The sincere friends of this world are as ship lights in the stormiest of nights.

Giotto di Bondone (i was looking him up and found that quote)

Ciao! well as it gets closer and closer to getting home I tend to think more and more about what I cant wait to do when I get home. So i thought id inform you all:
FOOD:
-Meat! Im craving a juicy hickory chicken sandwhich from applebees or ruby tuesdays or TGI Fridays...
-Ski-its a mountain dew ish drink for those of you not from the Mascoutah area.
-CHEWY chocolate chip cookies
-Pokey Sticks... this craving started today when someone mentioned them on the train...
-Papa Johns pizza... i know i feel terrible for being in italy and missing home pizza but its just more cheesy back home, Although I am a fan of the interesting toppings... speck, spinach and ricotta... you cant get those at home
-free water!!! water is usually ony 20 cents less than a 1/4 liter of wine :) both a good and bad thing

MOVIES/TV!!
just in general... we dont have tv in our apartment (ok we do but its our roommates and it randomly changed between her room and the kitchn), not that i would watch it a lot, but there gets a point in the day when are you all done with beng outside and just want to relax on a couch (another thing i miss) and veg...it doesnt even have to be in English...
-movies im going to watch when i get home... Phantom of the Opera (that cd has been in my cd player almost the whole trip!) Mary Poppins (we watched this movie on tv in Asiago...its not the same in Italian... the songs are translated and the voices do not match the people at all) Sound of Music (way too many I feel like Im in Austria/Switzerland so Im going to sing Climb Every Mountain/the hills are alive with the sound of music!-that happened on two different weekend trips:) ) Moulin Rouge (its been in the player a few times)
-I miss going to movies too, i really want to see the Da Vinci Code ( i read it the first week here) i know it cant compare to the book in any way, but im curious... and i want to see the Lake House-it comes out in a few daysi think. Plus Im sure that there are a bunch i want to see that havnent heard of or seen previews to... something else i miss.previews!
Ok i guess thats really it...of course i miss all my friends and family and cant WAIT to see you when i get back. BUt im trying not to get too anxious about getting back. take my time and enjoy my time here...

I leave for Roma tomorrow. Im excited! Sarah is going to Nice, France tonight. Im going to Roma with a few friends i met here. Should be a good time! Im sad i didnt get a chance to read angels and demons before going to rome. I hear it takes plac there. or at least some of it does. I havent started any of y other books i brought. IM bringing the Screwtape letters with me, but i have a feeling i might just sleep or journal the whole way there (im about 2 weeks behind.oh well, Ive started just making short notes of what happens each day here and i'll write it out later)

Today we went to Padua for art history. at first it wasnt too exciting, we went to The Basilica of Saint Anthony which it was beautiful and amazing like all the others but i was pretty tired. and i went to 3 churches yesterday and florence for two days before that... Im on a bit of an 'art hangover' as they say in my travel book, which is gonna be bad for Rome :/ but hopefully the fact I'll be in rome with cure that! Then we went to the 2nd oldest university. then my favorite part the Scrovegni Chapel the inside was mostly painted by Giotto, someone we are learning about in class. He is supposedly the transition between medieval and renaissance art. Also the first one to use frescos, paint on dry plaster and oil paint. Its was beautiful. it has three rows of art all around, th top is the story or Mary's mother and father, then mary's story and some of Christ's life on the next and the bottom row is the main stories in Christ's life. this is one of my favorite ones http://jerryandmartha.com/yourdailyart/images/bondone.jpg Andrea (my art history teacher) told us that the dead tree mirrors Christ's death and the rock connects Christ to the tree.

ok well this post was longer than I had planned, but thats usually how it goes. I'll update eventually when i get back from Roma.
Ciao!