End of First Week in Siena

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So let's see, what's been going on?

First off, the end of V-day was nice. We went to see "The Libertine"
and yep, it was all dubbed in Italian. I got about 50% of it, but at
least I got the gist. It started at 10:30, and right after I had to
head back to the apt. to finish my oral presentation that I had
yesterday. I had to talk for 15 minutes on the history of Siena, I
don't know how long it is, but I think it was long enough.

The rest of yesterday was awesome. We had a little art tour with
Richard (program director) and he is the craziest person ever! (This
was after class) We walked around in the Palazzo Pubblico, the duomo
and the catedrale. All the while he was telling us about it in his
Richard-esque way. We went for wine at a little osteria after, and he
kept asking where's Starky, we lost Starky! We looked at him like he
was nuts, then he looked at me and said, oh there she is! I was so
confused, but he had meant sharkee (my UDel email). Sadly, he prefers
starky, so that is now my name.

After the wine several of us got a ride with him back to our places,
don't think that got me out of walking though! We had to walk about 20
minutes to get to his car! I said "Richard! Where did you park?!" So
now he thinks I'm mean? (Btw, this man is maybe 60 and fucking
hilarious) When we got to the car, Genevieve and I sat in the back and
Dave in the front, and Richard told Dave to throw the stuff in the
front seat at me! Richard is the one who is mean. Oh, and the people
here have given me a new nickname. "Mama Bear." It's because I
organize everything and ask for things and call everyone and make sure
everyone is included. Well, Richard think's it's too sweet, too
"honey" for me. HAH. I'm sweet!

We had planned on going to the Tea Room last night, but since there
was live music they were booked up. We met in the Piazza instead to
pregame with some wine (god I love Italy) and then went to SOBs (it's
a really chill bar/club/internet cafe). I had a bellini and
entertained Julie and Becca M. with my crazy antics. Yes, I have crazy
antics. I don't even know what I was talking about, but apparently it
was funny. When they left I sat with Gina, Genevieve and Dave and we
had a great time. I ran into Ali too (aka the Yugoslavian) but we
didn't talk long.

It was kinda rainy, but we decided to hang out outside anyway. I kept
insisting on lighting Dave's cigarettes, little pyro that I am. I
really do love playing with lighters. I bought one here that has an
istrice (porcupine) on it. (It's the symbol of my contrada--
neighborhood). I kept having big sips of other people's beers, and was
pretty happy. It was really a genuinely fun night! Dave and Alex then
walked us (Gen and Hiroko) home, chatting loudly the whole time. I
really will be sad to ever go home.

Today in class we had to write a composition, and one of the topics we
could choose was along the lines of "pretend you're Freud and write a
dialogue about your childhood." Well, as you can imagine, I went all
out. I talked about my weird dreams (sword fighting with a skeleton
and a vampire factory in my room), my mom stepping on me, etc. AND I
exaggerated a lot. I said that I wasn't a very cute kid, and so didn't
have many friends. By the end I had Freud say that I'm trying to
overcomensate for my lack of friends when i was little, so i act like
a clown to make friends. He said I should try to suppress it a bit
more. I asked, Isn't it better to be myself? Freud said "In this case,
no." I was giggling the whole time.

Let's see, I don't know what else there is to report, other then I
don't think I ever want to leave!

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