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So this post will be somewhat miscellaneous, but there are things to write about... and so write I shall.

This morning I met my philosophy tutor, Nicola, for the first time. He is in his early 40's and apparently has a wife and 10-year-old son. He's originally from Switzerland but Swiss of Italian origin... not sure if I should explain more but I am not even sure I can. Anyway, meeting him was nice because of the way it laid out more or less what is going to happen with this course and the work for it... something I have become unaccustomed to since I started Italian classes. It seems as though I'll be able to do the exam in January, and Nicola proposed doing 12 hours of tutoring, 3 on each text, 2 on things in general, and 1 of a mock exam basically. It's so... organized and thorough! We will probably be doing most of this in January, during the weeks leading up to the exam. It makes me feel so much better to know I will have some structure when it comes to studying for this exam. Also, I gave Nicola his copies of all my readings, so we will both be reading about them and then discussing them.

Also it made me smile that my professor ended up talking about the US in philosophy class today. We were talking about the theme of community, and how the US is an example of a form of community outside natural, clan-type ties, and really it is a type of associational community (basically she meant civil society). She said Americans associate themselves for tons of reasons and named off a few examples, and I smiled because I suppose it's true in relation to Europe - I found myself thinking of the PTA, Lion's Clubs, and so on and so forth. I haven't heard about many organizations like that here, but it was never something I'd really thought about. Then later someone asked about the European Union in terms of community and she was talking about how it's kind of a weak example, and usually she feels "European" in contrast to something else... namely the America of Bush apparently. Then later she went on to say that America showed itself capable of basically re-birth, renewal, that Europe isn't capable of, referring to the election of Obama (and also the WAY in which he won the election). It was just a particularly interesting class for me because it was another opportunity to see the US as it is seen from the outside. I am really going to come back to the US with a much clearer idea of its place in the world, from all of the observations I have made here.

Lisa's birthday is this weekend, she is turning 9. I have been saying all this time that she's 9, I think because of what it said in the information I first received about the family. But alas, she was born Nov. 23, 1999 and that would make her 8/almost 9. I am planning on buying her a gift sometime this week - something Hello Kitty since she likes the brand and I've seen it in many stores. We'll see what exactly I can find. She is having a slumber party Saturday night with about 5 friends so that could be a little crazy. I think she'll have fun though.

Because I only have philosophy Tuesday through Thursday, I have been wanting to take advantage of the four-day weekend to go somewhere, so I finally booked a trip to Cagliari, Sardegna! (Sardinia in English.) In case you are unaware, Sardegna is a large Mediterranean island south of Corsica. Corsica belongs to France while Sardegna belongs to Italy, though throughout history I believe it was also Spanish, and there were Phoenicians and others there as well, so apparently the local culture/architecture has a mix of influences. Cagliari is the capital of Sardegna. I'm flying there from Pisa on Dec. 5, and staying three nights at a small hostel/B&B. I found a single for under 30 euros a night which all things considered isn't too shabby! I booked the flight and hotel at an uncharacteristically fast and spontaneous pace, so now I am figuring out, okay, I am going on this trip... what will I do when I'm there! But I think it should be fun, especially if there is decent weather. I am not sure if the water will be warm enough for swimming, but it'd be nice even just to take a nice walk along the beach! Mostly I am just happy with myself for booking a trip as I have all this free time and wanted to do something a little more exciting in the next few weeks.

In other news, the TV channel I watch most regularly with the family seems to be on a stint of younger generation oriented movies... first they showed High School Musical 1 and 2 (I won't lie, I watched HSM1), then a movie with Hilary Duff (apparently called Raise Your Voice), then Freaky Friday, which I also watched because I'd never seen it before and wanted to. It's fun, the channel shows movies quite often, usually after "La Ruota della Fortuna" (see post below) and they are pretty good. Also for the most part American... as Dave likes to say "our culture is aggressive". I also sometimes watch shows like CSI and Cold Case, dubbed in Italian, on that channel. Oh! And last night on another channel, I turned on the TV and there was Law & Order. No matter where you are, it's always on. ;-)

This Saturday I am thinking of going to Arezzo, which is a short train ride from Firenze. Apparently it is the hometown of Roberto Benigni (of Life is Beautiful fame) and parts of the movie were filmed in Arezzo and the surrounding countryside... fun Arezzo trivia!

While I feel like June is still a very long way away, Christmas is definitely in the air (more accurately the shop windows) here and that is kind of crazy... While I will have class next week on Thanksgiving, I am going to Georgetown's villa for dinner, and my family and Lucia are also coming! I don't know if I have written about Bridie, but she is a Georgetown '08 grad who stayed with my same family 2 years ago. She has come over for dinner a couple times and I have been to the villa for lunch a couple times, so that is a nice connection to have. Last time she was over at the house we made dinner, and I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (biscotti americani). I asked Lisa if she wanted me to make them again on her birthday with the leftover ingredients and the response was enthusiastically affirmative!

Alright, I think that is good for now... this post jumped around a lot but hopefully it was enjoyable nonetheless!