![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1){kind=small}
Cortney in Italy
May. 18th, 2006
May. 8th, 2006
10:33 am - italians (part two)
Italians graduate from college around 25, instead of 21 like us. They give a massive, 200 page thesis and defense of thesis in front of their entire department faculty, sort of like us but bigger. But they do the same celebration afterwards--lots of partying and drinking. (And very upset I am that I missed that party after my "friend" Simon graduated last Thursday, but I was in Venice.)
They also go out in groups. They meet groups of people, go out as groups of people, and only when things start to get serious do they whittle the groups down slowly to fewer people until it's just him and her. Of course, public hookup is not frowned on in small groups. It's a very good system--keeps you from doing stupid things, feeling safe, there's always someone to break the ice, but it's a little hard to whittle the groups down when there's attached persons coming along as chaperons for the unattached and needy. Good system, aside from the chaperons.
...good hookups, too.
Apr. 24th, 2006
11:31 am - Keeping In Touch While Abroad
Methods of keeping in touch with friends in the US while abroad:
1. postcards: fun to send and receive; decorative when displayed on a dorm wall.
2. phone calls: very expensive for both parties; only used in emergencies.
3. email: most useful; internet access can sometimes pose a problem.
4. facebook/myspace: not as good as email due to inconsistency of users; also a problem with patchy internet access.
5. text messaging: expensive and not very practical.
6. instant messenger: very cool if internet is available all hours of day and night, as on campus, for chatting and whatnot; not very useful when internet is unavailable most of the time.
I've used every one of these methods to the best of my ability. I don't have 24/7 internet access to talk to you at any moment (not like we talk a lot when I'm in the states, anyway) and over here I'm six hours ahead of your day. When I have internet access is usually when you're fast asleep in the early hours of the morning. No one else is complaining that I've "moved on with my life"--that's college, that's life, that's what happens. Move on with yours and stop blaming me that you're stuck in the past. It's not that I don't like you anymore and I don't want to keep in touch, but you're blaming me for something I have no control over and I don't appreciate it.
Apr. 20th, 2006
11:38 am - research
If there is one thing I loathe about being in Italy for a semester, it's trying to do research. I'm OCD about research anyway, and doing it here is just impossible. I don't have open access to my library, I don't have regular access to the internet, and the times I can get online are generally only on the school computers, which are next to useless since I can't print and they don't have Word. Grr!
Entry brought about by the appalling lack of a (viable) paper topic for Romanesque and Gothic...which is especially crucial because it will be the basis of my senior thesis next year. Aargh!
Apr. 18th, 2006
05:32 pm - Kristen
Yay my cousin's coming to visit tomorrow and we're going to Sicily for the weekend and it's going to be so much fun and yippee!!!!!!
Ahem.
My cousin Kristen (the one who mooched off of--I mean, lived with--my family for over a year) is coming to visit tomorrow. She's staying for a week and this weekend we're spending three days in Sicily (and two nights on trains). She wants to see some of Florence and then a day or so in Rome. Yay, I get to see my cousin!
Anyway. Got sick this weekend from my roommates (thanks, ladies) and spent most of Easter in bed. Dinner was good, fireworks (from the VIP section, haha) were cool, and the dance party afterwards was fun. Going through four packs of tissues and half a tube of hydrocortizone was not, but it's getting better. Damn mosquitoes. Saw Pisa on Saturday with Brian (he broke my sunglasses, grr) and had my second public tour today, which went really well and I wish I'd gotten the hot guy's number but oh well.
Sicily this weekend, possibly Paris the next, and then day trips in May before my parents come over for a week (and Mary, too!). Busy busy busy, in addition to school and papers and projects that are all coming due. We'll see how it goes the rest of this week. Here's to luck!
...I think I need a drink tonight.
Apr. 13th, 2006
09:49 am - Real Update
I've been told that there's really nothing on my LiveJournal. As in, I talk but I don't actually give details of anything So here's a real update for you:
Yesterday (Wednesday) I had three classes: 8am Italian, 9am symbolism (we visited the Masonic Temple which was okay but not the best trip in the world), and 3pm architecture. In between symbolism and architecture I ate lunch and watched a movie (Tomb Raider, I have a recent obsession with Angelina Jolie)...and ate lunch again, because I was hungry. But now I'm out of food, so I have to buy more today. Whoops. Went to the computer lab to do a little trip research and had an interesting few minutes about Paris. I wasn't too hot with the idea of going alone and staying in sketchy areas, and when I saw my roommates I told them this and they suggested that the three of us go this weekend. As in, leave tonight. But I couldn't research it fully because I only had five minutes to get to class. So all through an extra-long class (we had a field trip to Poggio a Caiano to see the Medici villa there, which was okay but also not fantastic since the whole thing was restored and changed under the Savoy family in the 1800s--and I got at least three phone calls and two texts while the professor was lecturing and making us draw the facade, which was totally unexpected since I never get calls, especially not during class. So I looked like an idiot a few times, reaching around to turn off my cell phone on my back without actually taking off the backpack, but oh well.) I was thinking about Paris and how to make it work with my current money situation. But it ended up not going through for a few reasons, and I'm all set to go in two weeks with a different group of friends for a lot cheaper train tickets. And then I got really bored after dinner and called Brian to go for a walk and since I wasn't at all tired I stayed out past my bedtime so this morning was a little difficult but I managed to get up. It annoys me that there's only crappy yogurt in the fridge--we were doing just fine with fruit flavors, what's the point of buying ACE carrot and other shit yougurt? It's terrible, and even muesli doesn't help. Oh well, so breakfast's been a little light this week. We got a lecture last night at dinner about the week's religious holidays, and apparently we don't get dessert again until Easter. Which I really don't mind, since there's a half-full jar of Nutella in the kitchenette in my room. So it's cool.
So there's your "real update." I doubt people actually read this, and if you made it through that entire entry you're either stalking me (in which case I'm making some contacts while I'm in Sicily next weekend) or you're really bored. I'm listening to happy pop music, and I think this afternoon while I start paper writing I'll put on some boy band teeny-bopper stuff to rock out to.
Satisfied, Brian?
Apr. 11th, 2006
09:50 am - Major Update
Midterms: Studied my ass off, got all As.
Spring Break: Greece with Courtney, Heidi, and Tori. Amazing. Fell in love...with Greek food, sunsets, and islands. Santorini was gorgeous, Athens was amazing, and Meteora was breathtaking. Highlights: grilled feta, €1.70 gyros, volcano, getting shat on by a birth in Athens, cocooning to keep warm at night, Acropolis lecturing, pretty little towns, bar dancing, Matthew-look-alike, Happy Hippos, severing my dependence on technology, almost missing the boat, actually missing the boat, phantom bus terminals in sketchy areas in the dark, soldiers in puffy skirts, sunsets, and three of the most amazing girls ever.
Heidi came back to Florence with me for a week. She and Courtney did Fiesole, she museumed and Duomoed (I'm far too scared of steps to go up on that dome), met Courtney's family (I totally see where she gets her mannerisms and such from), Siena on Friday, and Venice/Trieste, along with Amy, for the weekend. Venice was cool, although too crowded to see the sights, and the back streets were way more fun anyway. Trieste was amazing, and I want to live in Castello Miramare. It's beautiful. I would never leave home.
First ever public tour at Palazzo Vecchio today...scared out of my wits, but managed to do quite well and not forget anything, so WOO-freaking-HOO!
Planning trips to Paris and Sicily; my cousin comes to visit after Easter. Finals will creep up on me all too soon so I'm going to start writing papers tomorrow. It's been a good two weeks.
Cheers.
Mar. 22nd, 2006
06:18 pm - Changes
I realized tonight, on my way out of the house to the computer lab, that Florence has sort of become my home. Despite my distaste for car smog, and my growing addiction to second-hand smoke, I really like being here. Sure, the tourists get in my way when I'm in a rush to get to class, but they also give me a job at Palazzo Vecchio. And yes, I stress over schoolwork here almost as much as I do at home, but that's just me and has nothing to do with being in a new city. I love being surrounded by so much art and architecture. I love walking down the street and not seeing the same people every day like I do on campus. I love smelling the wonderful aromas from bars, bakeries, and trattorias...even if I can't afford to eat there! I love that everyone bands together--my housemates are the most amazing people and we wouldn't be so close without our shared experience of living together, and my other friends are just so different from the people I hang out with both in Jersey and in Virginia that I love them even more for their differences. I'm really going to miss walking past the San Lorenzo Market on my way to school every day, and always being offered a free newspaper I can't read. And playing Dodge the Tourist While I Guess Where They're From on my way to work. And delerious conversations with my roommates from under my covers while I'm trying to go to sleep at night and they're talking in my room. Wait, I do that at home too... Anyway, my point is that I've finally become acclimated and accepting of Florence, just in time to leave for ten days of (paradise) Greece.
Oh, and I'm moving to California after graduation.
Mar. 20th, 2006
11:04 am - weekend
Friday: St. Patrick's Day at an Irish pub. Amazing--awesome cider, new friends, old friends.
Saturday: Gelato. Dinner alone with host parents (my roommates all left for the weekend) so I was forced to speak Italian. Went out to Mayday with Friday night's group again. Fun.
Sunday: Brunch with new friends. Soccer game with old friends (Florence-Ascoli, 3-1!), also finally bought a Toni jersey. Angry night.
Monday/today: slept in after Courtney woke me up doing her project at 7am. Computer lab currently to attempt to get Greece underway once again. Also listening to Mulan :) Later lots of studying for midterms and possibly heading to Palazzo Vecchio to talk about a schedule.
Cheers, hope you all had a great weekend.
Mar. 12th, 2006
05:18 pm - Shopping Spree
Yes, I bought stuff. I'm finally getting over my tight-fisted ways and enjoying things. I spent money to get into a museum yesterday (and it was the best-spent E4.50 ever), I bought a souvenir (not just a postcard), and today I bought a dress. Now if only my funds can hold out forever...hahaha.
So everyone was right, Fiesole is the most amazing place in Tuscany. I fell in love. And the Archaeological Museum and Roman Ruins were the best part. The museum was the best-planned, awesomest museum I've ever seen (and that's a lot, because of my museology class). They had so much to educate the visitor, and...I'll stop now before your eyes glaze over entirely. Suffice it to say the museum was great. And the ruins were amazing--we got to climb on the stones and take pictures of each other and stuff! Where else can you climb on ruins but Italy? So I bought myself a little man in the gift shop (no, not for playing kings). He's an Etruscan copy of Apollo, and I love him bunches. And the most amazing chocolate gelato I've ever tasted, so smooth and rich and creamy...it was quite orgasmic.
Zara is the most amazing place to shop, and I bought a dress there. It's kind of late-50s, a wrap dress with a really wide A-line skirt, cap sleeves, etc. Very cute. Very white, so now I need shoes to go with it since I didn't bring anything white. Yay! Also need an excuse to wear it...preferably a date with a tall, dark, and handsom man, although I'm not going to be picky.
Yes I am.
Navigate: (Previous 10 Entries)
