i'm home. and at my new apartment. and life is good.
i hung out with an old friend the other night, and was telling him about all the ridiculous stuff that happened this summer. it really was a crazy summer!! thinking back, everything that happened was just taken as it came, and dealt with accordingly. i didnt think too much about any of it. but crazy things happened. and are still happening.
God is constantly showing me how faithful He is, and how He will never ever leave my side, and how He has a purpose in everything. even though some of the stuff that happened this summer and even last semester were really horrible, i feel like God has really used them for His glory. some of the positive outcomes of those things, i havent seen. i may never see. and some of the positive outcomes, i'm just praying for in the future. but i have faith. i have an incredible faith in God fulfilling what He promises. i want to explore those promises more. i want to build relationships more. i want to get my school work done and be productive. i want to love jesus with all my heart and soul and mind and strength. i want to praise him in everything. i want to bring him all the glory and take it away from myself.
i have been blessed with a second chance with a good friend of mine. maybe more like a third or fourth chance. despite the number, God continues to be faithful. why do i deserve another chance? easy.. i dont. but God is full of grace and mercy and love and provides me with that. how great is our God!! i will not squander this opportunity. i pray that God would put my emotions where they should be and my heart where it should be. Jesus is my King!! can life get any better? i submit that it cannot!!
Praise Jesus, for He is Holy.
im listening to the sound track for high school musical, because it is pretty much amazing. {[and just a side note, for all you hsm lovers... the director and choreographer for high school musical (1 and 2) is kenny ortega... who also directed... dun dun dunnnn... NEWSIES!!! heck yes. i about peed myself when i realized it was the same person. no wonder i love them both!]} anyway. the song "get'cha head in the game" theres a part that says "my head's in the game but my heart's in the song" and i was thinking about church this past sunday. andy stanley talked about the verse that says "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." in that song, the main character troy is saying he should be focusing on basketball but is thinking more about singing. its kind of a stretch, but work with me. especially if you love high school musical, stick with me for just a little longer. he's saying his head is on basketball (what it "should" be focused on... aka, jesus for us) but his heart is on singing (what it "shouldn't" be focused on). so for us... jesus and whatever else distracts us. i dont know... it makes sense in my head. pretend you know what im talking about. if you love something so much that your heart is on that, it will be your treasure. i want my treasure to be jesus. i want my head AND my heart to be on Jesus. i'm going to pray about that and work on it. good thing jesus is faithful and will help, because i'm pretty pathetic. :-P
i love all of you. praise jesus. he really is worth it!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Sunday, July 22, 2007
sweet sweet fans
http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=697221185114656221/l=287068738/g=99942123/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
that's the link to the second album of pictures on my snapfish account!! sign in to look at them!
hopefully i will have more up soon. also, the first album now has captions on the pictures, so if you already looked at them but wondered what some of the stuff was... check it out again. :)
it is now sunday at 6:30 pm and i am getting closer and closer to my final critique. that happens on this tuesday... as in, 2 days from now. scary. i have a lot of finished pieces, but a lot that are not done yet, and others that have not even really been started. tomorrow is going to be all work, all day. it should be fun. :-P
this weekend has been good... very relaxing. friday i slept in til about 12:30 and then showered and got ready to go. on my way to school, i hit up some stores (some as in, a lot.. it was fun!) and finally made it to campus at about 4:30. i was here til late that night, but did barely anything. i was online for a long time and it was super fun!
saturday i got up at about 10:30 and made it to campus around noon. i worked all day long and got a lot done. i got online to talk to jonathan at about 8, and stayed on til about 9. when i left campus, i went to some of the girls' apartment from my group and ate mexican with them. it was lots of fun... they are all so crazy! after that, two of the girls shandra and summer, and a guy we met from california who goes to our school, named josh, walked me home. all my roommates were gone last night so i had my whole apartment to myself! it was pretty superb!
i stayed up late reading magazines and just hanging out, and slept in late today. i love sundays... it was so great to not have to get up and to just lay in bed with a fan on me for hours. :)
i finally made it down to campus and got online for a while and searched for some hotels for jonathan for when he's in florence!! woooo he's coming in three days!! :-D that search was quite successful, and i'm super excited about sharing what i found with him online later tonight. after i was online for a little while, i went with carly to get some food and we both bought really cute bags on the way. (mom, it was the one you kept looking at for josie... i found them for only 10 euro! do you want one??) we ate delicious pizza with mozzarella cheese and tomatoes! mmmm!
now i'm back at school doing nothing and pretty much being lazy. in two weeks i will be at home and in 3 i will be in my apartment! and in four, school starts... weirrrrd. anyway.. not much has been happening here, except that its freaking ridiculously hot. 38 degrees celsius is equal to 100 degrees fahrenheit, and it has been at least 39 all week. gross. it is SO hot. i cant even be in my apartment without sweating profusely. but then again, we all know i sweat like a man. :)
ok folks, check out my new pictures, and i will talk to you laterrrrr. ciao!!
that's the link to the second album of pictures on my snapfish account!! sign in to look at them!
hopefully i will have more up soon. also, the first album now has captions on the pictures, so if you already looked at them but wondered what some of the stuff was... check it out again. :)
it is now sunday at 6:30 pm and i am getting closer and closer to my final critique. that happens on this tuesday... as in, 2 days from now. scary. i have a lot of finished pieces, but a lot that are not done yet, and others that have not even really been started. tomorrow is going to be all work, all day. it should be fun. :-P
this weekend has been good... very relaxing. friday i slept in til about 12:30 and then showered and got ready to go. on my way to school, i hit up some stores (some as in, a lot.. it was fun!) and finally made it to campus at about 4:30. i was here til late that night, but did barely anything. i was online for a long time and it was super fun!
saturday i got up at about 10:30 and made it to campus around noon. i worked all day long and got a lot done. i got online to talk to jonathan at about 8, and stayed on til about 9. when i left campus, i went to some of the girls' apartment from my group and ate mexican with them. it was lots of fun... they are all so crazy! after that, two of the girls shandra and summer, and a guy we met from california who goes to our school, named josh, walked me home. all my roommates were gone last night so i had my whole apartment to myself! it was pretty superb!
i stayed up late reading magazines and just hanging out, and slept in late today. i love sundays... it was so great to not have to get up and to just lay in bed with a fan on me for hours. :)
i finally made it down to campus and got online for a while and searched for some hotels for jonathan for when he's in florence!! woooo he's coming in three days!! :-D that search was quite successful, and i'm super excited about sharing what i found with him online later tonight. after i was online for a little while, i went with carly to get some food and we both bought really cute bags on the way. (mom, it was the one you kept looking at for josie... i found them for only 10 euro! do you want one??) we ate delicious pizza with mozzarella cheese and tomatoes! mmmm!
now i'm back at school doing nothing and pretty much being lazy. in two weeks i will be at home and in 3 i will be in my apartment! and in four, school starts... weirrrrd. anyway.. not much has been happening here, except that its freaking ridiculously hot. 38 degrees celsius is equal to 100 degrees fahrenheit, and it has been at least 39 all week. gross. it is SO hot. i cant even be in my apartment without sweating profusely. but then again, we all know i sweat like a man. :)
ok folks, check out my new pictures, and i will talk to you laterrrrr. ciao!!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
fake meat never tasted so sweet
man.. when they said italy is hot, they mean HOT. i have no idea what temperature it has been here the past week or so, but i know that the moment i get within about 20 feet of outside, i start sweating like a man. it's ridiculous. thankfully, the night has been pretty cool, so we still get a nice breeze through our bedroom window all night long.
the weekend was good... nice and relaxing. it prepared me with rest for the week ahead. it has been a loooong week. monday we got to the studio at 9 and went outside to draw for a good 2 hours. because we're working with light sensitive materials, and we were trying to expose them, we sat in the sun for at least an hour. in direct sunlight, in the middle of a piazza. it was SO HOT. i've never been so hot from just sitting. i was really sweaty. ew. then we taped paper around a column and started drawing a horse, and then we got yelled at and had to leave... haha. silly craig, always getting us into trouble. so we went back to the studio and worked. and worked. and worked. and worked. other than grabbing a quick sandwich for lunch and sitting at a restaurant for about 45 minutes for dinner, i was in the studio working my tail off all day long. i got there at 9 am, and left a little after 10 pm. me and andrea got back to our apartment a little before 11 and pretty much passed out.
tuesday morning we went to la specola, a museum nearby. all i have to say about the first 75% of that museum... really bad taxidermy. oh yes. taxidermy. we could see the stitches from the animals. and some of the skin didnt fit back on whatever the stuffing was, so there was like... a gap by the stitches. gross. but they had some pretty cool and pretty huge animals. the last few rooms of the museum were wax sculptures of the human body in all different forms. some of muscles, some of bones, some of organs, veins... all sorts of stuff. it was really cool. one of the statues looked like he had been castrated... eek! i went through that museum in about an hour (my shoes were killing me and i wanted to leave... haha) and afterwards headed to a fabric store with three other girls from my group. after that, me and andrea stopped at home and i took a mini nap. then i got the most delicious pistachio gelato EVER and headed to class. i decided to take a new way to campus and got a little lost, but it ended up being ok. i just found another place to shop. :)
tuesdays class was long and i was really tired and ended up leaving a little early. wednesday was an early class again and i was exhausted. oh and guess where i ate lunch. try and guess. you'll never figure it out.... dun dun dun... mc donalds!! oh yes. do i ever eat there at home?? thats a big negative. but here.. i just couldnt help myself! the mcdonalds are so fancy and they have artwork on the walls and i just had to try it. me and andrea both got big macs, fries, and milkshakes. man... it was delicious. im not even gonna lie.
then last night, me and andrea made dinner and then went to a world famous gelato shop with our roommates. it was soooo tasty! i got green apple (mele verde) and strawberry (fragole). mmmmm delicious!
today we went to the uffizi... a really famous renaissance art museum. it was WONDERFUL! i saw one of my favorite paintings... Venus of Urbina. look it up if you want, but keep in mind its renaissance art, which means the girl in the painting is nude. nude, not naked. it's art. and its beautiful! i also saw the shield with medusa's face on it by caravaggio. i got a postcard with that on it for sean... haha. it's great. i also saw a lot of stuff that i had studied in art history, which was really cool. some of the stuff was SO BIG and a lot of it was painted with tempera, which if you know anything about paint, is like... fingerpaint. its really cheap and not a very good quality. i dont know if their tempera paint back then was better or what, but yeah... it was really impressive. so many tiny details that you can only see when youre looking at the real painting up close. it was way cool.
this afternoon we had class again and i'm tired of working. we have monday for class and tuesday is our final critique. then class is over, but i still dont leave for another week and a half. crazy. i have a lot of work to do. a lot of my pieces are frustrating me and i dont know how to finish them. but hopefully i will be able to get that done this weekend... lottttts of time will be spent in the studio on saturday and sunday.
however... friday will not be a studio day. at least not the whole day. mine and andrea's roommates (erin and stephanie) invited us to go to the coast with them!! that pretty much means a beach!! i'm super excited!! i need a day to get away from working and chill out.
oh! i bought new shoes and two new dresses yesterday... it was swell. :) i love italian shopping!
ok... ive got more pictures online. again, i dont have all of them up, and a lot of what i just put on there is already on facebook, but there are a few different ones. one of my friends has her laptop here, so i'm going to get on that soon and try to put the rest of my pictures onto my harddrive, and then put the first ones from my harddrive onto my snapfish website. but in order to view someone elses pictures on snapfish, you have to make an account for yourself. i would suggest doing it, because one, you can see my pictures, and two if you ever need to put pictures online for some reason, its an easy way to do it. so click this link... http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=82881183903703154/l=278303824/g=99942123/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB ...and on the right side it says "wait! i don't have a snapfish account!" so click on that and make one real fast, and then go back and look at my pictures. if you want to wait, i am going to try to put captions on all the pictures so that you know what they are... haha. or if you are anxious, you can just look at them twice.
thats the bulk of whats happening... i have to go get some work done now so i can go to bed early tonight without worrying about all that i have to do. hopefully i will be able to update sometime again this weekend. i miss all you guys! talk to you soon!!
the weekend was good... nice and relaxing. it prepared me with rest for the week ahead. it has been a loooong week. monday we got to the studio at 9 and went outside to draw for a good 2 hours. because we're working with light sensitive materials, and we were trying to expose them, we sat in the sun for at least an hour. in direct sunlight, in the middle of a piazza. it was SO HOT. i've never been so hot from just sitting. i was really sweaty. ew. then we taped paper around a column and started drawing a horse, and then we got yelled at and had to leave... haha. silly craig, always getting us into trouble. so we went back to the studio and worked. and worked. and worked. and worked. other than grabbing a quick sandwich for lunch and sitting at a restaurant for about 45 minutes for dinner, i was in the studio working my tail off all day long. i got there at 9 am, and left a little after 10 pm. me and andrea got back to our apartment a little before 11 and pretty much passed out.
tuesday morning we went to la specola, a museum nearby. all i have to say about the first 75% of that museum... really bad taxidermy. oh yes. taxidermy. we could see the stitches from the animals. and some of the skin didnt fit back on whatever the stuffing was, so there was like... a gap by the stitches. gross. but they had some pretty cool and pretty huge animals. the last few rooms of the museum were wax sculptures of the human body in all different forms. some of muscles, some of bones, some of organs, veins... all sorts of stuff. it was really cool. one of the statues looked like he had been castrated... eek! i went through that museum in about an hour (my shoes were killing me and i wanted to leave... haha) and afterwards headed to a fabric store with three other girls from my group. after that, me and andrea stopped at home and i took a mini nap. then i got the most delicious pistachio gelato EVER and headed to class. i decided to take a new way to campus and got a little lost, but it ended up being ok. i just found another place to shop. :)
tuesdays class was long and i was really tired and ended up leaving a little early. wednesday was an early class again and i was exhausted. oh and guess where i ate lunch. try and guess. you'll never figure it out.... dun dun dun... mc donalds!! oh yes. do i ever eat there at home?? thats a big negative. but here.. i just couldnt help myself! the mcdonalds are so fancy and they have artwork on the walls and i just had to try it. me and andrea both got big macs, fries, and milkshakes. man... it was delicious. im not even gonna lie.
then last night, me and andrea made dinner and then went to a world famous gelato shop with our roommates. it was soooo tasty! i got green apple (mele verde) and strawberry (fragole). mmmmm delicious!
today we went to the uffizi... a really famous renaissance art museum. it was WONDERFUL! i saw one of my favorite paintings... Venus of Urbina. look it up if you want, but keep in mind its renaissance art, which means the girl in the painting is nude. nude, not naked. it's art. and its beautiful! i also saw the shield with medusa's face on it by caravaggio. i got a postcard with that on it for sean... haha. it's great. i also saw a lot of stuff that i had studied in art history, which was really cool. some of the stuff was SO BIG and a lot of it was painted with tempera, which if you know anything about paint, is like... fingerpaint. its really cheap and not a very good quality. i dont know if their tempera paint back then was better or what, but yeah... it was really impressive. so many tiny details that you can only see when youre looking at the real painting up close. it was way cool.
this afternoon we had class again and i'm tired of working. we have monday for class and tuesday is our final critique. then class is over, but i still dont leave for another week and a half. crazy. i have a lot of work to do. a lot of my pieces are frustrating me and i dont know how to finish them. but hopefully i will be able to get that done this weekend... lottttts of time will be spent in the studio on saturday and sunday.
however... friday will not be a studio day. at least not the whole day. mine and andrea's roommates (erin and stephanie) invited us to go to the coast with them!! that pretty much means a beach!! i'm super excited!! i need a day to get away from working and chill out.
oh! i bought new shoes and two new dresses yesterday... it was swell. :) i love italian shopping!
ok... ive got more pictures online. again, i dont have all of them up, and a lot of what i just put on there is already on facebook, but there are a few different ones. one of my friends has her laptop here, so i'm going to get on that soon and try to put the rest of my pictures onto my harddrive, and then put the first ones from my harddrive onto my snapfish website. but in order to view someone elses pictures on snapfish, you have to make an account for yourself. i would suggest doing it, because one, you can see my pictures, and two if you ever need to put pictures online for some reason, its an easy way to do it. so click this link... http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=82881183903703154/l=278303824/g=99942123/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB ...and on the right side it says "wait! i don't have a snapfish account!" so click on that and make one real fast, and then go back and look at my pictures. if you want to wait, i am going to try to put captions on all the pictures so that you know what they are... haha. or if you are anxious, you can just look at them twice.
thats the bulk of whats happening... i have to go get some work done now so i can go to bed early tonight without worrying about all that i have to do. hopefully i will be able to update sometime again this weekend. i miss all you guys! talk to you soon!!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
wooooooooo!!!
real quick update....
WE HAVE HOT WATER!!! and our fridge works!!
anddddd i move into my brand new apartment with my brand new awesome roommates on august 10th!! annnnnnd i'm excited! :)
andddd jonathan is coming here in ONE week. count it. ONE. that's seven days. heck yes.
ok folks... i seriously am covered in cyanotype chemicals (the ones that start yellow and turning blue in the sun... oh yes) and am using class time to be a slacker on the computer. oh yes. :) alright yall... peace out!
WE HAVE HOT WATER!!! and our fridge works!!
anddddd i move into my brand new apartment with my brand new awesome roommates on august 10th!! annnnnnd i'm excited! :)
andddd jonathan is coming here in ONE week. count it. ONE. that's seven days. heck yes.
ok folks... i seriously am covered in cyanotype chemicals (the ones that start yellow and turning blue in the sun... oh yes) and am using class time to be a slacker on the computer. oh yes. :) alright yall... peace out!
Sunday, July 15, 2007
i live in a cave with giant flies
oh man. italy never ceases to amaze me. so this weekend was weird.
friday night me and andrea stayed up past midnight, and we were very proud of ourselves. i've been such an old person when it comes to bed since i've been here. me and andrea both. we are rarely up past 12. however. saturday was a different story...
i got up at like 10:30 or so and me and andrea went shopping! we had a goooood time. :) REALLY good. our professor told us about this underground mall-like area by the train station. and lucky us, the train station happens to be about 2 blocks from our apartment! so we explored for a while and then found that and bought some shoes. saturdays are maaaajor sale days here. friday night stores were putting signs up that said 50% off. like almost every store. it was very exciting.so we shopped til about 2, but everything here closes are 2 until about 4 for their "afternoon siesta." pretty much, italians get breaks in the middle of the day to have lunch and take naps. its amazing. so we went back to our apartment at 2 and did nothing for a while and it was great. we met up with everyone at 7 at part of the groups apartment because it was jessica's birthday (one of the girls in our group here) and we were going to have a birthday dinner for her. so we got there at 7 and started cooking and whatnot, and jessica got there at about 8:30 and we just hung out and had a good time. jessica wanted to go dancing at a club, so we all decided to go with her, and if you got there before midnight, there was no cover charge. so we left at about 11:15 and went to a club called "Twice" that is behind the Duomo. my first italian club. let me just tell you. it was an interesting experience. we got there and NO ONE was dancing. seriously, no one. everyone was sitting and drinking. there were like 10 other girls there, maybe, and they were all just sitting between their italian stallions being judgmental and unfriendly. we were told by an italian cop that italian girls are very unfriendly and i now believe him. jessica and some of the other girls who had been drinking all night decided they were going to start dancing, just because they wanted to, and maybe other people would start if they were. and their plan didnt work at all, but they kept dancing and man.. those girls. they just looked very unpleasant. and the guys there... ew. they were just sitting there, drinking, and staring at the girls dancing. nasty guys. ew.
so pretty much, me and andrea and another girl in our group, lauren, were the lame ones who just sat around the whole time. i got asked to dance by some italian guy who was wearing a vest. and when i said no, he asked why. and when i said maybe later, he told me if i wanted to dance, he would be there. oh gee, thanks. you're just a creepy italian wearing a vest at a shady club, i would love to dance with you. just don't touch me. or look at me. or anything having to do with me at all. again, i say... ew.
so yeah, that was an experience. me and andrea left at about one.. thankfully she really is a lot more like me than i expected, and has been my close compadre during this whole trip. i am very thankful for that.
so today i got up at like 10:45 and went walking around town for a bit. i brought my sketchbook and was planning on plopping down somewhere and doing some drawings, but it was SO HOT. i have been attacked by mosquitoes all over my legs, so i have been wearing pants the past few days to avoid scratching them, and i was dying today. so i ended up just heading for school, and i found a place to buy sunglasses on the way. my search for sunglasses is never ceasing because i like the kind without the nose things, but its hard for me to wear those because they touch my eyelashes and it bothers me. but i found two pair at a stand today and bought them both and am very excited about them! so i eventually made my way to school and got online briefly and then got some work done in the studio. it is so nice to have a studio where i can work uninterrupted and not worry about being messy. and, biggest plus ever.... dun dun dunnnn... it's air conditioned!! probably one of the only places in all of florence! so i spent a few hours working today and finished some pieces, which i'm pretty excited about. then i made my way back home and made a delicious lunch of pasta with aglio, olio e peperocino spices, with some bread with olive oil and vinegar. and a cold coke from the gelateria that i live above. oh man... it was delicious. oh! and when i opened the windows in my living room, there was a big scary lizard on my shutters that was white and black and bumpy and gross. aka, windows closed at night for positive now. i cant imagine that thing in my room. plus, someone else had a scorpion in their bathroom yesterday. not at my apartment, but still. nasty.
so i took a nap this afternoon and it was glorious, except i was super hot. but then i finished my book and it was so good! it's called the singer trilogy, and it is "a mythic retelling of the story of the new testament." jonathan let me borrow it to read here and it was so good. all 488 pages! i read it in less than two weeks, it was that good! now i have to find another book to read.
but after that i took a shower, and it was the best shower i've had since i got here. we still don't have our hot water entirely fixed, but it is really hot for about a minute after you turn it on. so that was really nice to have hot water. it was the first time i actually stood entirely under the water since i've been here... haha. but then the water cooled down, but after the hot water, that felt really good. so it was a nice refreshing shower. i havent felt as clean as i do now since i left home 3 weeks ago!
me and andrea went to dinner tonight in an air conditioned restaurant (it was our only goal of the evening) and i had a big class of "coca cola" (they dont know what youre talking about if you just say coke) and it had a bunch of ice in it and man... it was delicious! so its almost 11 pm now, and i have class at 9 am and i still have some stuff to check online and the school closes soon so i must depart. however, know that i miss all of you, and that i am excited about coming home and seeing all of you! i will try to update again soon, probably in the middle of this week, once more exciting things have happened. i will talk to you soon!! ciao!
friday night me and andrea stayed up past midnight, and we were very proud of ourselves. i've been such an old person when it comes to bed since i've been here. me and andrea both. we are rarely up past 12. however. saturday was a different story...
i got up at like 10:30 or so and me and andrea went shopping! we had a goooood time. :) REALLY good. our professor told us about this underground mall-like area by the train station. and lucky us, the train station happens to be about 2 blocks from our apartment! so we explored for a while and then found that and bought some shoes. saturdays are maaaajor sale days here. friday night stores were putting signs up that said 50% off. like almost every store. it was very exciting.so we shopped til about 2, but everything here closes are 2 until about 4 for their "afternoon siesta." pretty much, italians get breaks in the middle of the day to have lunch and take naps. its amazing. so we went back to our apartment at 2 and did nothing for a while and it was great. we met up with everyone at 7 at part of the groups apartment because it was jessica's birthday (one of the girls in our group here) and we were going to have a birthday dinner for her. so we got there at 7 and started cooking and whatnot, and jessica got there at about 8:30 and we just hung out and had a good time. jessica wanted to go dancing at a club, so we all decided to go with her, and if you got there before midnight, there was no cover charge. so we left at about 11:15 and went to a club called "Twice" that is behind the Duomo. my first italian club. let me just tell you. it was an interesting experience. we got there and NO ONE was dancing. seriously, no one. everyone was sitting and drinking. there were like 10 other girls there, maybe, and they were all just sitting between their italian stallions being judgmental and unfriendly. we were told by an italian cop that italian girls are very unfriendly and i now believe him. jessica and some of the other girls who had been drinking all night decided they were going to start dancing, just because they wanted to, and maybe other people would start if they were. and their plan didnt work at all, but they kept dancing and man.. those girls. they just looked very unpleasant. and the guys there... ew. they were just sitting there, drinking, and staring at the girls dancing. nasty guys. ew.
so pretty much, me and andrea and another girl in our group, lauren, were the lame ones who just sat around the whole time. i got asked to dance by some italian guy who was wearing a vest. and when i said no, he asked why. and when i said maybe later, he told me if i wanted to dance, he would be there. oh gee, thanks. you're just a creepy italian wearing a vest at a shady club, i would love to dance with you. just don't touch me. or look at me. or anything having to do with me at all. again, i say... ew.
so yeah, that was an experience. me and andrea left at about one.. thankfully she really is a lot more like me than i expected, and has been my close compadre during this whole trip. i am very thankful for that.
so today i got up at like 10:45 and went walking around town for a bit. i brought my sketchbook and was planning on plopping down somewhere and doing some drawings, but it was SO HOT. i have been attacked by mosquitoes all over my legs, so i have been wearing pants the past few days to avoid scratching them, and i was dying today. so i ended up just heading for school, and i found a place to buy sunglasses on the way. my search for sunglasses is never ceasing because i like the kind without the nose things, but its hard for me to wear those because they touch my eyelashes and it bothers me. but i found two pair at a stand today and bought them both and am very excited about them! so i eventually made my way to school and got online briefly and then got some work done in the studio. it is so nice to have a studio where i can work uninterrupted and not worry about being messy. and, biggest plus ever.... dun dun dunnnn... it's air conditioned!! probably one of the only places in all of florence! so i spent a few hours working today and finished some pieces, which i'm pretty excited about. then i made my way back home and made a delicious lunch of pasta with aglio, olio e peperocino spices, with some bread with olive oil and vinegar. and a cold coke from the gelateria that i live above. oh man... it was delicious. oh! and when i opened the windows in my living room, there was a big scary lizard on my shutters that was white and black and bumpy and gross. aka, windows closed at night for positive now. i cant imagine that thing in my room. plus, someone else had a scorpion in their bathroom yesterday. not at my apartment, but still. nasty.
so i took a nap this afternoon and it was glorious, except i was super hot. but then i finished my book and it was so good! it's called the singer trilogy, and it is "a mythic retelling of the story of the new testament." jonathan let me borrow it to read here and it was so good. all 488 pages! i read it in less than two weeks, it was that good! now i have to find another book to read.
but after that i took a shower, and it was the best shower i've had since i got here. we still don't have our hot water entirely fixed, but it is really hot for about a minute after you turn it on. so that was really nice to have hot water. it was the first time i actually stood entirely under the water since i've been here... haha. but then the water cooled down, but after the hot water, that felt really good. so it was a nice refreshing shower. i havent felt as clean as i do now since i left home 3 weeks ago!
me and andrea went to dinner tonight in an air conditioned restaurant (it was our only goal of the evening) and i had a big class of "coca cola" (they dont know what youre talking about if you just say coke) and it had a bunch of ice in it and man... it was delicious! so its almost 11 pm now, and i have class at 9 am and i still have some stuff to check online and the school closes soon so i must depart. however, know that i miss all of you, and that i am excited about coming home and seeing all of you! i will try to update again soon, probably in the middle of this week, once more exciting things have happened. i will talk to you soon!! ciao!
Friday, July 13, 2007
oh america, how i love you...
it's funny how when we live what seems to be a mundane, normal life, we long for something exciting. for adventure. and then we get an opportunity to explore the world, and cross oceans, immerse ourselves in a different culture. so we take that opportunity. and then when we should be so excited about our amazing adventure... we miss home. the comforts of it. the simple things that we never realized we'd miss. music. our own room. a car. hot water.
don't get me wrong. italy is amazing and i am having an incredible experience here. but today we went to siena and a place near siena called san gimignano. i was on a bus for a long time. then walking for a long time. then on a bus, more walking, and more bus. people here drive like crazy fools, even worse than atlanta. and on a mountains curvy and bumpy roads, that isnt too nice for motion sickness. or sleeping. it was a long day, and almost seemed a waste. we saw some cool things and got some good pictures, but the experience with the bus and the walking was not entirely worth it. i hope that's not how i feel at the end of the trip. i'm trying to be positive, and i believe it has worked thus far. i have dreamed of coming to italy for years, and i am finally here-- i don't want to be sad or frustrated about it. this place takes patience-- i have said that again and again. and thank goodness the Lord was teaching me patience before i even began this trip. it has really helped to already have a foothold in that. i want to treat everything as an experience, what may later be a good story, as frustrating as it may have been.
but in all that, knowing what i know and feeling how i feel, i go back to one thing and one thing only. God. My Savior. It is because of Him that I am here right now. With these people, at my apartment with my cold water and broken fridge. In my art class with the professors and the students and the staff of the school. The pictures I've taken, the drawings I've done, the work I've produced. Everything. All of it. 100%. That comforts me. So much. I know He will use it for His glory, which is all I desire.
Please pray for me. I am a bit homesick, but I don't want to be distracted by that. I also don't want to ignore it. I want to work with it and use it. Pray for my roommates and for my friends here. Pray for my friends and family that I miss at home.
That really is all I have for now. I'm going to bed soon, cause me and Andrea are awesome and go to bed early when other people are out partying. It has been such a blessing having her as my roommate... we are a lot more alike that I thought, and it comforts me and makes me happy. :) I miss all of you back home! See you in 3 weeks!
don't get me wrong. italy is amazing and i am having an incredible experience here. but today we went to siena and a place near siena called san gimignano. i was on a bus for a long time. then walking for a long time. then on a bus, more walking, and more bus. people here drive like crazy fools, even worse than atlanta. and on a mountains curvy and bumpy roads, that isnt too nice for motion sickness. or sleeping. it was a long day, and almost seemed a waste. we saw some cool things and got some good pictures, but the experience with the bus and the walking was not entirely worth it. i hope that's not how i feel at the end of the trip. i'm trying to be positive, and i believe it has worked thus far. i have dreamed of coming to italy for years, and i am finally here-- i don't want to be sad or frustrated about it. this place takes patience-- i have said that again and again. and thank goodness the Lord was teaching me patience before i even began this trip. it has really helped to already have a foothold in that. i want to treat everything as an experience, what may later be a good story, as frustrating as it may have been.
but in all that, knowing what i know and feeling how i feel, i go back to one thing and one thing only. God. My Savior. It is because of Him that I am here right now. With these people, at my apartment with my cold water and broken fridge. In my art class with the professors and the students and the staff of the school. The pictures I've taken, the drawings I've done, the work I've produced. Everything. All of it. 100%. That comforts me. So much. I know He will use it for His glory, which is all I desire.
Please pray for me. I am a bit homesick, but I don't want to be distracted by that. I also don't want to ignore it. I want to work with it and use it. Pray for my roommates and for my friends here. Pray for my friends and family that I miss at home.
That really is all I have for now. I'm going to bed soon, cause me and Andrea are awesome and go to bed early when other people are out partying. It has been such a blessing having her as my roommate... we are a lot more alike that I thought, and it comforts me and makes me happy. :) I miss all of you back home! See you in 3 weeks!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
pictures, chemicals, aprons, and italia!! :)
Ok, people. I put some of my pictures of my apartment and the surrounding area on my facebook account. And somehow, they gave me a web address where everyone can view them, even if you don't have a facebook account. So that is my new plan on how to share pictures. I am going to work on getting the last chunk of them on there soon, but they will probably go up backwards, so just work with me. My portable hard drive still isn't working on the computer, so my professor said he would help me figure it out tomorrow, and if that doesn't work, I am going to go to an internet cafe and take them off my hard drive and put them on facebook, then I will put captions on them when I get back to campus. Here is the link-- check it out!
http://gsu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2089249&l=9cd76&id=22605407
My class is wonderful-- I love it! We are doing stuff with cyanotype. What we did is we mixed chemicals with water into two different solutions. Then we mixed the two together in small doses, and paint them onto a piece of paper. When the two chemicals mix, they are light sensitive, so they have to dry in a dark room overnight. Then the next day, we gathered all sorts of stuff, mostly pictures that we got on the computer or made copies of drawings and stuff, and made them all black and white. It has nothing to do with colored pictures- it is all about being transparent or opaque. Then we coat the paper with the picture with baby oil to make the white more transparent. We then lay our paper with the cyanotype chemicals on a piece of foam and put our transparent/opaque pictures on top of them and lay glass on top of that, and let them sit in the sun for anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes, depending on the time of day, amount of sunlight, etc. And that exposes the pictures, which makes the black lines from the picture white and the white areas blue on the paper that had the cyanotype chemicals. From there, we can dip the paper in hydrogen peroxide, which makes the blue a really rich pretty blue, or we can dip them in ammonia, which depending on how long you leave it in there, will turn it a variety of different colors. We also have another chemical we can paint on top to make a plum kind of color. The whole process is really cool, and it's been so much fun to experiment and see what happens when you try different things. And a big plus, I get to wear a sweet apron! Me and my roommate and two other girls in our group went and bought Italy ones from a street vendor. Mine is yellow and has olive oil on it. :)
After I finish updating this, I am going to photoshop a bunch of the pictures I took today to make them black and white and get them printed and ready to expose tomorrow. I don't have class til 2 tomorrow, so my roommate Andrea and I are going to a cemetery really early in the morning to take pictures and stuff. I'm super excited about it! I love cyanotype!! I'm off to work, many hours after class is over and into the night, because it's fun! Woo Italy! It makes everything so much more exciting!! Miss all of you guys! Leave comments on my pictures! Arrivederci!
http://gsu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2089249&l=9cd76&id=22605407
My class is wonderful-- I love it! We are doing stuff with cyanotype. What we did is we mixed chemicals with water into two different solutions. Then we mixed the two together in small doses, and paint them onto a piece of paper. When the two chemicals mix, they are light sensitive, so they have to dry in a dark room overnight. Then the next day, we gathered all sorts of stuff, mostly pictures that we got on the computer or made copies of drawings and stuff, and made them all black and white. It has nothing to do with colored pictures- it is all about being transparent or opaque. Then we coat the paper with the picture with baby oil to make the white more transparent. We then lay our paper with the cyanotype chemicals on a piece of foam and put our transparent/opaque pictures on top of them and lay glass on top of that, and let them sit in the sun for anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes, depending on the time of day, amount of sunlight, etc. And that exposes the pictures, which makes the black lines from the picture white and the white areas blue on the paper that had the cyanotype chemicals. From there, we can dip the paper in hydrogen peroxide, which makes the blue a really rich pretty blue, or we can dip them in ammonia, which depending on how long you leave it in there, will turn it a variety of different colors. We also have another chemical we can paint on top to make a plum kind of color. The whole process is really cool, and it's been so much fun to experiment and see what happens when you try different things. And a big plus, I get to wear a sweet apron! Me and my roommate and two other girls in our group went and bought Italy ones from a street vendor. Mine is yellow and has olive oil on it. :)
After I finish updating this, I am going to photoshop a bunch of the pictures I took today to make them black and white and get them printed and ready to expose tomorrow. I don't have class til 2 tomorrow, so my roommate Andrea and I are going to a cemetery really early in the morning to take pictures and stuff. I'm super excited about it! I love cyanotype!! I'm off to work, many hours after class is over and into the night, because it's fun! Woo Italy! It makes everything so much more exciting!! Miss all of you guys! Leave comments on my pictures! Arrivederci!
Sunday, July 8, 2007
italian windows, patience and mosquitoes!
oh my goodness! italy! wow! i'm in florence... and have been for a few days now. i moved into my apartment two days ago. when i last updated, i was sitting and waiting for the housing coordinator to arrive. i got here at 9:30 am and did not get to my apartment until 2 pm. the whole check in process was relatively easy. however, they were using a giant van to take all of us to our apartments, so that we would not wander aimlessly around the streets of florence looking for our apartments. so i had to wait for the second group to go, along with about 6 other people. so while the first group was gone, i sat around and drank water and talked to random people from milwaukee and new york city and random other places. so then we finally go to get into the van and the driver is this tiny old man, and he picked up my huge heavy suitcase to put it in the van and i felt bad. whoops. and then we get in and start dropping people off. well. the people who got dropped off before me lived on like this little side street... it was pretty much a really shady alley. i was super stressed. i knew andrea wasnt going to be at our apartment until much later that night and i didnt know about the other two girls and i was like ohhhh great, this will be fun. and that alley... the huge van went down it. and now i understand why people who park on roads like that bend in their side-view mirrors. seriously.. everyone does that here so they dont get hit. now i completely understand. because of that crazy tiny old man who drove the giant van down a tiiiiiny road. anywho.
so i get to my apartment. liz is the assistant for the school and she speaks italian and english fluently and is from the US and its way cool. she goes with me to my apartment, after the tiny old man asked if i packed the entire country of america in my suitcase. again.. whoops! but we go up to the door.. mom, it was one of those huge awesome doors with the doorknobs high up and in the middle of the door.. im super excited! so liz is like "ok youre on the third floor, which means the fourth in italy and there are probably two sets of stairs between each floor." great. tons more stairs. i cant wait. so i leave my suitcase at the bottom to go up and make sure the key works, and it does. and there are so many stairs... liz told me my butt was gonna look good at the end of the summer from all the stairs.. haha. but we get all the way up there and open the door and HOLY CRAP. my apartment is FREAKING AMAZING!! it is so darn cute, i cannot even tell you! there are 3 bedrooms for 4 people, a bathroom that is teal, and cute little kitchen with a clothesline outside the window, a washer (yay!), a living room with an orange polka-dotted couch and a really old wooden table.. and awesome windows. i love the windows! there are shutters on the outside that open out, and then glass door things that open in and wooden things over the glass that open in, so its like 3 sets of closet doors pretty much, and there are all sorts of ways you can open or close them for light and/or air.. its superb.
so after i freak out about how awesome my apartment is, and run around opening drawers and cabinets and windows and everything, i go back down to get my suitcase and lug it up all those stairs by myself. it was heavy and a lot of stairs and i was sweating a lot, but it wasnt too awful. i think i was so excited about my apartment that i didnt even think about it too much. so i got that upstairs and then realized i was starving because i hadnt eaten anything all day. so i left my apartment and there is a little snack bar place across the street and i went and got bruschette and pasta and ate it for lunch at my cute table in my cute italian apartment facing my open window which looks out into florence. heck yes.
so after i unpacked, i layed on my bed for a while and read some and dozed off a little. then there was knocking at the door, and it was my other roommates!! they're names are erin and stephanie and they're from wisconsin. they're 20 and 21 and are really cool. we walked around town a little and shopped a bit and then came down to campus to get online and went and had dinner and then met up with andrea when she got here. we all went to bed early that first night cause we were tired and had to be up early on saturday. saturday was orientation and a "safety meeting." they had an italian police officer come and try to freak us out, pretty much. i'll spare you the gory details. so me and andrea had lunch together that day and then at 4 we had a meeting on campus with pam and craig and the rest of the gsu crew. oh, and by the way... the campus we're at (there are 2 nearby for our school) is 30 minutes from our apartment. the other campus that we're not at... its 5. good planning, right? haha. but its not a bad walk, and we pass by the duomo, which is HUGE and super cool. (mom, thats the big thing we drove by in the taxi that we were like "woahhhh") its awesome. so me and andrea had come back and taken a nap after lunch and then got gelato to eat on the way to our meeting. it was delicious.
after the meeting, we went to a little mini store, and bough fruit and pasta from an old guy named roberto. he spoke to us in italian and both me and andrea were able to understand him and talk back to him! it was super fun! then we went to our friends' apartment who live right near the school and made dinner with everyone. we had bruschette and pasta with tomato sauce and a bunch of vegetables in it. it was delicious. everyone was drinking wine and beer, and i mixed white wine with peace juice and it was quite tasty. so pretty much we all just hung out and had a good time. everyone in the georgia state group drinks and smokes and parties a lot more than i do, but its totally cool. they're all really cool and fun to hang out with, so im not worried. and andrea seems to be on the same page as me in that, so its definitely a good thing.
after we left their apartment last night at like 11, we went back to our apartment and me, andrea and stephanie found a bunch of old magazines in our apartment. there was a vogue from like the 80s and a bunch of other random italian magazines and stuff. it was pretty darn cool. we ended up going to bed at like 2, and i woke up today at 10. i got up and ate breakfast (a crossiant and a banana.. i love italy!) and then layed in bed again and somehow fell back asleep at like 11. i woke up again at 1:30... haha. who knew i was that tired!? i took another cold shower... ew. we have no hot water in our apartment yet because there is apparently a switch or a knob or something that turns it on, and none of us know how to find it... haha. we really have tried, but i think we're going to get craig to come over and figure it out for us tonight. oh ps... craig and pam are my professors that are doing this whole study abroad thing. they're both georgia state art professors, and theyre married to each other. i had craig for one studio class before, but havent had pam yet. however, theyre both really cool and really good professors and i'm super excited about our classes here! i get 8 hours of credit for 10 days of class (granted, at least 5 hours a day), but some of those days are field trips, too! i cant wait... i love italy! :)
one thing i do not like about italy is the mosquitoes. they were not really an issue until i got to florence. its hotter now than it was when mom was here, but it still cool at night so we keep our windows open. after the first night i had like 3 bites on my neck, a few on my hands, and a few on my legs. after last night, i have another one on my hand, a few on my arms, and probably more on my legs. they are so obnoxious. there are things we can use to plug in to get rid of them, and we have one that was left in our apartment, but there is only one plug in our bedroom and it is by the door. and we were told the best place to put those things is by the window. and i sleep right next to the window, so it would be nice over there. oh well, patience. :)
i also got some wonnnnnderful news last night from a super awesome friend of mine... :) jonathan might be coming here to visit!! one of his roommates works for delta and can get him a buddy pass so the whole plane ticket wont be very much money at all. he would come at the end of the trip, when im done with class, and we'd just hang out and have a jolly time. in case youre wondering, no we are not together right now. however, we have both been praying a lot about our relationship and where God wants us, and i think we both feel that God is leading us back to each other. i'm pretty darn excited about him coming here. and even if it ends up that he cant, thats ok, and i'm still excited about seeing him when i get back. :)
anywho... classes start tomorrow. im excited. i have some stuff to do today before tomorrow morning. and we're all going to dinner tonight and that should be fun. i'm going to try to upload pictures now, and try and put some choice ones on here. i dont have any of my apartment yet, but i will hopefully do that sometime this week, or maybe next weekend. there are only 5 computers in the lab and they are mainly for schoolwork, so i just happen to have a lot of time today because classes havent started yet. so, please be patient.. haha. thats one huuuuuge thing im learning here is about being patient. everything in italy takes patience. people dont understand you, keys dont work, people take forever for certain things... you know. haha yay patience. anyway... hopefully some pictures will work. keep leaving comments if you can... they make me super excited! if you dont have an account on here, you can still leave them anonymously. id love to hear from you guys! i miss you all!!
Also... I have an address in case you want to send me mail. But honestly, it probably isn't worth all the trouble, and you should just email me. But, if you absolutely have to, or just really want to, you can send it to either of these addresses. Also, if you do, please let me know so I check my mail. Because, currently, I have no idea where my mailbox is or how to check it or anything.
Student's Name
Santa Reparata International School of Art
Piazza Strozzi, 2
50123 Florence, Italy
Student's Name
Santa Reparata International School of Art
Via San Gallo, 30
50129 Florence, Italy
As far as pictures go... I don't know if I will be able to get them on here. Blogspot is all in italian, and I don't know it well enough to be able to post them without breaking something.. haha. I'll try to figure it out. My portable hard drive is not being recognized when I plug it into the computer. It has worked before, but I am on a mac this time, and I am not as familiar with macs, so I'm not sure what to do to try and figure it out. I'm going to try and get it working soon. Until then, the pictures that are on my camera right now will be put into a snapfish photo album. Apparently yahoo photos is closing in September, and so they are moving all my pictures for me that are already on yahoo. So I'm going to put all my most recent pictures that are still on my camera into that album and you will be able to look at those at least. The rest of them will be on there as soon as I can find someone who knows a lot about macs and portable hard drives. :)
I am seriously computer retarded, I think. I cannot figure out how to get the web address for the pictures I uploaded. There are only 55 right now, but there will be 500 more from the beginning of the trip on there when I get home... I haven't figured out how I'm going to do this whole picture thing because my hard drive won't work and I can't sit and upload every picture one by one from my camera everytime it gets full. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. It's kind of worrying me! Anyway, this ordeal is not working right now, so again, please be patient with pictures. They will come eventually, it may just not be til I get home. Or maybe I'll try facebook later. I'm not sure. But they will come eventually. I miss all of you guys!! Ciao!!
so i get to my apartment. liz is the assistant for the school and she speaks italian and english fluently and is from the US and its way cool. she goes with me to my apartment, after the tiny old man asked if i packed the entire country of america in my suitcase. again.. whoops! but we go up to the door.. mom, it was one of those huge awesome doors with the doorknobs high up and in the middle of the door.. im super excited! so liz is like "ok youre on the third floor, which means the fourth in italy and there are probably two sets of stairs between each floor." great. tons more stairs. i cant wait. so i leave my suitcase at the bottom to go up and make sure the key works, and it does. and there are so many stairs... liz told me my butt was gonna look good at the end of the summer from all the stairs.. haha. but we get all the way up there and open the door and HOLY CRAP. my apartment is FREAKING AMAZING!! it is so darn cute, i cannot even tell you! there are 3 bedrooms for 4 people, a bathroom that is teal, and cute little kitchen with a clothesline outside the window, a washer (yay!), a living room with an orange polka-dotted couch and a really old wooden table.. and awesome windows. i love the windows! there are shutters on the outside that open out, and then glass door things that open in and wooden things over the glass that open in, so its like 3 sets of closet doors pretty much, and there are all sorts of ways you can open or close them for light and/or air.. its superb.
so after i freak out about how awesome my apartment is, and run around opening drawers and cabinets and windows and everything, i go back down to get my suitcase and lug it up all those stairs by myself. it was heavy and a lot of stairs and i was sweating a lot, but it wasnt too awful. i think i was so excited about my apartment that i didnt even think about it too much. so i got that upstairs and then realized i was starving because i hadnt eaten anything all day. so i left my apartment and there is a little snack bar place across the street and i went and got bruschette and pasta and ate it for lunch at my cute table in my cute italian apartment facing my open window which looks out into florence. heck yes.
so after i unpacked, i layed on my bed for a while and read some and dozed off a little. then there was knocking at the door, and it was my other roommates!! they're names are erin and stephanie and they're from wisconsin. they're 20 and 21 and are really cool. we walked around town a little and shopped a bit and then came down to campus to get online and went and had dinner and then met up with andrea when she got here. we all went to bed early that first night cause we were tired and had to be up early on saturday. saturday was orientation and a "safety meeting." they had an italian police officer come and try to freak us out, pretty much. i'll spare you the gory details. so me and andrea had lunch together that day and then at 4 we had a meeting on campus with pam and craig and the rest of the gsu crew. oh, and by the way... the campus we're at (there are 2 nearby for our school) is 30 minutes from our apartment. the other campus that we're not at... its 5. good planning, right? haha. but its not a bad walk, and we pass by the duomo, which is HUGE and super cool. (mom, thats the big thing we drove by in the taxi that we were like "woahhhh") its awesome. so me and andrea had come back and taken a nap after lunch and then got gelato to eat on the way to our meeting. it was delicious.
after the meeting, we went to a little mini store, and bough fruit and pasta from an old guy named roberto. he spoke to us in italian and both me and andrea were able to understand him and talk back to him! it was super fun! then we went to our friends' apartment who live right near the school and made dinner with everyone. we had bruschette and pasta with tomato sauce and a bunch of vegetables in it. it was delicious. everyone was drinking wine and beer, and i mixed white wine with peace juice and it was quite tasty. so pretty much we all just hung out and had a good time. everyone in the georgia state group drinks and smokes and parties a lot more than i do, but its totally cool. they're all really cool and fun to hang out with, so im not worried. and andrea seems to be on the same page as me in that, so its definitely a good thing.
after we left their apartment last night at like 11, we went back to our apartment and me, andrea and stephanie found a bunch of old magazines in our apartment. there was a vogue from like the 80s and a bunch of other random italian magazines and stuff. it was pretty darn cool. we ended up going to bed at like 2, and i woke up today at 10. i got up and ate breakfast (a crossiant and a banana.. i love italy!) and then layed in bed again and somehow fell back asleep at like 11. i woke up again at 1:30... haha. who knew i was that tired!? i took another cold shower... ew. we have no hot water in our apartment yet because there is apparently a switch or a knob or something that turns it on, and none of us know how to find it... haha. we really have tried, but i think we're going to get craig to come over and figure it out for us tonight. oh ps... craig and pam are my professors that are doing this whole study abroad thing. they're both georgia state art professors, and theyre married to each other. i had craig for one studio class before, but havent had pam yet. however, theyre both really cool and really good professors and i'm super excited about our classes here! i get 8 hours of credit for 10 days of class (granted, at least 5 hours a day), but some of those days are field trips, too! i cant wait... i love italy! :)
one thing i do not like about italy is the mosquitoes. they were not really an issue until i got to florence. its hotter now than it was when mom was here, but it still cool at night so we keep our windows open. after the first night i had like 3 bites on my neck, a few on my hands, and a few on my legs. after last night, i have another one on my hand, a few on my arms, and probably more on my legs. they are so obnoxious. there are things we can use to plug in to get rid of them, and we have one that was left in our apartment, but there is only one plug in our bedroom and it is by the door. and we were told the best place to put those things is by the window. and i sleep right next to the window, so it would be nice over there. oh well, patience. :)
i also got some wonnnnnderful news last night from a super awesome friend of mine... :) jonathan might be coming here to visit!! one of his roommates works for delta and can get him a buddy pass so the whole plane ticket wont be very much money at all. he would come at the end of the trip, when im done with class, and we'd just hang out and have a jolly time. in case youre wondering, no we are not together right now. however, we have both been praying a lot about our relationship and where God wants us, and i think we both feel that God is leading us back to each other. i'm pretty darn excited about him coming here. and even if it ends up that he cant, thats ok, and i'm still excited about seeing him when i get back. :)
anywho... classes start tomorrow. im excited. i have some stuff to do today before tomorrow morning. and we're all going to dinner tonight and that should be fun. i'm going to try to upload pictures now, and try and put some choice ones on here. i dont have any of my apartment yet, but i will hopefully do that sometime this week, or maybe next weekend. there are only 5 computers in the lab and they are mainly for schoolwork, so i just happen to have a lot of time today because classes havent started yet. so, please be patient.. haha. thats one huuuuuge thing im learning here is about being patient. everything in italy takes patience. people dont understand you, keys dont work, people take forever for certain things... you know. haha yay patience. anyway... hopefully some pictures will work. keep leaving comments if you can... they make me super excited! if you dont have an account on here, you can still leave them anonymously. id love to hear from you guys! i miss you all!!
Also... I have an address in case you want to send me mail. But honestly, it probably isn't worth all the trouble, and you should just email me. But, if you absolutely have to, or just really want to, you can send it to either of these addresses. Also, if you do, please let me know so I check my mail. Because, currently, I have no idea where my mailbox is or how to check it or anything.
Student's Name
Santa Reparata International School of Art
Piazza Strozzi, 2
50123 Florence, Italy
Student's Name
Santa Reparata International School of Art
Via San Gallo, 30
50129 Florence, Italy
As far as pictures go... I don't know if I will be able to get them on here. Blogspot is all in italian, and I don't know it well enough to be able to post them without breaking something.. haha. I'll try to figure it out. My portable hard drive is not being recognized when I plug it into the computer. It has worked before, but I am on a mac this time, and I am not as familiar with macs, so I'm not sure what to do to try and figure it out. I'm going to try and get it working soon. Until then, the pictures that are on my camera right now will be put into a snapfish photo album. Apparently yahoo photos is closing in September, and so they are moving all my pictures for me that are already on yahoo. So I'm going to put all my most recent pictures that are still on my camera into that album and you will be able to look at those at least. The rest of them will be on there as soon as I can find someone who knows a lot about macs and portable hard drives. :)
I am seriously computer retarded, I think. I cannot figure out how to get the web address for the pictures I uploaded. There are only 55 right now, but there will be 500 more from the beginning of the trip on there when I get home... I haven't figured out how I'm going to do this whole picture thing because my hard drive won't work and I can't sit and upload every picture one by one from my camera everytime it gets full. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. It's kind of worrying me! Anyway, this ordeal is not working right now, so again, please be patient with pictures. They will come eventually, it may just not be til I get home. Or maybe I'll try facebook later. I'm not sure. But they will come eventually. I miss all of you guys!! Ciao!!
Friday, July 6, 2007
the flying gentleman
alright. so i'm at my school in florence. kind of. i'm waiting to check in to get my key to my apartment. it is currently 10:20 am italy time. i have been here for the past hour. actually... i came here an hour ago, and it was taking so long (the lady that is supposed to check us in and has our keys isnt here yet, so we're just waiting), i had to go back to my hotel (which was thankfully down the street) and check out and drag my humungous suitcase down two flights of stairs, which curved, might i add. and then down the street and here i am. whew.
mom left yesterday. we had so much fun. our late night talks on the balcony in rome. and all our complete randomness in asking other people for directions and whatnot. we entertained ourselves on train rides. and plane rides. and bus rides. and subway rides. ohhhh yes. the public transportation in rome is no match for us. we have it down to a science. however, when it comes to finding huge well known historical things in rome, we havent a clue. haha. anywho.
last night i was in my hotel in florence by myself and had a superb time. i watched sumo wrestling, boxing, and kickboxing. it was so hardcore. pretty much, there are maybe 20 tv channels here, and 6 of them are a combination of two different shows and thats it, and all the rest are in italian. lots of movies here that are our movies from home, and they just dub the voices over in italian. like the parent trap. yes, the one with lindsay lohan. i watched it in italian. oh, and cool runnings. that disney channel movie where they sing "Jamaica. we have a bobsled team." yeah. in italian. and the sopranos and ER and PRISON BREAK! yes, prison break. i couldnt believe it. what else. ummmm. yeah, so i watched the news a lot, cause it was cnn world news and stuff. and then i watched sumo wrestling and boxing and found myself actually cheering for people. diaz was the lightweight boxing champion of the world. the guy he fought had silly "trunks" on. (thats the boxing word for shorts) and they do this funny hug thing when theyre boxing to like take a break i guess.. i dont know. but the ref guy pulls them apart and they start punching each other again. it was pretty amazing. diaz is only 23 and has been pro for 7 years and now is the world champion for the second time. he is undefeated. crazzzzzy. so i did that and ate poptarts and drank a bacardi breezer with ice in it and it was quite tasty.
i feel like i had more to share about, but really... now that im sitting in front of a computer, i cant think of any of it. oh, i saw lots of sunflower fields on the way from venice to rome and from rome to florence. im very excited about them!! ok... i'm going to fill things out and hopefully be in my apartment soon... i need a nap!!
andrea is my roommate, and im living with two other girls that i dont know, so please be praying for them. im really excited about being here with people i dont know, but im a little (ok a lot) terrified at the same time. pray that i use this experience for God and to share His love. i miss all of you!!! ciao! :)
mom left yesterday. we had so much fun. our late night talks on the balcony in rome. and all our complete randomness in asking other people for directions and whatnot. we entertained ourselves on train rides. and plane rides. and bus rides. and subway rides. ohhhh yes. the public transportation in rome is no match for us. we have it down to a science. however, when it comes to finding huge well known historical things in rome, we havent a clue. haha. anywho.
last night i was in my hotel in florence by myself and had a superb time. i watched sumo wrestling, boxing, and kickboxing. it was so hardcore. pretty much, there are maybe 20 tv channels here, and 6 of them are a combination of two different shows and thats it, and all the rest are in italian. lots of movies here that are our movies from home, and they just dub the voices over in italian. like the parent trap. yes, the one with lindsay lohan. i watched it in italian. oh, and cool runnings. that disney channel movie where they sing "Jamaica. we have a bobsled team." yeah. in italian. and the sopranos and ER and PRISON BREAK! yes, prison break. i couldnt believe it. what else. ummmm. yeah, so i watched the news a lot, cause it was cnn world news and stuff. and then i watched sumo wrestling and boxing and found myself actually cheering for people. diaz was the lightweight boxing champion of the world. the guy he fought had silly "trunks" on. (thats the boxing word for shorts) and they do this funny hug thing when theyre boxing to like take a break i guess.. i dont know. but the ref guy pulls them apart and they start punching each other again. it was pretty amazing. diaz is only 23 and has been pro for 7 years and now is the world champion for the second time. he is undefeated. crazzzzzy. so i did that and ate poptarts and drank a bacardi breezer with ice in it and it was quite tasty.
i feel like i had more to share about, but really... now that im sitting in front of a computer, i cant think of any of it. oh, i saw lots of sunflower fields on the way from venice to rome and from rome to florence. im very excited about them!! ok... i'm going to fill things out and hopefully be in my apartment soon... i need a nap!!
andrea is my roommate, and im living with two other girls that i dont know, so please be praying for them. im really excited about being here with people i dont know, but im a little (ok a lot) terrified at the same time. pray that i use this experience for God and to share His love. i miss all of you!!! ciao! :)
Friday, June 29, 2007
an airline gave me socks and i wore them
oh yes. i got socks from british airways, along with a sleep mask, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and other random entertaining things. It was fun.
london was good. the airport was like a big circle mall or something. only four hours there was not too bad. last plane ride.. i slept the whole time. wonderful. woke up when we were pretty much in pisa. yayyy. the first night, me and mom got wayyyyy lost walking around. however, we found the leaning tower of pisa during that confusion. it is SO cool! the next day i had a bacardi breezer for lunch with my margherita pizza and it was superb. i heart lime and rum, apparently. we went shopping in the piazza and i bought my first watch from a street vendor type guy, and my first real italian leather bag. it is amazing. its my new favorite thing. its red. woohoo red! then a long confusing trip to venice... oh my goodness. hotel shuttle, train, another train... sitting in a hallway and mom falling on her butt (funniest thing EVER), then a boat, then a taxi. and finally, here we are in beauuuutiful venezia. at our russian palace hotel. we found a house we love and are going to buy, cause i decided. tomorrow we are going to get drinks and cheese and sit on a bench by the water. i cant wait. :)
this european keyboard is way confusing... it took me like 10 minutes to find the at symbol for my email address... goodness.
overall, its been fun, but stressful at times. were exhausted and slept til 1:30 in the afternoon our first morning here. be proud of my mom... i am! :) our luggage is heavy. and now i know why people say to pack lightly when you come to europe. sadly, i thought i had packed somewhat lightly by only bringing 4 pairs of shoes for 6 weeks (what was i thinking!? ill have to buy some here). now ive learned... packing lightly means one tiny suitcase with like... feathers in it or something. silly americans... we have too much stuff.
anywho.. i like rum now. my buddy the bartender at our last hotel made me a delicious drink with like 5 strawberries and 3 ice cubes and all the rest rum. it was a tad strong, yet very delicious. we made friends with two old men from germany... wolfgang and peter.... hahahaha. and i am totally serious. they thought we were funny. peter asked me if i knew who mozart was. silly man. he thinks were so stupid. he didnt believe that i learned about napolean and elba in school... haha.
thats all for now... wont be on for a while probably. we changed our plans.. mom is skipping florence and were spending an extra day here and an extra day in rome... we cant have 8 hour travel days every other day.. it is way too exhausting! but i have some awesome pictures already and cant wait until i can upload them to show you! but that will happen after i start school here. yayyy school. i cant believe im saying that... ha! ok.. off to ..somewhere else. the bar or bed probably? oh.. and some little kids told us where a bar was today. haha. everyone here loves alcohol. its so funny. ok... deuces, mia amici!
london was good. the airport was like a big circle mall or something. only four hours there was not too bad. last plane ride.. i slept the whole time. wonderful. woke up when we were pretty much in pisa. yayyy. the first night, me and mom got wayyyyy lost walking around. however, we found the leaning tower of pisa during that confusion. it is SO cool! the next day i had a bacardi breezer for lunch with my margherita pizza and it was superb. i heart lime and rum, apparently. we went shopping in the piazza and i bought my first watch from a street vendor type guy, and my first real italian leather bag. it is amazing. its my new favorite thing. its red. woohoo red! then a long confusing trip to venice... oh my goodness. hotel shuttle, train, another train... sitting in a hallway and mom falling on her butt (funniest thing EVER), then a boat, then a taxi. and finally, here we are in beauuuutiful venezia. at our russian palace hotel. we found a house we love and are going to buy, cause i decided. tomorrow we are going to get drinks and cheese and sit on a bench by the water. i cant wait. :)
this european keyboard is way confusing... it took me like 10 minutes to find the at symbol for my email address... goodness.
overall, its been fun, but stressful at times. were exhausted and slept til 1:30 in the afternoon our first morning here. be proud of my mom... i am! :) our luggage is heavy. and now i know why people say to pack lightly when you come to europe. sadly, i thought i had packed somewhat lightly by only bringing 4 pairs of shoes for 6 weeks (what was i thinking!? ill have to buy some here). now ive learned... packing lightly means one tiny suitcase with like... feathers in it or something. silly americans... we have too much stuff.
anywho.. i like rum now. my buddy the bartender at our last hotel made me a delicious drink with like 5 strawberries and 3 ice cubes and all the rest rum. it was a tad strong, yet very delicious. we made friends with two old men from germany... wolfgang and peter.... hahahaha. and i am totally serious. they thought we were funny. peter asked me if i knew who mozart was. silly man. he thinks were so stupid. he didnt believe that i learned about napolean and elba in school... haha.
thats all for now... wont be on for a while probably. we changed our plans.. mom is skipping florence and were spending an extra day here and an extra day in rome... we cant have 8 hour travel days every other day.. it is way too exhausting! but i have some awesome pictures already and cant wait until i can upload them to show you! but that will happen after i start school here. yayyy school. i cant believe im saying that... ha! ok.. off to ..somewhere else. the bar or bed probably? oh.. and some little kids told us where a bar was today. haha. everyone here loves alcohol. its so funny. ok... deuces, mia amici!
Monday, June 25, 2007
t-minus one day til liftoff
so i leave tomorrow for italy. ohhhh geez. i haven't packed yet, and it's already 5:45 pm. in about 12 hours i will be boarding a plane to take me to a foreign country. foreign is right. i did take a year of italian, and we may have studied the culture a little bit, and i have talked to people who have been to italy before... however, it is as foreign to me as the moon is. i have no idea what to expect. i know it will be hot, and people keep telling me i'm going to have an amazing time. isn't that funny... just because i'm going to a different country, it is automatically assumed that i'm going to have a wonderful time. what if i don't have a good time?? ok, pessimism is coming out.. sorry. i'll stop.
despite my enormous fears of going to a foreign country with a different language, different food, different culture, with a bunch of people i don't know, and to study something i have no confidence about studying... i really am very excited. i can't wait to be in a place that i dont recognize. where i won't run into people i know. where no one has any preconceived ideas about who i am or what i like or don't like or anything. it's gonna be great.
me and jesus are going to have a glorious time.. i know it. in all my fears about going, he has been right beside me, comforting me. his word has given me peace by reminding me that i will never be alone. jesus called so many people to be his messengers and to carry the good news to people. and the not so good news.. when countries were misbehaving, God sent all sorts of people to tell them they're wrong. what a job, huh? "hey um... i know you don't believe in God, but He talked to me and told me to come here and tell you that you're doing wrong things and He doesn't like it, and if you don't stop, you're going to have to deal with His wrath." umm talk about a party foul! so much for dont shoot the messenger, huh? now, this is not to say i'm going to italy to tell people theyre wrong. but i know that i am going as a light for my savior. i dont know how many of the people that i'm going with, if any, are christians. i dont know how many of them have even heard of Jesus. but my prayer has been that God will help me build relationships with people i'm going with, because i don't know anyone, and that He will let me be a light for Him. I want Him to live inside of me and let me shine. Shine like stars in the universe. mmm i can't wait!! please be praying for safety in travel for me and my mom. give me patience and understanding and endurance. and help me be bold. i love my Jesus and i want the world to know!!
despite my enormous fears of going to a foreign country with a different language, different food, different culture, with a bunch of people i don't know, and to study something i have no confidence about studying... i really am very excited. i can't wait to be in a place that i dont recognize. where i won't run into people i know. where no one has any preconceived ideas about who i am or what i like or don't like or anything. it's gonna be great.
me and jesus are going to have a glorious time.. i know it. in all my fears about going, he has been right beside me, comforting me. his word has given me peace by reminding me that i will never be alone. jesus called so many people to be his messengers and to carry the good news to people. and the not so good news.. when countries were misbehaving, God sent all sorts of people to tell them they're wrong. what a job, huh? "hey um... i know you don't believe in God, but He talked to me and told me to come here and tell you that you're doing wrong things and He doesn't like it, and if you don't stop, you're going to have to deal with His wrath." umm talk about a party foul! so much for dont shoot the messenger, huh? now, this is not to say i'm going to italy to tell people theyre wrong. but i know that i am going as a light for my savior. i dont know how many of the people that i'm going with, if any, are christians. i dont know how many of them have even heard of Jesus. but my prayer has been that God will help me build relationships with people i'm going with, because i don't know anyone, and that He will let me be a light for Him. I want Him to live inside of me and let me shine. Shine like stars in the universe. mmm i can't wait!! please be praying for safety in travel for me and my mom. give me patience and understanding and endurance. and help me be bold. i love my Jesus and i want the world to know!!
Sunday, May 13, 2007
SOUL
Jesus, lover of my soul. Let it be well with my soul. My soul faints for ou.
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
My soul is in anguish. How long, O LORD, how long?
Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.
But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed.
March on, my soul; be strong!
I was pouring out my soul to the LORD.
Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.
Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the LORD your God.
They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their faithers, with all their heart and soul.
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.
He restores my soul.
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
My soul will boast in the LORD, let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Say to me soul, "I am your salvation."
Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge.
Awake, my soul!
My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you.
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods.
My soul clings to you.
At night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted.
My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.
Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
I will sing and make music with all my soul.
For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word.
My soul is weary withs orrow; strengthen me according to your word.
Praise the LORD, Praise the LORD, O my soul.
My soul yearns for you in the night.
After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied.
Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.
I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
My soul glorifies the Lord.
May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.
He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.
I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.
...so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
My soul is in anguish. How long, O LORD, how long?
Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.
But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed.
March on, my soul; be strong!
I was pouring out my soul to the LORD.
Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.
Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the LORD your God.
They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their faithers, with all their heart and soul.
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.
He restores my soul.
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
My soul will boast in the LORD, let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Say to me soul, "I am your salvation."
Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge.
Awake, my soul!
My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you.
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods.
My soul clings to you.
At night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted.
My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.
Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
I will sing and make music with all my soul.
For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word.
My soul is weary withs orrow; strengthen me according to your word.
Praise the LORD, Praise the LORD, O my soul.
My soul yearns for you in the night.
After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied.
Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.
I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
My soul glorifies the Lord.
May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.
He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.
I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.
...so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
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