Haircuts and such.

My roomie Kayleen had to put this shall on they gave her because her back was showing in the church.

Candles in the church.

Priest sitting in the church.

My apple cheesecake birthday cake Kim made me!

Blowing them out!

It’s been an exciting time around the Montecatini apartment. So far, four girls have gotten their hair cut by Miss Stephanie. My friend who I live with has the gift of being a fabulous hairdresser. I say she starts charging. She has taken before and after pictures, and she should really put them in her design portfolio. With being a great designer, she can also cut hair! Who wouldn’t want to hire her? It’s Friday, which makes it a great day. Steph and I are going to get ‘Café Freddo’ in a little bit. That’s basically cold coffee, but boy does it have a kick. Then, we have Photography class for four hours! I guess I will really need that coffee. I passed my Italian class (it’s pass/fail), so that’s a good thing. I still don’t know how much Italian I know, however. Yesterday, we visited many churches for Art History class. They are so intricate and beautiful. Even being very old, they have been preserved to look new. I was wearing a tank top dress, and my teacher asked me, when we were in the church, to put my sweatshirt on. It’s common courtesy to not have your shoulders showing. They are very strict about it. In the church, you can pay .50 euro to turn the lights on the mosaics for 4 minutes. I thought that was very strange. It is a little dark, but the lights really help, and it’s a way for the church to make money. I spent 3.50 euro on a bottle of ‘Coca Cola Light’ the other day. That hurt. I kept asking the man, “Cuanto cosa?” He acted like he wasn’t listening…now I know why. Other than that, I haven’t been ‘dooped’ at all. I watch my surroundings and am aware of rip-offs. On the train ride home from Naples to Rome, we were all split up in seats. In every car, there are different compartments consisting of 6 seats. I was in a separate compartment by myself, and a man walked by, and saw that I was sitting alone. He stopped, and walked in and sat in my compartment. I knew something was weird about that, so I clutched my purse a little tighter. Then, a group of people from New Zealand stopped at my compartment, and told the man that was their seat. He got up and left, and the 5 New Zealanders joined me in my compartment. I told them they saved my life! It was funny. They ended up being really nice, and even gave me a piece of chocolate. We talked about school, and their travels. It was good. It was Ross’ Birthday yesterday. I sent him a giant cookie through a company in Ames. He got it! We are going to celebrate our birthdays when he gets to Rome on November 16. I can’t wait! I’m excited to spend my birthday money, but it’s SO busy on the weekends to shop. People everywhere, and everything gets pretty picked over. So, I’ll wait for the week. I run to the park almost everyday, and I run by all of the shopping stores. My mouth waters. Purses, boots, skinny jeans, dresses. I want it all! But, I’ve been a good girl so far with holding off. I did get a new purse, though. It was much needed. I got Denice and Clayton’s card today in the mail, what a pleasant surprise! Thank you! I had a really good birthday. Today, Stephanie got a package from her mother with Goldfish, candy corn, granola bars, mac n’ cheese, and oatmeal. Haha. Many people have been getting packages like that. It’s funny. I guess it’s just a piece of home. American products are hard to come by here. Kellogg’s and Dannon are recognizable brands. But now, about the ‘Nutella.’ I knew of Nutella before I came to Rome because we have it in the States. However, it is HUGE here. If you don’t know what it is, it’s a spread that consists of hazelnut and chocolate. It is very good. You can spread it on toast, but many of my roommates eat it out of the jar, haha. I don’t buy it because I don’t want to get addicted. They also have candy bars with it and other sweet things. I think Nutella to them is our Peanut Butter, because peanut butter is very hard to come by. Also, it’s expensive. Well, the Northern field trip is coming up, and that’s to Florence. There are talks of traveling on to Switzerland. That sounds like fun. Well, I have to start doing some homework before my Photography class. My weekend is mostly going to consist of homework. Fun, huh? I’ll see you soon! Ciao for now!