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.