Ciao!
just a little update...
things are going great here in Italy. The weather is starting to change, its raining more often and the mornings and evenings are chilly! no more surfshorts n slippers.
School is...well school. i thought school was gonna be a breeze, but i thought wrong. i have only 3 classes here in Tuscania. i will have 3 different classes when i go to rome and florence. My history class on ancient Greeks, Romans, & Etruscans is really interesting. learning about wat went on in the late B.C's and A.D is really interesting!! My itlaian language class is challenging for me, im not very good :( it sucks because since we are moving schools, they are trying to jam our heads full of too much info. i think we need to focus on the basics, get them engraved in our brain before moving on to the next steps...however, tuscania is a small town and everyone here speaks italian so it forces me to practice everyday. in the bigger cities like rome and florence, ill be able to get by with speaking English.
The lifestyle here is so much different than wat im used to. all the cars are tiny because gas is so expensive. there are alot of mopeds too. the roads are small and everyone drives crazy!! all stores have wats called "siesta", they open in the morning till 1, then they close till 4 or 5, and open back up till 8 or 9. there are two grocery stores here and they are both dirt cheap! if you dont have grocerys, your only other options are pizza, pastries, or a restaurant. everymorning i go to the caffe to get an expresso. the coffee (even though ive never even liked coffee), is very tasty. Mom would love it. in the caffes they also have a full bar. your allowed to freely drink anywhere at anytime. the ice cream is also delicious! the "gelatto" is homemade, and you can get a cone of amazing ice cream for 1euro.
My roomate, Dan is turning into a good friend. we pretty much do everything together. hes from new york, n we have alot of things in common. we have the nicest apartment of all the students and we each have our own rooms, except i have a king size bed n his is a single :) we also hang out with April (my travel buddy from Washington, who goes to UH) and Richard, who is a student from new york.
i bought a gym membership n have been "getting huge" as i say. but the pizza and alcohol doesnt help, i guess its just a balance. i go to the pizzaria in town everyday. weve made friends with the family that runs the place. i have especially made friends with Luana, the girl that works there ;) she occationally comes out with us on weekends n helps me with my italian homework!! she speaks good english...
tuscania is beautiful. i usually lift weights in the late evening around 6, then head down to the park n watch the sunset. its phenomenal. the park has comfy grass to lay in and overlooks the country side.
thats it for now, ill post some pics soon...
ciao!
