Saturday, November 1, 2008

Happy Halloween!

I've come to realize just how bad I am at this blogging thing.  
Ok, so the semester here in Cortona is quickly coming to an end!  AH!  We have about 2 weeks left here in Cortona, and then the group travels to Naples for two days, then we are done with the semester!  It has come up so fast, and I am really trying to embrace these last few weeks.  (Why does it always take us realizing the end is coming to make us really embrace things?)  Anyway, last night was Halloween and it was so much fun!   Halloween isn't really celebrated here in Italy the same way it is in the states.  No trick or treating or jack-o lanterns, or dressing up, here its really just another excuse for people here to party..haha.  So the restaurant we eat at every night, Tonninos put on a Halloween party for us!  They made a nice dinner, hired a dj/ singer, cleared out a room so we could dance, and tolerated all of our ridiculous outfits!  Me and my roomate Kate were zombies.  Pretty much we just ripped up shirts, frizzed our hair and put scary black makeup on.  It was different for me cause I'm never anything scary for Halloween, but our choices on costumes were quite limited.  But our outfits ended up being a lot cooler than we expected them to be!  It was so much fun.  Our professors were there and gave out prizes to the best costumes, the women who clean and work at the school were there and danced with us, as well as the waitresses who serve us every night.  It was a bonding experience with the staff for sure.  Afterwards, we all went to a local hang out spot for a little bit, then we went up the hill for the "cave party" some guys in the program set up.  See, here in the city wall there's this hidden cave that you have to crawl through this little hole to get into, but once your inside, its this huge place with plenty of room for everyone in our program, we hang out in it sometimes.  There were candles lit so we could see, and we all just hung out in the Cortona city wall!  The cave was originally built as a secret look out spot and used as an escape from enemy attacks.  There's all these square holes in the wall, looking out into the valley.  We're close to the top of the hill, so if you walk/crawl out to the other side of the cave, you are outside the city, and there's a huge field overlooking the Tuscan valley.  Last night the stars were peaking through the holes in the rain clouds, and they were brighter than ever.  I was able to have some really good conversations with people, have fun and just enjoy and embrace being here in Italy.  I had a great Halloween, and I hope that you all did too!  

4 comments:

Glenn said...

sounds like so much fun! i saw the pics of you dressed as a zombie.....you are still pretty, even as a zombie! I guess you have good genes!

it is raining here in corona today..pretty cool...it is amazing how the weather can change my mood for the good or for the bad....I must work on that!

well, I know you are sad that your time is winding down, but we here in the states are counting the days, we want you home!

have a wonderful time your last month..love you!

mom

joy said...

sounds like fun! the cave sounds really cool.

Marybeth Christman said...

I am glad you are having such a wonderful experience but I can't wait for you to come home!

sarahlynn said...

Sounds like Italy has been wonderful! I miss seeing your face around biola though!

sarah b