when skies are grey : Day #48 in Orvieto

April 11, 2013 - Thursday

We only have one more week of our second class! I can't even believe it! Mostly because there's still soooo much to do before this class is even over - a few more essays, final exam, final essay exam... hmmm. Anyways, class was pretty normal today except we went to a nearby church during the last half hour of class. It's SO HOT out today! I'm still used to wearing layers of sweaters so it's weird to only wear one sweater now...

I got a cell phone this week and it looks like a little toy phone! I didn't know if it would work but I called home after I got out of class today (so it was 6:30am at home) and it worked! But it costs a lot for me to call someone else so I just have to wait for people to call me I guess.

The twelve of us went to lunch (pasta, chicken, cabbage) and then we had to go back to the monastery to clean because we clean on Thursdays and Mondays. So my job this week was to mop the academic classroom and then we all have to clean our own rooms to I mopped my room too. And I dusted which was kinda scary because I didn't realize how much dust was happening in our room. After that, I packed up my stuff and started the 15 minute walk to the library! There are a lot of tourists emerging on the streets now, so I've started to take the back roads to get around. You definitely hear a lot more English spoken as you pass people on the streets and there are always huge groups of middle schoolers on field trips. Even in Italy, these middle schoolers seem to follow me! They're definitely Italian middle schoolers because they're chattering away in Italian but they are seriously the same as American middle schoolers. Like, the SAME. I don't understand it. Anyways, I spent a few hours at the library and then I made the journey back to the monastery. I checked the weather at the library and apparently it was 63 degrees today! Which pretty much seems tropical.

Everyone was lounging out in the courtyard when I returned, so I sat with them for a while in the sun. The courtyard is like a little oven when it's hot because it's all enclosed. Anyways, I walked upstairs and sitting outside my door was a package!!!!!!!!!!!!! From Grammie and Papa! They sent it on March 20th and I was worried that something happened to it because that was so long ago. I saw it immediately when I walked into the residential corridor and ran all the way down the hall to get it (which seems like a far run because my room is the last one in the hall). Inside the package was a scarf and an Easter card! I was so happy and ran into Jenna's room to show her. I'm not sure why the mail system is so strange here... a few people have said that they sent me something weeks ago but I haven't received anything yet. So either it's lost or they didn't actually write anything. :) Although it's more likely that the letters are just taking forever to get here. I sent a few postcards to Gordon and it took exactly a week for those to arrive, so I guess there's really no rhyme or reason to the whole system.

I worked on a few more essays before dinner. On Thursdays we have "take-away" Locanda dinner which means that we go and pick up the food and bring it back to the monastery to eat. It's still delicious, of course, but we get to wear our slippers and stay in the monastery. Actually... I may be the only one who wears slippers.

It's been so quiet here without the other eight people but I think they're returning tomorrow which will be exciting. But for the twelve of us that are here, we are getting up early to go to the farm tomorrow to work/help out all day so I'll be sure to write about that. I think it's supposed to be great weather all weekend! Someone said that it'll get up to 70 degrees but I'll believe it when I see it.