GIddy Up...er sbrigati!

SO...this has been a long weekend/week already.

We're gearing up for midterm week (next week). While I write this I am also simultaneously doing my Religions of the World midterm, writing about the little raft and the big raft of Buddhism. Fun.

I broke my school computer. Well, I didn't break it. Really the backlight just burnt out. I think it's because of the electrical current here. Even though I have a converter everything tends to make a buzzing sound when I plug it in. It's kind of freaky when the straightener does it.

I'm a brunette now. I have been for the past week or so. It's wonderful. I missed brown hair. Being a blonde is not what it's cracked up to be.

Being here makes me realize how much I miss home...or, if not home, the people at home. I miss my friends so much, but it's good that I can talk to them all the time on skype. They are so open minded and I like them 100% of the time which is a feat.

My chosen family

Anyway, back to life in Italy. So this past weekend we went to Florence (a.k.a. Firenze) to go horseback riding in Tuscany.

 Overall it was amazing. We has a 6:20 am train so I didn't sleep the night before. We got to Florence and then went to the markets to do some really cheap shopping....well as it turns out not so cheap. I bought this really fierce black fall coat and some scarves for myself.

 

Here's all of us in the farmer's market after eating prosciutto and mozarella sandwiches.

Then we went to the Duomo and saw the Gates of Paridise (or rather the replicas). We got some hotel rooms right by the Duomo and then Steph & I went on an hour+ search for the police so she could get some form of identification.

Around 4 we got into a van that took us to Tuscanny. We rocked out on the way to music from the 80's and 90's. When we go there we were quized on our hourse riding abilities. Since I had only been riding a few times I got the docile horse. He was a chill horse. He didn't try to eat everything on the way like everyone else's horses.

We walked and trotted through the woods and vineyards. I got some great photos that I will put up on my photobucket later thiss week. I have more to say on this all, but I am extremely exhausted. I think I will revise this tomorrow...

Bises.

University Service Day

Wow...it's been a long weekend. I will tell you all about it in the next post. Right now it's 5:30 in the morn and I have class at 9am. I've been up working on this video for University Service Day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8pg37W5plo


Bises!
-Chace

What I Like About Rome

So....we get bored at 2 am....and make videos now.

My craziness continues...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PRRpIbjmd4

<3 Chace

A Buldging Bag of Biscotti

So, silly Chace moment of the day...

After acing my Italian test (no, not really, but I think I passed) and after a well deserved nap, I set out to buy provisions for the week (Read: chocolate croissants, prosciutto, and chocolate chip biscotti). SO I went up to the pastry counter and asked for about 15 biscotti (in Italian). The guy who was working there asked me if I wanted 15 grams worth of biscotti or 15 something else. I don't know how to say "pieces" in Italian so I said it in English and picked the second option assuming it was the right one. So he gets this big bag and starts piling biscotti in. I'm mentally counting in my head and thinking "That is WAY more than 15 (quindiechi)." But you can never have too much biscotti, especially with tea! So he FINALLY fills up the bag and it comes out to about 13 Euro. Apparently the second option that I didn't understand was 15 Euro worth of biscotti. Of course I was too proud to correct him and, like I said, you can never have too much biscotti, so I took it.

Lesson learned: I need to work on my Italian.

A woman with a GPS, some horses, and a picture of a picture

So, how is it that a woman with a GPS in Michigan cannot find a restaurant to eat at, but a girl with a computer in Italy can find one and then give her step-by-step directions on how to get there. Hmm....oh my mum and my GPS...how incompatible you two are.

So I think plans for Tuscany this weekend are set. We are going to go horseback riding, go to a wine tasting in a 13th century castle, grab dinner, and go dancing all for a reasonable fee. Sounds like a fun weekend....but I'm not telling you where in Tuscany because God forbid someone sets up a sting. :p haha

Interesting day. Went to Giancolo Hill with Jeff to check out the view at night. We had a very interesting and deep conversation about thing. He gave me the most amazing memento: a photo album pf all these beautiful black and white shots that he took of Italy and of me when we were at the hill the other day. I wish I could put up the prints, but alas they were taken with an old school film camera. This picture of a picture doesn't even do his skills justice.

Cheated by the Devil

Cioccolato di diavolo is NOT the same thing as Devil's Chocolate in the US!!!

I just had a rude awakening. I felt like expanding my gelato knowledge adn decided to try some new flavors tonight...BIG MISTAKE!!! Cioccolato di diavolo is dark chocolate gelato with a secret ingredient...peppers. It is a spicy, jarring flavor that I was totally not ready for. I know it is common to put pepper in chocolate for sauces, hard chocolates, and chocolate drinks, but in this gelato it was too much!

I also decided to try the Zuppa Inglase...basically trifle gelato. It really didn't taste like any trifle I have ever had. Basically it was a bust. Maybe I will just stick to my reliable Canolo and Nutello. At least they taste like what you think they are supposed to taste like. ;p

True Religion My Ass!

So...it wasn't actually Mackenzie's birthday yesterday...it was another Mackenzie's birthday. I didn't know that at the time when I called her and sand "Happy Birthday" to her answering machine....oops. :p

Small rant: Thank you uber-militant Catholic side of the family for nit-picking at every part of my life and making me never want to see you people again. Have fun with your "true religion" and your mild mannered clothes. It is no wonder that all my cousins on your side of the family have either run away or gotten pregnant. I don't blame them. I don't care if you end up in heaven, hell, or somewhere else...just stay the fuck away from me.


Now that I've calmed down,
Last night was fun. We wanted to all go out to this club called Fake in Testaccio, but a few people in the group started to complain about the price of the cover charge. So we changed our plans and were going to go to Trastevere instead, except on the way to collect everyone I ended up getting separated from all the girls. I looked high and low, but they were nowhere to be found. So it ended up being me, Jeff, and Greg. We went to the Little Devil, basically the bar on the corner where everyone from my school goes. We got a shot on the house and then my favorite flaming absinthe shot. After that we ended up in Trastevere at a bar that we now call Moe's due to the fact that they sell Duff beer and the bartender was wearing a Duff shirt. He made me the best Mojito with ginger ale. It is definitely a place I will be revisiting...