how we pass the time

It's been a few days since the Verona adventure and while it feels like a ton has happened, we haven't actually done much...

Friday was a complete blur since I slept from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm and I honestly can't remember what else I did that day. I know the group went out to Santa Margherita that night, which was fun, but other than that, not much went on.

Saturday I slept until almost 11:30, then McKinley, Kayla, and I went earlier than the rest of the group to a store on the mainland known as Panorama. It's kind of like a combination of Sam's Club and Wal Mart in the states. We wandered around there for probably an hour buying up things you can't necessarily find (or find cheaply) on Venice...I somehow spent a too much money (exactly what happens when I go to Target at home) on random things like a beach towel, potholders, sunscreen, school supplies (despite the fact that I'm not in school anymore)... Later Saturday, a good bit of the group went out to eat but I had already eaten with Tom and Karen at the house, so I just rested because a few of the guys had scheduled a beer pong tournament for later that night, plus David wanted to share a bottle of grappa with the group.

It was that night that I was again reminded how different David is from Professor Beets (who led my group when I was last here). I mean, the man spent the evening playing or observing civil war beer pong with us, then brought out a fifth of grappa for goodness sake. Civil war beer pong involves setting up 3 cups for each of 3 people on 2 tables facing one another. Then you use 3 ping pong balls and each team tries to eliminate the other team by progressively hitting their cups...it involves some strategy (trying to eliminate the best shooter on the opposing team first, holding all the ping pong balls so your team can shoot all at once, diving for ping pong balls to the point of minor injury, etc). Meanwhile, anyone who wasn't playing that game was involved in a hectic dance party out in the hallway off the dining room...music ranging from rap to boy bands was involved and the resulting pictures are priceless. David then went and got the grappa and pretty much everyone at least tried it...most people share my opinion (I think it tastes like paint thinner), but some people really liked it. Somehow we managed not to break OR ruin anything that night and there was only minor drama before bedtime.

We had agreed on Saturday that we were going to go to Lido (the island near Venice that has a beach) on Sunday around 10ish. When I went to bed Sat. night, I knew the 10am wake up call was going to be problematic for a few of the more enthusiastic beer pong players/grappa drinkers, but Ana bravely attempted to wake everyone. We ended up leaving around 10:45 on the vaporetto and got to the beach around 11:30ish. We have what are called IMOB cards, which are only granted to Venetian citizens and allow you to ride the vaporetto for 1 Euro instead of 6.50 and allow you to take the #3 line, which runs the same (super convenient) route as the #1, but ONLY allows Venetian citizens, so it's much less crowded. The beach, like most in Europe, was topless, but most beachgoers were pretty well covered, thankfully. We spread out and some people napped and read...I was so hot that not long after we got there, I went with Elizabeth and Kelly to eat lunch at a beach cafe. My turkey, cheese (yes, I ate cheese, and liked it...), and arugula sandwich was pretty good, but the watermelon was hands down the best thing I'd had all week. When we got back, we stayed on the beach for a little longer, then a few people headed home and I stopped with the majority of the group while they had pizza. Tom, Chris, and I decided to head home while the rest of the group stuck it out. I came home, showered, and headed to Billa to spend even more money... It was nice, though, because on the way, Brian, Rhianna, and I decided to make a big dinner for 10ish people and I'm such a bad cook that I convinced them to do all the work in exchange for money for the food and dish duty afterwards. Not too long after dinner, I forced myself to go to bed early and slept from 11 to 8, which was much needed, especially because I think I'm getting a cold.

So far I really am enjoying the group and hope they feel the same! I'm really impressed with how well people seem to be getting along and respecting each other. Of course we've had some dramatic moments...it's hard not to when you spend every waking moment with 19 other people in a very foreign place. I think our night in Verona helped as does the fact that we can't travel this weekend or next, so we're all here hanging out and bonding. I hate to keep harping on how different my group was, but it's so nice to constantly be doing big group dinners and house dinners and trips together. Of course all of those positive aspects exist in large part because of David and his insistence that we become a loving (if dysfunctional) family over the next 3 months.

Anyways, today hasn't been anything exciting thus far...the students have a full day of classes today and we have a house meeting in a few minutes...the only really seriously exciting part was going to Bar da Gino for the first time since they've re-opened after the long August holiday that most Italians take.