My Last Monday As A Student In Florence.

I had my last day of Italian class. Sad Sad Sad. I took my final exam and at the end of it was worried that she had forgotten to attach a piece of paper to it because I literally finished it with in a half and hour. I couldn't believe it, it was easier than the quizzes that we had. Easier than the quizzes that I actually studied for. I looked over my notes last night for about 15 minutes and then decided that a. I didn't want to study anymore and b. I pretty much knew everything. I guess before I say too much, I should wait until Wednesday to find out how I really did. The weather this week again has been very strange. Rain, Shine, Rain and then some Shine. I finally finished my painting and I will be displaying them at the all student show at the end of this week. I am thinking I will post the pictures on Thursday because I will be able to have better quality images. I am sitting here typing this shocked because my head keeps reminding me that this is my last week of school and the last week of my semester abroad. I just can't believe it. It actually feels like yesterday when I was saying goodbye to my father with eyes full tears and his arms full of feminine products. Its just incredible, and I have had the best time in my entire life. Okay back to the last Monday of all Monday's abroad. After painting, I met the Gorilla back at home to start cleaning up our cage. One of our advisors is coming over tomorrow to check out our apartment and the Gorilla and I were bad Gorilla's and sidekicks and we decided to be inferior and tape everything and anything to the wall. We were told several times NOT to do so but there are very little things that will stop us from doing what we want. The only unfortunate part of not listening was that when we went to go remove the tape, big chucks of paint and wall came off. The Gorilla definitely hung more things on the wall than I did. We genius-ly decided to cover them up ourselves. The Gorilla attempted to use watercolor paint but thank goodness I was around to let her know that that was the worst idea ever. She can't help it that she has terrible ideas, she is a Gorilla. Instead of painting pretty white little pictures, we went down the street to the "WHAT?" store. I am not sure the name of it but literally you stand outside the door and all you can think of is "WHAT?". It is a small hole in the wall store filled with everything from trash bags, to candy, to paints to rain boots, and bird-cages plus barrels of beans. All you can ask yourself is What is this, What is that? And What is that smell. However the "WHAT?" store had exactly what we were looking for. A nice jar of white stucco for only a 1.50 euro! WHAT else could you want? I didn't trust the Gorilla to cover up the holes, so I took on that role while she did other things. Fact for the day: Did you know that gelato spoons can be used to cover up holes in the wall? Well, indeed they can. The Gorilla had an old gelato spoon and it was just the right shape to put the gunk on the wall. After playing repair-woman, I transformed into cleaning lady. After four months of never actually cleaning our apartment, the time was over due, I knew that no one else in the apartment besides the Gorilla was actually going to get down and dirty and scrub the filthy place. The Gorilla volunteered herself for the bathroom, maybe she felt some sort of connection to the seizure pooping palace but I was definitely going to touch the grim dwelling in that arena, so instead I offered my soul to the second most disgusting room, da da da...the Kitchen. One of my roommates is actually the most disgusting food hoarder and eater. First off, yesterday she left the tops of her already munched on strawberries sitting on the table. The trash can is literally two steps away, she is so close she could toss them in there and not have to be some famous star like Michael Jordan to make it. Next, through out the entire semester she some how manages to concoct the most disgusting left over residue from cooking. I am not saying the food she cooks is gross in the least bit, but for some reason she can not understand that right after you cook, you should clean your dishes because food sticks and gets REALLY NASTY. Finally, she seems to buy an ungodly about of produce each week and never ever ever is capable of eating it before it goes rotten and molds all over the place. I can not count the number of times I have had to throw out a moldy orange or dried up eggplant. Ahh. I feel much better. I just had to let it out because it took me over an hour and a half to get that kitchen spot less. I don't blame her completely but I would have to say that 85 percent of the grossness in the kitchen is due to her inability to leave the kitchen at least a half sanitary place to eat. The Gorilla finished a little after me, only to find that there was literally an entire head of hair stuck in the drain and that we were showering with other species the entire semester. Black mold hid in on the shower curtains and disguised itself into the wall. She looked like a mess after cleaning that bad boy. Tonight we had our farewell photography dinner. There are only 6 kids in my photography class and as a result of that, we have all become very very close. Out of all the kids in the Art school these people have become some of my very best friends and we all have become extremely comfortable with each other and our teacher. Unfortunately, only four of us, plus our teacher could make it. We went to this Indian Restaurant near the train station. Delightful indeed and a nice change in flavor! We played a game called "Tell your most crazy story from abroad". Max told some story about eating food on the street from a guy selling it in a cardboard box, the Gorilla and I shared our Venice weekend trip and Trisha giggled about her trip to Southern Italy. Since our professor has been living over here for 8 years now, we let her tell any life story. Some how we got on the topic of Catholic school which led us to talking about rules, which led her to sharing a story about how she used to have group bathroom time, like an assigned time to go to the bathroom during the day. They would all get up from their seats, line up on a red line and stand their until one by one, every girl had gone to the bathroom. My teacher told us this story of how she vividly remembers back in the first grade that she didn't have to go to the bathroom when the assigned time was, so after about an hour after they had gone to the bathroom as a class, Susana (my teachers name, yes, I revealed the commi hippi's name) told the teacher she had to go the bathroom. The nun (remember this is at a catholic school) yelled back at her, "No you don't, we just went". Susana yelled back but "Yes I do". The nun told her no again. Instead of listening to the nun (even though I am not sure how you can listen to some one else telling you that you don't have to go, when you really do) Susana walked to the back of the class room, lifted up her skirt and took a nice long pee in the back of the class room. The nun came running and screaming at her and just as she finished, she took off her sweater wiped herself and then threw it at the nun. Even at such a young, Susana, the commi-hippie was an aggressive one! Incredible story I tell you, I learn something insane about that one at least twice a week and I just love it. We didn't finished with dinner until 10 and made it home by 10:30. I spent the night trying to figure out my plans for after abroad. Greece ain't so easy to figure out.

FACT of the Day: (again) did you know that Jerry Springer was once the mayor of Cincinnati? And was compared to the Ohioan version of JFK? Thanks to Ira Glass, I can provide you with this information. Thislife.org baby check it out.