Strada

So my time in Italy thus far has proven beyond doubt what I've always suspected. I have exceptionally low tolerance for alcohol. I must be some strange variety of human, because the first sips go straight to my head and even one glass makes me feel pretty tipsy. My host brother has evidently taken it upon himself to teach me the different varieties of wine, so last night at dinner we had Chianti. It was a really fancy dinner because both Marco's girlfriend Marta and her brother Mateo were there. Mateo looks EXACTLY like Charming from Shrek 2 wavy hair and all, which was really really distracting all through dinner. Anyway, I finished my first glass of wine quickly because I figured it was best to get it over with. However Marco then proposed a toast, and refilled my glass, as you apparently cannot toast without a full glass. I slowly made my way through that one, as I felt it would be rude not to finish it. At this point I was having trouble concentrating on what everyone was saying and kept zoning out, staring at Charming. I think I must really have weirded out Mateo... The instant I finally painfully finished the glass, Marco whisked it away and filled it again. Armida must have noticed that I was completely out of it, because she scolded him. His response was "-Italian, Italian- Chianti!" I did not finish the third glass. I downed as much as I could as slowly as I could, but lesson learned: never, EVER finish your first glass. EVER.

Yesterday I went to the market in Viterbo with Kate. It is an awesome market! Mostly it's just got undergarments, but there are a lot of cool, cheap shoes. Kate and I have decided to not buy any shoes all year, and then reward ourselves for our sacrifice by having a major splurge right before we go home. While in theory that's a great plan, I have major self-restraint issues when I see shoes, so I don't know if I can make it. Anyway, we got some fruit and ate it sitting next to one of the many statues of Viterbo. Then we wandered about, and I got "La Fabbrica di Cioccolato" at a bookstore, with the excuse that it will help me learn Italian, but really because it has a picture of Johnny Depp on the front. Now it gets to sit next to my computer and be loved.

I have the news on as I'm writing. Apparently this is "Shit for America" weekend - the tv (pronounced t-vu or tele-vu) is playing classical music and showing picture after picture of the devastation in New Orleans, mixed with shots of the World Trade towers on 9/11. Watching the news on New Orleans in Italian and only getting the gist of what's happening is pretty intense. I can only imagine what it must have been like for the students four years ago, the first group to come to SYA Viterbo, to watch 9/11 unfold.

Not just back in the US are things tense, though. My host cousin here has cancer. It's so strange to think that when my family agreed to host a student he was fine, and now, only a few months later I'm here and he's dying. To suddenly be part of all this is so huge. I've come from a family with not many problems and a country I know to a strange place where I don't speak the language and am part of a family facing a massive crisis. There's a steady flow of people coming in and out of the house; as far as I can tell Luca is coming to live here at the house with his girlfriend who already lives on the second floor. No one is really telling me much but I hear his name in almost every sentence, and my host mother will go walking by with blankets and stuff and say -Italian, Italian- Luca -Italian- before going downstairs to Marika's floor.

The door at the bottom of the stairs is closed and there are lots of voices behind it. My laundry is down there but I'm scared to get it because I honestly have no idea what's going on. So I'm here in my room, procrastinating on my homework and poking my head out the door every once and a while to see if the voices have died down yet.

For Italian class my homework is to interview a member of my host family. However this seems a bit awkward right now. "Hi, Armida, I know your nephew's dying two floors below us, but what's your favorite color?"

Tomorrow real classes start for me finally. I'm signed up for 8 classes right now, Latin, Greek, Italian, English, Pre-calc, Art History and Ancient History, as well as the second semester class taught entirely in Italian, Italian Civilization. I may drop Art History, however, in favor of Sanskrit... but it's a tough decision! How can I not take Art History when in Italy? But still, that's a class I can take back home, whereas I can't take Sanskrit at Westridge. I guess I'll just start Art History and see how I like it, then switch to Sanskrit if I drop the class. Decisions, decisions!