Stuff

So I forgot to add something in my last blog....on Women's Day we went to the mall...and there is a McDonald's nearby with a drive-thru. And I have yet again fulfilled one of my life-long dreams. And that was....to go through a drive-thru in a shopping cart. Yes. I finally did it. And we tried to video it but the memory card won't let you video more than basically 9 seconds..which totally sucks!!! Anyways...I went to the place where you order, sitting all scrunched-up in a cheap rattly shopping cart, being pushed by Dario..and I ended up trying to order in English....and then I remember I had to put an Italian accent on the American names of the McDonald's food. All I wanted was a McFlurry. Anyways so then we were told to please "drive" up, so that's what we did. When we arrived at the window the guy was ready and waiting with my chocolate McFlurry. We got a very strange look...and then a grin and a high-five. Luckily it was a young, understanding teenager...a fellow colleague of my generation (if that makes any sense at all), so he still gave me my SMALL McFlurry.
Then I was pushed very quickly over a speed bump and down a hill full of traffic. And then Dario basically ate my McFlurry for me -.-

Now anyways back to more recent things....well I told you a drew a few pictures so here they are:

La Valeo - Science

La Giarmoleo - Math

La Mancuso - Italian and Latin

A violin...the first one I've ever done
without having to look at a real one
and it actually resembles a violin

Yes. Another dragon. It's when I
don't know what else to draw

My positive attitude towards how wonderful
math is and how much I love it intruding
in my childhood

Pacman...but not really

So yeah. School is still the same. Grumpy teachers who like to make up things to get mad at me about, stuff like that. So. Much. Fun.

Other than that...not a lot else has gone on...except I got a fairly good mark on my French test the other day...but that's about it. I have spare blocks and I go and sit in a room with Irene (she's deaf) and we manage to communicate pretty well...I even get coffee sometimes.

So after the day after tomorrow I'm going to Venice for a week! Whooot! I'm starting to get excited. I'm basically all ready to go. I'll make sure to take lots of pictures ;)

Anyhow it's starting to get late so I think I'll head to bed now!

Ciao!

-Mik

Some Epicness Anyone?

Alright. So. Last Sunday I went to Paumbosila to go skiing with Dario, Alessio and his twin brother Tomasso.  There were also a couple random guys I didn't know with us but they were pretty cool. So that morning I woke up early and Antonio drove me into Lido to catch the bus for 7:30 in the morning....where we would drive for about two hours up into the mountains.
The drive was really beautiful...but unfortunately every picture I tried taking turned out blurry and awful x( gotta love old cameras.
Anyways we finally arrived in Palumbosila and it was sooo cute!! That's all I can say. There was a little log shack with a restaurant and a store...and there were some empty riding stables used only in the summer I'm guessing. And the sun was shining and it was fairly warm. It was very nice. Then once everyone had gotten organized we had to walk quite a way up a road...and go up some stairs...and we found ourselves at the hill...full of B&B's and hotels...more like resorts....there was a sledding hill and you could go snowmobiling or take a quad or whatever....then there were some restaurants...and various rental shops...took us a little while to find the right one (we had called ahead and booked our equipment). Then after everyone finally had their stuff....I started putting on my ski boots..and I sat down on a bench...and there were about 3 snowboards leaned against the wall beside me....as I was putting on my boots the snowboards started sliding down the wall (I did not touch them)....and they started falling and so I tried to stop them...but unfortunately I was a little too late they sort of landed on a little girl who was getting help from her parents putting on her boots. I had managed to stop them before they completely fell on her...but not soon enough for them to bonk her on the head. Then the mother (who I soon found out was a crazy cow) gives me a look of venom and gives me crap...like I pushed the flippin boards on her kid's head. The kid wasn't even crying. Looked to me like she barely noticed. But this stupid lady starts flippin out at me. Oh boy....if she could've spoken English....
I was like do you really think I'm just going to push some boards over on your child's head? I even tried to stop them! God sometimes I GREATLY dislike people with a passion. I won't say hate, that's a strong word. Poor kid's gonna grow up pretty messed with a mom like that. Ugh!
Anyways so after I managed to escape out of the rental shop...we waited in line to get our passes...and then it was time to strap on the skis and get going. But....my skis wouldn't go on. So THEN I had to go back in and get them readjusted. FINALLY we got on the lift...up up and away!

Dario

He looked ridiculous
But I didn't bother to tell him that

Alessio

The crowded hill

The hill-It's bigger than it looks

Me. Yay. I'm wearing a snowsuit

A pizzeria

Dario and Alessio on the lift

                                            

Glove holder!

There's a lake back there

Chillin'

Apparently his name's Alberto

Quads, snow-making machines
and resorts

Just...around

Alessio and his twin Tomasso

The lake

.......hahahaha :)

Left to Right -  Guy, 10 e 10 (I know I
don't get it either), Tomasso, me, Dario, Ale

So that was skiing. Pretty good day all in all I'd say.

Annnnnnnnnnd then nothing really interesting happened after that until Saturday. After school I stayed in town and went to Dario's house in Santa Maria (a little bit more towards Catanzaro) and ate lunch and all that good stuff...I had some vanilla tea and it was SUPER GOOD. Take note of this Mom ;) And then around 8:00 we left and Dario and I went over to his friend's house and ate supper with all the people from his class. Pretty good time. And I ate way too much.

...I dunno what happened

Walking from the bus stop

A lovely old house

Dario wearing my amazing glasses

This is a typical train of Santa Maria
...apparently

Kitty :)

Who doesn't ever do this?

Really cool graffiti

One of my personal favourites

There's a very nice house behind that ancient looking
 archway...nice touch

A bit of S. Maria

Catanzaro in the distance

I really liked this house

Then on Sunday it was Carneval. Where people throw oranges, stink bombs, shaving cream, and razor blades at each other. How fun. Manu and I stayed safely out of the way of troublesome children dressed up like princesses and super heroes clutching oranges. Then later that evening we went out for a bit..I came back to the house earlier and ate supper at the house...Manu stayed with Aldo for supper.

Tuesday was La Festa Delle Donne (Women's Day)! And so nobody went to school. I spent my day wandering streets...as well as picking up some shampoo. And girls and women are given these little yellow flowers that look like puff-balls called...Mimosa..I believe. They're really cute.

Mimosa :)

There are some pretty cool houses around

D

I liked the stairs

ONE day...I will get a pic of her face!
This is Kyriam by the way
Extremely elusive when it comes to pictures

At the bar...having a cappuccino

A massage chair at Mediaworld
...I thought it was hilarious

After that things were pretty tame....My  biology teacher is scary and made me answer questions in front of the class and I wanted to die.

..........I love Italian school.

Annnd that's pretty much it...oh yeah I drew a picture of the biology teacher...and my math teacher...they'll go up on my next blog

I'm really sorry this one took so long everyone....if it didn't take hours and hours to load about three pictures this blog would have been done a long time ago.

Anyways...Imma go to bed now

Buonanotte,

-Mik

A Thought...

So...today in this blog I'm going to write about a thought that I had on the bus one day...it doesn't really have anything to do with me being in Italy at all actually...just the fact that I was in Italy when I thought about it...I hope that counts for something hah. Now...I have also realized that, I suppose this has always been known...deep down in my heart and in the back of my mind....but it finally decided to surface the other day as I stared out the window of cement houses and orange trees flying by, techno and all that other weird stuff being played in the background.
I had plugged in my ipod and put it on "shuffle," and first there was a good ol' rockin' tune by the Rolling Stones, then I nice chill song from Bob Marley, and a song from Louis Armstrong, the Dan Mangan.....and things kept randomly playing...and I started thinking about all the different kinds of music there are, and all the different feelings there are....the first one that comes to mind is love. There are many types of love, just like music. And, in my opinion, music brings out a lot of love in people, just...different kinds of love.
-So. Classic Rock....like Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin...all that great stuff...brings out the love of peace, love of your friends, love of old times. A good, pumped up happy love.
-Blues. Jimmy Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn, we owe you one!!! This stuff splits through your soul, making you cry with guitar, because...it's the blues baby, and we love the blues. Blues brings out your love of emotion...the love of the blues, babe.
-Reggae, especially Bob Marley, brings out the love of love. Love of the world, Love of your brothers and your sisters and everyone around you. An everything love, and a love of being happy.
-Jazz, ahhh jazz, especially that old time jazz...now that's good stuff. Makes you wanna slick your lips a luscious red, and wear a long red silk gown to match, curl your hair, wear gloves, dance with the man of your dreams. The love of wine, smiles, and laughs over dinner with that special someone, late evening talks, sitting by the fire. The love of just being with that someone.
-Indie. One of my favourites. The love of nature, love of yourself, and your life. The love of running barefoot through the trees, and lying in the grass, gazing at the blue sky. Being forever young, being forever giddy and full of life. It fills up your soul with a feeling of delight, and the sounds can crack your heart open. The love of music in general. And the love of feeling.
-Classical. The violin cries and sings, and a piano dances, a cello mourns, and so on. Consisting of intense emotion, complexity, and melody...somewhere. The love of playing. The love of what you can do, communicating things in another way, the love of your music.
-Metal. The love of hating things.
-Hard Rock....heavier stuff...System of a Down, Perfect Circle, Three Days Grace, etc. Bands like SOAD (for example Alice in Chains), although to the un-tuned and narrow-minded ear, it may sound strange and perhaps even ugly...when you listen there are melodies and harmonies intertwined together, sending shivers through your spine...the love of all things different.
-Fiddle. Whether it's Old Time, East Coast, Celtic, Gypsy, Appalachian, French-Canadian, Metis, or anything else, it makes you feel good. It brings out an energy in you to hop and skip and do a jig or two. The love of kitchen parties, the love of sharing and the love of smiling. The love of the strings under your fingers and the weight of your bow, the stamp of your foot, the gleam in your eye and the sweat on your forehead. The love of just playing.
-Roots. A feeling that goes deep down into your core, bringing you either to tears or you're grinning from ear to ear, just by the feeling of the melody. The love of acceptance, and exploring, the love of growth.
-Country. The love of whining and riding a horse and wearing a silly hat and weird boots.
-Folk. Ahhhhh good ol' Neil Young!!! The love of your guitar and your harmonica....the purifying of the heart and a beat in your feet that will keep you going for miles with nothing but a song.
-Soul. The love contained in the soul. All the love you posses combined with a strong sense of faith and a love of God. Your soul sisters, your soul brothers, everyone on this Earth needs more love. A feeling of absolute faith in not only a higher being but also in the people around you. The love of the soul.
-Funk. The love of being funky.
-Elvis Presley. The love of rockin' out. Makes you wanna grease your hair back and grab your crotch and point at the crowd.
-Emo Music. The love of being depressed and feeling alone and every depressing song is your personal theme song.
Modern "Music." The love of making love....dirtily. As well as the love of playing the same four notes over and over again for about an hour.

There are many other kinds of music that I have not written down. Music has no rules. And music is a freedom that cannot be described. Everyone's music is different. And thus, everyone's love is different too.
So, here's to the music, and here's to the love.
-Mikeala

Valentine's Day = World's Dumbest Celebration...And Other Random Things

Let's start with Valentine's Day. Why is there a Valentine's Day? Everything in the stores and markets suddenly turn pink and red....overflowing with cheap stuffed animals holding hearts saying various mushy things...or sometimes even dirty things. Then you get cheesey dumb stuff too...like pillows in the shape of hearts or ridiculous looking slippers...rubber boobs...various card games involving very nasty actions...and let's not forget the pink fluffy handcuffs anyone.
And then you see couples walking around and sucking face in the corner while hands are wandering shamelessly up each other's shirts, and the single people mope, and are constantly looking around...as if expecting the love of their life to suddenly appear. And then as this mushy, gooey, cheesey day draws nearer...you see both girls and boys running around, panicking about what to get their loved one for Valentine's Day present. And you see them coming back out, most of the time empty handed..but if not, they come out with some of the dumbest things they could've picked. I can't say a cheap pillow that says "I love you" on it is really a very good way to show your love. Handcuffs....well depends. I'm not going to get into that subject. I know some people like all that stuff. And that's fine. Whatever floats your boat. To be honest....I'm not a romantic (I know you're all shocked right?). I'm quite simple in this respect you might say. I'm content with something small. If it has a meaning then fine. I find the smallest gestures are the ones that count the most. And if there's nothing...I'm absolutely content with that too. I don't need gifts to know that someone loves me. Although it's not a bad thing to be given things ;) And if someone decides to make a grand move that's totally overly-romantic and unnecessary, I may get a little embarrassed, and tell them I'll kill them...but deep down I appreciate it very much...and after my embarrassment has faded and I'm done considering turning invisible...I'll tell you that it meant a lot to me. But seriously....Valentine's Day is dumb. The only good thing about it is the all the chocolate.

Speaking of Valentine's Day...I recently discovered a poem that I liked very much that has to do with love...kinda.
Roses are blue,
Violets are red,
I may not be good with colours,
But I sure am good in bed!!!

Isn't that great?! I laughed quite a lot at it.

Now...exactly a day before Valentine's Day...the family all loaded in the car and we went to Cosenza to see Doriana at her university. It's a cute place....there's not much to say....it's just...cute. We had a good meal with Dory...and then we all went to the shopping mall for a little bit and took a look around...there wasn't really much there. And then we said good-by and left.
After that Manu and I stayed in Lido and we went to Kevin's house with Nora and Gregorio and Diego. His parents are super sweet. Had a good chat with his dad...he seemed to like it when I ate lots of food because he kept insisting that I have another piece of pizza, or another crepe with a cream, mushroom ham sauce, or another crepe with nutella, or a bowl of fruit and whipped cream...or more peanuts. I was stuffed by the end of that one. But it was a nice time.

By the way..I have recently fulfilled a dream of mine (well..apart from going to Italy ahha).......yes....I now am a proud owner of a pair of Ray Bans...Wayfarer Limited Edition, Rare Prints. They. Are. Stupendous.
They're my new babies. And they came with a nice lil' red case...AND a box. Ooooooooh.
They're purple...and on the inside they're flowery. They were the ones I had envisioned in my dreams. Not even kidding. So...of course...I saw them there....and I stared at them...then I wiped the drool off my face and I reached a tentative hand towards them...and I pulled them carefully off the shelf...and put them on. Bam! Instant connection. They're my soul glasses.
Now I'm sounding like a freak. I may be over-exaggerating a little bit. But anyways. I love them. And they're awesome.

So tonight we're going out...I should go get ready very soon I think...I have nothing to wear...and unfortunately in the evening it's too cold to go out naked....and I'm pretty sure that's been socially unacceptable since the Caveman era...so I guess I'm going to have to go find something to put on.
Cheers for now!!
-Mikeala Mikalina

P.S. I have recently been taught a new word....MAMMATA! Great word. Kinda rude though. Don't go around randomly saying it to everyone..I already learned that lesson. Why is it I'm always told AFTER the fact?

Another List And Daily Doldrums

So. I have been mentally making a list of all these strange words that I hear very frequently in phrases and so on when people around me or talking. These strange words I have yet to find a meaning for...or kind of have it figured out but not really. The list has been getting kind of long...so I thought I'd finally write it down:
*Note - some of these words are supposed to have accents on them but I'm too lazy to try and press a million keys for one letter with an accent. So just pretend they're there ok?

- gia
-dovrei
-dovrebbe
(those are verb conjugations of "to have to" but i just don't know which ones)
-invece
-magari
-ovunque
-tranne
-cio' (or something like that)
-chiunque
-qualsiasi

Anyways that's really all I can think of for now. But if there's more I'll be sure to let you know.
Now. You're asking..."Ummmm dude why doesn't she just use a translator?" riiiiiiight?? Yeah well newsflash. Babel Fish, Free Online Translation, Google Translate, and alllll those other translators out there, in case you haven't already figured out, they're quite unreliable. Try feeding the translation you just got back through, and it comes up with a completely different thing. Most of the time. So there you go.

As for every day news. Not much. Went to another 18th birthday party. It was in a hotel. A very nice party. Very fancy. Good food. The wine was...ok... Annd yeah. It was a good time. I had been thinking of not going but I'm glad I did now. Other than that nothing has really been going on. My moods are up and down. For example. Yesterday I was in a very good mood for absolutely no reason. And today I felt a little like poo. Maybe it's because I was at school today. I don't know. All I know, is that I feel like a stupid fool in every single class except english. And that's it. I have no clue about math. Let's face it. I'm a failure when it comes to mathematics in any part of the world. And science...well luckily the only science I get to do is stuff I've already studied like...two years ago. But there's still a problem. The teacher will ask me to explain...and it's like...I know....but I can't tell you. I may be able to carry out some conversation now, but when it comes to science talk???? Nothing. So, again, I feel extremely stupid. Especially when I'm in a class full of kids as old or younger than me -.-
Thennn there's french class.The teacher is messed and extremely grumpy and, I'm sorry to say, she can be an extreme cow (actually I'm not very sorry to say...because she's mean and weird and is angry all the time for no reason and picks favourites). Anyways. The stuff I do in French class, I have also studied at home. Buuuut I no longer remember any sort of french whatsoever, because I'm now learning Italian. And whenever I try to speak or write in french, I always just end up using Italian, because that's what comes into my head. It's extremely frustrating. Because, to everyone else, I look like some stupid kid whose scholastic levels are obviously a lot lower than theirs. Which it is in math...more or less. They kind of go a whole other direction with that stuff. Anyways. As I was saying. The truth is....that's not true. I just, number 1, can't express myself in school crap very well in Italian, and 2, maybe I just forget. The problem with me and school is this: Once I've learned something in school and got it out of the way, I erase it. Just like how you throw out all your old notes. I also do that in my head. I wipe it completely clean. Like math. Because, at home, I'm basically finished math. As well as French, because I started taking Spanish instead. Science, I distantly remember. Anyways. There you go. So...Mom...sorry if my report card makes me look like I have the IQ of a rock this year.
But yeah. So that's about all that's happening at the moment I guess. I need to get a lot of stuff......but yeah. Alright. I should go have a shower. Because my hair smells like cigarette smoke from all the teenage smokers at school smoking everywhere around me all the time. It's really very gross. I'm going to start wearing a gas mask or something with a filter so I can breathe.
Anyways. Ciao for now,
-Mikeala