verbaledudette: Italian is made for poetry, it is simply beautiful, while English is made for song.

Last night was pretty laid back. After leaving school, Rachel and I stopped and got some water, and met with Johanna at the door to our apartment. We made small pizzas for dinner and then took an hour-long walk around the city. It was beautiful outside but very hot. It’s not the kind of hot where you can really feel it. It is the “I am sweating so much so it must be hot” kind of hot. Do you understand?

While walking, Johanna pointed out the hot spots to go and what not. It was interesting how you could notice the Italians, the tourists, and the American students on study abroad, so easily. The Italians were naturally beautiful, the tourists were decked out in backpacks with their jaws on the tops of their toes, and the Americans were loud and obnoxious. It made me depressed that I was American seeing them act this way.

We ran into a little street concert that consisted of about five old men and three young girls singing classic American songs. It was quite entertaining and they were quite good.

Our school and our apartment (so close to each other) are in prime locations. We did not need to walk far to reach the main piazzas and tourist locations. Although I was only here for a few days this summer, I feel like I know the city pretty well. I recognized a lot of stores and streets and what led to where. This made me feel more confident about my surroundings because anyone who knows me knows how hard it is for me to find where I am going. I print out Google maps for everything and I have to tell people to tell me specific step-by-step instructions while driving. You all should be very proud of me.

After our walk, Johanna’s Italian best/boy friend met up with us and came over to the apartment. His name is Ricardo. He was quite charming with a great sense of humor. I loved listening to him speak with his broken English. He made the most ugly English words sound beautiful. (It is like when we were in Rome this summer and this guy asked me if “that was the way to the toilets” and he pointed. I looked at him like he had just announced his love for me and wanted to take my away for my happily ever after moment. They just have a way with making everything sound so goooooood.) We were talking about how choppy and raw the English language sounds compared to some European languages. Ricardo’s response was that “Italian is made for poetry, it is simply beautiful, while English is made for song.” This boy knows what he is talking about.

Rachel went to sleep, still recovering from an exhausting travel over here, while Johanna, Ricardo, and I played cards and talked until 3:00 a.m. (It was quite funny because when Johanna was winning, with perfect luck, Ricardo said that she had an “enormous ass.” We stared at him for a bit in awe of the insult he just delivered. This is when he explained that in Italy, they say that when you have “lot’s of luck.”) It did not feel that late at all. And besides it was a Friday night, right?

Ricardo then left and we went to bed. I could not fall asleep until about 6:00 a.m. because of the heat. I was sweating profusely. It was evident that you could see the sweat marks on my pillow, which was disgusting. I also think I am just having difficulties adjusting to the time change. I go to bed very late, but wake up earlier than everyone else. It is quite odd.

I have this problem with not having Internet away from school. It is nice is some ways because you are not always on it, but I want to be able to communicate with Salt Lake City, and when I am school it barely reaches noon there by 7:00 p.m. here. It is frustrating. Plus, I am not really one for writing blog posts and then updating the blog a few days later. Ugh. That is the only thing that sucks about our apartment.

Also, I am not too sold on this shower thing. Like you cannot get comfortable and you get cold because you are literally using a garden hose. It is kind of awkward. I also feel like I make a lot of noise banging the hose on the side of the bathtub. Oh well. All part of the experience, right? Push may come to shove and I will end of loving this more than anything.

I finished reading “Less Than Zero” by my favorite writer, Brett Easton Ellis. It was really good but really depressing and nothing like the movie. In the movie, the characters speaking characteristics are perfectly in line with the novel, with a similar plot. The story is about these college kids dealing with drugs, sex, and rock n roll, in the 80’s. The one thing that really bothered me is that in the movie, Clay (the main character/narrator,) is the good guy. He doesn’t do drugs, always helps, is in love with the beautiful girl, and cares about his friends. In the book he is a stand by and just watches his life deteriorate around him. He just stands witness to his best friends being abused. I loved Clay in the movie but found him emotionally blank in the book. It definitely hits my all time favorites though, I suggest reading it.

Today we went with Charles around the city to get to know the surrounding stores, banks, and piazza's. I have only been here for three days and I feel like I have lived here forever. I am so excited to blend in and be inspired by the beautiful city. Charles showed me this place that is kind of like the Italian student hang out/study building. After telling him that I love to people watch and write and just observe life, he though this would be the best place for me. I am very excited because he says that no americans usually come here and it is the best way to meet Italian students. You can meet them when you go to the clubs on the weekends, but I have learned from stories and warnings from different people that those ones only want to sleep with me really, so not to really trust their love spills. I think this place is going to be my new Coffee Garden (except I will not go into debt from going there every day.)

Tomorrow is Sunday. I think the girls and I are going to go to this really beautiful, famous, view across the bridge. And then classes start on Monday. After a week of class, I think I will be able to come up with a Skype schedule so I can communicate with everyone during the small hours I have internet.

Here are some photographs: