Back to the old grind...

So I guess I am getting bad about this whole blog updating thing. So sorry!

Yesterday was a pretty boring day. I was tired from this weekend, but I got enough sleep that I didn't feel exhausted for school. And it was great to wake up and have my regular breakfast here... certain things like that about having a routine are really comforting to me.

Class was, well, class. Anytime I have to be cooped up inside when I just want to be out enjoying Italy isn't exactly my favorite. But I feel like I am least making some progress with my Italian. That is all that I can hope for. I don't know if I'll even have an opportunity after this month to really speak or practice my Italian, so what I'm learning seems like mostly something which will benefit me now.

But I guess maybe I'll just try to become fluent and move here eventually. =)

From what I've heard others talk about, it sounds like everybody had a great weekend. From Rome to Rimini to Cinque Terre... But I must say that I think our trip sounded like the best. How can you beat sea kayaking in Elba? It would take a lot.

After class I went to lunch with Sara, Jessica, and two other girls from our group Katie and Lauren. We all had calzones for 4 Euros. Mine was spinach and cheese... super heavy, but very good.

After lunch, we decided to find somewhere to study for the tests we all had today. We ended up going to the Boboli Gardens (which are apparently pretty famous), climbing up a pretty long ways, and finding a nice patch of grass to study on. I think I've forgotten how to study, though, so that made it difficult to even attempt to get anything done.

I walked home with Sara and Lauren after we stopped to shop a little in H&M. And, of course, I had to have my gelato at my favorite place on the way home. Flavor of the Day: Straciatella. SO GOOOOOOOOD.

It was really hot, and I was pretty gross, so I relaxed a casa for a little while. I added my host mother Gianna on facebook, and then I went to get Laura (Semmel) from the Duomo. We finally got to actually hang out in Italy... what a novel idea. It's crazy that we're both in the same city and the same time, just with different programs.

But I was so glad that she got to come over for dinner. She has to pay for her own food, which stinks, and we always have more than enough food to go around. At the table we had Gianna, Katie (the Thai lady), Ana (the Russian lady), Kate, Kayla, Sara, Jessica, and me PLUS Laura, Matt's friend, the two Austrian girls (Anna and Denise) who are staying with us for the week. Oh, and Matt and Paolo had their own romantic table for two. What a crowd, right?

We ate by candlelight, which made for a pleasant ambience. And the dinner was fantastic, as usual. We mostly talked in English, though, since so many of the people there didn't speak Italian. So I really got to contribute to the conversation this time!

After dinner, I walked Laura back to the Duomo, came back to the apartment, and attempted to study for a while. Let's just say that I failed to do so... It is just so much easier not to! And, of course, I had to attempt to keep in some kind of touch with people via facebook... It's bad that that's almost as much of a distraction here as it is at home.

And now onto today...

This morning was my first test for my class here. I’ve felt a little bit behind everybody since we started classes, and I wasn’t expecting too much of myself on this. But I got up at 6:3o (UGH) to attempt to study. I even studied during my sacred yogurt and granola breakfast time!

I assumed we would take the test at 9, when classes start, but we ended up not taking it until 12, the last hour of class. And waiting is the worst part! Before the test, we learned the conditional tense… which I actually know really well already. So hallelujah, praise the Lord. I may not be behind for this section!

When we finally took the test, she let us use our books. But I still thought it was pretty difficult. Languages are not exactly my cup of tea. But we’ll see how it turns out…

I went to lunch with the same people from yesterday at “Il Porcospino”… at least, I think that’s what it was called. It means “The Porcupine” in English. Katie made friends with the waiter on past trips to Florence, and I guess she goes to this place pretty often. I had pizza margherita for about the 3rd or 4th time this trip, but I tried some of Jessica’s and Katie’s pesto gnocchi. It was delicious!

We had a few hours to waste so Lauren, Sara, and I walked around the market for awhile. I had a pizza box with leftover pizza in it, and I got a few strange comments from people along the way. One was something about a pizza party; but my favorite was when a random guy walked up to me, looked me straight in the eyes, and just said, “Thank you.” Lauren and I almost died laughing.

We tried to go to a travel agent to figure out plans for this weekend (hopefully Rome…), but they were super slow, and we needed to get back to school to meet our group. I guess we’ll have to go again tomorrow.

Anyway, the entire Alabama crew loaded up in two vans and headed up to where Gabriella and her husband, the heads of CLIDA, live. It was a very long, steep ride; my stomach was not feeling so hot when we got there, but the house was worth it. And there were cherry trees right outside. I WANT CHERRY TREES WHEN I HAVE A HOUSE. So amazing, and the cherries were delicious. We had tons of fun picking them and eating them… and making hilarious jokes about them. But Kirk kept throwing them at me, and I almost had to hurt him.

And then we started our cooking lesson… Basically, we put on some super cool plastic aprons and just divided into groups to work on some part of our meal. Lauren, Ben, and I peeled tomatoes and chopped up garlic and onions. We weren’t very skilled, so it took a while… and my hands still smell awful from that!

We ate our huge dinner, and I truly enjoyed the company of the entire group. And I saw a scorpion and made friends with a giant stuffed gorilla named Filipo… il mio ragazzo per la sera.

And the ride back was molto interesante. It is nice making new friends that I can joke and have fun with and make the most of my time here with. Overall it was most definitely a fun night, although I was sad I had to miss dinner with the family. There’s always tomorrow night, except that Matt and his friend are going to Scotland and won’t be here.

Oh, and I missed my daily dose of gelato today. How sad! But I made up for it with plenty of other sweet treats. Cake and chocolates at the Materassi’s house. If I am not 20 pounds heavier when I return, I will consider that a failure.

So I guess that’s all for the past two days. I so wasn’t planning on writing this tonight, but if I fall behind I may never catch up.

I hope life is fabulous for everybody! <3