Saturday night

Last night was soooo much fun, but started off a little annoyingly. Andrea and I were hoping to grab the 8:06 bus into the center, knowing that there had been a strike that day. We knew that we risked not being able to get a bus, but we had seen a bunch of buses go by, so we thought everything would be ok. Nope, it wasn't. We waited for a half hour in the freezing cold and then had to call Maria Pia to take us in to town. We felt so bad, but she didn't seem to mind. She had told us beforehand that she would take us anyway.

So, we met Kevin, Benedetta and Eleonora at this pizza place called Yellow. I knew it was popular, but I didn't expect to see the mob of people standing outside the door, waiting for a table. Eleonora and Benedetta had made a reservation for 8:30, but we didn't end up sitting until 9:45. They didn't have a list or anything, so the reservation did absolutely nothing. That's Italy for you. We almost went to another place, but obviously, we didn't. Anyway, we had a really nice dinner together and spoke a little Italian and a little English, to please both parties. Benedetta and Eleonora's friend Giulia also joined us. She was really nice.

After dinner, we went to Cafe Bigallo and met up with Grace and Carla for some drinks all together. We had a great time! Then, we walked over to a bar at Santa Croce called "The William." We had never been there before and it was definitely a very Italian place. I really liked the atmosphere. I think we're going to go again tomorrow. I just love hanging out with Benedetta and her friends, and I think that they really enjoy it too. It's such a good exchange for each of us with the language and cultural differences. We always have so much fun together.

Tomorrow will be a really long day but I'm looking forward to the evening. We'll be going out to dinner with a Holy Cross professor that's on sabbatical here this year. He's from Italy, so we'll be speaking in Italian. I had him as a sub once in my philosophy class. He's a crazy, really funny guy. I can't wait!

More soon. Ciao.