Life in General

Life, in general, is really going well right now. Until this point my sights have really been set on home (not ONLY on home) because it felt like so long before I would get to see my friends and family again (7 months is a while for me), but now that I can see that end in sight, its clear that Ill also be leaving some things behind when I go home. I still cant wait to be in Austin again and to see my cousin, who is carrying a beautiful baby, and to have all of our Christmas traditions; to bake with a stove that works and to have TexMex, finally!
The weather here is cool but you can wear shorts and short sleeves on most days and be comfortable. When it rains, the air cools down and we have to wear pants (sometimes, even sweatshirts or jackets) but thats not the trend quite yet. My roommates and I fear that day, because our apartment is not only freezing constantly, but the heating doesnt come on in Rome (it is a city-wide system) until mid-November! Yikes. Also, our landlady is the one to flip the switch for the heating in our building and to regulate it for our apartment (strange...) and so with the fear of cold is the even greater fear of dealing with the apartment-owning witch. I bought some Nesquik, because it has lots of calcium and tastes like chocolate, to make in the mornings before school or, on the weekends, before I write papers. We also make coffee a lot. Two days ago, I was heating some milk when it started coming out of the handle (which I was holding) and it was VERY hot. I was scalded all over half of my palm, and so I held the only frozen thing in our apartment on it for an hour...chicken. The chicken was getting a sort of soft quality about it so I put it back and then soaked my hand in water for over an hour to try to make the stinging stop but all was to no avail. I was near tears so my roommate from Bulgaria, who believes in this miracle cream of hers (and which Ive always had my doubts about) told me to put it on. It WORKS! I was in complete shock and will forever believe her about Bulgarian remedies. It was still hard to use my hand but I couldnt believe how much of the pain it took away. Strange.
Ive been writing papers for my Italian class (a language, like most foreign spoken languages, at which I am horrible) and my vocabulary is so awful that I end up spending half of my time glued to the dictionary. I think my professor feels badly for me because Im just one of those people who has to work extra hard at getting the whole concept of...well, everything...in Italian. Fortunately, on my first test I did very well but oral presentations are a whole different story. Upon moving (and before I moved) to Italy, I thought of how "easy it would be to learn Italian." Muah ha ha ha...well. When you have roommates who speak English, and all of your classes are in English, and so forth, you have very little time left over for complete emersion. I guess I originally had this idea that I would just befriend a bunch of Italians, but Italians dont really want to be friends with people who are not already fairly proficient at communication (Im not quite there) and they also dont want to be friends with Americans. The proficient reason is because talking and having a friendship is difficult, and the American reason is because lots of people dont like us. As for me, its annoying to constantly hear your home put down and the "American way" criticized, even if you can agree with the sentiment some or even most of the time. Its home, no matter what else it is, and sometimes you just want to say "new topic."
I am starting a new book now, Washington Square, by the great Henry James, and am really enjoying that. Im not too far in but its going well so far - he is so sarcastic and hilarious which I love...very much like Jane Austen, my all time favorite. I just finished House Behind the Cedars, She's Not There, and Mary Barton, all of which were good. My favorite was She's Not There, but each was enjoyable. I cant believe how many books Ive already gone through this semester - its flying by!
So, life in general is going great. Im happy here and Ill be happy to see home, also. Im excited about what's ahead of me when I return and can apply some of the self-knowledge and academic knowledge to my life at home. Its a beautiful beginning...all over again.