Provolone!

Ciao, only a few more weeks til Halloween! Or fall break, or whatever... I think I'm about over my cold! Kelsey and I spent the weekend inside watching movies and laying low, and I'm happy to say it's about gone. So back to the outside world! Yay!

Anyway, this weekend I'm finally going somewhere. I'm leaving Friday morning for Dublin, and returning Sunday evening. I'm meeting Sara there, who's flying out Thursday night. I had an unfortunate exam issue in which I had to change my ticket, for a rather exorbitant fee...but I'm over that now. Mostly. But I'm so excited, not because I'm going somewhere new, but it's Ireland! I've always wanted to go. Apparently Dublin isn't exactly the prettiest part of the country, but we're going to Sara's friend outside of the city, so I'm hoping. And I'm sure it'll be fantastic, whatever the case. It's Ireland! Go Irish people!

Today I had some exciting news. The lady conducting the communications between us and the city hall in Mompantero (where my Italian family is from) received a letter, with the birth certificate of my great-great-grandfather. Gioanni Pietro Alpe, born 24 October, 1872, died in Collinsville, IL, 14 November (I think , I don't have the paper with me), 1938. It's really thrilling, and apparently now we're just waiting for a list of possible living relatives that I can get in contact with. Better brush up on my Italian! Lol.

Oh, this weekend Kelsey and I met some new Italians. We were at a free concert in a piazza near our homestay, and we were about to leave out of boredom when some guys came up to us. They claimed to want to learn English (lines! all lines!) and we all ended up hanging out (in a PUBLIC place, mother). Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I got to practice my Italian! And I learned a new word. Provolone. Besides being a type of cheese, it's a guy in Rome who goes after as many girls as possible to see what he can get. Sounds like every guy to me...

Anyway, got to go work on my Italian oral presentation before dinner! Ciao tutti!