(finally!)

wow i need to update more! i dont want to forget my semester here and its already been about a month since ive talked about what ive been doing.

so quick update. on the weekend of Feb 22 I went to Nice and Monaco with Monica! Before that she came to Siena for a few days. We had a good time although getting there was a pain. My program gave me so much crap and it made me realize what type of people work here and gave me a smack in the face of reality. basically i told the truth that i was going on a trip that i had already planned and they threatened to kick me out if i missed class too much. other people have been "sick" and gone away and never gotten in trouble. ugh. well its over and done with so whatever. Nice and Monaco were amazing. it was just what I needed at the time: a beautiful place by the beach to get away. plus it was during carnivale so we got to see the huge parade. we also won 23.50Eu in like 2 seconds at the Monte Carlo Casino!!!! it was pretty cool. so monte carlo paid for our doner kebab dinner :)

in france they put french fries in their sandwiches...? it's kind of weird. i don't know how i feel about it. i got orangina and a delicious french pastry though so i was good. and our hostel! Ville St. Extuary (something like that??) we paid for a triple cause even paying for the non-existant 3rd person was cheaper than a double. don't know what. $12 a person (yes dollars)! and it was amazing. they had free computers and free internet and free breakfast. people were really cool and nice. it felt like i was at college in a gorgeous location. ill post pictures soon but the view from our room was this amazing view of all of Nice and the Mediterranean sea. we had our own bathroom too. Aye, i hate that i waited so long to write this cause i feel like ive forgot a lot.

the way home was a bit stressful cause there was a train strike (italy really likes strikes....) but i finally got home.

then i had the week in siena during which i found maple syrup, made french toast, and found avocados and made guacamole!!! ohhhhh it was delicious. it was absolutely amazing. that weekend i went to the Cinque Terre with my friends Megan and Elizabeth from my program. i didn't know them that well before I went, but they were really cool and i'm so glad i went with them. if you don't know, the Cinque Terre means 5 towns and its this gorgeous place of 5 little towns on the Italian Riviera about 4 hours by train (mb 2 hrs driving?) from here. you can only get there by train, boat or walking. we stayed in the same town that i stayed in last time i was there, called Vernazza. during our weekend we hiked between all 5 towns, which if you can imagine Kauai, Hawaii's coast and hiking like, the giant hill/mountain/cliffs between each...it was a bit intense. lots of stairs. we ate at some really good restaurants, had a cute little hotel room and had a good time, thanks in part to rick steves haha. oooo the pesto up there is so good. i ate so much of it. even though it was just 2 days it was so nice to go there and relax after having school in siena all week. We basically just wandered around all weekend in the little towns... not too much else. took lots of pictures so that people would be jealous of us :) the first day it was kind of cloudy but the second day was so pretty...

we came back and we just had a view days in siena. i started my cinema class and we finished the month of intensive italian. it makes me kind of sad cause i really like our italian teacher and i really didnt mind just having italian. i felt like i was learning a lot and i definitely use it when i got out, so its good. we've been eating at the mensa (cafeteria) a lot because its free for us 4 times per week and then we cook at our appartment. we make a lot of pasta with different vegetables in the sauces and last week we even made chicken with rice and guacamole. mmm.

on wednesday march 7 we went to rome with our program! ill write about that next time and hopefully post some pictures before then of nice, monaco, cinque terre, and the guacamole!