oops

my computer is really broken so this blog may have to take a long break. its raining too much in rome. my parents are here! i went to naples, ate pizza, and came back. schools over soon. im going to travel lots of places for the two weeks after school is over. im also going to london again for 5 days. aaaaand im coming home on dec 25!

la cena americana

Here are some pictures of the grilled cheese and tomato soup dinner we made for the french boys.

abbey, kristin, phillippe, me, meg, patrick and Thomas after dinner

the same, with Matteus ( a nice italian!)

washing dishes

ive basically just been doing schoolwork and sleeping. not too many exciting things to report. its been raining a lot and my shoes are all really wet and smelly.  This weekend I went dancing again which was really fun and went to Porta Portese and bought a really colorful sweater that sort of looks like my paintings. My parents and brother are coming to visit in one week and i'm super excited!

balliamo molto!

MOST IMPORTANT: I'M SO HAPPY THAT OBAMA WON! THE ENTIRE WORLD IS SO HAPPY THAT OBAMA WON. I no longer feel slightly ashamed claiming my nationality while abroad. 

This weekend was really really fun. I still, in general, don't love Rome that much but meeting other foreigners here makes everything  more exciting.  On Saturday Meg and Patrick and I met up with Phillippe and Thomas, 2 french guys from Provence, that I was in touch with through couchsurfing. Phillippe and Thomas are so much fun and they made fun of our wine and we went to a really great bar and met some people dancing to Oasis outside the Vatican at 4 am. 

Last night we met up with Thomas and Phillippe again and some of the people who danced in front of the Vatican. We went to the same really great bar and then went to a dance club called Rialosantambrogio. It was a huge warehouse-type building with good electronic music and video installations of people putting hot peppers in butts  and it was advertised as "amica della queer" or "friend of the queer."  We danced until 4am then went to the 24 hour bakery and got Pizza Rossa for breakfast and went to bed. 

Today the opera singer Andrea Bocelli  performed for free in Piazza del Popolo so Meg and I went and it was packed with people and was sooooo Italian but I really liked it. Seeing Andrea Bocelli in ROME!!  wonderful. 

my italian is getting a little better. 

probably other exciting stuff happened as well but i forget and now this weekend has made me really tired and happier.

Io sono malata per 2 giorni

blegh. i'm sick and it's raining and Rome is depressing lately. 

On sunday i tried to go to a mall with some friends in attempts to buy cheap clothes but some trenitalia employee misinformed us and we ended up going to Tivoli instead where Hadrian's villa is. Tivoli was a stupid town. Everything was closed and there weren't very many things there. We did see a place where lots of homeless people hang out and an otter and a footbridge and some people that looked like they were trashy philadelphians. then we went back to Rome. 

I'm getting anxious to leave this city! The people all seem so miserable here. I think my general decision about Rome is that it is a good city to visit but not to live in. I spent a lot of time during my sick day re-reading some Rome guidebooks trying to find some places that i haven't walked around yet and I'm going to to try to go to those places by myself when I feel better.

My parents and brother are coming to visit soon and I'm excited. and i hope everyone voted for obama! my roommates and i have been watching msnbc.com all day and crossing our fingers!

qual que volta mi piace Roma un peu

Being back in Rome is slightly depressing because it has been raining a lot everyday and the people are still unfriendly and Rome is not Istanbul.  Right now there is some political unrest in italy because the government is trying to privatize public education and cut lots and lots of funding to public schools. There have been massive protests or manifestazioni but most of the people at them sit on the ground in nice clothes and smoke cigarettes. Walking around piazza del popolo and down via del corso the other day was nearly impossible because of all the protesters. 

Last night I braved the rain and went out dancing with some friends at Circolo degli Artisti (circle of artists) it was lots of fun and some people dressed up for halloween. They played weirdo american music but there were not too many americans there. Today is a holiday (all souls day) so everything is closed. 

I'm a little sad to be away from the United States now after watching youtube videos of what Philly looked like after the Phillies won. I don't even care about sports really but I feel like I missed something important. Plus it would have been exciting to see a bonfire in the middle of broad street. 

Also being abroad for the election is kind of odd. The whole world is obsessed with who is going to win this election. Everytime I admit to being American while I'm here I am immediately asked if I voted for Obama or McCain. Sometimes I get extra apples from the apple vendor for answering Obama.