Wednesday, March 6

 
know that i already posted a lot today, but just had this startling realization and felt need to share it with all. today, for the first time in my twenty years, i realized that i don't really like citrus very much. i like citrus colors, and i have been letting that confuse me into thinking i like the fruits as well, which simply isn't true. i know this sounds trivial, but i just can't believe that at twenty years old i am just now learning to make distinctions like that.

how am i supposed to get a job next year?
posted by from shannon at 7:53 AM

 
swedes spotted: 0
average number of swedes spotted by my friends (not exaggerating): 5

i suck.

on a brighter swede note, the quote of the day comes from one of them:

"the organization in this country is ridiculous - it is like we are being run by the muppets."

well said, henric. that is italy in a nutshell.

i am really digging this quiet week. like today, for example. i decided to reward myself for being such a hardworking student with the least absences of all the americans at the centro by skipping class. i slept in, read an amazing book in bed (thanks, lin), finished off a letter, and had a sandwich at my favorite sandwich place.

speaking of that sandwich place... i think it is funny the things you grow to love abroad. i have been thinking about this because three of my usc friends, who are currently studying in scotland, will be here to visit in about a month, and i can't wait to show them around. but what will we do? i mean, i live in one of the most important and beautiful cities in the world, but i think the duomo, the landmark of this city, is atrocious. and the uffizi gallery, one of the most famous museums in the world, is my own personal nightmare. but those are the things you're supposed to show people, right? but the things i'm most excited about taking them to are the sandwich place and my favorite park.

i am also very exciting about having SOMEONE from home who is important to me FINALLY hear me bust out some italian! i'm so proud of it but no one has ever really heard it (well obviously the italians have heard it, but i mean none of my loved ones)! everyone from home knows i can speak it, but they've never really heard it. doesn't that make any of you guys suspicious? do you ever think that maybe i'm lying to you? well, think about it now.

oh, speaking of suspicious characters... i added a new link at the left for my good friend zach's new blog. word on the street is that it is really only about beer, but i have enjoyed it so far, so i hope that he continues to write more. to entice you, let me share a couple of cool things about zach: 1) he knows how to make some kind of dessert that involves pears and port, and i don't even really know what port is; 2) he gets to go to the freakin' galapogos islands this summer, which i can't even spell; and 3) he has the best girlfriend that i can think of - if i was a man i would fight him to the death for her.

side note: there are more links in this entry than i've ever used before. i feel like i'm showing off. because guys think html is sexy. right, guys?

to wrap up, other cool things i have done lately: gotten lost in the boboli gardens, the largest and prettiest gardens i have ever seen (could only have been cooler with 'the shining'-esque killer hedges); watched the heist in english with italian subtitles; gone to a torture museum (not as jovial as it might sound); spent a day with my long-lost italian relatives, speaking ONLY in italian (i got so exhausted though after 8 hours of this that i had to take a nap); taken a day trip with the swedes and an italian; spent a lot of time by myself and really liked it.

time for a cookie.

posted by from shannon at 4:50 AM

Monday, March 4

 
"even if your heart would listen, i doubt i could explain" - jimmy eat world

a friend of mine recently informed me of the following: "your weblog never says anything and i am going to give up on it." this friend obtains delight from crushing my spirit, but the nice thing about him is that he gives awesome gifts, and knows a lot about jewish holidays, so i am going to stick with him anyway.

i know that what he says is true. i started this thing mainly so that i could use it as a way to share my life here in italy with all of the people who are important to me at home. but i am finding that so difficult. whenever i talk to people from california i talk more about what is happening there than what is going on here. it's not that nothing happens - trust me, my friend, things happen. things you can't even fathom. more things than you could shake a stick at. it's just that it feels like such an effort to explain my italian life when i feel like i will put myself out there only to be either a) misunderstood, or b) boring people, and when this whole semester has been so special and unbelievable and altering for me, it is hard to take that risk.

but it feels lately like i am becoming increasingly detached from my california life, which i guess is understandable but not super desirable. or am i supposed to be trying to cut myself off as much as possible in order to throw myself into this italy adventure with as much of myself as i can? but i already am throwing myself in more than almost everybody at my school, isn't that enough?

this whole thing is exhausting. the passing of halfway day, and the quiet time that i have this week due to nearly everybody but me being gone for spring break (oh, the trauma of being too damn smart for your own good) has given me a lot to think about. it is wonderful but also frustrating feeling so passionately in love with lives in two different parts of the world, and knowing that each one is amazing but lacking something, and that there is really no way to ever reconcile those two lives.

but what can you do? chuck it all and move to egypt and live some sort of swashbuckling romance, i guess. it's the only reasonable conclusion i can come to.


posted by from shannon at 5:56 AM