It's that time again.

There is always an odd in-between time in my days here from about 6-8pm, or as we say here 18-20. Now that I think about it, there is also an odd in-between time from 1-4 (13-16) too because everything is closed for the afternoon siesta except the bars (which is Italian for café). Then there is also the time when I have classes, which is more an abstract time than anything concrete. That's sort of in-between too. The most certain, best time though is clearly from dinner onward.

Dinner is usually around 8 (20) with Taylor, my new friend from Villanova, and sometimes others like the French brigade or the other American girls from Villanova. After dinner we sit and talk about stupid things that the French won't understand and I'm quite sure they're doing the same.

Which reminds me of a conversation I had today about how we English speakers have a disadvantage. While we are understood everywhere and everyone speaks some English all over the world, we lose out on the secret code ability of other native tongues. If you speak Hungarian, for instance, you can talk openly with another Hungarian speaker about someone standing right in front of you and with almost complete certainty, you will not be understood.

Comunque... now is one of those inbetween times. It's 7:31 (19:31) so I have 30 minutes until people show up at Mensa. After dinner I think some people and I will have some digestifs and go to the bars in town. That's generally how the night goes. We dance and sing with all of the stupid 80's pop music until 2 or 3 (2 or 3). I wish I could understand Italian better. That would really help to solidify my time here.

I went grocery shopping today. It was incredibly cheap to by food and cooking utensils and pots and pans and laundry detergent and everything I need to make staying in my room a little more doable. Only 67 Euro ($5,067). What a beautiful day it was today. It was about 60 degrees (15 gradi) and sunny with a little breeze. I wish I could capture what I see and feel here for everyone at home but pictures of this place are not close to enough. Everything relies on having the full panorama.

Another quirk of being in Italy is that everything is adapted to the Italian life style and most profoundly: technology. I'm pretty sure that my cell phone provider, TIM, has a slogan that roughly translates to "You want to make a call? Send a text? Well, it'll get there when it gets there." Every text takes about 15 minutes. It's a strange catch 22 with making plans. No one shows up on time for anything if you plan ahead, and if you try to catch someone right away using some piece of technology, it won't get there until it's too late. In a way, it's nice. As Scott, the only other ISEP student here, explained it, it forces human contact. You have to make an effort to see people. It's sort of like what happens in apartment buildings when the power goes out. Everyone comes into the halls and realizes that they live near other people.

I think I'll go sit outside of Mensa and wait for people to come. Romain said something about him going to restaurant with some people because one of the ERASMUS students is leaving tomorrow so I hope not everyone is going to that.

Well that's the end of this stream of consciousness. I'll think at you again soon.
Until then,
Ci sentiamo e buona giornata (buona serata)