Antiques, italian friends, and roomate bonding

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Today was a pretty good day! Actually, it was lovely 😊 Today is a day to celebrate on of the saints of Perugia ( I can't remember which saint exactly) so my roommates and I set out to take part in the festivities! To our surprise it was more like a bunch of Italian people with stands of their old antiques that they wanted to sell. Naturally, a few of my roommates were surprised and mildly disappointed that the festivities were pretty much just a big flea market, but as for me...I was loving every minute of it! For those of you that don't know antiques fascinate me, this may or may not be because I grew up surrounded by auctions and old nick knacks, but for whatever reason, I have a strong passion for antiques. As I walked around I noticed there were a lot of old paintings and larger antiques that were so beautiful...but there is no way I could get them back to the U.S, so I had to narrow my searching based on size. Although I mostly focused my attention of the antique broaches (which I am hoping I can find a great one for my Aunt Terry because she always is wearing some sort of bedazzled pin, I feel like it has become sort of a trademark of hers in my eyes) I ended up buying two small things that I consider to be fantastic buys!

My first buy is based on an idea that I got from my cousins bridal shower. Her sister-in-law got her a chain with an antique key that she found when they went to Paris (where my cousin got engaged). That idea stuck with me and so what did I buy? Yup, an antique key. As I was looking through all of these old keys I kept thinking to myself "wow, I could probably get ten of these for 2$ at the auction..." but then, I found this one, beautiful key that stood out to me above all of the others. The way that it is crafted, the way that the metal twists into a particular design, made me realize that this is the key that I had been looking for! 5 euro later, and I was happy. Although my motivation was brought about by my cousin getting an antique key that dangled from a Tiffany & Co. chain, I think I am going to switch the idea up a bit. I am going to take this little trinket and start a small collection, making it a goal to gather at least one antique key from every place that I visit. I wanted to start some kind of collection when I was here, and I feel like this is exactly what I was looking for!

The second thing I am hesitant to write about because it is a gift, but I will anyway, I don't think my Dad will mind! One of the vendors at the market was a book vendor with old books and different paper goods for sale and as I passed it the first time I kind of just glanced at it and walked away because I want hunting for a good broach. But as I slowly realized that none of the vendors had what I was looking for, I went back to the paper goods and poked around a bit. And as I was looking I found something that just reminded me so much of my Dad: old, handwritten music sheets. Something about them just seemed so beautiful and elegant, automatically I pictured them framed and up on the wall next to my Dad's piano. Naturally I bought them for him, and I can't wait to get home and frame them and give them to him!

I find it so funny how much the six of us girls end up talking about our Daddys. We will be talked and then all of the sudden someone will mention their Dad and something funny about them that ties into the story and then that will set off a chain reaction and we will all put in our own two cents about our dads. It's a really nice connection between all of us when that happens, and it is always nice to talk about family.

So apart form my adventures today, last night was a good time too! We met up with my friend Ernesto and they bought us a glass of red wine and we just sat and talked and learned from each other. He taught me all of the meanings of the hand motions and told me some different places to go around the area. We were all supposed to play soccer today but it was so so cold I just had to postpone! We are all going to meet up tonight and talk though so that will be nice! I love being immersed into this culture. It is really difficult,yes, but I feel like this is the something that I have been missing in college. To be honest, at LVC I always felt like I was missing something. It wasn't that I don't like LVC because I do! I love the classes and the teachers and the size and I have good friends I just...I just felt like there was something missing and I always thought it was the nightlife. I would see my best friends at other schools going out to parties and having those crazy college memories that I am always hearing stories about..and I was experiencing that. So I always though that is what it was. And since I have been here, that gap has been filled. Not only because there is a nightlife here but I think what I was really missing was the challenge. The social challenge that is. Everyone at LVC is typical for the area. I mean, there are the jocks, and the music people, and the nerds, and the jerks, and it is so easy to stereotype and to fall into a category but here...it's so different. There are no groups to fall into. Yes, there is the American group and the Italian group but pretty much (besides the creepers) people just want to learn about the other groups culture because it is so foreign and it is so interesting. I don't know if that really makes sense to anyone else, but to me it makes more sense than I can really explain.

My parents have been telling me that there are more people than I really think that are reading my blog, and that makes me feel so loved 😊 Knowing that there are people at home that are willing to take the time out of the day to see what I have been up to halfway across the world...I don't know it just gives me a good feeling. Like maybe I am motivating people with my actions and my words to do something that will better themselves. Maybe I could start some kind of chain reaction here. To me, this is just a blog, a way to give everyone a little insight to my thoughts and feelings about being in this new place. But maybe to someone else, it is a little bit more. Maybe someone just sees an average girl like me having the ability to do something so great...what I am trying to say is, maybe to someone else, this is just a little bit more than a couple of words in an online diary.

I was going to end on that note, but I have a few more minutes so for my parents and for everyone else who is a little curious about my travel plans, this is what I have planned (roughly). Florence next weekend. We have a class trip which is with my foods class and we are having a renaissance feast in Florence! It will be fantastic! Then Jules and I are just exploring the city the rest of the weekend! After that we are thinking Salzburg, we are def. going to Corfu (the Greek island) for Easter break, we are going to the amalfi coast in April, Morocco and maybe even Brussels and France from spring break, paragliding in the alps, and I am really hoping to go hot air ballooning and zip lining eventually. I might even get to go rock climbing because Ernesto's friend rock climbs so we may all be going to do that!

The hardest part about planning things here is realizing that you cannot do everything. There is so much to do so you really need to eliminate things off you "must see" list. For example, I really, REALLY wanted to go to Dublin, but I don't see that happening. I do have Saint Patrick's day weekend open and I could go to Dublin but it is very expensive to get there that weekend...but wouldn't that be something! We are all going to carnivale in mid February which will be a lot of fun!!

I am really excited for all of the festivals and whatnot...except for Valentine's Day. Apparently it is a big day over here, and I am not surprised by that. But being in the current relationship status that I am in, and considering where I am...I don't know if it will be the happiest of Valentine's Days for me, but Jules and I decided that on Valentine's Day we will bite the bullet and awkwardly go out to dinner where we will be surrounded by couples and lovey doveyness. But in all honestly, I feel like that will be a hilarious night, we will def. make the best out of it for sure.

So. As for me. My current situation in summary is as follows: I am in a beautiful, foreign city. I am learning how to cook meals that won't kill me and to do laundry with no dryer. I am attempting to accomplish my dream of learning another language and am currently fulfilling my first dream of studying abroad. I am growing, and learning, and seeing new things every day that I am here. I am probably living as close to you "living in a dream" as you possibly can. I miss my family, and my friends, and I am craving brownies more than I ever have before. This is an experience I will never forget, and I consider myself so lucky to even be here, being able to experience all of this.

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