Wet cobblestone and pointy-toed stilettos

I'm back now from Palermo, the city on the other side of Sicily where we went yesterday and stayed last night. I'm going to try to stick to the interesting things in this blog and not explain boring details...

The mall in Syracuse is awesome. I've never shopped so intensely in my life, and I love the way Europeans dress. They are always bundled up this time of year, even on the days when it isn't that cold. The little old men walk around arm in arm and do the double-air-kiss goodbye. The women do that, too, and little kids...

I spent the night at my first hostel and it wasn't bad at all; actually it was really nice; the lady said it was sort of a hostel, sort of a "guest-house." For 19 euro, it was pretty awesome. The heat actually worked there, and it was more than just a space heater, unlike my apartment, and there was a tv that got lots of channels in German. We watched "Ella Enchanted."

I have some homework to do for Greek, Latin, and Philosophy. I'm still working on my readings list, by which I mean I'm still working on compiling the list; I haven't even started reading for it. I hate doing this while I'm abroad. But my other two classes aren't going to be too bad, I don't think. Italian is really fun. There will be exams, a paper, and a presentation in Art History but until then all I have to do is go on the field trips and take notes in class.

The food is really good here but two of my roommates and I have decided to start imposing certain restrictions on ourselves, because there's just a little too much gelato, tiramisu, cannoli, marzipan, and various other pastries and chocolate things that are everywhere. Espresso has no calories if you drink it black like I do, though, so it's my consolation. The custom here is to drink things with milk in them like cappuccinos or macchiatos only in the morning...

I have lots of pictures still to upload onto facebook, maybe I'll try to put some on here, too. I officially love traveling, and I can't wait to start planning my spring break. I'm hoping to find some really cheap flights to some exciting places, although either way I know I need to stop shopping and save for that. I also want to take at least one weekend trip somewhere. I'll tell you the specific destinations once I find out what they are!

I miss everybody a lot. I know I've only been here for 2 1/2 weeks, but it seems longer because it is farther and because I know that it will be for so long. I'm really happy here, though. It's strange because I'm having the time of my life and I'm looking forward to it being over. Having the time of your life can be exhausting, and there are really weird feelings that come when you suddenly leave all of your family and friends and everyone you know, and then make new friends really quickly, and feel close to them and far away from everybody you're used to being close to. It's just weird. I wish I could be with everyone at once. Sometimes I feel like I don't have the time to maintain all my relationships the way that I would like to.