so this weekend was pretty eventful!
on friday, some friends and i took a day trip to verona. long story short, verona is absolutely gorgeous but a little boring. we went to the old roman arena, which is enormous. while we were there, a crew was busy constructing the set for an opera. i moved really slowly inside the arena, because the gigantic stone steps seemed to be enameled or something, and i was sure i'd slip and fall to my doom. after the arena we ate in a little ristorante away from the tourist attractions, and then went to il castelvecchio (the old castle). the museum part of the castle didn't really hold my attention, but the view from the battlements was unbelievable! you could see all of verona and up into the mountains. unfortunately, we did NOT make it to the house and courtyard of juliet, which saddens me greatly.
saturday i spent most of the morning wandering through the open-air markets, but i didn't really buy anything. in the evening i went to venice again to meet some italian friends, and we went to a discoteca! it was REALLY fun, but the music was a little outdated haha. when the club finally closed, it was too late to catch a train back to padova, so i took the bus. the bus ride itself was fine, but the bus station in padova is in a really sketchy part of the neighborhood so i plan to avoid it from now on.
yesterday we went to the beach on the island of lido again. :) i would definitely enjoy going every weekend, i won't lie. i was really fortunate yesterday too, because i fell asleep on the beach and still didn't get sunburned.

as far as school goes (you know, the reason i'm here and all) i have SO MUCH WORK. it takes hours to do it at night. i'm definitely improving, but i didn't expect such an intensity. also, having italian friends who don't speak any english is really helping me learn the language.

well i think i'm going to go make some phone calls and finish uploading some photos. more later! :)

photos of venice and a couple in padova

i was finally able to upload my venice pictures from the first little trip there! let me just say though, i was in san marco yesterday (part of venice) and it was like fifty times more beautiful and intricate than what i'm showing in this post. i didn't take pictures of it because i was with some italian friends and i didn't want to seem too touristy, but i'll go back and spend some time taking photos later.

venezia:














other:

crowd waiting to see alberto benigni in il prato della valle


there he is!






old amphitheater


real mini!


sky and i with our heart-shaped pizzas

i feel like i'm finally starting to fall into this italian groove. this morning i shopped in a couple of the open-air markets speaking with the locals, then ordered a cappuccino with cocoa powder at the bar like a pro, then managed to get to school without almost getting hit by a bike/car/motorcycle (a harder feat than you might think).
yesterday the ladies from the residence hall and i went to a local bar for spritz night. a spritz is THE drink in the veneto area, consisting of seltzer water, flavored liquor (your choice), and prosecco white wine (which is EXCELLENT, if you find it, BUY IT). at most of the bars here you have to drink standing outside, which is definitely different than in the states. wednesday nights are the biggest "party" nights, and absolutely everyone is in the streets until late.

in other news, i am STILL SICK and it's driving me insane.

i also have a new italian cell phone! if anything i can text everybody obsessively, because my first text of the day is 19 cents and the rest are free.

the plan for the weekend (which starts now by the way) is to go to venice tonight to meet some friends, chill out in padova friday, maybe verona saturday, and the beach again on sunday.

how awesome is my life?

okay. i FINALLY have a good chunk of time to catch up.

first of all, there were two crazy events i witnessed involving native padovans.
the first was the graduation ceremonies of the university students. the person that has graduated has to dress up in something crazy that their family picked out and read a poster about themselves that their family wrote, and if they mess up in their reading, the family throws things at them (which sometimes includes flour, ketchup, and mustard). basically the new graduate gets hilariously humiliated as a congratulations. this tradition is found only here in padova and in bologna.
the second event occurred when i was on my way to a performance in a nearby piazza. as i was walking under the clock tower, i saw a girl sitting over a guy on the steps. i started to hear police sirens, and the guy on the steps stood up and he was COVERED in blood all on one side and white as a ghost. his girlfriend had blood on her hands too. a police car and an ambulance showed up and the guy and the girl went up to them, and as i tried to distance myself from the scene i saw the girl explaining to the police what happened and making a stabbing gesture with her hand. did i see a victim of a stabbing? oooooh my god.

in other news, on sunday i went to the island of lido off of venice for a beach trip! my friends and i took a train to venice, which was really easy, and then caught a series of vaporetti (like taxi boats) to get to lido, which would have been easier if the boats would have just gone where they said they were going. the boat trips were nice though because we got a nice view of venice from the main canal (there will be pictures soon!). we did eventually get to lido, which is a BEAUTIFUL beachy island with extremely few tourists. we were definitely the only americans on the beach. a lot of people came to talk to us, either to flirt with us american girls (how exotic) or simply practice their english. we made a couple friends there who were native italians, which was pretty exciting.

we soon returned to padova, exhausted and sunburned, and our new friends called us and said they were coming to padova to watch the soccer game! it was italy vs. spain, and kind of a big deal. we went to il prato della valle, where hundreds of people were standing in the piazza watching the game on a huge screen. it was SO much fun, although unfortunately italy lost. :(

yesterday classes started, and it looks like they're going to be VERY challenging but enjoyable. i have a LOT of homework every night, oh dear. the teachers are all the greatest people ever though.

last night out of nowhere i heard that roberto benigni was coming to perform for free in il prato della valle! he was the star actor in the film la vita è bella, which is called life is beautiful in america. i LOVED that movie, so i went to see him! it was really crowded and REALLY hot, but it was so exciting to see him in the flesh (and for free). he was really funny, although i mostly enjoyed his body language since i couldn't always understand him enough to get his jokes.

i think i'll stop there for now, i might go do a bit of shopping in town. speaking of, the times the stores are open here are really confusing. most stores are closed between about 12:30 and 2:30 for a lunch break, and they all close around dinner time. although, dinner time in italy is around 9pm! shops are usually only open for a couple hours on the weekends, and nothing is open on sunday at all.

fashion note: in italy, it is COMPLETELY normal to wear the same color shirt as your pants. even if your pants are orange. even if your shirt is pink! i saw a MAN wearing orange pants with the same color orange shirt. che strano.

so i had an incredibly exciting weekend!

on saturday, we all got to go on a bus tour of the city of padova, which was really interesting. i didn't realize how big the city actually was! there's a lot of fantastic roman architecture, new, beautiful museums, cobblestone roads and cute cafes everywhere among other things. there's even a september 11th memorial here, which includes an actual piece of the wreckage.
after the tour, i got to look inside the basilica of saint anthony, which was a powerful experience. the art and architecture in the basilica was mind-blowingly beautiful and intricate. i got to put my hands against saint anthony's tomb and pray, and i saw his relics, which included his cloak, tongue, vocal chords and JAW. it was intense.

i'm getting kicked out of the classroom now, so i'll continue tomorrow! ciao!

some pictures!

the sunset looking out over canada and the arctic circle


the ALPS outside my plane window


my roommate sky and i on the first day


typical-looking road in padova


a zodiac clock in la piazza dei signori! it's missing the libra sign, because the artist wasn't paid so he left out the symbol for justice




l'orologio (the clock) at night


a bridge in il prato della valle (the field of the honored)


i got owned by a pizza




a roman bridge! there are actually three arches, but they built a house over one of them


piccioni! (pidgeons)


allegra and i


abandoned pizza shop




the architecture here is pretty incredible




saint anthony's basilica

finally here!

hello everybody! sorry for the delay, internet is MUCH harder to find here in padova than anywhere in the US. i don't have much time at the moment because i'm using a classroom computer, but i just wanted to let everyone know that i actually made it here safely and that i LOVE it here. i will have lots of time on monday to spend on the internet, so i will start detailing my experience then and post some pictures! for now, suffice it to say that the people here are incredibly polite, friendly, attractive, slender, and well dressed, and the city is old-fashioned, incredibly beautiful, and full of exciting shops, museums, and restaurants. oh and did i mention the incredible FOOD? oh my goodness...

oh and tomorrow i'm probably going to lido, an island off of venice, to enjoy the beach. :)

a domani!