The traveling life for me!

Well, I’m halfway through my first week here at SBI!  I've survived thus far, so hopefully I can finish out the week.  They say that the first two weeks are the most difficult as far as paperwork goes and if you can make it through, you're golden.  So here I am, struggling through my first college essays, and feeling a little bit overwhelmed.  But it’s okay, because my papers are all about God and I get to sit here and discuss God all of the time and I stay up till one in the morning just talking about God.  How amazing is that?!!  And when I write the papers, I spend half my time reading the Bible and writing and the other half of the time with my eyes closed singing hymns with the other girls who are just as distractible as I am when singing starts up.  It’s a great stress reliever and really refreshing!!

Here in Italia, there are some incredible new customs that I think I will adopt, even when I’m back in the U.S. of the A.  Number one is what is called “riposo”, and although it literally means “to retire”, in common English we would call this “nap time”.  Every day from one-thirty pm until three-thirty pm, most of the shops close down and everyone takes a nap.  Or they garden or they get homework done (cough me cough cough).  But the main thing is to recharge your body – a fifteen minute nap can actually change the rest of your day and make it so much better than it would be without the nap!!  It’s amazing how much better you can feel!  It helps you not fall asleep when you need to concentrate in your later classes, too.  ;)  Besides riposo, SBI has adopted the British tradition of teatime.  Every week day at four-twenty pm, we all gather in the lounge and drink tea and eat cookies.  I prefer chamomile tea with milk and a teeny bit of sugar and then I dip a shortbread cookie into it and it tastes absolutely glorious!!  It’s so relaxing and everybody just sits on the couches and talks for twenty minutes and occasionally some British accents are thrown in, mostly by me and my fantastic sense of humor.  (Other people are NOT amused.)

Random fact about Italy: it is considered rude to walk into any shop or restaurant and ask to use the bathroom.  The correct etiquette is to buy something, no matter how small, and then that automatically grants you permission to use the facilities.  It’s interesting, but it makes sense.  I wish we had that rule at the restaurant in Watkins – it would make things so much easier on this poor hostess who has to clean the bathrooms every single day of her life!

Speaking of bathrooms…guess what my daily chore is here at SBI?  Oh yes, cleaning the loo.  Olivia is one of my roommates and she and I clean the bathrooms every day!  I actually don’t mind it at all because as most of you know, I really do enjoy cleaning most of the time.  And we usually throw the window open and gaze upon the Alps in between cleaning things, which definitely boosts morale, even in the early morning.  I’m going to show you what my daily schedule looks like now!

7:30am – Groggily smack phone alarm as it buzzes obnoxiously on my shelf

7:34am – Realize I’d better get up before I fall back asleep again

7:55am – Waiting for the breakfast bell to ring

8:00am – Breakfast bell rings, I make a beeline for the dining hall.  Fact: I’m always first.

8:30am – Leave dining hall and complete bathroom chores

8:45am – Finish chores like a whirlwind and settle down for homework and quiet time by myself

9:30am – Class starts

10:20am – Ten minute break – sleep on desk

10:30am – Class resumes

11:20am – Ten minute break – Find spot of sunshine in which to lie down

11:30am – Resume class – attempt to hide sound of stomach growling

12:20pm – Morning classes end – homework begins

1:00pm – Lunch bell rings – Mik runs

1:30pm – Mik attempts homework outside in a winter coat in the sunshine (see above picture)

2:00pm – Mik thinks about riposo longingly but sticks wisely to homework (be proud!)

2:30pm – Mik goes for a walk to clear her mind

3:00pm – Mik contemplates riposo and occasionally gives in

3:30pm – Evening class starts

…you get the picture.  I could do the evening schedule if y’all like, just let me know and I’ll post it next time!

Today we took a field trip to a town called “Spilimbergo”, which is about a fifteen minute drive from SBI.  We toured for a few hours and also ordered our first gelatos in Italian!  I actually stumbled through mine quite well and the nice lady who waited on me grinned a big grin and she understood what I was trying to say!  It was nice to get the correct tasting gelato as my reward ;).  I got cioccolato (chocolate) and spettacoli (sp-eht-ah-chelly), which is a vanilla ice cream with bits of chocolate and almonds in it and they were both delicious!!  Ttea and I quite enjoyed it and vowed to go once a week for gelato :)

As we toured Spilimbergo, I couldn't resist taking about five thousand pictures and as I was reviewing them tonight, I couldn't help but hear a scenario in my head that went something like this:

Mom: Mik!  Show us a slideshow of your Italy trip!

Me: Okay!!  *click* This is a picture of a window

 *click* This is a picture of a window with a plant

 *click* This is a picture of a spider light

 *click* This is my great Aunt Ruth

 A CHOO MOO MOO A CHOO MOO MOO A CHOO MOO MOO MOO MOO.

Yes, that is how the conversation went in my head as I was flipping through pictures tonight >.<  Anyway, I'm going to include a few (thousand) pictures that I took at we walked today, so enjoy them!

 It's carnivale week and so there is confetti EVERYwhere!

 Profile of one of my favorite people<3

 Ttea, me, Anna, Alexandra, and Kaili

 A clock!!!  (I never know what time it is here...)

 Ttea gazing at the church we toured

 My roommate, Olivia, who I want to call Sophie because she looks exactly like Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle

 A tree with a 'fro.  It knows where it's at!

 Me, in front of a gate at a castle thingy

Alexandra and Olivia :)

 Olivia in front of a crumbling wall!

 Me and Olivia<3

 This is Beth, she's sort of like a momma hen and she gives me hugs when I'm missing my real mommy

I just liked this

The Alps from an overlook view

The lovely Ttea happened to look right at my camera!

A police car...without flash on the camera

 A police car...with flash on the camera

 Thus ends my adventures for today!  It's now after 1am here and I'm exhausted.  I will blog as soon as I can!  Goodnight, all :)