Saturday, May 3, 2008

My Last Tuesday As A Student In Florence.

In book arts, for our final crit, we had to sign up at different times to meet with the grand and wonderful Pat-The-Book-Arts-Genius.  Obviously the Gorilla and I are early risers and our names were first and second on the list.  Pat seemed to thoroughly enjoy my work, and I let Pat know (in a not so freaky way) that I was madly in love with her and her class and that I wanted to devote the rest of my studies and career to making books.  My life dedicated to books, for books, by books and in the name of books.  After our lover-affair crit, the Gorilla, Kelsey and I tried to hit up the antique markets we read about in the Florentine.  Each week a local newspaper is produced by a group of American students and it gives the ends and outs of places to go and people to see.  Unfortunately the Florentine forgot minor details like times because by the time we made it market, they were closing for lunch.  It was a good sign because I do not need to be spending any more money.  Luckily it was almost time for lunch, well it was actually still a little early but it was of the hour in which it was socially acceptable to eat a tuna, mozzarella and tomato sandwich.  I also had my final photog crit and for some reason (probably because this is my last week being a student here) I had ants in pants the entire crit and had a very difficult time focusing.  So instead, I decided to draw portraits of my class mates, including the commi hippie.  After our crit, our entire house, minus eeeeemiiillly (thats how she talks) met up for dinner.  The Greek place didn't open for take out until 7:30, so we decided that it would be a good idea to work on our oral presentation for tomorrow.  Trishowski (some call her Trisha..one of my many wild and crazy roommates), the Gorilla and I had to come up with a oral presentation for the teacher.  I could of been anything, but obviously we decided to make it over the top.  All of the Via Dei Ginorites gathered around the dining room table in the Via dei Ginori Palace and laughed our butts off while Pants chopped our ears off.  The entire dinner, I couldn't stop laughing because Shasta's smacking really got out of control and I couldn't hear the Gorilla even though she was sitting right across from me.  Depressing evening the house of the Ginorites, packing was our evening activity.

postness from the 23rd of april in the hours of wee ness (that being of late timing) on the last tuesday of the semester in the country of florence in the year 2008. 

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.

Sunday Is A Good Day To Do Nothing. Like Eat 2 Panini's

Katie and Emily hoped on the 6:30 train to the airport for Prague and Sam left for Paris around 12:00. We took her to our new found dinner place on the other side of the river, called GustaPannino. Our friend Kelsey introduced us to it and it has been the greatest discovery since Anna's sandwiches. We sat on the steps of Santa Spirito and watched families gather and little children giggle and play. We quickly walked through the organic market and then took Sam to the train station. The Gorilla and I ventured over to Santa Croce to see if the Antique market was this Sunday but instead it was the hand made market. This one lady had designed the cutest clothes and with a special kind of paint (it looked like watercolors on fabric) and created the most adorable creatures and faces. I wanted to get this shirt but it was too big on me. We decided to head to the Boboli gardens for possibly our last time. On the way over to the Pitti Palace, we stopped at this card store, where we bought personalized stamps used for making wax stamps. Since my new found passion is book arts, I thought this would be the perfect souvenir to bring back to the States. I also purchased a few (15 to be exact) post cards as well. We finally met our friend Kelsey at the gardens and we plopped on the open field in the sun. I fell right to sleep. Around 5, the sun started to go down and our stomachs started to growl. What I am about to reveal may sound crazy because as I am writing this out, it does sound just a tad bit ridiculous. Because we were on the other side of the river, and because it is our official last week here and because we needed to make up for the lost time, we decided to go back to GustaPanino.  The Gorilla was nervous that the waiter would recognize us, but I convinced her that it was worth it and that the guy wouldn't judge. Sure enough, we ordered our second panini of the day and the guy for sure remembered us. Meh, it's just a complement to him and his restaurant. He actually invited us to the grand opening of their new restaurant tomorrow night. Kelsey hadn't been to the Organic market, so we hit it up for the second time today, just much slower. Their ain't nothing wrong with doing something twice in a day. Like eating gelato for instance, I am pretty sure I would do very well at eating it twice a day. We headed back to our side of town and up to the art school to finish last minute touches to our books and photogs. Tomorrow starts and ends the last week of my program. Impossible to believe. No words to describe.

The "Item" at the Centro.

The Via dei Ginori house could be considered a hostel this weekend. Slumber party time. Kelsey took over the Gorilla's bed, the Gorilla and Sam snuggled on the Pillow Palace and I dominated my own bed. Exhausted from Central park. We slowly woke up and got ready and then sent the traveling fools to visit the most intriguing (aka touristy parts of Florence) While the visitors were off visiting, Kelsey, Ada and I couldn't resist an Anna's sandwich on this fine Saturday afternoon. We also couldn't resist something sweet to follow it. As we were checking out at the Centro (the grocery store) I was reaching into my bag to grab something (who knows what now) and all of the sudden I feel a man tapping on my shoulder. Sure enough he was tapping me on the shoulder to show me that I had dropped something. This time it wasn't some ones heart, it was actually a feminine product. Giggle-Mc-Grandpa, pointed to the item on the  ground to let me know I had dropped something on the floor. Half embarrassed, half "this is typical Allison", I picked it up and put it back in my purse. The whole incident would have been over, but Gossiping-Giggle-Mc-Grandpa, proceeded to tell everyone, in Italian (but I understood) that I had dropped my feminine product on the ground. That's when it got embarrassing. All of the check out ladies knew, and all of the people around chuckled. Typical Typical Me. Unfortunately, I had a ton of work to get done before next week because it was just the most gorgeous day. I finished photog and worked on a few books. We headed home around 6 but stopped at the Centro to pick up some cheese and crackers for an afternoon roof top delight. Because of the rain, we really have not had that much time to enjoy our large and in charge balcony, so tonight, with all of the visitors into town and the sun glistening, we put together an apertivo. We all took power naps and showered up. We made it over to Za Za's for dinner. Just fabulous. We were all so exhausted, and by the end of dinner, I was almost too tired to even talk. I felt bad that we were not going out tonight but it was almost 12 by the time we finished dinner and my body was going to collapse. We hiked straight up the Via Dei Ginori moutian into bed. Bella luna tonight! Goodnight moon!

A Friday In Florence. How About That.


(above: the life after being a model)

This morning we all woke up rather early because I forgot to turn off my alarm on my phone, so at 8 in the morning, beep beep beep woke up all the little chickens. We sipped magical tea, and espresso on the top of the Via dei Ginori Patio of Wonderul and Delight! We gave a shout out to the people touring the Medici Palace, and I tried to wave to the people on the Duomo but I am not sure if they could actually see me. We showered up and headed to the Oil Shoppe for scrump-didly-umpious Oil Shoppe, oily shopness. Normally I get a meatball sandwich but this morning I was more in a salad mood. For only 4.50 I was able to get chicken, eggplant, artichockes, mushrooms, tomatoes and mozzarella.  It was definitely an after noon delight! We walked to the Ponte Vecchio to give Sam a tour of our homeland. Some shopping was done and I actually bought my first scarf since I have been here. And by a scarf, I mean three. I walk past San Lorenzo market every single day, with all of the leather and scarves and goodies, and have yet until today bought something. We also couldn't take Sam on a tour of Italy without taking her to get some Gelato. duh. We brought her to my new"er" favorite Gelato place on the other side of the river expect I happened to order a not so good flavor. I had this feeling that I should of just ordered my usual, cafe and menta, but instead I ordered yogurt nutella (my nutella cravings have come back. I tried to stay away from it the whole semester since my little incident with eating way too much one night but the cravings have come back) and I also got cookies gelato. But now that I look on it, I can't hate that I ordered and proceeded to eat the entire gelato, including the cone, because it was only one euro, or how I accidently pronounced it uno ahhhuuurooo. Every time I say straight up euro (english style, they don't understand me but when I also try to say it the Italian way it just comes sounds like a bunch of vowels howls with an "r" rolled in there somewhere. I was going to head to the art school to do work but then decided a nap was a much better option. At 8 we met at El Gatto for the most delicious balsamic and pizza crust bread. You don't even understand the sensation that goes on in your mouth when the balsamic and bread come together, its like when two become one! All of sudden during our preparation for the game, it started to down pour. Pour down down down down down. I saw my first Italian lighting bolt! We had to take cabs to the club "Central Park" because a. it is really far away and b. it was raining (raining is an understatement) Normally I refuse to take a cab anywhere because it is just ridiculous but I had to conform to Erica's theory because of the rain. and mind you it was ONLY because of the rain. I normally love going to Central Park because they have two dance floors. One for the American ghetto booties and one for the freaky Italian bounce bounce. However tonight because of the rain, and due to the fact that a lot of Americans were out of town traveling, the crowd there was straight up Italian molesters. I am not even kidding someone credit-card swiped my butt. I freaked out at this really ugly man who would not leave us alone. Oh and because of the rain, there was the nile river on the dance floor (clearly in honor of passover) We started the night out late and therefore we got home late.  The Gorilla became a mean Gorilla and would not leave.  Some times the Gorilla get vicious.  She will regret it in the morning I know it.
postness from the friday on the 18th of Friday in the months of april in the year 2008 

Run Away.








Project Runway. Run Away.

The Gorilla and I have been having a difficult time waking up the morning the past couple of days. In book arts we learned the final way of making a book. So sad but I know how to make a profession hard cover book! I have loved that class and my teacher Pat is so incredible. The Prague-ites , that being Emmie and Katie met us at Anna's with Erica and Sara. Unfortunately they were not able to taste the splendor that is Anna's because they already ate lunch but they were able to soak up the atmosphere and by the pure act of watching, I think they could understand why it was such a treat. The Gorilla and I obviously could not survive a Thursday afternoon of communistic photog with out fruit to sugar coat our minds. The good thing about photog today was that we were able to leave at 6 because tonight I would transform my weird awkward Allison self into a high end fashionista and model. Why we needed 4 and a half hours to get ready for the show is still beyond me but hey I am a model and you know what I mean, I just do my little turn on the cat walk. And when I say transform myself into a model, I ain't lyin! I didn't even recognize myself when I looked in the mirror. With my hair straight, white lip stick smothered all over my face, and electrifying eye make up. The girl who did my make up literally took eye liner and made stripes under my eyes. The other girl who did my eye liner literally took a sharpie to my eyes, not really but it sure looked like it. I may never be able to fully get it all of it off. My roommate made the dress I was to show off to the audience. The fashion was set up ATM and Project Runway style and both the models and the designers were being judged. The show was at this kinda skeezy club called 21. I had never heard of it before, but the lighting in the bar and on the dance floor were freaky and everyone looked like they had painted their faces purple and bleached their teeth white (I guess some call that sensation, a black light). The show started around 10. I was the third girl to go on. Damn. I didn't even know I had it in me to be a model. I walked my walked, popped a couple of peace signs, and shook my bon bon across the seizure stage. The stage had these squares of neon lights, and I was more worried about having a epileptic attack than actually falling in my 12 inch heals. Yes, I had to wear heals that made me 10 inches taller than my 5 6 beautiful bod. I came to conclusion that the designers and the teacher didn't really like me for who I am, and that the straight hair, crazy make up and 10 inch heals were their way of kindly covering it up. Well poo poo on them. My roommate, Tricia, told me that she couldn't wait for me to go back to straight hair Allison because she couldn't handle it and that it just didn't fit me at all. My curly hair really does make me, me. The show lasted about 2 hours. My roommate Emily won best designer and my friend Erin one best model. When they made the announcement, all of my hopes and dreams of every becoming a model went down the drains. And thank god I didn't win! All of my teachers were at the there and after the show we danced the night way and sipped cocktails model style. Erica, Sara, Emmie, Katie, Dara, Effie and Mir were all there for moral support. It was weird to see my painting teacher get his groove on but we danced with our teachers anyway. Froto, the art historian really knew how to put her hands up for Detroit. The Gorilla and I were pretty tired, tired of being models, tired because it was late and decided to head back home. Sam, the Parisian, wonder, is also visiting this weekend, so Rayha (the no fun funner) met us at our apartment to deliver another chicken to stay with the Via dei Ginorites. Welcome Sam Our friend Kelsey joined us for a slumber party and we spooned and giggled!

post ness from the seven teenth ness of april on a thursday in the year of 2008

No Thank You David and The Life Of A Plus Sized Model.

The Gorilla and I skipped out on Art history today because we were going to have to pay to see the Academia and by that i mean pay to see the Davids small pee and we were not going to do that. So instead we woke up early and I went to the Art school to finish work and pay 10 euros to have 5 pieces of paper faxed to LA... lame! I find myself looking in my wallet thinking where has all my money gone and this is one of those side investments you make and then forget about when you have less than a euro at the end of the week. Stupid fax. The Gorilla and I met at Bar Ginori for coffee before class. A little sip of latte to freshen up our mornings on this glorious day. We tried to convince our Italian teacher to let us go on a field trip for our last day of real italian class but she decided that reviewing for the final was much more important. Luckily she told us exactly what was going to be on the final so I am not too worried. And as a bonus, we were let out of class 30 minutes early. A nice relaxing lunch at Anna's for a change of pace. Kelsey has become a new member of the Anna's afternoon. I was a good friend and stayed true to my words and bought the Gorilla a sandwich today because last night I told her that I would pay for her Anna's if she wrote on 12 of my prints in cursive and indeed she did them and indeed I payed for her sandwich . I really try to make promises that I can keep! I felt more painting juices today than I have felt all semester. I was a painting master today and the time went by so fast. After an entire semester I finally feel like I truly got the hang of it all. Who knows, my work could be in the Uffizi one day, clear the walls Leonardo and Michaelanglo, Allison the Great is painting your way. I didn't even want to leave painting at 4. Today was my last lab class. While I hated lab most of the time, it was sad to think that it was my last class. We immediately drilled it into our teachers head that we wanted gelato because a. it was our last class. b. we didn't want to review for the final because we spent the day doing that c. it was just gorgeous outside today. The minute we asked her she responded, you don' want to study for the exam and simultaneously everyone in the class room responded NO and off we went. The teacher told the woman at the front desk that the reason we were leaving was because we didn't want to study and instead we wanted gelato (she spoke this in italian, and I could actually understand it..it was pretty funny) Just as much as it was sad that it was my last lab, it was sad that I hadn't made my way to the other side of the river to the Gelato place we went to because for just a euro, yeah you heard me, one euro, I got to have two home made, delicious and fluffy flavors (menta and caffe) in a cone. The entire class, the entire class being 5 of us, sat on the edge of the Ponte Vecchio discussing random thoughts and expressed how much we were dreading slash getting excited for the fashion show tomorrow night. I learned two very interesting things today. 1. I forgot to mention this earlier but i learned that my italian teacher has a vineyard and she sells her grapes to make a wine. Her wine is Clement the 7th and is sold everywhere in Italy. Who knew? She also has an olive oil farm and only sells it to select costumers. Not to mention she also has a "spare" house she also owns that used to be for the farmers that helped on the farm (but with modern technology, they aren't needed) so she rents out different parts of the house for the summer to tourists. We were all sad about leaving and told her that we would come back and work for her. The Gorilla offered her hands to be the dishwasher (I must admit, gorilla hands are good for washing dishes, nice and big) I offered her back massages and another girl offered to cook. She said that there is a guest house in the back of her actual house and it is now used as storage but in a couple of months they will have it fixed up and we can all work for her. Hey another reason to come back here. 2. the second interesting thing I learned today is that in Italy when you get engaged, it doesn't mean that you have a set date for a wedding rather, it means that you are just promising to be with each other. My Italian lab teacher has been engaged for three years. Its weird here. There is something I have noticed. Everyone in Italy (I noticed this with my teacher and I noticed this our tour guide in Rome) they also seem to tell you never to get married and they all sound depressed about it. Weird i tell you. Well the good news is a. at the rate I am going, Italy was meant for me b. I am only 20 years old..aint no thang. So yeah two interesting things. After Italian lab the Gorilla, Kelsey and I went on a vintage store quest and we hunted down all of the vintage stores in Florence only to find out that the most expensive and trendy items were sweatshirts that read "yale" and american t-shirts were considered high end vintage. We unanimously decided that the Salvation Army back in the States would do much better for our bank accounts and that spending 20 euro on a shirt that is a. already worn and b. already worn and straight up from America (well actually it was probably first made in China, but thats a different story)...was just not worth it. Kelsey introduced me to the worlds best sandwich and panini shop on the other side of the river (she lives on that side) and we sat outside of Santa Spirito to enjoy our life changing dinners. Toasted pita, turkey, pesto, mozzarella, tomato, zucchini, = delightful. We rushed back home to prepare for the first and final dress rehearsal for the fashion show. I am not sure if i have mentioned this one in the blog yet but tomorrow night I will become a model. Yes indeed, I, Allison Isenberg will transform into a 1960's model sportin Aliza Rupert. I will walk the runway at Club 21 and wear the worlds most unflattering dress. I hate to admit this but the fashion design students make clothes that are not so fashionable. It is actually quite embarrassing but I will give full details tomorrow, Lets just say that eating two sandwiches a day probably isn't the carbo load diet Gisele eats for weeks before her big show. Kelsey came back to the apartment after the practice and we all hung out while I straightened my hair. Pain is beauty and beauty is pain...aka i look painfully awful with straight hair, ahh I just looked in the mirror and I don' even recognize myself. The Gorilla and I spent the rest of the evening sipping Mama I's magical tea and figuring out hostels and traveling for our big trip to Dublin, Prague and Vienna. I am so tired while typing this, my eyes burn and my fingers kill. My roommates just got home from going out and it looks like one of them had a run in with ralph and upchuck, I am going to pretend I am asleep. Wait, actually I am not pretending, I am going to bed NOW.

Wednesday of the day in the monthness of April on the exact date of the 16th in the exact year of 2008.

Kate Moss, How Do You Do It?

I must of had bad dreams last night about not waking for my alarm clock because at around 6 I woke up in a frenzy thinking the Gorilla and I had missed class (and we couldn't do that because we had already had 3 absents...agh no no worst dream ever and obviously I would have these kind of dreams) I woke up and realized, I couldn't find my phone, I wasn't wearing a watch and I was too tired to convert the time on my computer, yes indeed it is still set to KC time. I hopped out of bed, keep in mind i am almost legally blind, and successfully ran into a few things before actually finding out that it 6:30 in the morning and I still had an hour and a half to sleep. I was a book arts work- a-holic today. The weather here has been so bizarre. I think it was actually colder today than it was in the beginning of January. One day it will be sunny and beautiful and the next minute it will rain and then be freezing. I guess April showers do bring May flowers, so I can't complain. This afternoon, the photog commi felt the need to tell me about her long lost roman lover and how she keeps having dreams about him. She ended up staying up at the art school until 11 p.m. locked in side the We stayed up at the Art School all night to get stuff done before our visitors come on Thursday. The Praha, Praha lovers are coming all the way from the Czech Republic to flo yo. The visitors have just been rolling in out of Florence the past couple of weeks. I mean I don't blame them for coming to the best city in the world. With the fashion show taking over my life, I have little time to devote to my book arts. And well all know I need a lot of time to do that. More importantly being a model has been quite a stressful thing, and I have to stay on top of my other life. Kate Moss how do you do it?

tuesday ness of of the 15th of april in the year 2008, on the eve of night.

A Day of M's. Monday, Medici, Money, Mmm Anna's, Mosquitos.

The Gorilla and I were so happy this morning when we thought that we were going to meet our art history class across the street at the Medici Palace. Little did we know that the Medici Palace and the Medici Chapel were two totally different things in two totally different places. Actually is not that we didn't know that they were two different places but on Wednesday our teacher told us to meet at the Medici Palace, that was down the street from our school and across the street from our house. We would of have been right on time but instead we were almost a half and hour late and ended up paying 6 euro to get in, only to find out that our Museum cards actually worked (even though they had a huge sign that said no student discounts) At the end of the tour, we forced our teacher to help us get our money back and indeed we did. I also got my pair of scissors back that I had accidently left in my bag. We reviewed for our Italian final in class. It is weird to think that next week is finals and it is even more weird that next week is finals and that next week is my last week abroad. Just 145 posts ago, I was sitting at my home in Kansas city writing my first entry. Its terrifying! Anna's Anna's Ann'as for lunch time. time. time. time. The Gorilla and I unanimously decided to have a crush on a young man that frequently visits Anna's for lunch. Before getting lost this morning, the Gorilla and I found where his stand is in the San Lorenzo Market. His name is Lorenzo and he works in the San Lorenzo market! A night of book making plus the urge to poke our eyes out fun with my new found Capri friend Kelsey and the Gorilla. We were kicked out by the Meat Head Army Man (he is like the mid night owl, however he doesn't look like an howl, he looks like a meat head army man) Mosquito's have invested our apartment. This is actually no shocker to me because a. when we first got here there was a basket full of "mosquito zappers", who knew they made such a thing that plugs into the walls and kills mosquito. and b. the gorilla left the window open all day because she said it was stuffy in our room. ciao ciao!

The Greek Disaster.

After book arts, I stayed to work on Photog fo sho tog and then after photog fo sho tog, I worked on book arts. The Gorilla and I have not been in the mood to cook lately..typical, so we went down the street to order greek on our way home, however it was a Greek disaster. This was only our second time going there and our friend had ordered for us last. We got our take out, only to find out after we were already happily in the Via dei Ginior Palace that we had ordered the wrong thing. Instead of getting their delicious chicken gyro, we got a bucket of chicken guts (it literally looked like chicken guts) two pita's and a jar of tzatziki sauce. They might use the same chicken guts in their delicious gyro that we ordered last time but when they wrap it up in lettuce with tomato, pickles and sauce, you forget what you are eating because the taste is sensational. For art history we had the option to write a 5 page paper or do a 15 min. presentation about a topic of our choice. Because I am quite the chatter and not so much the writer, I thought I might score extra brownie points and be the only student to do an oral presentation. Obviously the Gorilla and I were on the same wavelengths, because we a. both raised our hands when Frotto asked who wanted to do an oral presentation and b. we were the only people to raise our hands. Obviously, the only Jewish girl in the class decided to do it on the subject of the Pieta. Hey you know what, there was plenty of information, and it is actually interesting learning about the dead jesus coming off the cross. The presentation is tomorrow but due to last nights application fiasco and my glorious weekend in dam dam, I had to spend a majority of the day working on the presentation. The old Allison probably would of had the entire thing planned out over two weeks ago, but the night before did me just fine and I was able to finish before the Barca Barca freakies came to town. It was more of a struggle to finish the actual presentation because the Gorilla was off her rocker and would not stop pestering me. Sometimes when she doesn't get enough food at night, or looses all capabilities of being human, she turns into a true Gorilla and annoys the crap out of me. The little chickens arrived at the Santa Maria Novella train station at 11 pm and the Gorilla and I met up with Erica and Sara to greet them. Tonight was a really bizarre night, and for some reason, no one, not a soul seemed to be on the streets. We came to conclusion that with the election approaching, people were probably just in weird moods. Everything was silent. We found our friends waiting for us, and embraced them. It is weird but it was just 2 months have gone by since we saw them in Barca Barca, wow has time gone by so fast. We brought them back to the Via dei Ginori Palace and played the game of catch up mixed with the pillow palace delight.

this post is from the day of tue tue tuesday april the eighth in the year two thousand and eight. weird. oo 4 ooo 8 ooo 8