Nasira

Nasira, originally uploaded by vanese.

I`m an aunt twice over. Here`s a pic of my brother`s daughter a couple of days old. She looks just like my brother. I thought they were going to name her Dilynn -Michelle (sp?) so she would have his same initials (DMC). oh well. My mom calls her Summer and her other granddaughter Storm because she was born on the morning of that big snowstorm back in february. My brother calls her Naz ;) And everyone keeps looking at me thinking i`m going to give them a grandson some day....

ciao-ciao roma

my sister jinxed me when she asked if it had rained in rome recently. I went 5 weeks without rain since that crazy rain-hailstorm i got caught in with my roommate the first day i arrived. but last night we splashed our way up the hill anyway and had one last dinner party with dirty, wet roman feet and i didnt order the 4euro chianti. dinner in italy is always fun because no one will rush you to leave so u can just chat for hours-trying to decide if you want to order another course or not-until finally you have to beg/chase someone down to give you the check (which always takes another 15-20 minutes to arrive).

yesterday morning we finally made it to the vatican museum up the street and braved the line which turned out to be moving pretty quickly and the gelati made the heat more bearable...inside in less than 30 minutes. however the main event, the sistine chapel, was surprisingly lackluster and last night i had to throw out my fav green shoes of all time and this morning my last 2 rome buddies left and i still have a final exam to turn in and i have to pack and clean up this apartment.

but...i get to watch the world cup final tomorrow (italy v france) on some big screens with a bunch of drunk, crazy fans somewhere not in campo di fuori (maybe i`ll buy a little italian flag). the metro is on strike today...maybe the taxi drivers will go on strike again right on time for the world cup game ;)

plus i have a couple more days to visit things like the famous jazz club around the corner, the open air markets, villa borghese, maybe buy that yellow dress and have one last clubbing night in tesstachio? ;) And/or i could just pack and type my final and stuff myself with my last pizzas and pasta and gelati ever (or atleast for a year). hmmm i should also go eat one last big tasty for moni and grab a milkshake for io (the least i can do for friends). cant eat like this back in philly.

ciao-ciao roma.
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i will not drink vino again...

i keep getting drunk and embarassing myself (and possibly others). and this time i cant even blame it on my roommates and the rest of the cast because they`re all gone now...left for greece last night (i had to pass on spending 4 days on an island w/ them). i can blame them for monday night`s adventure that thanks to the taxi strike took half of us 2 hours to get to this bar-club thing that io and i thought really suck (we wanted a real club). but they loved it because of the really cheap drinks plus all the girls did bodyshots while one of the bartenders videotaped (another first for me). plus sketchy italians trying to kiss you after one dance or just rest their heads on your slightly exposed right boob (took me a minute to realize this one because i thought it was io or one of our drunk boys). besides the tequila and yager shots, we (read i) were gulping down sex on the beaches (delicious) and something blue (io) and just got really really really drunk...watched my roommate have a serious makeout session with one of the girl bartenders, played with some italian`s curly fro, drank half of M`s beer when he went to the bathroom and blamed it on froguy, and told C all, and i mean all, my business...i wasnt so sure we would make it back home without a taxi. but we did and it only took us a 20 minute bus ride and peeing behind a kiosk (not so easy at 4am drunk). didnt make the 8am trip to the vatican museum. didnt pay for anything either so wasnt that bad afterall. But getting drunk from 4 glasses of white wine at the restaurant next to our apartment building last night was horrible...the wine here, even the cheap house wine, is so good i cant help ordering it. the good girls left me in my empty apartment but of course i left again (even though i couldnt find my keys i just kept my door open) to go hang out with some other people because i wasnt tired yet and i was doing a really bad job drunk dialing people back home. i dont remember everything i said but i will definitely be avoiding certain people today. i will not drink vino again...i will not drink vino...i will not drink.

no worries ivana

note on the post below: although most of the quotes were in fact said by me (or directed at me) and most of the things mentioned happened to me, it`s all fun craziness nothing scary. i am still very much the same person i was before i came to Rome...ive never had a high tolerance for alcohol (still dont) and ive only tried drugs (the hash) once in my life...definitely still love to party...went out last night because one of my roommates was leaving for philly in the morning. And we`re going to see the FREE Black Eyed Peas Concert around the corner from the university tonight. As much fun as i`m having though, I`m sooo homesick. Even wanted to switch tickets with my roommate...if i could see the concert first ;)

so dont worry. i`m not doing anything stupid or regrettable...off to school for the A/C and a review session.

what happens in roma, stays in roma...

okay maybe not when half the people here are from your school...


crazy bar-hopping birthday

girls night hash party crashed

drunk before the pub crawl even started

almost missed the train to venice (almost missed the train back to rome too)

outside sketchy crumbling walls, exposed brick not in a good way apartment that was fully renovated on the inside

tube top disaster (funny moments) at the club; dancing on the hip-hop stage in florence for 2+ hours

cheek-pinching-rubbing your back waiters in venice and florence

locked in the bathroom

stefano the gondolier who adores black women

gondolier in training outfit

writing names on the wall leading into the florence museum to see Michaelangelo`s David

meeting up with my "high on ecstasy" roommates at same club in florence

chubby finger in the middle of my pizza

naked (and still a little drunk) in the sauna during business class

half a bottle of chianti to myself

fav quotes:
"YOU went on the pub crawl??!?"

"oh that was `maureen` (wink, try not to laugh) with the camera at the club in florence (we got a pic of you making out too :)"

"isnt t*a*ku cute?"

"[..] 10 times better when you`ve smoked some weed...only one of you should smoke though" (i.o. advice)

"can i ask you a question: why dont you do your hair?"

"wanna try some (insert whatever meat dish i`m eating)?" me asking one of the vegetarians

"eeehhh?...eeehh?" (i.o. trying out her japanese on taku :)

"ive never seen flat spring rolls before...you get 2 for 1?...wow that`s a huge bottle of water...why didnt we try this restaurant earlier?" (us pretending it was our first time at the chinese restaurant near the school)

"did you eat my yogurt?"

"hey do you still need to buy deodorant..."

"why does she sweat so much?"

"i can eat shrimp because shrimp are bad.." (says the vegetarian with no deodorant who was attacked by a school of shrimp in grade school)

"why are our beds pushed together?"

"who said i was black?...(after gondolier stefano denies my request that he sing to us and suggests we sing something since black women have the best voices)

"no...you love mon*ic*a"

"let`s go to McDonald`s!"

"i`m not drunk...just a little tipsy"

"are you okay?" "you look like you`re hurting"

"the limoncello is the yellow one; the yager is mine"

"i wanna go to the partay"

"i think i`ll order 2 things" (me and moni)

"a drunk dog has three legs"

"why`d u leave me on the elevator"

"i wasnt sleeping...i was just resting my head"

"my name is Ka*Se*Tttta" (emphasis on the "ta")

"...saved the shortest for last" (mon at the banquet)

"all i need is a little bit..."

"oops...was i loud?"

"well atleast someone is getting some"

"from now on, im not drinking any more...[big smile here]"

"i`m not drunk...i just feel hot. feel my head/neck."

"my fingers are all tingly"

"is that an italian professor sitting next to you?" (me asking my IBT professor about this really cute guy who happened to be another rome professor`s husband)

"what`s that thing on your neck?"

"are you wearing a skirt?" "do you have another one (for me)?" "oh...i should know that since i`m half indian"(me asking one of the guys)

"eeww...is that his butt crack?" (referring to same guy from a balcony 2 floors above)

"do you watch german midget porn right here (on the bed i was sitting on)?" (still the same guy)

"come back, zak"