Day 46 (7/20/11):

Today in class we did more with the conditional form. When speaking, I'm getting all mixed up with the grammar! If I have a second to think, I can get them straight, but it takes some effort. Writing is much easier!

After class I went back to my apartment for another delicious lunch. I picked some stuff up from the foodstore and made a salami and provolone sandwich on olive bread with a side dish of some of the most amazing kalamata olives and mozzarella cheese. Yum!

Later, I finally went for a run! Geez, this half-marathon training isn't going very well! Whoops… Afterwards, I got ready and went to meet Andrew, Julius, and Tim at Castel Sant' Angelo. We chose this night because the schedule said there would be a concert there!

Once inside we first wandered along the Pope's private pathway between the castle and the Vatican. Then we walked through the halls and many levels of along the inside and outside. We started hearing music playing, and followed the sound to a roof where a string trio was playing! They were amazing!! We sat and listened for a while - I took a short video, too!

After the concert and some more touring of the castle, we left to go meet up with Celine and Kora-Lee from school. We went to Campo de' Fiori and sat and chatted for a while over a couple beers. All of a sudden it was 1:00 a.m. and time to get back home before another early class.

Day 47 (7/21/11):

Today at class we learned how to use the conditional verb form in past tense. It's called "condizionale composto", and seemed to make sense. I know I'm going to jumble everything in my head sometimes, though - we're learning so much! At intensive, we had some general conversations about things we spend money on, weddings, and some other random stuff. There was a TON of people in class, so it was hard to participate. It was still fun, though!

After school I went back to my apartment for another amazing lunch of salami on olive bread, mozzarella cheese, and a salad with fresh tomatoes and olives. Yum!! I had some time to get my homework done, update the blog a little, and skype with my family before heading out to meet a friend-of-a-friend, Eliana.

I somehow found myself at a George Washington University alumni event… it was really random, but everyone was nice and it gave me a chance to meet Eliana. Plus I got free dinner and some wine - not too shabby! :o)

I couldn't stay at the event for too long, which ended up being just fine. Once I left I met up with the boys in Trastevere. Pepijn's sister was in town, so we were all going! We stayed in Trastevere for a while, then headed to Campo de' Fiori for a bit, and eventually to the club Le Maison near Piazza Navona. What a fun night!! A bunch of us were out, so it felt like everywhere I turned there was another friend, and the music at the club was super fun! I am absolutely loving the Italian music here and can't wait to share it with everyone back home! Of course, time flew by and it was somehow already time to get back home and sneak in a few hours of sleep before another day at class…

Day 48 (7/22/11):

Today in class we did more review and practice of conditional and condizionale composto. For the group game today we played something similar to "Catch Phrase" or "Taboo"! I love those games at home, and it was definitely interesting to play it in another language. At intensive, there were only 6 people in class instead of our usual 12-14! It was awesome because everyone got a lot of speaking time.

Apparently I was one of the few people to make it to class today… once I walked out of school, no one was there to meet up for lunch! Oh well, I decided to head back to the apartment and have another one of my delicious homemade lunches instead. Unfortunately, I hopped onto the wrong bus (I was being lazy and decided not to walk home… serves me right, huh? Haha) and was brought to some random place in the city. I had no idea where I was. And then… the public transportation went on strike! It was just not my lucky day. Eventually, I got back to my apartment and feasted on my usual lunch. It was too late to go to the pool or go sightseeing, so I looked up trains for my weekend trip to Cinque Terre (but couldn't buy tickets because of the strike), packed, skyped, and did some blogging. I ended up being pretty productive, despite the rather long detour due to bus issues!

Around 6:00 p.m. I went to meet up with everyone from school for a farewell dinner. It's sad that so many of my new friends are leaving this weekend. We had a dinner reservation for 8:30 p.m. at a place near school, so we spent some time at Bar delle Pace beforehand. We had such a big group for dinner, I couldn't chat with everyone at the table, but definitely had fun with Andrew, Tim, and Paula :o) I got some zucchini flowers for an appetizer and a good seafood risotto for dinner. It was great, and we had fun together. It ended up being an early night, though, since we were all out so late the night before. Ciao, my friends!!