September 16, 2011

September 16, 2011

Italian class today was SO much fun! First of all, I got an email the other day from Shutterfly with an offer for a free photobook. Of COURSE, I couldn’t pass it up so I tried to upload photos to the site at home, with the Internet from the Internet key. Of COURSE, the Internet was too slow and it took about an hour to upload just one photo (I had 225 that I wanted to upload) so I figured it was a lost cause and I would just have to give it up. However, I brought my computer to school today and decided I might as well try it out. I started the upload and it started uploading as fast or faster than they normally do at home so I was very excited! I made sure it was okay with my Italian teacher for me to leave my computer open on my desk so they could upload during class so I could make the book during break and after class. He was fine with it and they ended up uploading in less than half an hour! Then, over break, I was able to start sorting out which photos I wanted on which pages. The second half of Italian was the fun part! First, we were supposed to give a speech/talk for 3-5 minutes on a topic of our choosing. We were supposed to use past, present and future tenses and lots of adjectives. We were only allowed to have a few notes, not write out the whole thing. My talk was about Sonja and, because I had my computer, I even prepared a mini slideshow with photos of the two of us :) I am such a dork! Don’t be embarrassed, Sonja, the class loved it the most of all of them! And I mostly used photos of us from when we were little. It was a HIT! After our speeches, Umberto put in the movie Mr. Bean (which I remember watching in middle school) and we watched a segment. After the ten-minute segment, we learned verbs, nouns and adjectives that pertained to what happened in the scene. It was actually a lot of fun and a good way to learn new vocabulary. Plus, it was a good Friday activity.

After class, I had lunch in our classroom and worked more on my Shutterfly book (which, in case you are wondering, was for Summer 2011 photos). I finished it very quickly (I’ve become a pro) and ordered it! I won’t actually get to see it until I get home but it was free and it was just too good of a deal. Besides, I will try and Skype with my family and they can show it to me :) After I finished my book, I went out into the city to hunt down Via Laura (“via” translates to “street”) and take a photo for my mom. It was nice to be outside for a little while even though it was still ridiculously hot. I found it without getting lost (woohoo!), took a photo or two, and wandered back toward school. When I got back, I Skyped with my mom again to tell her my plans for LONDON over fall break! I guess I forgot to mention that Franzi and I have officially booked our flights to go to London! Franzi has never been before and I love so much so it seemed like the best choice. Yes, they do speak English, which was definitely a factor for us. It’s supposed to be a BREAK, right?! :) We are just going for four nights but I think that will be best. Then we also have both weekends to just spend with our host family in Florence and actually sleep in, relax and get some things done. We’re very excited :) I talked for my mom for a bit and then to my dad for a very little bit (he was trying to figure out Skype on his new laptop). It’s nice to be able to stay in contact, at least for me. Here I told all of you I would blog once a month…I guess I blog a little more often than that, huh? ;) I really do love it though!

After a little more time of utilizing the school’s faster Internet and air-conditioning, Franzi and I caught the bus home, stopping at the Gelaterria di Medici for some Crema de Medici, of course. You need to end your week off right and that means with gelato. So, of course, we can’t refuse that! When we got home, I worked on my blog for a little bit and then did some Italian homework before dinner. Our train for Verona leaves tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. sharp so we need to go to bed very early tonight. After dinner, I’m going to post this and go straight to bed. Hopefully that will all work out. Also, we shouldn’t get back really late but, if we do or if I am really tired from waking up so early, I may not post Saturday’s blog until Sunday. Just so you know :) Okay, back to Italian homework. More after dinner, as usual :)

I knew we were having pesto about two hours before dinner, it smelled so wonderful! We began dinner with spaghetti noodles with basil pesto. Because I almost always have seconds on pasta, Andrea just gave me about three servings to start with. I ate it all with pleasure :) For our main dish, had eggplant parmesan, which we’d eaten with Daniella’s friend the second dinner and I LOVED. I was so happy to enjoy it another time and hope to do so again and learn to cook it as well! We also had fennel, a vegetable that smells like black licorice and is supposed to be good for your stomach apparently. If it’s going to keep me healthy in some way or another, I’ll eat it! For dessert we had fresh grapes and wine from Southern Italy from the town in which Daniella and Andrea have their second home or cottage. I had a small glass of it and it had a very strong taste (Dad, I think you would have liked it) but I didn’t mind it too much with the sweet taste of the grapes. Now that dinner is over, I’m finishing up this blog, posting it and it’s off to bed for me!  

BY THE WAY! We were given a sign up sheet this morning asking whether or not we would be interested in free tickets to a concert by Wayne Marshall and the Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino featuring music by Gershwin and Bernstein. I, of course, jumped at the opportunity and am VERY excited to attend on September 28!! That’s all :)

Buona Notte a Tutti!

Kari

My adventure to Via Laura-I FOUND IT!