June 11

Nothing too important to report. We have a quiz tomorrow so I have been studying in my free time and just relaxing. After this weekend, I need to spend some time just relaxing and taking it easy.

I guess I can talk about how awesome my host family is. I am really blessed to have gotten them. I hear of some students in the program who have families or mothers who make them feel stupid, who don't ever give them wine, who don't talk to them. . . etc. I think I am getting the best possible host family experience. My family is nice and they are funny. They are wonderfully normal. The kids fight all the time. They are patient with me. They always ask if there is anything that they can do to make my time here better. Tonight my host mom and I had a conversation about feminism and the roles and lives of women. She did most of the talking of course but I understood her. I am glad I have a family who actually wants and tries to have meaningful conversations with me. It makes the process of being away from my own dear family a little easier. It also reminds me of what a great family I have back home. (Not that I could ever forget that.)

June 8-10

This weekend was absolutely hellish in terms of traveling. I think we all learned many lessons this weekend. 1. Traveling in a big group is NOT a good idea.
I think we spent more time waiting on people/trains/buses etc. . .  than we did anything else. But no matter how awful getting to Cinque Terre and Venice was, nothing could take away from the wonderful time I had there. I LOVE VENICE and I LOVE CINQUE TERRE. You will know why when you see the pictures. I am pretty sure they are some of the most beautiful places on Earth.

Venice 

June 7

School. Gelato. Shopping: that is all I have done today. After, dinner I am going to spend the night at Haley's house because we have to catch the train at 6:57 to Cinque Terre and her house is closer.

Cinque Terre on Friday and Venice Saturday and Sunday. I am excited!

June 6

I got to talk on the phone with my WONDERFUL INSIGHTFUL AWESOME mom today. She always knows how to make me feel better. :))

The red heads minus 1. 

Twins by a fountain. 

I had dinner with Haley's host mom today. The first course was mushroom lasagna which sounds good but was actually aweful. I tried hard to eat it but it was making me nauseous. I am not a picky eater. I will eat just about anything. In fact, my host family laughs at me all the time and tells me I will get fat if I continue to try everything. But this, I could not eat. I think I really offended her which made me very upset but there was literally nothing else I could do. The rest of the meal was fine and I ate everything offered to me. But she seemed very offended and hurt. She kept telling me that the lasagna is something special and intricate. It is only served on holidays. Everything I ate after that she would say "buon fortuna" which essentially means she is fortunate that I ate it. So, to sum it all up, dinner did not go well.

June 5

I finally got lots of sleep. In class, we had a guest speaker: Marco De Risi. He is a "doppiatore" which means he dubs American films for Italians to watch. He is a very interesting and funny guy. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to him and talking to him. After class, we all took the metro and met our host families for gelato. I shouldn't have eaten so much. Too much sugar makes me feel sick. But it was delicous. Instead of taking the bus, I got to ride back with my host dad on his vespa. I LOVE that. Something about riding around beautiful Rome with the wind in my face makes me extremely happy. 

We passed this on the way to get gelato. Reminded me of Austin. I miss Austin soooo much.

June 4

We had class on Gianicolo Hill. It was very beautiful, as is all of Rome. I was still exhausted from the weekend so I just went home after and Skyped with my wonderful boyfriend. I miss him as well as my family and friends dearly. I am having a very good time here but I cannot wait to come back to you all.  

June 1-3

What a weekend! I am still exhausted. On Friday, we took a class field trip to Villa Adriana and Villa D'este. Villa Adriana was this ruined town. It is very beautiful and by far the best ruins I have seen thus far.

Villa d'Este was my favorite. The pictures can barely begin to explain how beautiful this place was.

After the field trip, Haley, Abbeh, and I went to Liz and Jasmine's to drink wine and have some girl time. We then met up with the group and went out for drinks at this Irish pub. It was a really fun night. 

Florence: 

Best donut ever!



We went to a discoteca as a group Saturday night called Space. It was crazy and very fun. We all managed to behave ourselves and make it out as a group. I am really glad I got to experience the italian night life. I have to say the men are even creepier and more determined to dance with you in Italy, but don't worry I am an absolute pro at fending them off. Seriously, I should teach classes. I took care of anyone that had a creeper trying to dance with them. The gentlemen in our group did a good job of protecting the ladies too.