La Chica Blanca en Roma! It is surreal to be here but it is very exciting. The coloseum, the Spanish Steps, the panthenon, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica... we are doing it all. Ellie and I split a huge ice cream sundae last night to celebrate our arrival. It is expensive here so we're trying to minimize our coffee and gelato intake. The weather is grey and cool but kind of romantic. The Freestyle Hostel, where we are staying, is pretty laid back and a little weird but working out well. Thinking about home a lot but amazed to be here. Going to meet up with Ralph Renson tomorrow... I am so excited to see him.

Last night: homework, planning, studying over coffee with Amy. Today: long day of classes, scrambling to tie up loose ends such as mysteriously detained packages, choir, packing. Tomorrow: email, one quiz, last minute stuff, ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡VAMOS A ITALIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am psyched.

As predicted by several people who know me well, singing in choir is going to make me feel much better. The first rehearsal last night was very promising. I´m joining with two other musical friends of mine, and we met a German girl who spoke English and had lived in Sheboygan for 6 months but knows even less Spanish than we do. We got the music for West Side Story (ironic after singing it all summer on the College Pro Ladders with Elliott) and a big Schumann piece, learned a little canon to warm up with, got placed into sections... I have high hopes. We started singing the music for West Side Story and I freaked out when everyone started singing in solfeggio. I tried desperately to figure it out through the whole rehearsal, the piece was in B flat and I couldn´t seem to get it right, and then at the end I realized that they were singing fake solfeg, C was always do and the notes weren´t going to change with the key. I was very relieved that I would not have to learn ANOTHER language while I was here. So after a nap and some music yesterday, and buying bus tickets for our Italy trip and a new satchel to carry my stuff during the day, I am feeling much better. Really excited about Italy... I think it is going to be really good for me, a really good change. For dinner Paz made me chicken soup, which was kind of a joke because I had been trying to explain my Chicken Soup for the Soul CD to them the other day, so she made it for me because it is good for my soul. She also kept refilling my beer glass because, as she said, "Cerveza es bueno para la alma también." Paz has also been trying to speak to me in English once in a while.... she has taken a lot of classes and she knows a lot of vocabulary, which is really helpful, but she doesn´t speak very often so she struggles to put sentences together. Still, she is trying to speak in English to give me a break from Spanish and it is very sweet. Paloma chimes in her favorite phrase from her English workbook, "wa´s de time?" She is a very time-conscious little girl and she is always trying to look at our watches in the car on the way to school, worried that we are running late. Now she asks in English and we all laugh-- she says it all the time, whenever we say anything in English, and it has become a running gag. She thinks the word "fart" is the funniest thing she´s ever heard, and Paz thinks it´s funny too. Their other favorite english word is "cockroach." I am really lucky to have them taking care of me and cheering me up. Mood swings are weird here... so much to do and so much excitement but such a long distance at the same time. Getting out of Spain for a few days will be a great break. The amazing discovery of this morning: a couple tablespoons of Nestle Quik into my café con leche (coffee with milk). Oh man. Now that I don´t have the chocolate cereal anymore, I feel kind of like I´m missing out... Paz and Paloma, and many people in Spain, have chocolate milk for breakfast, and then a snack of a pastry or cookies at about 11, and the big meal at 2 or 3. Now I can sneak a little chocolate in there too... Definately a few customs that I have to import to the USA when I return. Namely meal schedules and siesta.

Well I can say now that I have experienced the Alicante nightlife; clocked in at 4:15 AM on Friday and 5 on Saturday. Friday I hung out with a girl and her intercambio (spanish student learning english) and we went to lots of bars and clubs and mostly kept moving but didn´t spend much time anywhere. Saturday I went to a house party at the home of another girl´s intercambio, which was really fun and much more my style than the clubs, but afterwards I met up with Paz and her friends at a club and danced for a while and had fun before coming home. The daytimes this weekend were not so great. Spent a lot of time by myself or at least feeling by myself amidst lots of people. After going out on Saturday night Paz´s friend Gema slept over, so in the morning we went to her house for cena. Paloma and Gema´s daughter Sophia were there, also Gema´s mom. The meal was really good, paella and mushrooms and salad, and the little mermaid in spanish was on the TV, but I was feeling really alone and pretty silent. I can have a conversation when I want to, but it´s hard and I am tired of working so hard to understand everything. So at Gema´s house when the women were all engaged in conversation that was mostly about silly pointless things, like most normal conversations, I zone out. It´s too hard. I don´t want to work that hard to understand a conversation and be able to hang out with people and relax, or to watch a movie or TV or listen to the radio or music or anything. The only times I was really directly spoken to was when I was asked if I was hungry and if I was tired. In the first case I was given food, in the second I was put to bed, like a baby at naptime, the curtains closed and the door shut behind me. The opposite of what I needed.... very difficult. After sleeping little and talking to Ben on the phone I came out of the room and joined the rest of everyone as they were waking up in the living room. Paz asked me if I was sad and I told her I was and cried and everyone tried to comfort me, which was really nice, but it didn´t make thigns any easier... I helped give the girls a shower and then everyone got all dressed up and made up to go out to the McDonalds at the mall. That was interesting... I had a Greek Mac which is in a pita with yogurt and cucumber sauce, the deluxe fries which are wedges and taste like Johnny V´s seasoned fries. Passed up the beers though I could have had one, and also could have smoked a cigarrette anywhere in that mall if I felt like it. Had this cheese/yogurt strawberry flavored thing for dessert. They also had fish sticks and some other differnt options... The weirdest part was that we sat there talking for like an hour after eating, like you would in any other restaraunt, but it was McDonalds and so very strange. All of the sounds went in one ear and out the other, or not even into my ears at all. On the way home (finally) I was talking to Paz about being frustrated and tired and sick of trying and the three of us ended up in a teary mess. It is good to have her support and she says that she is glad that she has mine, and I am really lucky to be living with people who want to help me out and who love me and take good care of me. After talkign to her adn to my real mom on the phone I was feeling better but today I feel like things are building up on top of me again... It´s the first day of regular classes at the university today and it´s crazy. I got here an hour late after 15 full busses passed by the stop not picking anyone else up, then finally got to class and found out that they changed all of the places where Council´s classes are and had to find the new location. It´s things like that that Council is horrible about. They couldn´t have told us on Friday that our classes were moving? The communication sucks. Today I´m going to buy a bus ticket home from Valencia for after our Italy trip-- thank god that is soon, I need a break adn I´m excited to go. Choir starts tonight. Hopefully that will be fun. I feel like I´m starting to slip downhill. It´s great to be here, but is it over yet?