Boungiorno!!!! EEK! Ive been in Siena Italy for a week and Im already getting homesick. The past few days since I flew into Rome has been a haze. My first night in Rome was crazy because me and 2 other UCLAers had to run around Rome looking for our hostel and then finding out it was over booked and putting out major euros to stay at a local hotel. But at least I now know how to use the railway station in Rome now. I saw gypsies!! They arent as harmful as people say and they just beg in the streets while they hold their babies. It was weird watching a lady breast feed her son who looked like he was 5 years old... not sure if that got her more change or not but...ouch! I dont know how to describe Rome and Siena...Siena is such a beautiful medieval town. The moment the bus pulled into the city it reminded of a Universal studios lot where the buildings were made out of cardboard. Ive been to so many churches in the past few days...magnifico! Siena is in the center of Tuscany so a lot of people drink Chianti. My main supply of food comes in the form of gelato, panini, or nutella and toast. I must say the pizza tastes off and some of the meat dishes are really strong tasting. I cant believe it but I think i might actually be losing weight in Italy. The hot temperatures and the million flights of stairs and hills I have to walk every day doesnt help. Now onto other things... Ive been to an outside concert and to a big Siena party for the il Palio. For those of u bored and want to wikipedia something look up the il palio! I will be smack in the middle of it  The concert was awesome. It was a concert for a Southern Italian-Sicilian folk band that sounded celticish. Everyone just runs around kicking their legs into the air and running into circles while drinking wine. The parties here last till like 6 am...or who knows when! I usually expire by 4 and turn in by 5. The other students in my program are so young. There are tons of them who are turning 20 this summer and its a major thing for them...one of them might get a tattoo because they are turning 20... I feel like such an old fart... I am the first person to get tired of dancing and drinking... and im 22! Oy! Italian guys are pretty hot... I think due to the small ass portions they give u at restaurants or the constant sweating and hills they have to walk... but they are all relatively tall, skinny, and fashionable if u like metro guys. I still dont get the tennies with the long socks but eh... the only real bad thing about them is their smell...they have this odd funk that gets to me because they were cologne but its a mixture of BO and cologne... granted if u spend like 5 hours dancing that eventually everyone smells but gah... maybe thats why I want to stop dancing so much earlier... oh, and they are really fiesty! To the point where guys will pick u up and then bend u over backward... They are relatively harmless but still... crazy peepos...The girls dont seem to smile much here, im not sure why but there are a lof of really tall, skinny, brunettes that are quite lovely. Italy is actually everything I imagined it would be... well ive only been in Siena really...this weekend Im off to Pisa, the il Palio is this weekend as well, then to Rome, Venice, Milan, Naples, Chiche Terra, and then Florence... the best part of my trip is.... El Tomate festival in Spain! August 29th in Valencia County! Be there or be square! Im sooo excited! The biggest tomato fight in the world! Gah!... im soo excited... My lesson classes are going well... In a lot of stores in Siena the people speak English so my learning is somewhat stalled due to the lack of needing to use Italian but Im learning and its fun. Its really similar to Spanish and English so I get things mixed up easily.... Man, I wish I brought my lab top so I wouldnt have to come to Internet cafes... okay...until then... Ciao!!! | 
