Lots of stuff --

Last night was really fun and I’m glad that I dragged myself (and my old lady crutches) out. Around 11ish marilena and I met up with a bunch of people on the steps of the Duomo. It’s funny because on one of the first days we were here we attended a mandatory safety meeting and one of the things that they sorta warned us against was “drinking on the steps of the Duomo” because that’s where all the shady/crazy locals and foreigners all meet up. They were right. It was fun anyways… drinking wine on the steps of the Duomo with close friends?!? I loved it.

Eventually, after taking pictures with boys from Berlin, we wandered (I crutched myself) to an irish pub called “Robin Hood’s Tavern.” We were the ONLY people in the whole place but the group of people we were with (all but one SCUer) was really cool so it was fun just chatting with all of them. We drank Stella and the bartender liked us and bought us shots (they were pink? No clue what they were though…). I have fabulous pictures!

Around 2 we were waiting for a taxi and it was crazy because the steps of the Duomo were littered with wine and beer bottles, and plastic cups, and trash, and a clean up crew/street sweeper came in and spent about 30 minutes picking up trash and hosing off the steps! I’m not too sure how I felt about it…seeing this incredible, famous, building covered in trash was disturbing but at the same time really cool (what? We partied at THE Duomo?!),

I felt crappy this morning but I was pretty proud of myself for getting out of the house. My foot was a swollen purple mess today. I’m trying to be really careful and even though I’m sure it’s healing, it looks worse and worse everyday.

As the days go on I’ve been writing down things to include in my little journal… they might seem random, but I think they’re all worth mentioning.

1) Italian elevators: most of the buildings around here are really old. At school I have a class on the third floor (figures) and since it is impossible to climb up three flights of stairs on one foot, I was given permission to use the elevator. Well. The elevator is about 2ftx3ft… To get in and out of it, you have to manually open two sets of doors. So there I was standing in front of this so called “elevator” trying to get up enough courage to actually GET IN it when a teacher walked up and asked me if I was stuck or needed help! She assured me that I wouldn’t get trapped in it and that it wouldn’t crash to the floor (serious concerns of mine)… it didn’t but I’m still slightly traumatized and am not looking forward to cramming myself into it again tomorrow.
2) Before I left on my trip Stephanie gave me an “engagement ring.” Actually, I stole it from her last time I was at SCU because it fit perfectly and I planned on wearing it everyday I was here, since, well, we are engaged and all (haha). Unfortunately I had to take it off today because my fingers are all swollen and blistered from using my granny crutches. Seriously, it’s a huge work out and I felt so bad about taking it off that I felt it was appropriate to mention something about it here. Stephanie: we are still engaged and I still love you, I promise!!!
3) There is an overwhelming amount of girls at SUF… I’m starting to think that I take for granted that SCU actually has boys at it.
4) I am taking a class called “Family and Gender in Contemporary Italy” and I have a lot to say about my teacher: Firstly, the way she talks. She speaks English but it’s in slow motion and she says “va bene” at the end of every sentence: blah… blah… blah… talks… so… slow… va bene… va bene… va bene… it gets old really fast. I have her for an hour and a half twice a week. AH.

It’s funny though cuz for Fam and Gender we have to write a paper and someone asked how long she wanted the paper to be. The teacher laughed and was like, “why… are… all… American… students… obsessed… with… the… length… of… papers…? Italian… students… just… write… and… I’ve… found… that… , based… on… students… I’ve… had… in… the… past… , Americans… can’t… do… that. Va bene?” It’s interesting but it’s a huge way our two cultures differ. Americans like things to be written out all clear and perfectly and Italians just sort of go with it. I think this is pretty apparent in the way that we drive. In the US everyone stays in their lanes, goes the speed limits, uses their turn-signals, etc. whereas here Italian just concentrate on getting where they want to go.
5) My Italian teacher thinks it’s funny how 4 out of 8 girls in our class have the same silver Tiffany’s necklaces (myself included). He asked us how we all got them and we all said the same thing: “Il mio ragazzo me ha regalato.” (my boyfriend gave it to me as a gift). Now, he is convinced that we’re all dating the SAME guy and don’t know it. It’s funny. He teases us about it everyday. (bytheway, this man has THE hairiest arms I’ve ever seen).
6) I love art but often feel like I don’t fit in with the kids in the classes. My printmaking class here in Florence is no exception. Today I felt really hungover and crappy and high off of the fumes of the oils we were using and spent the whole class listening to the conversations going on between everyone in my class. Well. The conversation turned into a discussion on how sororities are ridiculous, and how there are a lot of pretty people here at SUF that are wealthy and beautiful and dumb as rocks, and how the Santa Clara students (especially girls) are naïve and ditzy, and how people in California are weird because they pretend to be liberal but they’re really conservative, and how going out every night shows that people are irresponsible and immature and blah blah blah… so there I was sitting there thinking hm. I’m THAT girl that lives in California, that goes to Santa Clara, that’s in a sorority, that’s incredibly conservative, that did something really stupid the 4^th day she was here (eh hem… my foot), that tries to go out at night as much as possible… It was very painful to listen to. I already felt pretty insecure, cuz that’s how I always feel in art class, and this didn’t help. Unfortunately, my head was pounding so badly that I didn’t have the strength to argue with my whole class so I sorta just ignored it and decided to spread the word that all those girls are a bunch of bitches and no one should be friends with them :) I’m really mature, I swear.

I’ve been having a problem lately with eating during the day. I’m so busy that I literally forget to eat. I haven’t eaten lunch in about a week now! Today was no exception and by the time I finally got home from school around 5ish I layed down on my bed and slept for 3 ½ hours! I dunno if it was from my lack of food, or my late night last night, or from the way I have to work my ass off to gimp from point A to point B... but it was exhausted.

Susana and Kike went out to dinner with friends tonight so Marilena, Lucas, and I ate dinner together. Luca is an interesting character… 25 years old, still lives at home, hot as can be, LOVES anime, speaks minimal English, stays up til 4 am on the computer, etc. Marilena and I have spent hours discussing his weirdness; maybe it’s an Italian thing? Who knows… It’s been a long day.

PS it’s about midnight and our host parents still aren’t home yet! Haha, they’re party animals! I love them.