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 it was REALLY fun, but the music was a little outdated haha.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! :)