Things that are Srange and Exciting

Things are going better for me, as in the children have become accustomed a bit more to my presence, much like when you have to stand in the water for a long time before the fish trust you enough to start swimming again. Giammarco asked if i would like to go to his friends party on monday (uh... monday) and of course i will go. Ludovica poked her little head in my door last night to say "night" which was very cute. And some specific things of note:

early this week i was wandering around piazza mazzini with mary while giammarco tried on shoes( the most ridiculous, flashy, italian foot bombs i have ever witnessed) and mary noticed a gigantic designer handbag in the window of one of those stores for the most expensive clothes imaginable.. the kind i would be shunned out of. Of course we stroll in there, and of course mary knows all the employees by firstname basis. She babbles to the gay, gay (well maybe not, in italy you never know) manager, while i stand awkwardly thinking about why i wore my disgusting converse and Hottub teeshirt today. So Mary goes upstairs to try on some Fendi and Chanel or something, and this dude with a fauxhawk comes up and idicates i should try things on. i attempt to dissuade this, "io sono studente, non posso comprare" but he will not be denied. He starts pulling things off the shelves, and thrusts a pile of 500€ jeans into my arms. Next thing you know, im walkin around this store in Dolce and Gabbana. i cant lie, i drooled a little. Just to humor myself i showed mary, and what do you know shes like "how much" in italian, like it was from mervyns or something. i would have died inside if we bought them, but she hinted that christmas we would come back! Aah!

School has been so weird. ive been just sitting there through most of the classes while the teachers drone on with their lessons about benitellis architectural style or something. My mind wanders to places i didnt think possible.. my italian teacher has these strange lips that protrude funny, so when she speaks rapid italian it makes her sound trill and othreworldy. when i turn off my internal translator, i imagin she is an alien creature from "attack of the clones" and is speaking in a mandrill-like space alien language. Another thing i noticed is that all of my teachers resemble in their appearence and body language some kind of jungle animal. my religion teacher looks like a howler monkey, and i giggle when he hoots at the class and bangs his arms on the desk for silence. my art teacher is like a rare and exotic preying mantis.

One fantastic thing that happened was that on thursday i went into a bar for some iced espresso. the waitress, a cute late twenty something, knew immediatly i was not from around here. i told her i was american, san fransisco blah blah. (fantastic thing number one- i order and converse in italian and everything makes sense!)..fantastic thing number two: then shes talking to me and even flirting a little and asks me how old i am, and when i say sixteen she blushes and winces, mumbling something like shes ten years older then me! i must appear a distinguished and engaging man of twenty something! Wolken told me everyone in high school going abroad should try to be mature and seem older.. this must prove i am on that path for sure. Good things.