il diecisette di agosto

Vive il bruco!
Il Bruco was the name of the horse I chose to support in the Palio yesterday :) The Palio is this totally outrageous horse race that takes place in a city called Siena every year, and this year it just so happened to be yesterday. http://www.ilpalio.org/palioenglish.htm. Spencer and I have been looking forward to this since we got here two weeks ago, and the event did not disappoint. It was literally the weirdest thing I've ever seen. The old lady who runs our school (who uses a cane and is consequently terrifying) heard that we wanted to go and sat us down last week to advise us against it, and inform us that if we did decide to skip school and go to Siena that we would have to write her an essay about it. I just finished my essay. She probably thinks we're asses. Va bene.
Back to the point: this whole deal was even more insane than I expected it to be. People dress up in ridiculous medieval costumes and parade through the streets singing for their team. All of the windows are full of people screaming and singing talking trash to other horses. They bring the horses inside of churches to have them blessed by priests. It's out of control. So my friends and I responded by being douchey Americans and wearing brightly colored clothing and drinking too much. It seems apropos. (Did I just use that word correctly? I hope so.) I can't think of any particularly hilarious story from yesterday, mostly because I don't remember a ton of it, and mostly because the whole day was hilarious. Siena is an absolutely beautiful little city. I could not believe how many people crowded into the piazza for the race though. I don't think I've seen that many people in one place since Lollapalooza--it was a similar atmosphere. Haha. Yep, the Palio was like Italian Lollapalooza. Complete with men in suits of armor.
Well, Il Bruco finished third. Oh! Another outrageous thing about the race is that it can't begin until all of the horses are perfectly still in line, but there's nothing to control them except the jockey. They aren't in stalls or anything. So between the time that they bring the horses out and the time the actual race starts can sometimes be hours. People wait for HOURS to watch a 90 second race. And yesterday the troublemaker was Il Bruco. All of the other horses were in line and he would just flip out and run away. It honestly went on for an hour. It was hilarious. Everyone in the crowd would get like dead silent, and then Il Bruco would start moving again and everyone would yell at him. Typical.
All in all, having to write a one page essay was absolutely worth it. Yesterday was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I am so glad I went. Take that, Gabriella, you and your cane!
I can't think of much else to say. I love and miss you all.
Va bene!