Following Through...

I was about to go to sleep, but then I said to myself, "No Ali! You are going to write on your blog EVERY DAY, even if it is just a little bit and not very good." So here I am, 1:00 in the morning, writing about the day. Today wasn't very eventful, but it was still a good day. I woke up, ate some breakfast, and headed to the market to buy fruit. I've avoided the market until today because it is SO BIG and overwhelming, but I managed to decide on what I wanted, after strolling for 20 minutes. Before leaving I helped some lady barter for a ring, and then headed to school to get my permiso di soggiorno (permit of stay). Back at home I worked on a drawing I started a couple days ago and listened to some good thinking music :) Then I went with my roommate Natalie to get a panini, and headed to yoga! Yoga was fun, I'm really weird though. Some stretches I'm super flexible at and others I can barely do. Not quite sure why that is, haha. Oy, side note I have SO many mosquito bites!!! They are driving me nuts! I seirously look like I have some sort of skin disease. Anyway, after yoga class I went to the Loggia dei Lanzi to draw a sculpture for my sketchbook class. The security guard was just so enthralled with my sketch for some reason, he had to sit next to me and watch. (Not so sure it was the drawing he was really all that interested in) But he barely spoke english and I was very focused, so we didn't have much of a conversation. I must say though, he was one of the few Italian men who haven't treated me like some kind of animal, so that was nice. When I finished I walked back home, made some dinner, and chatted with my roommates for a bit. That was pretty much my day :)

Walking down the streets with a very straight face and avoiding eye contact with males is become second nature to me. When I'm walking with a group of girl friends and a group of Italian men walk by and shout "ciao belli" and then make disgusting kissy noises, "che schifo, vai via!" tends to slip out of my mouth. I really want to work on my Italian because at least once a day I get mistaken for being Italian and someone will come up to me and just start talking or asking a question and I stand there blankly..."uhh....non parlo italiano bene, mi dispiace" and then they look surprised and walk away. It's hard to meet anyone because of the language barrier. But I think I'm getting a little better. I can answer basicish questions and understand better than I used to. I just freak out when I'm put on the spot. I feel like I'm learning a lot every single day though. Mostly about myself. It's hard to put into words. But I do think that I'm maturing. Alright, bed time. Till tomorrow!