The last thing I should be doing right now is updating my blog. Instead I should be traipsing around Rimini, Italy on one of my two days on the East Coast. Unfortunately, it's raining in Rimini. Not in the drizzly, "we're just being girly girls and can't handle getting wet" sense, but in the "it's raining so hard that umbrellas are useless" sense. After nearly missing our 7:20 train here, we got in around 10:30 and I promptly realized I printed out a map that didn't help us at all to find the hostel. So we ended up deciding to take a local bus from the train station to the hostel. We spent probably 15 minutes waiting for the 11 (the one we apparently needed), then saw it pull up on the other side of the road and thought, "why not just take it in that direction?" The answer is "because the driver drops everyone off at the main terminal and won't let anyone stay on the bus." So then we decided to try the next bus that came our way, thinking it'd at least take us back to the train station. We got off the bus at the very next stop since the sign indicated that we could pick up the 11 right there. Finally we got on the 11 and took it for about 20 minutes to our hostel, where the lady was nice enough to let us check in early and get settled in. The original plan was to eat and then explore Rimini, since tomorrow we plan to get on a bus for San Marino in the morning and not necessarily spend any extra time in Rimini itself. The rain picked up as we walked to lunch and has only gotten heavier as time has passed...so we're back at the hostel to just wait it out.
This week has really passed quickly. I think it's in part because I've started the whole law school application process, which consumes most of my time while the students are in class. Plus, since the group has started traveling, the weeks get divided in to "planning for travel" and "actual traveling." Most of my weekdays were pretty uneventful outside of writing (or attempting to write) incredibly convincing personal statements. Tuesday our group went to the Casino (pronounced CasiNO, because the regular pronunciation implies an entirely different type of establishment...along the lines of a brothel). It was kind of a quiet night in the Casino and it was filled with slightly sketchy older men and we ALL lost money, but, it was totally worth it to see McKinley entertain a suitor in the form of the vaporetto man (the guy who "docks" the boat at each station and lets passengers on/off). Wednesday was house dinner and my traditional dish washing with Tom turned in to a major wet towel/tong fight (hard to describe, but use your imagination...two people who might as well be brother and sister for the way they bicker fending each other off with various kitchen utensils in David's tiny "professor" kitchen)...I still have scars, but it was entertaining at least. That night, the boys decided to play beer pong/have a house party, but the girls wanted to get out of the house, so we visited Cafe Noir (a favorite of mine from my last time here, but not open until very recently) then Cafe Blu and just had a great girls' night out before re-joining the house party later. Yesterday I went with Caroline and Charlotte to Vicenza, where there's a US military base and thus a store FULL of American products. There really isn't much I miss in terms of food, but, Tom and I are cooking house dinner this coming week in the form of chicken fried chicken, mac n cheese, cornbread, and peach cobbler, so some of the vital ingredients can't be found in Venice. They couldn't get me on the base (they both have military IDs), so I just wandered around Vicenza and shopped.
I've noticed slowly over the course of this semester a few changes in my personality that I think definitely started last time I was here. Namely, I've gotten on a train 3 times now not knowing either where I'll end up, what I'm going to do when I get there, or both. I don't think I ever did that or would have thought to do it last time I was here, and while it sounds irresponsible, I don't think it is...I just think it demonstrates how much I've relaxed. There are certainly still times when I worry and get stressed, but I think on the whole, I've gotten so much less uptight (I guess people who know me best are either laughing or agreeing right now...). The best example, I think, is the train strike. If I'd had to deal with that last time, especially in terms of getting 16 other people home, I probably would've cried and gotten frustrated and looked to someone else to "fix it" for me. But that flexibility seems to also be showing up in less dramatic situations, specifically the whole applying to law school thing. Don't get me wrong, I'll be disappointed if I get flat-out rejected by every school to which I apply, but, I know that this plan might not work out and I'm prepared for that!
Anyways, not too much is new other than that. I can't believe that Slovenia is next weekend and then Mom and Dad come for my first 10 day break, and then Allie comes to visit...the semester is definitely starting to fly by! There are days when I feel like time is crawling by, mostly because I really miss people back home and December 9 seems so far away sometimes, but for the most part, it's really going quickly.
PS-I have a lot of free time, so, if you're feeling so inclined, snail mail is always welcome...!
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