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.