this sunday was perfect. i woke up and went to coffee with allyson, heather, courtney, gina, and christian. then we all headed over to church and met vinci and nicholas there. after church allyson dropped me off at home and i cleaned, and then sat on my terrace with a glass of water and the hobbit. and the sun on my face! yes, the sun was out. and it felt so good. then lunch with alle and fosca. and coffee with alle and his friends. afterwards i walked for a bit and took some pictures of the streets that i get to take my bike on everyday. this is one of them. and then seven sweet hours at heathers with helen :) we ordered in pizza and watched shallow hal in italian. a perfect lazy sunday. 

this is Ines. shes the best ever. a little italian brenna may. she's six and loves to play memory. so tuesday we played memory with food flashcards. and she asked me if she could arrange the cards this time. so i said sure. and this is what she did. of course. i loved it, so i had to take a picture.

today courtney and i, joined by gianluca, spent appertivo at wine and wine. talked about russia mostly. which was super interesting because i realized how much i don't know. i love that. and then courtney and i walked back to our bikes and decided to pop into the local sweet shop and get a waffle thats covered in nutella. yum.yum.yum. and if thats not enough. lets sprinkle powdered sugar on top. jeez laweez.

okay tomorrow i have three new lessons, plus the four crazy eight year old boys who i love. vanni in the morning who is a middle aged man who wants to work on speaking. yes. i get to talk with someone for an hour and get paid for it. and then sam who is eighteen and wants me to help her with her homework. and then another seventeen year old who wants the same. and then the boys. last week, i had to sweep the floor after they left because of this:

how four boys bring in this much dirt? in an hour and a half? no idea. 

i live here. and i love it.

the last two days have been really incredible. 

yesterday i woke up and walked into the center to meet gina at the park that's right behind the library. which, by the way, might be my new favorite place to sit and read the hobbit. especially when its foggy. 

then i went for coffee with heather and allyson. went to the office for a bit. met courtney to walk over to yoga. went to lunch. went back to the office and worked till seven. went to the market to get food. went home and cooked myself dinner. and then got ready for bed. strange. i totally live here. like my refrigerator is full of food. proof:

and i have a membership at a yoga studio. and i have friends. and we meet for coffee. and i have students. that now, three weeks in, i'm actually getting to know. all of it. its just incredible to me.
and then today. i had one of my favorite classes. four eight year old boys. andrea, simone, ricardo, and eduardo. from four thirty to six every thursday. they sort of drive me crazy, because they are crazy, but i love em. maybe because when i'm with them i feel like i'm in children's church at mid city. a lot of noise. a lot of running. i'm not ever really in control. and everyone is speaking in a language i don't know.
after classes today gina, courtney, heather, and allyson came over for biblestudy. another miraculous event. that God gathers people. ha! meeting with two other girls from southern california and heather from scotland in carpi italy.
and then after biblestudy, gina, courtney and i went to oficina (a pub in the center) to meet fosca and her boyfriend juliano... we all got to listen to max (my italian brother who lives on the first floor of this apartment) play with his band. i wish i had my camera. and i wish i could've video taped what i got to listen to tonight! what a gift. for how much i freakin love music. to be set up with a family that both of the sons are in bands? max is like on commercials in italy. and newspapers. and plays the drums for famous artists here. he's incredible. and so so so fun to watch! tonight it was just him, a guy on the guitar, and a girl who sang and played the guitar a bit too. they did a version of 'ticket to ride' that blew me away. and then to top it off... max made a little shout out to his american sister and played/sang free fallin! i mean. common. what more could i ask for?
so yes. i guess you could say things are getting along quite nicely :) i'm starting to have a place here, and i'm really loving that. like i love going to the elementary school with gina to help teach an english class and hear in the hallway, 'the blonde one is my teacher' which is a good start. i'm workin towards katie. but for now. blonde girl is fine. i'll totally take that.
okay. off to sleep now. tomorrow i have my first lesson with sam. she's eighteen and wants to practice conversational english.... my job is too fun. getting paid to talk with an italian girl for an hour. mmm. la vida dolce :)