Roma!

So, we got in to Rome around 3:30 p.m. Earlier tonight Mom, Kyle, and I walked around and did all the major landmarks for them before they leave tomorrow. They've been here before so they didn't really feel the need to go into anything. The Forum is so beautiful by night. I took some pictures and wanted to post them, but my computer is on the fritz and keeps on freezing up whenever I try to plug in any external devices.

Okay so, I last wrote while in Florence I believe. The rest of Florence was alright. One day we did a trip out to San Gimignano and Siena. I got terrible motion sickness on the bus to Siena which I feel probably was a good thing... Only about 2 months ago I realized I could have also gone to Siena without taking Italian classes. The classes there are easier AND there is an entire class on wine tasting. = / So, I was sick enough that I didn't get to enjoy the city which makes it easier to keep on telling myself that even given the new information, I'd still pick Rome. Anyways, in San G. there were torture and death penalty museums. Holy hell, I felt so disgusted and nauseous. Kyle and I were so grossed out and Mom & Brian were loving it. Ewww, just thinking about it is hard. Its really messed up the type of tortures that humans can think up, and that they'd disrespect others' lives so much to actually perform them. Gross.

Okay, so yea, Florence was alright. Then we went to Venice. It's a beautiful city, the canals are so crazy. And I'd go out to just walk around the neighborhood and would keep on turning down alleys that led right into the water. It is incredibly easy to get lost, and unless you wanna walk around with a nerdy tourist map, you better expect to have to back-track very often. On the downside, I ran into far more tourists than Italians. And the only Italians there were old ladies with little yappy dogs. It was strange--I didn't see a single none tourist person around my age. Veneto, which is the region of Italy in which Venice lies is where tiramisu was invented, so yesterday I was on a mission--to find the best tiramisu in all of Venice. I only ate at 4 different places, but I don't think I could have tiramisu again for a while. We were only in Venice for two days, which was enough. I do however want to go back in 2 weeks so very badly for Carnival. Problem is, hotels/hostels are filling up and since my program hasn't yet started, I don't have friends to make reservations with yet. Hopefully it'll work out. I really hope it works out--that would be such a crazy experience.

So, Mom & Kyle leave tomorrow, Dad & Brian on Tuesday and I move into my house on Wednesday, and start orientations and whatnot on Thursday, then the intensive Italian class begins on Monday. I do that for like a month for too many hours a day and then take another Italian class plus 3 core classes. They sent me my list today--I'm in Roman Art, Medieval Rome, and Women in Italy in the 20th century. They all sound interesting. I just hope they aren't too hard. I really just want to dick around this semester and travel and not worry about grades. That in itself would be something completely new for me.

Alrighty, you're now caught up to date. I'm gonna spend the next couple of days buying myself some beautiful Italian boots, checking out beautiful Italian boys, and trying to figure out the city. I'm gonna try to spend an entire day by myself just roaming through my soon-to-be neighborhood. If I don't post again before classes start, odds are I won't be posting again for a while. Oh, and like I said, my computer is seriously messed up. I'm gonna have Brian look at it, but I may not be able to upload pictures onto snapfish again until I get to my study-center's computer lab.

Ciao,
S