...might as well!

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The title of this blog is my new theme to life this semester. People are probably annoyed with me because I say it so much, but I don't care because I feel like it is the pathway to me experiencing as much as I possibly can this semester! Of course I use it within reason, but I am trying to do things that at home I wouldnt get the chance to do at home or would just simply be too lazy to do. Wanna go to austria for the weekend? ...might as well! Wanna go get lost in Perugia? ...might as well! Wanna stay up and have life talks til 4 am? ...might as well! The list goes on and on. But in general, the phrase has not disappointed me yet.

Today Jules and I walked around Perugia and met two very interesting characters. First, we met this old italian man who spoke a little english in the cafe. He owns a leather shop in Perugia and he was very nice, so we told him we would visit a little later in the day. When we did about three hours later..we had a 40 minute conversation with the man all in italian! Now if you were to learn italian, wouldnt that be the way you would wanna do it?? It was awesome! It was a little bit of a struggle but considering three weeks ago I knew close to no italian, it was pretty awesome! Jules and I decided that he wasnt a creeper, he used to live with his mother who had just passed away so now he cooks just for himself and his three dogs in this grade casa (really big house) right outside of Perugia and the leather shop he owns used to be his mother's. His name is Gianni! On Monday Jules and I are going to meet him and we are going to get some coffee together! Just talking to him a little bit and hearing him speak was really helpful for learning the language!

The second man that we met was semi-creepy but still helpful in a way. He was selling scarves in a little shop on a side street and he was really into teaching us the numbers in italian (we pretty much already knew them but we recited them over and over...just to amuse him haha he was really excited to hear us practice it!) It was really funny that he was so into it but I love exploring and meeting the people who live here!

Being here is so crazy. I don't mean to sound vague but its hard to find words for this place. But I am not gonna lie, I talked to Tom for a pretty long time last night on the phone and it made me a bit homesick. Not to the point where I am gonna hop the next plane to Mount Bethel, but due to the fact that I didnt really expect to get homesick at all, I suppose it came as a bit of a shock to me. It jsut when you are thrown into a whole new world like this, I guess that it is normal to be missing the safteys of home. It is funny how when you are away you miss things that you wouldnt think you would miss at all. Brownies, chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter chocolate ice cream...yes those things I knew I would be missing desperately. But little things like my fuzzy robe that I wear only about 2 times a year, having the ability to do wash one day and being able to wear the things you washed about three hours later without them being completely soaked, and actually only having to wear my jackets outside due to the fact that we only have heat seven hours out of the day...those things I was not expecting so much. haha but all in all, those things are a small price to pay to be here. And as bad as that may sound, there are so many good things about this place that I wouldnt even know where to start.

It's weird though how my body is adjusting to this place. I am discovering so many things about myself. For example, believe it or not, I am a horrible cook. In this way, I am totally american. I want food, and I want it fast and I dont wanna make it. haha my whole family is probably laughing at that one. I know ha ha suprise suprise Kate doesn't wanna cook for herself. Well, my only response to that is...you're right. But I am learning! Literally the first week I ate pasta and cold sauce. But I am upgraded to some veggies, eggs, prosciutto... trying to at least touch on all of the food groups. Grocery shopping is an experience. I go once a week whereas all italians stop at the grocery store everyday. Which means while I am overloading my basket and juggling nutella and a big box of corn flakes in my hands, I am getting funny looks from italians who have three or four things in their carts. But hey, you get used to it! haha Good news though! I did successfully ask the man who works at the store where the eggs were last week! I was so happy about that haha as pathetic as that might sound, it was an accomplishment. I do really want to try and learn the language! I think I am meeting up with my friend Ernesto tonight for drinks! I dont know if I have blogged about him, but he is a little nerdy 26 year old italian and he told me that if I taught him to play basketball them he would teach me italian. DEAL! haha Totally a win win situation for me! Playing bball and learning italian? What could be better!

A few days ago we went to a wine tasting with the school which was a lot of fun! I didnt have time to eat beforehand, so I got a wee bit tipsy by the end and was cracking up at my roomate as the lady was trying to talk. I felt horrible but in my defense, Heather was making rediculous faces at me and give 5 large samples of wine...I just couldnt hold back the laughter! Overall it was a good time though, I actually got to see Erin! I havnt gotten much time with her because shes usually with her roomates and I am usually with mine but when we get together it is always a good time! What else... last week we got free pizza from the school at this pizzeria and when I mean free pizza I mean everyone got their own individual pies...and it was delicious. They dont really do slices in Italy, they go big or go home here! haha

This weekend is the calm before the storm, if you will. Starting next week we are traveling all over the place and will not have many weekends just hanging around Perugia. Next weekend Florence, the weekend after that maybe Salzburg and then...who knows! All I know is that this is exactly what I wanted and dreamed that it would be! I didnt come into this thinking it would be a fairytale because there are occasional harships and rough patches in the road...but its the experiences that you get with everything that really count. It is what you make of it and I am trying to make every second count! Well, I will blog again soon! Maybe tomorrow, if not, Lunedi! (Monday)

CaioCaio!

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