Reflecting, sort of

Hello faithful followers, (of whom I'm not sure any still exist, as I see that my last blog was posted on May 18th...)
For the record, that's not TOTALLY my fault. The internet in the Rizzi home and my computer are not playing nicely. And although I do manage to sneak into the kitchen a few times every day to unplug the modem for 30 seconds and plug it back in hoping for another 25 minutes of internet--sometimes Francesco's home. And God knows I'm not trying to interrupt whatever the hell he does on the internet...(shutters)
So I've been trying to do without. After all, I should be studying. Oh, that translates to watching every movie I brought with me to Italy--including HP7 and 30 Rock season 4 that my family brought for Easter (and Jenna's Sex and the City season 1, woops). Sometimes looking through old pictures and videos on my computer, and other times actually spending an irrational amount of time just sitting on my bed staring at the wall, taking breaks to sit in the hallway and pet Cica, telling her how beautiful she is in Italian. I really wish someone could watch that-- I really think you'd get a kick out of it. I'ma miss that big, beautiful polar bear...Last week I started packing for lack of any other sort of diversion. Liliana came in and was like, "What? Don't you not leave for like 10 days?" I explained that I was just packing sweaters. At this point I hope she knows that I'm a lunatic, because there was no further explanation necessary.
But seriously, I don't have a ton of news...
Except that Munich with Scate a few weekends ago was maaaaaybe top 3 trips of the whole year. We had incredible weather. And that's in ADDITION to the fact that Bavarian culture focuses on sitting outside for hours at picnic tables talking, laughing, eating giant pretzels and drinking liters of beer. (All of which happen to activities that I excel at, by the way) If I could find a way to make a living doing that.. Oh, man. Speaking of which, shout out to Madi: How's my audition tape for Man v. Food Nation coming along? I'll be home very soon, and I'd like for training to commence immediately. You can go ahead and pre-order those 5 Colima's burritos. I'm ready.
There are infinite hilarious stories from the trip with my favorite couple. A Michael Jackson memorial, a casual "nap" in the park, a couple of international phone calls, a pony-tailed kid named Bryson, Cate leading a group of multicultural bros around a foreign city, a professional bobsledder, KFC, and a marathon of low-budget non-fiction films: and those are just the highlights. I won't go into it. Long story short, I love the two of them very very much, and I look forward to traveling with them for the rest of my life :) [100 years from now, when Dr. Quack has free time again, of course]
But then I got home from Germany. And my internet didn't work. And my exams were rapidly approaching. And then Florence decided it was going to be V-town summer (normal V-Town, not this year V-Town) hot for a week, and then DOWNPOUR the next week. So aside from a few very fun nights on the town, some delicious meals out with my increasingly sentimental friends, and some long and tedious tutoring sessions, the last two weeks have been pretty dull.
I'm having a very conflicted reaction to all of this. Because exams, the flat tire on my bike, seeing Francesco without a shirt on, and the weather are all obviously telling me to get the eff out of this city...and to that I say, "okay, Florence. We had a good run--no regrets."
But then I can't help but think that Florence is acting like Jenna's 9-year-old host sister and being a brat because she's sad that we're leaving. Especially when I think of my last English lesson on Monday when Nicola asked Antonio if they could come visit me in California because he was going to miss "la Lauren." (I'm 94% sure that Nicola only wants to visit California because he's recently started watching The OC, but I'll let myself pretend.) Or Mario asking me last night at the dinner table if my flight was really fixed, and if I was sure I couldn't stay longer. Or actually any time I look around at the most beautiful and interesting (I almost said "magical" but decided to spare you--shwoops) city in the world that I have been fortunate enough to experience for the last 10 amazing months. All of those things make me want to say, "Florence, don't push me away! I love you."
(And then this becomes some awkward scene from a romantic movie. It would obviously be downpouring when I screamed my profession of love at the Duomo, also. Just for dramatic emphasis.)
So this is where you find me, family and friends (and strangers, maybe. I don't know):
sitting at a table in the back of the super sassy cafe/bar "Plaz" in the middle of a freak thunder storm with my "studying material" for my history exam spread over the table, (having decided that blogging is a better use of my time than learning what in God's name Napoleon actually did) reflecting fondly on my time in Italy.
Some of my fellow blogging friends have been organized/cute/creative enough to make a sort of yearbook entry for their blogs where they sum up the last year. I'm simultaneously tempted to do that and aware that I might be too disorganized/lazy/uncreative to muster up such a beast. But maybe. I'll give it some thought. And add pictures to this eventually, I hope.
On that note, we all did very well on our literature exam this morning. So hopefully tomorrow goes just as well, and I actually get college credit for this year and not just "life credit" (kidding, Babbo. wink wink).
As the Fun Express nears the station...
come sempre,
mi mancate e vi voglio bene, ragazzi. Non vedo l'ora da vedervi!