End of the first block...

So I know I haven't posted anything on here in a long time, whatever, I doubt anyone reads it anyway. So big summary, I spend a lot of time (90% of waking hours) studying with minimal results. However, I did pass my first block of exams. A block is like a semester within a semester. It's the first 4 exams of our med school class.

There are some pretty awesome people in my class, I've become acquainted with quite a few of them, but not quite all, there are a lot. We've pretty much covered everything in the upper body that is not the head or neck in anatomy and then a lot of biochemistry that sucks, lots of tissues in histology and even a little pharmacology there at the end... It was hard and I did excel at much but I enjoyed the material a lot (except biochemistry, it stalks me in my sleep).

We also do other classes like how to be a professional, how to be ethical, and a practice clinical skills class. Those are enjoyable. In the professional class, we were asked if we blogged, I raised my hand, hesitantly, I don't know if 2 times in 6 months really counts. ;) Anyway, she was basically just doing her best to make sure we weren't breaking any rules or anything with our blogs, I wanted to tell her, you're welcome to read mine... it's SUPER boring though, just to give you a heads up. So yeah, there's that...

I'm getting ready for my test on Friday and hoping to do better on this block. Fingers crossed and prayers welcome. :)

You people who DO actually read this should leave comments... I don't even care what they are. Ask me questions, tell me something about you...

anyway, here are some pictures I've taken since I've posted last...By the way, I'm LOVING the cool weather, thanks Fall!! Oh, and it was my birthday a few weeks ago, 24 whoop-whoop!

Medical School

So three weeks ago I started this thing called medical school. It's hard, there are not fixed schedules, there are a lot of reading assignments, they make you dress up all fancy once in a while, and they take away your social life.... but it is interesting to learn the material we are learning. (well right now a lot of it is just review in super-uber detail)

The classes are from 1-2 hours long each and start at 9am/10am/or 11am Monday-Friday and finish at either 3pm or 5pm depending on how many lectures we have... and how the professors' schedules work best. [this makes sticking to a routine work-out schedule very difficult]

Any way, we have the largest class the med school has ever seen, 200 people. 120 at this campus and 80 about 2 hours away where we basically broadcast the lectures via technology.

There's a lot of technology going on here, the brand new campus and all, it gets kind of frustrating some times. We now have 3 different email addresses, 3 different IDs to get into different places on campus, and we use lots of different web sites daily in class to quiz or for lab and it all gets really confusing really fast, but I think, maybe, after 3 weeks I've figured most of it out. Maybe.



Right now we're studying for our first exam, I don't expect to do well, there's more than tons of info on this test and I just can't absorb all of it... I hope and pray I do well, but only time will tell. We have anatomy (from our thoracic lab dissections), histology (study of tissues; skin, nervous, connective), and "molecular medicine" which is biochemistry... my least favorite. The material is hard and the professors don't make going to lectures any easier, they're making a boring subject even worse.

I think it's apparent that this blog will no longer follow my exploits in Italy, but medical school, and anything else I want to add. Thanks and gig 'em.

So that's about all I have... here's a fun picture of my new puppy, Buddy, that my sister found on the side of the road and gave to me when I got back from Italy. (By the way, I miss it like crazy, the food, the friends, the fun, free time)

The Masks and the Gasps

Marzo 2011

So it's been a while and I've been requested to put another blog up... ok Mom. ;)

So at the end of February I went to Venezia with 4 friends and we celebrated Carnevale right! (like mardi gras, but for the rest of the world) Venice is the place where Carnevale happens... THE place. Venezia is known for it's amazing canals, gondolas and Carnevale! I didn't feel like spending 20 euro to ride a boat... so I saw the other sites in Venice instead. We all bought fancy Carnevale masks for the occasion, but we were WAY underdressed in comparison with some of the people who went ALL THE WAY! The costumes were AMAZING!!! Not everyone was dressed up, but you could tell everyone wanted to be dressed up... this is like a BIG Halloween party (for all the American readers) where if you don't come in a costume, YOU'RE the one who feels strange. I decided next time I go for Carnevale, I will go FULL ON!!!!! :)

However, aside from the throngs upon throngs of people in Piazza San Marco (which is it's own beauty), Venezia truly is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I think partly because you can walk from one end of the island to the other (our journey to our hostel with our luggage at midnight when we arrived) in one hour. There are no cars or motor vehicles of any kind on the island, just boats, gondolas and bikes. It's a very tranquill city. (At least I'm sure it is when it's not full of people flocking there from around the world for 2 weeks for Carnevale) All in all, I had an amazing time...

One of my friends and I went to Burano (known for making lace on the island and having very colourful island houses) and Murano, (known for it's glass making) each about a 30 minute boat ride from Venezia. (6 euro, not 20)

I was also able to go see Pompei and the Amalfi coast over the past month... I've been busy. Pompei was amazing! It was HUGE, I spent 3 hours walking around in the sun taking pictures, playing with dogs (there's a lot of stray dogs there that are vaccinated by the city and you can adopt one and visit Pompei for free for one day! They're so lazy, just sleeping in the sun all day... ;) The city was really interesting, after Vesuvio erupted during the night, all the ash that fell covered everything so quickly there were still people sleeping or huddled together in fear. After the ash hardened, when scientists were escavating the city, they filled some of the cavities where bodies had decayed with a plaster mix thus forming a hard form in the shape that had solidified around a former occupant during death's claim. It was a beautiful city filled with history and really cool.

I recently went to the Amalfi Coast (I know Buddy and Lizzy, I was supposed to buy you guys some things there, but Buddy, I don't have your list yet and Lizzy, my friend said we could get the same stuff near Napoli for cheaper than there at Amalfi and Sorrento so... promise) The towns along this long, crazy, winding road were beautiful and the Mediterranea was the bluest water I've ever seen and crystal clear... I wanted to swim, but I was told it was still cold, so, meh, next time. :) There was also a BEAUTIFUL Villa just past Amalfi called Villa Rufolo that was like a fairy tale castle (a small one). Ivy on the walls, beautiful gardens and flowers, on the seaside cliffs over looking the sea and the village/town... so amazing...

The pictures don't do this amazing place justice, but the way there's a perfect harmony of mountains and the sea together is beautiful and makes you want to drop everything and stay there forever... lucky for me I've got a life line to pull me back to reality in August.

There are more pictures soon to be on facebook with all the good ones... these are just some of the pictures that I felt painted the portrait of my adventures the best.

I haven't heard anything from the Navy yet, for those of you keeping track of that, should be sometime in the end of March or beginning of April, I promise to keep you updated.

I miss you guys and hope you're all doing super-fantastic!!

<3 from Italia

Give or take a Month or Two...

February 14, 2011

So yeah, I know, I haven't written in a long time... it's ok, I'm still alive, however, I felt that forcing myself to write all this was taking a bit away from me experiencing it and no one wants that... well maybe my mom (just kidding).

So I have made some new friends (thanks to the awesome new facebook group that I never used and now only use when someone tells me to...) and some of my friends have departed Roma deciding that one year was a long time and the work was not what they expected or the families were not who they expected them to be. I'm lucky, I've got it easy, and I love it all... I'll be sticking it out... (sorry Dad ;).

I've been having lots of fun visiting other cities... saw Napoli when I went there for an interview for a Naval Scholarship, actually the city was Aversa, but I saw Napoli first... I made some friends in Napoli who showed me around and introduced me to their city (very friendly). We talked, ate, danced and watched movies and stuff... cool people. I went to the Royal Palace in Caserta which has a huge/beautiful park, a-freakin'-mazing!

Next week I have the week off and I'm planning on see other cities in the south... Bari and Lecche, just to name a couple, then I'm heading up to Venezia for Carnevale... I'm not sure what to bring... but I'm excited. I'm going with a bunch of girls I haven't talked to in a while because my class schedule changed but I'm sure we'll all have fun... I just don't want to be stuck playing protective male friend the whole time... that would be lame. You know how it goes...

Well I did do some videos in my "absence" and was going to meld them all together into one cool videoblog with music in the background and fancy-schmanzy stuff, but my computer's memory is running low and I couldn't use the right file types... all in all, too much effort, so you get the lame, raw product. Deal with it.

Thanks to you guys who have been sticking with me and checking my blog for updates... don't expect too many... but I will be here once in a while. :) Peace, love, rock & roll!

Trevi fountain with friends.

Walk-Running to the nearest bathroom.

S. Pietro Cuppola.

Best view in Roma.

S. Pietro altar.

Nativity in S. Pietro.

Hanging out at the Spanish Steps.

Reggia di Caserta.

Fontana di Eolo at Caserta.

Also for those of you who haven't noticed... I have new pictures up on FaceBook. :)

A Very Texas Christmas

Dicembre 15-27

So, I got a new camera for making video-blogs (vlogs) and the newest post covers most of these days... I ended up missing some things so I'll cover them here... but this should make the blogs MUCH easier to do and to follow... hopefully.

Dicembre 17, 2010

So on the Friday before I left, there was SNOW!!!!!! WHOOP!!! About a half inch maybe... it was beautiful. Nic and Lavi had their Winterfair which was just booths and fun things that they were selling and food and games... all the money was to go to charity... very cool and a lot of fun. I thought Nic's winter play was today, turns out, it was the following Tuesday, when I was not there. Dang.

Dicembre 27, 2010

Today we watched "The Expendables". It was pretty good, nothing spectacular but worth the watch. Then we went to the ranch to get ready to work cattle tomorrow. (Yes, I'm from Texas and have cattle... does everyone from Texas have cattle, no. I just happen to.) So Mom, Dad, Sis, and I all moved fence and chutes old school Egytian slave style, moving the heavy objects on rolling pipes... I felt like an engineering student trying to figure out the most effective way to move the chute, it sucked. I will take my anatomy classes or bio classes any day. ;) Tomorrow we spend a lot of time at the ranch, working cattle, then going hunting. There may be some rain... we'll see.

Well...Here's the link, let's hope it works.

Bombs and Baby Jesus

Dicembre 14/15, 2010

Dicembre 14, 2010

Today I "cleaned" my room a bit. I didn't do a full on 'Lela Haus' clean, because I'll have to do that later before I leave, but a good clean. Then I went to Piazza di Spagna to meet everyone for coffee. I was on time, barely after having to get off the bus because they said they were told they couldn't drive into the center. I waited 10 minutes, then found Jelco, then slowly, after an hour, everyone else showed up. Apparently, everyone else had the same trouble with their buses.

We went to au pair central for coffee, aka McD's, and I tried a "special" cafe'... it turned out to be like a caffe flavoured hot pudding with cream on top. Not a fan. I met a friend of Femke's that is also from Finland and she actually works about 3 blocks away from me! We then walked to "Little Big Town", a toy store near Piazza Venezia to find out the whole Piazza was surrounded by police in riot suits. Someone mentioned it was voting day, when Parliament decides if the current Prime Minister would remain in office, Berlusconi. As we were walking to the store we heard some strange bangs from a distance... it turns out there were riots earlier in the day and explosions in Piazza del Popolo. Raffa later told me this. The explosions were 'paper bombs'. I don't know what they are but there apparently were 90 through out the day, so that's what I think we were hearing... I haven't heard of anyone being hurt but it is a frightening concept. Berlusconi narrowly won the vote and will remain the prime minister.

A happier note... in the toy store, we found some fun things... I wanted to buy two teddy bears... both bigger than a VW Beetle, 2900 euro each. I took pictures with them. :)

Dicembre 15, 2010

Today I woke up and was planning on meeting Jelco at Piazza Navonna... I wanted to buy pieces for a presepe of my own. They were all so interesting, there were probably about 10 vendors selling the pieces and I found a set that I liked and bought some... I did my best to limit myself and not buy too much. I knew I wanted baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the 3 Magi, and an angel. This way when I come back I can have something to buy... an on going collection. ;) But I also want to make some of the pieces... all hand made, but not all Italian hand made. Then I went and had a great lunch where the pasta, secondo, tiramisu', and water all cost less than 25 euro, AND it was really good. I met the owners of the restaurant and they were really nice, I decided to buy a bottle of their wine. (I should stop buying things... I still have to get it all in a bag)

When I got home, I watch Nonna Jo help Lavi and Nic with their Italian homework, I learned about superlativo definitivi aggettivi... it is when an adjective describes something to it's maximum. If some thing is the slimiest, crunchiest, tallest, nicest, most elegant...etc. I used this knowledge when Nonna Jo made sausage cannelloni and fritatta tripa (super yummy omlet more or less)... I love eating here... freakin' awesome!!!!!

I then started getting some of my stuff together for my trip on Sunday. I was right, I have a lot of stuff... Dang. I am squishing everything down without trying to break anything... there are some fragile things... but I'm doing my best to protect everything. :)

Ok... caught up. Whoop!

OH!!!!!!! AND ONE OF MY BESTEST FRIENDS BECAME A UNITED STATES CITIZEN TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS Jesús Alejandro Pérez Rementería!!!

I'm Too Sexy... (future tense)

Dicembre 13, 2010

I found a gym about 5 buildings away. For 6 months (Jan-July) it will cost 51.20 euro per month. I will begin in January. I am excited. I will be turning heads like never before. (or at least not running in the rain anymore :)

I spent all of today catching up on blogs and watching TV online... and for lunch I had the salad with tuna at the little bar down the street. Very good. :)

On occasion I suffer from orthostatic hypotenion... and I'm not alone. It plagues everyone from time to time. :)

Hard Rock

Dicembre 10-12

Dicembre 10, 2010

The big thing today was that I went to go see Rock the Ballet. Was I all alone surrounded by couples and families? Yes. Did that the experience in general any less enjoyable? NO!!! IT WAS AMAZING! 6 guys and a girl and a lot of good music. The first half was a kind of love story, but the second half was just all Queen and Michael Jackson music. Very entertaining. Afterwards I went to get pizza Napolitana in Trastevere. A filet of bacala' and sausage and cheese pizza. Very, VERY good!

Dicembre 11, 2010

I went to the center and shopped around a bit. I bought a new jacket for the weather... it's colder than I thought it would be, but no snow, dang. I bought Mom's Christmas present finally. Then went to dinner at Di Fronte a... with Jelco, Femka, and Gemma. Pizza Diavola= delicious/spicey! We drove to the center in Femka's car and had fun trying to find a parking spot (think the opposite of fun). Finally, we found a spot but we were not sure if we could park there or not, so we (Jelco and I) asked an officer writing tickets if we could park were we left the car. He said that we could, one cross bar sign (where we parked) is ok, but two (where he was writing tickets) was not. He also said it didn't matter because this was going to be his last street to check. ;) SCORE! Eventually we met everyone for drinks at the Drunken Ship, we had a fun night. I kept getting paid cash to buy drinks with my discounts! :) We watched some fashioned challenged Russian guys dance out of control (OOC) and we were pretty sure two were brothers. They were crazy and fun. Then we wandered around a bit (one of us, not me had too much to drink) and she kept us from going to the club afterwards. So we drove her home, 12 km outside Roma. The car ride was not much fun... Motion sickness in Roman traffic/streets is inevitable in a hot car with stop/go motions. Got back and went to bed, glad to be on firm ground ;)

Good news is there was not vomit of ANY kind on my new jacket.

Dicembre 12, 2010

Stayed at the house most of the morning and some in the afternoon watching online tv... then went and watched "Tangled/Rapunzel" in Italian. I figured I could handle it since it was probably written for 7 year olds. I understood all of it, not every single word, but all the ideas. Then I went and ate at a fancy restaurant called "I Carnivori" The antipasta, prosciutto e mozzerella buffala was AMAZING! Appartently, the owners make their own wine... maybe I'll have some another time.

La Festa Dell'Immacolata Concezione

Dicembre 7-9, 2010

Dicembre 7, 2010

I went to class this morning, it was just Barbara and I... we did verbs and words in the kitchen to help prepare us for the party at school where we had to bring a dish from out home country. After class Erica, Gemma, Axelle, and I went grocery shopping for our foods. They were making Rice Krispies(US), scones(ENG), and crepes(FRA) respectively. I then returned home to start cake #2 it turned out a little over done, and not enough sugar, but next time I GOT it. Good news is the applesauce works. My pasta carbonara tonight was wicked awesome ;)

Dicembre 8, 2010

La festa dell'immacolata concezione is to celebrate the (phonetic clues) immaculate conception of the Holy Mother.

I took the bus to get some applesauce (I didn't buy them all at the same time yesterday, dumb) I finally finished the cake (and watched the Christmas GLEE while it baked) then attempted the arduous journey to school with a cake that was not quite finished cooling. I got on the bus and had never seen it this croweded! One guy accidently dropped the people's elbow on it and one lady refused to give me ANY room for the cake and kept bumping it, so I held it above her tiny head and taunted her with the possibility of me dropping a 7lb/3.5kg cake on her head. Finally I made it to the party... 45 minutes late.

There was SO much food there! I tasted food from: ENGLAND, THAILAND, AUSTRIA, FRANCE, GERMANY, ITALY, BRAZIL, AUSTRAILIA, BELGIUM, and USA. There were probably more, I just don't remember all of them. The final cake turned out great! It was one of the MANY things I ate. After consuming WAY too much food, I went back to the flat and slept for about 2 hours. Afterwards, I did some Christmas decorating, hung out with some friends, and had a good holiday in general. I've decided the presepe is my favorite Italian Christmas decoration. It's like a nativity, but on a completely different scale. They're HUGE! Most people set aside a small table for the whole city of Bethlehem. Mountains. Streams. Everything.

Dicembre 9, 2010

At school today we got to eat some of Camilla's cake she had left from the party, and we talked about how we could stay caught up with our Italian over the break. We then covered some more cooking terms and did about 10 minutes of reflexive verbs...

Barbara, Gemma, Erica, and I went for coffee after class then a couple of us did some Christmas shopping afterwards.

[i've decided that the primary difference between men and women shopping is that women like to look at things and buy them. Men, on the other hand, generally already have something in mind that they want to buy and just do more 'purchasing' not so much shopping. However, I enjoy 'shopping' more because it's just time to hang out with friends walking around and talking; it does however, get tedious when the conversation never changes from the clothes or the same thing that is being perused... I just like the socialization tied with the 'shopping' while it is my belief that more women actually like to find new places to spend their money. ;) I did my best to express my thoughts without sounding stereotypical/sexist ;]

Then when I got home we did MORE about Ben Franklin...

MMmmmm... Delicious...

Dicembre 4-6, 2010

Dicembre 4, 2010

This morning I ran in Villa Borghese for an hour, then met some friends who are leaving for good at the end of the year and NOW they've decided that want to see Roma... We did some shopping at the San Giovanni market...(I found a leather jacket that looks like Wolverine's from X-Men, but way sexier, since it was on me, I talked the woman down 50 euro, but I didn't buy it, if it's there in January, maybe. We'll see.)

Then we went and had a coffee at a cafe' above COIN. Two of the girls got some white hot chocolate that was apparently "sour" and I talked to the barista and got them refunds and another drink... by the way, "sour" doesn't translate into Italian in regards to something that has gone bad, it's just 'bad'. ;)

Then we went to the countryside to see some catacombs (218 infront of San Giovanni). We went into a REALLY beautiful church and saw some fantastic villas, then after we'd finished our adventures at the catacombs (really just like the one's here in town, but the walk to them was more spectacular) we went into the large, San Giovanni cathedral.

Afterwards, on my way home, I ran into Giorgio and we went out to get the shopping stuff done for the week. Afterwards, I went out and met with Jelco, Nora, and Erica and we went out for some drinks, I met two of their friends... but didn't ever talk to them since they ran off talking to some random guys... but we ended up leaving having a good night. I got a free drink at the Drunken Ship and got discounts for the girls with my student ID. :) Awesome!

Dicembre 5, 2010

I ate really well today and if I ever kept a food journal of all the great food I ate here... this food would be included:

-Mezzi rigatoni with homemade ragu' (sugo/carne)
-Pasta rustica, with zucchini and prosciutto
-(a new favorite candy) layered milk/white chocolate bites
-Insalata russa
-HOMEMADE 4 cheese gnocchi!!!

(still haven't had any food I didn't like)

Dicembre 6, 2010

Nic had his friend Ricard over. We played them against me, where I cornered them in a room and scared them... then we broke a loose door handle and I fixed it (I know; I cook, I clean, I fix things, I'm great with kids, I'm smart, and I'm not hard on the eyes... lucky, I know. ;) They ended up making a HUGE mess in Nic's room that I had to help clean up... oh boys... Then I went out and danced some... tada!

Beautiful Candlelit Dinner

Dicembre 1-3, 2010

Dicembre 1, 2010

I seriously opened the computer and caught up on blogs today... (then as you can tell by this posting date, I got a little lax again) I started my Christmas calendar opening it and finding a small square of chocolate with a poinsetta or stella di natale.

Dicembre 2, 2010

This morning I woke up to no power... There apparently had been a wire short under the street and it resulted in no electricity in our building.

It turns out I didn't do as spectacularly on my test as I'd hoped, most of it was stupid mistakes I didn't go back and re-read. meh. It's not for a grade or anything, just to see where you stand. I'm still confident I knew the material, I was just rushing...

When I got home, Nic and I had fun trying to re-research Ben Franklin without electricity, ironic, right?(his teacher kept his last report with all the info, and now we were supposed to make a timeline) After we finished, we had a nice, beautiful romantic dinner by candle light... 10 candles in 2 candelabras make a lot of light.

It was also the greatest woman in the world's birthday today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!! :) I was fortunate and got to call her and talk to her and dad for a bit after hanging out with Erica, Nora, Jelco, and Axelle in the center. We went and saw some Christmas decorations at Piazza Navonna. Really neat.

Dicembre 3, 2010

FRIDAY!!!! Went to class for a series of games and "get to know you" activities this morning... I thought it was a performance that the advanced class had been working on. Turns out, they were just games... Barbara, Camilla, and I were the only ones there NOT in the advanced class, but I think we did pretty well... there were games to meet people and remember names, and things like that... but the hardest was the last game. We were in a circle and we had to go one after another making up parts of one big story... REALLY forcing you to listen, comprehend, then speak. I liked Camilla's take on the game... she just killed the princess to make things easier. ;) We did some fun "acting" scenes... make a series of yes's and no's make sense with body language... do stupid movements until you get close to a previously assigned (unknown) group movement...Turns out the performance will begin in January and we're supposed to say if we would be interested in participating... I think I may, I'll look at the text over the holidays and see...

Mattis came over and we played soldiers while Nic was at tennis... I taught him the beauty of a suicide kill... (kill yourself and your opponent just for the sake of prohibiting your opponent the joy of the kill. that was for all my smash bro. friends... ;) Then we watched HP 4, I did my best to not quote it too much...

Cakes and Lights

Novembre 29/30, 2010

Novembre 29, 2010

I went to the supermercato today and bought the necessary ingredients for my "Apple Cake". I did all the prep work and conversions, then baked it right before the kids got home from school. It turned out "OK". I wouldn't call it a success because it was a bit too 'oily' and a bit too 'sweet'... I can't call it a success until it has arrived at least close to the delectable perfection that I know it can be. The kids seemed to like it, but they'll like the next one even more. I then finished some homework then some 'skype-time'... just a chilled day. (note to self: give the cake at least 30 minutes to cool before trying to remove it from the bunt pan to avoid crumbling.)

Novembre 30, 2010

This morning I headed to school and we had a test over what we'd coved so far. There was 75% attendance, 3. All in all, the test was pretty easy. I'm hoping that after we all score fantastically on it, our teacher will get a little "harder" with the material. (not harder exactly, more like, let us go further, as of right now, I think we'll stop after we get to future tense, but there's so much more...)

After class, two of the girls and I walked to McDonalds to meet some peoples... we had an Au Pair party at McD's. (I swear I NEVER eat at McD's this much state side, I guess it is just more popular here or something, I don't know, it's cheap, I think that's why au pairs are drawn to it.)

Then, since there was strike on the Metro, Erica and I went to wait for the busses on via Tritone. After I got home we did homework and had dinner. Raffa bought me a calendario di festivale, a calendar to count down the days until Christmas, each day I open a little tab and eat a small chocolate. :) She said it's for kids, but I love it...

I went to go take some pictures of some Christmas decorations. There were some, but I can tell there's more to come. There was A big tree in piazza venezia, but it's not quite finished yet. Soon, I'll have more pictures. It was raining while I was taking pictures, but I stayed dry/warm enough. I went to Fontana di Trevi and at one point while I was there, there were literally 5 people in the Piazza...beautiful. :)

sometimes not being in a crowd is nice. ;)

Jason Statham

Novembre 27/28, 2010

Novembre 27, 2010

This weekend since I was planning on going to Napoli then that got cancelled, I didn't really have any big plans set up...

Saturday Morning I took a passaggiata around the city, saw some nice clothes, almost bought a "fashionable" jacket (puffy, tan, fur-lined hood) just so I'd look more Roman, and warm... but ended up letting it go. ;)

I ate some GREAT tiramisu' in the southeast side of town, near Furio Camillo. Apparently a VERY popular place. Very crowded, but big, so there was room for everyone. Ate some sausage and potatoes for dinner. Mmmmm. I met some friends after dinner and one of them said I looked like someone famous only with a beard, but they couldn't remember the person's name. They said the head bad guy in the movie "Cellular". I'd actually just seen part of it on TV the night before and it happened to be a scene with the head bad guy. Jason Statham. ;) I asked if they'd seen "The Italian Job", they said no, but they had wanted to. I took the compliment anyway. ;)

Novembre 28, 2010

This morning I met Aneta at Pza. del Popolo and we went to Porta Portese, a HUGE street market near Trastevere. It was awesome. Everything was there from cheap junk to really nice clothing and shoes. I bought a couple of things, one being an umbrello for 2 euro because it was raining, yet again... this week looks like it will be week 3 of straight rain. At least once everyday for 3 weeks. So much stinking water. Troppa pioggia.

Afterwards, I went to a friend of a friend's birthday party... I thought it was going to be a small get together with a small group at the pizzeria... we were supposed to be there at 20.00. We got there at 20.15 and it was a small group of people... then more people came... Eventually there were from 35-40 people there and we ACTUALLY started eating about 21.30. There were four courses (riso, pasta, carne con verdura, torta di frutta)... very good! It was just after 00.00 when we finally finished wishing happy birthdays and opening gifts and everything... I had loads of fun even though the entire group spoke Italian, I got bits and pieces here and there. I got a ride home on a motorino since the metro had stopped running. They're pretty fun.

All in all a fun weekend!

Celestina

Novembre 26, 2010

The Big Bang Theory. Such a great way to start your day. :)
(GLEE, Modern Family, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory) Some of the main ways to pass down time... while Nic's at tennis or catechism. :)

So this morning the plan was to go and have the hard copy of my letter of intent for medical school printed saying I would like my seat back when I return, then have it sent to the Texas A&M Health Science Center. I couldn't print it here because the room where the printer normally is is being repainted and so all of the stuff has been removed from it... so I went to the library and they told me they don't do prints there, but there was a print shop around the corner. So I printed one page for 20cents... dang. Then I learned a few words, busta, francobollo, spendire... (envelope, stamp, send) So as I was feeling a little crunched for time since I promised I'd send it today... and the shops were about to close (because all shops besides eating establishments close from approximately 13.00-15.00) I was in a bit of a rush... I got the francobollo, busta, and indirizzo all together just in-time before the tabacchi closed. Mission accomplished!

Then I went to a popular restaurant that had been closed but was reopened by Raffa's cousin... Celestina. It is on via Parioli, near the bottom of the hill. It's a very cute restaurant, not too expensive, delicious! I ordered the Zuppa di cecci and small tiramisu'... So good. Also a bit of bread to go with the soup. Mmmm. I highly recommend anyone go if you're in the neighborhood. ;) Later that night we watched Nanny McPhee... not bad...

HD 883

Blessed

Novembre 25, 2010

Today is Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I miss you all and count you ALL in my blessings! I would just like to say thanks God for SOOOOOO many blessings and opportunities.

-Eternal life, everlasting love...
-the BEST family a guy could ever ask for
-friends that don't give up on you
-LOVE; in all it's shapes/sizes/colours/degrees
-Recognizing differences to appreciate commonalities
-All flavours of beauty
-Fortunate opportunities and blessings...all of them, even the ones I don't recognize...
-LIFE
-Understanding
-Health
-Food/Water/Shelter...

This list could go on forever... but I'd just like to say thanks. Thanks for all of it. Said and unsaid.

A Rocky Start

Novembre 22/23/24, 2010

Novembre 22, 2010

This morning Jelco, Nora, and I went for a run in Villa Ada after Jelco dropped off his kids and picked up Nora... it was raining... a lot. I ran in a red pancho provided by Vodafone. I was still soaked... but not so much as the other two. :) We did a quick trip around my "2-mile" loop. There were giant puddles everywhere and ALL shoes were soaked by the end. It was kind of miserable, but enjoyable at the same time. When we finished, not five minutes later, God revealed skies of the most beautiful blue waiting patiently behind the clouds. It was like God was testing our determination to run, then after we finished He said, "Good job, ok, have a great day!" :) Thanks God! ;) [again: warm showers are amazing after cold rain soaks you to the bone!]

After my marvelous shower, I took a blanket and wrapped myself up on my bed to do my italian homework. I'd decided that if I want to learn this language I should put just as much effort into it as any other subject I want to learn. Now I will spend at LEAST 3 hours every day practicing my Italian, either watching Italian TV, reading Italian books or magazines, doing Italian homework, or just speaking Italian to people. 3 hours a day really isn't hard, but it forces me make a more decisive effort. After I finished my homework, I began a children's book of Nic's "Buona Nanna Piccolo Orsetto"... A lazy but enjoy morning. Warm and cozy.


Novembre 23, 2010

This morning I went to class and it was raining REALLY hard when I woke up, but it wasn't bad by the time I left. At my Italian lesson, it was just Prescilla and I, one of the French girls. (the cream of the crop ;) It was like a private lesson for an hour and a half. We talked about lots of stuff... politics, travelling, vacations, etc... Unfortunately, the trip to Napoli this weekend got cancelled because the Camorra (mafia in Napoli) has been making trouble with the trash collection and now there's huge messes of trash everywhere all over the streets... I'll have to take a trip there myself sometime if I can't go with the class. They said that we'd try and take another trip somewhere soon. Nonna Jo said I should go to Firenze. I told her I'd been, but I liked it so much, I think I will go back, and it won't cost but maybe 50 euro for the entire day trip (train to/from, food, souveniers, etc).

After class I went back to the casa and slept until work time. ;) I love sleeping... it's one of my favorite past times...
you know, with the amount of time I spend breathing, if practice makes perfect, I should be able to breathe perfectly after approximately 202,800 hours of breathing (not taking into account time spent holding my breath for various reasons)... but I still can't breathe perfectly... There always seems to be SOME sort of obstruction...
Anywho... after catechism class... (eventually we're going to research Benjamin Franklin, when he doesn't have other homework) we ate and then watched TV...


Novembre 24, 2010

Today I woke up and had a vocabulary lesson after breakfast with Giorgio... coperchio (lid), tapetto (cap), panca (bench seat), cassa panca (storage bench), tovagliolo (napkin), tovaglia (tablecloth)... then after breakfast, I went to my room and looked at other vocab words from class... clothes, things in a house, parts of the body, etc... all good review...

Then I went to Coin, and had lunch, then shopped for some Christmas presents... I think I found 1 or 2... bellisimi! Then returned... helped the kids with some homework (Lavi stayed home from tennis because she hurt her spalla (shoulder) at school, we did spelling [my favorite]) For dinner I had too much liver, while being a healthy meat choice it is WAY too high in sodium (92% in ~100 grams) I'm guessing I had 200g... fail my stomach didn't feel so great after that. It's probably not a good idea for someone who doesn't eat much sodium to all of a sudden eat TONS of it... duly noted.

Nic and I talked a lot about the Texas A&M Singing Cadets today because I let him check my Italian homework for me... ;) I figured it was only fair since I check his.

until next time "Dream on, dream on, dream on, dream until your dreams come true!"

A Magical Weekend...

Novembre 20/21, 2010

Novembre 20, 2010

This morning I went to run with Jelco... He had agreed to go with me, we just had some difficulties finding a good place to meet... we ended up deciding on Piazza del Popolo, then running to Villa Borghese. It was sprinkling when I got there (in my shorts, trainers, tshirt) and we decided to lock up his bike, then head for the run. We ran one of the routes I'd taken before, around a little corner of the park, then over to the Spanish Steps, down them, then back up... dodging people as we ran... then a quick sprint up the top of the hill, to finish the first half before taking a nice turn around the lake for the second... after we finished, sufficiently run down... we sat under a tree as it began to pour. Apparently, we looked like we knew where things were, we had at least 4 groups of people ask where something in the park was. (One group was from Texas University... I almost wanted to give them bad directions, but that would be mean. I'm not mean.) So I ran back to the bus stop that was closest and was completely soaked, cold as ice, and waiting for a bus. Luckily there was a small awning I could stand under, and the bus was fairly quick in coming (not a trend that would last the night). A warm shower hasn't felt so good in SO long.

After the run, I stayed at the house for a while instead of going to a museum to listen to music... too much rain. I met Jelco and the girls at Pza del Popolo and we all headed to the futbol match. Udinese v. AS Roma... our seats were on the "corner" of the oval stadium and we had a great view of everything. I don't think I'm ready for the 'cheap' seats, there's a lot of screaming and waving and clapping, which I'd be fine with if I knew what they were screaming...maybe a few more games and I'll figure it out(not likely). AS Roma won 2-0, a good match, AS Roma just seemed to have it all together, and a GREAT keeper.

After the game the plan was to go back home, change, then go out and dance/socialize. I waited for my bus for 1 hour. (While I was waiting I accidently told a group of guys from Norway the wrong way to go to get to the city centre... what, no one's perfect.) Then I took the bus home and it took 2 hours to get there. UGH. I was so fed up with transit... I texted Jelco and told him I wasn't going to make it out with them tonight...

****

Novembre 21, 2010

This morning I slept late and had a brunch... then about 1 hour later, had lunch with the family, including Nonna Jo. :) Then I watched some "Big Bang Theory" to pass the time until it was Harry Potter time! (also, I dare anyone to watch that show and not laugh. oh my gosh... ESPECIALLY if you're even a little bit nerdy.) Then I put on my new 'hufflepuff' tie and my khakis and sweater and headed to the theatre. After I was 1/2 way there, about to get on the subway, I realized I'd left my wallet in my pants at home. DANGIT!!!!!! I contemplated going back home, but I would be late to meet everyone and blahblahblah, I decided to hope my friends would have enough to cover me until I could pay them back... If it must come to it, I will busk for HP tickets (perform for money) I'm sure via del Corso could always spare a few euro for a talented... musician? commedian? dancer? clutz? Turns out they were able to cover me, but the show sold out right before we got there so we bought some of the first tickets to the next showing in 2 hours... in the mean time we went where you don't have to buy anything, but if you want to it's cheap (good for the au pair budget), and they don't kick you out, McDonalds (not my idea). We passed the time doing nothing, chatting, eating, playing games etc... we met the Dutch girls from my class (McDonalds just attracts au pairs) and they joined us for a while, then we headed back to watch the movie.

Oh it was such a good movie. I'm ready for the next one to come out now please. ;) Everyone liked it... even Jelco who only came to be social. He doesn't even like HP...

There was so much fun had this weekend... Hopefully many more to come. ;)

OXOOXOOXOOXO

TIckets to the World

Novembre 18/19, 2010

Novembre 18, 2010

When I'd left this morning I looked at the weather and it said rain. I looked outside and it was sunny. A crux. I opted to wear the sweater, jeans, and sunglasses... and bring an umbrella... you never know. I went to class and we worked on more Passato Prossimo tenses... again, it's much easier than remembering actual present tense, you just have to keep in mind which verbs are moving verbs and which are not, then adjust accordingly... and then you have to remember the past participles which are usually easy... unless they are an exception... to be an exception I thought there were supposed to be very few... there seem to be more than just a few 'exceptions'.

After class while I was walking, I saw Camilla, one of the French girls walking in the same direction so we walked together. She was going along via del Corso to get some socks. I was going to meet Jelco and some others to buy our AS Roma v. Udinese tickets. We decided we'd walk/shop together. Camilla didn't find any socks and we arrived at the meeting point a little early so we decided to grab some food nearby. While we were eating some food we were chatting and what not, she's pretty nice and all, and we finished and got ready to leave when we looked outside. It was raining... Mr. Prepared was all over it... we ended up getting to the meeting point late after getting turned around... but it all worked out eventually. Camilla was going to a dance and so she couldn't make it to the game, so we said goodbye. Jelco was there with Minna, Nora, Dakota, Natalina, and Johanna. Jelco was in charge of getting the tickets since he'd done it all before... Long story short... with and XY chromosome you have to pay 12 euro more which sucks and you can't pay with credit card so I bummed off of everyone and then just bought them all lunch worth the 28 euro (the 17 euro seats were full)... I headed home and then We finished the research on Mr. Bloom then blahblahblah dinner, tv. etc... there was an intense tickle fight when Nic told me I sing to much, then I called him a little man, and he called me a fatso, then I tickled him a lot... It made me think of the time(s) I'd made Ivan Uriel Valdez laugh so hard he vomited... oh good times, good times...


Novembre 19th, 2010

Today is Friday, thank you God. In all of the awesome days you made... somehow this one seems to have risen to the top as a favorite amongst mankind. Did some abs stuff this morning... really just a random assortment of things to make me feel better about eating all the sweets/pies I'd been eating... kryptonite I tell you...

After a few episodes of Modern Family (I swear it's impossible to watch that show and NOT laugh) I headed out to grab a bite to eat and do some shopping for Christmas... I tell you, this whole being away from home gets your shopping done early. ;) I ended up eating some kebabs at a place near the colosseo after walking from the intersection of via del Corso and via Tritone. It was pretty good, but the Dulce de leche gelato combo-ed with the tiramisu was noteworthy afterwords... I think it maybe the greatest combination I've had so far. YUM-TASTIC. Then I returned home and we did a little reading before he had to go to tennis. Then I got some more Modern Family shows in...(seriously, you should all watch this show, at least once) then afterwards we had dinner downstairs (I don't think I really helped make a dinner once this week... I feel like a slacker, oh well) and then we watched HOCUS POCUS!!! WHOOP-WHOOP! (There are too many awesome friends out there who love this movie to give you all shout outs. You know who you are. ;)

Tomorrow, Jelco and I are meeting to go run some, then I'm helping Zio Marco with some english computer stuff (I'm like a hot commodity, I hope I don't fizzle out ;) then the game, then some dancing maybe... glorious! :) OK Catch you all later! AS ROMA!!!!!!!!!

Lunch with Jesus

Novembre 16th/17th, 2010

Novembre 16th, 2010

I looked at the weather on my iPod... it said rain all week. Lame. I went to class this morning and was the only one there... eventually 3 others showed up about 10, 15, and 30 minutes later. We started covering past tense today... whoop! (so much easier than present tense, only 1 thing to remember, moving verb or not, the rest is easy) During class we talked about the holiday season and how they all differed in everyone's home countries... Holland has a BIG breakfast on Christmas and then big dinners on the 25th and 26th (Babo Natale also comes in a big boat)... France celebrates from the 24th-26th with big dinners each night and open their gifts as soon as it is past midnight on the 25th, Italy has their traditional 5 course meal (antipasti, primo piatto, secondo piatto, contorno, dolce) on the 25th (usually a tag team effort between two women), and then on the 6th of January there is Befana... a witch who flys around and leaves candy in the stockings of good little kids and coal (black candy) to the bad little kids. It was a lot of fun learning about the other customs. I wish I'd written down everything so I remembered it all... oh well.

I got in contact with my advisor at the medschool to find out the process I need to do to request my position back formally... I'm working on finding the template I had...

After class I stopped at a vending machine and bought a chocolate bar in the metro... it got stuck. so I bought the one behind it and the first one fell... then the second got stuck. I shook the machine. (I think they're heavier or something) nothing... I reached in for the first one and the second fell just from me opening the little flap. Too much chocolate in one day...

When Nic got home we did a little bit of math with Lavi, then headed to Catechism with Carmita... after we dropped them off Carmi and I walked back... talking about shopping in different countries and prices of things and such... apparently Spain has AWESOME prices... like 50 euro for Nikes! 12 euro for name brand jeans...

Jelco also invited me to the AS Roma game this weekend and told me I had to learn the commencement song... 17 euro... I'm so freakin' excited... then Erica and I are seeing HP on Sunday (hopefully)!!!!!

**Just an update... I keep eating all this great food and I can't remember any of the names... I'm sorry... but I do know that Rosetta bread should be consumed the day it is bought... much better then! :)**


Novembre 17th, 2010

This morning I watched GLEE... not a fan of Principle Sue... I liked Figgins. ;) But he did have a pretty good exit... the look on his face after he got sneezed on was hilarious!

THEN!!!!! I started/revamped my letter of intent to start medical school next fall. It took almost all day... I finally finished around 1, then I headed out for some lunch. Lunch today was all about one of my besties, Jesus Alejandro Perez Rementeria... I went and bought his Christmas present, and at lunch had 2! pieces of baklava. One for me, and one for him. :) Then I took the bus home listening to my Disney playlist he made me. :) (oh, and I bought a Hufflepuff tie for Sunday :) ALSO I saw a chess set today that was Texas vs. Mexico... if it wasn't 50 euro, I would have bought it...

When I got home I did some editing of my letter with some outside resourcing... and then we did some homework, had some amazing dinner (gnocchi but not the potato gnocchi, more like a bread) and tiny chicken things... and Nonna Jo (Giancarla) made a super good looking cheesecake... I'm excited to eat it tomorrow at breakfast. I know. Cheesecake for breakfast... it's like a double edged sword...

ok... that's it... all i've got... tomorrow class and another day in paradise...

In commemoration of someone calling me Texas Ranger today...
"Chuck Norris burns ants with a magnifying glass... at NIGHT!"

Mark This Day. He Admitted he was Wrong.

Novembre 15, 2010

This morning I ran with some sprints tossed in there hoping to open my chest congestion up some... It did... then after the parasympathetic nervous system kicked back in, congestion returned.

After my run in Villa Ada (I had just watched about 20 minutes of a movie on tv about Villa Ada, called, "Villa Ada"... :) I cleaned. I cleaned my room like no one's business! It look freakin' good. Let's see how long that lasts. I even did my sheets and pillowcases... the only dirty clothes I have right now, I'm wearing. :) It's a good feeling.

I made amazing tuna salad, with diced pickles (I'm awesome and found them in the store) and it almost tasted like home. I ate 80% of it... then thought I'd see if Nic wanted to try if for snack after school. He didn't, he said it was more a lunch food. Meh. We worked on his advanced class project of Benjamin Bloom, then finished most of his math homework for this week, and then he read his entire English book (due tomorrow) in 45 minutes. LOTS of homework, but he Rocked it! I told Nic and Raffa about my tuna salad's contents, they thought it sounded disgusting... they don't know what they're missing. ;) When Giorgio got home, he said he'd try it. He did, he said it was good. (He get's the first slice of the Apple Cake when I make it. :)

I did some homework with Giorgio and Raffa, an interview, and they helped me some with some practicing Italian... I like practicing with them at home, it seems easier than on the spot at a store or in the street.

I'm tired. I need to head to bed. :) Another day gone. Thank God for what He gives you. *Thanks God!* :)

Don't be afraid to try new things! (tuna salad ;)