"'In my next life,' Ed tells me, 'I want to come back as an Italian baby.'"
-Under the Tuscan Sun
Hey everyone... or I guess I should say CIAO! Thanks so much for tuning into the next little chapter of my journey through Italy. In this edition of THINKINGinDREAM, I will inform you all of my weekend, which I'm sure is the last thing you want to read about. Why would anyone
want to read about my life, anyway? But i guess no one is making you read this (unless
you are a member of my family... you all better be reading this blog religiously)... so feel free to leave and check facebook anytime!
Friday: Friday was a pretty relaxed day.. nothing huge happened. We all met Cinzia (CHIN - zia) (our beautiful Italian Liaison, as I like to call her) and walked to the neighboring town of Genzano. It was about a 20 minute walk down a beautiful winding road lined with "Italian pines" and a view to the Mediterranean Sea. For some, this was not as
easy as it sounds. Picture 20 college girls walking 20 minutes in the freezing cold and rain... yeah.
As I thoroughly enjoyed the scenic walk along a quaint Italian road with clown-sized cars speeding past, I tried to ignore "how much longer?" and "are we there yet?". After what seemed like forever to some girls, and what seemed like 20
minutes of bliss to me, we finally reached our destination. The rest of the day, we ventured around the beautiful little town, bought staple items that are not available in Ariccia, ate lunch, and then headed home. That night, my friend Sara Beth and I went to dinner with her twin sister, Meg, and her friend Marianna. They came to visit us, as both are student teaching in Berlin. We did our best to order a pizza... but the language barrier proved itself once again. After the 4 of us split a pizza meant to feed 1, we ordered another. Our second pizza ended up being the same size as the first... and had nothing on it. When I say it had nothing on it, I mean that they brushed some olive oil, pinched some salt, and sprinkled some rosemary on top of a pizza crust and threw it in the oven. Ordering food here is a learning experience every day.
Saturday: Ah, Saturday. Even though it rained once again, Saturday was a good day. Most of the group went to Roma! Now, just because it was a great day doesn't mean that everything ran smoothly... because it didn't. In the morning, a group of about 15 of us walked to the other
neighboring town of Albano (on the opposite side as Genzano) and tried to buy train tickets. How hard can it be to buy a train ticket, right? Well apparently, it can be perilous. We walked from Tabacchi to Tabacchi asking for tickets; none were to be found. A Tabacchi (ta - BAK - ee) is a little store you can find anywhere in Italy that sells random, but important things such as stamps, cell phone minutes, cigarettes, and TRAIN TICKETS. After about 30 minutes, half of the girls gave up and went back to the palace. The rest of us continued our hunt and finally found tickets at a bar. Really? A bar? At least we got them! After a sigh of relief, we all realized that the next train was leaving at that very minute. We ran to the station. It is an act of God that I didn't bust my head open on those wet cobblestone stairs! Thanks again to God himself, we made it to the train and eventually to
Rome! My first experience in the magical city was great. All we did was shop.
Ahhh... And eat Gelato. Mmmm... And get off at the wrong train stop at 9:30 that night. What? That's right, we got off 2 stops too early. I know what all of you who know me really well are thinking, and no, it wasn't my fault. After we jumped off the train, read the sign that said "Castel Gandolfo" with confusion, watched the train pull away, and realized our situation, Sara Beth said something profound that perfectly expressed our emotions at that time: "DAMN".We ended up sitting in the freezing cold, in a poorly lit train station, alone (unless you count the graffiti) for another hour waiting for the next train. It ended up being a blessing in disguise. The three of us (Sara Beth, Becca, and I) talked and laughed as the hour flew by. We finally made it home safe and sound and spent the rest of the night talking (more like laughing so hard, I think my appendix burst) to a couple other girls as we heard all about their Roma experience (check out heather's blog). Good day.
Sunday: Today, I slept in until 12... thank the Lord, then went with
a couple other girls to Genzano for their Carnival. It was vary interesting to say the least. In my mind, it is the equivalent to American halloween. It was a very family-oriented celebration and all of the kids were dressed up in halloween costumes -- princesses, super heros, indians, hunters, random animals... it was kinda weird. there was lots of confetti and LOTS of people. We walked around, feeling and looking completely out of place and took pictures of everything... ya know, the typical American thing. Then we walked back home! I guess it was a pretty chill day for me here in Italy.
Tomorrow is our first day of real class... I'm nervous.
I love you and miss you all so much! Muah! Muah!
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