Being a lazy bum is perfectly acceptable

I'll miss this place! It's Piazza dell'Erbe, the Piazza with Gelart, aka THE BEST GELATO PLACE EVER (except for the banana gelato - for good banana you've got to go to Bagnaia, it's about a 20-30 minute bus ride out of Viterbo), an adorable yarn store, and a giant furry dog named Luna who I played with all afternoon.... cutest thing ever, she belongs to some shop owners in the Piazza and they let her hang out in front of the shop. I always loved her from far away, and then today I realized that I won't ever be able to pet her again after next week, so I put aside my inhibitions and went up to the shop and chatted with Luna's owner, and then started playing with Luna, and oh my gosh is she precious! So anyway, Piazza dell'Erbe is the place to be, especially on lazy summery days out with the buds, when gelato is absolutely necessary. Not that it isn't always necessary, but you know what I mean. More necessary than usual due to souring summer temperatures.

Check out my friend Deborah's xanga site, which chronicles her year here with marvelous insight and some absolutely spectacular pictures. Deborah's one of the nicest people I know, and every time I think I have her figured out she does something really spontaneous and goofy. She's going to Princeton next year! Congrats, congrats, Deborah!

I have been having a need to watch: Indiana Jones, and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Isn't my taste in movies stellar? I blame my brother, he's the one who got me hooked on 80s movies and Monty Python. This summer will welcome in a new era of my life, that is the era in which I rewatch every movie I've ever seen in my life, as part of the re-Americanizing process. It's a very important process, involving tater tots, banana splits, sleeping till noon, and Stargate. You know what I mean.

But no matter how much fun re-Americanization promises to be, I'm afraid I (a) will reintegrate way too easily and won't retain any of the Italian culture I've gained or (b) will rebel again American culture and sink into a well of depression because I miss Italy and my life here. It could happen! The kids here tell horror stories about the returning students at their home schools - a lot of them get depressed in their senior year back home, missing Italy or France or Spain or China, and just stop wanting to put effort into their American life. But I shan't be a downer - I'm going to miss Italy like no other, of course, but I'm gonna get back into everything at home, I'm going to try.

8 days left! Three tests and one paper down, one paper and one presentation to go.