il mio compleanno e domani

MY BIRTHDAY IS TOMORROW:)

Okay so we have done so much since the last time I blogged, so I will split it up by day and try to keep it brief but there is so much to write about!

Thursday Night:

Thursday night I went to the store to by fabric softner and detergent...what a joke. So earlier I wrote about my crush at the CarreFour, well, he speaks no english. I asked him to help me find fabric softner, and he doesnt understand me..so I proceed to act out washing clothes and we finally settle on a detergent that looks halfway decent. Then, I act out using lotion, also difficult, and he assumes I am talking about taking a shower... finally he takes me to the baby section and points out some johnson and johnson lotion which works fine haha. Obviously we were in love at that point :)

Later that night, I went with two of my friends to dinner in Testaccio, which is about a 20 minute walk from where I live, but it was well worth it. The restraunt was beautiful and you apprently have to have a reservation to eat there but they squeezed us in. We were clearly the only americans there and it was soo pretty. There was glass over the walls inside, showing the old parts of the walls and building behind. It was great. They also had an open outdoor seating area too, but clearly those tables were hard to come by. They speak a lot more Italian than I do, so that was nice. We ordered fried vegatables and artichoke for appetizers, some red wine and pasta for dinner, and then split tiramisu for dessert. Molto benne.

Friday:

We dont have classes on Fridays, and most all of our weekends are free or already planned out, but on Friday we had a group trip to Hadrians Villa, and Tivoli. Hadrians Villa was HUGE, and very pretty. it was cool to get to see because we have been learning about all the different monuments in class and our teacher, Dr.Nichols, is great at what he does and is so knowledgeable about all things ancient. After seeing that, we took the bus to Tivoli, where we had pretty much the greatest meal ever. We had a 4 course meal in a restraunt that was basically an excavated Roman bath underneath a church. It was beautiful and the food was amazing. Then we went to Villa Deste, I want to get married there...google it. When I got home, I cooked dinner and did some homework, because we were leaving at 5:30 Am the next morning for Cinque Terre :)

Saturday:

I woke up at 4:30. Soo tired. I packed my backpack with a change of clothes, clothes to sleep in, a towel, and a few toiletries. Me and 10 friends took a train at 6 Am to Cinque Terre for the night. The train ride was my first ever, and it was pretty cool. It was a three hour ride, and a guy from Ohio who was traveling Europe alone was sitting across from me. Two friends and I talked to him the whole way there and it was pretty cool to get to know a random person on a train ride. Once we got to Riomaggiore, the first of the 5 towns, we all were literally speechless. It was beautiful! We checked into our hostel and then went on a 45 minute hike to the next town over. There, we put down all of our stuff, and went swimming in the Mediterranean. It was funny because everyone was staring at us and taking pictures but it was great. We climbed up some small rocks and jumped off, and we basically had a photo shoot doing that for awhile. Then, some of my guy friends climbed up a cliff and decided to jump off...a million times. Eventually I was convinced that it was safe and I climbed up to jump too. Once I got up there I was super scared but there was really no other way to get down, so after a lot of encouragement I jumped. One of the coolest things I've done forsure. We ate a great dinner on the water after that, and split a bottle of wine that isnt exported from the area, it was great. Everyone in my program is so great, so sweet, and so outgoing. I already feel like I've known them all forever.

Sunday:

We woke up around 9, got breakfast, then took a 5 minute train to Vernazza. Then...we hiked 3 Kilometers up a mountain. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. And I didn't bring any water because I'm an idiot. Also, we all had our backpacks with us too! It was one of the coolest/prettiest things I have ever experienced. Because about half was uphill, we all went at our own pace. There was a girl in front of me alone, and I kept up her pace because I knew if I stopped to rest, I wouldn't keep going. Eventually we started talking and I hiked the rest of the way with her. She was 25 and from Lebanon. Oh my goodness is there culture different. It was so cool to get to know her! Once we all finally got to monterosso, we ate the best seafood ever. I had calamari and it was by far the best I have ever had. Then we went swimming and took a train all the way back to Roma :) It was an amazing weekend...google it, you all should go.  



Today I had class, and saw the Colosseum...it was cool. Rome is like an italian New York City with a whole bunch of really cool stuff in it :)