Made it, finally

So I landed in Orlando on Saturday at 4:30.  My mom and Betsy met me at the airport with a "welcome to America" sign as if I've never been here before.  My luggage didn't make it though.  As of yesterday it was at the Orlando airport and I'm hoping it will be delivered today.  Saturday I made it until 9 before I fell asleep.  Since I woke up at 6am and considering 9pm is 3am my time I thought it was pretty good.  I did however wake up at 6:30 the next morning.  Yesterday we went to church, played with my niece Hazel, ate cheeseburgers and Betsy and I made Christmas cookies.  This afternoon Weeg and Lana get in and then tonight we are having a big Christmas dinner with the whole family.  The weather has been beautiful and I love being away from the constant rain of Florence.  I can't wait to hang out with both my brother and sister today, the last time I was with both of them was last Christmas.  Hooray!

Finally done!

Food carousel at the market
Enjoying delicious treats like chocolate covered and candied apples.
One of the vendors. 
The Santa Croce church with the market in the piazza.

Today was my last day of the semester.  I'm so happy to have a break.  Tomorrow I'll be cleaning and packing to be ready to go home on Friday.  I also finished A Prayer for Owen Meany today.  It was a engaging book with a great ending.  I think I'm going to start The House of Mirth next.  I really looking forward to just reading, sleeping and being with my family over break.  

Most of the pictures I included are of the German Christmas market in front of Santa Croce.  It has been there for most of December.  There are all kinds of vendors, herbs, cookies, food, clothing, decorations and jewelry to name a few.  The entire city is decorated.  There are trees and lights everywhere which makes the city very beautiful.  Even though there isn't any snow its easy to get into the spirit.  

Nothing much else is going on.  Tonight will be celebration #2 now that I'm really free.

Celebration part 1

Yesterday was the peak of my finals and the end of this week since I don't have classes on Friday.  This week I had my two Italian finals and my one big presentation.  Next week I have one presentation, one project due and two more finals.  Anyways to celebrate this week being over and almost being done I went out to dinner with four of my friends last night.  It was one of the best meals I've had here.  We shared an appetizer of pecorino cheese with honey, thyme and walnuts.  For primi patti I got penne pasta with lemon meatballs and then shared a second course of chicken in balsamic vinegar.  For dessert I had a warm chestnut muffin with caramel filling that tasted like heaven.  It was a really nice evening, we hung out at the restaurant for a few hours just eating and talking.  Somehow we all starting telling childhood antidotes, specifically about getting in trouble.  It was hilarious and I of course shared about the time I carved a picture into our piano with a screwdriver. 

I'm glad I have the weekend to relax and get ready for my next round of finals.  The second celebration will take place on Wednesday night when I will be completely done for the semester.  

I'm only a week from going home!

Procrastination

A few old photos.  I don't have any new ones because I haven't gone anywhere lately.  


We love coffee!

Its the boring part of the semester when all I'm doing is homework.  I should be working on some now...oh well.  Its less than two weeks until I get to go home.  I'm very excited, but not about the actual traveling part.  I have three flights, first to Paris, then to DC and finally to Orlando.  This delightful trek across the ocean will take about 16 hours.  All worth it though in the end.  

Here are a few of things I'm looking forward to most:  seeing my family obviously, decorating cookies with my sister, forcing my entire family to watch Muppet Christmas Carol, eating my mom and Charlie's cooking, american coffee, being in a car, not having class, seeing my niece Hazel, playing with animals, going to target, and having access to a drying machine.  Ah I can't wait.  

Nesting

Currently reading:

Currently watching:

Currently listening to:


Today is December 1st, so that means that I'm 17 days away from the semester being over and 19 days away from seeing my family.  Everything is pretty boring right now, I have been spending a lot of time doing homework and that will continue to increase until finals are over.  The weather has been horrible, it has been thunder storming all weekend and it is actually raining right now as I am writing this.  It doesn't get cold enough in Italy for snow so I just have more rain to look forward to.  At least I don't feel bad about sitting in my apartment and doing homework.   Tonight I'm making baked corn again since I didn't get much at Thanksgiving and going to watch Muppet Christmas Carol.  

Thanksgiving

My friend Chloe and I.
The food table, notice my baked corn in the middle.
More food including yams my friend Deanna made that were amazing, and I don't even like yams.  
Getting everything ready


  Obviously Thanksgiving is not a Holiday in Italy but we couldn't let it pass without celebrating, so the girls that  live below me hosted a Thanksgiving party for our school.  We had a turkey prepared and then everyone brought side dishes.  I made my favorite, baked corn.  It took a little improvising because they don't sell creamed corn here but it worked out pretty well considering I was mostly making it up as I went along.  

  

 The party turned out so well.  We had about 35 people come, including some of our professors and their kids.  Everyone made delicious food, one girl even made barbecue chicken which I know is not traditional Thanksgiving food but I was so happy to eat it.  We had so much food, I can't believe how much I ate.  It was a wonderful night overall, and really nice to hang out with everyone outside of school.

  

 Also a benefit of hosting the event was that me and my "roommates" got to keep all the leftovers.  Today we had to go to the designer outlet mall for a class field trip.  It wasn't crazy, there is no such thing as black Friday here.  When we all got home around 2pm we made a huge lunch of leftovers and it really felt like Thanksgiving.  The girls I live with have really become like a family to me, they are all such a blessing.  

 I also got to videochat with my family yesterday which was wonderful.  I got to see my sister and brother and even my baby niece Hazel who is the cutest thing ever.  I can't wait to see everyone for Christmas, I can't believe its only three weeks away.  

 

  Since this is the first weekend in the whole month that I'm not traveling I'm enjoying relaxing.  In between I will be working on all my homework though.  I am definitely ready for this semester to be over.  

Odds and Ends

Robin and I on top of a old monastery in Ireland

So I've been in Italy for three months now. I only have three weeks of the semester left! Then I'll be in Florida for about three weeks and then on January 9th I'll come back for Spring semester.

  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, but since it is an American holiday we don't get the day off.  We are having a Thanksgiving dinner though. I'm making baked corn because its my favorite.  I'm going to be able to see my family via skype but of course I will I could be there.  Especially for the showing of Indiana to the significant others.  On Friday I will watch Muppets Christmas Carol as per my tradition since my Mom is amazing and sent it to me! Yay for getting into the Christmas spirit

A few more Dublin photos

Abby and I hanging out with some sheep.
Abby, Robin and I at the Hill of Tara.
Again the three of us in the countryside.
Casey, Alex, Mya, Yvonne and I at the Guinness factory.
Me being silly with a statue of creepy children.

Ireland part two

St. Patrick's Cathedral 
Me and my friend Alex in our matching red coats.
      The classic jumping picture in front of St. Patricks.

So continuing from where I left off about Saturday.  After our tour we went back to the hostel and then ate dinner.  That night we went out to a pub that was recommended to us by someone working at the hostel.  It was a really cool place, they had the best dj I've ever heard who played everything from Prince, the Beatles to Snoop dogg.  I tried cider which was really good but too sweet to have more than one.  

Sunday we went to the Irish Museum of Modern Art, one of the few things open on Sunday.  It was a bit of a hike but it was nice to see something other than downtown.  The building was a hostipal that was built in the 17th century and is beautiful.  After the museum we took the tram back into the center and walked around and went into a few stores.  I ate lunch with a few of my friends at this cool hipster cafe that used free range eggs and fair trade coffee.  I had a breakfast burrito and black coffee as my last meal before returning to Italian food.  After that we went to the airport, fortunately our flight back was direct.  

Tomorrow is my roommate Robin's birthday which I'm very excited for.  We are going to Rome on Friday to see the Cold War Kids, one of our favorite bands, to celebrate.  We are only staying for Friday night which is nice since I've been traveling for the past two weekends.  I finally went to the landromat tonight and did laundry so at least I'm caught up on that.  

I'll post more pictures once I get them from my friends.  Most of the pictures of me are on other people's cameras so I have to get them, but then I'll post more.

...and I don't even like Guinness

Hill of Slane
Remains of Mellifont Abbey
First Celtic Cross
They drive on the opposite side of the street, don't get hit by a car!

I spent most of Thursday traveling.  Train to Pisa, flight to Edinburgh then flight to Dublin.  Good news is that I got three passport stamps from this weekend so thats awesome.  

 Thursday night we got to our hostel around 1am and while my 7 friends that I was traveling with went out I went to sleep because I was really tired.

Friday morning we walked around the city, stopping by Trinity College (the oxford of Ireland) and St. Patrick's Cathedral where my friend Abby got to say the Lord's prayer and a really cute old guy gave us an informal tour.  In the afternoon we went to the Guinness factory which was really cool.  It is a self guided museum that explains about the history of the company and how the beer is made.  I especially enjoyed the section on their advertising campaign where I watched a bunch of their old commercials that were hilarious.  The building is shaped like a giant pint glass and at the top there is a 360 bar where you get a free beer.  It is suppose to be the best Guinness in the world because it comes directly from the brewery.  I did try my beer but I already knew that I didn't like Guinness so I gave it to one of my friends.  

Friday night I went to Hard Rock Cafe with two of my friends.  I know its touristy and american but I don't care!  It was amazing to have buffalo wings and they were playing old music videos that were very entertaining.  I also got a pin to add to my collection. 

Saturday I went on a tour of Celtic landmarks outside of the city including Fourknocks which is a megalithic passage tomb that is 5000 years old, the Hill of Slane where St. Patrick lit a fire to proclaim Christianity to Ireland, Mellifont Abbey which used to be a monastery before Henry VIII destroyed it.  We also saw the first Celtic cross and the tallest one.  The countryside was beautiful, even in November and most of the ruins we were able to climb on which was fun.  We stopped for lunch is a little village pub where we had turkey, mashed potatoes and veggies.  It was delicious and reminded me of a my Grandma.  In the afternoon we went to the Hill of Tara which was the first capital of Dublin.  We chased sheep around and then had hot chocolate from a little cafe.  Our tour guide was excellent, he made all the history really interesting and I learned a lot.  

more later!

I couldn't resist to share...

Chocolates that are suppose to look like chestnuts

Strudel!

Shaggy cows that resemble ewoks

Me on the wooden bridge in Lucerne

Here are a few more pictures from Switzerland for your enjoyment.  

I'm off to Dublin tomorrow!

Switzerland continued

Casey and I at the top of Grossmunster.
On the ferry boat
At the top of Grossmunster
Being silly on a modern art sculpture.
Holding the beer shaped menus.

 So from where I left off- Friday afternoon.  After the tour we got dinner at a pub where I got chicken wings, although they aren't served with hot sauce here which was a little bit of a let down.  Then we went to this bar that is at the top of an observatory.  It is a 360 view of the city which was all lit up.  I ordered an apple martini and thought of many scrubs quotes that I would have said aloud if anyone I was with would have known what I was talking about.  

  

 Saturday we went to Lucerne which is a small town in central Switzerland about an hour from Zurich.  There was a farmers market going on which is where we bought homemade strudel and fresh apple cider which were both delicious.  Then we went to an art museum which was awesome.  They had a wonderful collection of modern art including Picasso, Chagall, Renoir, and many others.  The museum was very peaceful and the perfect amount of art that I got my moneys worth but didn't get overwhelmed.  For lunch we ate soft pretzels and sat by the river.  Then we walked to the edge of the city where the old wall that went around the city is still intact.  It is connected by 5 giant towers.  We also saw some amazing shaggy cows.  

Then we went back to Zurich and met some hilarious Swiss people at a bar.  They felt the need to shout "Yes we can" intermittently throughout the evening and bought us drinks, one being a "traditional Swiss drink" according to them.  I guess it could be true but it was so disgusting that I'm surprised that they wanted to take credit it for it being from their country.  

Sunday was the day I had been waiting for and the main reason I wanted to go to Switzerland this weekend in particular.  Weegie is finishing up his two month around the world trip in Europe so I got to meet up with him and his girlfriend Lana.  It was so amazing to see them.  First it was weird to be meeting up with family members in a foreign country but it was so comforting to see them.  Mostly we walked around the city which was pretty dead since it was Sunday morning.  Then we went to a famous cafe to get hot chocolate.  I was very sad that I only had a few hours with them until Lana reminded me that I will be seeing them in Florida in about six weeks.  I was totally taken by surprise by how fast the semester is going.  

The traveling craziness because on Thursday me and my 7 "roommates" are all going to Dublin.  I use the word roommate loosely, technically Robin is my only roommate but the 6 girls that live one floor below us I include in that because I'm always with them too.  

So overall Switzerland was amazingly beautiful.  It was a stress free trip, its so nice to travel in a small group of three people who are all incredibly easy going.  It definitely wins the award for having the nicest people of any country I've been to.  It was so wonderful to see my brother, I can't wait until Christmas when I get to spend more that a few hours with him. 5 weeks from Friday I'll be flying home!

"I think Santa lives here"

Me, Casey and Karina with Grossmunster in the background

The ferry boat ride
View of the city from the top of Grossmunster.  The clock face you see is the biggest in all of Europe.
Grossmunster at night

  This weekend I went to Zurich!  I left Thursday morning and spent 61/2 hours on a train.  It really wasn't that bad, the scenery was beautiful and time flew by.  I went with three of my friends, Casey, Chloe and Karina.  We got there around 4pm and we were so hungry that we immediately went  to find food.  We stumbled across a beerhall that had surprisingly good food...and american coffee!  I had hash browns and eggs, and the waiter was confused when we asked if we could still order breakfast because they don't consider that breakfast.  I snagged a newspaper with Barack Obama on the front and the German headline.  

  

After we dropped our stuff of at the hostel we walked around the city and stumbled upon a outdoor market.  Everyone is so nice in Switzerland and we got some recommendations on where to go from some locals.  We hit up a cool hipster bar that night that had a dj playing an eclectic mix of music. 

  Friday we walked around more, wandering around the main shopping area and finding some great vintage stores.  Then we went to the top of Grossmunster, the main church of Zurich.  The weather was beautiful, although it was cold the sky was clear.  For lunch we went to a famous grill and got delicious bratwurst.  

  

  - A side note: many people have commented about how many times I mention food.  Let me explain, I know that everyone, including myself, loves Italian food.  However there is a difference once you start eating something constantly for two months.  So we I get to eat different food it is amazing and half the fun of traveling.  So that is why I always talk about the food I eat.  

  Friday afternoon we went on a city tour where we went to Framunster, the other big church, and saw the stained glass windows by Marc Chagall, who is one of my favorite artists.  Then we took a cable car up to the top of a mountain where we could see the whole city and lake.  Then we took a ferry boat ride across the lake and drove along the gold  coast where all the rich people live.  

More info and pictures later...I have to go to class.

So much happiness!

 Perhaps I should amend the title.  Overall, I am very happy with my life.  Today though I am euphoric.  This morning I got up and raced to the computer clicking on my New  York Times bookmark to see OBAMA in huge letters.  I've haven't talked about my political views in my blog before because I didn't want to turn this into a platform for my opinions.  Today however I am just going to say that I have been a huge Obama fan ever since I read his book The Audacity of Hope last summer.  I am very pleased that he won, especially about the fact that he won Pennsylvania.  I'm very much looking forward to the next four years.

 Last Thursday one of my best friends from high school, Amelia, came to Florence to stay with me for the weekend.  She is studying in Spain for the semester.  It was so fun to hang out with her.  We walked around a lot, went to a wine bar, ate pizza, went to San Michealanglo where there is a beautiful view of the city.  It was fun to be a tourist in my own city and we did several things that I've never done.  She left Monday night and I was sad to see her go.  It was a great weekend and I'm so glad that it worked out that we could see each other.  

 Tomorrow I am heading to Zurich with three of my friends.  On Sunday I will be meeting up with Weegie and his lovely girlfriend Lana.  I know Lana very well, she is like a sister to me and I'm so excited to see both of them.  Weeg has been traveling for almost two months now and its been hard to keep in touch so I can't wait to hear about everything he has seen and done so far.  

  So back to the original point, Obama won, I'm going to Switzerland tomorrow where I get to see two of my favorite people= my being VERY happy!

Chocolate can solve all our problems

Robin and I exploring the city
Chocolate!
Me being photographed without my knowledge
I'm milking a giant inflatable cow! Probably one of my favorite pictures

Some people have commented that I don't post frequently enough, so I'll try to work on that.  This is for Lana and Rachel.   

 This weekend I went to the annual Chocolate Festival in Perugia which is a town about two hours from Florence.  It is an outdoor festival with rows and rows of booths selling all kinds of chocolate.  I had a chocolate covered apple and a piece of chocolate cake.  We spent the day walking around the festival and the city.  It was a really cute town and I found a bunch of fun shops down side streets.  

  Other than the festival it was pretty uneventful weekend.  It was nice to relax since the next three weekends are going to be so busy.  This coming weekend is Halloween and one of my best friends from high school, Amelia, who is studying in Spain is coming to visit.  I'm so excited to see her and be a tour guide.  The following weekend I will be in Switzerland to see Weeg and Lana and after that I'm going to Ireland.  I'm really looking forward to seeing some familiar faces.

On a side note I just checked the exchange rate and 1 euro=$1.25 which is an all time low! That is so exciting.  

Soccer, voting, reading

Clockwise: Me, Abby and Chloe at the stadium
The game!

The soccer game I went to on Saturday was so much fun.  Italians are way into soccer and the stadium was packed.  We were the in cheap bleacher seats so we weren't sitting with the die hard fans.  The fans with season tickets were one the opposite side and they spend the entire game cheering, sing, waving flags or making noise of some sort.  We won the game 3-0 so everyone was happy.

I tried to take care of my absentee ballot today.  The only reason I failed is because I went after the consulate had closed.  I however didn't know this and went up to check the hours and one second after my foot hit the pavement outside the U.S. consulate a policeman was asking me what I was doing.  He was not very sympathetic to my attempt to be involved in the democratic process and just told me to come back tomorrow.  So I will try again tomorrow and hope for better results.  

I do have to say that Pennsylvania is slow and I never received my absentee ballot in the mail so instead I had to print out one from the internet.  I am happy though to be voting in Pennsylvania which is always a swing state.

   

Nothing much exciting is going on, the week is pretty boring just doing school and whatnot.  This weekend I'm going to to Perugia which is a town about two hours away for its annual chocolate festival.  I'm so excited, apparently its just a bunch of people selling and enjoying chocolate.  

On a side note, I finished Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte today which I really enjoyed.  It has to be one of the best classical literature books I've read.  My next book is The Island of the Day before by Umberto Eco.  I don't really know anything about it just that it was written by an Italian professor, it has a pretty cover and that the Sunday Times said "No comparable book has ever existed."  Basically I just stumbled upon it in the book store but I'm excited to read it.  I'll let you know my thoughts.

  Continuing on the side note, in finishing Wuthering Heights I have already beaten my record from last year of reading 22 books.  I'm shooting for 30 by the end of the year but I think that may be optimistic.

  

Calcio

  Yesterday I started my job of babysitting/ teaching English to a six year old girl named Martina.  Every Thursday I will pick her up from school and walk with her to her house which is about 5 minutes away.  She is super cute, yesterday we played with Barbies, colored and played a board game.  She is learning English in school and knows some colors, numbers and some other nouns like animals.  Even though she is only six her Italian is way better than mine and there were several times that I had no idea what she was saying.  Overall it was really fun and it will be nice to have a change of pace one a week.  Also getting paid isn't bad either.

  Last night I also got to talk to my brother Weeg on skype who is in India right now.  It was really nice to talk to him and his trip sounds amazing.  You should check out his pictures.  My skype name is lkealey28 for anyone who has it.  Its a really great program, I've been able to videochat with my Mom a bunch of times and the best part is that it is free.  

Tomorrow I'm going to a soccer game to see the Fiorentina play.  Soccer is Italian culture 101.  Everyone here is obsessed with it  and even though the team isn't that good they are all died hard fans.  I'm really excited to go to the game and see everyone being crazy.  Also the ticket price for girls is cheaper which is so funny and awesome.  I'll post some pictures from the game in the next couple of days.

A Day at the Beach

This weekend turned out to be beautiful.  Everyday was 80 and sunny, so we decided to go to the beach yesterday.  We went to Viareggio, which is about a 2 hour train ride.  Being from Pennsylvania where the closest beach is about 10 hours away I think being able to go to the beach for a day trip is amazing.  It was so nice just to sit in the sand and relax.  

On a different note I've been realizing more and more that I am definitely my parents' child.  I had this startling realization when I bought a pumpkin decoration at the dollar store and found my self thinking, well since it is a pumpkin it isn't strictly a halloween decoration, it can also be used for fall in general.  If that isn't my mother's voice in my head...but at least I only bought one decoration and not 500.  My dad like personalities have been coming out too.  I'm also the last person done at museums because I read almost all the signs and plaques.  For trips I'm always the one looking up activities to do like the castle we went to in Germany.  When we got to the Castle I was the one telling everyone about the history because I had looked it up before we went.  Of course I like being similar to my parents but when I start decorating in patriotic themes or wearing bright yellow ski jackets I'll know its gone too far.