thursday, part two

tonight was SO fun. it might be one of the most fun nights i've had here. first of all, i made fettuccini alfredo for dinner which was GREAT. i'll prob make it again tomorrow just because it's DIFFERENT than the usual and i still have all the leftover ingredients. then, i got ready to go out with two of my friends i've met here. one goes to UNT and one goes to U of H. we went to this place called zen which is a beautiful outdoor discoteca/bar/restaurant sort of thing. lots of people had been before, but it was my first time to go. we met up with some italian guy friends they had met and hung out with them there for the night. we got to do some dancing and chatting. one guy actual works for an italian company that partners with exxon mobil. i was telling him (in italian, very slowly of course haha) about how my dad works for an oil company in houston too, and mid-sentence he goes, "i speak english." hahaha ooooh okay then. anyway, now i'm back at the apartment, hot and gross from being outside, but nevertheless it was fun. tomorrow, market perhaps (if i get up in time) and rest during the day until doing something in the evening i suppose.

thursdayyyy

after sleeping practically all day yesterday, I thought I was going to be up all night, but I watched The Boy in the Striped Pajamas with my roommates and then went to sleep decently early. I woke up a couple of times during the night, but other than that, I got a good night's rest. I'm still sleepy though and am thinking about taking a nap... Mom says I must be getting back on Houston time lol.

So, I bought this shirt yesterday... it's completely goofy but it looks just like tanner with his out of control hair haha! and it was only 3 euro! :) 7 more days til I get to see him! and everybody! for class this morning, we watched La Vita e' Bella and then had to answer some questions about it after lunch. That movie is still so good, even though I've seen it at least 4 times now. I hadn't seen it in so long, though, so it was good to see it again.

i went to the rocks this afternoon, but after 45 minutes, i couldn't take the heat anymore so i came back to the apartment (not that it's really any cooler, but it's not in the direct sunlight!) and have been doing my laundry. i went through all my stuff in my room and sorted out the trash and gifts and such. i'm ready to pack! haha.

i'm not sure what the plans are for tonight or the weekend. tomorrow evening there is a birthday party, but other than that, i don't really know besides souvenir shopping. well, i guess i'm gonna read my book for Welcome Week, BLUE HOLE back home. It's pretty good so far. I'm about halfway through with it now.

Until later, Heather

i guess i needed some sleep!

wow... i didn't wake up today until 2:30 PM... I always hate the feeling when you wake up and the day is half gone, but it was alright today, since I have nothing I need to do. i guess i really needed some sleep! i think i'm going to go buy some art supplies - i've really been feeling like doing soem sketching, and considering the lack of things to do... it seems like a good idea haha. i just watched the movie The Life of David Gale and it was SO good. Probably one of the best movies I've seen in a while. I'm not sure what the plan is for this evening, but I'll prob end up sticking around here. Nothing too exciting, I'd imagine.

the week is pretty much done...

.... as far as school goes, at least. wednesday (tomorrow) we don't have class because there is a field trip to Catania and Thursday we're watching a movie (probably my fav: La vita e' bella). I'm opting to just sleep in tomorrow instead and do some cleaning and getting ready to head back home instead. i was planning on going to the rocks tomorrow but i got a little burned today, soooo looks like a no. anyway, today was basically a normal day: coffee and croissant, class, lunch break at panino shop (got told i'm always sad- as usual), class, home, rocks, watched a movie on my computer (Closer- sad, but good). then! i skyped with jj! haha. and i got to skype with tammy yesterday which was good :) then we went to dinner at Spizzica down by the water, which was good. i've already been three times, so it wasn't anything new, but still good. afterward, we came back to our apartment for a bit before going to jeff's place and then going on to giuffa where we just hung out for a while. i started getting tired and there weren't any tables left, so after about an hour, i came back home. so now i'm here and just wanted to put in a quick update before going to sleep.

9 more days!

lack of bloggage due to lack of computer

wow, 11 more days and I come home! this weekend in Florence was fantastic and went by so fast! The first day there, we arrived in the evening and walked around town. We saw ponte vecchio and ate at a wonderful restaurant overlooking the Arno river. the food was quite good :) i had minestrone soup and a salad. the people in Florence were also really nice. after that, we went back to the hotel and watched some ridiculous american tv. all of the channels were over the top evangelical shows, so not very interesting but made for some good laughs. the next day we went out to the market which was great! there was so much to see and i ended up buying most souvenirs there because they were actually worth it haha. i still have some things to get here in Sicily though! i bought a mini computer that morning, but after many failed attempts to change the default language back to English (by both me and the computer store (for the WHOLE day)) I ended up having to return it and get my money back... then, we went out to see more of Florence and walked around. For dinner, we went up to Piazza di Michaelangelo. We had to hike up there a ways, but the view was worth it! The sun was setting over the city and was beautiful! We ate at a restaurant up there that was really not good, mainly a touristy place, but oh well. the view was good... on our way back, we stopped and got some popsicles (there was this neat place that sold these popsicles that were 100% fruit, and some that were actually ice cream) liz got grapefruit and i got an ice cream one with sprinkles. we kept walking and stumbled upon a caurosel, so we went for a ride. haha. then, right before we arrived at our hotel, there was an Italian man putting on a street magic show. i started filming it with my camera and then all of a sudden, he was pulling me out in to the middle of this huge crowd to assist him with his magic... crazy! it was ridiculous, and then, after i was finally done, liz and i went back to the hotel and got ready for bed. we had to get up early for our Special Day in Tuscany Tour.

The next day started off really early with breakfast on the rooftop terrace at the hotel. It had barely opened when we got there. we headed downstairs to the lobby to wait for the tour and when it finally got there (italian time, here...) we got into a little bus shuttle that took us to the bus station where we got on a big coach bus and waited to depart. our first stop was Pisa! i was really excited about this one! it took about an hour to get there, but it was worth it. we stayed there for a little bit and then continued on to Chianti for lunch and wine tasting (About another two hours drive...) the lunch was over-hyped and i think they gave us the leftovers, but we got to eat some good soup that is typical of the region... then, we went to two other regions of Toscana: Siena and San Gimelgnano (?) where we walked around and visited Cathedrals. In Siena, there is this horse race that takes place, so we got to see where that happens. Also, we tried teh "Worlds Best Gelato" (although, personally, i dont think it was much different than any other gelato...). after that, we headed back to Florence, where Liz and I stopped at McDonalds before walking back to our hotel. We watched some more Gina D and made plans for our departure in the morning... Yesterday we slept in a bit, ate breakfast, packed up, walked around the city a bit more. (stopped for grapefruit popsicles) and checked out of the hotel. after a bus, airplane, bus, bus, bus we got back to Ortigia and had chinese food for dinner.

now im back at school, waiting for class to start in a bit, ready to get the week started and have one last weekend in ortigia before the last week of school and then HOME!

i miss you all and cant wait to see you :) ill probably load more pics after class this afternoon!

some pics from the sailing trip

also, a video of jeff trying to do a backflip off of the sailboat

from aula magna

now im writing from the big classroom at the school because my computer is broken. i want to upload pics from the sailing trip (because it was beautiful) but im not sure when that will be. tomorrow liz and i leave for florence which im really excited about. we still have to plan our weekend though... i didnt get back til late last night because of sailing and then dinner, and earlier this week weve just been busy so we havent had time to plan it yet. unfortunately i dont have my skype. i went to the shop to buy some stamps for my postcards, but they were out... this place is crazy haha.

the sailing was fun. we sailed about an hour or so off the coast and went swimming out there for a while. on the way back, the sun was setting and the captain gave us some melon and bread to eat. well, now im headed back to class. more later :)

i think italy hates me

wanna hear about a good day? my laptop stopped working.

What # day is it?

I've lost track of the number of days... but it's more than halfway over! Hard to believe, but at the same time, I feel like I've been here forever. Last night, we went to Chinese food! It was so good! They have plain fried chicken like I like it there. (no sweet and sour sauce) and the fried rice is quite delicious too. Then we went to a gelato place where Liz and I split a Nutella crepe. Can't get enough of that nutella... Then we went to Jordan's apartment to watch the new Harry Potter movie. After about an hour of it, though, I was having trouble staying focused and I kept thinking about how I should be studying, so I came back home to review a little bit, but got too tired, so I just went to sleep.

Yesterday afternoon, Liz and I finally figured out our hotel plans for Florence. After about 4 hours of searching, we settled on the Best Western. Sooo European, right? Stick to what you know I guess, lol. So we'll be there Thursday night to Saturday afternoon. Today we will plan out what we're going to be doing there for those three days! Everyone says it's beautiful there.

I woke up early today to shower and study for my midterm, which ended up being very do-able. Our teacher let us use our textbook as a reference. He said it's more important to know where to look than to have all the answers, which I agree with. The test took the whole three hours before the break! Then, after lunch, we had to write a passage about our childhood. I wrote about going on vacation to California to grandpa and grandma's house and how I had a bad habit of not cleaning my room and that one time I left an egg in the closet on accident and it smelled so bad! haha! I think my teacher will laugh. Two and half more days until Firenze!

mcdonalds

i wish i had taken a picture @ mickey d's, but by the time we got there, all i could think about was getting something to drink and the air conditioning lol. i went with liz and bethany today to go shopping in siracusa. liz was looking for a St. Lucia charm, so she wanted to go to the area near the Madonna delle lacrime (a statue of Madonna that mysteriously cried for three days...) well, siracusa is kind of a walk from ortigia when it feels over 100 outside. we didnt exactly know where we were going, just what we were looking for. well, liz and bethany knew. i had never even been there, so i had no idea! so we walked for a while and finally stumbled upon the building that apparently the pope gave a lot of money to build around this miraculous statue. we went in and saw the crypt, and walked around for about 20 minutes looking for this statue. we finally found it, and realized it was right in front of our eyes the whole time. we ahd been expecting a big statue, but this was more of one of those things you hang on the wall, and it was about 8 inches tall i'd say... so anyway, we never really found the charm that liz was looking for, but since we were in siracusa, and it was siesta, we thought we'd go find something to eat... naturally, mcdonald's. i'd heard great things about the mcdonalds here, and anything besides pizza sounded good to me! and they had a bathroom and a/c, so i was pretty pumped.

... 45 minutes later, we're still walking. at this point, the heat from the asphault is radiating through my brazil-tire shoes onto the soles of my feet, and i can't see the golden arches anywhere!!! but then! at last, i see the familiar restaurant, which here, let me tell you is quite fancy. the workers are pretty high class and the food was much better! although, no refills on the that coca-cola light, of course. we stayed there for nearly an hour because it felt so good and we didn't want to trek back home. luckily, on the way back, we didn't get lost again and got back quickly enough to liz's air conditioned apartment. bethany and i watched "reality bites" while liz took a nap. after that i just couldn't take the stickiness anymore, so i came back to take a shower and eat a peach from the market. :) i'm not sure what the plans are for tonight, but all in all it was quite a good day. we even found a grocery store/market with ALL KINDS of stuff (although it's a long walk from here). i got some bleach to try and get rid of the mold in the shower, but so far, it's not working. i think i'm going to eat an apple wiht nutella mmm mmmmmm. then, for dinner? idk....!

market day

this heat is getting out of control. i just went to the market to buy some fruit and i'm sooo gross now. and i left at 9 AM.... haha on my way there i saw the bakery man who knows me as the arancini girl. i took one picture today at the market because there was too much going on to take more pictures. today i bought: 4 apples, 4 peaches, 2 oranges, and a cantaloupe. i'm so excited about having fruit and not having to eat pizza or pasta or panini this week so much! since i live right next to the school i can just come home and get some fruit for lunch too. today i may go into siracusa with liz to go shopping. my roommates are going to the beach probably, but it's TOO hot for me. i'm excited to fly back home because it means i'll have 11 straight hours of air conditioning. tomorrow is katies' 21st birthday! I wish i could be there !!!! HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY KATIE! :)

it's electrifying

so i'm pretty sure the most eventful thign that happened so far today is the electricity going out. thank GOODNESS it's back on again because my stomach has been hurting and the heat didn't help...

teatro di pupi.... yeah, pupi

today was a pretty normal day. coffee and croissant, school, lunch, school, then off to the rocks with jeff. after laying out for a while in the intense breeze-less heat, i came back, showered, and fell asleep for about two hours... when i woke up i made some pasta with parmesan cheese and ate with the roomies. at 8:30 i headed over to the school to meet the tour guide for the puppet show. in italian, though, it's il teatro di pupi... the guy was going on and on in the museum about the pupi. we're all about to be seniors pretty much and are giggling... ridiculous. so anyway, the puppet museum was a lot cooler than i expected it to be. the musuem was really interesting and the show was so detailed. it must be really difficult to maneuver those puppets all around and orchestarate them perfectly with the other puppets... it's crazy. the 45-minute show was entirely in italian (FAST italian, at that), so i didn't catch much, but it was basically a story of a damsel in distress and a night in shining armor. a kid from finland sat behind us and he spoke english. (and swedish, but i didnt know any to tell him... all i could do was try to sing that ridiculous bag in a box song... he didn't get it) there was actually another couple of ladies from california, which was pretty crazy. so many english-speakers in a tiny little room. what are the odds? anyway, so right now i don't know what the plans are for the weekend. i'm probably going to the beach tomorrow with some friends, which would be relaxing. but i got a little red today soooo i need to definitely use a lot of sunscreen.

un pomeriggio con il gelato

just got back from having gelato with katie erickson (the coordinator for Baylor's study abroad programs). i'm sitting out on the balcony because that's where i get good internet reception and it tends to be cooler out here anyway... haha. we took a cute picture in front of the big statue in the duomo (it looks like it's doing a sic 'em bears). i got my favorite gelato: blueberry muffin flavor :) it's quite delicious.

today has been a pretty good day. class went by quickly. we started going over pronoun use which can be kind of tricky in italian, but our teacher is very patient with us. then i came back to change and went to the rocks to lay out with some friends. i also got a peach drink that was just fresh peaches, ice, and sugar blended up. refreshing! there is a girl who took classes here that works at a bar near the rocks and they come down to see if you want anything and then will bring it to you. i jumped in from the cliff again today, but the water was really murky. it still felt so good! i'm probably the whitest person at the rocks, but it's okay haha. after the rocks, i took a shower and headed to the meeting with katie over gelato.

the baylor kids are all going to dinner tonight at a place called giovanni's which is apparently good. i haven't tried it yet, so i'm excited to try somewhere new. i'm thinking about going to get a snack though because we aren't eat for a couple hours and i'm pretty hungry. i also want to go shopping.... hmmm.... we shall see!

more later!

arabian niiiiiiights.... in ortigia

so did i mention things are done slowly/not on time here? i took a nap today and woke up at 7:45 or so and the arabic night was supposed to start at 8, so i got ready and went next door to the school where no one was to be found. eventually a girl asked me if i was waiting for the arabic night and we ended up talking for about an hour as we waited for anyone to show up. around 9:30 or so, the arabic night actually started... there was a lot of indian food (i didn't know there'd be food and i was still full from arancini smorgasbord lol so i didn't eat anything) and homemade wine. the bellydancing and talk about arabic culture still hadn't started at this point, so i went with some friends to get a granite. it's like a lemon chill kind of, but you can get different flavors. i'd already tried the limone one so this time i got mandorla (almond). it tasted like cinnamon, but it was good and refreshing because it's cold. eventually we went back to the school to see what was going on and watched the bellydancer for a while. she dragged some of our friends up there to dance with her! i hid so she wouldn't take me out there... haha NO WAY. there were so many people there... it was getting really hot, so most of us eventually decided to leave because they wanted to go out tonight. i didn't really feel like it tonight, so i'll prob hang out with them later on this week. i came back to the apartment to get some sleep. my roommates have a field trip tomorrow morning at 7 am, so i'll probably end up waking up around that time too. maybe i'll go read at the cafe down the street in the morning. on tuesdays, they have yoga at 6 am down at the rocks so i want to try that sometime. the guy still hasn't emailed me back about working at the blind center, so hopefully i'll find out information about that soon. (i think the arabian nights party is still happening because i can hear the beating of the drums...) well, off to read my book :) (i tried to use the tv in my room today but it is all staticy)

....sometimes my brain thinks in italian. that's exciting.

YAYYY

<--- today @ the rocks

I just got back from getting arancini and some of those sesame biscotti things I tried in Lipari. I was so hungry so I ate really fast and now I am SO full... Our class getting split up ended up being a good thing. Our lessons are more efficient and I get to hang out with Jeff more, too. I talked with teacher about Markus and Corey which was fun.

I had a panino for lunch with buffalo mozarella, turkey, tomatoes, oil, and balsamic vinegar. mmm mmmm. last night hanging out at jeff's was fun. i came back at like midnight to go to sleep though because i was super tired. I got to talk to Corey today, too, which was really good! Man I love skype- what a deal. And everyone knows I love getting good deals! I'm my mom's daughter, after all...

After class I came back for a bit and then went to the rocks to read my book. It's a pretty good book so far. I am halfway through it. I stayed there for about 45 minutes and left before I got too red and came back here. Tonight we have an "arabic culture night" that I'm pretty excited about. There will even be bellydancing lessons HAHAHA! Tomorrow we meet with Katie Erickson (the study abroad lady from Baylor came to do a site visit...) Thursday night is a Sicilian Puppet show, so this week should go by pretty quickly. On Saturday, we are probably going to take a group trip to Mt. Etna and go hiking which I am SO psyched about! Sometime this weekend there may be an excursion to go see Harry Potter as well YES. So for now I'm just relaxing until the Arabic party gets started... oh gosh.

monday mondayyyy

Monday of week two of classes. Today I woke up at 7 AM because I wanted to have some quiet time before class and the week got started. I went to Cafe del Teatro (my Italian "starbucks" or common grounds, haha) to get a cornetto and a cappuccino. Class was kinda long today because I was really tired for some reason. Then, at the end of class a different teacher came in and announced that we were splitting the class into two parts. Liz isn't in my class anymore. My teacher told me after class that this way we could move "piu veloce" (more quickly), which I'm excited about, but also don't know how that's going to provide equal credit for the other class and ours through Baylor...

I came back to the apartment and talked to mom and dad for a while and then chatted with my roommates about our different weekends (they were here for the crazy boat party and winery tour). I also had some of these cookies I found here (made out of vegetables and soy) with Nutella, of course! :) Then I did laundry for the first time here, so I just had to clothespin all my "delicates" up to dry outside on the balcony... nice. I swept my floor and put away my packing from the Aeolian islands. I just went for a walk to go to Zara and get some Euros out, but I forgot my debit card was in a different place from the vacation, and Zara (a really cute clothing store here) was closed... so I just bought some bowtie pasta, parmesan cheese, and butter at the supermarket and then came back home and got some water at the closer supermarket. Now I'm just hanging out at the apartment with Tanner dog relaxing and reading "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." I found it on the bookshelf in my room- ironic.

That's all for now!

back to ortigia

tonight i'm back in ortigia. last night, liz and i went to get some food from "mancia e fui" (we ate there three times in two days...seriously.) we came back to the hotel after people watching for about an hour. i'm still confused as to how italy is the fashion capital of the world, but alas, we americans get stared at as if we lack fashion sense... who knows. i made a calendar for the following month and put in my trip to florence (the 23-26 of July). that should be a really neat vacation.

today we just grabbed some breakfast from the same little shop. at another cafe, the cash register actually mistook me for an italian! haha! me?! then we waited a while for the hydrofoil and started our journey back to ortigia. on the train from milazzo to siracusa, we actually met a girl who is studying in milan and was on her way home for the summer. she was SO adorable and we talked for a long time. she was really excited that we were from texas and wants to buy some cowboy boots haha! too funny. when we finally got back to ortigia, we took a taxi that dropped off liz and then me. i grabbed a pizzolo for dinner, saw a friend in the piazza, and came back home. then i left the apartment to talk to the fam outside because i couldn't get a good connection here in the apartment. i still don't know what to do about trying to get to sweden... i think it's going to be an early night for me. school starts back up tomorrow morning, and honestly, i'm pretty excited about it because it gives me something to do during the day.

ciao per adesso!

pringles and CNN

This is a picture from one of the train rides yesterday. Waking up at 6 am = no makeup - glorious. There is also a picture of me with the view from our hotel (also, a video of the view from yesterday evening). Today we slept in til 8:30 and were planning (apprehensively, to say the least) on renting a scooter and exploring the island on the "panoramic view" road around the coast of Lipari. We walked down to the main street to the scooter rental place, where, to our dismay, NO ONE spoke English. suprised? no... but when we found one place that spoke "un poco" (and by un poco, they mean maybe.... 5 words) of English, he asked if we knew how to drive a scooter. Us? No... so then he said, "Oooh, NO. Dangerous!" sooooo now what? we stood around for a little while trying to figure out what to do. We asked numerous travel agencies/tour companies about seeing Stromboli by means other than boat, and NOPE, no one spoke English well enough to understand, AND there weren't any simple night excursions. By some chance of luck we went into one travel agency and they spoke enough english to organize a taxi driver to take us on a tour of Lipari (basically the same as we wanted to do on the scooters, but a LOT safer) and it was BEAUTIFUL. I can't get over how the blue the sea is. Our tour guide Daniele spoke the best English of anyone here and explained interesting things about Lipari to us. An old volcanic eruption left tons of pumice and obsidian all over the island, and until September three years ago, that was the main source for jobs here. Now, however, the "green people" have stopped the excavation of the pumice because of its detremental effects on the island. We got some pumice and some obsidian from the beach, though, and concluded our tour back in main Lipari. We grabbed some food from "mangia e fui" (recommended by Daniele) and sat at a cafe to get coca-cola light and a cappuccino. We got some nutella from the supermarket and bought some pringles, bobby pins, water, etc... and are back at the hotel to relax a bit before going to the archaeological museum this afternoon. We found CNN on tv! In ENGLISH!!! The first english tv i've seen since here... crazy! tomorrow we are headed back to Ortigia and school starts again on Monday. We still haven't planned our next weekend, but hopefully we'll find something exciting to do! I think I may head down to lay by the pool for a bit before the museum.

aeolian islands

sweet escape out of syracusa to the aeolian islands after a three hour train ride with one connection, a taxi ride, and then an hour ferry ride...


we got in around 2 and checked in to the hotel. it's wonderful - A/C and clean! it feels so good to not stick to the sheets in teh bed because it's so humid! it even smells good in here (no lingering smell of mold and mildew like in my apartment...) then we went out to find something to eat but, once again, siesta throws things for a loop. we found a restaurant where we ordered a burger and fries (their fries are SO good here). the burger came wihtout a bun. it cost 8 euros which was kinda a rip considering we went to the supermarket afterward and bought all our items for less tahn 8 euro... bah! then we just came back to the hotel and relaxed and now i'm here!

the sci-fi bday party at liz's apartment

and

my new favorite food

turning point?

so i've made it over a full week here in sicily. it's crazy that it's already gone by... and i feel like i've been here for forever. i'm sure the rest of my time here will go by even more quickly though because liz and i have lots planned for our next four weeks haha.

today was actually quite a good day. i woke up feeling more positive about my time here (about time after all my breakdowns!) i got a croissant with nutella and a cappuccino for breakfast before school and then class went by pretty quickly. i really like my teacher which has been one of the most positive experiences with the program here. then liz and i started our planning and booked our flight for our trip to florence. idk what we're going to do about meeting up with karl, but it's just such a long full day of traveling to get there... :-/ tomorrow morning at 8 am we are headed on a train for the aeolian islands for a couple of days to see an active volcano and try the mud baths haha. although apparently you smell like sulfur for days after so we don't know about that last one... i'm just hoping i don't get too train-sick/ferry-sick, etc etc... lol.

tonight liz and i made dinner at her apartment and it was so ghetto-style! we had to put our plates on our laps because they were too hot and ate with plastic silverware and drank juice out of plastic cups. this was all after we cooked SO MANY veggies and potatoes in a too-small pan while sweating profusely because it is so hot! then two of our friends cristinia and cheralyn came over and we hung out and chatted with them for a while which was really fun.

well i'm off to get some sleep and wake up at 6 am to get to the train station in time!

one week

i'm actually writing from my apartment for the first time since i've been here... it's still SUPER hot in our apartment; we haven't gotten new fans yet. today at 5 we have a "living in Siracusa" session and we get gelato so i'll be going haha. today i had class from 9-130 but after tomorrow i'm done for the week. liz and i are thinking about going to the aeolian islands (http://www.thesicilianexperience.co.uk/aeolian.html) which are supposed to be really cool so hopefully that'll work out. we are trying to plan things to get out of Catania for the weekends because other than going out (which is pretty much what everyone here (at least in our program) likes to do) there isn't that much else to do on the weekends. especially when things are closed all day on sundays.

i made it a week here! it's hard to believe that i'll actually be LIVING here for nearly four more, but i'm sure it will go by fast with all the stuff liz and i are planning and classes. anyway, not too much exciting stuff has happened today. i'll post some pics from liz's apartment and a pic of the delicious arancina!

finally got my modem

i finally got my modem - even though it's SUPER slow... but at least i finally get internet at my house. i'm over at liz's right now though. they're having a tribute to michael jackson at the school, but i'm pretty schooled-out. i've been really frustrated lately because things just don't seem to be working out. all of our fans have broken or are crusted over so no air comes through... the italian way is that things get done REALLY, REALLY slowly (as i've learned through numerous occasions) which is even more frustrating in the extremely hot weather. so anyway, i spoke with the program director today because no one was available to talk to in the office about it and i embarassingly had a breakdown. i hate crying in front of people like that... it was really awkward, but i couldn't hold it back. i've just been upset with teh string of unfortunate events: my flights being late, taxi driver yelling at me, being moved to a less nice apartment than most students have here (even though i'm paying the same thing...), losing my luggage, not getting my modem until about 4-5 days after i thought i'd have it, our fans not working, etc etc... i don't mean to complain, but it's been difficult dealing with all of this while being tired and hot and adjusting to a completely different culture and environment. i jsut keep thinking about how i'm going to be here for the next 4 and a half weeks or so and it's kinda unnerving. since syracuse is a small island, it's kinda hard to get anywhere from here... anywhere you travel requires a flight through Rome which is NOTORIOUS for losing luggage and a HUGE airport.

i do enjoy class for the most part though. my teacher is really patient with us, but he doesnt speak any english which can be difficult sometimes. our class is pretty big - about 15 people now. more than half are from baylor. learnign the language is fun here because it is carried outside the classroom into everyday situations. however, i will be glad when i return home and can politely ask for things using more than the small vocabulary i have now.

well liz and i are going to watch a tv show on teh computer and i think i'll prob hit the hay early. last night we through a sci fi bday party for one of liz's roommates so i'll hopefully upload some of those pics sometime soon. the internet is quite slow here, so it'll prob only be a couple. ciao per adesso!

July 6, 2009 – 3:30
Let’s see… right now what’s coming to mind is HOT. It just rained here. Okay, so anyway, fourth of July came and went somewhat uneventfully – no real celebration. I finally got some sleep yesterday and didn’t wake up until 2 pm! I went for a short run around Syracuse and came back to get ready for the day. Since it was Sunday, everything was closed. I went over to Liz’s to hang out and we watched Role Models on her computer and both fell asleep. Then we made dinner (sautéed veggies: eggplant, zucchini, red peppers and onions) – delicious! We went out for gelato with some friends afterward and sat on the steps down by the water to chat. While we were all talking something splatted from above. Low and behold, a carsick kid was vomiting upon us from the street… loveeeeely. Hahaha my life is funny. So we decided to head back for the night and I came to review a little bit of Italian because I had the placement test this morning. It went decently well and I’m placed in the class I need credit for, so that’s good. I went to the supermarket and the outdoor market today to get somewhat gluten-free food. My favorite new Italian food right now are these things called arancini. They look like upside down breaded cones and they are stuffed with rice and cheese or various things. I had a delicious one today that was prosciutto, spinach, rice, and mozzarella. It was AMAZING. Probably the best thing I’ve eaten here. I’m waiting til 4 (after siesta) so I can go get another one haha. Then I came back to put the allergy cover on my bed (nerd alert!) after stacking numerous blankets on my bed and changing the sheets (from my 4-day marathon of wearing two different sweaty outfits… appealing, I know), so now my bed is soooo much more comfy! Class was pretty similar to my Italian classes at Texas, so I feel comfortable in it and am excited to learn Italian better and be able to communicate more with the local Sicilians. Tonight I’m going to a restaurant with some friends that is supposed to be really good, so that should be fun. It gets kinda boring during siesta though because there is nowhere to go and I’ve never been a napper. I wish I had brought lots of movies to watch on my computer.

got the german and swedish flags for my euros!

and

jumping off the cliff!

this is what it's like at the rocks

July 4, 2009
Happy 4th of July! I’m sure you are all having parties and such today – here in Italy, it’s just a normal day! Although, today at “the rocks” (where we lay out by the sea – similar to what it looked like in Naples), there was an Italian man sporting an American flag speedo!
I still don’t have my internet modem, so I can’t get online regularly and I’m writing this in Microsoft word from my apartment. Then I’ll go sit on the steps outside the school where I can get internet signal. The school is only two doors down from my apartment (very convenient in this heat…)
This morning we set off for a three-hour tour of Ortigia with our program director Lucia. We learned about the Greek, Arabic, and Italian impact on Siracusa (our island) throughout history. We went down into the catacombs that were used as bomb shelters during WWII. It was really neat down there and about 20 degrees cooler! We also got a main idea of Siracusa and toured its castle/fortress. After our tour, I came back to the apartment, ate a fresh peach ☺, and – oh! Right when our tour was getting started, a big van pulled up to the school and MADE MY DAY. My BAGS!!! I literally jumped up and down… there was a lock on my bag though… so my roomies and I spent nearly an hour using a serrated wine cutter to saw through the lock… it worked though and now I have my stuff and got to take a wonderful shower with shampoo and put on CLEAN clothes!!
This afternoon we went to the rocks for a few hours, which was glorious! It’s beautiful and there is such a nice breeze down there. I got some major sun too, at least for me! I also jumped off a big cliff with the help of some Italians to find out how deep the water was. I’m having a really good time and am really excited and getting more settled in. Things are becoming familiar since I’ve been here a bit now.
I miss you! Love you!

While I was writing, a friend told me I get online at this café down the street so I came here and ordered a cappuccino… but I can’t get on the wireless, and I think you have to use their computers… bah! It’s really hot in here and im drinking hot coffee quickly to get out of here so I can go back to try and get signal outside…I would text the guy to ask about internet, buuuuut I don’t get signal in here and I haven’t paid for my coffee yet so I don’t want the people to think I’m dining and dashing… aye yay yay! Okay I can’t complain – this cappuccino is molto bellissimo!

this is the view from outside my apartment

and

my room- notice the fan.

Arrival

July 2, 2009

Warning: this is LOOOOOONG!
Ciao dal’Italia a tutti !
Yesterday was a really long day… It started off on really sad note; having to say goodbye to Markus and not knowing the next time I’ll get to see him was really, really hard. It got better as the travelling went along though, and I didn’t really have any trouble until I arrive in Catania – always a good sign when you don’t have troubles until you reach your destination… At the Houston airport, one guy started talking to me about where I was traveling. (He was going to Genoa (?) to visit a friend). It was good to have someone to talk to keep my mind off of saying goodbye. Ironically enough, he is the band director at Cy-Ranch High School. Our plane took an hour to actually leave the runway because there was “bad weather.” It wasn’t raining or anything at the airport, but there were black clouds. I don’t know… there was just a really long line of airplanes waiting to take off. Anyway, so I arrived in Paris ten hours later! The flight felt long at first, but then seemed to go by really quickly after that. I didn’t have to sit next to a fat, sweaty, body-odor man, so all was good. There were movies and everything to watch on the plane with the video screens and all. On my next flight I met a really nice guy name, ironically enough, Karl. Haha… He plays for the Milan basketball team (but plays for the French national team… I’m still pretty confused about all of that) and spoke really good English so we talked for most of the flight from Paris to Rome. He was really nice and soon we’ll be facebook friends haha. He actually was in LA at a basketball camp while we were there when the Lakers one. His agent got him 3rd row seats at the Staples center! Crazy… I met people all along the way, which was really nice. When I arrived in Rome, I made my way through the airport to my gate, while the atmosphere became increasingly more Italian. At the gate, no one was speaking English and I felt like everyone was looking at me. Haha As I tried to use the payphone to call mom this lady laughed at me when I couldn’t figure out how to work it. (I think the problem was more that I haven’t used a payphone since like 1996…. Not that it was Italian). Fast forward and I arrive (yet another hour late) to Catania in Sicily, with my luggage nowhere to be found. A nice Sicilian missionary who lives in Michigan helped me as I talked with lost and found and waited to check the next flight’s luggage…. Meanwhile, my roommate (who I had just met) had gone through customs to tell the taxi driver what happened. He (very Italian-style) was yelling at her (Cailin) in Italian about having to leave, so she came to find me and we left… luggage-less. I told the driver I was sorry, buuuuuut he just yelled at me in Italian and we drove in silence the entire hour to Siracusa. (well, not complete silence; he entertained himself with numerous phone calls in Italian – he told one person he wouldn’t be able to eat with them and he’d tell them later what had happened…. Nice. (I could pick up bits and pieces of his conversations even though he probably thought I had no idea)). When the EXTREMELY fast “van” finally stopped, he got out, shouted something out us in Italian, got out our bags, and drove away… We had no idea where we were, but one lady and her child were motioning to us to come inside (speaking Italian only, mind you) so, not having any better ideas, we followed her through huge wooden doors, down the stone walkway, and up a couple turns on the stone stairs up to another wooden door along a pathway leading to her apartment. We were trying to explain we didn’t have a key, so she spit out “one minute please” and down comes a shirtless 20-something Italian man in man-pris (hahaha, Markus!) who speaks great English. He offers us to leave our stuff at his apartment while we try to find SOMEONE from the program. (we kindly declined…) We didn’t have a phone, so we decided to walk to the school (just two buildings down) and were stopped by an Italian man with a dog who turned out to be the housing coordinator, Ramzi. Thank goodness! He gave us our keys and showed us our apartment, which is actually quite nice (when you have the fans turned on!). We missed the check-in so we couldn’t get our phones or Internet, but Liz had been asking when we were coming and Ramzi had told her, so she came over! I was SO SO SO glad to see her, because after having to say goodbye to Markus and my family, 30 hours of no sleep and losing my luggage, the waterworks came… We walked to Liz’s apartment (that has A/C!) and she pointed out various coffee places and markets on the way. Our area is pretty small so we have already kinda learned our way around. After skype-ing home, Cailin checked her e-mail and we headed back to go to sleep! Finally!
I woke up super late today (noonish) and got somewhat ready (without my stuff…) and Cailin and I walked to a coffee shop to get some breakfast (a croissant with Nutella) and an espresso (SOOOO strong!!!)). It was fun and funny using my little Italian to order and pay… Then we explored Siracusa: the market is fantastic. Everything smelled delicious (minus the seafood…)! I bought some peaches. Cailin got some apricots, tomatoes, and buffalo mozzarella cheese (that I actually ordered in Italian and could get the gist of what he was saying- exciting!) It’s only my first day here and I feel like I can communicate enough to get around, so by the time I leave it will be awesome. After getting some rest, today is so much better! I have my cell phone (received calls are free for me, but if you call, it will be normal long distance for you, but if you want to call go for it! I also will have my modem for internet after 6 pm tonight. Italy is 7 hours ahead, but here’s my number: from US, dial this entire number: 011 39 335 7146 575). It’s 4 pm now and we have a meeting at 7, but it’s so hot outside that after we went out for the second time, we were too hot and had to come back into the shade. (ew, I just looked at my feet and they’re filthy)…
More to come later ☺ I love you and miss you all! Arrivederci!