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 :)