Che Figo

I can't believe it's Thursday already... the days certainly do seem to fly by here.

On Sunday, my crazy, crazy Professor Anna Maria invited my roommate Leah and I over to her apartment to go over our compositions for the week. She lives on the edge of the city in a rare fifteen-story apartment building. She is on the eleventh floor and has a balcony, so I got a completely gorgeous view of Bologna. She then took us out for gelato [I need to be careful... this daily gelato habit is dangerous to my wallet and waistline] and led us back the Piazza Maggiore through little back streets and alleys.

Walter and I have 25 hours of mandatory hang-out time this month, so I saw him frequently in the past few days. First, for those of you who were getting ahead of yourselves [Aunt Tracy, Grace, Ploi...], I will continue to assert that there is no romantic interest. In fact, Walter has una ragazza, a girlfriend, who is very cute and equally as Italian as Walter [but I do have better hair than her... :)]. On Monday, Walter took me to the library and hooked me up with a sweet library card so now I can borrow all the Italian books and DVDs my heart desires.

Overall, I think I continue to amuse Walter. We had a small communication problem yesterday when I was trying to say "that's cool" (che figo) and instead I guessed I pronounced it like "che sfiga" which I will not translate for you all, but suffice it to say that it's a rather vulgar term that is definitely not OK to say in public at a loud volume. Walter blushed profusely because of my gaffe and gave me a little lecture on the difference of the two words.

I don't have class until 1 PM today, so a bunch of us all went out last night to a local bar. Now, before anyone starts tongue-clicking or lip-pursing, I want to say that going out is one of the most productive ways to improve my Italian. I meet actual Italians who in fact only speak Italian, so I get to work on my own skills. Yesterday, my roommate Asia, who is quite Italian-boy-crazy, started up a conversation with these two Italian men who turned out to be soldiers who just got back from Iraq. What perhaps started as an effort to find Asia an Italian boy turned into a very interesting and eye-opening conversation.

Alright, I need to go scrounge some food up for breakfast. Arrividerci!