"it feels like it's been years since it's been here"

(name that song....)

...."Here Comes the Sun," in honor of the fact that the sun made an appearance today for the first time in about 1 1/2 weeks (it was sunny the first full day I was here). I took more pictures of the house and areas around the house now that it's sunny and it's absolutely amazing how different Venice looks when it's illuminated versus when it's cloaked in the omnipresent fog of January. According to Mallory's Venetian friend Mateo, the fog should lift sometime in February. Meanwhile, we've had some rumors of snow in the next day or two, which is exciting since I missed the snow back home!

The past few day have been ridiculously full, so I've been too lazy to post. But, Monday was our first full Monday of classes and it felt about as long as I expected it to feel. I ventured out on my own for the first time, but it was only to the meat shop right around the corner, so I guess it's not too much to be proud of! Nevertheless, I successfully ordered and paid for lunch meat and milk in Italian without Mallory's help...made me feel a little more independent. Later in the day, Mallory, Trevor, Keron, Allie, and I made yet another trip to the Billa for more sustenance and we were all kind of tired and loopy, so it was definitely a memorable experience. Keron has since threatened to dredge the canal and put whatever sludge he finds in my bed after I made fun of him for using one of the old lady-esque rolling carts we have at the house for toting groceries (and when we saw a 2 year old Italian kid struggling to help his dad carry a similar cart up the stairs, I compared Keron and the kid...he wasn't so amused). After we got back, it was time for my debate group to get down to business in preparation for today's debate regarding whether Italy has effectively reduced corruption in the past 20 years.

Tuesday was less busy class wise but was spent mostly comprising our arguments for the debate since it was at 9am today. I also poked around Santa Margherita first with Trevor for some pizza, then with Brendan and Brad for them to get pizza and for me to find some gelato. I also booked my flight to Paris for March to meet up wtih Sarah and Will, which is definitely something to look forward to!

Today I thought I was going to go insane, I had to sit still for so long...I tutored Mary Grace from 8:00 to 8:45, then had class from 9 to 3:15 with only a short break for coffee at 10 and lunch at 12:15. But the debate went really well and then I got to walk around the city with Allie, Robert, and Mallory for a while and take pictures since it was so sunny. I tried to get a cell phone since there was a relatively affordable one at the cell phone store, but you apparently have to have your passport to prove you're who you claim to be (and apparently my driver's license, intl student ID card, wake ID, and debit card with my picture on it were not sufficient proof...). So, I'll just go back tomorrow after we visit St. Mark's with the art class. We then ordered pizza for our house pizza party and Mallory, Jess and I went to go pick it up. Over dinner, we had a hilarious discussion about horrific prom stories and everyone is gearing up to go out tonight, but since I have to tutor at 8 again tomorrow morning, I'm thinking I'll probably get stuck staying in...