uno giorno in una barca

thats right, venice. we successfully made it around the ctiy, which i had no idea was so enormous, on a boatbus. it was truly amazing

to see a normal city, but with boats. we saw police boats, ambulance boats, and of course, gondola boats. there really arent enough words to describe it, just check out these pics. dont worry, i have plenty more, but they take forever to upload and i have to wake up for school tomorrow. cool.

everything here has been going pretty great. this week, my class took a trip to germany for 10 days, but i stayed home to study. so i move around from class to class following the italian teacher with my learning italian books for first graders. trust me, their harder than they sound. i can usually understand a conversation, but when asked a question, i freeze up and forget everything. but i've found a few friends who talk with me, forcing me to get comfortable with talking.

instead of getting my tounge peirced, i've decided to just get a tatoo instead. because peircings are temporary, tatoos are for life.

just kidding, i need to learn how to ask if the paints and needles are sanitary or if i'm going to get hep c first.

sike, again.

love

megan

buon compleanno a me!

let me just tell you about this cake. a halo of cream puffs drizzled with chocolate, crowning a layer of whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, and chocolate ice cream, stabilized by the solid gold that is cake. its genius.

as you can tell by my face, my birthday was a memorable one. thanks to everyone for their greeting and cards, it made things a little more like home. not that i even miss it or anything. but i went to school and bribed my classmates to hang out with me when i gave them some sandwiches and coke. then it was off to treviso for some lunch and exploring. yet another beautiful city of italy. i met gios two daughters, frederika and carolina. they were both so nice, and from what i could understand of the conversation, they probably liked me too.

in the evening, we went to the american air base which is east of where we live to eat chicken, the only thing that americans truly love. we met some of gio and cris friends, but didnt eat until 11, so as you can guess, i was pretty wiped. my brain stopped processing any italian, but i totally annihilated that bird.

tonight i'm headed to a punk concert in front of the church on the square, called the duomo with my friends guilia and chiara. dont be surprised if i only wear black nail polish and have my tounge peirced when i get back.

back to school, back to school

this week has been full of meeting new people and not understanding them. there are 11 other kids in my class, only one being male. bummer, i know. but i made some friends, of course, and can understand everyone if they talk slowly. however, the chances of a group of 12 kids sitting in a tiny room and spending time to try to talk with me about my hobbies, habits, and overall ideas about life is pretty slim. they're all...crazy. at least it sounds like it because i cant understand anything and the bell to begin class doesnt mean anything. teachers walk in 10 minutes, half and hour, or an hour late, leaving me to show off my 30 gigabyte ipod in this world of mini and nano everything. luckily, smiling is a universal gesture, and i have definitely been relying on it heavily.

the weekend before school, we went to a beach about 45 minutes away. We ate, practiced our frisbee skills, and I, once again, got caught asleep on film. We were going through the pictures that Gio took and lo and behold, my wrinkled sleep face comes up with my "Beginners Guide to Italian" on my lap. Needless to say, we've crossed more social boundaries in a week than most do in a lifetime.

I must correct my statement in the previous post that there are "dont stop" signs. Even though they were really "no parking" signs, that doesnt change the fact that all of the signs are "not rules, just guidelines."

What a country.

let me take your picture with my camera phone

the view from the porch and a nearby lake with gio

TaDa

so. already, i know this was the best decision of my life. cristina buys me candy, gio gives me a bike that is named freestyle. italy and i are meant to be. i've eaten spaghetti and been to the post office, i've seen the churches and read the newspaper. things are definitely different. instead of stop signs, they have "dont stop" signs. the cars are small and fast and reckless. cri says they only have accidents at night when the men are drunk. i am located in the middle of downtown vittorio veneto eating all the gelato you can imagine. if i get fat, its going to be so worth it. every day has been incredibly busy, so i havent had much time to miss you all, but i do very much. hope all is well.

ciaociao