Il Discotheque

Last night was amazing. We made gnocchi at my apartment, drank some wine, and then by 11 we left for the club. On the way we took a picture with the carbanieri (police). It was funny...one of them put their hat on my head! At the bar\club\whatever you want to call it, they were playing weird music at first, but once they saw 20 Americans enter, they switched to semi-good English\Italian music. I even got to hear an Italian version of "Lean Back"! I danced for hours and it was just the best time, especially since there were enough boys with us for us to be able to easily avoid any creepers who were around the perimiter of the bar! Its so crazy that I can just sit on the bar stools and order a drink without any id or anything. I'm cheap, however, so I just drank some wine with dinner before we left! I danced with Martino a lot, which I loved because he doesn't mind dancing like a crazy person, and that's my favorite kind of dancing. We had a blast. I'm pretty tired today though because I didn't get home until almost 4. The weather has cooled down and I don't really have plans for today except going out to dinner...it's nap time, baby!

Via Pastrengo, numero 20

This is Piazza Maggiore. It's the biggest square in the town where everything happens!

So Charlotte and I found a pretty promising apartment...but of course they're are drawbacks to anything you find. This one's pretty secluded which is nice because it's quieter and safer. It's with two Italian girls who are really sweet and understanding of our lack of language skills! Across the hall is an apartment of boys that one of our new friends was also interested in. The apartment doesn't look super Italian and they all smoke, but it's in a good area and the people are nice. So it's always a toss up. Should you settle? Or is it really not settling and you might be passing up something great only to later live in a hole? Oh. And did I mention that two of the other girls in our program are trying to get this apartment too? And one of them is my roommate. Basically, the whole situation is pretty difficult. It's super interesting to visit random apartments though and get a feel for what's out there. Plus it always makes for interesting attempts at italian/english conversations!

Lunch here is amazing. After class ends at 1 we go to market and buy bread and meat and cheese and Pringles (hehe) and all eat panini together on one of our terraces. It's beautiful and all the food is so fresh and delicioius. The biggest down side is that it's SO humid here. I've never sweat this much in my life and I'm hot all the time. I'm at the point where I wish Italy accepted public nakedness! One thing they do accept is PDA. There are couples making out wherever they like and it's really awkward.

Italian class stresses me out because instead of learning more of the language, I feel like I'm just learning how much I don't know. I'm sure it'll get better though. It's so neat to have other people to practice with and to help with homework. We're starting to have a lot of homework but I feel like I have no time to really do it! Between searching apartments, walking everywhere, class, using the internet, eating, (and of course also hanging out), the days pretty much fly by! But it's so awesome living with practically everyone you know. It's really fun and really laid back. Tonight a bunch of us are going to go out to eat and then to a discoteche. It's so easy to organize activities when you're all living together! Apparently Thursday night is the new Friday night, so it should be pretty fun.

I just called Federica, the girl living in the apartment we think we want. We're going to go visit again today at 5:30. I've decided that if they offer it to us, we should take it, and if not, then it wasn't meant to be. Wish me luck!

Oh...and I'll try to post some pictures soon...but really i haven't been taking many. I don't feel that touristy since I'm actually living here, you know? But I know you guys want some proof so I'll do my best!

Apartment Search!

Everything is so new, and there is so much going on, that each day it's hard for me to organize my thoughts and tell you about any one part of it!

Apartment hunting is almost in full swing but it's weird because it can be competitive against your new friends to get the apartment you want. I think I might need to concede and get a double, probably with the girl I live with now, Charlotte. She's really sweet and laid back and we click well so I think living together wouldn't be a problem. It's hard though because other people are looking for someone to room with and you don't want to hurt their feelings!

Me and my new friend Martino cooked dinner for about a dozen of our new friends last night. He's hilarious, I love him. He's about 6'5'', silly, and from UCSC. We make an odd pair! And he's so cute about the nicknames he and his girlfriend have. Anyways, so we ate pasta and salad, drank wine, and enjoyed each other's company on the terrace of Martino's apartment. It was just lovely...and so much fun!

Ok my computer's dying! I'll keep you updated on the apartment search!

Cibo

This one will be short. I had been upset that I had not yet enjoyed the specialties of this land. However, yesterday I had procuitto, tortellini, and gelato (2x!). It was all absolutely incredible. Our waiter for dinner was from India and he was teaching us Italian! We sat outside and just ate and talked for a couple hours. We don't have much to do so we just are. After we hung out at one of the apartments in our building that has a terrace and I spent the evening talking with a boy from England whose name is Danny (are there no other names in the world!?) He studied at UCSD last year and was visiting the Italians who had been there as well. It was neat to talk to someone about study abroad from the opposite perspective.

Back to il cibo. If I did nothing but eat this whole trip, I would be just fine. And the fact that we walk everywhere makes it ok. Right? Ok. Time to eat.