Fall?

So something I've been angry at Naples for awhile now, haha. Fall is nonexistant here. I wake up, its 65 degrees. I go to bed, its 65 degrees. But it's not just a 65 degrees, it's a humid 65 degrees. So when its 65 degrees, it's hot. When it's cold, it's cold. And to avoid sweating like a pig I wear shorts. And I've now heard FIVE people in ONE day calling me crazy.

Anyway.

This previous weekend was relaxing. I like Venafro a lot. We didn't do a lot, watched movies. I learned how to make gnocchi. Sunday, Angela (Eugenio's mom) invited 9 people to come over, so that's about 14 people in total. It was....insane. At first I laughed because it really is the Italian stereotype: loud and eating. I couldn't understand anything they were saying as they were yelling in dialect.

This week has been relatively calm. I finally had class with other Italian students. It's going to be an easy class, I feel. They're going to teach us how to "analyze" literature. Oh boy. I did make a friend though.

Something happened yesterday while I was walking to class..and I'm not relatively comfortable talking about it. I still don't understand it.

But I'm fine. I'm doing better. Although I've almost finished all my peanut butter :-/.

As fall comes, I find myself missing fall. And missing Truman. I rrrreally want to tutor/teach again, I miss it a lot. It's hard to believe that October is almost over.

Going to Milan tomorrow. Super excited. Yessssss.

What a week

Wow, so...what a week, huh? It's been awhile since I've posted. So here are the recaps:

On Saturday I met up with Nancy, got ripped off by a taxi driver. We went all around Naples, she had crocche', gelato and bought some limoncello (yuck, that's too strong for me).

Sunday I went to Eugenio's mom's house. I've been there before but I was shocked this time by the wonderful thing that I've been missing...which is silence. Glorious, unadulterated silence. On the way back we got stuck in traffic for oh, three hours. This should have been an omen for my week!

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday sort of flew by. Did the whole class thing, going out and meeting people: I've made friends with a little old lady who sells bananas.

Then comes today.

Basically, if you're going to be in Italy for more than 90 days, you need a permesso di soggiorno. Which is bullshit, but Italy anyway. I already have my visa. But you have to send the application of a permesso di soggiorno from the post office, they give you a date and you go to the Immigration office. Well, Serena and I went to the office and there was a line. We got there for number 25 and our number was oh....142. So yes, I did wait five complete hours.

To find out I have another date with the office in about a month and a half's time. What the heck. That was...awesome, haha. But then Serena and I went out for a ride on the town, taking the bus to some wonderful places. Then I did some groceries and now I'm here.

I'm feeling kind of down. For reasons I wouldn't like to divulge here. But also not sleeping very well because of loud neighbors, being alone and other things do get to me (I have been sleeping well the past couple of nights because it's raining). I just feel very...unwanted.

So I'm definitely looking forward to traveling. Milan, Palermo, Matera, London, Rome. I want to fit in Venice, Florence and Germany.

What a week

Ciao a tutti,

So it looks like the last we left off was on Sunday. I've been alone all week because my roommate stayed in Scalea and she isn't coming back until Monday. Anyway.

Monday I had my Italian class with Guia which was identical to the same thing we had done for two weeks. It wasn't anything too interesting. The walk home was, though. I was walking and singing, "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen when a group of American tourists passed me and they stopped and started belting it out together. We had a jam session. By far, one of my favorite moments in Italy.

Tuesday I had my first lesson with Bianca, my arch. professor. I simply ADORE her. She speaks English, practically fluently. But she has a British accent. When I can't understand her it's not because she has an Italian accent but because British people pronounce some words differently. I really enjoyed it. On my way home I stopped by and talked to a little old lady that's about 80 years old who sells bananas by the metropolitana by my house. Then I went out with Eugenio, Annarita and Rita to see Bite Me. It was quite amusing for me because I would laugh when Italians wouldn't and they would laugh when I wouldn't, just to show a cultural humor difference.

Wednesday was SUCH a long day. I met up with Bianca because my architecture class is one hour in the classroom, 3 hours on site, where I see what we talked about in person. We saw a couple of museums and churches, it was really cool to see what we talked about. Then I came home, did laundry, went to my private tutoring with Professor Vecce. We walked around and talked about what I read. I came home and was exhausted, I had walked for almost 6 hours.

Thursday was tranquil. I went to class. It was my grandma's birthday, so I called her. Eugenio came over, we cooked and ate.

I am going to become a professional ironer - I ironed all my stuff last night (I felt very Italian).

Today I had my one hour lesson with Bianca and now I'm here. I have homework, boo.

Tonight Eugenio's coming over. I don't know what we're doing.

Tomorrow I'm taking Nancy, the woman I met on my travels to Naples, around Naples before she leaves the country. The poor thing hasn't left the military base since she got here, almost a month ago!

I'm getting frustrated with trying to plan travels. Everytime I plan something, it falls through. The fact that I can't skip any classes is a major drawback for me. I'm glad Milan, so far, has been going well.

Some updates about life: my grandma (who had her birthday on the seventh) had a small hospital problem - I'm still not sure what happened. She's still in the hospital. And I found out a friend of mine recently passed away in a car accident. It's been bothering me and I don't really know why.

until next time!

Pineapples, Wasps and Rocks

I swear, this title is relevant. I promise.

Friday was the big test day. Basically I had to write a composition and she would check if I've improved, which I had. And then I read an article and she asked me questions about it, it went well. I like Guia a lot, she comes in from Rome every day to teach me so I appreciate it.

But she keeps on pointing out Neapolitan things in my Italian that I didn't even realize. Oops.

Then I went to a concert at Piazza Dante with Alessia and Eugenio. The group comes from Naples and they're basically Bob Marley wannabes. Then Annarita and her group showed up. After awhile I got tired and Eugenio and I left. On the way home, I FINALLY had a gelato. Which was my best idea EVERR because I had pineapple and strawberries (two different scoops). It was...fantastic.

Then we came back and fell asleep and woke up at 6,30, headed out the door about 8. We got to Scalea about 11, 11,30. It's a small town, it reminded me a little bit of home. The weather was sooo nice and Scalea is a beachtown, so we went to the BEACH! YESS. IN OCTOBER. I was happy. Eugenio and I stayed at a cousin's house who wasn't there. There was a wasps's nest outside and they kept on attacking. We then went out with Alessia and ate dinner. By the way, Italians put french fries in/on everything - they don't eat it as a side. I had a "hamburger" with french fries IN IT. Wtf?

Then we went to the beach the next day (today). We were there for about 6 hours. The nice thing about their beaches is that they have rocks instead of sand, so no mess! I am nicely tanned. And I was nicely relaxed until we got back to Naples. I didn't miss all the noise, to be sure.

Classes start this week! Let's see how it goes!