Nove

No-VEY (as in conVEY, without the con and with a no.....haha, double negative)

Hooray for the beautiful weekend! Seriously, such beautiful weather…and it was about freakin time! It is not quite skirt weather, but I’m really looking forward to it! And it’s kind of ok, I guess…my legs are not quite ready for skirt weather either. But they will be after next week cause I’m going to GREECE and sitting on the beach all day every day!!! SO PUMPED!

Anyways, let’s talk about the weekend. It was good. My iPod is slowly recovering I think, but it was a tough weekend without it. I got through it ok and realized that my iPod probably died because I have dropped it on the floor multiple times. I mean, I don’t do it on purpose, but it slides off my night stand and/or bed a lot. But really, it needs to stop being a baby and suck it up. It’s in Italy for goodness sake.

Jeez, enough with the blabbering. Friday, a couple of us that volunteer at the soup kitchen met up with some of the Italian volunteers to go out for a St. Patrick’s Day drink. They are not big on St. Patty’s here, so they were not pleased with getting pinched for not wearing green. Also, they weren’t concerned with celebrating right, so we ended up at a German bar. Wasn’t the most festive, but it was still fun and really cool to get to talk with real Italians. It was kind of nerve-racking though because every time I attempted to speak Italian, all five of them would stop and listen. I would normally crack under the pressure and end up saying something completely wrong. But whatever, I tried

Saturday I went to a peace demonstration. It was REALLY cool. I really had no idea what to expect. This is everything I had heard about it: from my teacher-“it will be good…come take pictures for extra credit. Va bene? See you Saturday.” And an email from the US Embassy-“AMERICANS-STAY AWAY.” Just kidding, it wasn’t that extreme, but that is basically what it said. But my teacher won out, so off into the unknown I went. It turned out to be one of the coolest things I have done. There were a ton of people there and they were all just walking down the street waving flags of all sorts, yelling things, smoking cigarettes, looking cool, and dancing. It was awesome. And the best part was the DRUM BAND. If you know me at all, you know that drum line is one of my most favorite things in the world and it literally almost brings tears to my eyes to hear it. I don’t know what it is, but the drums make me sooo happy. Seriously, I went into special ed, the other sister mode, when I heard them. The people with me where like, um ok, Carla…we’ll go find them because I was like, WHERE IS THAT COMING FROM?!?! I KNOW I CAN HEAR IT!!! And I found them and I loved it and was kicking myself because of course I didn’t have my digital camera, only the regular one. But I got pictures, so it’ll be good. It was just a cool thing to be a part of, especially since I think it was for a good thing. I don’t know too much about what is going on in Iraq, but I don’t think W is making any progress. But that is neither here nor there. After the excitement of the demonstration (no one was injured), we had a little fiesta at the apartment complete with tacos and guacamole but sadly, no sour cream. I once asked Dr. Hotness if they ate sour cream here and to explain what it was I said, "its like plain yogurt...but sour." And he looked at me like I was crazy (like he always does) and was like, um, no we don't eat that here. Anyways, Katie made the most amazing Tiramisu for dessert (which doesn’t really fit the Mexican theme, but it was delic, so I’m not complaining), and I had it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack the next day.

Sunday, I was a good little student and wrote seven (sette) pages of my History of the Mafia paper. I was pretty impressed with myself. Granted, most of it is purely speculation and I have to go back and fill in actual facts, at least I got something. I was pretty excited about writing it though, as dorky as that is. It is about the relationship between the Mafia and the Catholic Church, which I think is really interesting…and scandalous! That night I went to a Roma soccer game, against Messina (from Sicily) and it was a lot of fun. I fit right in with my super awesome ROMA jacket that I bought for 15 euro at a street vendor. People are intense about their soccer over here. There were at least 100 security guards around the Messina fans because people can get CRAZY. It’s cool though. On the way home, I had a really good panini, ate some Tiramisu when I got home and life was grand.

Today, we took pictures in the Jewish Ghetto (that is really what it’s called) and on the Tiber River Island for photography. The Island has the oldest hospital in Rome on it. Fun fact I learned in Rome through the Ages…when the Black Plague hit Italy, they brought in the Greek God Apollo and started worshiping him because he was the god of medicine and they thought they could help fight off the Plague. And they built they hospital in honor of him, and its been there ever since. Of course, it has since been Christianized, and hopefully modernized (I didn’t go inside, but I would think they are not still using leeches or something to heal people). Anyways, it’s surrounded by the Tiber River, obviously (hence the name) but the river is soo gross! The water is this disgusting brown color and there is trash everywhere. Even in the trees on the side! It floods when it rains so the water rises and the trash gets all stuck in the trees on the bank and in one of the trees there was a skeleton of a DOG in the branches!! Isn’t that crazy?!! Don’t worry, I took a picture…you all will get a visual. Then I went to the post office for the millionth time to try and mail some stuff, and of course, it was closed…at 3 in the afternoon. Grrr…Anywho, in my last 2 classes, we reviewed for the mid term. Rome through the Ages, no problem. Mafia, we reviewed for a looooong time, so we’ll see. Tonight I went to “dinner with Italian students,” this thing our program sets up for us every now and then. But really, its dinner with a Chicca’s friends. Chicca (Key-Ka) is a little older than the students and works in the housing office. Some of them aren’t really students, but whatever. I only got to sit by one, but he was really nice and fun to talk to. I am in LOVE with the Italian accent, especially when they speak English. He wasn’t even that good looking of a guy, but I was in love by the end of dinner. My favorite lines… “What did you choice?” and…I can’t think of anything else, but it was cute. I think that is why I love Dr. Hotness so much. He’s really good looking and all, but who can resist someone that says “Jesus baby” and says “nak’t” instead of naked? Not me. Anyways, Italian student was trying to explain to me how he wants to be a lawyer and how it works and with his broken English and my horrible Italian, we didn’t very far. But, “no worries” he said and we just talked about pizza and soccer, and it was good.

Must go study now. It’s not all fun and games here…hahahaha, yeah right. I have the best life ever…. “dolce vita.” Ciao ciao!

Oh, and here is a random picture for you to enjoy...Guess who?!

Otto

OH-TOE. Eight is easy.

Sooo...this thing is harder to keep up with because I am crazy busy. But, I like doing it when I have time. Right now, I really should be outside enjoying the amazing weather we are having, for once..so I am going to try and keep it short and sweet.

This week FLEW by! Oh yeah, Happy St. Patricks Day! I don't know how Italians celebrate this lovely holiday, but I am going to find out tonight! But I really can't believe its already Friday! I really didn't do anything to exciting this week, but the days are just flying by.

Last Saturday I went to my first real Italian club and it was crazy! I loved it though! I was kind of surprised because usually Italians are very laid back and chill, but they were definately going wild at the club! I mean, not too wild, just crazy dancing and having a good time. There was a lot of dancing, which I loved...I had been having a serious lack of dancing in my Italian life, but that is all fixed now. I went to a club last night as well and got some good dancing time in. You have be careful though because you never know who comes up dancing behind you. I observed from sitting out a couple songs that there are some creepy older men that show up to the clubs and dance all sneaky up on unsuspecting girls. So you have to watch your back. Literally.

I really need to start working on my school work because I have to write three 10 page papers in the next month. I realize that this is a ridiculously small amount of work compared to the normal PC workload, but it is hard to get anything done school wise when you have all of Italy to explore instead. Also, spring break is coming up (Friday!!) and I am definately not going to be getting anything done then! We fly to Athens this Friday and I could not be more excited! Other than having no money and not being sure how I am going to feed myself while I'm there, I am soooo pumped about it! We are doing like an island cruise thing, going around to a bunch of different Greek Island and ending up on Santorini, then ferrying it back to Athens and flying home on Sunday. Even if its not that warm yet, its going to be a-mazing!

Ok, I really need to go outside. More later. Keep the emails coming! I love hearing from everyone! Ciao ciao!

Ok..and addition. I did eventually go outside and it was sooo beautiful. I walked over to a friends apartment and on the way I stopped by St. Peters Square and sat for awhile because I heard bagpipes and got really excited! I don't know why they were playing but it was really funny....they had like a little parade through the square and then they played Happy Birthday!! It was fabulous and totally made my day. Then I kept walking to the apartment, and my friends weren't even there so I turned around and walked back. I was sad because I bought Frizzante water, which has gas in it and its disgusting. But then I went back to St. Peters to chill and met some girls that are American students in Rome. It reminded me a lot of home because they were trying to get me to come to some church thing. They were really nice and all, but it was just funny because I wasn't really expecting it, I guess. It was two sisters, both from Michigan, studying Philosohpy here. They were really nice. Then I went to the grocery store, which is my favorite part of Italian life and made myself a lovely little dinner and now I'm going to get ready to go celebrate St. Patricks day with all the crazy people I saw wandering around in kilts earlier today..don't know what that was about. Ta ta for now. Ciao ciao!

Sette

"Set" plus a little "teh" at the end.

Well well, after quite the exciting weekend adventure out of Rome, accomplishing life goals and drinking the tears of Christ on top of a voclano, one would think the following week would just not be able to measure up. But, one would be wrong. Because everyday in Rome is beyond amazing and beats most days spent in the states.

Monday was a good day. My orginally planned day was thrown off by the public transportation strike, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Because I couldn't go home as planned, I showed up early to the meeting place (the Colosseo metro stop) for Rome through the Ages and got to spend 30 minutes talking and sitting next to none other than, Dr. Hotness. It was amazing, as always. We laughed, I learned, we connected..it was magical. Then we visited the Triumphal Arch of Constatine (so cool) and then went to this super awesome church, the church of St. Clements, which is down the street from the Colosseum. On the way there, I learned that they do not eat sour cream in Italy, which is very sad and put a damper on our plans of having a Mexican fiesta. Anyways, we go to this church, which looks like your basic church from the outside...is pretty cool on the inside but then gets super awesome because there is a whole other SUB TERREAN level of architecture to explore. It was soooo awesome. You can walk downstairs, and basically walk through history. The main level of the church is what was rebuilt in like, the 17th century and then you go down a level and you see the orginal Christian church from way early times. There are still some floors, walls, columns, and even frescoes from that time period. And the, you walk even further and there are ruins of early pagan churchs and a temple dedicated to the cult of Mithros, which was similar to Christianity, but slightly stranger. It is so crazy that you can still see and walk through all this stuff. It was absolutly amazing to see and learn about. Rome through the Ages is definately one of the coolest classes I have ever taken. And not only because of Dr. Hotness..it is so exciting to be able to learn and experience 2000 years of history in the city I LIVE in. I mean, yay for Clinton..but its history pretty much consists of William Plumer Jacobs...not too exciting.

Wedesday we went to this place called Garbatella for photography. It was my first time riding Metro Line B, which was exciting, and also my first time getting seriously lost in Rome. It ended up being fine, other than showing up 30 minutes past the meeting time at the end of class. My teacher is super nice though, so it was ok. Garbatella is an area known for its unique architucture, so it made for a really interesting shoot. It had some really cool things to take pictures of, and it was nice because it wasn't ridiculously crowded like most of the city is. I talked to some really nice people while shooting as well, and was able to get some Italian practice in. People wanted to know what was going on since they say like, 15 people wandering around with cameras. I still am not completly comfortable with taking pictures of random people though, so it was nice to make friends before I started snapping away. I am really excited about getting those pictures back. That night I also went back to work at the soup kitchen, which was actually fun this time. It went a lot better than the first time, mainly because I got to work the front desk instead of working inside the eating area. I worked with 2 really nice people, both who knew enough English to where we could actually talk (I threw some Italian in when I could) and understand each other. This really nice man taught me the days of the week and is going to quiz me next week. I am totally going to be ready...Lunedi, Martedi, Meircoledi, Junedi, Venerdi, Sabato, Domenica. I don't think any of those are spelled correctly, but luckily, its going to be an oral exam.

Friday I went on a tour of Capotoline Hill, the Colosseum and very abbreviated Forum. We first walked through a demonstration, which I, of course, have no clue as to what it was about. There were a lot of colorful flags though. I got a little nervous though, because anytime we see or hear anything about demonstrations in mafia class, someone always gets shot. But, this one went on without any of that, thank goodness. Anyways, the tour was interesting. Most of the stuff I had already learned from Dr. Hotness, but it was interesting to get a different perspective, since our tour guide was younger, and American. He was really funny and focused more on interesting things to know, rather than the architecture and historical significance of the buildings. We also walked to the top of this cafe in the Capotoline museum, and we got an awesome view of the city.


That night we had a little dinner party and my friend Megan made some amazing gnocchi! Everything was sooo good and I stuffed my face. One of my roommates Katie, made dessert that we all devoured like crazy people. It was pretty funny...she set it on the table and we all attacked it. It was chocolate truffle something or other and it was soo good. I contributed nothing to the dinner. I didn't even help wash dishes. Shame on me. Then, we all went out afterwards and it after some very frustrating transportation issues...we finally make it into where we wanted to be. On the way there, it was nice out...not too cold, clear skies...Then, we are headed to a wine bar and it starts HAILING. It was the craziest thing...no one saw it coming. I was pretty upset because it was the first time I had straightened my hair since we had been in Rome and we all know that hail or any type of weather other than perfectly clear skies does not agree with straight hair. But it was still a fun night, even though we arrived at the wine bar soaking wet and looking rough.

Anyways, more adventures to come, as always. Every day gets better and better...and hopefully the weather will start doing the same. Ciao ciao si si va bene ciao si si si si va bene ciao ciao ciao ciao si va bene ciao ciao (this is how Italians say goodbye on the phone...one ciao is simply not enough).

Sei

Like saying "say" really country-like.

I accomplished a life goal this weekend! It was actually quite the productive weekend, since I actually accomplished 2 life goals, narrowly escaped death (twice) and basically had the best bus ride of my life.

oooo...and I just figured out that you can put pictures on here! So I am going to add some so you can see what I'm talking about. But the rest are on snapfish.com, so you can enjoy there as well, don't forget.

[above, Hotel Acqua]
[below, Pompei]

Ok, so, its always been a life dream to see Pompei, the Roman city that was covered in volcanic ash in 79 A.D. by an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and is pretty much preserved as it was at the time of the eruption. And, this weekend, I DID IT! It was A-MAZING. We went on Friday and wandered around the city for a couple hours. It was soooo cool! I mean, its not completly preserved, most of the city is ruins, but they are basically exactly the way they were when the volcano erupted. I can't even explain it, it is just the coolest thing I have ever seen, basically. I could have stayed there all day and not seen everything. Of course, my camera dies after like, 10 minutes of being there, so I have to steal other people's pictures as soons as they put them up. However, I got batteries towards the end, so I did get some pretty amazing pictures. The end between, I only have my memories...haha. We walked around the city with my hottie Rome through the Ages professor, Alessandro, (aka Dr. Hotness) and this beautiful man told us all about city life before the eruption. They have entire houses and streets preserved. There are even some places that have paintings, frescos and mosaics still preserved exactly as they were in 79 (SEVENTY NINE!) A.D. There are also places that have PEOPLE preserved in the positions they were in when they were covered in lava. It is so crazy! They are all crouched over and obviously scared to death. We only got to see a couple of those since a lot of the exhibits were closed because it wasn't tourist season, so they didn't have gaurds for them. Another thing we didn't get see is the "brothel" and all its erotic frescos, so that was a little sad. But we did get to see some later in the museum, and they were pretty risque, let me tell you. They also have an entire stadium (like a mini Colosseum) and amphitheater pretty much entirely intact. AHH, it was just so amazing! I loved it! And we stayed in this hotel with a gorgeous view in a little city in between Naples and Sorrento. That night we had free dinner at a local pizzeria and had some amazing pizza. The Napoli region is known for its pizza, and now I know why. We had some crazy pizza with hot dog and french fries on it, so that was interesting.

And as for the other life goal, I was telling some people on the bus how my other life goal had been to be SGA President, but obviously , that one is not going to come true..but they decided that I could be SGA president of AIFS, so that was dream #2 coming true!! Of course, its not exactly the same thing and only about 5 people voted, but I think it still counts...

Anyways, on Saturday we got up early and went to THE Mt. Vesuvius. It was a ridiculously crazy bus ride up and I came to some conclusions about the charter busses of Italy. First of all, they are magical. And the bus drivers themselves are sorcerors and were trained at the Chuck Norris School of Bus Driving. There is no way that it should be possible for them to be able to drive up the tiny little mountain roads that they drive up and make the turns that they do. Its insane and its not physically possible. So they're magic..I figured it out. Also, thanks to Chuck Norris for doing such a good job training them. The bus drivers in the actual city of Rome also attend the same school because they somehow navigate through the crazy Roman traffic without killing anyone (thus far). ANYWAYS, a couple funny things happened on the way to THE volcano. First, we're driving through some small little towns on the way there and Dr. Hotness gets on the bus mic and lets us know that we are driving through some really unsafe towns because they are pretty much run by the mafia, who traffic drugs and kill people basically, right outside our window. They are so dangerous, in fact, that not even the police can go into some areas. So that was the first way I escaped death, I didn't get killed by the mafia driving through. (Just kidding, I wasn't really scared...I am learning all about the mafia and they wouldn't randomly shoot a bus full of Americans...unless we got in their way....) Moving on, we get up to the top after the bus driver works his magic and....its closed because its so foggy and windy. It was pretty funny since we had gone through the whole ordeal to get 3 massive charter busses up there. But someone convinces them to let us go up and we literally walk straight up hill to the top. Most people dropped off when we got to the first and second souvenir stands (thats right, souvenir stands on top of a volcano...Italians are always looking to make a deal) but me and a few other brave souls made it to the top. Of course, we could not see a thing and we almost got blown off the mountain because it was wicked windy, but it was still cool to get to the top. To celebrate, we had some wine called "Lacruma Christi del Vesuvio," which means the Tears of Christ. I thought it was pretty hysterical that they had wine made from Christ's tears...so it was only appropriate to have a glass at the top of THE volcano. Anyways, when I was good and smashed (jk, I only had a tiny glass) we went back down and then onto Napoli. That was second way escaping death, since THE volcano didn't erupt on us. It is due for an eruption any day now, so I was definately taking my chances.

Napoli was soo crazy. The traffic there was INSANE. But, once again our magic bus drivers got us to the archelogical museum safe and sound without killing us or any pedestrians. I had the best pizza I've ever had in my life there. Dr. Hotness told us that Napoleons (isn't that cool that they are called that?) don't eat pizza anywhere else in Italy because they know theirs is the best. Anyways, the museum was very interesting...they had a lot of orginal statues and other things from Pompei....including a lot of statues of penis', which were apparently a very important part of the daily life of Pompeians...so that was interesting to see. Afterwards, Dr. Hotness and friends took us on a tour through Naples (stupid me left my camera on the bus, so I have no documentation of this tour) and we saw a pretty nunnery, a TON of graffiti, lots of random Napoleon things, a huge square palace thing, and a castle. Then came the best bus ride of my life because I got to sit next to.....DR. HOTNESS! I won't bore you with details, but it was fabulous. A tad akward because I get nervous around really good looking people, but overall, I did alright. However, I think he thinks I am pretty ridiculous (which I am) because he usually just laughs at whatever I say and then doesn't really respond. But whatever.

Sunday we had to get up crazy early and we were scheduled to go to the island of Capri, but sadly it was too windy and we went to a palace in some random small town instead. It was ok, but it was no Capri. It did have a cool waterfall/fountain thing so it was fun to walk around. Then we came home on the magic bus and ate at Roadhouse Grill at the train/bus/metro station and it was soo delicous.

Also, as a random side note that doesn't have anything at all to do with the weekend...I bought a Belinda Carlisle CD at a Roman bookstore and I am really pumped about it because I decided that she is my female hero since she sings my ultimate favorite song, "Heaven is a Place on Earth." I also learned that is actually the real name of the song, and not just "Heaven on Earth," as I previously thought. "Heaven On Earth" is just the name of the CD. Good to know.

So anyways, it was an AWESOME weekend and who the heck knows what next week will bring. I am in love with Italy. Ciao ciao!

Cinque

Cheeen qu-ay. Otherwise known as five.

Yesterday was quite the adventure. Well, everyday is but yesterday was espcially jam packed with adventures. Oh yeah, and Tuesday was "Mardi Gras" (they dont call it that here but thats essentially what is was). It was pretty uneventful for me. I had class at 9, so I didn't want to get crazy. But we did go out for a little bit and it was funny because there were all kinds of crazy people running around in costumes. They are really into dressing up for Carnival here. There were a lot of drag queens with horrible make up.

But anyways, onto Ash Wednesday. So, I have to get up at 9 for Photography and meet at Castel San Angelo. I thought we were going to just take pictures there, but our teacher tells us to focus mainly on St. Peters Square, which is right down the street since there were a ton of people there for Ash Wednesday and the Pope. We have 36 pictures to capture the "essence of Ash Wednesday," with anything from architecture to people selling all their crazy rubbish. Seriously, they have everything! Little statues of THE DAVID, flowers, food, lighters in the shape of the leaning tower and then there is the Pope merchandise. His face is on everything! Plates, lighters, bottle openers, flags, shirts, cups, bags, hats, seriously, everything. Its insane. So whatever, I wander down the street, taking pictures of whatever. I don't really like taking pictures of people because 1. I don't really care to have pictures of them. 2. Its hard to set up a frame of something interesting because I can't get that close or get them to do what I want and 3. I'm afraid they are going to get mad or tell me I owe them 5 euro, like the gladiators at the Colosseum. So I take a lot of stills, thinking how cool it would be if I could actually get in the square to take pictures. I heard you had to have a ticket, which I didn't so I just stood outside the gates. And I looked kind of creepy too because I busted out the zoom lense to try and get some shots inside the Square. And it was so funny to just watch everyone because they are all getting so hyped up about seeing the Pope. There are tons of people there, singing and waving flags and cheering...even before he comes. It was like a rock concert! Then, he finally comes out on his little Pope chariot (it wasn't the actual Pope mobile) and people go crazy! It was fabulous. And I'm still standing in the back, just cracking up because all I can see is his little white head going by. Oh, and I can see him on the JUMBO TRON they had set up. Thats right, Benedetto was up on the jumbo tron. So hes waving to the people, and people are crying and yelling "Papa!" And I'm laughing because I just can't believe that this is real and I'm really in ITALY at ST. PETERS SQUARE watching the POPE ride by on his chariot. I still can't believe I'm here sometimes. Anyways, I walk closer to the gate because I see some friends and a carabieneri (local police) is all, you want to come in? I told him I didn't have a ticket and he said that you only had to have a ticket to sit down!! I was a little mad because I already used up all my shots, but whatever...I still got to go in. I only stayed for a little bit, but I heard the gospel read in like, 6 langauges and listened to the Pope speak for a little while. I didn't stay to hear him speak in English, but it was still pretty cool. I SAW THE POPE!

So, after my exciting morning, I walked to school, did some random stuff (Photography is my only Wed. class) and then wandered around and did some shopping. I walked off my usual path and found the prettiest little back and side streets. I mean, everywhere you walk here is gorgeous, but it was such a nice day, it was great. And, of course, my camera is still dead because the batteries I bought for it don't work, so I couldn't take any pictures. I spent a couple hours in a bookstore which was amazing as well. I bought some books and a Belinda Carlisle CD, because she is my hero (Heaven on Earth singer...). I also went into this shoe store because they had really cool tennis shoes in the window and I have been wanting cool tennis shoes, so I went in. But it was really strange, because there were no tennis shoes in the actual store, which was only this tiny room. So I stand around for a bit, because the sales person is talking to some guy outside and isn't really interested in helping me so then I just leave because I didn't want to cause any problems. Sales people and waiters here are not very friendly or helpful. I kind of wish I could be a waitress like that at home because they come take our order whenever they feel like, never check on us to see if we want anything, usually someone else brings out the food, and they only bring the check if you can flag them down to ask for it. Anyways, I ended up just walking home and will try again one day in hopes someone else will be working and I can speak better Italian.

I signed up to work in a soup kitchen, so I started that last night. It was very interesting. We had to fight our way through the crowd to even get in. There were some crazy people there! But I guess I would be a little crazy too if I had to resort to the soup kitchen for food. Anyways, there are about 5 of us from my program there doing it, and we were there to clean up and refill the water mainly. Of course, people were making all these demands in Italian, and we were all kind of like, ummmm...I don't understand you. It was frustrating and a little scary sometimes because people would get so mad! There were some Italian girls working as well though, so they could figure out what they wanted. I met some really nice people though. One man taught me the days of the week in Italian and we managed to have an entire conversation with me struggling along in Italian. And most of the other people working were nice as well. There were some jerks though that got all demanding and rude. It made me a little angry because we weren't there to be their waitresses, but they would treat us like we were. I didn't mind helping the nice people but there was a group of younger guys that were so rude and wanted me to take their trays and all this other stuff. And of course, we had some men like, hitting on us, and I'm like, are you serious? We are in a soup kitchen, no I am not giving you my number. Overall, it was good though and I'm looking forward to going back next week.

To end the day, my roommate and I ate some amazing Chinese food and I took bath and went to bed early for once. It was lovely. Tomorrow, we are going to Naples and then Pompeii. I AM SO EXCITED! More to come on that next week! Ciao ciao!