no baloney in bologna.

I woke up at 7:00 to find that not only was my hot water still out, but I geniously put two and two together and realized that the reason I started shivering last night and had to hide under my covers breathing in and out to warm myself is because the water system is connected to the heat and when the hot water is out, that also means the heating in the apartment is out.  Even if they are not connected in real life, they are connected in my apartment. I met up with my group at the train station at 8:00 and the train left at 8:22. Again with my narco tendencies, I fell asleep from the moment the doors closed to the moment they opened in Bologna. Bologna is a much more industrial looking city than Siena and thankfully not as touristy as Florence. Today was unfortunately cold (granted that I slept in a freezer last night and was never able to warm up throughout the whole entire day) and my four layers of shirts were just not enough. Our group (even though there were only 20 of us there were supposed to be 40 - the other 20 just didn't show up) split up into two groups and the Gorilla and I were luckily able to escape our roommates (for more detailed information including personal documentaries and photographs from two first- hand witnessess please look forward to a new blog written by two anonymous writers called p.s.ihateyou.blogspot.com...coming soon!) We went to two cathedrals. One had two sculptures done by Michelangelo in pre-David days. The cathedrals were so cold inside that I think I lost a lot of my brain cells to remember all of the historical details but I wrote them down in my other journal so I will revise this post later.  For lunch we went to a beyond delicious buffet style restaurant. Bologna is known for its food and the concept of American bologna comes from a version made in Bologna...imagine that! (bologna: the nasty, processed, pink stuff, non-jewish mothers give their children for lunch). Pasta Bolognese and tortellini also grew up in this small University city.  Bologna houses the 5th largest Cathedral in all of Europe  (behind Florence) and it is just a spectacular city.  Back to lunch...I don't think a lot of people on our program like the Gorilla and me too much because we are always doing freaky things like taking pictures and drawing, so at lunch no one sat by us but the tour guide asked if she could sit with us instead.  Ends up, she went to Shawnee Mission East, had Mr. Royer (the same pre-calc teacher I had) and went to the same middle school (Indian Hills) and elementary school (Prairie, pre-fire days) as the Gorilla.  She now lives in Florence and is married to an Italian. When we first asked her where she lived she mumbled Kansas City but then the Gorilla and I replied "US TOO"...she was in shock...she could not believe it. It is a small world after all. After lunch we were given free time to explore the city but the Gorilla and I were rather cold so went window shopping. Everything is on sale or "saldi" in Italy right now because they are only legally able to have sales two times a year. However that really didn't help me out much when the dollar is pretty much worth nada. After window shopping, we sat in a cute chocolate cafe and sipped lattes (with smiley faces on top of them...see picture above) and drew pictures of things around us.  On the way back to the train station we discovered a straw market. They were selling shoes for 3 euro and I almost bought an extra large Winnie the Pooh child's nightie because it gets so cold in the night but I realized that the texture was similar to a sleeping bag I once had that used to catch on my toenails and I decided that gagging while you try to sleep is not the solution to the cold.  The train was leaving at 4 so we didn't have too much time to shop around. The Gorilla and I tried with all of our mights to avoid sitting by our roommates on the train but some how (how, I am not so sure) two of them ended up sitting facing us.  Luckily the Gorilla and I were in a giggly mood or else I might have literally died on the train. One of our roommates (the one who yells at the top of her lungs "What Up B*tches" every time she enters our apartment) decided that it would be fun to play the "camera game". For those of you not familiar with the "camera game" (I was not either...so don't be ashamed), my roommate sets her camera on self timer for either 2 sec or 10 sec (you can decide) and then she allows you that time to strike a pose or do something crazy. Then you look at the picture and laugh...ta..da...that's how you play the "camera game".  Clearly the Gorilla and I dominated the "camera game" (I was technically the winner because I am the worlds most unphotogenic person) One of our roommates is functionally challenged.  She can't seem to do much but stare and then make sassy comments.  When it was her turn to play, she just sat there, no movement at all what so ever! The inventor (the "what up" girl aka the inventor) kept giving her more chances to win...but five rounds later, she still proceeded to sit there.  Finally in a rather loud voice the inventor goes "PRETEND YOU ARE SUCKING A D*CK" ( I am sorry for the x-ratedness of this story but if I almost pee my pants, a story must be told, no lies, no cover ups) As a matter of fact, it did get her to slightly raise her arms but she still lost. After the game I was pretty tired, so I slept the rest of the way home. I decided to stay in tonight and make pretty pictures and watch Rear Window. Still no heat or hot water. Stinky and cold.