A great overall view of what we did over Fall Break can be found on la mia amica preferita's blog: http://camiller38.wordpress.com/. I think, when I get around to it, I may just tell interesting stories from each of the places, rather than talk about everything, because it will be too difficult. Then again, once I start telling stories, it'll probably turn into everything. For now you can assume that I visited some of my now most favorite places in the world and ate some ridiculously good food. and read catherine's blog! ...and my sparknotes a couple blog posts below.
The theme of this week was Becca gets sick, Kyle dies, and Planning to Make Plans.
The sickness came right along with the bad November weather of Florence. It started exactly November 1st. Rain. RAIIIINNNNNN. Rain. Florence turns into a mud/water hole (but the mosquitoes, unfortunately have still decided to stay until December), the buses don't run when they say they're going to, it's cold, and you have absolutely no motivation to take the thirty minute bus to campus, or walk 35 minutes to campus. Then it hails and you're like "Florence. I really can't take this." I asked Domenico the other day in class:
"Domenico, is it going to rain until December 17th?"
"Si."
boo. so with that, i got a Becca cold. which is pretty standard with teh weather. I thought it was going to be super bad, because my throat felt like it was on fire and my head felt like it was going to explode, but then it took all of my energy, and i did nothing but sit on my computer for two days and sleep and go to class. which actually helped with the Planning to Make Plans part of this blog, coming up soon.
Kyle died because he had a test thursday, a paper and presentation to do friday and then a test monday and a test tuesday. If anyone knows if he's alive, tell him i said hey.
Planning to Make Plans.
I've also been making plans, so planning to make plans isn't entirely inaccurate. but when you have written in your Planner to Plan to Plan something, you know you're up to no good. :-D so my bedtime activities included many things, some of which haven't come to fruition, and I always try to not get my hopes up, but here's all the planning I've been doing from bed:
-Catherine's bday weekend (currently ongoing, and a complete success so far. I am a CIA agent.)
-A job next semester (potentially two..)
-Job/Internship next summer
-a play...maybe.
-Spring break stuff
-company managing Aida
-tenting
-Tuesday
Tuesday is a big deal and some of my latest news: I'm having breakfast for former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Just him, me, fourteen other students, Brown's body guards, and some Villa La Pietra staff. Breakfast sounds yummy, but I'm sure it'll just be Italian-style (.....coffee and a croissant). but.....it's Gordon Brown. We were all recommended by professors. I'm excited because it's Gordon Brown, but also very nervous because 1) I'm not sure how you talk to someone who was Prime Minister, and also someone whose time as PM didn't go all that well, I mean he was only there for three years. 2). To be honest, I hate politics. I hate political parties. i hate extreme people who don't use their brains. 3) What twenty year old is able to say they've been granted an audience with a Prime Minister of Britain past or present? Seriously.
So that's pretty exciting. It's going down this Tuesday at 9 am. Then we're invited to his address about the US mid-term elections which is going to be given to a whole bunch of important political people (like Bush's speech writer, Joe Biden's main advisor, the heads of every important Italian newspaper, etc). And then over the next two days they're holding discussions and debates led by all these important people and we're invited to all that too. It's going to be pretty mind-blowing... An unforgettable, and unmissable opportunity. I have no idea what I'm going to wear.
Other news, that is not nearly as big of a deal:
-Friday was like Italian culture day. I went to a yoga class, taught in Italian, that was the worst thing I've ever done in my life. I don't think that lady knew anything about Yoga. We didn't do any poses, and she just keep saying "Inspirare.......espirare......inspirare....espirare" (inhale, exhale). Then she had us do stretches which I decided there's no way that was actually yoga because it was soooo dangerous for your body. she made us stretch the side and put our hand on the side of our knee so we were putting all of our weight on it. You don't put all of your weight on the side of your knee....EVER. maybe that's just a dance thing though. Then the girl next to me farted, and I knew I was done with Yoga in Italy forever.
Then we had to watch a movie in Italian (with english subtitles, thankfully). I watched L'uomo Perfetto (the perfect man). It was actually a really good movie. Although it was a chick flick, it was extremely well done and had a great message. and you could really tell that all 100 of us watching it felt the same. I really liked it. my favorite quote was: "Ho imparato che nella vita non importa dove arrivi, ma la strada che pecorri. Ho imparato che la parte migliore che puoi recitare e' quella di te stesso." which translated loosely means "I have learned that in life it isn't important where you arrive, but the roads that you cover/cross. I have learned that the best role/part you can play is yourself." It made me happy. Overall, i thought the movie was really good.
-catherine's bday weekend has been awesome.
-Matthew Borne's Swan Lake is coming to Florence!!!! He choreographed Dorian Gray and Shall We Dance, both of which I saw at Sadler's Wells in London two summers ago. I love his work. He's most famous for his Swan Lake, too (done with an all male cast), so i think it would be awesome to go see that... we're gonna work on it.
-HP tickets go on sale monday. I hope i get one. Seeing it in italy would be great, too.
-this is my last weekend in florence before this program is pretty much over. Next weekend we're going to Barcelona. The next weekend we're going to Paris. Then we have two weekends and then we go home that Friday. WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED????????????????????????
-I'm spending New Years in Ohio! For someone who thought that Ohio would just be one of those places I would never go to in life... I'm going for the second time. baha.
Okay, I should probably get back to hw. I miss everyone tremendously.
p.s. I made crostini last night... and they may or may not be totally competitive with Toast:
1) Granny Smith Apple, Brie and Rosemary Crostini
2) Marinara sauce, Basil, and Mozzarella Crostini
3) Red and Green Bell Pepper, Mozzarella, and Parmesan Crostini.
Twas the BEST.
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