arrivaderci italia!

well i have officially left italy :( theres so much i could write right now! i kind of slacked off for the last month or so partially because i didnt want to admit that the semester was ending and partly because i was so busy having a good time during my last weeks there :) right now i am sitting in monica's dorm room in paris with my friend jane (from oxy). we've been in paris for a few days and it's been pretty cool. litterally and figuratively. it's really cold here! its been raining in the afternoons which sucks, but we're going to be back here a few times in the next few weeks so hopefully the weather will get nicer. we were in munich germany with bryan for a little bit (really only 1.5 days) but it was still a lot of fun! we stayed with his old host sister elisabeth and her boyfriend. their apartment was sooooo nice. theyve been working as nurses for a while so even though they're our age they have a lot more money. it shows the really different paths people can take in different countries.

in munich we had some delicccccious german food and even cooked some of our own. we went to the english gardens and napped out in the sun by the little creek/river that runs through there. it was gorgeous there. i've always had the best weather in germany. i like that place. the next day i got up to take bryan to the train station and i was so proud of myself because i made my way back to the apartment by myself on the metro AND the bus! yay kate.

monica left paris 2 hours after we arrived so its sad we dont get to hang out more now, but we'll get to see her next week. its nice because we have her bed and a cot in her room for $22.50 total for 2 nights! we're kind of into saving money right now... tonight was really nice/sad. i got to see maryn for the last time (my roomate who's in paris for a week with her mom) and her mom took us and my other roommate margaret (whos in paris for a few days) out for dinner/desert. her mom's really nice and reminds me of my grandmother in kentucky (hi gram) probably because of her tennessee accent. anyway, we got to go to a nicer restaurant and she bought us wine and such so it was really nice.

tomorrow im going to seem marion (my french friend who lived in the us for a year)! we're gonna stay in the town where her university is and then we're gonna go to her real house. im really excited for that.

the last few weeks in siena were a lot of fun. we went on a group trip to venezia (venice) and my friends and i travelled to lago di garda (lake garda) which was in the gorgeous lake region of italy. then we spent some good last few weekends in our home city of siena. i miss it a ton already, even with all the problems. i loved my friends there so much and the city is just amazing. to give you an idea, i was awoken by a marching band of drummers and men dressed in medieval costumes waving flags for the past few weekends in the start of the palio season...which is not until the end of july. we always said that when you walk around siena at night you feel like you're on a movie set. the stupid tourists aren't there and its just quiet and peaceful with the occasional crazy italian men, but its all good. i'll write more soon about my last few weeks but for now im just trying to take it all in.

ciao siena, ci vediamo :)