Dolce far niente

It is dolce but oh so not happening right now. Even though my classes only meet once for 2 hours a week, there is SO much work to be done. I have to spend a lot of extra time on my Econ and Finance-related courses. I really enjoy my European history class readings, there's just a lot of them. And Spanish is always a pleasure and involves the least amount of preparation even though it's the highlight of my day. Then there's politics, which I'm not a big fan of. And then there's a history exam I need to take in December that I haven't yet studied for. So this is where I stop whining about work.
Halloween is coming up soon. They don't celebrate Halloween in Italy, but they sure do put up their little displays and sell little decorations and candies. My costume is a surprise but you'll see a picture on here in a few days. Our party is going to be this Saturday, and daylight saving time is extending it.

vini vidi vinci

Vino. I've never had so much in my life. I'm hoping to join the Wine Society that's being started up at my school. I'm even going to purchase special glasses, my "tools," for the tasting of the wines. I went to a wine tasting at a vineyard yesterday, where we feasted on a four-course meal served on disposable plates and drank 5 kinds of wine from the same glass. So my very first wine tasting wasn't fancy by any means, but it was satisfying. In the picture, I'm at an agriturismo place in Friuli that's a combination vineyard, restaurant, and hotel. Everything we ate and drank for lunch was made on the premises from local ingredients--the place is part of the slow food movement. It was very nummy. Maybe I'll learn something about wine besides the fact that any wine with an animal on its label is automatically palatable.

Re di Friuli

Here are my roommates and I at Benni's house in Udine (the one on the far right). We spent all weekend up there, in the Northeast of Italy, at the foot of the Julian Alps. Benni's house is the coolest ever because his family renovated it, complete with a chill basement and wine cellar. I had the best white wines I've ever had in my life, including super sweet dessert wines. Italians really do know how to live. We also weren't allowed to sleep, as every second of our stay was full of eating, drinking, and driving to the various tourist hot spots around Friuli.
I just got my student loans deposited into my account so I'm feeling pretty good about myself. Yay for borrowing money. I'm still trying to finalize my class schedule, but it should be pretty interesting. There's definitely a lot of work to be done. As soon as I start my Spanish and Italian classes I'll be super-psyched.

Happy Birthday, Tico!

I had a pleasant detour on my way to Slovenia last weekend. There are two train stations in Venice, and my travel buddy and I were supposed to transfer at the train station that came first. We unknowingly arrived at the wrong Venetian train station, so we had an hour to burn in VENICE before we had to catch our train to Slovenia.
We arrived in the morning, when the local people were hustling and bustling and heading off to work. We just took a walk through the little streets (no cars!). Living in Venice is very expensive, so most locals don't actually live on the touristy island part. It was a great morning and I can't wait to come back and visit all the sites there. On the way back to Bologna we stopped (this time on purpose) in Venice and were there until midnight. Venice is great but it does seem kind of like an Italian Disneyland -- and you hear English more than anything else.