Hello, hello! I am back in Italy now. My gmail account didnt work the last time I was here, but it did today, but... just in case, if anyone would like to reach me, email me at my hotmail account. Gmail gives me problems in Italy. However, I was very glad to see that the my Italian teacher from Dawson sent me her regards from Italy! (Grazie, Signora Barreca! Ci parliamo quando torno a casa, e Le scrivero un messaggio quando ho piu tempo!) I spent the past hour putting photos from my camera onto flickr.com, so follow the link from my previous post if you would like to view the old photos.
So, updates...
Kaja, my dearest German friend, made me cry yesterday evening when we left her. Claudia and I boarded the train and kaja chased after it. She walk with the train as it started off, and then she ran ... I thought people only did that in the movies. I didnt realize how much I had missed her these past 3 years until I left her. I did enjoy my time with her, though, and I told her I will likely see her next year if my plans follow through to study in Florence.
On Friday night, Kaja had to work. She works at a discotheque in Cologne, so we went with her and had free entrance, along with free drinks. Woo!! German people dance funny, but we had a great time. I cant imagine I dance that well either, so i guess I didnt feel out of place, other than being one of the very few non blondes. Cologne is a lovely city. We didnt do any sightseeing which is absolutely fine with me. We chilled, mostly, and it was well deserved, for we were always tired during the whole trip. So it is over.
I love Claudias town. Everyone is so close. In one day, we saw her grandmother four times, her aunt thrice, and her uncle twice. Three meals were cooked for us by her grandmother who, by the way, is an AMAZING cook. Its so nice how she goes out of her way to make me vegan food. So the vegetarianism is finally over and the veganism restarts! We went for a bike ride tonight, Claudia and I, and I drove some ghetto bike... The handlebars shook and the brakes were SO loud. it freaked me out, I being a health/safety freak and there were no helmets to wear. That, and people in Italy supposedly believe that wearing a seatbelt in the backseat is not necessary. haha out of habit, when I first got here a the beginning of July, I put the seatbelt on and theyd actually tel me NOT to put it on!! hahaha ... Which reminds me of another thing: when Italy won the semifinal game and we drove around with the flag, Clayudias mother suggested we take the broken car that they do not use, so this way if we got into an accident, it wouldnt matter. HAHAHAHHA italians are crazy. I love it.
This whole time I was counting down the days to return home. I feel so at home here, though, that now it seems I dont want to leave. The days are passing so velocemente... Fast! Jesus! I am losing my english!! I cant wait for school, hahahaha...
So, out of all the things that were different between home and Europe, here is a list of what stands out:
1-paying to pee. What the hell! peeing is human necessity!! If I gota go, I gota go!! If my pockets are empty, sorry buddy, I gota go!
2-Speaking of peeing, there are MANY different ways to flush toilets here. Buttons on the floor to step on, levers to turn, buttons to push...
3-Convenient corner stores that have FRUIT stands! I am almost positive that I will seek these out in vain when I get home.
4- Stores are closed on Sunday. Mostly.
5-the metros are most convenient. And its easy to ride for free. In Germany, we didnt pay once for the metro. Kaja was sneaky and said we just stand by the machine at which to pay on the metro, and keep an eye out for the guy who checks tickets and if we see him coming, we ... (fare finta??...)... gaaah... we start buyign the ticket. hah!!
6- Hmm... The rest escapes me.
Til next time! Hope everyone is well! Ci parliamo!