Florence Day 28: Weekend Summary

Ciao Ragazzi! 

Four (quattro) days have past since I last wrote to you awesome blog readers of mine and I guess the main reason for this is that I don't have any pictures of the things I did this weekend and also, I just feel that you might find what I have to say a little bit boring because here's the thing, I didn't go to Rome and I didn't have some crazy catastrophe involving the creatures of the night who lurk in your mattress, staining your linens with bloody stools. (Ugh! I hate those things SO much!!!) Nope, this weekend I sort of just hung out. It was really relaxing too. 


Ok, so lets see, Friday... what on earth did I do on Friday? Hmm... by the way, I am not trying to be suspenseful here, I am literally writing my thoughts out at the moment because maybe this will help me remember what on earth I did on Friday. 
Goodness gracious. I am having a huge brain fart. Is this what happens when you turn 19... am I already deteriorating??? 
Oh! Guys! 
I remembered now. 
I went to see Andrea del Castagno's "Last Supper" for an Art History assignment. 

It was such a cool experience. I remember talking about this in my Art History class at Sprague with Mr. Nickel. It was awesome how everything we discussed in his class came flooding back through my mind. I seriously thought I lost everything from that class because--believe it or not--the pain medications made learning difficult. I'll give you a little excerpt of what I had to deal with in class. 

First of all, you need to imagine me sitting there, desperately trying to grab hold of this information he was throwing at us, but I couldn't because basically I looked like and had the mental capacity of a zombie. 
(This is pretty much how all of Art History at Sprague went for me.)
Mr. Nickel: This painting was done by--
Amanda: OUCH! I'm in SO much pain. Wait who was that painting done by?
Mr. Nickel: And was commissioned by--
Amanda: OUCH! Sharp shooting pains!!! I want my mommy! Crap, who was it commissioned by?
Mr. Nickel: They completed it around--
Amanda: Owe! Owe! Owe! I am going to die!!! Dang nabit. I am never going to absorb anything from this class. 


But turns out I did retain some of the things he taught us in that class as I looked up at this fresco. I was amazed. I mean, I was literally amazed. Here is a little excerpt from my essay on this painting. 

My eyes went directly to the marble panel behind Jesus because while the other panels are nearly solid reds or blues this panel is a chaotic entanglement of reds, blues, and whites. The white in it is reminiscent of a lightning bolt ripping through the center of the panel, looking as though it were about to crack it in half. This is fascinating because if we take a closer look at the following figures below this panel we will see St. John, Judas, Jesus Christ, and St. Peter. It should be noted that Judas--the only apostle whose halo is absent--is not only separated from Christ, by sitting opposite to him at the table, but also by that lightning-bolt-like strike through the panel. It looks as though it is coming right between the two men, which is intriguing since Judas betrays Jesus. Additionally, symbolizing the chaos that breaks loose when Jesus reveals to his disciples that one of them will betray him.

Yep, afterwards I went back home and cooked up some lunch. I think I already mentioned this earlier, but man, I REALLY love to cook. I never knew this about myself. I mean, I would cook a little bit back at home, but I never enjoyed it as much as I do now. It's to the point where I'd rather cook than go out for dinner. I have these food vouchers that I have yet to use up because of how much cooking I've done at home. I have 20 vouchers left, meaning I have to eat out about 2 or 3 times a week now. That seems kind of funny. I need to eat out more often. I love to make salads and pasta. Oh my good golly gosh... and I love, love, LOVE to put some fresh garlic in the pan with some olive oil. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. YUM! 
After I made myself some lunch I went walking around town. You know, getting my exercise in, since I hadn't been walking around enough as it was (Being sarcastic here by the way--I literally walk EVERYWHERE!). I walked into a couple of shops like H&M and Zara and a bunch of other places. I must say: Florence is a very stylish town. As I was walking down the streets I smelled so many good treats. They have these waffles you can buy with hot Nutella poured on top of them. I definitely need to get one of these soon. 
It was very cold this day. You know when it gets cold enough to where your ears start hurting? Yep, that is what happened to me. I need to wear my cute hat next time it gets that cold. 
After I walked around I talked to my mommy on skype. I love skype. Skype makes me happy. 


My roommate was gone on a day trip that day, so it was just me in the apartment and you know what I did? 
Go ahead... take a wild guess?
Once again, I am doing the suspense thing to you again. 
But 
You
Are
Probably
Skipping 
This
Part.
Come on, what is something I really like to do OBVIOUSLY?
Got it yet?


WRITE!!! I love to write. So, that is what I did. I worked on my book, which is coming along quite nicely now. I am REALLY, REALLY, REALLY excited about it and can't wait for the day when the world gets to read it. I got a lot done on it that night and was very pleased. It was a very enjoyable night. 

My book is about a wolf. That is why I added this seemingly random picture. 

Then I walked across the street and got a Nutella (Can you see a theme running through these blogs?) infused crepe with caffe gelato. Too delicious, especially good on that cold gusting day. 


Saturday I woke up early and volunteered with at this Goodwill-like store with my three friends. We unloaded boxes of clothes and put them away. I was a folding machine. It was fun. I enjoy volunteering. Plus we had to use our Italian skills to the best of our abilities since the lady who ran the shop only spoke Italian. Here are some of the things I understood. 

1. Vestiti = clothes
2. Aiuto = help

Yep, I think that was pretty much it. Oh wait! She did say: Come si dici? Which means: How do you say (and then you point to whatever you want to know the word to)? And then she pointed to the pants, which we jubilantly responded with: Pants! By the way, I say: Come si dici? A LOT! Haha. 

They actually had some really fantastic pieces of clothing in there that were only for 3 or 5 euros and I'm talking about nice winter coats and sweaters as well. 

I met a lady from Nigeria there. Here name was Mara. And then another lady was volunteering there, she was from Brazil, but she also lived in America and her name was Maria. Maria was so much fun to talk to. She was hilarious and we got along very well. I told her how I was thinking about transferring to school at NYU and she told me about how her kids went there. We were discussing this as we contemplated which summer clothes should go in the ugly pile. It was a lot of fun.

Later I don't really remember what I did that day... but do I ever remember what happened that night. Ugh!!!  Here is what I wrote on my Facebook:

"Italians, did you really have to party until five... let me repeat that... FIVE IN THE MORNING??? I don't need to wake up to Katy Perry's song 'Firework' and a bunch of Italian men yelling. If it was that loud from inside my apartment you all must be deaf now. Grrr!!! :P"

Yep, so I basically didn't get any sleep that night. My friends keep telling me that if I can't beat them then join them. Um... NO! Sorry. Not going to happen. I like my sleep thank you very much. 

So then the next day, Sunday, my roommate and I were beat. We hadn't gotten ANY sleep that night because of that stupid party that went on till 5:30am. I wish I was exaggerating here, but I am not. We were sick because that is what happens when you do not get enough sleep. You get sick. We just hung out in our apartment all day. We slept in till 12:30. I haven't slept in till then in a really, really, really, really long time. I mostly just listened to my iPod. I felt guilty to be in bed at that time, but I really didn't feel good. 

And that my friends was my weekend. Sorry if that was boring for you to read. I know it was not the most exciting thing for me to write. I'm sure something more interesting will come up this weekend though. 

Oh, by the way, before I dismiss this post off into this world, I want to add one more thing. I am currently reading this book called "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein and it is one of the best books I have ever read. It is funny, well written, creative, gut-wrenching, and just a down right GOOD book. I totally recommend it. I am almost done with it, which means I only have one more book left to read that I brought with me. Then I will have to go to the bookstore and get another book to read. 

Arrivederci!

~Amanda