Wow! What a great day! The fact that I just came from a crazy kick boxing class and am high on endorphins might make the day seem even better than it was, but it was good to begin with:) I woke up at 8AM and turned on the radio to one of the italian stations I know(with an american 80's song on of course;) and I did a bit of clean up around my room(my room mate came back from a weekend in Manoco today). Then I wrote some e-mails on my computer ready to send once I got to the internet cafe. It has been kind of hard not having internet at the house - the only wifi cafe I found so far in Rome is about an hour walk from my house! It's good excercise though and it takes me right by Piazza Venezia, the Coloseum, and a Roman ruins sight that has been turned into a cat sanctuary(it's fun to just sit and eat a panini or some pizza and try to count all the cats among the columns or lying on the stairs of one of the ancient temples:) After writing a few necessary communications I went to breakfast(fruit, italian coffee, whole milk yogurt, hard boiled egg on whole wheat bread, and the occassional cookie - good thing I went to kick boxing huh?!) A little chat with my italian host and then I got ready to go. After a weekend of beautiful weather it was cold today with lots of wind so I dressed Paris - as I like to call it:) I went out all ready for the cold(but forgot my umbrella at home the one day it rains!) A nice walk to the cafe and then a nice 2 hours just trying to catch up! I read and replied to some e-mails and then tried to figure out some stuff for UCSC - I got in by the way! Yay! I don't think it is really hard to do, but it's nice to know I'm actually in so now I can start planning more solidly:) Of course I had a cappuccino;) That is the price I pay for internet - 2euros for a cappucino and hours of internet! Now if that sounds steep think of this - internet companies charge around 9euros here for 60minutes of internet - and they don't give me no stinkin cappucino! I love my cafe, they know me - I even know a few of the customers now(and their dogs:) I walked from the internet to the school, but I stopped at two bookstores and a souvenir shop. I bought nothing at the first stop, The Count of Monte Cristo in Italian at the second(freakin HUGE book, but only costs 9E:), and a couple of little gifts for some of the people back home(nothing big, don't get too excited - I'm broke! Broke, but not hungry thanks to my very generous parents - they're holding all of my worldly possesions and my room as collateral on a farely substantial loan they hope will be their retirement:) Class was good - interesting, interactive, and tough(which is a good thing by the way:) I walked home in the rain(without my umbrella) and then went to the gym with Claudia my 45 year old swedish house mate and Helen my 19 year old Belgish friend that also studied with me at Barcelona(crazy life:) We did a kick boxing class at the gym by the house - wow, the teacher is a mad man and I love it! It is an insane workout and I am way stoked at my physical prospects if I can get my lazy but into that class three times a week! After the gym we came home and we had a movie night in Claudia's room:) She brought Little Miss Sunshine with her(a movie I waited forever to see and then it came out like a week after I left the country! And you know how long it takes for movies to get to Europe - especially more independant ones!) We ate chocolate mousse with whipped cream and cuddled on her big bed with every pillow in the house and watched the movie on her laptop(the long lost twin of my laptop:) Like I said, it was a good day, a very good day in Rome:) Now I'm listening to Paulo Nutini and thinking about my father. The song is called Rewind and it was just about the only thing in English he could find on the TV in the hotels we stayed at on our roadtrip through Tuscany. He said he liked this song. I downloaded it today at my internet cafe, it reminds me of him and the amazing time we had. We hugged, we talked, we fought, we laughed, we got lost a lot, but we eventually found our way, we always find our way:) I love you Papi. And mom, my incredible mother. Talking with you was...it was so nice. I love talking to you and listening to you(though i'm afraid I do an awful lot more of the first one than the second one:) You always have some understanding and wisdom for me. You are my rock and the only person I know who can travel half way around the world and not be jet lagged! You are amazing. I love you.