Piece a Pisa

So, I'm a little behind, but it has been a rough week. I had my first Italian test on Wednesday! Eek! (Not like every day at my host family's house isn't like a test) And Thursday I had two essays due, one for Government and the other for Producing Fascism (history), not to mention I am sick.... I wrote my government paper on the Northern League, a political party in Italy that is in favor of Northern seccession and is quite racist... it was an interesting case study. For fascism, I argued that the fascist movement was not a uniting force, rather, it left out a large majority of the Italian population... this is all probably boring to all of you, but it serves as a reminder that I am actually studying here! In addition to my travels!

So last Friday, myself, Sarah, Mariana, Jenny, Carol, and Liz all took an adventure to Pisa! It was a short train ride away and I must say, there's not much to do there other than the Campo dei Miracoli. We walked around for a while before happening upon the tower. It's actually a lot shorter than we all expected, and the lean is much more severe than I thought! I loved this picture below because the tree is leaning with the tower!

I, of course, took the picture holding up the tower, but the one below is much better! Jenny and I were not strong enough to push it all the way over, but we tried! Right after we took this picture, an asian family on vacation came up to Liz, Mariana, Carol, and I and asked if they could take a picture with us. It was very odd, and the dad was a little too excited to be in the photo! I still don't really know why... but it was hilarious!

After walking around, we decided to get lunch at a tavern-like restaurant that was super yummy! We then got gelato and sat in the sun relaxing before heading back to the Campo. We went in the Duomo (it was free) but the Baptistry was not, so we decided to head home. It was cold and windy that day, so we were perfectly content only spending a few hours in Pisa.

That night, I had my first experience in a Italian club... let's just say, Italian men certainly know how to play their sport well. It got to be pretty annoying after a while, especially when one guy actually used a pick up line on me! I couldn't believe people did that, but he said, "You have beautiful eyes, do you know what I see in them?" I was like... "uh, no?" - "My future." I swear, I started laughing and turned away and went back to my friends. I can't believe they think that works!! Anyway, it was a nice little adventure for one weekend. The next weekend I am off to Venezia again, but this time for class. Then other adventures I will describe in my next post!
Ciao!