Espresso, homeschool, and music, oh my!

Hey.

So it's been a while.

I'm just surprised I didn't get emails from friends asking me if I died!  (It happens.)

I just felt the need to step away for a couple days.  My real, legit school started this week, and Mama and I have been hitting the NATO college for a lot of events and lectures, Italian classes, and the like quite a bit lately.  It's pretty busy around here!

Yesterday, while my mom was at a spouses' coffee in the bar at the college (Read: bar in Italy is not like bar in America, fyi.  It's coffee.  Cafe.  Think Starbucks, but cheaper.  Way, way, way cheaper.) I went to the gym.  Ran the treadmill, lifted, used some of the machines, and did push-ups and lunges.  I then proceeded to feel like jell-o for a couple of hours.

I cooled off and changed into nice clothes. (the "man" won't let you wear gym/casual clothes in the college, though honestly, I don't really even know who the "man" actually is when it comes to the college.  But I digress.  I digress quite often.)  I tip-toed over to the library where it was cool.

If you were wondering why I tip-toed, it's because my ridiculously cute gladiator sandals (not a tourist schtick. They really are "in" here.) are apparently equally ridiculously squeaky on the floor in the college.  I might as well have been wearing a cowbell.

I read some schoolbooks, and then squeaked over to the bar.  (Read:  NOT AN ACTUAL BAR.)  I went up to the barista, and said "Un espresso, per favore."  I figured I'd just knock one back before continuing to work on my reading.  I get by with a little help from my caffeine.  She pointed over to where the spouses (spice? speese?) were sitting, and asked:  'Are you, er, with-a the spouse?'

'No, but my mom is.  I'm here waiting for her.'

'Oh, ok.  I make-a you one, moment, please.'  (I just love the way Italians speak English.)

She brought me my drink, wrinkled her brow, and said rather shyly, 'Er, may I ask-a... how old are you?"

I decided to use my Italian to make her more comfortable, and said "Sono sedici anni."  (Sedici being 16.)

"Oh ok, I was thinking you were, er, older!"  This is probably because she's seen me with the spouses (Spice?  Speeseee??)  because I take Italian with them and I am going to be attending Art and History lectures with them.  She smiled at me and said, 'You are very nice!'  and waved away my .50 euro.  I thanked her, she attended the next customer, I drank my (free!!) life-blood, and headed back to the library to wait for my mama.

I finished all of my reading for that day, and so I read my Kindle.  Mama got there, and we waited with a friend while our other friend who was going to drive us home got a tour around the college.

We came home, I had lunch, and at 5 pm I had my first real Rhetoric II online class, which was fun!  I'm really excited about that.  Today, in about an hour and 15 minutes, I have my first real Geometry online class!  I'm... relatively excited!  I mean, as excited as a bookworm like me could be about a math class.  But my teacher and the other kids are sweet.  But I'm pretty sure I'm the oldest one in the class, because I did pre-algebra, algebra I, and algebra II before geometry.

I think it'll be a good school year.  I feel it in my bones.

Or perhaps that's the copious amount of caffeine currently shooting through my bloodstream.  Could be.

Anyway, I'm also on a music kick right now.  I mean, it's not like I ever didn't enjoy it, but for some reason I can't take my headphones out of my ears right now.  It's actually my dad's iPod, because mine decided it doesn't like me anymore.

I understand.  I loved it... to its demise.  I think it's salvageable, but I don't really want too work on it right now.

Right now, I'm listening to Fernando Ortega.  I like his music because I've never been good at memorizing scripture, but he writes beautiful music and then sings exact scripture for the lyrics, so I can memorize it better that way.  Not to mention, it's entirely soothing and gorgeous.

I also like Foreigner.  Go figure.

I never was normal, you know, and I never claimed to be.