Only A Month...

Until I come home. I can't quite believe I have been living in Italy for two months. I have really mixed feelings about leaving. I miss home a lot, and can't wait to see my family and everyone at Guilford, but I know I am going to miss Italy, and my host family, especially my sisters, a lot. Things are just do unusual here. Last night I heard singing and I looked out the window. There were bunches of people, holding candles and singing in Italian as they walked down the road. And today there was a string quartet playing in the streets. There is often a man painted all gold, dresses in old fashion clothes, looking through a gold old fashion video camera by one of the piazzas. When it is nice out I see the same woman playing accordian at the end of my street as I walk to school. I think in a month I will be ready to come, and I know when I get there I will be happy. Especially once I eat some pancakes, which I have really been missing here. And a bagel with cream cheese.

In two weeks I am going to France to see Becca for Easter weekend. And after that only two weeks until I am on a plane bound for the states. This week has gone by a lot faster than I thought it would. Maybe it is because I have another class now to help pass the time. It is Medieval to Modern Italian art history. So far I am loving it. Our teacher, Ilaria, really knows the subject well. We also have a lot of out side of the classroom activities. Last Tuesday we went to San Domenico and wrote about the art there that we liked or didn't like. We also saw St. Catherine's head (and finger.) I still don't understand the whole concept of relics. Why do you want to keep around someone's rotting corpse. I mean, Catherine's head is sort of mummified....and it is in an airtight glass box now, but it back in medieval days it was just sitting out. What's more, people would come touch it to try to heal themselves. I just don't think rubbing a dead body is really going to improve your health, but medieval Italians sure did.

Language class is also going well. I felt pretty brain dead this while week because of spring break, but now I think I am getting back into it. We are starting a new tense next week. The other past tense I think, which will considerably expand my vocabulary, but will also definitely complicate things. It seems that I can usually understand what people are saying to me, but I often find myself unable to respond. Then, about ten minutes later I think of what I should have said. Oh well. My dreams and daily thoughts have Italian words mixed in. It is all getting kind of confusing, but I love learning this language and I hope I can continue once I am home.