Hot Water is One of the Best Things Around

Here are some of the pictures I promised. This one is looking from the east. See the church tower? Santa Chiara is the HUGE building next to it that's in a U-shape.

Here is a picture from Charlie's room looking back onto the town.

This is in front of Cafe Ingnorante...my favorite place for breakfast. Their pastries are amazing. Stacey came down from Orvieto the second day we were here, so we went out to drink some wine. It's Julianna, Lynsey (one of my roomates), Stacey, and me.




This is at the Velvet Underground. There were TONS of people ther for a Sunday night. They had an Italian band playing that sounded alot like Ska and Cake. (Hutch, Sarah, and Matt)






Another at the Underground. (Sarah, Matt, Me, Collin, Troy)








We also now have hot water...which is so great! Yolanda's been going to our classes with us. Kinda freaked Larry out at first, because he didn't know that she was even hear visiting. I tried talking to a nice little old lady today. Yolanda and I were chilling on her apartment step waiting for Charlie and Corey who were in the cell phone shop, and she walked in. I think she asked where I go to school (I heard scuolo) And I said Santa Chiara. After that, I was completely lost. I'm sure she saw the glazed look in my eyes because she patted me on the head and chuckled as if I were a little child. I think the locals are in a better mood today because its SUNNY today. I'll put some of those pics up later. Tomarrow is Florence!

I Now Have a Phone!!

I went out and bought a cell phone today, so I once again feel normal. Of course, I'm rarely going to be using it. However, I can buy a cheap calling card online (Yolanda siad they're cheaper online) and use it on the cell phone and it would be much cheaper. That way I only pay for local calling on the phone. It's a pay-as-you-go phone. Also, if I get calls from the states, it doesn't take away from my minutes at ALL...it's just whatever the long distance is for the people at home. The number you call is 0039-340-59-52-043. This is including the Italy country code. You could tell that this is a small town because there were 3 old men and 2 teenage guys hanging out in the cell phone shop...just talking. Probably about all of the Americans invading their town, but we would never know.

I've figured out the best way to learn Italian. Go to a bar, order some drinks, and introduce yourself to the locals. The worst that can happen is that you make a fool out of yourself and everybody laughs. This is what we did last night. Sarah, Matt, Collin, and I were talking to a couple people. Francesco knew a fair amount of English, so he was kinda our interpreter. Daniella and Antonella(?) knew NO English whatsoever. Collin and Daniella were flirting the whole night, which was really amusing since they didn't know each other's languages. Collin kept pulling out his translation book and flipping the the "Ah, Amore" section, and there are some pretty outlandish pick-up lines in that book. Like, "I am rich and sexy" "I have no diseases" "Do you want a wild and crazy night?" Daniella gave Collin her phone number...but how would they ever talk on the phone to each other?

Yolanda showed up today. She leaves for Melbourne in two days from Rome. Her being here is so natural. It feels like she's studing abroad with us. (studying abroad abroad?) She said that Florence has been her favorite place by far. She helped explain the SimCard cell phone thing to us, since SimCards aren't used in America (but they are in Australia)

The hot water is still out of order which is a big source of frustration. The pumps went out. The mechanics were working on them today (for how long, I don't know) The water is ICE COLD! I braved myself for a shower this evening before dinner. It wasn't fun. I'm beging to believe that there is no such thing as hot water in Italy.

We're going to Florence twice this week. Wedndsday it's with the whole school and we take buses. Our studio professors want us to go on Friday, just with the k-staters and take the train so we can get comfortable with that. Saturday we're going to Arezzo (the largest nearest city) And Sunday we're going to another town for Carnivale. Sunday night is also the night of the Superbowl, and one of the two pubs in town is having a Superbowl Party. I still don't understand why Italians care about the Superbowl. I think its just an excuse to party.

Next post I'm sure to have plenty of pictures. And I'm even in some of them!
Don't Hesitate to call (mom). If you leave a voice message, I'm not sure if I can figure out how to get it, but I'll see the number. And we're seven hours ahead here too.

Much More Refreshed Now

The plane rides over were very uneventful, so I'm not even going to talk about them. A plane ride is a plane ride.

The area of Rome where the airport is wasn't as "Rome" as I thought it would be. I guess I was expecting crumbling marble forums everywhere, but the airport is in the suburbs...not too many ancient ruins out there.

The school provided a charter bus to drive to Castiglion Fiorentino. Much nicer bus than American charters. I tried to stay awake the whole trip, but my cold got the better of me. I ended up taking some benedryl to help my nose and sacrificed taking in the scenery. (I'll see it again some other time when I'll care more)

We stopped at a gas station for lunch and we all had our first expierences with trying to communicate in Italian. It was at the very least, interesting. I did learn to order "acqua non gassata." Why they drink carbonated water, I'll never figure that one out. But the sandwiches were fantastic!

Our room is sooo WARM! It's fantastic. It's been keeping at about 72 F. The water in the showers however, is a completely different story. They say they're getting that fixed as soon as possible. We'll see what that means in Italian time.

Dinner was great last night. I was too tired and sick to completely enjoy it. (The entire time I just wanted to lay my head down on the table.) We had pasta, and roasted chicken with potatoes, and salad with olive oil. Very yummy.

Most of the KSU kids went out last night to the Velvet Underground. I took a freezing shower and went to bed. Which I'm really glad I did now, because at our orientation meeting, everyone looked very hungover.

Lyns and I went to a cafe for breakfast and ordered "marmellata"s. At least that's what I think the Baresse said they were called. SOOO good. I think I'm going to go there everyday for breakfast now. And it's on top of the hill in town, so I'll get my excersize.

That's about it for now. I think I'm going to go explore the town a little more and try one of the pizzarias.

24 hours ago...I was still at KCI

I´m here. I´m exhausted. I´m going to bed...but I´ll write tomarrow.

Here´s some pictures I took earlier today from the courtyard at Santa Chiara.

This one is looking out...

And this one is looking towards Santa Chiara...

Pretty Money

I finally got to the downtown bank and purchased some Euros. It was about $380 for 300 Euro. It's so pretty too! Although, it feels as though it's play-money, like Monopoly. If I were to lose it, no big deal. (when of course it really would be)

The forcast for Florence on Saturday (the day I get in) is a high of 34ºF and possible snow. Ew. Not a good welcome. Rome's high is up to 52ºF. What is up with that! Maybe I'll stay in Rome. It's kinda scary that I'm going to be in Italy so soon, that I can look up the weather forcasts for when I'll be there.

Anticipation II

So i've finally watched Under the Tuscan Sun. And now, the wait is becoming almost unbearable! I almost wish I had classes right now to keep me busy. Fortunately, I have lists and lists of errands to check off, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to stay on task and keep myself busy.

Anticipation

This blog is going to be my "architecture" blog. Baisicly, it will be about Italy. This time next week, i'll be in the air!

(and that's where i'll be living!)