I'm sitting outside of my school right now with a few of my roommates. It's midnight here in Firenze and we're sitting on the side of the street on our laptops. We get some funny looks. Don't worry, we won't get mugged, there's lots of people around. There's a bar a few feet away, which makes us look even more funny. You just have to be here.
This time tomorrow I will be on a train to Sicily. Yeehaa! Mediterranean, here I come. Mafia, here I come. Sun, here I come. Seafood, here I come. Greek temples, here I come. The Beach, here I come. Watchout.
Have I mentioned it's midnight?
And here's a few live action shots from Siena last weekend, courtesy of my roommate, Melissa. It's when we first got to Siena and FINALLY found our hostel. I'm saying something like, "Um . . we're here to stay in the hostel . .?" Everyone thought that was really funny. What else was I supposed to say?
This next one is right after we got buzzed in. There was nothing but stairs. It's us thinking, "Does this hostel exist?"
Don't worry,it does and we found it.
I just got out of my Intro to Classic Photography class. We use black and white film and develop it and all that jazz. Today was the first day to learn to do prints. It was so much fun! The class was from 9-2:30, but I could have kept on going. I love this photography thing. You have this plain piece of paper, put it in some chemicals, and then out of nowhere a picture starts appearing on it! Its magical. And one of the prints I showed Neri, our professor, he said was "bellisima" (very pretty). The girl before was just "va bene" (good). Heh.
I went to Siena this weekend. Id show you some pictures, but Im not on my own computer (did you notice the absence of apostrophes?). It was a cute little Tuscan town built on a hill. We got a lot of exercise with all the walking up and down hills.
Also, my parents are in Florence now. I had dinner with them last night. It was good to see them and catch up and be with people who have known me all my life. You start to miss being with people who really know you, after awhile.
This morning I had a little field trip with my Renaissance Art in Florence class to the Medici Palace and Church of San Lorenzo. It was inredible, especially the church. So beautiful. I'm getting to see all this beauty that before I'd only read about in books and seen on slides during class. And in my reading for my Michelangelo class, I found out that he lived just a few blocks from where I live now. He's buried in the Santa Croce, a church near our apartment. Dontello is buried in the San Lorenzo, along with some Medici peeps. Egads people! This is real!
I'm going to Siena tomorrow. It's this beautiful little Tuscan town about an hour away. I've heard that it's beautiful. It's famous for a bareback horse race held in its big piazza, Il Campo, every summer. Fun fact: the next James Bond movie's opening scene was filmed during said race this past summer, with Mr. Bond watching the race. So I'll go see the movie when it comes out and get to say I've been there. That's pretty cool, I think.
Hm, I feel I should give you another picture.
Here's a guy kayaking down the Arno (the river that runs through Florence.)
I wish I was him. That would be so fun.
So for my European Lit class we just read this little book entitled The Tale of the Unkown Island. I loved it. Im going to read it to my children one day. Its a beautiful story. You should pick up a copy. Its really little.
By the way, the computer keyboards here are a little different. I still cant find the apostrophes. So you can know when Im not on my laptop by my lack of apostrophes.
I'm alive and back from Venice. It was beautiful! As long as you don't look too close at the dirty water, it's quite picturesque. Very romantic. The weather was gorgeous too. It's molto touristy though, which is to be expected.
A film festival was going on at Lido, one of the islands, and on Friday we saw an Estonian movie. I kept thinking, "How cool am I? I am in Venice, at an international film festival, watching an Estonian movie." It was good too, if super despressing. The movie was "a study in human isolation," according the synopsis. Not really a feel good movie, but like I said, good, and engrossing.
We also walked around, saw the sights, ate sea food (and I LIKED it). Good times abounded, and I took molto pictures. They're all up on facebook now. Sorry if you don't have facebook, you'll just have to wait.
And I'm tired of staring at this computer screen now. Later.
So I'm almost through with my first week of Florentine classes. All I have left is Michelangelo, Caravaggio, & Bernini this afternoon. I think I'm going to like most of my classes. My teachers all seem pretty cool, and after last night's Italian class, I even think that will be bearable. Jenny and I will persevere together.
This weekend I'm going to Venice; I don't remember if I've mentioned that. There's like, six or seven of us going. It's fun to have that many people, but then nothing gets done. No one wants to book the hostel or look up train tickets, and everyone expects someone else to do it. We'll see out this goes.
I don't feel like saying anything else so here's another picture:
It's me and two of my roommates having cappuccino our first morning here.
I just got out of my first Italian class. I always got As in Italian in the past, but this class is a new breed. For one, barely any English is spoken, and to make it worse--there are only two students. I can't sit quietly in the back and not be called in, I HAVE to participate in EVERYTHING. And I forget so much. Thankfully the other student in the class is my roommate and friend from Baylor, Jenny, and not some fluent speaker or anything. Jenny and I are pretty much on the same level, so that's good. I still don't feel very prepared for the class though. At least the teacher seems nice. Just sometimes, when she's staring at me, waiting for a reply, I just freeze and can't think of anything in Italian to say. And when I do, it's wrong. But it's ok, it's just the first class. I have to keep telling myself that.
I also had photography today. That class, I think, should be fun. It's five and a half hours long, but there's a break in the middle and a lot of it will be us out and about taking pictures, so it should be painless. And two of my roommates are in my class with me.
Surprisingly, I know people in every one of my classes. Either a roommate or a fellow Bear. There are a lot of us Bears here. Baylor is more represented than any other school. Out of the ten people in my photography class, four of them were from Baylor.
And then here are some pictures for you anxious readers out there. 
These are all of my roommates but me at a party thrown by the school last night.
And then here is all of us plus me and minus Vanessa and Anna eating dinner at our apartment a couple evenings ago. It was our first time to use the kitchen.
Here is the Arno River, which runs through the middle of Florence.
I'll leave you with that.
I am so overcome with excitment. I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Florence, Italy . . . and I LIVE here. I don't know what the time says, but in Italy its 11:30 am, and we're seven hours ahead of Texas, so you do the math. I got here yesterday afternoon. Last night I went out with my roommates and had pizza and wine and then crashed. We were all sooo tired. I woke up really early this morning though, at like six. We have nothing planned with the school today, so shopping is in order, there are molto saldi oggi (many sales today. I'm trying to impress you with my blossoming Italian.) Tomorrow orientation starts and then class starts Monday.
It still hasn't hit me I'm actually living here for the next 3 1/2 months. It's so surreal. We went to the Duomo this morning and it's absolutely gorgeous. Che bella! And I get to see it everyday.
I hate saying goodbye to people. It makes my stomach hurt. When I thought about going to Florence I thought of how wonderful it would be and all the experiences I would have and all the art I would learn about. I didn't think about all of the goodbyes. It's been harder saying goodbye for this than it was saying goodbye for college two years ago. I think that's because I've allowed myself to become closer to people than my high school self did. Not that I'm still not stoked about going to Italy, it just stings a little, and I didn't prepare myself for that.
But it's just three and a half months.
This time tomorrow I will be on a plane.
I'm back in Waco, just for the night.
This place has really become a home to me. This apartment with these girls. I'm already looking forward to coming back next semester. Sure it's still as messy as I left it last week--the fondue pot is still sitting on the table from last Friday night . . . with water and bits of chocolate in it, and empty boxes are everywhere, but these girls are wonderful, so it's ok. And I don't have to live here.
This time next week I will be in Firenze. AHHHHHHHH. Mama mia! Mozzarella! Meatball!
Really, I'll be more excited once I've finished packing.
So one of the guys who went with us to Kenya is making us an awesome video. Here are two teaser videos. The first is just like a preview, the second is from the safari.
It's weird to be back, but not really be back. Not bad weird, just weird. But more than that it's fun. It's fun to see everyone again and catch up. I'm in Wacko Waco for the next couple days, getting time in with my friends before I leave for four months (a week from Monday).
The apartamento is a mess, though. A MESS. I'm kinda glad I won't be here to have to help clean it up. Heh.
Ya see, when six people live together, a lot of times stuff just won't get done because everyone expects someone else to do it. That's why we have a chart denoting whose turn it is to take out the trash and recycling. And that's why the mistletoe is still up.
The last time we spoke I was 20 and a little over two weeks away from my departure for Italy. Today I am 21 and 1 1/2 weeks away from Florence. Times are a-changing.
I went to the dentist yesterday and the lady who cleaned my teeth had just come back from Italy. Both of her parents are from Sicily and when she found out I was spending the fall in Florence she got all excited and went on and on and on about Italy. What to do, what the weather will be like, what to wear, and placed much emphasis on wearing comfortable shoes. The TV in our room was tuned to KERA and was showing ariel views of Sicily. With a $100 donation, I could obtain a copy of a DVD of this 20 minute program about Sicily. The donation guy on the show said we should buy it and show it to young people to educate them about the world. Me and the dentist lady chuckled at this. I can watch the Travel channel for free. Free to me anyway, I don't pay for the Satellite TV
And she said my teeth were suprisingly clean considering I hadn't been to the dentist in two years. And the fact that I never floss. I didn't tell her that part. I never really have, but my dentist always says my teeth are really clean, so I don't really have the motivation to start now.
Also, last time we spoke I had not yet recieved my visa and was getting kind of concerned about it. It is now in my possession, thankfully. I'm actually going to Florence.
I think I've eaten enough chicken salad this past month to last me for a little while. Simplicitea's Tea Room has some wonderful chicken salad, and everyday after the lunch rush I usually sit down to a scoop of it with a bunch of Club crackers, and sometimes some fruit or a slice of quiche. Today was my last day working at the aforementioned Tea Room, and after that last meal of chicken salad, the thought of it now kind of makes me nauseous.
So yes, I am now no longer working as a waitress, and am really looking forward to sleeping in a lot these next two weeks.
So, people are usually a little shocked to hear that last year I shared an apartment with five other girls. But get this, in Italy, I'm going to be living in an apartment with 8 girls. There wll be nine of us in all (in case you needed help with the math). My own room will have three girls, including myself. I know the two girls though, they are from Baylor. I don't know them really well, but they seem to be agreeable.
I'm so flippin' excited. Two weeks people. I'm leaving in two weeks.
It's been a little over a week. I feel I should say something.
Being home is good, I'm glad I'm here. I like waitressing at the tea room (you should come visit me) and hanging out with oldie but goodie friends. This is the life, really.
My nose is doing well, thanks for asking. I got it pierced, in case you missed that. I have a new piece of metal lodged into my face, and I like it.
Last night I went to a wedding of a friend. She's a few years older than me, but it's still weird to know that my friends are getting married. I mean, they're my friends, not just distant relatives that are ten years older than me. Before you know it, my friends will be having kids, paying for college, retire. It's pretty much all down hill from here.
Just kidding.
Or am I?
No, I am. Marriage and stuff freaks me out, but I guess it will be ok. I mean, a long time from now. Long.
But in my more near future--I go to Italy in less than two months. Eeee! I got a big packet in the mail today from Study Abroad Italy, telling me all this stuff I have to do before I go and how to stay safe and what to bring and where to buy my textbooks and what the weather will be like and blah blah blah. I'm tired of thinking about it and getting information about it. I just want to go.
So I got my hair cut today. I haven't paid someone to cut my hair since November of 2005. I've cut it myself a couple times, rarely ever brush it, and one time, it caught on fire. The woman at Regis said I was crazy.
Well, now my hair is healthy, soft, and a couple inches shorter. Even though it is only a couple inches, I still hurts my heart a little. I guess I've grown attached to my long hair. She styled it also; it's all curly, like goldie locks curly.
And that's that.
So,
At the begining of this summer, aside from my two week adventure in Kenya, I decided to pass the season in Waco, taking classes and working at Camille's. At the endish of June, niether the idea of living in my apartment sans my roommates for the month of July nor continuing to work at Camille's seemed appealing to me any longer (that sentence was kind of awkward, but we're going with it). So I dropped my session 2 classes at Baylor, applied to TCC, and gave Camille's my two weeks notice. Last night, I registered for a class at TCC and this morning I paid for it. A couple hours later, I dropped the class at TCC and took a job at the tea room where my mom plays piano. I'll be serving food, making tea--earning some extra cash before my adventures in Europe.
I used to think I was the type of person who liked well thought-out plans, who found spontaneous-ness uncomfortable. I don't know about that anymore. I've been trusting my instincts more of late, and I'm feeling pretty good about it.
Oh yeah, and then there's the nose piercing.
I got a flippin' B in my Brit Lit class. That's bogus. B is for Bogus. Blasphemy. Bleh. In my head, I'm thinking, "Laura, it's just a letter. Life is much bigger than that." But my heart is thinking, "Bogus. Blasphemy. Bleh."
And it's July. That part is ok.
I just had a pleasant walk home from class/lunch. Sometime in between getting out of class and eating lunch it started to pour down rain. I had ridden my bike to class, but brought my umbrella along in case this happened. So I left my bike locked up in front Carrol Science and started to walk back to my apartment. Actually, it wasn't pouring, just regular raining, until I got to about Moody Library. Then it really started coming down. I pulled my umbrella down as close to my head as I could manage; I'm wearing a light blue tshirt and realized how transperant it would be when wet. I gave up on trying to keep my pants dry, and they were sloshing around my ankles. By the time I got to the SLC, I had almost fallen a couple times because my sandals were slippery, and so I just decided to take them off. At first I thought, "People are going to think I'm weird--walking around without shoes. They're going to think I'm hippie, or worse, that I'm trying to be a hippie." But then I thought, "So?" and did it anyway (more on that later). So I walked the rest of the way shoeless, not even trying to avoid the big puddles anymore. Fifteen minutes after I started, I got back to my apartment. My pants were drenched to about my thigh, and so I changed into dry capris and here I am.
It's was a nice walk.
Yesterday I read an article in The Oprah Magazine called "The Cure for Self-Conscious: It's one word--one little word--but it has revelatory power." Obviously this intrigued me. Aren't you intriqued? Wanna know the word? Don't you want to be freed from self-consciousnees? Empowered to follow your instincts and not care what people think? It's something "so lucid, so mind expanding, so simultaneously Socratic and Zenlike, that I was mesmorized on the spot."
So?
That's it.
So?
"If I say what I really think, people might disagree with me."
So?
"If I go out to eat lunch by myself I might look like a loser."
So?
"If I can't run on the treadmill as long as the person next to me, they are going to think I'm out of shape and think they are better than me."
So?
"If I go talk to that cute boy I don't know, he might think I'm weird."
So?
"If my house is slightly messy when I have people over, they're going to realize that I'm not perfect, that I am slightly human and slightly busy."
So?
"If I walk home in the rain holding my shoes in my hand rather than wearing them on my feet, people might think I'm a hippie, or worse, that I'm trying to be a hippie."
So?
There. Now you're freed.
While I'm being all empower-y, let me share with you this quote I ran across.
You should paint that on a piece of wood all prettily. I bet it'd sell.
