Sorry that i have not written in so long but it has been quite a crazy time. I have moved to Florence officially. I feel like I am doing one thousand different jobs but at this point I am making more than enough money to survive and have found an apartment where i will be moving in january if everything goes the way that i hope it does.

Right now I am staying with two little girls, one who is about two weeks old and the other is 16 months. Really I just provide an extra pair of hands. I now understand how to make formula, burp a baby and to keep children happy for extended periods of time. I feel like I am always with children because I kinda am, when I am alone with an adult it seems like a truly glorious thing. Monday and wednesday I babysit and teach english to a little boy who is three named Giulio. Tuesday and thursday I teach an english lesson for an hour and a half to two three year olds and a 2 and a half year old. It is more glorified babysitting than teaching but they have mastered there colors and animals and they know how to say "my name is... whats your name?" which may not seem like a giant achievement but is definately a milestone with these children. I am adding another class onto tuesday and another one onto thursday as well but they havent started and I dont know the details but I know that it is going to mean more money. Friday I have a class which I have not started yet but am very exctied about and Saturday I work teaching Englsih from 9 to 1 to children who range in age from 4 to 7. From about 8 to one I provide my services to the family and for this I get to stay in a small little room and get food for free. This family has a terrace that overlooks all of Florence and is absolutely breath taking and truly makes it all worth it.

During the weekends I have been going to Arezzo but I am going to stop doing that because I really want to immerse myself in Florence so that I can be happier there and stop thinking about Arezzo all the time. I have a good friend group in Florence that I am expanding and I have a good friend group in Arezzo. It is nice to know that I am welcome both places.
In other news I cut my hair, it was a big change but the right one and everyone I have talked to about it says they like it better this way. I think the next time I get it cut I might get it even a little bit shorter. It is alot more functional and makes me feel more like a big kid. I have been trying to control my shopping urges but it is hard with all the beautiful things that i am surrounded by here. Thanksgiving is approaching and I think that my friend Allison is going to do thanksgiving at her house. We hold the tradition here in Italy too. The perspective that you get from the Italians about the election over here makes you realize that the decisions that the united states makes have an impact on the whole world.

well i think that is about all in a nutshell i got to go play with a five year old for a little bit. love you all and hope that all is well on the other side of the pond

a presto
amanda

moving on up

Next week I will be moving to Florence and living with a family. They are a family that is well known by the place that I currently work for or else I probably wouldnt be putting myself in this situation. I met the mother of the family and she seems really nice. They will be taking care of rent and food in exchange for a little bit of help and I will still be able to work and save more moeny. I think that they are only going to need me for a bout two months. Sometimes I cannot believe that I am here and that I am doing this and for the most part I am doing it on my own, and with the help of really amazing people that have been put into my life. I am quite blessed to say the least.

My tuesday thursday class is going well. They are alot smaller than I thought they would be. I have Livia who is three, Giorgio who is 3 and a half and quite a little jerk and Giovanni who is 2 and a half, freaking cute but dead set on eating the playdough and not listening to a word that I say. I think that they are learning a little bit though which I am happy about, at least they are hearing english.

It's been really beautiful weather but I think that it is about to start raining. I think that after all this hard work I am going to treat myself to a pair of shoes. I am definately looking at money in a very different way than I used to. I have always had respect for it and the things that I buy but now it's much more precious and I have a fear of spending any of it.

The end. a posto.

Camp is over

I am definately feeling the pressure of life but right now it is more exhilerating than anything else. I need to find a place to live. Easier said than done. There are so many possibilities right now and things that I need to keep looking into. I have a feeling that it will all fall into place, and I hope that it does. I just need to start making some big decisions and my energy is coming back after being sick , so maybe everything will seem a little bit simpler now. These are some pictures of where I work and the children that I work with. I hope that everyone is doing well. I am very happy.

greek theatre with people who can hardly speak english

This week has been really interesting. I found out that i get wireless at the camp. The kids are not nearly as devlish this week. I created skits from greek myths and they are putting them on. They are doing a good job and i am really proud of them. I am really nervous for the final performance at the end of the week. I hope that everything goes well.

I committed to the job in Florence for the time being but will need to find other work on top of it. It is teaching an english lesson for a hour and a half tues and thurs and the working on saturday as well. There is not much money in it starting but they have also put me in contact with a lady who will rent me a room for not very much money. I still need to talk to her but living in Florence again will be nice. I am also going to get in contact with the theatre that is there so that i can audition for something and get back to my actor roots. I have a really bad cough which made me roomate here at camp abandon me and go sleep in another place. I feel terrible but there is nothing that i can do about it. I love you all and i hope to get some emails soon. I like them, it makes me happy and comments would be nice just so that i know that someone is reading this. I love you all

amanda

first week

This week was nuts. I thought that I did pretty well but I am absolutely exhausted. We had really awful kids this week which made everything a little bit more rough. I got really really sick the last day but managed to make it home. I have been sleeping and preparing for the next week. There a couple of different opportunities for work which are pretty exciting. I love you all and miss you.

Amanda

it's me

cold feet and wet beds

This morning was amazing. Alessio woke up before I did and I came into the kitchen and his sweet little eyes greeted me this morning. I heard a tale about a terrible dream in which Max was mad at him and something horrendous had happened to Thomas the Tank Engine involving a monster. After listening intently I looked at him with excitement and said, "what's today?" "MY BIRTHDAY". The dream was soon forgotten and the presents, cake, and all the big boy things that a five year old can do went flashing through his mind. I then brought to his attention the perfectly wrapped yellow package that sat on the table. I read him the card that was beside the package and then gave the go ahead to begin tearing through the paper. My heart filled with anticipation as well. Memories flashed back of Christmas and birthdays past where I too had the gleefull somewhat savage "present" look in my eyes. The frustration that came along with the paper was soon overtaken with the joy of a beautiful new Cars alarm clock, and for a brief second everything seemed perfect. It is strange how watching the moments that children experience can bring such clarity into the eye of the beholder. These must be some of the moments that parents live for when all the hard parts of taking care of children seem to melt away and nothing but love fills your heart.


Max was in a great mood too this morning and for the first time he didn't ask for his bottle. I was impressed. We then spent the rest of breakfast looking over an American monument pop up book and I taught them the Star Spangled banner (more like I had a theatrical moment in the kitchen using a paper towel roll as my microphone and using the opportunity to sing at the top of my lungs.

I am going to miss them when I leave. I find it strange that the older I get the better I am getting at letting people go but holding memories extremely tight. I am learning that I infact have very little control over this roller coaster of life and the more willing I am to just ride it the easier it seems to be to live.

In other news, Italy is still beautiful. It's getting a little too cold for my taste but I have a beautiful new jacket to take care of that. I have also learned that no matter how calloused and blistered your feet get they still work.

I don't know why I am so joyful right now; it might be all the espresso or maybe it's that clarity moment sticking with me. Either way I hope that I can feel like this for awhile.

la vita e bellissima

Every morning when I wake up and look out my front door I see an ancient Etruscan wall and every time some part of me has forgotten that I am in Italy and that I live in front of this wall and a smile that starts in my heart creeps out onto my face.

I love this place.

I have begun my preparations for leaving. Charolette said that I can have my room back on the weekends and that I can leave my stuff here. That is one less thing that I have to worry about. I can also stay here for a couple of weeks after I finish camp while I am finding work and an apartment.

I am having trouble sleeping but 6 o'clock will come very early tomorrow. O how i love thee espresso!!!!

sore throat

Being a fake mom is pretty exhausting. By the end of the day I find that I cannot even keep my eyes open. I think that all moms deserve a big prize.

My next step in this journey will be going off to Grande Prato, an over night camp that is near Pisa. I am really excited but ofcourse a little bit nervous too as can be expected. I will be with children that range from age 6-12 and I will be teaching predominantly theatre which is mainly based of games and we have to come up with some kinda skit that will be performed at the end of the week. The thing that I am the most nervous about is teaching English but I am sure that it will be ok. It's mainly the days of the week and "how are you?", "i'm fine" and so on and so on. I am hoping that I can knock this cold so that I will be ready to spend my whole day requlating kids and singing really fun songs and hopefully telling some ghost stories.

I have done some shopping while I was here. I bought some sweaters and a really amazing jacket that I love alot. I love shopping in Italy because everything is priced properly. You don't pay alot for something that is going to fall apart and if you buy something really cheap, you have an idea that it is not going to last forever. The shoes are a constant temptation here. I need a new pair of boots but i am going to hold off until I am making some money.

I helped Kierston, one of the American girls here, find an apartment and I am hoping that when I get back there will be a room still open so that I can live there too because it is not insanely expensive and in an amazing location. This week I also need to put an add up at informa giovani saying that i can help tutor in english. There are some other opportunites that have been made available to me and I am hoping that one of them will work out. Tutoring is always an option and there might be a place open at an english school here in arezzo, and i am also hoping that the university that i gave so much money to will buck up and give some of it back to me for all the work that i have done here with the American students.

I have been really exhausted lately and I think alot of it comes from the fact that I am always thinking about what is coming next. There is alot of unknowns, not bad unknowns, but things that i cannot control and so desperately want to. I love this country, I love speaking a different language and the challenges that living here present and I hope that i dont have to leave any time soon. Anyway I am happy and pretty healthy and I have a really sweet jacket.

Love you all.

a presto

Amanda

this is how we do BBQ Italian style




this is the marvelous Charolette, la mamma di Max e Alessio



this is Kierston, she's way cool and i spend alot of time with her.



this is Andy, hard at work BBQing. It was kinda dark outside so he had this sweet head light that he had to wear.




this is Max and Alessio, they are pretty amazing, i am super lucky to get to stay with them all day.

pancakes and sticky hands

Today is one of the first days that I feel kinda helpless being here. I have to get the boys ready and to the bus stop by 8:30 and there is a ten minute walk to the bus stop and today I felt like we were running a little late so we quickly moved along until Max started crying and I had to carry him the rest of the way. When we got to the bus stop we were early so the rush wasn't even worth it and I felt bad that I esentially had made Max cry because I wasn't being patient enough with him. We stayed at the bus stop for about ten minutes before the bus came and when the bus arrived I realized that I forgot the stuff that I was supposed to bring that Max needed to give to his teacher. I also needed to ask if they could eat at the school. I asked he said that we needed to call the school which we had already done and the only reason I needed to ask again was because they didn't get to eat at the school on Friday because the bus got there too early. Now I am worried that this bus driver does not know that he is supposed to take them home, but when you are speaking a foreign language and it is hard for people to understand you, sometimes it is easy to get flustered and I didnt even think to tell him that they would be getting a ride home on the bus. I just hope that the bus picks them up if it doesnt it is going to present a rather difficult situation for me. All this being said I am sure that everything will be fine and I will feel stupid for worrying but I for some reason after this situation occured I felt really defeated and I dont know exactly why, it is the first time that I have felt like that since I have been back.

In other news this weekend was awesome. We went out Friday night and Andy, one of the American boys locked his keys in his apartment, silly boy. I did it when I lived in Florence but I still gave him shit about it.

Saturday I went shopping and I bought a sweet Paddington Bear hat, a belt, and a pair of shoes that were on super sale. All with money that I didnt really have so thats great.

Saturday night we had an awesome BBQ at my house and a bunch of my Italian friends and the two Americans from OU came over. It was awesome because it was the first time that i got to play hostess for my Italian friends. I had a great time. We went bar hopping afterwards and met some really awesome English guys who were here for a bachelor party week. They are all musicians and were fun to talk to.

Sunday wasnt terribly eventful, mainly just watching movies and hanging out. SOOOO.... pretty much this is my life and I love it. I am going to access the situation that I am in here after I work at Canadian Island and i think by that time i will have a better idea of how long i would like to be here. I miss you all and hope that everything is going great.

a presto

un bacio a tutti

Amanda

i HATE "thomas the tank engine" and i know that hate is a strong word.

soooo.....

i have been here for a week now but it feels like i never left. everything has fallen right back into place, except i feel alot more comfortable and i am not living in a house with four other girls without a mirror. i live in the basement of my professors house and there is actually internet and the shower works, i dont ahve a closet but the spiral staircase that leads up to the rest of the house is a great place to hang things up. i love it here i find so much clarity and it is so beautiful and i feel healthier because the food is soo fresh and delicious and i walk all the time. i highly suggest that everyone should come live here at some point in there life.

i am working on getting some postcards off. i swear that before i leave you will all get one, those of you who sent their addresses to me.

i have been with two fabulous little boys every day of this week for pretty much all day and it makes me want to thank my mom tenfold for putting up with me. they are fabulous little boys and i adore them but they are really exhausting. I am looking forward to the weekend when i can walk around the city and go out and have a good time.

the other americans here are great and everything is looking like it will be good

i go to teach at a camp outside of pisa in two weeks. i am a little nervous but excited at the same time, i know that it is going to be hard work but i love children and theatre so teaching it will be amazing.

i hope that everyone is great more later

So I am here.... so far so good.

I was in an airplane for 12 hours, I went from Dallas to Frankfurt and then from Frankfurt to Rome, then I had to take a train from Rome to Arezzo and then a taxi to my house. Everything went well, nothing got lost in the process and me and my freaking heavy 50 pound bag made it safely....yay !

I arrived at 9:30 at night and all i wanted to do was sleep so I did just that. Today I woke up very early and had an awesome breakfast and went to run some errands with Charolette ( the wife of my professor) and her two little boys, Max who is three and Alessio who is four but almost five. I start watching them on Wednesday and I think that it will be alot of fun, lots of sidewalk chalk, parks, gelato, and i must not forget Thomas the Tank Engine. I brought the little ones fruit snacks and they are the talk of the town. They dont exist here so they are something to be cherished.

I saw my friend Giulia and I was surprised by how quickly my Italian is coming back to me. Normally I have trouble conversing with her friends but today it was not that difficult as long as they were talking one at a time and not all at the same time. The month away let my Italian kinda sit in my head and I was finally able to reflect on all that I learned. I felt very overwhelmed the last time that I was here so the break was much needed. I don't think I realized how much I miss her and all of her friends. Giulia is younger than I am but most of the time I forget that because she holds herself with a level of maturity. I do not feel the same fear to speak that I used to feel the last time that I was here. I found it terrifying and this time I find it much more satisfying and useful. It is a big step for me to say that I am not as afraid to be wrong anymore.

I have yet to meet the other American girl but hopefully I will meet her and the other local college students soon.

It was easy to forget how beautiful this place is and how much I love it when I was home surrounded by all the things that make me comfortable, but coming back reminds me of all the reasons that I never wanted to leave in the first place.

There is a joust going on this weekend. It is a really big deal, all the people in the town are wearing the flag of their district and there are people in medieval garb in the streets and the city is absolutely packed.

Well I love all of you and miss you, please email me and keep me up to date with your lives.

Baci.

a presto,

Amanda

We went to Cortona but it was foggy. We had a blast that night, there is alot of American's there and the Italians there are a little bit nicer. We went to Rome but it was pouring the whole time, we got to see some cool stuff there. We went to Pisa the other day and it was beautiful. We did alot of walking. It was so funny because there was like 30 people in the middle of the field with their hands out ready to catch the tower, all trying to take the same picture. It was funny. We went from Pisa to Florence to celebrate Yvette's birthday, we got significantly wasted and walked around Florence aimlessly in heels for the next hour or so. Good job team. Florence is alot bigger than Arezzo. My feet were throbbing the next day. Class has been somewhat non- existent. We farely have any which is pretty amazing, and one of our classes is just wandering around. The friends that we made stopped talking to us so it continues to be the four of us wandering aimlessly. We met a really cool girl from London who has been hanging out with us also. The guy at the Tabacchi yelled at me for not knowing what he was saying but I just needed him to repeat what he said, jerk. I have been here for a month and Arezzo is starting to kinda feel like home. The transition process is far harder than I ever thought it would be. I miss home not really America but the people and how easy everything is there. I dont like having to handwash all of my clothes by hand. We drink too much here because there is not alot to do.

SOOOO, Italy is amazing, gelato is more amazing. Everything is very expensive here what with the economy sucking, but it is also very beautiful. I dont get to use my computer with the internet alot. I have to go to a public computer lab, so pictures are hard to put on the internet. I met a British girl that is really cool, her name is Emily and her Italian is much better than mine. My Italian is improving but most people will just start speaking English to you and you are like NOO dont do that.

Classes started this week and are much more difficult than anticipated. The class that we thought would be in English is not, but the teacher is really patient and will go back and explian things. I am taking an Ancient Rome class in Italian and while I am sure it would be really interesting the teacher speaks very quickly and does not speak a word of english so i hear every sixth word. I think that I am going to stick it out though and hopefully my Italian will improve. Our grammar class has not started and we have a class with our American professor which is art history. We travel around Italy to see the art though rather than looking at it on slides. We are going to Rome on Monday, and about seven or eight different locations throughout the semester.

I need to create some kind of resume for the summer program that I might do this summer. The bars here are great because if you buy a drink they will let you eat a buffet of food, so dinner and a drink is about 5 euro. We made friends with the resteraunt owner across the street, Pino , and he is going to teach us how to make food. His food is not the best we have had here but he is really nice, and takes the time to try to figure out what we are saying. I get most of my practice with him and the ladies at the convitto. Its a very small town so you end up seeing the same people over and over. I have my gelato girl and the fotocopie guy and the tabacchi girl, and they all smile and wave when they see you. Someday I will ask for names. The creepy thing is everyone wants to know where we live. Apparently there is not alot of American students who are here during this time so they are all quite baffled by it and often times openly stare. I live in a safe area though. Emily lived in Genoa and she got mugged and harrassed alot. I am glad that I dont have to deal with that on top of the shock of everything else.

We tried Chinese food today which was an interesting experience to say the least. Not to bad but not quite the same as tea cafe. Well i love and miss everyone I hope that everything is doing OK. There is a lot of theatre here. There is actually a school right outside of the city walls. We literally have walls that surround the city that are ancient Etruscan. Pretty Sweet.

OK, I am here and I am alive but i do not have internet at the monestary and the only free place in town will only allow you to be on for thiry minutes at a time. My school is cute the monestary is beautiful and i was one of the lucky ones who got my own room. It is really cold in the monestary so i have been sleeping in my 40 and below gloves. The town is the perfect size for us and no one speaks any english so we are being forced into it pretty forcefully. When i drink my italian gets alot better. We went to Firenze the other day which is alot busier and absolutely stunning not to say that everything here is not stunning. All the girls that i am living with are nice for the most part but one of them is super pretentious and kinda a complete bitch. We dont really get along to say the least, but she will not ruin this for me. The train is really fun but hard to use. Kirk is the resident OU person here and he is teaching one of our classes which consist of traveling around the country and learning art history. Pretty hands on to say the least. He has two little boys. Alessio and Massimo and they are probably the cutest things I have ever seen. Kirks wife offered me a job to teach drama in English to little italian children and I think that I am going to do it so I might not be home until August or September. I really hope it works out. My parents were here and they fell in love and feel at ease about the whole situation. School starts next week so we are going to go see a town on the coast called Lucca. We havent really gotten to meet many italians so i cant wait until class starts and we can talk to people of our own age. The food is amazing and chead it is a euro for a panino that totally kicks jimmy johns ass. Well I love and miss you all and am sending you love from Italy. Postcards and stuff will probably start coming once I get more comfortable talking to people. I feel like I have improved in the last four days so the next months will hopefully make me alot better. KISSES AND HUGS!!!

Ciao miei amici!!!

I have almost five days left

I am really excited and quite nervous. Everything is pretty much done. I have been trying to get my credit card companies to confirm that I can use my credit card over there. I am not going to have a phone in Italy and I think that is the scariest thing to me. I am going over to Arezzo with alot of unknowns. I still don't know if I am going to have a roomate or how I should get to the monestary that I am staying once that I am in Arezzo. I am trying to not worry because I know that I have done everything that I can. I am excited about my flight because I get free drinks. I keep joking that I am going to not be able to walk when I get off the plane but atleast I won't have any anxious energy.
I have talked to a couple of the girls that I am going over there with and they seem to be going over there with the same objectives that I am. I want to learn the language better and travel all over Europe. On the 25th I am going into Florence to check out the embassy and then my classes start that Thursday. Apparently Italian professors are kinda hard core Nazi's that have been teaching since their conception so I hope that Professoressa Spandri does not try to eat my soul. We are only enrolled in 9 hours right now because of a miscommunication. For my last class I asked to be enrolled in an art class or maybe a theatre class. I would love to try to act in a language that I am still pretty unfamiliar with. I cannot wait to get over there.

Andro in Italia in cinque giorni. YAY !!!!

One week to go

I am leaving on the 19th to take off for Italy. I am really excited and ready to go. I created this to keep everyone posted on what's going on and so that everyone knows that I am still alive.