The school has alot of more people here then last week. It actually feels like a school. There is an interesting mix of people now, and I actually have class mates. There is another black woman here, Jennifer, and immediately after spotting each other we ran towards each other and hugged. There is this beauitful thing about black women, without saying a word to each other we understood the experience of being in italy and regardless of who the other person was we are immediately happy to be in thier presence. Without knowing Jennifer, I know her. She is part of a group of photography students from Ann Harbor Michigan who are here for three weeks. She seems about my age but I might be wrong because she is still in college.

In my actual class, there is Sherry, Jim, and Natasha. Sherry is in her late 30's and from New York. Shes actually traveling for 8 months and is taking a year off of work. Im extremely intrigued by how she is able to do this. She said she worked in computers... humm.... maybe her family is wealthy. That is definitely one of the things I plan to find out. Natasha is from australia. She too is in her late 30s and is traveling for three months. She has worked with her company for 10 years so she has earned a 3 month paid vacation! How nice is that!! I wonder if that is an australian thing. I dont know too many companies in the United States that will give you three months paid leave regardless of how long you have been there. It is hard enough to get a month of paid pregnancy leave in the United States. Jim is also a New Yorker. He is a retired lawyer who writes a political column for a local newspaper. He is in his 60s and him and his wife are taking a lil over a month vacation to celebrate thier 33rd (i believe) wedding anniversary. Now, that is how you retire. I hope to have a life like that when I am 60, young vibrant and fortunate enough to afford traveling the world. As I spend more time with these people I realize the need and want to travel is not just for young people and I pray that this need never leaves me. Thankfully, I have choosen a profession that can allow that. I just need to continue to work hard and not let the frustrations of the entertainment industry get to me because there are not too many businesses that pay as much and allow you to have the amount of free time you want or believe you deserve.

I am actually really starting to get italian. Granted, I am far from being fluent but I can actually hold a conversation with someone and understand what they say back to me. I am learning that the trick is to continue to speak italian, even when I am around people who speak english. When I am with Nello or Fabio I try to only communicate in Italian. They often laugh at me but the practice is allowing it to sink in my head.

Being that I am getting a little better with my italian, I am beginning to flirt a little with my cute italian brother Antonino. Now that I have reached out to speak to him, he too is taking an effort in speaking to me. I have found out that he works two jobs, at a museum in the week and a bar sometimes on the weekends, and also goes to school. Still havent figured out what he is studying. He said vocabulary but I cant understand why a 28 year old man would be studying vocabulary. I am now being to realize his disinterest in me in the beginning has more to do with the intimidation of speaking with someone who speaks another language.

Things here are beginning to form a type of normalicy. It is nice but I still havent recieved my computer and I am getting sick of working out of a notebook. Finally, I have recieved confirmation that it is in Italy but is waiting to be cleared by customs. Of course, I found out my brother also took four days to actually send it out. I did find a nice internet cafe that I can work out of. Its very quiet during the day and takes on a club atmosphere during the night but surprisingly I have been able on two occasions to actually do some work eventhough Gwen Stafani is blasting around me. My goal is to actually come to the states with a new piece of written work. I really hope the computer arrives soon so that can happen.