How Infinitely Rich and Beautiful Life is in Every Way

July 2:

Amanda and I went on a search for fake purses after school. Usually people are selling them EVERYWHERE so we thought it wouldn’t be hard. We went to the Vatican, Coliseum, Spanish Steps, no one selling anything anywhere. Of course the one time we actually want to buy something there is no one anywhere. That night we had the JCU 2^nd semester Wine Tasting. It was really fun, the guy in charge of it told is everything we could possibly know about wine, it was interesting…but it was kind of like a lecture…and I was like “ok all I really want to do is eat this complimentary cheese and bread…so can you shhh?” After the wine tasting we went into this vintage store on the walk home and played dress up. It was really fun! We put on the most ridiculous stuff and took pictures. After that we met some friends down by the river and sat and talked for a little while. There were videos of really cool snowboarding clips projected on to the wall that I couldn’t stop watching. There was also a drag queen singing on a stage, she/he/it was “fabuloussssss!” After that we went to the friends house and I ended up meeting a guy that is my friend from Baylor’s ex boyfriend! They started dating when she was studying abroad at JCU last year…what a small world! After that I got a ride home from one of my friends in a SMART CAR (clown car) it was my 1^st time in a smart car and I was really excited. It had red leather interior…oh yea! The guy that was taking me home said to me- “sorry, I know its kind of small, next time ill take the Kayan” I said: “whats a Kayan?” he looked at me blankly and said “a Porche” …….”ohhhh. got.cha. wanna be friends?”

 

July 3:

Me and Amanda stopped by Piccolo (the restaurant below us with the sweet little old men) we talked to them for a little while and Camillo asked us what we were doing tonight and we told him we were going to Gilda and he said in italian “no no no you cant wear that!!! You must go change!” we went upstairs and showered and got all ready in our dresses and heels and stopped back by on our way out and he was so cute, he paraded us around that restaurant telling everyone we were his granddaughters. we call him “nonno” which means grandfather in Italian, everyone in the restaurant thought it was the best and just kept clapping and saying “ahh”

That night I got to ride on a moped for the first time since ive been here! It was really fun…and it was yellow.

 

July 4:

During the day I learned how to skype!!! Me and my parents got to talk over video…way cool!

 

That afternoon we went to go downstairs and eat but it was closed so we walked around and eventually landed at a Chinese restaurant.

 

My quote of the day: “well guys, im really glad that we’re eating Chinese food, in Rome, on the 4^th of July.”

 

That night we got to go to a private poolside party at a villa in the hills. It was gorgeous, I felt like I was in a movie. Amanda and I sat and talked to Danielle pretty much the entire time (a girl we met a few nights ago that is in Rome learning how to sculpt!! She’s an artist) later on all the American girls that were there got to go up to the DJ stand and sing the National Anthem. It was horrendous- but really funny. After that people started getting thrown in the pool, and that’s when we left! On the way out I asked a girl at the gate whos house we were at and she looked at me with a really serious face and said “I can not tell you this information. It is secret” I was like…grrreat…mafia. (just kidding!)

 

July 5: 

We woke up and walked across the street to go get pizza and I tripped on the tram tracks and 100% face planted on the sidewalk. My water bottle flew up and spilled all over me too. It was a really dramatic fall…but HALARIOUS.

 

We ended up getting salads at this place and they came out and they were a bowl with lettuce and a huge blob of mayonnaise on top…when I say a blob I really mean about half of a jar on each salad.

 

Amandas quote of the day…making fun of the high prices in Rome: “40 euro? umm I was thinking id like to pay 40 euro for this mayonnaise salad, please…yeah, thanks. Thanks for not screwing me bigtime.” Haaahahaha. Maybe you had to be there…but I thought id give it a try.

 

July 6:

We went to the big market in Trastevere. It was so big, tents that went on and on and on. It was just a whole bunch of junk but it was really fun to walk around and look at the junk. My big purchase of the day was a big juicy piece of watermelon…yummmy!! it was delicious. We walked past this one tent and the guy was trying to get us to buy stuff, of course, and he didn’t know English so he said “Ragazze! (girls)…Welcome to Miami”

 

Amandas quote of the day:  (we lost each other for a while and when I finally found her she said…) “man! They are really good at selling stuff here…I almost just bought a pair of ice skates.”

 

July 7:

I took a really hard test that I think I failed. it wasn’t fill in the blank L it was all short answer and even all of the directions were in Italian and on the back we had to write an entire page in Italian. I was really frustrated after that test.

 

I went for a run that afternoon and got chased by a cat. Sadly, I got really scared and jumped up on a ledge, like the cat coudn’t get me if I was on a 2 foot high ledge? I don’t know.

 

That night we all went to Piccolo and met this family from New Zealand that had just re united with their daughter that studied here for 5 months and she was only 17. They were so cute and happy to be with her. She was speaking Italian to Nonno and the dad was just in tears. After there meal they all took pictures with Nonno and the dad said “if I ever come back to Rome it will be for people like you” it was a heartwarming moment. Im telling you, Camillo/Nonno is tha man! I really wish you could all meet him.

 

After that we all came back to the apt and listened to Dane Cook (a comedian) and talked and laughed.

 

Kims quote of the day: (she was telling is about her home state, Washington) “Yeah…Chinese people love Washington, there are so many of them there because it’s so close to China…” everyone just looked at each other and then burst out laughing

 

July 8:

in class we were working on speaking in the past tense and our teacher asked us if we had ever run away from home when we were young and what did we bring with us. It was Amanda’s turn to talk and she said

 

“Yeah I ran away when I was about 7 years old and all I brought with me was my PLAYBOY” she meant to say GAMEBOY!!!  Ha ha ha ha ha it was so great.

 

July 9:

I got a B on my test. I was pretty happy with a B. After class me and Amanda went to the gym to work out and I met the man of my dreams. He was absolutely beautiful and hes from Minnesota and SO nice.

Okay that’s about all! I Know I have been bad at updating this thing lately but I guess that’s a good thing? I miss everyone and hope you are all doing great.

 

A Presto! Ti Amo! Bacci!

(talk to you later) (I love you) (kisses) 

FEEL THE RHYTHM OF THE EARTH, DANCE THE SONG OF LIFE!

This quote perfectly describes my past two 1/2 weeks. It has been exciting, inthralling, adventurous, blissful, and perfect. I feel like I could write a book. I dont really know where to start and i dont even really want to try to explain it because no one will ever really understand. but i will sum it up...First Rachel got into town and we spent a few days running around Rome and catching up, mostly we just talked talked talked. We went to London on Sunday...we decided to save a few euro so got flights from pisa to liverpool and were just going to get the trains in between rome and pisa and liverpool and london. we got a ticket for the fast train to Pisa, got on the SLOW train so instead of and hour 1/2 ride it was almost 4 hours...we get off in florence bc we have to change trains...our train got into florence at 12:51 we caught a 12:57 train to pisa (you have never seen to girls with luggage book it like we did) we got to pisa at 2:10 RAN to a taxi and got to the airport at 2:15 (as i was yelling at the driver to please please go really fast) we ran into the airport asked everyone if we could cut, got the the counter and begged the guy to let us get on the plane, he said no, we continued begging, (i was ready to cry if need be) but he picked up the phone and called and he was like "ok you can go but you better run" so we ran thru halls, up stairs, under ropes, got to the passport control and this time we just kind of let everyone know that we WERE cutting, we got our passports stamped and waved and blew kisses to the crowd of people in line. i think everyone knew us by know...jumped on the plane, got to liverpool, took a bus the the train station, took a train to London and when it was all said and done we saved ZERO money. we had a great and relaxing time in London. Our flight on the way home was cancelled so we had to stay another night but it wasn't that bad. we got back to rome and met the new room mates. they are really cool. One night me rachel and amanda went out and went to campo where we met Josh Duahmel from transformers and 6 degrees and he is Fergis fiance (one of the most beautiful people i have ever laid eyes on) and Veronica Marrs. Then we went to a Scottish pub where there were only really old people there but this one grandma was Cuttin a Rug!!! it was amazing we danced with her for a while and laughed until we cried. then we went to the irish pub down the road and it was closed because of a wedding (again) and since both of the bouncers know me they were like "okayyy you can go in if you get some one in there to say its ok" so we made friends with the m.o.b and she was like "yeaahhhh let them in!!" so we went in and there was karaoke. this little boy was up there singing a highschool musical song "what time is it? its summer time!" ...that song. and i asked if i could go up there and the guy was like "nooo?" but after a few min he asked to little boy if i could sing with him and he said yes so i sang and danced and most likely made a complete FOOL out of myself but it was soo much fun and the little boy ate it up. everyone in the crowd was just looking at us and not really singing along (prob bc it was Highschool Musical) but i yelled on the microphone "Come on Ireland!!" haha we laughed about that for a while.  later on his dad came up to me and told me thankyou over and over and said it really meant a lot to him bc his son was so scared to sing until i got up there and he said he would never forget it. he made me want to cry they were so sweet. later me and rach and amanda sang hotel california which was a beautiful ballad of course. 

The next day we went to the beach and it was a beautiful day. not a cloud in the sky. we just lounged all day long and yesterday i went to my first day of class and rachel left :( it was sad!! even all of my room mates were sad. we all got back from school and they were like...wheres rachel??

Last night was an adventure as well...we went to the Fabri Fibra concert and this outdoor festival. Fabri Fibra is a really really famous italian singer/rapper/guy and he's my favorite. so we went to the concert and there were tons of people there it was like a circus. the show was SO good and i was really excited when i could sing along with some of the words. we went over to the merch table to look at tshirts and hats and made friends with the guy who was selling them. we hung around there for a while and before we knew it he was leading us through the crowd behind the stage. he pushed us into this big tent and guess who was sitting in there...Fabri Fibra and his band...I was like??? "Heyyy Fabri...whats goin on? and how did i end up in here?" it was really really cool! we got to talk to them for a while and they were so nice. They brought this little kid in that was in a wheelchair to meet him and it was cute. after we left I still was in shock at what had just happened. I woke up this morning and I asked my room mate...did we meet Fabri Fibra last night? 

anyway, this is simply a taste of my past few weeks. I couldnt be happier or more thankful for all of my adventures and i cant believe i only have five more weeks left. it has been an absolute dream... 

HAPPY FATHERS DAY DADDY!

For My Father

How do you express in rhythmic words,
feelings with roots such as these?
How do you count with score or leagues
a companionship which runs this deep?
How shall I honor the one who gave,
my yesterday, today, and tomorrow?
"thankyou" is oil to your aqueous ear
and these words I can not just borrow
you let me fly with pidgeons, though raised a dove
when I flew from the window at night
you let me explore the sinful wood
with no owl for wisdom or sight
when I came back soiled from the facade
you opened the window of love
you washed me white with your falling tears
as you said i will always be a dove
How can a peasant repay deeds with gold,
when silver I hath not even?
How can I show you the thanks of my soul
in the midst of such distant season?
you worked to weave an intricate web
sweating through the cycle of the sun
holding it close to my heart when I slept
as it echoed my dreams, you caught every one.
I would give you the world, but this I can not
for you already gave it to me
I dont belong here nor there for long
for home is where you are, and thats where I'll always be.

-me

cursing the Tower of Bable

the end.

Chinqueterre

This weekend was AWESOME! on saturday morning we left for Cinqueterre at 6:30am and got on a train to Pisa and I got to see the leaning tower! it was really cool to be able to see it because i have seen it in so many pictures. it really is leaning a lot and its crazy to see how in the world it is still standing. after we saw the tower we got on a train to cinqueterre. we got there and went straight to the private beach of the hotel that we were staying at.

Sara went to cinqueterre last year and stayed at this hotel and they sent her a christmas card and so she called and the owner remembered her so we got to stay there for really cheap!

on the beach I met some Baylor parents who had a daughter in Alpha Chi and it was soo crazy and fun to talk to them. They ended up eating at the same restaurant as us and when i left the dad yelled, "Sic Em Bears!" it was funny because no one knew what was going on when I threw my bear claw in the air. 

The next morning we got up and had a free breakfast with soo much to choose from. being a baylor BEAR college student have learned that when food is free...store up for the winter. my baylor friends came to our table and said it looked like a football team had just eaten at the table. ha ha ha.

after breakfast we took a water taxi to the first town (cinqueterre "five lands" is five little cliff towns along the coast) so we went to the first town and hiked all the way thru stopping in each town. it was absolutely gorgeous! we hiked from about 9:30-4:00 and by the end my legs were jello. right when we were getting to our town a really bad thunderstorm came (the thunder was so loud i almost peed my self) i have refused to buy and umbrella since i have been here bc the people that sell them make me angry...and everytime it rains im like...nooo im not going to give in...sooo i got soaked. but i was wet and happy bc i havent bought an umbrella yet. 

we got on the train back home and were sleeping when an italian family came in claiming their seats :( we were getting up to leave when i realized that my ticked had slipped and was stuck in between the wall and my seat. i tried everything to get it out, even got out tweezers to try and get it as this family of 6 we waiting in the little train passageway (not to happy) especially bc they had no clue what was going on, they spoke zero english. so i took the tweezers and got under the seat and unscrewed the screws, took the seat completely apart, and got my ticket out...this was about a 20 min process. i was like-does this even happen to people??

we then went to the dining car and sat there for the rest of the trip, got back to Rome and we were so happy to be home. needless to say last night i slept like a baby. 

Tom Hanks!

So its not that I have forgotten about my blog, its just that nothing extremely exciting had happened in the past few days. BUTTT I got an A on my first Italian exam!! and it was really hard so I was really happy. Im about to go and take my 2nd one so I hope it goes well too. I have been doing a lot of writing lately, its one of those time where im really up in my head-but I like it sometimes. On Wed. afternoon I SAW TOM HANKS!! and Ron Howard and Dan Brown. They were filming Angels and Demons in the Piazza del Poppilo. It was really cool I was actually pretty star struck. it will be rally cool to see those scenes in the movie bc i was there when they were filming them! After that me and Lindsey went to eat dinner and to see a movie (in english)

Last night we went down to Il Piccolo Grande Chef (The restaurant right below our apt) and talked to our friend, Camillo. He talked to us ALL night long and was the cutest thing ever. he would bring out his big old dictionary to the table so that he could tell us things. he was trying to ask me what I was studying and I told him "below doctor" in italian bc i didnt know the word for nurse. and he asked me if i was going to be a "purse" haha! it was too cute! he told us that he was our Italian grandfather. And he was telling us about all of the people he has served in his FIFTY years in the restaurant business...Neil Armstrong, the Pope, Frank Sinatra, Eva Gardner, and the list went on. At one point he was talking about his wife but he kept referring to her as his "life" and I thought that was actually kind of profound. He didnt mean to say it like that, but it seems like that what it should be. 

Tomorrow we leave for Chinquiterra!!! it should be beautiful. Google it on the internet and you should be able to see some pictures and be jealous ;)

sorry for being so long-hope you all are well!

wedding crasher

soo i know i need to catch everyone up because it has been a few days.

thursday night me and my friends from villanova went to a place called scholars and it was closed for a private irish wedding reception...but i asked to guard at the door if we could go in and he let us slip by. we were a little out of place because everyone was in tuxedos and prom looking dresses and i was in my jeans and alpha chi tee shirt. but there was all this really fun american music playing like "sweet caroline oh oh ohhhh" "dont stop believingggg" okay. you get the picture. and everyone from age 15-75 were dancing and singing and it was soo funny and fun. they knew we werent supposed to be there but they just acted like we were all best friends anyway. one lady tried to arrange a marriage between me and her son back in ireland. i agreed bc i figured his accent would be enough to love him for the rest of my life.

friday night i went with everyone at jcu on a night tour through rome where we stopped at various places and hung out. i have really enjoyed getting to know everyone else at jcu. there are a lot of really nice kids that have let me tag a long with them whenever and always call me when they go somewhere which is really nice because my room mates dont really like to branch out very much. later on me and my friend lindsey from clemson went and ate pizza and it was yummm

ohh and friday afternoon me and kim found a place that had real strawberry milkshakes and it was really exciting.

today i went white water rafting and it was SO MUCH FUN! besides the fact that i thought i was going to die the whole entire time. we saw some really big water falls that were so beautiful. me and the girls in my raft had a guide named luigi and he was halarious. he just made fun of us and yelled at us the whole time, it was a riot. we hit a really big rapid and it dunked my side of the boat under and the girl behind me fell out and i fell out but had a death grip on some part of the raft and refused to go in that water and somehow pulled myself back in. in my mind at the time it was a life or death situation...luigi was just laughing histerically in the back...at the end he made us jump out and swim to shore (the water was like ice) we all obeyed and jumped in screaming and soon realized that none of the other guides made there rafts jump in and swim ha ha.

me and sallie are about to go to the girls that were in our rafts apartment across the street and eat dinner.

well hope that fills you in for now!!! miss you all.

A Presto~