I have an obsession with lists. I don't think it's because I'm an ENFJ, because I really think I'm an I/ENFP. Perceiver sounds so much better than judger. But I do write lists. Lots and lots of them!
At the moment I have a list on my bedside table of places I want to go in Italy at some point. It includes:
Siena (town in Tuscany)
Villa Adriana (near Rome)
Villa d'Este (near Rome)
Assissi (St Francis - couple hours by train from Rome)
Orvieto (town semi-nearby)
Bologna
Ravenna (near Bologna)
Capri
Amalfi
Marostica (2nd week in September on even-numbered years, they have a human chess game in the square downtown, with costumes and everything. Anything with costumes and I'm in!)
I also have a list on my bedside table for tomorrow. It includes:
Grego Paper
Scholarship (WA Fryer Commission - due April 9th)
Mail Mom's BD card (her birthday was St. Patrick's day... clearly I'm a little behind!)
email Gma Sonel (I owe her one!)
Readng for week after spring break (I'm trying to get ahead)
Purchases for people I'm visiting over Spring break... Tasty, wonderful Italian things like coffee(!!!) to thank Gail, Tom, the Joyces, Brittany, and the Yosts for hosting me over spring break.
PACK!!!
I had a decisive moment today. Well, maybe not decisive, but it could be impacting. I think I've decided I'll write my thesis on marriage and it's correlation to comedic themes in literature using the texts of Shakespeare's Much Ado, and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I'm not for-sure on it yet, but I'd like to do something with Shakespeare and Jane Austen (probably my top favorite contributors to literature), AND the professor who is willing to advise and oversee my thesis writing is willing to work with me informally via the internet this summer. YAY! My goal is to get all the research and (ideally!) the thesis itself written this summer. But even then, I won't do the "formal" class until next spring, so the decision on what I'm writing it on is impacting because it's a topic I'll have to be dealing with for the next year or so! Much larger than choosing what kind of gelato I'll eat!
In other news, I've spent a lot of time with the student government people the past 24 hours. We had lunch together and then a dinner meeting tonight. The meeting tonight was nice because not everyone was there and when everyone comes it can be a bit hectic and crazy. It was the die-hards tonight, I think! I'm still working my way around, trying to get a feel for people. I don't even know everyone's names yet, but at this point it's a little awkward to ask because I SHOULD know them. I hate that position!
I'm going to close and go to bed, but the verse for today is from Exodus 14:14. Tanner, my friend Cass's sister, left it for me on an encouraging little notecard she gave me. It says simply: "The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm." My involvement in student government is, if possible, even MORE exposure to stuff that I'm not always crazy about being around... but I freak out about it way too easily. I was reading Tanner's little card to me tonight (it's on my wall so I can be encouraged by it regularly!) and looked up the verse. It was just what I needed to hear!
ALSO, in yet OTHER news, before I close I'd like to notify my faithful readers that I'll be traveling to four different countries over the next 10 days. Friday I leave to go to Belfast, then on to England on Easter, then Southern France next week, before flying on to Espana towards the end of next week. Then, the week after spring break I'm having a couple people come stay with me for several days. It could be a busy next two weeks! OK, no "could" about it, it WILL be a busy next two weeks! But... that's OK. I'm looking forward to it! I did want to warn you, though, that I won't be apologizing if I miss a day or two posting. I don't know what my internet connections will be like - I don't think I'll have easy access to it in France for sure - so there's a good chance I won't be posting every day. BUT, I will try to take some good pictures and have them to post once I'm back to my own wi-fi!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Roman night... and Ikea photos
Tonight was international night at school. But rather than international, we went back in time to Ancient Rome. People wore togas, we had Roman food (not all ancient), and two gladiators came and gave us some gladiator fighting tips. I'll keep them in mind for wandering around Rome.
Speaking of wandering around Rome, I couldn't be bothered to change back into regular clothes before I came home (loooooooong day today!), so I just threw my jacket on and wandered home in my toga. I got a couple stares, but Rome is really rather un-judgemental (non-judgemental? whatever) when it comes to wearing togas. Now, if I'd been in sweats it would be another story...
Anyhow, I'm off to bed. I'm taking a break from Psalms, and my verse is from the NT. 1 Tim 2:1 "I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them." I spend quite a bit of time walking to and from school each day, or just generally not necessarily being in active conversation with people. Tomorrow I want to be more purposeful about praying for the people I know. There's quite a lot of them, so I should be able to keep busy! :-)
I forgot something and was going to add it (I don't think it was terribly important...), but now I've completely forgotten it and my head hurts too much to try to recall it to memory. This is what I get for the 5 hours of sleep I got last night!
Elle, Esther, and Taylor at Ikea... we practically just moved in!
The first time I didn't check out the FOOD section!
Waiting at the bus stop... beFORE I got left!
Speaking of wandering around Rome, I couldn't be bothered to change back into regular clothes before I came home (loooooooong day today!), so I just threw my jacket on and wandered home in my toga. I got a couple stares, but Rome is really rather un-judgemental (non-judgemental? whatever) when it comes to wearing togas. Now, if I'd been in sweats it would be another story...
Anyhow, I'm off to bed. I'm taking a break from Psalms, and my verse is from the NT. 1 Tim 2:1 "I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them." I spend quite a bit of time walking to and from school each day, or just generally not necessarily being in active conversation with people. Tomorrow I want to be more purposeful about praying for the people I know. There's quite a lot of them, so I should be able to keep busy! :-)
I forgot something and was going to add it (I don't think it was terribly important...), but now I've completely forgotten it and my head hurts too much to try to recall it to memory. This is what I get for the 5 hours of sleep I got last night!
Elle, Esther, and Taylor at Ikea... we practically just moved in!
The first time I didn't check out the FOOD section!
Waiting at the bus stop... beFORE I got left!
Monday, March 17, 2008
American Politics.... huh?
I love facebook. It's a very fun, social-networking-website. It also has this messaging system, and you can message several people at once. Then, people can reply to the messages and the response is sent to everyone.
I realize I'm a little late weighing in on this subject, I mean, election media has been happening in the US for... months? Right? Anyhow, I hear none of it here. I don't have TV (especially not in English), NOR do I seek it out. I don't read the newspaper. I don't even go to news websites. I do read the headlines (sometimes) on yahoo after I sign out of my email, but not too often. Literally, I don't even know who the people running for president are other than Clinton and Obama and McCain... At least I think it's McCain.
Anyhow, two of my friends are rather politically minded, and they started this messaging chain talking to each other on facebook messages about the presidential campaigns... Frankly, sometimes they're boring. BUT, I also appreciate having their messages as a resource if I do have questions.
As it stands, I'm considering remaining an expatriot for the rest of my life...
In other news, my apartment has turned into a laundry mat as Clara and I prepare to be gone for the week of spring break by washing all the clothing we own that is dirty or possibly dirty. They are now drying from twine strung all over the house - from the light fixture to a hook in the corner, from the TV to a cupboard, across the doorway going down to the kitchen, and from the hooks outside our two windows. I don't know what I'll wear the rest of the week... Actually, I do. Tomorrow I'm wearing a toga. And Wednesday and Thursday I can wear skirts, so there we go!
Uh, and now I need to work on about a zillion things before I go to bed. And I have to be at school at 9 tomorrow. Yuck.
My verse for thought: Psalm 16:11 "You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever." Sometimes I think this world is really going to the dogs - it's nice to know that the prospects of eternity aren't going to change anytime soon!
I realize I'm a little late weighing in on this subject, I mean, election media has been happening in the US for... months? Right? Anyhow, I hear none of it here. I don't have TV (especially not in English), NOR do I seek it out. I don't read the newspaper. I don't even go to news websites. I do read the headlines (sometimes) on yahoo after I sign out of my email, but not too often. Literally, I don't even know who the people running for president are other than Clinton and Obama and McCain... At least I think it's McCain.
Anyhow, two of my friends are rather politically minded, and they started this messaging chain talking to each other on facebook messages about the presidential campaigns... Frankly, sometimes they're boring. BUT, I also appreciate having their messages as a resource if I do have questions.
As it stands, I'm considering remaining an expatriot for the rest of my life...
In other news, my apartment has turned into a laundry mat as Clara and I prepare to be gone for the week of spring break by washing all the clothing we own that is dirty or possibly dirty. They are now drying from twine strung all over the house - from the light fixture to a hook in the corner, from the TV to a cupboard, across the doorway going down to the kitchen, and from the hooks outside our two windows. I don't know what I'll wear the rest of the week... Actually, I do. Tomorrow I'm wearing a toga. And Wednesday and Thursday I can wear skirts, so there we go!
Uh, and now I need to work on about a zillion things before I go to bed. And I have to be at school at 9 tomorrow. Yuck.
My verse for thought: Psalm 16:11 "You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever." Sometimes I think this world is really going to the dogs - it's nice to know that the prospects of eternity aren't going to change anytime soon!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Verse
I forgot it twice now... Sorry. So for the next 24 hours:
Psalm 33:6-8
"The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born. He assigned the sea its boundaries, and locked the ocean in vast reservoirs. Let the whole world fear the Lord, and let everyone stand in awe of him."
One of the harder things to deal with being here in a big city is the fact that I rarely see stars. But I love the image of how God created all the natural elements of our world that we look at and see (usually) everyday. His power is mighty! Overwhelming, in fact, but at the same time it's such a comforting feeling to know that his love is equally vast.
Psalm 33:6-8
"The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born. He assigned the sea its boundaries, and locked the ocean in vast reservoirs. Let the whole world fear the Lord, and let everyone stand in awe of him."
One of the harder things to deal with being here in a big city is the fact that I rarely see stars. But I love the image of how God created all the natural elements of our world that we look at and see (usually) everyday. His power is mighty! Overwhelming, in fact, but at the same time it's such a comforting feeling to know that his love is equally vast.
Random facts and tidbits
- I'm obsessed with dipping food. Or, at least, that's what my roommates tell me. I dip cheese into honey. I dip carrots into cream cheese/powdered sugar/cinnamon mixtures. I dip biscotti into hot liquids. I dip cookies into jam. I dip apple slices into yogurt. It's getting a little out of hand, I think!
- I write backwards. Not, like, "sdrawkcab", but from the right to the left, mirrored. Like Leo de Vinici did, because he didn't want people to steal his ideas. I just do it when I'm writing notes to myself that I don't want the whole world to be able to read over my shoulder.
- I hit snooze WAY too many times in the morning!
- I am horrible about keeping my phone on silent, and I screen my calls religiously. If I don't recognize a number, I rarely pick it up (if I even hear it ringing in the first place!)
- There was a marathon in Rome today. My friend Jason ran it. I ran in it too - to cross the street twice. I went to IKEA with some friends, which was an adventure and a half! It took a long time to get there via the metro to Termini (which was PACKED! I'm not sure I've EVER seen so many people packed into such a tight space, in fact! I was in direct contact with at least 4 or 5 people the whole trip! Then we switched to a bus and got off at the correct stop. We'd intended to go to H&M, but the mall was closed. So we walked through part of IKEA, and then went to get some lunch, then finished the rest of it. When we went to get back on the bus, I didn't move fast enough and ended up standing at the curb waving goodbye to my friends. I decided to walk to the end of the line, one stop down, to try to meet them. I got lost on the way, though, ending up seeing several cul-de-sacs a little too close and personal before I FINALLY got back to the bus stop. On the bus on the way home we witnessed a fight happening on the street beside a bus stop. It was pretty exciting! A guy got mad at another guy and literally started punching him. Yikes! Anyhow, now I'm home, comfortably in my PJs at the late hour of 7:15PM, and I'm going to do some reading before going to sleeeeeeep. I have guests coming in for a couple days the week after spring break, so I'm going to try to use this week to get ahead on some of my homework so hopefully I can spend my time with them NOT having to write papers and do tons of reading!
- I write backwards. Not, like, "sdrawkcab", but from the right to the left, mirrored. Like Leo de Vinici did, because he didn't want people to steal his ideas. I just do it when I'm writing notes to myself that I don't want the whole world to be able to read over my shoulder.
- I hit snooze WAY too many times in the morning!
- I am horrible about keeping my phone on silent, and I screen my calls religiously. If I don't recognize a number, I rarely pick it up (if I even hear it ringing in the first place!)
- There was a marathon in Rome today. My friend Jason ran it. I ran in it too - to cross the street twice. I went to IKEA with some friends, which was an adventure and a half! It took a long time to get there via the metro to Termini (which was PACKED! I'm not sure I've EVER seen so many people packed into such a tight space, in fact! I was in direct contact with at least 4 or 5 people the whole trip! Then we switched to a bus and got off at the correct stop. We'd intended to go to H&M, but the mall was closed. So we walked through part of IKEA, and then went to get some lunch, then finished the rest of it. When we went to get back on the bus, I didn't move fast enough and ended up standing at the curb waving goodbye to my friends. I decided to walk to the end of the line, one stop down, to try to meet them. I got lost on the way, though, ending up seeing several cul-de-sacs a little too close and personal before I FINALLY got back to the bus stop. On the bus on the way home we witnessed a fight happening on the street beside a bus stop. It was pretty exciting! A guy got mad at another guy and literally started punching him. Yikes! Anyhow, now I'm home, comfortably in my PJs at the late hour of 7:15PM, and I'm going to do some reading before going to sleeeeeeep. I have guests coming in for a couple days the week after spring break, so I'm going to try to use this week to get ahead on some of my homework so hopefully I can spend my time with them NOT having to write papers and do tons of reading!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
FYI
There is MASSIVE, bigtime partying going on out in the Campo right now (12:37AM). I don't have the foggiest notion of what's happening, but I saw a bunch of people in kilts, and there was a soccer game tonight, I believe. Possibly has something to do with that...
I got to hang out with The Man tonight. Everett keeps getting cuter and cuter! I think my favorite book to read at the moment is "Green Eggs and Ham" because it is so good for dramatic interpretation!
Loads and loads and loads of tourists walking to Jason and Lauras through Corso and the Spanish Steps. Once I got out of that area it wasn't too bad. My walk through Villa Borghese was very nice and romantic... by myself, of course! I gotta admit, those times are when a significant other WOULD come in handy - but I'm still maintaining the mindset spoken of in my last blog... The inconveniences don't make up for it!
I called SEVERAL people tonight from Jason and Laura's telephone (I forget the name, but it's when you pay a flat fee/month and can make unlimited calls to the US and keep a US number for people to call you... It's through the internet. They always tell me to feel free to use it while I'm there). Alas, nobody seemed to be in the mood to pick up their phones. It was sad and lonely feeling. But then Everett and I played memory and I was too tied up with trying not to let him skunk me! He did anyhow.
I thought about going to the market tomorrow... but seeing as how I wanted to be out there at 7:30 and it is currently 12:43AM, I'm not sure if I'll make it...
I got to hang out with The Man tonight. Everett keeps getting cuter and cuter! I think my favorite book to read at the moment is "Green Eggs and Ham" because it is so good for dramatic interpretation!
Loads and loads and loads of tourists walking to Jason and Lauras through Corso and the Spanish Steps. Once I got out of that area it wasn't too bad. My walk through Villa Borghese was very nice and romantic... by myself, of course! I gotta admit, those times are when a significant other WOULD come in handy - but I'm still maintaining the mindset spoken of in my last blog... The inconveniences don't make up for it!
I called SEVERAL people tonight from Jason and Laura's telephone (I forget the name, but it's when you pay a flat fee/month and can make unlimited calls to the US and keep a US number for people to call you... It's through the internet. They always tell me to feel free to use it while I'm there). Alas, nobody seemed to be in the mood to pick up their phones. It was sad and lonely feeling. But then Everett and I played memory and I was too tied up with trying not to let him skunk me! He did anyhow.
I thought about going to the market tomorrow... but seeing as how I wanted to be out there at 7:30 and it is currently 12:43AM, I'm not sure if I'll make it...
Friday, March 14, 2008
I made nameless friends today!
After last week's rainy weather, today's blue skies and sunshine were extremely convenient for the rescheduled trip to Ostia Antica. I'd never been down to the Ancient Roman Sea Port (a fact for which I've recently received criticism for from my Arkansas-school friends...) so after working in the StuGov office selling tickets to non-existant people, off I walked to Pyramide to meet a gang of people.
Other than Tom, my teacher, I'd never met any my fellow-tourists before. Unfortunately for me, I only caught two or three people's names, which means if I ever run into any of them in Campo or on the bus somewhere, we'll have to do that whole I-wonder-if-they-see-me-and-recognize-me bit, because I won't have a name to shout out in my American accent to get their attention. Bummer.
Ostia Antica is quite large, considering it's excavated ruins. In fact, it was a pretty big city for its day. We wandered through ancient house and bath ruins, with virtually the whole place to ourselves, other than a couple middle and high school tour groups. I've decided that Ostia Antica should go on an "Adult Playground" (And I mean nothing over G rated with that name) list, because that is what this place reminded me of... subterranean caverns where servants would traverse to serve their masters in the baths, mysterious alleyways between ancient houses, stairways that lead to roof-top terraces where you can look over all of Ostia Antica... And best of all, NO CHAINS (like in Pompeii) to keep tourists out of certain areas. Everything is open to wander through at one's leisure. The group decided it would be an awesome place to have a game of tag or ultimate-obstacle frisbee or other such recreation.
Here's a couple of the photos:
Near the beginning of the tour, heading into the non-burial ground part of the city
Me on a terrace overlooking one of the bath houses
b.jpg)
The whole group, minus two of Tom's cousins who are here visiting and played photographer for us.
Check out the cool drain in the foreground
We went up a mysterious set of stairs that ended up going up and up and up to this rooftop terrace. Tom and a couple of the girls were hanging out an ancient bar
The inside of the house I climbed up through to get to the rooftop
A couple of the boys acted the part of bartender. I asked for uno macchiato, per favore, but they were fresh out of everything but Coca Cola
My new friend Amy and one of the Lexia students chillin' at the bar
One of the boys supplied his head to fill in for the missing statue. I switched it to b&w hoping it would show up better...
Two of my favorite statues in the little museum.
I got home TIRED. Incidentally, that's why I didn't post yesterday - sorry! After spending WAY too long at the school after WAY too little sleep and WAY too little nourishment, I came home ready to crash last night. I ended up making a dinner from the scraps in my fridge (it's been over a week since I went grocery shopping... when I get into this position my creative tendencies tend to appear because I have to figure out how I'm going to use up the last bits of my food before they spoil), and composing a LONG message to my friend Sharnessa in response to her recent email updating me on life for her and her boys.
By the time I got home tonight I was officially wrung out like a damp dishcloth. On the upside, I think my Italian might be a touch better than in the past, because today someone asked me some directions, once in Italian, (which I understood and responded) and once in English (which I also understood and responded without thought in Italian), and then when I got home foot-sore and weary, Augo, Clara's boyfriend who is here for the weekend, asked me if I was tired in Italian. And, once I again, I responded in Italian. [Please nobody point out how wretched the construction of that sentence/paragraph was because I don't want to go back and re-read it and correct it!]
So after eating some cold cereal and leftover popcorn and watching a movie, I'm going to go to SLEEP. Lots to do tomorrow before I babysit in the evening!
The verse I found this morning that I almost posted but then ran out of time before going to the school is from Psalm 111:1 "Praise the Lord! I will thank the Lord with all my heart as I meet with his godly people." If there's anything that this experience of being in Italy has taught me, it's how much I value spending time with other Christians. Before last fall I was never in a situation where I wasn't living with believers. The year has been really good for me, though, because I've realized the need to search out Christians to spend time with. I also like the following verses: "How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in him should ponder them. Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty. His righteousness never fails. He causes us to remember his wonderful works. How gracious and merciful is our Lord!"
I see the Christian friends I have made, who tend to go out of their way to seek me out and build that relationship, as examples of God's amazing deeds. There are some great men and women - diverse, interesting, individual - who God has brought into my life. I also see all the past Christians I've known as examples of deeds I should ponder. People from last summer and from my past in WA... And it's cool how the two (or more) groups end up being linked in my head too. For example, my boss/Papa from [DIVERSION! I just killed a spider on my wall by my head. Is it that time of year again already??? Ugh! Back to the regularly scheduled programing...] this past summer challenged me to think about what I was going to do about dating and relationships this year. Realizing that Rome is a LONG way from anyone who's known me for the past 19 years, and the people who help me keep my priorities straight, I made a committment to not date at all this year. I'm so glad I did, because having that mindset coming into the year and keeping it has helped me see all the Christians who have come into my life as real brothers and sisters. I highly recommend setting aside a year to just "not even let your head GO that direction" in relation to the opposite sex... It's so liberating!
Ahhh... where was I going with this? I don't remember. I don't even remember how I got on that subject. I think this is a clear indication that I need to turn my light off right now. So here I go!
Other than Tom, my teacher, I'd never met any my fellow-tourists before. Unfortunately for me, I only caught two or three people's names, which means if I ever run into any of them in Campo or on the bus somewhere, we'll have to do that whole I-wonder-if-they-see-me-and-recognize-me bit, because I won't have a name to shout out in my American accent to get their attention. Bummer.
Ostia Antica is quite large, considering it's excavated ruins. In fact, it was a pretty big city for its day. We wandered through ancient house and bath ruins, with virtually the whole place to ourselves, other than a couple middle and high school tour groups. I've decided that Ostia Antica should go on an "Adult Playground" (And I mean nothing over G rated with that name) list, because that is what this place reminded me of... subterranean caverns where servants would traverse to serve their masters in the baths, mysterious alleyways between ancient houses, stairways that lead to roof-top terraces where you can look over all of Ostia Antica... And best of all, NO CHAINS (like in Pompeii) to keep tourists out of certain areas. Everything is open to wander through at one's leisure. The group decided it would be an awesome place to have a game of tag or ultimate-obstacle frisbee or other such recreation.
Here's a couple of the photos:
Near the beginning of the tour, heading into the non-burial ground part of the city
Me on a terrace overlooking one of the bath housesb.jpg)
The whole group, minus two of Tom's cousins who are here visiting and played photographer for us. 
Check out the cool drain in the foreground
We went up a mysterious set of stairs that ended up going up and up and up to this rooftop terrace. Tom and a couple of the girls were hanging out an ancient bar
The inside of the house I climbed up through to get to the rooftop
A couple of the boys acted the part of bartender. I asked for uno macchiato, per favore, but they were fresh out of everything but Coca Cola
My new friend Amy and one of the Lexia students chillin' at the bar
One of the boys supplied his head to fill in for the missing statue. I switched it to b&w hoping it would show up better... 
Two of my favorite statues in the little museum.I got home TIRED. Incidentally, that's why I didn't post yesterday - sorry! After spending WAY too long at the school after WAY too little sleep and WAY too little nourishment, I came home ready to crash last night. I ended up making a dinner from the scraps in my fridge (it's been over a week since I went grocery shopping... when I get into this position my creative tendencies tend to appear because I have to figure out how I'm going to use up the last bits of my food before they spoil), and composing a LONG message to my friend Sharnessa in response to her recent email updating me on life for her and her boys.
By the time I got home tonight I was officially wrung out like a damp dishcloth. On the upside, I think my Italian might be a touch better than in the past, because today someone asked me some directions, once in Italian, (which I understood and responded) and once in English (which I also understood and responded without thought in Italian), and then when I got home foot-sore and weary, Augo, Clara's boyfriend who is here for the weekend, asked me if I was tired in Italian. And, once I again, I responded in Italian. [Please nobody point out how wretched the construction of that sentence/paragraph was because I don't want to go back and re-read it and correct it!]
So after eating some cold cereal and leftover popcorn and watching a movie, I'm going to go to SLEEP. Lots to do tomorrow before I babysit in the evening!
The verse I found this morning that I almost posted but then ran out of time before going to the school is from Psalm 111:1 "Praise the Lord! I will thank the Lord with all my heart as I meet with his godly people." If there's anything that this experience of being in Italy has taught me, it's how much I value spending time with other Christians. Before last fall I was never in a situation where I wasn't living with believers. The year has been really good for me, though, because I've realized the need to search out Christians to spend time with. I also like the following verses: "How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in him should ponder them. Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty. His righteousness never fails. He causes us to remember his wonderful works. How gracious and merciful is our Lord!"
I see the Christian friends I have made, who tend to go out of their way to seek me out and build that relationship, as examples of God's amazing deeds. There are some great men and women - diverse, interesting, individual - who God has brought into my life. I also see all the past Christians I've known as examples of deeds I should ponder. People from last summer and from my past in WA... And it's cool how the two (or more) groups end up being linked in my head too. For example, my boss/Papa from [DIVERSION! I just killed a spider on my wall by my head. Is it that time of year again already??? Ugh! Back to the regularly scheduled programing...] this past summer challenged me to think about what I was going to do about dating and relationships this year. Realizing that Rome is a LONG way from anyone who's known me for the past 19 years, and the people who help me keep my priorities straight, I made a committment to not date at all this year. I'm so glad I did, because having that mindset coming into the year and keeping it has helped me see all the Christians who have come into my life as real brothers and sisters. I highly recommend setting aside a year to just "not even let your head GO that direction" in relation to the opposite sex... It's so liberating!
Ahhh... where was I going with this? I don't remember. I don't even remember how I got on that subject.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
I get treated to dinner
I love parents. I love my parents, and I love other people's parents. I love grandparents too, because they are also parents. And I love people who aren't yet parents, but will someday make good parents. One thing I love about parents with kids in high school or college, though, is that they are really sweet about treating their kid's friends to food. This is true even in Europe. I think it must be a carry-over from past ages when food was scarce and the sign of hospitality was to feed a visitor part of your woolly mammoth in your cave home (did you hear there's a movie about the pre-historic past? Which, by the way reminds me, WHAT is meant by pre-historic? How can you BE pre-history? If it's history, it must be existing within time, and if it's time, how do you get before it and still be IN time? But, it also doesn't really matter because I don't believe that load of rubbish about millions and millions of years. Alas, I digress).
I'm not quite sure parents think their kids ever eat if they don't provide for them. Or, at least they think they might just eat macaroni and cheese - which by the way isn't really a dish commonly offered around here. And the combo of spaghetti and meatballs isn't Italian either, fyi - and pizza. We do it a lot of pasta and pizza, no doubt, but I've also been feasting on salads and brown rice this week.
Anyhow, my friend Virgina's parentals are in town this week, and tonight Virginia had arranged for us to have dinner at a pizzeria. I branched out and tried Pizza Parmegano (which is pizza with sauce, mozzarella cheese, egg plant slices, and parmasan - the other day I also branched out and had pomegranate [how DO you spell that?! I'm starting to confuse Italian and English spelling!] gelato from my favorite gelateria). Virginia's parents got to parent not only Virginia but also an additional 4 college students (Taylor, Rachel, Cass, and myself), and they blessed us by paying for it!
Now, please don't assume that I EXPECT to get a free meal out of parents coming through town. In fact, it was such a blessing because it WAS a surprise! I just love being taken care of every now and then, I guess. I like being an adult - or at least en route - but it's also nice sometimes to have someone else taken the authoritative position. Hmmm... thought: This is something I might want to consider if I ever decide to get married! :-)
Ah-kay. I'm still working on a paper due tomorrow - on the paradoxical image of nature in Robert Browning's "Child Roland to the Dark Tower Came" and Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" so I should jump off of here and work on that. And it'll probably be another early morning as I haven't got all my reading for tomorrow done yet either. I'm back in Paradise Lost in my poetry class, and we're moving on to the Romantics in my survey class, and I'm also getting to read a GOOD Henry James (Washington Square), which is much superior to my only other Henry James exposure, which was Daisy Miller.
And the verse for the next 24 hours is Psalm 71:7 "My life is an example to many, becaue you have been my strength and protection." I want to remember how my life is an example because God has MADE it an example. He has put me here, among these people, in this time, and allowed me to be the person I am because I am called to be an example of his strength and protection.
I'm not quite sure parents think their kids ever eat if they don't provide for them. Or, at least they think they might just eat macaroni and cheese - which by the way isn't really a dish commonly offered around here. And the combo of spaghetti and meatballs isn't Italian either, fyi - and pizza. We do it a lot of pasta and pizza, no doubt, but I've also been feasting on salads and brown rice this week.
Anyhow, my friend Virgina's parentals are in town this week, and tonight Virginia had arranged for us to have dinner at a pizzeria. I branched out and tried Pizza Parmegano (which is pizza with sauce, mozzarella cheese, egg plant slices, and parmasan - the other day I also branched out and had pomegranate [how DO you spell that?! I'm starting to confuse Italian and English spelling!] gelato from my favorite gelateria). Virginia's parents got to parent not only Virginia but also an additional 4 college students (Taylor, Rachel, Cass, and myself), and they blessed us by paying for it!
Now, please don't assume that I EXPECT to get a free meal out of parents coming through town. In fact, it was such a blessing because it WAS a surprise! I just love being taken care of every now and then, I guess. I like being an adult - or at least en route - but it's also nice sometimes to have someone else taken the authoritative position. Hmmm... thought: This is something I might want to consider if I ever decide to get married! :-)
Ah-kay. I'm still working on a paper due tomorrow - on the paradoxical image of nature in Robert Browning's "Child Roland to the Dark Tower Came" and Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" so I should jump off of here and work on that. And it'll probably be another early morning as I haven't got all my reading for tomorrow done yet either. I'm back in Paradise Lost in my poetry class, and we're moving on to the Romantics in my survey class, and I'm also getting to read a GOOD Henry James (Washington Square), which is much superior to my only other Henry James exposure, which was Daisy Miller.
And the verse for the next 24 hours is Psalm 71:7 "My life is an example to many, becaue you have been my strength and protection." I want to remember how my life is an example because God has MADE it an example. He has put me here, among these people, in this time, and allowed me to be the person I am because I am called to be an example of his strength and protection.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
I become a witness...
I hope it doesn't mean another incident with the Italian Questura, though! Today I saw something I'm afraid I might not have been entitled to see. A man, with a knife - a very, very LARGE knife! - came out of a building on my way to school. Then I saw a man climbing the outside of a building. Then I saw a car go racing down a teensy-tiny little alley ENTIRELY too fast. Creepy? You betcha! And it was all within about 90 seconds!
However, today really was just another day in bella Roma. The man with a knife was also wearing a big white apron tied over his rather abundant middle, and a chef's hat on his head. I think he was taking the knife next door during a break to get it sharpened or something.
The man climbing the outside of the building was trying to get over some fenced off scaffolding so he could plug in his power tool of some kind. He was wearing a hard hat.
The car? Now that might very well have been a Mafia get-away car. I don't know. It really was going too fast in too small of a space, but that's pretty common, so I can't complain too much.
In other news, I have a paper to write that's due Thursday, and I have class and meetings for several hours tomorrow afternoon. I'm planning to do dinner with my friend Virigina and her parents tomorrow night, so I've GOT to get this paper done between tonight and tomorrow morning so I don't have to stress about it at midnight tomorrow night! And, of course, I have reading to do for my Thursday classes as well.
I've decided to keep up on the daily (or semi-daily perhaps) blogging, but I'm adding a new element. I was talking to my Mom last night (I think it was last night? Today has been a LONG day!) about how I read so much for schoolwork that the last thing I really want to do with my spare time is read the Bible... But then when I don't read it I feel guilty about it, and that doesn't help because then I feel like I HAVE to read it, which puts it right up there with the schoolwork thing... Anyhow, she said something that stuck with me, which is that I can still MEDITATE on the word, even if I don't get through the whole Bible this year... which, by the way, was a commitment I refused to even make this school year because I knew it wouldn't happen!
So, my extra-added-on little element for the NEXT month with be a verse - probably from Pslams because that's where I tend to turn to when I'm in both meditative mode and I-need-something-good/wise/profound/truthful-QUICK - that I choose to focus on and meditate on each day.
The verse(s) for the next 24 hours is Psalm 39:6-7 (NLT): "We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it. And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you."
However, today really was just another day in bella Roma. The man with a knife was also wearing a big white apron tied over his rather abundant middle, and a chef's hat on his head. I think he was taking the knife next door during a break to get it sharpened or something.
The man climbing the outside of the building was trying to get over some fenced off scaffolding so he could plug in his power tool of some kind. He was wearing a hard hat.
The car? Now that might very well have been a Mafia get-away car. I don't know. It really was going too fast in too small of a space, but that's pretty common, so I can't complain too much.
In other news, I have a paper to write that's due Thursday, and I have class and meetings for several hours tomorrow afternoon. I'm planning to do dinner with my friend Virigina and her parents tomorrow night, so I've GOT to get this paper done between tonight and tomorrow morning so I don't have to stress about it at midnight tomorrow night! And, of course, I have reading to do for my Thursday classes as well.
I've decided to keep up on the daily (or semi-daily perhaps) blogging, but I'm adding a new element. I was talking to my Mom last night (I think it was last night? Today has been a LONG day!) about how I read so much for schoolwork that the last thing I really want to do with my spare time is read the Bible... But then when I don't read it I feel guilty about it, and that doesn't help because then I feel like I HAVE to read it, which puts it right up there with the schoolwork thing... Anyhow, she said something that stuck with me, which is that I can still MEDITATE on the word, even if I don't get through the whole Bible this year... which, by the way, was a commitment I refused to even make this school year because I knew it wouldn't happen!
So, my extra-added-on little element for the NEXT month with be a verse - probably from Pslams because that's where I tend to turn to when I'm in both meditative mode and I-need-something-good/wise/profound/truthful-QUICK - that I choose to focus on and meditate on each day.
The verse(s) for the next 24 hours is Psalm 39:6-7 (NLT): "We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it. And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you."
Monday, March 10, 2008
Conclusion
I went back through my blog archives last night to see when I'd started this whole blog-every-day-for-a-month thing. To my shock, it happened February 10th. I say shock, but it's actually not, because the shock sort of balances - it seems like SO much longer ago than a month, and at the same time, not possible that I blogged everyday for that long! (Well, OK, so I didn't once or twice... but pretty close!)
Have you, dear reader, been entertained? Challenged? Frusterated? Rewarded? Annoyed? Enlightened? And I'm looking for responses from more than my mother!
Shall we take a vote? Do I continue this endeavor to keep blogging daily? Or do I go back to the occassional blog? Or do I mix it up some other way? Focus on a theme, for example? I'm at a loss. My creativity is absent, for the moment, because I'm tired and it's raining and I have a lot of homework to do... which, admit it, is enough to weary any soul!
Speaking of the reading front, I'm finishing Mary Barton, starting Washington Square, and I need to work on whatever was assigned for the survey class, a paper for poetry, scholarships, AND the Iliad. The thought alone causes me to wonder where the info is going to be stored in my brain!
In other news, I spent entirely too long - but wonderfully fun times! - looking online with Christiana, my roommate-to-be, at apartments on Craig's list. Oh the joys!
Have you, dear reader, been entertained? Challenged? Frusterated? Rewarded? Annoyed? Enlightened? And I'm looking for responses from more than my mother!
Shall we take a vote? Do I continue this endeavor to keep blogging daily? Or do I go back to the occassional blog? Or do I mix it up some other way? Focus on a theme, for example? I'm at a loss. My creativity is absent, for the moment, because I'm tired and it's raining and I have a lot of homework to do... which, admit it, is enough to weary any soul!
Speaking of the reading front, I'm finishing Mary Barton, starting Washington Square, and I need to work on whatever was assigned for the survey class, a paper for poetry, scholarships, AND the Iliad. The thought alone causes me to wonder where the info is going to be stored in my brain!
In other news, I spent entirely too long - but wonderfully fun times! - looking online with Christiana, my roommate-to-be, at apartments on Craig's list. Oh the joys!
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Normal is a relative term
Today after church and lunch I laced up my running shoes and ran to the Colosseum to visit with my friend Sara. Sara is with Agape here in Rome for a year, working with Italian students. She and her fellow Stint-teamers are joining forces for the next three weeks with three separate spring-break teams coming to do evangelistic stuff. Today was the day that the spring-breaker team (52 people on one count - I think it changes regularly) was performing "The Amazing Race" all over Rome.
I had to disclose my lack of pop culture knowledge by answering Sara's inquiring look by announcing I have never seen The Amazing Race.
If today's Amazing Race - Edition Roma is any indication, I'm not missing much. And I mean that literally. Sara's job was to pass out clues to the teams when they made it as far as the Colosseum. Of the 52 (+ or - a couple) who belong to the team, only 13 came through.
I'd promised to visit her at the Colosseum (how odd does that sound?) during her 3 hour shift. I didn't run over until an hour into it or so, and we visited the last hour and a half.
I learned something new about people today, though. Some families make up spreadsheets to plan out their family vacations. I've never heard of that. I've heard of itineraries, but for me they usually involve a word document with the dates I'm going to be gone, the flight numbers to and from my original destination, and maybe the hotel number of the first place I plan to stay. That's it. When I came to Italy the first time 2 summers ago, I was shocked to open the itinerary from my Grandma outlining our trip. It went onto 2 pages!
Sara's family is coming to see her in a month, and she was telling me how she's spreadsheeted their vacation out. But it's very bare-bones, she assured me. It just has the costs of trains and where they're going to be, and what they're going to be doing each day. When their family does family vacations they describe such things as miles traveled, how long it will take, time to leave one place and time to arrive someplace else, sights of interest along the way, etc. They've been doing this for years, apparently. I didn't know spreadsheets have existed for years. I still don't know how to do anything on them!
This conversation got me thinking about normal. I usually think that I'm normal and everyone else is weird, but I'm learning that may not be the case. But then again, what is normal, really? Everyone's family has a normal for them that doesn't necessarily correlate with the normal for another family.
Ick, this sounds suspiciously like the slippery road of "relative truth" which I've also been learning about. How do you explain to someone that you have convictions or beliefs on something, when they look at you and say, "I'm sure that is true! For you... That's not my truth, but if you've chosen for that to be your truth, that's fine with me." Hello?!? How can someone live life like that?
Not to complain about my church, but I'm getting really sick of semi-sermons. I love the people in my church, but I'm craving some real teaching. Where's the Bible study side of things? We actually read out of our Bibles today in church, which isn't always the case. I guess maybe it comes back to that normal thing... for me, normal isn't following a program that somebody in something-ville Mississippi writes up and distributes to the 1000s of churches in their group. And it isn't choosing a topic to look at each week, or even for 4 or 6 weeks. Maybe I need to learn that those places have their roles too, but I want some real searching in the word, not to have it presented to me. And normal for me also isn't having church be a dramatic speech, designed to make people feel guilty.
My pastor at home once said that writing a sermon is like writing a research paper every week that is designed to be conveyed to the audience in a 35 minute presentation. Perhaps that's a bit of a scholarly approach, but that's what my normal church has always been. Conveying facts, not embellishing them with inconsequential details.
One last gripe, then I'll focus on something positive: Every Sunday there is a children's sermon that lasts about 10 minutes. All the kids are called up to the front of the church and then presented with some sort of sermon. Today it was on angels. WHY are kids being taught a 10 minute sermon on angels? I thought Jesus was the focus of our faith?
Hmm, a positive thing? I'm making biscotti at the moment. It seems kind of flat. I'm not sure it's going to turn out... but I hope it'll taste good! Cuz looks are only part of it :-).
Oh, today was sunny, too! I really like sunny weather!
I had to disclose my lack of pop culture knowledge by answering Sara's inquiring look by announcing I have never seen The Amazing Race.
If today's Amazing Race - Edition Roma is any indication, I'm not missing much. And I mean that literally. Sara's job was to pass out clues to the teams when they made it as far as the Colosseum. Of the 52 (+ or - a couple) who belong to the team, only 13 came through.
I'd promised to visit her at the Colosseum (how odd does that sound?) during her 3 hour shift. I didn't run over until an hour into it or so, and we visited the last hour and a half.
I learned something new about people today, though. Some families make up spreadsheets to plan out their family vacations. I've never heard of that. I've heard of itineraries, but for me they usually involve a word document with the dates I'm going to be gone, the flight numbers to and from my original destination, and maybe the hotel number of the first place I plan to stay. That's it. When I came to Italy the first time 2 summers ago, I was shocked to open the itinerary from my Grandma outlining our trip. It went onto 2 pages!
Sara's family is coming to see her in a month, and she was telling me how she's spreadsheeted their vacation out. But it's very bare-bones, she assured me. It just has the costs of trains and where they're going to be, and what they're going to be doing each day. When their family does family vacations they describe such things as miles traveled, how long it will take, time to leave one place and time to arrive someplace else, sights of interest along the way, etc. They've been doing this for years, apparently. I didn't know spreadsheets have existed for years. I still don't know how to do anything on them!
This conversation got me thinking about normal. I usually think that I'm normal and everyone else is weird, but I'm learning that may not be the case. But then again, what is normal, really? Everyone's family has a normal for them that doesn't necessarily correlate with the normal for another family.
Ick, this sounds suspiciously like the slippery road of "relative truth" which I've also been learning about. How do you explain to someone that you have convictions or beliefs on something, when they look at you and say, "I'm sure that is true! For you... That's not my truth, but if you've chosen for that to be your truth, that's fine with me." Hello?!? How can someone live life like that?
Not to complain about my church, but I'm getting really sick of semi-sermons. I love the people in my church, but I'm craving some real teaching. Where's the Bible study side of things? We actually read out of our Bibles today in church, which isn't always the case. I guess maybe it comes back to that normal thing... for me, normal isn't following a program that somebody in something-ville Mississippi writes up and distributes to the 1000s of churches in their group. And it isn't choosing a topic to look at each week, or even for 4 or 6 weeks. Maybe I need to learn that those places have their roles too, but I want some real searching in the word, not to have it presented to me. And normal for me also isn't having church be a dramatic speech, designed to make people feel guilty.
My pastor at home once said that writing a sermon is like writing a research paper every week that is designed to be conveyed to the audience in a 35 minute presentation. Perhaps that's a bit of a scholarly approach, but that's what my normal church has always been. Conveying facts, not embellishing them with inconsequential details.
One last gripe, then I'll focus on something positive: Every Sunday there is a children's sermon that lasts about 10 minutes. All the kids are called up to the front of the church and then presented with some sort of sermon. Today it was on angels. WHY are kids being taught a 10 minute sermon on angels? I thought Jesus was the focus of our faith?
Hmm, a positive thing? I'm making biscotti at the moment. It seems kind of flat. I'm not sure it's going to turn out... but I hope it'll taste good! Cuz looks are only part of it :-).
Oh, today was sunny, too! I really like sunny weather!
Saturday, March 08, 2008
My day. Minimum
No alarm. Slept in. Wrote 5/6th of a paper. Talked. Met roommate for the week. Ate Skippy peanutbutter!!! Babysat. Played memory. Discussed the need to go pee-pee in the toilet. Dispensed treats. Kissed scrapes. Imitated Woody to talk to Buzz Lightyear. Read stories. Compiles lists of places in Italy to see. Bus rides. Princess Bride. Sleep!
Friday, March 07, 2008
There is a dance party happening in my living room
I don't know who the artist is but Clara and Ellen have fallen in love with this absolutely bizzare techno/ethnic/folk kind of music. I rather like it too! They perform dance parties. I make them turn off the overhead light and keep just the low-level light on because the ambiance is so much better. These dance parties frequently include hulah-hoops.
Today was to be a cultural day for me. We had the plumber come this morning, and he's coming back on Monday to hopefully fix our sinks. We have puddles of water in our kitchen.
I was to meet up with one of my favorite teachers, Tom, and a group of people and head to Ostia Antica. Ostia Antica is the ancient Roman sea port south of Rome 20 km or something. Unfortunately, I got to the appointed meeting place at the appointed time and realized nobody was there. I called Tom and found out that due to the rain (rain? what rain? Just another day in paradise...) the trip had been cancelled.
To get to the appointed meeting place I'd walked along the Tevere to the Ciro Massimo and up along the side of Aventino hill to the metro stop. I'd taken the metron ONE stop to where we were meeting. When I realized the trip wasn't happening, I decided to leisurely walk home... even though my boots were starting to give me blisters.
This is quite an accomplishment - I didn't have my map with me and had only once been down in that area of town before... But I had a general sense of where I was and where to go, so off I went.
The first thing I noticed was this large structure outside the metro stop. And you thought I'm living in Rome!
I made it over to the river, which means its a cinch to get home. Here's a close up of the impressionistic trees along the river:
As I was coming up alongside Aventino hill I decided to try to find this famous door here. There's a keyhole that you can look through and St Peter's is perfectly framed through the key hole, and I THINK it's on the Aventino hill. I never found it. I did find a lot of police men and yellow police tape crossing off large sections of the sidewalk. I found this really cool alley/road thing that I went up, though, and since there were no people around, I did the ever famous self-portrait photo shoot. The street had stairs at the bottom, so cars don't go up and down it, but it's wide and there are cobblestones with grass growing between the stones, leaving it kind of a nice green color.
After I'd wandered around a good bit more and come back along the Ciro Massimo, I stopped in to see the lovely skull of Saint Valentine. It was a touching, romantic moment. I wish I'd gone on Valentine's day - he's a lovely chap to have a date with, I'm sure!
This evening my roomies and I went to our friend Amanda's apartment complex to have dinner with her parents, who are visiting. I had a total deja vu moment leaving the station when the bus dropped us off because I realized we were on the street that I'd stayed on when I came to Rome 2 years ago. I like to think that the people at the internet store would have recognized me - probably not likely, though.
The middle-age, live music jazz bar we went to after dinner was packed, so we didn't stay, but I'm planning to go back next week with Ellen and her friend Samantha who will be staying with us. It wasn't dark and there weren't people groping each other on some dance floor... sounds like my kind of place!
Tomorrow is woman's day in Italy. It's kind of like mother's day, but it's for all women. I think I'm going to go buy daffodils because it sounds like the best way to treat myself to woman's day while I'm writing my papers. Spring must be in the air! I know this because I've found out that 3 different friends have gotten engaged in the past several weeks... 2 of them to each other. What is happening?!?! They're dropping like flies! For the record, though, I did meet a guy who looks like Gilbert Blythe tonight, which made me happy!
Today was to be a cultural day for me. We had the plumber come this morning, and he's coming back on Monday to hopefully fix our sinks. We have puddles of water in our kitchen.
I was to meet up with one of my favorite teachers, Tom, and a group of people and head to Ostia Antica. Ostia Antica is the ancient Roman sea port south of Rome 20 km or something. Unfortunately, I got to the appointed meeting place at the appointed time and realized nobody was there. I called Tom and found out that due to the rain (rain? what rain? Just another day in paradise...) the trip had been cancelled.
To get to the appointed meeting place I'd walked along the Tevere to the Ciro Massimo and up along the side of Aventino hill to the metro stop. I'd taken the metron ONE stop to where we were meeting. When I realized the trip wasn't happening, I decided to leisurely walk home... even though my boots were starting to give me blisters.
This is quite an accomplishment - I didn't have my map with me and had only once been down in that area of town before... But I had a general sense of where I was and where to go, so off I went.
The first thing I noticed was this large structure outside the metro stop. And you thought I'm living in Rome!
I made it over to the river, which means its a cinch to get home. Here's a close up of the impressionistic trees along the river:
As I was coming up alongside Aventino hill I decided to try to find this famous door here. There's a keyhole that you can look through and St Peter's is perfectly framed through the key hole, and I THINK it's on the Aventino hill. I never found it. I did find a lot of police men and yellow police tape crossing off large sections of the sidewalk. I found this really cool alley/road thing that I went up, though, and since there were no people around, I did the ever famous self-portrait photo shoot. The street had stairs at the bottom, so cars don't go up and down it, but it's wide and there are cobblestones with grass growing between the stones, leaving it kind of a nice green color.
After I'd wandered around a good bit more and come back along the Ciro Massimo, I stopped in to see the lovely skull of Saint Valentine. It was a touching, romantic moment. I wish I'd gone on Valentine's day - he's a lovely chap to have a date with, I'm sure!
This evening my roomies and I went to our friend Amanda's apartment complex to have dinner with her parents, who are visiting. I had a total deja vu moment leaving the station when the bus dropped us off because I realized we were on the street that I'd stayed on when I came to Rome 2 years ago. I like to think that the people at the internet store would have recognized me - probably not likely, though.
The middle-age, live music jazz bar we went to after dinner was packed, so we didn't stay, but I'm planning to go back next week with Ellen and her friend Samantha who will be staying with us. It wasn't dark and there weren't people groping each other on some dance floor... sounds like my kind of place!
Tomorrow is woman's day in Italy. It's kind of like mother's day, but it's for all women. I think I'm going to go buy daffodils because it sounds like the best way to treat myself to woman's day while I'm writing my papers. Spring must be in the air! I know this because I've found out that 3 different friends have gotten engaged in the past several weeks... 2 of them to each other. What is happening?!?! They're dropping like flies! For the record, though, I did meet a guy who looks like Gilbert Blythe tonight, which made me happy!
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Tutto Bene: Coming to a theatre near you!
Today was what I call a rubbish party. No, I did not coin that clever phrase, but I partial to using it, because it describes so well what today was! Rubbish, for you non-Brits, is "garbage" at all the public locations in Great Britian. So, for the sake of an example, you throw out your sandwich wrapper in a rubbish bin. A "rubbish party" is when an event or a series of events occurs that just is... well, garbage! It's useless, wasted, or perhaps you could even apply it to the absolute ridiculous. A very literal application of this phrase is when I was in Morocco, taking the house garbage 10 km into town with my friend Dani to deposit it at the dump. On one of the sharp curves, the garbage can full of several-day-old kitchen scraps and such fell over in the back of the van. That was a literal and figurative rubbish party. We had to clean it up.
Today was the day my roommate Clara and I ventured forth into the great unknown of Industrial Rome to the Questura Ufficio Immigrazione, which is on Via T. Patini, 19, in case anyone needs to know. But don't expect it to be on any maps of the greater Roman area... After arriving last August, I submitted my information to attain my Permesso di Soggirono, aka: My Permit to Stay. Basically, it makes me a legal person living semi-long term here in Rome. It means I'm not just a tourist, I'm here to do something (in my case, study... English Literature. "Litteratura di Inglese? In Roma? Per che?" everyone asks me. Trust me, sometimes I wonder too!). Now, my understanding is that this process used to be fairly simple - a matter of going somewhere, performing some act like getting your fingerprints taken, giving someone some small amount of money (perhaps for the Mafia? One never knows), and then exiting that somewhere with Permission to be in the country. It's not that simple any more. Per che? Io no se! Perhaps because the Italian government seems to collapse every year and a half... maybe this was a law brought into action by some past government that hasn't been changed because Italy as a whole is more concerned about the health-hazard garbage problem in Naples or whether a region in Northern Italy is going to declare their independence from Italy... or who can wear the most designer items at one time, no idea! I just know that I have a lot more patience for people funneling through Ellis Island (wait, that's not in use anymore... but I somehow guess the process must have been similar!).
OK, so Clara and I left about 7:30 to catch a bus, which was the first of our 4-part journey. It was raining, which I did not realize when I got dressed because I hadn't bothered to look out the window. Lazy of me, I know. Anyone who knows me knows I HATE having the bottom of my jeans be wet. And since I don't go for the skinny-let jeans, if it's raining, my jeans ALWAYS end up wet! Today was such a day. 2 inches were soaked by the time we got on the bus.
We made it to Termini without any problems, Clara had to get some passport fotos (they have little automated stands here, like those funky photobooths that are in malls? They're in all the major transportation stations in Europe, and cost 3-5 Euros for 4 passport photos. BRILLIANT. Someone needs to bring that idea to the states!), and then off we were on the metro to the end of line B. The metro is both a very cool and very creepy place for me. The music is always this happy, carnival type music that somehow freakily contrasts the dim, dank, urine-smelling subterranean passageways. And there is always a cold wind. That creeps me out too... I think the poets would call it "the touch of dead posey" or something.
We reached the end of the metro, and exited the station looking for bus 437 or 447. Bus 437 left every 30 minutes, bus 447 left every 15 minutes. We saw a bus 447 at the bus stand across yonder, so we take off running for the bus. Literally, sprinting. My leather trench coat was flying, gum wrappers were falling out of my purse (thank goodness I didn't loose my passport and all the important info for the Permisso!), and my scarf was flapping in the wind behind me as only scarfs can do when their owners try to leave them behind whilst they are attached to the neck.
We dashed across streets with passing cars (I invision this scene as quite dramatic if my life were to be made into a blockbuster movie... Some great music going here, the camera panning in to see how my jeans now have water soaked 6 inches up from the bottom thanks to the puddles) screeching to a halt around us, and the horns blowing and hands waving and people yelling in Italian as only true Italians can do, and we jump onto the bus... Only to realize it isn't turned on. In fact, it's "Deposito," meaning, it's at the end of it's run and waiting for the appointed time to leave (side note: this must be the ONLY time when Italians make an effort to run on something like a schedule... And I think the reason is because the bus driver likes to grab a cappuccino and smoke a cigarette). Not only was the bus not going anywhere at that moment, but the bus is half full of Romans watching the drama of the American girls crossing the 15 lane highway (OK, that's added for dramatic purposes of the movie...). Clara and I sit down, checking to make sure all appendages are still attached, and 30 seconds later a handsome, young Italian man POUNDS on the window next to our heads, and points across the parking lot at another bus 447 that is actually running and ready to depart on the route. The whole busload of people gets off the bus, we wade across the gravel/mud/wet parking lot (8 inches wet now), and get on bus 447 number two. Thanks for looking out for us, handsome bus driver!
The Ufficio Immigrazione is out in Industrial Rome, I think. The road the bus drove down had factories on one side of it, and scrubby fields with disrepaired fences on the other. I soaked up the view of every green blade of grass and rolling hill that I could. We got off at a bus stop on a very obscure, non-government looking stretch of road. I began to wonder if we were being used in some drug-trafficking heist or something for the Mafia - I thought it would have been a nice touch to my action movie - but it ended up it was the legit place. We found this out by walking three blocks down a scantily paved road with no sidewalk and huge mud puddles that - for the most part - the drivers avoided. I was very thankful, although one inconsidered chap drove through a mud puddle/pond and sprayed a nice stream of water all over us, properly soaking the bottom 2 feet of my jeans (Well, OK, that detail was added to the movie too...).
We came to the back of a parking lot with fences that looked like they were indicating there wasn't a way through, but Clara assured me the fences were just for the dramatic affect of the movie, and we wandered through the maze, stepping around cars, puddles and red and white "do not enter" tape to get to the front gate. We made it JUST before a huge crowd of people came, but unfortunately arriving just before a huge crowd of people doesn't mean you get to go in line right away. One man was answering and direction all the people from a windowed counter, and Clara and I were number 3 in line for about 15 people-worth of questions.
We got a number and took a seat, and only about 10 minutes later were called to a different window. The guy who helped us has an uncle who lives in Michigan on a lake. I think he thought Washington and Ohio were close to Michigan, because I think he was asking us if we knew him. I caught all this from hearing the words "Michigan" and "Largo." Clara later confirmed my understanding of the dialogue. We had the whole "Litterature Inglese? In Roma?" conversation, peppered with the proper astonished facial expressions and my humble acknowledgement that yes, I am crazy, yes, I chose to come here because Rome is beautiful (Although, I must say, my jeans were practically screaming opposition to that idea right there in the waiting room), and yes, my Italian is really pathetic... Fortunately, you see, I've memorized this conversation in Italian, so it usually goes pretty well. "Allora" our Michigan-uncle Questura friend finally said, which is how all bad news is given because that's how all news is given because that's how all conversations are started in Italy. Allora. Then, to roughly translate: "There was some mistake, perhaps the secretary at the post office made it, or maybe a computer mis-printed something, I can't say, but there was a mistake, and I have tried to fix it. I tried to put the two of you together for an appointment at the Questura in Trastevere in April - that is the earliest I can get you in - because you need to go to the Questura in Trastevere to complete the next step. Not here. You should not be here. You see? That was the mistake. You are good, though. OK. This is all OK. I scheduled your appointments, and here is the paper you will show them. You are not together because, you see, the computer is telling me there are no appointments together, but this is good. You are good. Everything is good. Go to the Questura in Trastevere on April 5th for you, and April 7th for you - they are at the same time, if that helps - and all will be good. It will be perfecto. You are good."
By this time, my following skills were lagging, and all I was understanding was "tutto bene, tutto bene. OK? Tutto bene." Clara reminded him (quite calmly, I might say, considering the scene that followed) that our visa expired in May, and we needed to GET our permissi before the visa expired, but that got a "Va bene? Tutto bene. OK. Arrivederci!" with a warm smile and something else about Michigan (probably an invitation to visit his uncle there and eat fish). At that moment (I picture this as being a close up of my eyes in the movie, like when the protagonist realizes something important) I understood 3 things: First, that something had gone wrong; Second, that all 5 feet, 100 lbs, and personality-the-size-of-Texas of Clara was going to blow up in front of the Ellis-Island-like waiting room full of African, Middle Eastern, and Eastern Europe immigrants staring at the two light-haired Americans; and Third, that we were being politely excused and I needed to get Clara out of the room FAST!
Heroically, I tucked her under and arm like a football and carried her out, flailing arms and legs surrounding me (Well, that's what'll happen in the movie...), and we found ourselves back in the maze of the parking lot, with me asking, "What just happened?" Clara, understandably upset, accentuated her point by speaking very loudly about *%#@! Italians in general and the $@*#%! Italian government and the $&@*#! immigrations process and how on $@#*%! earth we were going to get back into the country in the fall without our Permissi. I have to say, I agreed with every word. She ranted, I raved all the way back the 10 blocks (that's what it felt like!) through the pond-splashed road to the one bar in probably a 10 mile radius (and if you've ever been to Italy, that's saying something!!!) beside the bus stop. In proper Italian fashion, we decided that this situation called for enduring and drastic measures, so we went inside and ordered cappuccini and cornetti. After standing under the dripping awning of the bar for 20 minutes waiting for either bus 447 or 437 to come (we aren't picky!), and an entirely-too-long bus ride across from a man who hadn't showered in several weeks, I suspect, we back-tracked the remaining steps of our journey and came home soaked, tired, and success-less on our quest to legalize our residency here.
I hope that helps explain what a rubbish party is. I only wish two things: 1 - that I'd had a camera to document the party, but alas, you'll have to wait for the movie! and 2 - that I'd worn a skirt and boots. I HATE HAVING WET JEANS.
I made it in time for my 2nd class of the day, and naturally the 3rd as well. The 4th was cancelled because we're writing a paper for the midterm over the weekend, so I came home and fell fast asleep by 4:30PM. Clearly the rubbish party exhausted me, because I slept until 7:30, and got up to do homework... and do other fun stuff like "hang out" on facebook and myspace. Now, I'm going to sleep for the night because I'm still tired, and tomorrow I intend to awaken and accomplish great and mighty things.
Although I didn't have my camera today, here are two photos from last night, as promised.
The gang, minus Tanner, who was taking the picture
The Trumbo trio - bearers of southern grace and charm to Rome en masse... And after another couple hours with them, all my thoughts are "wyath ah SUHthrn AXsent" Yikes!
Today was the day my roommate Clara and I ventured forth into the great unknown of Industrial Rome to the Questura Ufficio Immigrazione, which is on Via T. Patini, 19, in case anyone needs to know. But don't expect it to be on any maps of the greater Roman area... After arriving last August, I submitted my information to attain my Permesso di Soggirono, aka: My Permit to Stay. Basically, it makes me a legal person living semi-long term here in Rome. It means I'm not just a tourist, I'm here to do something (in my case, study... English Literature. "Litteratura di Inglese? In Roma? Per che?" everyone asks me. Trust me, sometimes I wonder too!). Now, my understanding is that this process used to be fairly simple - a matter of going somewhere, performing some act like getting your fingerprints taken, giving someone some small amount of money (perhaps for the Mafia? One never knows), and then exiting that somewhere with Permission to be in the country. It's not that simple any more. Per che? Io no se! Perhaps because the Italian government seems to collapse every year and a half... maybe this was a law brought into action by some past government that hasn't been changed because Italy as a whole is more concerned about the health-hazard garbage problem in Naples or whether a region in Northern Italy is going to declare their independence from Italy... or who can wear the most designer items at one time, no idea! I just know that I have a lot more patience for people funneling through Ellis Island (wait, that's not in use anymore... but I somehow guess the process must have been similar!).
OK, so Clara and I left about 7:30 to catch a bus, which was the first of our 4-part journey. It was raining, which I did not realize when I got dressed because I hadn't bothered to look out the window. Lazy of me, I know. Anyone who knows me knows I HATE having the bottom of my jeans be wet. And since I don't go for the skinny-let jeans, if it's raining, my jeans ALWAYS end up wet! Today was such a day. 2 inches were soaked by the time we got on the bus.
We made it to Termini without any problems, Clara had to get some passport fotos (they have little automated stands here, like those funky photobooths that are in malls? They're in all the major transportation stations in Europe, and cost 3-5 Euros for 4 passport photos. BRILLIANT. Someone needs to bring that idea to the states!), and then off we were on the metro to the end of line B. The metro is both a very cool and very creepy place for me. The music is always this happy, carnival type music that somehow freakily contrasts the dim, dank, urine-smelling subterranean passageways. And there is always a cold wind. That creeps me out too... I think the poets would call it "the touch of dead posey" or something.
We reached the end of the metro, and exited the station looking for bus 437 or 447. Bus 437 left every 30 minutes, bus 447 left every 15 minutes. We saw a bus 447 at the bus stand across yonder, so we take off running for the bus. Literally, sprinting. My leather trench coat was flying, gum wrappers were falling out of my purse (thank goodness I didn't loose my passport and all the important info for the Permisso!), and my scarf was flapping in the wind behind me as only scarfs can do when their owners try to leave them behind whilst they are attached to the neck.
We dashed across streets with passing cars (I invision this scene as quite dramatic if my life were to be made into a blockbuster movie... Some great music going here, the camera panning in to see how my jeans now have water soaked 6 inches up from the bottom thanks to the puddles) screeching to a halt around us, and the horns blowing and hands waving and people yelling in Italian as only true Italians can do, and we jump onto the bus... Only to realize it isn't turned on. In fact, it's "Deposito," meaning, it's at the end of it's run and waiting for the appointed time to leave (side note: this must be the ONLY time when Italians make an effort to run on something like a schedule... And I think the reason is because the bus driver likes to grab a cappuccino and smoke a cigarette). Not only was the bus not going anywhere at that moment, but the bus is half full of Romans watching the drama of the American girls crossing the 15 lane highway (OK, that's added for dramatic purposes of the movie...). Clara and I sit down, checking to make sure all appendages are still attached, and 30 seconds later a handsome, young Italian man POUNDS on the window next to our heads, and points across the parking lot at another bus 447 that is actually running and ready to depart on the route. The whole busload of people gets off the bus, we wade across the gravel/mud/wet parking lot (8 inches wet now), and get on bus 447 number two. Thanks for looking out for us, handsome bus driver!
The Ufficio Immigrazione is out in Industrial Rome, I think. The road the bus drove down had factories on one side of it, and scrubby fields with disrepaired fences on the other. I soaked up the view of every green blade of grass and rolling hill that I could. We got off at a bus stop on a very obscure, non-government looking stretch of road. I began to wonder if we were being used in some drug-trafficking heist or something for the Mafia - I thought it would have been a nice touch to my action movie - but it ended up it was the legit place. We found this out by walking three blocks down a scantily paved road with no sidewalk and huge mud puddles that - for the most part - the drivers avoided. I was very thankful, although one inconsidered chap drove through a mud puddle/pond and sprayed a nice stream of water all over us, properly soaking the bottom 2 feet of my jeans (Well, OK, that detail was added to the movie too...).
We came to the back of a parking lot with fences that looked like they were indicating there wasn't a way through, but Clara assured me the fences were just for the dramatic affect of the movie, and we wandered through the maze, stepping around cars, puddles and red and white "do not enter" tape to get to the front gate. We made it JUST before a huge crowd of people came, but unfortunately arriving just before a huge crowd of people doesn't mean you get to go in line right away. One man was answering and direction all the people from a windowed counter, and Clara and I were number 3 in line for about 15 people-worth of questions.
We got a number and took a seat, and only about 10 minutes later were called to a different window. The guy who helped us has an uncle who lives in Michigan on a lake. I think he thought Washington and Ohio were close to Michigan, because I think he was asking us if we knew him. I caught all this from hearing the words "Michigan" and "Largo." Clara later confirmed my understanding of the dialogue. We had the whole "Litterature Inglese? In Roma?" conversation, peppered with the proper astonished facial expressions and my humble acknowledgement that yes, I am crazy, yes, I chose to come here because Rome is beautiful (Although, I must say, my jeans were practically screaming opposition to that idea right there in the waiting room), and yes, my Italian is really pathetic... Fortunately, you see, I've memorized this conversation in Italian, so it usually goes pretty well. "Allora" our Michigan-uncle Questura friend finally said, which is how all bad news is given because that's how all news is given because that's how all conversations are started in Italy. Allora. Then, to roughly translate: "There was some mistake, perhaps the secretary at the post office made it, or maybe a computer mis-printed something, I can't say, but there was a mistake, and I have tried to fix it. I tried to put the two of you together for an appointment at the Questura in Trastevere in April - that is the earliest I can get you in - because you need to go to the Questura in Trastevere to complete the next step. Not here. You should not be here. You see? That was the mistake. You are good, though. OK. This is all OK. I scheduled your appointments, and here is the paper you will show them. You are not together because, you see, the computer is telling me there are no appointments together, but this is good. You are good. Everything is good. Go to the Questura in Trastevere on April 5th for you, and April 7th for you - they are at the same time, if that helps - and all will be good. It will be perfecto. You are good."
By this time, my following skills were lagging, and all I was understanding was "tutto bene, tutto bene. OK? Tutto bene." Clara reminded him (quite calmly, I might say, considering the scene that followed) that our visa expired in May, and we needed to GET our permissi before the visa expired, but that got a "Va bene? Tutto bene. OK. Arrivederci!" with a warm smile and something else about Michigan (probably an invitation to visit his uncle there and eat fish). At that moment (I picture this as being a close up of my eyes in the movie, like when the protagonist realizes something important) I understood 3 things: First, that something had gone wrong; Second, that all 5 feet, 100 lbs, and personality-the-size-of-Texas of Clara was going to blow up in front of the Ellis-Island-like waiting room full of African, Middle Eastern, and Eastern Europe immigrants staring at the two light-haired Americans; and Third, that we were being politely excused and I needed to get Clara out of the room FAST!
Heroically, I tucked her under and arm like a football and carried her out, flailing arms and legs surrounding me (Well, that's what'll happen in the movie...), and we found ourselves back in the maze of the parking lot, with me asking, "What just happened?" Clara, understandably upset, accentuated her point by speaking very loudly about *%#@! Italians in general and the $@*#%! Italian government and the $&@*#! immigrations process and how on $@#*%! earth we were going to get back into the country in the fall without our Permissi. I have to say, I agreed with every word. She ranted, I raved all the way back the 10 blocks (that's what it felt like!) through the pond-splashed road to the one bar in probably a 10 mile radius (and if you've ever been to Italy, that's saying something!!!) beside the bus stop. In proper Italian fashion, we decided that this situation called for enduring and drastic measures, so we went inside and ordered cappuccini and cornetti. After standing under the dripping awning of the bar for 20 minutes waiting for either bus 447 or 437 to come (we aren't picky!), and an entirely-too-long bus ride across from a man who hadn't showered in several weeks, I suspect, we back-tracked the remaining steps of our journey and came home soaked, tired, and success-less on our quest to legalize our residency here.
I hope that helps explain what a rubbish party is. I only wish two things: 1 - that I'd had a camera to document the party, but alas, you'll have to wait for the movie! and 2 - that I'd worn a skirt and boots. I HATE HAVING WET JEANS.
I made it in time for my 2nd class of the day, and naturally the 3rd as well. The 4th was cancelled because we're writing a paper for the midterm over the weekend, so I came home and fell fast asleep by 4:30PM. Clearly the rubbish party exhausted me, because I slept until 7:30, and got up to do homework... and do other fun stuff like "hang out" on facebook and myspace. Now, I'm going to sleep for the night because I'm still tired, and tomorrow I intend to awaken and accomplish great and mighty things.
Although I didn't have my camera today, here are two photos from last night, as promised.
The gang, minus Tanner, who was taking the picture
The Trumbo trio - bearers of southern grace and charm to Rome en masse... And after another couple hours with them, all my thoughts are "wyath ah SUHthrn AXsent" Yikes!
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Too many late nights and early mornings!
Mexican food was pretty darn good! We had a good, fun group of people, Virigina brought her two visiting friends, Danielle and Cynthia, and Cass brought his ladies, his Mom Karen and sister Tanner. Taylor, the architect student whose neice's godmother is Joy Williams (?!?! So cool!) came, and so did Hilary, Virigina's roommate. Or you can say Virigina is Hilary's roommate. Whatever.
I have 2 pictures. One of the group, one of the Trumbos, but I'm way too tired to download them now. Sorry. I was up late last night studying for my midterm today, an was up decently early this morning doing the same. Along with the midterm I had the meeting with student government (they'll debate and vote tomorrow, so it'll be a couple days before I know whether I'm "in" or not!), had a class, AND did some pretty serious deep spring cleaning of the apartment. How do I know it was "serious deep" cleaning? I moved furniture and scrubbed on my hands and knees... That counts in my book. It's amazing how dirty tile can - and does - get.
So my head is pounding from being sleep deprived, and I'm off to get my permissio de segiorno (permit to stay) tomorrow morning bright and early. Wish me luck! I've hear people have had to wait for 3 or 4 or more hours. I'm taking homework and some snack food just in case! :-)
I have 2 pictures. One of the group, one of the Trumbos, but I'm way too tired to download them now. Sorry. I was up late last night studying for my midterm today, an was up decently early this morning doing the same. Along with the midterm I had the meeting with student government (they'll debate and vote tomorrow, so it'll be a couple days before I know whether I'm "in" or not!), had a class, AND did some pretty serious deep spring cleaning of the apartment. How do I know it was "serious deep" cleaning? I moved furniture and scrubbed on my hands and knees... That counts in my book. It's amazing how dirty tile can - and does - get.
So my head is pounding from being sleep deprived, and I'm off to get my permissio de segiorno (permit to stay) tomorrow morning bright and early. Wish me luck! I've hear people have had to wait for 3 or 4 or more hours. I'm taking homework and some snack food just in case! :-)
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
And welcome to Rome...
Tourist season has officially hit again. English is fairly common in the streets, blonde families with several children, and (the dead giveaway) people walking around in their t-shirts or even (GASP!) tank tops! As for me? I follow the Roman trends... I've only had two days of not wearing my long winter jackets. An scarfs? They've become a staple of my wardrobe. I'm going to have to transition to summer scarfs this year, I think!
I have a midterm tomorrow, along with a student government meeting where I introduce myself to the student government and then they'll decide if they want me to be the English Lit representative. Most excitingly tomorrow is our MEXICAN FOOD NIGHT!!! There will be about 10 of us, I think, potlucking and eating tacos here at my house. I'll try to remember to take picture ;-). I think missing Mexican food is one of the most common ailments for students (or anybody) in Europe or Africa. Tonight I made refried beans preparing for tomorrow... I've never made refried beans, and it was a lot of work without a potato masher. And we don't have taco seasoning, which is sad. I'm going to just make my chili powder as workable as possible.
2 papers to write this weekend, neither will have to be as long as the one I turned in today though, I don't think. By next Tuesday I will have written about as much as I'll need to write for my thesis in the past 3 weeks. I guess it's the research part that takes forever, though, isn't it? I've got to start thinking of that...
Reading, reading, and more reading awaits my attention... So off I go!
I have a midterm tomorrow, along with a student government meeting where I introduce myself to the student government and then they'll decide if they want me to be the English Lit representative. Most excitingly tomorrow is our MEXICAN FOOD NIGHT!!! There will be about 10 of us, I think, potlucking and eating tacos here at my house. I'll try to remember to take picture ;-). I think missing Mexican food is one of the most common ailments for students (or anybody) in Europe or Africa. Tonight I made refried beans preparing for tomorrow... I've never made refried beans, and it was a lot of work without a potato masher. And we don't have taco seasoning, which is sad. I'm going to just make my chili powder as workable as possible.
2 papers to write this weekend, neither will have to be as long as the one I turned in today though, I don't think. By next Tuesday I will have written about as much as I'll need to write for my thesis in the past 3 weeks. I guess it's the research part that takes forever, though, isn't it? I've got to start thinking of that...
Reading, reading, and more reading awaits my attention... So off I go!
Monday, March 03, 2008
Hurrying
If I write really fast, I can still get this posted on March 3rd... that would be impressive, wouldn't it?!
I just finished editing my 10 page paper that I'm turning in tomorrow. It's on applying this dude's theory of flat and round characters to the novels "Emma" and "Love in Excess." I highly recommend Emma, I highly DON'T recommend Love in Excess.
I still have a bit of reading to do before I can drift off into peaceful slumber. I'm reading excerpts from a Gothic novel for my Survey Class. I'm also in Mary Barton for my Genre of Fiction class. I think I have about 40 pages of the Gothic novel excerpts, and 20 chapters in Mary Barton... probably isn't all going to happen. I also need to read a couple books in the Iliad before tomorrow night. I might put it off, though, because my midterm for my survey class will be on Wednesday, I believe (I'm doing a make-up midterm because I will be gone on the actual midterm day because I have to go to the police station and get fingerprinted so I can continue the process of being legal here in Italia). Soooo... I need to make sure I'm caught up on all my reading. Which... I'm not! And I want to review what we HAVE read. That's tomorrow night and Wednesday morning's project, I guess.
Otherwise, I've had a terribly dull day. No, not terribly. Just dull. It was another nice sunny day actually! Our heat got fixed on Saturday, so now our apartment is really hot - I need to go turn it down or just take off my sweater. I'd rather turn it down because it's cheaper, but my roommates sometimes prefer not having to bulk up on the clothes. Our sink is now leaking onto our kitchen floor, though. Or maybe it's the washer, I don't know. I just get up in the morning and have to mop up the puddle of water. Thank goodness we're living in tile-capital!
K, I'm off. Wish me luck and pray I stay awake!
I just finished editing my 10 page paper that I'm turning in tomorrow. It's on applying this dude's theory of flat and round characters to the novels "Emma" and "Love in Excess." I highly recommend Emma, I highly DON'T recommend Love in Excess.
I still have a bit of reading to do before I can drift off into peaceful slumber. I'm reading excerpts from a Gothic novel for my Survey Class. I'm also in Mary Barton for my Genre of Fiction class. I think I have about 40 pages of the Gothic novel excerpts, and 20 chapters in Mary Barton... probably isn't all going to happen. I also need to read a couple books in the Iliad before tomorrow night. I might put it off, though, because my midterm for my survey class will be on Wednesday, I believe (I'm doing a make-up midterm because I will be gone on the actual midterm day because I have to go to the police station and get fingerprinted so I can continue the process of being legal here in Italia). Soooo... I need to make sure I'm caught up on all my reading. Which... I'm not! And I want to review what we HAVE read. That's tomorrow night and Wednesday morning's project, I guess.
Otherwise, I've had a terribly dull day. No, not terribly. Just dull. It was another nice sunny day actually! Our heat got fixed on Saturday, so now our apartment is really hot - I need to go turn it down or just take off my sweater. I'd rather turn it down because it's cheaper, but my roommates sometimes prefer not having to bulk up on the clothes. Our sink is now leaking onto our kitchen floor, though. Or maybe it's the washer, I don't know. I just get up in the morning and have to mop up the puddle of water. Thank goodness we're living in tile-capital!
K, I'm off. Wish me luck and pray I stay awake!
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Executive decision...
Since I'm the one who owns and operates this blog spot (well, I don't know if I own it because I didn't pay for it... but I'm the one who manages it!), I made an executive decision to skip my March 1st entry. Why? Justice. See, February 29th gets skipped over three out of every four years and that just didn't seem fair to me... so I wanted the 29th to have a little longer to shine in the limelight. If I was being REALLY fair, I'd have let it have the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd... but I didn't want to be too generous, you know!
Besides that, my internet wasn't working last night when I went to write the blog.
This weekend has been a bit stressful. But at least I'm ALMOST finished with my 8-10 page paper due on Tuesday. Yay!
I've made new friends! My friend Cass's Mom and sister are visiting him for a week. I met them last night when they popped in, asking if they could use my internet access, and then I spent a good portion of today with them doing some touristy stuff after church. Here's a picture of us at the Colosseum:
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I've decided something: I LIKE HAVING MOMS AROUND! Actually, I miss having Dads around too... but I think it would be difficult to get my Dad away from the farm, and (if we're being fair), my Mom's never been to Europe, and the last time I was in Europe with a parent it was with my Dad... So I guess it's Mom's turn! I even went to Orbitz.com to see how much tickets would cost to fly Mom over here. I can't go home for a week, and in all reality, I know she'd probably be just as hard pressed to get away for a week, but all these Moms keep coming through here with their daughters... and I guess I just want MY Mommy to come to! It doesn't help that her birthday is coming up... ;-) I admit, it crossed my mind to try to call my sisters and grandparents and Dad to see if we could all put money towards the ticket ($747!). BUT, there's a chance my parentals and some of the siblings might come next Christmas, so I guess I can wait that long. And I will get to see both my parents in June, which isn't so far away. Especially considering how this semester is FLYING!
I went for a walk last night (I'd been in the house writing a paper most of the day) and I took some fun night-time photos. Don't worry, I stuck to the well-lit areas where there are lots of people. I had my tennis shoes on too, so I could run away from any bad guys!
This is my "I'm a big, tough, haybale-bucking farm girl, so don't mess with me!" look. I employ it frequently!
A fountain by the Vittorio Emmanuelle II monument (aka: the wedding cake). That's Italy's flag on the flag pole... there wasn't any wind to work with, though.
The top of the stairs I ran up and down 3 times to get some good aerobic exercise without having to leave the touristy area and still wearing my chic jacket... :-)
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This is on a main road heading towards the Colosseum. I saw some people running out to the center of the road to snap a picture, but I wasn't that stupid... errr, brave!
Besides that, my internet wasn't working last night when I went to write the blog.
This weekend has been a bit stressful. But at least I'm ALMOST finished with my 8-10 page paper due on Tuesday. Yay!
I've made new friends! My friend Cass's Mom and sister are visiting him for a week. I met them last night when they popped in, asking if they could use my internet access, and then I spent a good portion of today with them doing some touristy stuff after church. Here's a picture of us at the Colosseum:
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I've decided something: I LIKE HAVING MOMS AROUND! Actually, I miss having Dads around too... but I think it would be difficult to get my Dad away from the farm, and (if we're being fair), my Mom's never been to Europe, and the last time I was in Europe with a parent it was with my Dad... So I guess it's Mom's turn! I even went to Orbitz.com to see how much tickets would cost to fly Mom over here. I can't go home for a week, and in all reality, I know she'd probably be just as hard pressed to get away for a week, but all these Moms keep coming through here with their daughters... and I guess I just want MY Mommy to come to! It doesn't help that her birthday is coming up... ;-) I admit, it crossed my mind to try to call my sisters and grandparents and Dad to see if we could all put money towards the ticket ($747!). BUT, there's a chance my parentals and some of the siblings might come next Christmas, so I guess I can wait that long. And I will get to see both my parents in June, which isn't so far away. Especially considering how this semester is FLYING!
I went for a walk last night (I'd been in the house writing a paper most of the day) and I took some fun night-time photos. Don't worry, I stuck to the well-lit areas where there are lots of people. I had my tennis shoes on too, so I could run away from any bad guys!
This is my "I'm a big, tough, haybale-bucking farm girl, so don't mess with me!" look. I employ it frequently!
A fountain by the Vittorio Emmanuelle II monument (aka: the wedding cake). That's Italy's flag on the flag pole... there wasn't any wind to work with, though.
The top of the stairs I ran up and down 3 times to get some good aerobic exercise without having to leave the touristy area and still wearing my chic jacket... :-).jpg)
This is on a main road heading towards the Colosseum. I saw some people running out to the center of the road to snap a picture, but I wasn't that stupid... errr, brave!
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