Venerdi!

(Venerdi means Friday in Italian.)

The end of the week is here... I will be honest, already by the last day of this week it was hard to get out of bed in the morning, haha. But I got through class and to the weekend. We had an end of the week test today, in which I wish I could have done better... but we'll see, maybe I didn't do that bad. (Dave, I can hear your voice in my head saying, Kate, you did fine, whenever you say that you always do well.) So we'll see. At any rate, it's not worth worrying about.

After class I went to a pizzeria in the same neighborhood as the school. It was good, but I felt like a failure because after I ordered the guy at the cash register spoke to me in English. :-( I was sad that I was apparently not so convincing. There were other English speakers also there though... so alas, I don't know. I did ask him where the bathroom was in Italian after I was done. It at least felt like a small bit of redemption.

After I finished my lunch I walked here (to the library) using a different route than the past few days, on purpose. I walked past Palazzo Pitti which is huge, as it turns out. I will have to go there sometime. Then I walked across the Arno and saw La Chiesa di Santa Croce for the first time... another place to which I must return. Then I came here a different way than normal.

After I leave, I am thinking of going inside Il Duomo for the first time. Should be cool. And maybe I will use the rest of the afternoon to see something else, I am not sure yet. But armed with my map, I feel quite confident navigating... and then I will just hop on the bus to get home at some point.

Funny sidenote. Last night I met Lisa's friend Giulia, who was cute and talkative little girl kind of like Lisa. We were talking about where I was from and once more, I discovered that to 9-year-old Italian girls, the chief identifying fact about Connecticut is that it was the location of the zoo in the movie Madagascar. I haven't actually seen the movie but of course I've heard of it. It makes me chuckle that they know CT for that reason! Usually to say where I am from I just say a small town between New York and Boston. That usually does the job well enough. I also say I go to school in Washington DC.

Also, at dinner earlier this week, Lisa said my face was like a doll's. That is certainly a new, but very sweet, compliment! Also last night I showed her some pictures of home, including the house and the dog, which she liked.

I think that is all for now. I am hoping tomorrow will take me a little bit "fuori" (outside) the city for some scenic walking and venturing. Of course, it is hard to take a non-scenic route anywhere here! And Sunday like I said is Cinque Terre... I am really really excited!

Glad this is working as a way to keep you all posted - the amount I am on the computer I would never have time to convey this much detail otherwise!