2 Down, 2 to Go

Ciao ciao!

Again I am finding an excuse to not make perspectives of my lighting showroom and instead writing a blog. Yesterday I got a package in the mail from my parents. Slippers, peanut butter, my belt. It was perfect...now my feet are warm on our freezing tile floor, I can get some more protein in my diet (and successfully make PB&Js), and keep my pants up (since they have stretched to a ridiculous size by our lack of dryer). Yay! It is becoming rather chilly in our apartment, and it seems so funny that just a short time ago I had been sweating and sitting in front of the fan. And apparently there is a law in Italy that you can’t turn on your heat until November 1st. Guess I have to freeze another week or so. Oddly enough it usually feels about 10 times warmer outside that it feels in the apartment. At least I have had the luck of getting hot showers pretty often. Knock on wood.

We are officially at the halfway point of this journey and I think I’m probably equally as excited about that as I am bummed. 2 months left. Can’t wait to see the people I’ve left back home but not excited to leave this wonderful country. Italy has been so far a wonderful experience. Since I can’t quite get into the project we’ve been assigned, at least I’m loving the experience of living here.

Last week, Paige’s parents were in town, then Dani and her parents were in town and now Sarah’s parents are here. It has been family & out to dinner central around here and it’s been a really nice change of pace, as well as being really sweet of them to take us out to eat. I was super excited to see Dani and her parents because they are like my second family and it was so comforting to be with them :) Getting me excited for my parents and brother to come around Thanksgiving!

Oh, two more gelato flavors to mention... Cremino Ciocco (chocolate cream??) and Lampone (raspberry). Yummo. My favorite combination is banana, fragola (strawberry), and cioccolato. 3 flavors for 1.50 at the gelato place down the street. I brought some home the other day and mixed in some crumbled cookies and Reese’s peanut butter cups my parents sent me. (Paige’s parents gave me some too, a little bag of American candy for Halloween!) And I must admit that I had a McFlurry today from the McDonalds by the Pantheon. It was necessary...even if it was “Cornetto” flavor. It had bits of chocolate and whatnot in it, and even with the softserve vanilla, it still tasted relatively foreign. Ha I don’t know why I am suddenly reminded of this, but the new “in” color of the season is PURPLE. It is everyyywhere. If you look into a window of a clothing store, that is literally the only color you’ll see. All shades. All over. It’s nuts. So look out America...if trends begin in Europe, keep an eye out for purple being the new black.

I don’t know why I’m so tired right now; it’s only 9:30 at night. Maybe it had something to do with the 3 mile run I went on earlier or my day of running errands and doing a little art supply and holiday gift shopping. Or maybe it had something to do with the construction going on 2 apartments below us and the fact that they are ripping up the street right behind the apartment. That has been my alarm clock recently. Not so nice on the days when I don’t have class or don’t have class until late. Monday is almost like a no class day—just a lecture from noon til 2. Tuesday, no class. Wednesday is super studio day from 9 until 5. Thursday—art history from 3 til 7. And Friday, studio from 9 til 12.

Which brings me to my really sad news. This week we learned that one of the art history instructors is no longer with us. He wasn’t my teacher but I have heard only good things about him and he seemed to be the most enthusiastic of the art history professors. So RIP Terry Kirk.

Well back to my attempts at being studious/artistic/productive. Too bad that darn cat is meowing like crazy in the courtyard right now. Better than a jackhammer and a drill though, right?

Hope all is well. The countdown is on...see you all in 2 months, and if you are my family, 1 month!