Yay! Akila is going to be in Florence this weekend! That makes me happy. Everybody should come and visit me!

That means YOU!!

Yes, so that is good news. Oooh, and this weekend I am also going to Cinque Terre. Whee! It should be lots of fun and so come Monday I should have lots of good stories to tell. Ack, on the other hand, tomorrow is the holiday of Ognisanti which is All Saint's, and so I am expecting that not very many places will be open. Which is sad. Because then what am I going to do with Akila? Hm... maybe I'll take her up to the pretty church on the hill through the long pretty walk. That would be fun.

Oh my goodness! They are watching Friends on the computer. It's the final episode from last season with Rachel and the baby and the marriage proposal. At least I think that is the final episode. Hm... I am pretty behind. Anyways, I think I am going to go to the gym. Oh, another fun note! My wonderful friend, Michele, has this incredible project that she has been accepted into where she is going to do geophysics research in Ethiopia during the winter! How incredible is that?! Yes, my friend Michele is sooo smart and motivated and I wish that I could be as special as she is. But guess what! She is coming to visit me here in Florence! Well, she is flying into Rome and I told her that I would meet her in Rome because I love the city and then I will be able to have Giolitti's again. Yippee!

Well, I am very nostalgic for the U.S. right about now. Not only because it is Halloween and we don't have trick or treating with free chocolate here (alas!) but also because I really just miss you all. I really don't get to talk to you enough. Of course, if you want to call me that would be spleeeendid. =) Also to write me too. *sweet, cajoling smile* Oooh! I just remembered that tonight I am helping my host sister to make risotto alla zucca! Yay! Okay, off to the pallestra!

Ciao tutti!

Not much went on this weekend... I wanted to go to Venezia but then that plan got foiled because everybody else had tons of work and then I realized that I had an essay for my Italian cinema class due Monday that I had not started, so yes, lots of Saturday was spent writing and looking up words in my insufficient Italian-Engish dictionary. Actually, from 11ish to 4ish I was not at home and instead I was enjoying the most incredible dance class! It was *so* much fun!!! I don't really know how to explain the type of dance... sort of a cross between hip hop and jazz and modern. It's a dance choreographed for an exhibition in May, which is sad since I'm not going to be here in order to perform. That, and it costs 10.50 each Saturday for the class which lasts 12:30ish to 2:30ish (in Italy, times are always expressed with "ish" because nobody takes schedules very seriously. This works pretty well for me, in general. But I do have some concern that the first round of postcards which I have sent out this weekend will not actually get to the U.S. any time soon. Meh, what can you do?). But yes, so the dance class was the highlight of my weekend. And I remember all that we did, which is wonderful. It is to the song "Let's get married" y'know, how it goes "meet me at the alter, we ain't gettin' no younger..." etc. etc. Yes, it was fun. I was pretty sore afterwards though. But good sore since it was from dance.

And then there's the rest of the weekend. I finished the essay Sunday morning and the Deb and I went out for lunch and then I decided to fare una passeggiata around the town to explore some. So I was strollin' along, and the sun was out and I was feeling all warm and my tummy was full of risotto con asparagi and I was singing a little bit to myself because I found these two park-piazzas which were very beautiful. It was away from the center of town where I live, so it was calmer without many cars. There were trees in a circle around the piazza and grass and stone benches all around. I saw somebody giving a haircut just on one of the benches! And there were children running and laughing and playing. Some strange euro music coming from one of the parked cars. I must have had this blissfully contented look on my face, because I passed one guy who said Buonasera. Come va? as he passed by (which is unusual for a Florentine because they keep to themselves for the most part, aside from looking you up and down. But then again, I would learn that he wasn't Florentine so that makes sense). Va bene, I said softly in passing and kept walking. About half a block later I felt like somebody was following me. It turned out to be this guy, who started talking to me again and following me wherever I was going. It got to be really creepy. Especially since I didn't know exactly where I was and I didn't know how I could get rid of him or where I could go that would be safe. I started heading back home and I didn't really want to talk to him and so I kept my answers short to whatever he asked and didn't initiate any conversation. Then at one point he asked me to sit down in this other piazza and I kept walking and took out my telefonino and started to call my roommate. Thank goodness for cell phones. I think that he got the idea because he disappeared in the distance as I walked far far away from him. Still, it was a pretty creepy experience. What is wrong with men in Italy? I don't think that I've found any nice, normal guy. I know Bea, I will have to try a lot harder to find your Italian Stallion for you. Anyways, so then I started walking back, senza strange guy, and headed back home. Of course even then I can't really be left in peace because who should come along, but an old, very wrinkled man in a tan sweater passing the opposite direction to me on the street made loud shocking kissing noises that totally disrupted my reverie of the day... for the second time. After he passed I was thinking that I really should have told him that he was past his prime. I don't think men in Italy get that, though. Hm...

That pretty much wraps up all my adventure for the weekend. This week should be nice because I'll have finished my essay and then I just have to catch up on a lot of reading. So school work wise it should be pretty chill. I also have been reading through Firenze Spettacolo to see what events are up for the rest of October. With Halloween approaching I am getting really nostalgic for the U.S! They don't celebrate it here, except in imitation of the U.S., but hopefully (since there are about 5000 american students in Florence) there should be some sort of party on Thursday. oooh, you know what I am really nostalgic for? Thanksgiving. How could it possibly be the same without a huge turkey dinner with the cranberry sauce that my uncle makes and pumpkin pie... mmm... ooh! That reminds me, last night we had ravioli con zucca! It was very very interesting and I liked it alot! (zucca is pumpkin, btw) But yes, I am definitely getting nostalgic for Stanford. Especially reading all the Dance News emails and hearing about all the fabulous people (woo hooo Tina!) who are on Opening for Viennese Ball. I miss dancing!! I miss it!!

Ah well. Give me a call and remind me about how wonderful Cali is! I love you guys!

Erin is stressed. Why don't all these worries just go away when you go overseas??

Sigh.

I have, however, written some bit of poetry, which is something I haven't done in a while. I am amused by it. What do you think? (eep, I just realized that my formatting didn't show up how I intended on the web page. Alas. well, there will be something to look forward to in person, then.)

of stone

where do these stone streets go
when the wind screams and the icy
pricks of rain strike deep down
see each stone comes from somewhere
now plunged together as it were
what fanciful designer declared
where each one goes
so now they're stuck with back or stomach
facing wind and rain
today like before and evermore ...

***

no no no, signor!
not like me
I've been here before and left and returned
walking on top of these stones
you wouldn't, would you
see when I lift my pale face to the sun
feeling it in all the way
this is the way
through
and up up up
where I've managed to glean
some inspiration
from this world
as it exists
today like before

Ciaaaoooo tutti...

Mi sento blehh... I've been sick to my stomach all night and this morning and I feel weak and don't have motivation to do the things that I know I have to do. Aiya! Make it go away!

Oh, there is some good news, though:

Deborah made it into the Accademia delle Belle Arte!!!
This is a hugely prestigious art school and it is so awesome that she made it! She had to take a 3 hour long exam which was her drawing a sculpture on a huge sheet of paper, and then they posted a list of who was admitted and who wasn't on the door of the Academy. What pressure, yes? Out of 80 students who applied, only 50 were accepted. You go girl! Woo hoo!

I wish I had some excitingness happen in my own life, but as it is things get sort of dull when you're not feeling well. At least my favorite class at the gym is this evening. Yay!

A definite "We're in Italy!" moment:

Bella Perugia! A little town in the foothills south of Florence with windy stone streets and a beautiful sun overhead. I'm leaning over the old city walls, looking into the surrounding valley of vineyards and olive groves, warmed by the cheery sun and very content. In fact, I am blissfully happy today, the day of the Chocolate Festival! O, Paradise on Earth! So much chocolate all over the place! There are at least 100 different chocolate companies with multiple stands all over the city. Chocolate of every and any kind you can imagine! Way more than just chocolate bars (although there are many of these, too, and filled with such sweet wonders of the land!) there's chocolate covered figs, chocolate biscotti, chocolate torte, chocolate on popcorn, chocolate spiced with peperoncini, chocolate crepes, chocolate of all sorts of shapes and sizes, chocolate art like delicate flowers, and there was this one display full of crafted and very real looking chocolate tools like pliers and espresso machines! There are even 3 men carving statues out of a block of huge chocolate (of course the spectators get to savour the chunks that the sculptors carve off!) and a car made completely out of chocolate! I stared incredulously as girls got their hair styled in elaborate updo's... painted all over in chocolate! I danced with an old man from Barbagia as I reminisced with him about my trip to Sardegna and struggled to pull apart some freshly made torrone. Happy carnival songs about "Cacao" and "ho mangiato molto cioccolato" permeate the air, and amidst the huge crowd I am walking with this giddy, foolish smile on my face because I have had a couple of cups of chocolate liquore and taken a ride on the giostra in the sun.

Woo hoo! More updates about my life in Italy. How did I get all this spare time, you ask? Weeelllll, first there's the fact that after watching the 4th depressing Italian movie yesterday for cinema class, and finishing the 2nd depressing Italian novel for my North/South class early this morning, I gave up on doing any more reading and just let the listlessness of life take over. And then there's also the fact that I've been up since pretty early this morning since my roommate has an exam early this morning to see if she can get into this really prestigious art accademy in Florence. Good luck sweetie! *knock on wood* Finally there's the fact that I have given up for the moment trying to find flights to France for winter break and to Greece in November since I've just gotten completely lost and overwhelmed by my efforts.

But of course there is always something exciting going on in my life! The newest development is that yesterday, as I was wandering around by myself searching for somewhere to sit down to eat (since Wednesdays are my sit-down lunch day since we have a 3 hour art history class in the morning that involves a ton of walking around the town, but everybody else was just bent on grabbing a quick panino and rushing back to the center so there I was all by myself!) I ran into one of my professoressas and her marito (ah! see how reading my blog is also a lesson in italiano? yay!) who told me about this teeny trattoria which was soooo goood and cheap too! Yes, it is a little secret, so I am not supposed to tell anybody about it. Sarah, I know you're the only one here who reads this so we can go sometime together but shhhh don't let the secret out! =) Anyways, I'm not even sure if I could find it again since it was pretty tucked away. But you guys would be so proud of me! One of the waiters started talking to me and asked me for my phone number, but I said no! Ha! Just like that! Wow, I am learning little by little. =)

Eep! It's time for another depressing cinema class.

Ciao tutti!

hey y'all.... I know that you're just about tired of reading and re-reading the story of the ass pinching, so I am going to diligently put up another post. Well, actually this isn't going to be a really long post because I am tired of being in the center and I need to get out and get some chocolate of sorts and go and read some where, so yes. Here, then, is the super quick update on life in Italy.

Two weekends ago was my trip to Rome. Wheee! This was absolutely sooo incredible! Definitely one of the highlights of my stay in Italy so far. I was absolutely floored by the majesty of the city. Just the size of everything there! Oh my goodness! Not to mention that they had the best gelaterria called Giolitti. Ooooh my goodness! I wish I could send some of this back to all of you in the states! Although an interesting side effect of the wonderful gelato in Rome is that I am disillusioned with Florence gelato. In fact, I have not had a gelato since I returned. It would just be anticlimatical, after all.
Yes indeed, Rome did have more to offer me than scrumptious gelato. In fact, here is an exerpt from my journal during my trip:

Eerie. Very eerie. That's how I would describe the Colosseum. Majestic and imposing, yes. But underneath, an unimaginable labrynth of passageways and corridors and secret rooms that are now grown over with soft green grass. My imagination can only begin to conjure up what deadly, tortuous past this place must have had. It's a little shocking to see the contrast so vivid between the Colosseum and the Vatican. One the site of such cruelty and bloodiness, the other a house for the Prince of Peace.

This weekend there was a very rainy Saturday, which was okay with me cuz I was inside the whole day starting and finishing (woo hoo! procrastination skills!) my written-in-Italian essay for my Italian cinema class. Aw yeah. Then Sunday was absolutely gorgeous! I went up with a group of people to Piazzole Michelangelo and the gardens overlooking the entire city of Florence. It was so beautiful! And I got to write lots of postcards, so check in your mailboxes soon, people! Well, "soon" on Erin plus Italian terms, so meaning at least a month. =) Oooh, and if you haven't already given me your address, how do you expect that I will write to you, huh?

Okay, this concludes my update. Off to have some more adventures!

The Ass-Pinching

you knew it had to happen...
it was just a matter of when....
and where...

well my friends, here we go:

The Date: Wednesday, October 2nd, 2003
The Time: About 6:30 in the evening
The Setting: On a main street, heading toward the Ponte Vecchio with Andrea to get a caffe

The Story: After an especially long and busy day at school, Andrea and I desperately needed a breath of fresh air and a caffe at a local bar. So we head out. Shortly after our story begins, I am struck by an itch on my leg. So I, obediently, bend down to scratch. Suddenly! Unexpectedly!

The Pinch!!

It was fast and to the point. I shot up abruptly, a look of horror and surprise on my face and turned around to face the perpetrator, obviously some obtuse, creepy, slimey Italian man. But no! Who do I see when I turn around, but the smiling face of Sarah.

Oh the deception! Sarah -- seemingly sweet and innocent, is nothing more than a devious criminal!

(okay, so in reality we were both cracking up sooo much in the middle of the street, and I still laugh now just thinking about the incident.)
But here is further proof to her deviousness... a text messaging conversation later in the day:

Sarah, 6:45pm: BTW, nice ass.
Erin, 7:05pm: You brute.
Sarah, 8:23pm: Muahahaha...

Case closed.

God is so amazing. Sooooo amazing. Wow.

I don't know if I can adequately convey this in words. But you know earlier how I was saying that there was some tension between my roommate and I? It sort of exploded last night. Yeah. Before there had just been this unspoken but mutually acknowledged irritation and then last night it all boiled up and we got into a huge argument about very stupid and insignificant and petty things. It carried on, with neither of us really hearing what the other person was saying and no progress being made and both of us ready to find some way to separate. I was so frustrated and I am sure that she was too. Then suddenly I felt inside such calming, and new that I had to take a step back from what was going on in our petty argument and find out what there was that was deeper. And everything that I had learned this summer about speaking and being honest and direct instead of keeping things inside, it all came back, and all of my frustrations and impatience went away as I just listened and I realized that there was definitely something deeper that was going on for me and very significantly for my roommate too. I feel like our living together is a testimony in itself to how God works and the ways that he pushes us and guides us and brings us together to make things happen. So we ended up talking and talking way late and at the end both of us felt so much better. Not just about our living situation, but about what we were doing here and about lots of things from the past. I went to bed smiling with just this wonderful, overwhelming feeling of contentment.

Oooh! On another note, I had the most vivid dream last night! It was about 80's guy (Bea, you know exactly who I'm talking about!) and a friend of his from home, named Noella, came and visited him and brought her son. Well, it turns out that the son was his son! Not only that, but he refused to acknowledge really either of them and Noella came to me for help. Through this all there was the lemon song playing in the background by Peter Paul and Mary. It was very strange.

Lemon tree, very pretty
and the lemon flower is sweet.
But the fruit, of the poor lemon
is impossible to eat.