our building that are fun. And, we dont have to worry so much about making noise at night, esp when we have crazy wine parties (jk).

Classes are good as well. For photography and Rome through the Ages, we get to go on site to so many cool places, I am so excited! Monday we are going to the Colosseum and we get to underneath and everything, where most tourists dont get to go. And for my history of the Italian Mafia class, we get to watch all these crazy mafia movies including The Godfather (which Ive never actually seen all the way through) and its just so interesting to learn about it. I look back at my notes and Im like, what am I doing?? I am taking notes on the infrastructure of the freakin MAFIA! I am also in conversational Italian, which I dont really like, but it is very helpful. I now know how to order a beer, talk to a policeman, and buy a train ticket. All very useful conversations to know.

The food here is amazing. When I go out, I usually get ravioli or pizza, or I pick something random to try, which usually turns out to be delicious. Once, I got steak it was amazing. But, its kind of expensive, so I usually go for cheap. We have these food ticket things that most restraunts accept, which is really nice. The grocery store does too, so we spend a lot there. It kind of makes you feel like you are on welfare though, its like using food stamps or something. But whatever, my appetite is bigger than my pride. At home, I have been eating mozzerrella cheese and balsmic vingerette like its going out of style. I also eat a lot of Nutella, which is the greatest thing ever created. My roomies think I am so weird, but I dont care. We also keep a abundant supply of wine, bread, and olive oil. And we go out for gelato...a lot. Gelato might be the best part of Italy. Cream caramel is definately the way to go. Its all pretty delicious though.

Well, this is crazy long, so I am done for now. I miss everyone a lot but I am loving it here! The title of my blog, btw, means "This is the life!" (I think...my Italian struggles). I love getting emails from everyone, so keep them coming! I will try to get pictures up every now and then as well. I havent taken many in Rome yet, but Ive got time, no worries. Ciao ciao for now!