il ventisei di septiembre

Buona sera!
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I got back last night from a wonderful (extended) weekend in Paris with my parents and the Harleys! The trip was actually even more extended than I'd originally planned because Europe is, once again, outrageous. This time it wasn't even the Italians, it was the French. I was supposed to fly from Pisa to Paris on Thursday afternoon, but on Tuesday night I received an e-mail informing me that my flight had been canceled because Paris was on strike. What? That kind of thing doesn't just happen in the US...So apparently a bunch of "laborers" in Paris weren't showing up for work on Thursday and I had to change my flight to Wednesday afternoon instead. I mean, I wasn't that upset about missing another day of language school and getting to spend another day in Parigi (the Italian word for Paris, that I think is hilarious), but it was all, nonetheless, ridiculous.
Paris was absolutely beautiful. That's seriously all I can say about it. It was like a book. Haha, looking at this picture of me and my parents I'm realizing how awkward it is...They have all of the good pictures on their nice camera. Hopefully they'll send them and I can share them. We had a blast together. Me playing 5th wheel to my parents. We had some delicious meals. Check out Modge eating SNAILS! (Except this was actually at a really gross restaurant. Unimportant)I came to Paris with my Northface backpack stuffed so full of clothes that I could literally not zip it up, so I made it my mission to find a bigger bag that I could fit my backpack in for the return trip. Obviously, when I put my dad on the mission this is what happened...
Yep...it's a giant rolly backpack. It would have been REALLY cool if I were a 12-year-old boy. But yeah, Pops looks pretty awesome in it. With the handle extended on his back. Not embarrassing at all. Nope. I already miss them, though. Lame. I forgot how much fun my parents are. But, va bene. So they left at like 7 AM on Saturday and my flight wasn't until 4:45--so I was left to conquer Paris solo for the afternoon. By conquer Paris I mean go to the museum where Monet's waterlillies are displayed. Sounds pretty lame, but it was incredible. I don't know anything about art...but I think I like Impressionism. So now I know one thing about art. Thanks, Paris.
All of my HC friends in Firenze went to Oktoberfest this weekend...and still aren't back. So I wasn't really looking forward to getting home because I didn't have anyone to hang out with last night. Welllllll as I was sitting in the Paris, Orly airport waiting at my gate, not speaking French or understanding anything going on, I looked over and the girl next to me was reading Anne Frank...in ENGLISH! So we started talking and I found out that she graduated from Clemson in South Carolina in May and had just finished working in Paris and was going on vacation to Firenze for a few days, so we sat together on the plane and took the train from Pisa together. Amanda was really cool, and we decided we were besties. So when we got to the train station I asked what she was doing (probably kind of creepily, thinking about that in retrospect..) and we met up last night and hung out haaaaaard. Met some hilarious Australian guy. Wandered the streets of Florence with our arms around each other yelling outrageous things. Raged until 4 AM. Ended up at McDonalds. Typical.
Today was kind of lame--I think seeing my parents and the Harleys is making me sort of homesick for the first time. Made me miss everybody. Eight months is a long time...Whatever, though. I went on a long run and went to a really pretty mass tonight, and those two things always tend to make me feel better. University starts tomorrow. Eek. I'll fill you all in on the wonders of Museology next time... Try your best not to check back TOO compulsively. It's going to be stellar. I plan to understand 5 words in the hour and half lecture.
Oh, and on my way back from church tonight I fell off my bike like a ra-tard, and ripped the knee of my jeans like a 5-year-old. Dammit. These are the only jeans I have--because I refuse to try on my old ones because I know they'll be too small, and these have been stretching out with me for the past 2 months. Bummer.
Does anyone watch "How I Met Your Mother". I seriously recommend it.
Vi amo e mi mancate molto!