Thursday 6.21.07

We learned numbers today, at least the numbers up to 100. We even played a counting game. Learning language almost makes you feel like you’re in kindergarten. That is until you go outside and hear five year olds speaking way better than you ever could.

In the afternoon, we went for a walk to Piazza Gramschi for lunch. We ate Panini, which weren’t like the kind you get at Giant. Here in Italy, Panini just means sandwich. We had our lunch over in the park because eating at a restaurant actually costs more if you sit down and eat it there.
The park was nice. There were trees and I suddenly realized that I hadn’t seen any trees in the city since we arrived. It was a hot day, so sitting in the shade was a refreshing change. While we were there, Celeste told us a little about the history of Italy. There was a statue in the middle of the park of Guiseppe Garibaldi, the man who helped unify Italy into a nation. Apparently, back in the day, each state in Italy was its own country, which accounts for the variety of Italian dialects. It wasn’t until the 1800s that Italy became a unified country. Today, Italy has a socialist government.

Celeste also told us about the physical differences between northern Italians and southern Italians. Southern Italians tend to have more olive skin tones while northern Italians tend to have lighter skin tones. Because Siena is situated in a huge tourist area, it is harder to distinguish one Italian from another Italian.

After the park, Celeste, Tiffany and I went shopping. We finally found tennis shoes which came in handy because we have plans to go to Florence on Saturday. There is a store called Bata, which is similar to H&M with similar prices. We both found shoes that were about the same prices as American prices. I got some Nike Running shoes that ended up being the perfect shoes for the trip.

I think we wore Celeste out, because she didn’t join us for food shopping. We have gotten the hang of the local supermarket now. We bought a bunch of food only to realize that we wouldn’t be eating at home for a day or so. We went out a restaurant with the group that night. The owner of the restaurant made us four piattas (courses). They were all good and if I had had the room, I would’ve eaten more. Afterwards, we walked through the streets, listening to various jazz bands along the way. Thursday was the city wide jazz festival with bands playing in fourteen different locations throughout the city. The music was nice and it reminded me of American Jazz. At 11:00 we walked Geri to her bus and then headed on home.

Every night, no matter what we do, I am thoroughly exhausted; but it’s a good exhaustion. But it does make for rough mornings. I just discovered that there is a coffee machine in the student lounge. It has way too many choices, but it does the trick for me in the morning.