Buongiorno Principessa!

TODAY. WAS. THE. FIRST. DAY. I. HEARD. AN. ACTUAL. ITALIAN. SAY. BUONGIORNO. PRINCIPESSA.

I loved it. I loved every second of it. I lit up so nicely during an eh time of my day. But more on that later. I just had to get that out of the way.

First day picture!

I didn't go to class in that, I promise. I went on a run that morning because I had so much time that there was no reason not to. And I let Leann have the shower first because I'm a top-notch roommate. Ya dig? We were all super excited about our first day of classes and my classes did not disappoint. 

My first class was Italian at two! I have it Monday through Thursday because this program is excellent and we have off on Fridays. I was really pumped to go because I knew they were going to do their best to throw us into the language and I had heard awesome stuff about my professor. She's amazing! We're not really going by the book and she's being super practical about teaching us a new language. She gave us a ton of vocab and I was a tiny bit overwhelmed, but I've legit learned a TON in only one day. And we're having a scavenger hunt in the market next week. I'm a nerd. So pumped.

So that's until three. Between three and six I went a little mentally crazy, but that's okay. I didn't get a chance to chill though. So I bottled that sucker up. That's a biiiiig no-no for Folk.

At six I have Popular Culture in Modern Day Italy. It sounds so so so so so interesting and I'm really excited about it. I mean, we have an entire lesson on soccer and it's influence on Italy. We talk about music, graffiti, food, and all sorts of stuff. We also have to do an ethnography project and I've already decided I want to do something with food and nutrition.

Hm. It's time for a tangent. Mom, Dad, world, I've decided what I want to do with my life. It miiiiight (and by might I mean, unless I'm a magician it will) take a couple extra semesters of school, but I really am excited about it. Over the summer, I became super interested in nutrition and I was constantly at the gym. I love cooking all kinds of stuff and learning how certain foods work with your body to make it more efficient. Now. I still love theater and dance and I'd probably fall over if I had to cut it out of my life forever. So I really want to twist the two together. I want to help dancers and actors specifically because all of you that do one or both KNOW that you have to take such good care of your body, otherwise you are GOING to get injured, run down, or even depressed. I AM SO PUMPED about this idea and everybody I've told so far is super supportive and they can tell that I'm going to love it. And I love when people are supportive. And that's my tangent I hope you like it.

After Anthro, I have a Sociology class with the same professor, so I already knew I was going to enjoy it. His first lesson was actually a lecture open to the entire school, but it was so interesting. I learned so much about how and why Italy functions as it does. I even recreated the lecture for my roommates this morning. I love it. And our weekend trip seems absolutely fantastic. We're going to small towns famous for fast expensive cars, dance clubs, parmesan cheese, wine, and watermarks. Yes. Watermarks. But it sounds amazing and I'm so excited.

So I came back at nine happy, but tired and super cranky. And went mentally nuts. But then had SUCH DELICIOUS PASTA. So I was okay. People are good at making me feel better. Ahem. I also need to learn the timing of when I can eat in between my classes or I legitimately am not going to make it. Any idearrrs?

But point is, I loved all of my classes and I was ready for my first day of Art History class at the Colosseum. There was a strike (these happen all the time in Italy) so we were ready to leave early and we set off and got there with no problems.

This class, I must confess, made my head a little unhappy. We didn't actually go to the Colosseum, it was just standing there like a huge tease. And we were supposed to go into the forum, but it was closed because of the strike. So we stood in the hot sun for one hour and spoke. And then he drops the bomb that we should be taking notes and this was all fair game for the midterm. And then we started scrambling, and then it wasn't fun anymore, and then I got cranky. IT'S A THREE HOUR CLASS. From nine in the morning to twelve. Bah. We went a lot of cool places, don't get me wrong. I guess it was just the way he was talking or something that just didn't agree with me. We have him again later in the day for a lecture, and that didn't go as badly as I expected. I feel like I might be able to get into the subject, but I'm a little concerned right now.

Bright spot: during the morning portion of this class I heard BUONGIORNO PRINCIPESSA!!

And I saw monk bones.

Kinda crazy!

I guess I'm kinda bummed everything isn't as perfect as I wanted it to be, but I'm definitely going to be able to deal. So that's about that. This took me a really long time to type because I only recently had my arm released from a napping-before-dinner friend of mine. Sarah took a picture of us and thought it would be funny to share. So I'm going to. And hopefully he'll still like me.

LIVE AND IN PERSON.

He's pooped. I'm pooped. I'mma eat a piece of bread with Nutella on it, kick him out, and get the heck to bed. 

BUT AHA! Make sure you check out my lovely friend Juliana's video. She's absolutely amazing and she put together a wonderful video of our bus ride. Highlights include me and Adam singing Backstreet Boys and me dancing with Gianni. It's worth a visit. I should also note that you can look at my other friend's blogs if you look at the link on the right side of my screen. They're only people in Rome right now, but I'm sure I'll add more soon! :)

OH OH ALSO. I can now watch all six seasons of How I Met Your Mother AND I FOUND A PLACE TO WATCH DANCE MOMS. So when I'm not, you know, galavanting around Rome, I can watch some lovely TV.

Ciao!