Siena Days...

Dear Blog,

Because of the lack of male interaction here (we are basically forbidden to speak, look, or accidentally bump into) as soon as the girls meet fellow BYU students or U.S. college kids it’s a mad house. Rumor is that last night some of the girls met some BYU students (all boys) who were traveling around for a week. Apparently it was a catfight to get the attention from the boys. I am glad I was not there for I heard that some girls were desperate that only one or two had a change to speak. The best part: They are all facebook friends as of today. ha!! It is sad and funny whom we consider friends now.

Friday nights are less productive since our curfew is eleven and considering the bus stops at 10:00 pm we are stuck at home by seven.  So I spent the evening entertaining myself by singing along with all my good friends, the Beetles and the Beach boys. After awhile I found a book on the shelf. It was a compilation of short stories by Oscar Wilde. I proceeded to read it (in English of course) and laugh out loud at the lines and lines of witty humor. Oscar Wilde definitely made my night! Bravo Oscar for clever lines.

Today was spent touring around Siena seeing the main sites and sketching some more at the Museo Dell’Opera. I am really loving the time spent sketching and I barely notice the hours pass by. The Duomo here in Siena is so gorgeous and unique. Sharlie, Kimberly and I walked around till we found a nice Panini shop, got a panino and discovered a nice park that looked over some of Tuscany! It really was a great find! It is semi close to my school so I think more hours will definitely have to be spent there.

My Saturday night was great as well! I talked to my best friend Miriam on Skype, which was so fun! Had a great meal at home with Caterina and her daughter Maria who is thirty-six and looks twenty-eight. She is a true natural beauty! Maria speaks six languages and has lived everywhere! It was amazing to talk to her and hear all about her experiences she has had. She taught in Korea for 3 ½ years, lived in Portugal for one year, Edinburgh for six months, France for a year, and has traveled all over the world! She is definitely a great example on how to be a world traveler. 

After dinner we watched the Italians version of the Oprah Winfrey Show. The main host looked like a transvestite and spoke in a lower range than any man I know. Her story is that she married a famous TV producer who got her a job as this Dr. Phil/ Oprah kind of person and soon became one of the most famous gals on tv.

In honor of Paul Newman I want to say that he was an amazing actor. I loved him in all his movies! Long live the legacy of the dressings, lemonade, and last but not least a charming actor! Sunday was great. I almost missed the bus and ran after it and because the nice bus driver was driving he stopped and opened the door for me. Maybe he heard about my bad luck with the bus last sunday??  Church was great as usual. A friend we have met who is studying at the University came. He is a professor of Theology. He got his masters in Opera/Music and another in Theology. He will get his PHD in Florence this year! Paul is from Australia and loved the primary program the kids put on. 

The rest of the day was spent in my room cleaning little things, watching some Ugly Betty that I had on my laptop, sleeping and of course more of Oscar Wilde. Our host mother asked us why we do not go out on Domenica and party or go to the Cinema. We explained the best we could that Sundays were a day of rest and such. She did not understand and kept repeating, 'curioso'. Eh, oh well.  Dinner was great as usual and then I took a nice, long, hot shower. I know I should not have but I could pass up the opportunity of the warm water. I also shaved my legs! (Only girls will understand when I say Caveman.) Because of the cold water I was never able to shave them.. I admit it kept me warm but it was time to go. This week is pact with lots of trips. Thursday is Florence again, Friday is another field trip to Buonconvento e Monte Olieveto. (?) and Saturday some girls and I are heading to Arezzo for the day. We will get back in time to catch a session of General Conference. We only get one of the sessions saturday, and the rest Sunday. We will be at the church from 2-12 pm catching all sessions. We got special permission from the Kennedy Center and the missionaries. Whoopdidoo! Party at the church! 

  I hope all of you are doing great! Email any time! I would love to hear from you. If anyone wants to update me on some of the economic issues going on that would be good too. I only watch the news in Italian and don't understand a word. Plus, internet time is precious and so I spend it updating the blog, responding to emails, and taking online quizzes which leaves little time for reading other things.  

p.s. I just realized that I have reached the half way mark here! SCARY! Life passes by to quickly here!

A few pictures I thought I would post. I will update later today on my weekend adventures.

Picures include me and my Vespa, Inside the Siena Duomo, and me inside the baptistry

small update

Dear Blog,

Everyday in Siena I walk by a certain church with a courtyard that has a long cement siding where I find the same old men religiously sitting and watching all the tourists and locals pass by. I feel sort of like a goldfish in a bowl as they stare with their overly large glasses that magnify their eyes ten times larger than eyes should ever be, also accompanying them is a cane, newspaper and usually a hat. I smile at them but get the same blank stare and huff as each one puffs and blows their cigar smoke towards my way. What a peculiar culture they have created… more like a suicidal culture. Everyone seems to not mind smoking his or her hearts and lungs out.  I could build another Pantheon with all the discarded cigarettes lying all over the streets.

Last night as I was eating dinner I started talking about berries…which lead to Jam, which lead to an interesting incident. My Host mother was very excited about my love for jam and quickly showed us some she had just made. Caterina brought out some more bread and I greedily spread the apple jam smoothly on my piece. About ten minutes later she proceeded to tell us that it was actually homemade baby food that she had made earlier that day for her granddaughter Adelle. I then lost my appetite.

My family came to visit me! I really needed that little comfort from home. What a great time we had going to dinner at the Campo and showing them around. They met the girls in my group and Peter the director. Maddie had brough Gold fish and gave me a package of originals. Amazing. And my mother brought me some Lebkuchen from Austria! My very favorite kind of cookie. 

Today was my first Oral exam for Italian. I was a little nervous but it was fine. I have been studying since Tuesday so I had most of it memorized. The only hard part are the 6 irregular verbs. 

Life is good here. Yesterday my art class went to the Museum del’opera and drew statues for four hours. We had to shade everything instead of sketch.

I am still not finished and hope to finish it by Saturday.

I will try and update more next week! Ciao!

Bisogno ho di Te

Dear Blog,

Sunday: the day of peace and rest. I look forward to this day even more so here in Europe. I love the slow, peaceful day that I get to have. First I wake up and have a nice long breakfast, get ready, go to church, have a nice twenty-minute walk home, take a nap, read my scriptures and have a nice dinner with Sharlie and Caterina. However, today did not start off quite as magical.

I woke up late, showered in cold water, barely made it on the bus, and as we were getting off at our stop a bus police got on and asked us for our tickets. As Sharlie got her wallet out and showed her bus pass, I panicked as I pictured my wallet resting on the old desk in my room. Hoping I was wrong I quickly looked through my bag to find my journal, scriptures, and a cell phone.  The Bus police took me by the shoulder and lead me out of the bus.

“Oh no,” I thought as I stepped off the bus and looked back as the others watched and stared at me like I was some kind of criminal. We stood on the side of the road visible to all passerby’s as she began to greedily get out her citation booklet that looked dusty. This bus lady did not speak English so we communicated the best we could. After much confusion on my part, and with tears in my eyes I replied to all her inquiries, “Si, va bene.” Which is yes, that is good/ I agree. 

The verdict: Charged with a citation and a fee of 40 Euros with a 0.95-cent charge for the write up. Oh such a typical European thing to charge ninety-five cents extra! The bus lady called my host mom and thankfully Caterina vouched for me and said something that made the bus lady soften just enough to speak a little slower to us afterwards so that we could understand a few words more, and gave me five days to show my bus pass and appeal to the bus court. I won’t have to pay the fine if they agree that I was honest and really did have a pass. Wish me luck! I am going tomorrow morning.

I had to fill out a few other documents and sign something and was on my way, now thirty minutes late for church. The rest of the way there I walked silently promising myself that I would always have my wallet with me when I leave the house!

I had organized a group of eight girls earlier that week to sing a special musical number for sacrament meeting. I was a bit frazzled from the bus event but as I walked up and started to sing with the other girls I felt comforted. We sang ‘I need thee every hour’, or ‘Bisogno ho di Te’. As I sang this song the reality that I do need my savior every hour was so clear to me. We sang the first two verses in English and then the second verse in Italian.

• I need thee every hour, stay though near by; temptations lose their pow’r, when thou art nigh. I need thee, oh I need thee. Every hour I need thee, oh bless me now my savior I come unto thee.
• Bisogno ho di Te, se Tu mi sei vicin. Il male vincero col grande Tuo poter.

Bisogno, ho Bisogno, sempre del Tuo amore; se Tu mi sei vicino, io vengo a Te.

These beautiful words touched the hearts of the congregation and as we finished I looked around at the eight Italian members and felt their testimonies.

 

The walk home from church was good as Sharlie and I exchanged our thoughts and feelings about our church experience. We also figured out that we both share a love for the movie Court Jester! We laughed as we quoted Danny Kaye’s brilliant lines and hysterical acting. As we talked I started to tell her about my cousin Christopher who reminds me of Danny Kaye. One thing lead to another and when we got home I showed her a picture of Chris. She thought he was cute and now I am on a mission to set them up. (as soon as he is home from Brazil of course).

Anyway life is great and I am happy to report that I am not in jail for being on a bus illegally and want to let all the Italians know that I am not a criminal.  I hope your Sundays went well and remember to rely on the savior always.  Buona giornata! Bacio e abbraccio!

 

Semi-spur of the moment

Dear Blog,

This weekend me and some other girls went on a semi-spur of the moment 2 day trip.

We had planned to go to Pisa and Lucca this weekend but then complications arose and our communication skills were not so great and we decided against it. Unfortunately due to the lack of communication one girl booked us a room in a Hostel in Lucca. She could not get a refund when she heard were weren’t going and so at ten at night the night before we left we decided to all go anyway. I packed my backpack stuffing it with food, toiletries, and a jacket. I woke up at five thirty in the morning, angry when I saw the rain and waited at the bus stop for my bus in the cold, rainy weather. I met three other girls at the bus stop at six thirty and we all bought our tickets to Pisa. By then it was raining cats and dogs… it was not a great start. When we got to Pisa we had to catch a bus to the field of Miracles where the leaning tower is and the church + baptistery. It was very neat to see it all! The rain made it a bit uncomfortable when my umbrella started leaking through because it was drenched. I thought umbrellas were waterproof!? We then walked about thirty minutes (remember, we are in the pouring rain) to the Train Centrale and caught our train to Lucca. Lucca is an old city that is built inside a massive brick wall that helped give protection to the city during the Renaissance. I was not that enthusiastic about being out in the Rain but as soon as I saw the wall and walked up the stairs I quickly brightened up. The whole wall around the city has trees growing on it and it is like a garden/forest! You then walk down the stairs on the other side and are inside the city. Lucca is by far one of my most favorite cities in the world. Extremely romantic and so picturesque! I would recommend anyone and everyone to go spend a weekend there when in Europe. We walked around trying to sightsee some different cathedrals and such but because of the rain we couldn’t find the energy to do much. Finally the sun decided to grace us with its presence and shine its light. Thank you sun! Lucca came alive and as we walked down the little shopping streets, and bakeries we became overjoyed as we saw a pizza place and finally ate for the first time that day around seven thirty. We enjoyed a nice evening around the city and then found our hostel. It was in the basement and looked like a cave but it was warm and safe. I fell right asleep next to a brick wall, which smelt like mildew and clay but because I was dry and was finally off my feet I did not care at all.

The next morning we got an early start and headed to the weekly Saturday antique market. This market was amazing and we spent four hours browsing the amazing old clothing, furniture, and jewelry. I bought two rings and I cannot wait to show them off. One has three garnets on it and the other is some kind of yellowish cream stone. Both inlaid in silver with ornate designs around each one. We walked by an amazing pastry shop and had to go. The smell was amazing and as I looked over the options I was overjoyed to see warm strudel freshly cooked and just brought out of the oven. I got one of the strudels and a sugar glazed roll that was flavored with lemon. These two pastries were such succulent, mouth-watering pastries sent from heaven. I have never in my life had such delicious tasting pastries. It was definitely a life changing moment for me.  Our train back to Pisa was at twelve fifty so we hurried back and said goodbye to our new favorite city in Tuscany. We got back to our bus and arrived safely back in Siena. My contrada team, Istriche (porcupine) won the Palio this July so all the members of the team are celebrating tonight. I walked around the designated area for the carnival/party with my roommate Sharlie. It is quite the celebration! People are all dressed up and the youth even have some strange debutante event. All the girls are wearing white dresses. It looks like it is one big Italian wedding with fifty brides. It is quite cold outside too so I hurried into a pub (I get free internet here) and am writing this. Hope your week went well! Ciao regazzzi! 

p.s. sorry if there are any grammar mistakes! I dont have time to proof read! The smoke is getting to me and I wanna get outta  the pub! :) Also.. the picture is of Autumn and I in Pisa and the other is after the long day in the rain as I sit on my bed in the cave also known as the Hostel. The others are of the wall surround Lucca, the Antique market and me on top of the wall. Sorry for my utter disgustingness in the pictures. This is what I look like after being in rain for 12 hours. deal with it. 

“This Little Piggy went to Market”

Buon Giorno!

Every Wednesday morning Siena has a market. A typical kitsch market but amidst the kitsch one may find some real steals. The market includes a variety of meats, fresh produce, rows and rows of beautiful flowers, clothing, home accessories and other random artifacts. Sharlie and I planned to check out the market but it had to be an early start because our Italian class starts at nine. Wednesday morning arrived and as I woke up to a freezing room I debated whether I should really go and explore this market or sleep in and stay warm for another two hours or so. However, my curiosity took over so I quickly jumped out of bed and got ready. Sharlie came in about thirty minutes later and said she was going to take a rain check on the market and would go next week. As she left I sat down on my bed and stared at my feet wondering if I should really attempt to go alone. The thought of sneaking back into the warm bed was rather tempting but I resisted and headed out the door at 6:45, right on schedule.

I caught the 6:54 bus and when my stop arrived I had no choice but to get out because I was literally pushed out the door by the stampede of old, smelly Italian women rushing to get who knows what. As I wandered up the street a bit sleepily, my heart skipped a beat as I saw the wonderful goodies that caught my eye: Clothes and shoes. Aisles and aisles of lovely leather boots and beautiful coats of all shapes and sizes. By then I knew it was so worth getting out of the warm bed. I hoarded through the people and held my breath as I walked past what appeared to be fog but was really cigarette smoke that had huddled to create one big mass of cancerous air. I thoroughly enjoyed myself as I glanced here and there at random assortments and bought myself a pastry. I joined in on a song that was being sung by an older Italian man as he was setting up his stand. Of course he did not hear me because I made sure I was quiet enough but we sounded good together as I harmonized (at least I pretended that we sounded good). Then I walked past a stand with Prada bags and Gucci jean jackets. Obviously knockoffs but people were buying them left and right.
I walked around the corner past another coat stand and then I saw it—a gorgeous black, , ruffled coat. There just casually hanging up on a rack was the most amazing coat for only 35 Euros! Need I say more?
Of course I bought it. I feel it my duty to share this coat with the world. I will post pictures soon because I know you all want to see what it looks like now. ☺
To sum it up : the market was a success and I am excited to go again soon!

The rest of the day went well. Italian class was hilarious as Enzo, my teacher, imitated and tried to explain to us that we sound too American when we pronounce words in Italian. Humanities was long, but great when I found out that the three papers we have to write during this course only needs to be 200 words because as Alessandro puts it, “ I-uh do not speak-ah engleeese so well”. SCORE!! Thank you Alessandro!

The last couple of days have rainy and gradually getting colder every day. I am slowly picking out words on TV while watching Miss Italia and juicy soap operas during dinner every night.
Last night Caterina made us a typical Sienese meal. I could not figure out what spices she used but it was very good! The meal was spaghetti with meatballs and some ‘unknown’ spices. Caterina tried explaining some of them to us but due to the language barrier and a dictionary that does not translate spices, we were mystified with the unknown spices.

Tomorrow is the Florence field trip, which I have been looking forward to for months now! I hope all is well at home, or wherever you are! I would love to hear from you! Love to all!

Sienese Rainstorms

Dear Blog, Today I experienced my first Sienese Rain! It was just how a Tuscan rainstorm should be. Two hours of big heavy raindrops that leave the town refreshed and clean. I cannot explain the amazing smell after the rain! Bellisimo! A couple friends and I went to dinner at a small ristorante on Citta strada for a small Birthday bash for one of the girls. After as Sharlie and I were walking to Gramsci Square to catch our bus we realized that our bus did not come for 35 more minutes so we waited at our stop. Well, tt began to pour. This time hard and cold drops of rain fell down on our backs and heads. Our bus showed up ten minutes early which was nice because we got to sit inside and wait. When we started off we noticed that the bus was going a lot faster than usual. We started to grip the handles on the bus tighter than usual as well. We then noticed that as we were going down the small streets of Siena towards home the bus driver was speeding up and as we approached an intersection he slammed on his breaks because he was going too fast and almost crashed into two other cars. Sharlie and I were freaking out at this point. When he turned we hydroplaned on the road and I literally thought we were done for. We semi joked about the news tomorrow on BYU campus: Two girls on Study Abroad die in a bus accident. I laughed on the outside but was actually starting to believe that that could possibly come true the way the bus driver was driving. We eventually made it to our stop in just ten minutes; it usually takes sixteen. As we rejoiced of our ‘making it back alive’ we walked into the house around 10:45 pm and found the kitchen light on, with the table set. We then freaked out once again realizing that Caterina had made us dinner. She did tell us earlier that she was having dinner with her son so we assumed we had to fend for ourselves- thus dinner in town. So we looked around the house to see if she was home yet—thankfully she she wasn’t. We did not know what to do but quickly came up with a plan. We made it look as if we had eaten the meal by smudging things on our plate and in our bowls. We ate some bread and then we saw it. An ‘it’ by the name of FISH. Oh yes, it had to go. It was some concoction of fish and egg so we cut half of it and flushed it down the toilet. Yes, I know it is bad of us but we prepaid for the meals so at least we did not waste her money. We laughed so hard as we flushed other parts of the semi disgusting meal down the toilet. It was hilarious and scary at the same time. We did not know if it could clog the toilet or when she would walk through the door and possibly see two girls with fish in their hands flushing it down. Then we cleaned the table and quickly got ready for bed, just incase she got home and was wondering how long we had been home, it would look like it had been awhile. Anyway, now we are chilling in my room waiting for her. I kind of want to be asleep though so we avoid the whole spiel of, ‘did you like the meal?’ and I as I lie through my teeth saying “si, buono!” till tomorrow. Life is great here in Siena though. I love all the crazy experiences I am having and cannot wait to see what comes next. Ciao!
p.s. the pictures are of Sharlie and me waiting for the bus and then pretending to eat the food! haha

Mishaps and a ray of hope

Dear Blog,

I think all 24 girls have hit their limit. We are approaching the two-week mark and the homesickness, and missing the familiarities has arrived. The schools internet rarely works and if the internet is so kind as to let our laptops download any homepage it then changes its mind and sends us the now familiar page: ERROR downloading page.  We all feel so blessed and lucky for this opportunity and I know that this phase will pass, but for today I think we all need a day of missing the unavailable—home.

An interesting incident happened to me today involving a hair dryer. I found out that my roommate Sharlie has one and I asked her if I could use it to blow dry my bangs. Well it felt so nice to have smooth bangs that I decided to dry the rest of my hair. Unfortunate decision. My hair somehow ended up getting caught in the cheap hairdryer, twisted in the fan, melted because of the heat and after I was interrupted of my excitement of straight hair I felt the pain and quickly panicked. I finally turned it off and found three inches of my hair had been sucked into the evil contraption. Lets just say my hair is uneven with a three-inch gap of missing hair.

There is a man who walks past the bus stop every morning. He is a curious little thing. He wears the same faded yellow linen pants that look worn and a different color sweater. He has a frail frame and big eyes that seem to stare at nothing. He never looks at us when he passes but he does wave his hand a little in my direction. I somehow always feel like he is watching me though. He is a perfect candidate for a character in a novel.

My host mother was in a good mood today! She served us a good meal, we talked, she said she was impressed with how much Italian I had learned in one week and then came into my room when she heard me listening Cavallaria Rusticana on my laptop and sang with the opera singers. She then proceeded to get all her favorite operas and Italian composers and make me put them on my Itunes and as they downloaded she would sing. I was surprised at her happy disposition and thanked whatever made her happy. Maybe it was the fact that she was going to a movie with her friend later that night and was glad to be away from us… but I choose to believe that she is actually starting to like Sharlie and me. Sharlie secretly got a photo of her on my bed singing and leaning over looking at my music so I have proof. That is the picture up in the corner by the way. 

Dear Blog,

Today was a long day of Italian lessons and Humanities. Sharlie and I caught the bus at 8:24 and got to the school right in time for our nine o clock class. Enzo, the teacher, is an interesting man to say the least. I cannot figure out how old he is. He looks younger and dresses very trendy, but he has a PHD in teaching Italian to foreigners. Wouldn’t that make him older… at least over 35, right?  Our humanities class is taught by a younger Italian named Alessandro Cappulini. He is very smart, but I cannot understand his English. It is somewhat broken and has the Italian accent thrown into the English so I hear things like, “umaniteees” for Humanities, and “ the Greece for-eh the-uh arrkay-ico periooode”. If I listen intently I am able to get most of the lecture. I guess the best example I can think of to describe him is to compare him to Massimo from the movie The Wedding Planner. 

The school had a welcome luncheon for us where their culinary art school chefs made us a spectacular three coarse meal. The first coarse was a cheese and pear brochette. The second was homemade noodles with pesto, zucchini, and potato which was my favorite. The third coarse was turkey covered in gravy. The rest of my day was just spent walking around little alleys of Siena and window-shopping. The leather boots they have in every shop are becoming more and more tempting.  I guess the only thing holding me back from buying excessively is the exchange rate of the Euro to the dollar.  So, in that respect I am grateful it is higher.  I discovered the most amazing cookies today at a small bakery called ‘Panificio Cantagna’  in Gramsci square. This cookie is similar to a sugar cookie, but with a lemon zest to it and it is half dipped in amazing chocolate. I bought Quattro (4) of them during my lunch break and then went back right before coming home. I am eating one of the 8 more I bought. They are quickly climbing the charts for favorite cookie. 

My art teacher, who is also my Study abroad director, had us buy real homemade Italian paper for our class tomorrow. We are supposedly going to sketch negative spaces tomorrow on our sketch boards that he also made for us by hand. My drawing skills have not improved yet but I am hoping they will. We are required to do 5 thirty-minute contour drawings and then two thirty minute sketches per week. He said the load gets heavier but he is going easy on us this week.

Quick update on my host mom and her food: I finally had a good meal! The meal consisted of noodles with peppers, a salad with good Olio (olive oil) and Acento Balsamico. She did make sure to let us know that we could not eat our bread the same time as our noodles. She had us put the bread down and wait because it was not good to have two foods both high carbs at the same time. She is an interesting person to say the least.  My time here is getting better and better and I cannot wait to see what other adventures await me. Buona Giornata! 

Dear Blog,

There is something about being in Tuscany that makes you want to write and write. Everything is so picturesque and I find that it is easier to express myself.  Every night I sit out on my small yet sufficient balcony and turn on either my French music or my lovely Tuscany mix I made the other day and start to write. Most of the time it does not make much sense but it lets me express my feelings and I get to feel like Jane Austen for an hour or so.

Today I rode the bus home. Line One is my route and I get off at Strada dei Cappucini.  There are two men who ride the bus the same time I do. I noticed them the first day I took the bus. Since then I have decided to be the annoying American who smiles and says ‘ciao’ everyday to them, until they respond. Today I started with a smile. More like a huge grin. I know they saw me because they kept taking small glances my way but would immediately withdraw their eyes as soon as they saw me smile back at them. I guess that could be considered a bit strange and creepy of me, but I mean it as a small sign of friendship or respect. I feel like since I will be here for ten weeks, it could not hurt to make some ‘bus’ friends.  As soon as I learn some Italian I won’t hesitate to ask them how their day at work went.Tomorrow Sharlie and I are going to start running every morning. We live quite a bit outside the city which is hard to have close access to the city life, but nice to be in a quieter area and we have lovely running paths through vineyards and gorgeous Tuscan hills.

The weather is perfect this time of year. It is about 75 everyday with cool breezes. This Saturday some girls and I plan to head to the coast and spend a day at the beach. There are only a few more weekends we can really spend laying out and soaking up the Tuscan sun. I have a silly theory about the sun here in Italy. I think that it gives people a more olive skin tone. Not just the Italians. I have been here two weeks and I already have a slight skin tone change now. I secretly believe I am slowly becoming an Italian.

My Host mother Caterina is very… structured. She likes things to be just so and gets frustrated with us often. If we leave a window open she comes in and says, “ Allora! Non bene, capito?” and shuts the window. She seems to pop up out of nowhere. For example, if we walk out of the room to go to the bathroom, which is literally five feet away and we forget to turn off our bedroom light I hear within seconds, “ Luce, Luce, LUCE!” Like I did not hear the first time. She repeats it several times as I try and reassure her that I heard her the first time and am turning around to turn the light off. 

I often feel like she dislikes me and because of her dislike is purposely trying to make me fat. She dumps more food on my plate even if I say to her ‘basta’ which means full. I tried once saying “basta, basta, basta” hoping she would get a taste of her own medicine but she ignored me and served me some more of something I would not call real food. More like a burnt avocado with strange spices and other gelatin looking mush around it.

I must say that as I smiled and pretended to like what I was eating, I really imagined myself being held hostage and being forced to eat non-edible muck. It made my meal more bearable as I imagined myself the hero for eating the nasty concoction.

Although Caterina is a stickler, she does show me where her collection of soundtracks are and I found Amelie today which is a fabulous. I am downloading it onto my itunes now, and am sure that some of the songs will go in my Tuscan mix.  Ciao tutti! 

Life in Siena

Hello again! My second day of School was pretty nice. Sharlie and I missed the bus so we were twenty minutes late for our first class. Luckily it is Art which is taught by my director so he was lenient for today. The art class goes for 3 hours and then I had the rest of the day to finish my homework and such. My italian class is going to be a tough one. The teacher Enzo has no tolerance for a group of 24 giggling girls and it does not help when I am asked a question that I start to speak German.  I am completely lost with the language, but I heard after the first week it gets a bit easier. I am crossing my fingers!  I got to do my laundry as well today. I was literally out of clothing and because we cannot do our laundry at the host family house, we had to take a plastic bag of our clothes, and detergent and carry it around all day till we had time to do it. We found the 'lavanderia' and rejoiced until we saw that each load costs 3.50. We ended up spending ten Euros which is about 15 US dollars. I was bitter to say the least. However, life got better after 3 scoops of fabulous Cioccolato bianco (white chocolate), Cioccolato (chocolate), and Fragola (strawberry) Gelato. My Host Madre makes the most interesting and not so tasty meals for dinner. Each night I walk in saying a prayer hoping some normal food will be on the small table we sit at. Unfortunately my prayers have not been answered thus far and I find myself eating foods that I did not know existed. So I ask my friends and family to pray for good food, and be grateful for the food you eat now. Miss you all! p.s the pictures are of me with my friends Autumn and Emily and then my Suave Italian Teacher Enzo. :)

I am in Siena. We arrived saturday night around 7:30 and my host Madre Caterina Verdis, was waiting for Sharlie and me. We somehow managed to get all our luggage and packs in the small smart car. It was a miracle to say the least. Caterina dropped us off at the apartment complex and we brought the luggage to the 3rd floor while she parked the car. We each have our own room which is very nice. I felt relieved to finally unpack and rest for a while. She made us some sort of Green bean/egg/potato/tuna casserole and fresh melon. We barely communicated but with the dictionary on the table we managed. Today is the first day of school. I am attending the Societa Dante Alighieri. Italian class is starting! bye!

I am in Rome! Life is amazing and I cannot believe how good the gelato is. I have seen so many incredible sites and have walked for Hours! As much as my feet ache and no matter the number of blisters, it is all worth it. Rome is a romantic city and everywhere I look there is love being shown. The drivers are crazy, and I almost got run over multiple times but it makes for an exciting time. more to come-