wave goodbye and say hello

And now to pack.

Today I packed up a box to send home of things unnecessary for the last 2 weeks. I can only imagine how much it will cost tomorrow. I've been going through my stuff, throwing things away like crazy. I guess I don't need my citronella candle that never worked or my little boy's white tees that I bought here for work that are already filthy. I could throw away my 56 ticket stubs to the Boboli gardens and if I want to be really frugal, the green and pink cat mask from the dollar store given to me on my birthday (or just hide it in my closet for the next resident). I even just found my self deleting probably hundreds of unneeded files in my "download" section of my computer as though that would lighten the load too. I stopped part way through. Because it won't.

It's starting to get sad, thinking about leaving. But exciting about traveling. And seeing home again. Yup, I'm getting bored of being able to leave breakable things laying out on tables which means, I even miss my kitty. But the last few days have been fun.

Yesterday we went to our morning internships and then skipped class and went to Venice. 1st of all, it was probably my best day at the shop yet. I was getting a little bummed, thinking the guys kind of resented me being there and thought I didn't know anything. They'd ask me a question and if I didn't understand, just kind of ignore me. So yesterday I just piped up and talked and talked and talked. Even though it was more than just a little broken they understood enough and they began commenting on my work more and telling me what things were etc. Just in time right? When I have 2 days left. (1 now). But still, it was nice.

We then trained up to Venice. I wouldn't say I had low expectations but they weren't sky high. People have told me such things as, "I was there for a weekend and that was definitely enough. I wouldn't have wanted longer," or "It's pretty but really dirty" etc. so I figured I was just going because it was a place I hadn't gone. Well, I thought it was gorgeous. And Clean! I don't know what everyone was talking about. Without any cars or streets it seems Way cleaner than Florence. And it is beautiful. It's almost like Disneyland. The buildings were so ornate and colorful and all of the Carnival masks were amazing. I was hardcore theatre-nerding out at all of the Commedia Dell'Arte masks. I really liked some paper mache masks but couldn't think of a safe way to take it home. There were too many heavy/ smashy things in my box to send home and I didn't have room to just carry it with me the rest of the trip. But they were still amazing to see. Anyway. It is delightful. Perhaps there isn't a whole lot to do, but it would be a good place to go relax for a while. I'm really glad I made it there.

And now for an immature moment. My Canadian friend Adrienne told us about a game called Bros Icing Bros the other day (I had never heard of it but I know it exists in the states too... but let me explain). The rules are basically- from time to time you hide a Smirnoff Ice somewhere where another person will accidently find it one day and when they do, they must immediately take a knee, put an arm in the air and chug it. Silly yes. But our dear friend Eric was iced good today. Good enough to write home about. We were eating lunch at a place called The Diner (yeah... we're in our last 2 days in Italy and we craved American breakfast that much... don't judge) and had just finished a belt busting meal. The waiter came to the table and placed the check down saying, "this is for you," then leaned toward Eric and said, "and this is for you." placing a lovely blood orange flavored Smirnoff Ice in front of him. Adrienne had brought it with her and asked the waiter to deliver it. Eric was shocked but had something up his sleeve. "Pretty good," he said, "but how's this for a block?" and pulled one from his pocket and placed it on the table. This meant Adrienne would now have to drink both. And yet she said, "oh but wait.. what is this?" pulling another one from a sock in her purse. Double block. How nerdy is this? Well, these two are hardcore and don't back down- so now it was time for Eric to chug, not one, but 3 sickly sweet, slightly alcoholic Smirnoff Ices. The waiter was cool about the game but said it'd have to be finished outside. Fair enough. So we waddle outside, stuffed to the gills with food, into the thunderstorm and downpour and in the middle of the sidewalk, under no cover, down on one knee, Eric chugged them. He had to take a break between two and three and another one half way through three, but he did it and even kept his food down. What a champ.

I know that's super mature, but I haven't laughed that hard in ages. Twas a sight to behold. Now go ice someone.