Don't fret, I'm still alive

It's been almost a week since my last post, but not much has happened here. Tons of schoolwork, and I'm getting a move on with the med school secondaries. I stayed home last weekend (home, meaning the villa in Floren ce) and most people went on trips. It was SO quiet here. I relaxed, did laundry, homework. It was great. This weekend though, I am going to Venice which clearly will be amazing (and I'll put pictures up when I take them). 

I shopped around in this past week, for gifts for people and such. Not much for myself, actually which surprised me. I leave for Rome on Aug 8, then Barcelona on Aug 12, then Paris on Aug 16, then London on Aug 18, then Milan on Aug 20, then NEW YORK on Aug 21. Whew! I'm gonna be so god damn exhausted, but it'll be worth it I'm sure. This past Sunday was July 27 - 1 month exactly that I've been in Italy - the time flew!

Arrivederci,

David

Only 2 weeks left...

So my time in Italy has come to the winding down point - only 2 weeks from tomorrow, the program ends and I will be going to other European countries then coming back to Italy only for a day to fly home. So I've decided I'm gonna make the most of these two weeks and just go crazy and do everything and anything I want. It's been amazing so far, and it'll continue to be I'm sure. It's gonna be hard to leave! Some people went to Batman last night but I didn't feel like bothering. It seemed like it would be overly crowded, and gelato was a better option for me anyway :-) I stayed in, watched some TV with Gloria from across the Atlantic.... haha. Fun times, because Karen never fails to make both of us laugh. Tonight I might go out with Kacie and a bunch of people to town... but alas, the homework never ends, so I might have to stay in again. I just want to ensure that I get good marks while here; it would be downright shameful to have gotten an A in physics II and a B in a summer language course. So I will not!

So far, this has been a lazy week at the villa. I haven't gone out at night that much this week even though I could have, mostly because I've been a little tired and had a lot of homework. Still haven't done those secondaries. I keep trying, but lose patience, I don't know. Classes are going well, I did extremely OK on my Italian midterm so that is good. Keeping the English to a minimum is fun :-) Well, really there is not much to tell. Not much happened since Sunday when I last wrote. I saw some cousins from Israel who were in Florence for a day, that was nice. And I finally got to see the Jewish synagogue in Florence, though I forgot to bring my camera so I'll be sure to go back at some point. When I go to Rome on Aug 8, it's a Friday and I'll be alone. So I definitely plan on going to a shabbat service over there. It'll be fun and really interesting, I'm sure. Something big might happen soon....but I do not know! Keep readin' I plan to go to Pisa sometime this weekend (the place where the leaning tower is. yes, the leaning tower of Pisa is in Pisa, mom - not Rome).

miss/love you all
David

Roma : Caput Mundi

 Our first night in Rome, at a cheap trattoria. (thanks for the pic! this one is swiped)
 GLORIA in Excelsis Deo. I ran extra close (and almost lost my group) to take this pic for you, roomie.

 Celebrating in Rome.
 Celebrating the night before going to Rome.
 The revelry continues
The ancient Roman forum and the Arch of Titus, from afar. I didn't see them this time around, but when I go back to Rome I will.
 Collosseum, from further.

 the Collosseum, people!
 Us, outside il Collosseo. In 95 degrees. Immediately after this, she poured ice water down her back. I continued to suffer.
 The little dressed up Roman people.
 This is inappropriate behavior for the Collossem, kids.
 Inside the Collosseum! All the way on the top of that oval is a stage like thing. This is where the gladiators would have fought. What you see underneath are ruins from an ancient Etruscan (?) city, which the Romans built the Collosseum on top of.
 Inside the Pantheon; Raphael is buried here, and the dome on the top has a 9 meter diameter hole in it. It gets really wet inside when it rains.
 Prof. Tylus gives us an explanation to all the Jesus we just saw.
 Look close Wellington; your name's there!
 The Tiber (Tevere) River, which encompasses Rome.
 No idea what this is. But it looked nice!
 The Roman subway is crowded, and hot. But they play trance music from circa 1985. It all adds to the class.
 Michelangelo's moses statue. In some random church on a side street.
 A government building (I think?) that my teacher said was ugly. I thought it was OK though !
 Remember St. Catherine of Siena? The one whose head I saw in Siena? Well, the other 80% of her body is here, in a church in Rome. Nice!
 The pantheon. I still don't get why this is such a big deal.
 This way to the Sistene Chapel, bitches.
 St. Peter's, from in front of the Basilica.
 I have 30 pictures of this. I'm not joking.
 I ensure a trip back to Rome.
 Kerstin ensures a trip back to Rome.
 In the biggest ripoff restaurant of all time.
 The Spanish Steps.
 A fountain near the Spanish steps. Clearly I am hot and tired. Oh also, the man behind me was filling his water bottle to drink from the fountain while a 4 year old next to him was 1/2 naked swimming in it.
 A busy street in Roma, near all the shops.
 The Trevi Fountain; I can see the Dolce Vita scene now.
 Michelangelo's Pieta; sheer perfection.
 Right outside the Vatican; St. Peter's in the background.
 this is inside St. Peter's, but you can't tell because of how dark it is.
 Outside the Vatican, in St. Peter's square.
 Inside St. Peter's Basilica, the main cathedral of Vatican City.
 Raphael; a really colorful nice painting of guess who! Yes! JESUS!!!! Surprise surprise.
 Later that night... (these pictures, as usual are out of order). People got silly.
More from inside the Vaticano.
 Inside the Vatican. Pay attention to the ceiling; lots of gold, and bordered by light. Amazing (and expensive).
 My first views of Roma, the eternal city
Sunday morning, back in Florence. We did Rome on Friday and Saturday and came back last night. The city was amazing, and I can't wait to go back when the study abroad program is over. I'll be there again August 8-12 before I leave for Barcelona. When we got there we went pretty quickly to the Vatican; the building is seriously enormous, pretty maze-like. Lots of tunnels and long corridors with really beautiful ceilings and paintings all around. Eventually, the icing on the cake was the Sistene Chapel, the famous chapel that took Michelangelo 4 years to paint. It has the famous fresco of God giving Adam life (the outstretched fingers, you know?). I would've taken pictures, but the guards were psychos. Seriously, they were screaming every 3 seconds for people to a) shut up, b) stop taking illegal pictures, and c) sitting down. Honestly, I wasn't impressed so much by the Sistene Chapel as I thought I'd be. It wasn't very well lit and everything seemed smaller. Still, it was cool to be there. We then went to St. Peter's Basilica where Michelangelo's famous Pieta is held, and several popes are entombed. Right outside is St. Peter's Square, the famous huge open space where I (think) people stand on all the holidays and stuff for the pope's blessing (the guy is in Australia now, so I couldn't track him down to say hi). Rome is GIGANTIC; luckily I had 60 other people to help guide me because I'm really bad and crappy with maps, but when I go back I hope I can manage without getting lost.

Later, we saw the pantheon, the colosseum, the Spanish steps (lots of great stores, but didn't get to shop really. I'll go back later I guess), and of course the Trevi Fountain, which I was really excited to see and took about 50 pictures of. No really. Supposedly if you stand by the fountain and throw a coin into it over your left shoulder, you are guaranteed a safe trip back to Rome in the future. Superstition (and a smart marketing strategy) overcame me and some friends and of course, being the tourists we are, we did it :-) At night, all the Romans came out; I thought it was pretty interesting, actually. This may be because Florence is so much more narrow and claustrophobic than Rome, but it seemed like there were TONS of more tourists in Florence than Rome. Rome did not seem to be so packed, though I'm sure it was because....well, it's Rome.  The gelato there - also pretty amazing. I got to see Michelangelo's famous statue of Moses (with the horns) and in a CATHOLIC church, there was a painting with inscriptions of Isaiah ישעיהו) on it, in hebrew. Rome has lots of wide open spaces and piazzas, and grass. It's just a beautiful city, and you can see it in the pictures I put up. Also a really expen$$$ive city; I (no joke) saw a can of soda (normal size) for 5 euro. That's about 8 bucks - what?! Yea, I didn't buy it. But I did buy other souvenirs for myself and people. We got back to Florence pretty early, and I settled into bed because my shins/legs were kind of hurting me. I have to study all day today and write a paper.... yes, not looking forward at all. Look at the photos! Rome was amazing, and I can't wait to go back.

David 

I saw a woman with arm pit hair today

 

Me, (tiny and dark) doing my post MCAT victory dance. It's over, AAMC bitches.

The juicy stuff will come later. I finally got my score yesterday, as you closest to me surely know because you've been hearing me bitch about it constantly for the past 30 days and 17 hours. I did not get as high as I would have liked, but considering how horrible and disgusted I felt when walking out that Friday, I am EXTREMELY grateful for what I got. So yeah. Thanks God, I owe you one. It's officially over, I will NOT be taking this stupid test ever again and I can finally move forward with my plans. All day in class yesterday I was kind of day dreaming and in a daze... After class I ran away from campus to the center of the city to just walk and clear my head. That was good, I got 3 new cds out of it, which brings my total since I've been here to 10. I love that. 

This morning in the supermarket  (Tuesday mornings are the day when I volunteer). We got lost (again) on the way there, and were 30 minutes late, but it didn't seem to matter. We didn't get yelled at, and the main guy wasn't there today. We walked up and down the aisles with the other volunteers (Nadia had a little crush on one Matteo) and dumped the stuff into the shopping carts. Today we did not do delivery; they had other people to do it today and that was fine with me because I had to do Italian homework that I *should have* done last night, but was too anxious to because of the MCAT scores. I stayed up last night til 2:30, my room is a complete mess. I really don't know how I lived like this for 3 years. it's OVER! (well, the hard part at least). AND today at the supermarket, the main woman like threw up her hands to yell at someone...I swear, this lady had more hair in that pit than I do on my entire body (including my head). Hilarious, and yet, kinda gross at the same time. I laughed, don't think anyone else besides me noticed it (is this normal in Europe?). On a more serious note, though, I really love doing this activity apart from my school work. It lets me get out and meet people and speak. I've learned so many new words and expressions and its exciting.

I also just completed my booking flights for after Italy. Here it goes:

Aug 8 - check out of NYU, leave Florence for Rome

Aug 8-10 -- Rome on my own

Aug 10-12 -- Rome with Helen

Aug 12-16 -- Barcelona

Aug 16-18 -- Paris

Aug 19 -- London

Aug 20 -- Milan/Pisa?

Aug 21 -- AMERICA

Stay tuned peeps. I miss you all like whoa

David

MCAT doom or relief

I've been alone so far all day today, just mulling over things. 

I find out my score later tonight (Italian time around 9-10pm). 

Pray for me.

David

Fondling Juliet in Verona

 Oh yeah, we went to the movies one night. To see a movie about the mafia that was seriously disturbing.

 Me and Erin, outside the Accademia. Before we saw David and his uncircumsized (wrong!) penis.

 This is the real David (with uncircumsized penis). Had to turn the flash off and sneak it.

 Nadia and me, on the lake ride. This was sometime after I picked a flower and angrily ripped off all the petals. A psychological reason?

 Lotus flowers. In Asia, they eat them. Supposedly, according to nono, they smell like Geishas.

 A swan for you, a swan for me.

 Pooped (and oblivious)

 Stefano flirts. Pre-orange pants. Maybe this is why he was ultimately unlucky with our cute tour guide.

 The audience of the opera. Or, 1/100 of it. Lots of sweaty Italians right there.

 By a fountain after the show. TOo bad we're blocking it.

 Stefano's neon orange pants. I must get me some of those.

 Mantova's.... church? I don't even freakin' know.

 Later that day. The lake-boat ride through the lotus flowers, guided by our private Italian nono.

 The scenery before the opera started. It got pitch black within 45 min after this.

 Trying to be.... scary? First we stuck our tongues out, which was much more attractive. She deleted that one.

 Somewhere in act 2...

 Somewhere in act 2...

 Probably act 3 by now. I really had no idea what was flying, so I couldn't tell you. I forgot my binoculars (again). Fuck!

 The one eyed-wink is the newest sex appeal

 Las chicas, prima dell'opera

 Io con le ragazze. Siamo bellissimi :-)

 Before going into the amphitheater.

 Elinor and Cait in the theater, before the opera. The place is HUGE and was packed, it can fit upto 20,000.

 Verona from the water.

 The wall of love notes and graffiti

 Molesting Juliet

 A statue of a man on a horse? The whole time in Verona, after free time we always met by him.

 Kacie gets excited (but not intoxicated) before the Aida

 Look, it's the Pieta !

 Roberto, about to break into an opera performance

 Verona's main square. Romeo's mama and papa are right there on the right. See?

 Dante was sexy - ain't nothin' wrong with that.

 Io amo l'Italia tantissimo

I love Italy. Seriously, it's really pretty sweet here I made the right decision to come. We went to Verona yesterday morning, the bus ride was around 3 hours long. So at the rest stop I got water, and of course I didn't pay attention (for the THIRD time) and got SPARKLING water. This stuff tastes like absolute shit. Why ruin water by carbonating it? The label here for 'frizzante' (sparkling) is tiny sometimes, and you don't realize whta you're buying because there's no bubbles until it's opened. I'm a fool. Anyhow, I drank the seltzer and gagged, but I drank it just to get my euro fifty's worth.

Saw the town center, and Juliet's house (Yeah Kristen, I saw it!!!!). So the story is fake, but people like to believe it actually happened and there's a statue of her. Supposedly if a man rubs her tit and a woman touches her arm, they get lucky in issues of love. Um, ok. Still fun (picture below). There was also a wall with people who write their names and couples and stuff, to fall in love (also below). After going around the town more and eating (of course), we checked into the hotel, bla bla, changed, and went to an opera. The show was held outside in a like, one million year old amphitheater (exaggerate much?), at night. Started at 9:15 and ended at 1:30AM.... freakin long, and I'd be lying if I said I was awake the entire time. Still, it was really amazing. The costumes, the voices. And the gelato afterward. The opera we saw, btw, was Aida by Giuseppe Verdi. I recognized some of the music in it, from when I had downloaded classical music to study orgo with. Hehe, good times!

Today we did Mantova (Mantua, home of banished Romeo, Kristen!). I actually remember very little from today, mainly because I was hungry/sweating the entire time and up til 2 the night before. There were lots of palaces, gardens, and churches. That's all I got for you, peeps (pics below). Oh! We went on a boat tour in this marsh near Mantova with loads of lotus flowers and lily pads and all that good shit. Pretty nice! Plus the guide was a tiny 1000 year old Italian grandpa who I wanted to pack up and bring home. For realz. Check him out below, he is amazing (what was his name?). Then we went to some Palace which pretty much everyone dozed off at because we wanted to go the fuck home (sweat+hunger+tiredness = bad combination. Who would've thought?!). And now I'm here! In my room! The internet connection in it finally works! And I'm writing to you!

Ciao

David