I know it has been awhile since I last posted and I have no excuse other than the craziness that is my life right now. I am down to only 12 days left (eek!) and I am trying to cram as much in as possible, especially in terms of my research. Things have gone well but there it a lot left to do. So in the midst of my dwindling time what did I do? I took a little trip! Back in the summertime Nick and Diana informed me that they would be coming to Europe with Nick's grandparents in November and they invited me to join them for part of the time, so it has been planned for awhile and I knew that I had to work around it. Last Tuesday all the planning became a reality when I met up with Nick and Diana in Paris and spent two days there before heading to Leipzig, Germany. And while we stayed in Leipzig (where Nick's Oma and Opa come from) we went to Dresden on Friday and Berlin on Saturday. It was an amazing experience, and now more than ever I want to learn German. (I hated being in a country and not being able to understand more than a few words of the language- if I could even distinguish one word from another!) Here are several of my favorite parts of the trip:

1. Watching Diana in the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay. I have been to both museums before and I was excited to go back, but what I was really looking forward to was watching my sister, an art history major, see them for the first time. She was so happy and just in heaven- it was great! She kept seeing paintings and crying out their names and hitting Nick in her excitement. Nick was such a good sport as we drug him around art musuems for about five or six hours. And he really liked Notre Dame (I convinced them that we had to go) much to his surprise.

2. Going to St. Denis. This church is not only important to the history of Gothic architecture but it is also basically the graveyard for French royalty, and since it was one of the places I didn't get to on my first trip to Paris so I had to go this time. It was so worth it! I was so excited walking around and seeing the graves of people like Dagobert, Fredegunde, Clovis, and Catherine de Medici. (Extra points if anyone but me knows who any of these people are!) As Nick would say, I am definitely a Dorcas Aurelius, but I don't care!

3. The Christmas markets in Germany. I swear, every city we went to had these markets that made you feel just like you were in a magical, wonderful, Christmas land. The smells of the pastries and baked goods (SUCH GOOD GINGERBREAD!!!), the lights, the real evergreen trees and boughs everywhere, and the decorations were amazing. The Germans definitely know how to do Christmas!

4. Going to the Marianfelde refugee camp with Nick's grandparents. In the early 1950s Opa and Oma escaped from East Germany to the west, and Marianfelde was the refugee camp where they stayed after their escape. It was incredible to visit this place with people who had stayed there and the hear their experiences. As they described their feelings and the process they had to go through to escape I was humbled and amazed. They were so brave! I am so grateful for the chance I had to go there with them.

Those are just some of the highlights from the trip; there are many others that I could share but I don't want this post to be too long!

Although I really enjoyed myself, I have to confess that it was extremely comforting and felt like a relief to come back to Italy again! Not only can I understand and speak the language here, but Italy is so familiar to me now. I will miss is it when I leave. I am glad that I did take a spur of the moment trip to Rome the Saturday before I left for Paris so that I could see it again. I went with my friend Hillary and her sister Miriam, neither of whom had been to Rome before so again, it was fun to walk around the city and watch them see things for the first time. As we came up out of the Metro to the Colosseum I was just waiting for the freakout I knew was coming and they didn't disappoint. And even though I had seen most of the places we went before, they still made my heart jump in my chest. Plus, I provided Hiliary and her sister with a good laugh of my own when I stood in front of a statue of Caesar, put my hand over my heart, and said "Hail Caesar!" (Yes, I am a nerd!) It was a fun day, and we even ended it by attending a Dada and Surrealism exhibit at the Museo del Resurgimento which was pretty amazing.

So that is what I have been up to lately . . . oh, yeah- and research too! I actually took some articles and a book pertaining to my research that I have been meaning to read for a long time on the trip with me and with all the time I spent on trains, planes, and buses I actually got a lot of good, helpful reading in. I didn't take any pictures to prove it, but I promise it happened! I did, however, take some other pictures of the trip, so here they are!

Beginning in September and lasting throughout May of next year the city of Siena is celebrating the 700th anniversary of its constitution. In honor of the creation of the Republic of Siena in 1309 the city is holding various concerts, exhibits, conferences, and activities, most of which highlight its rich medieval history. One of those activities took place today: a market in the Piazza del Campo. The Campo is the main piazza in Siena, the location of the beautiful Palazzo Pubblico which houses the city's government, and is also the location of the Palio races. (It was also apparently featured in the most recent James Bond movie -Quantum of Solace I think- which I haven't seen yet!) Historically the Campo was also the main marketplace of the city, but it has been quite a long time since they have held markets there. However, just for today there was once again a market in the Campo. It was mostly food stalls (including wine, olive oil, honey, meat, cheese, and produce) as well as stands with linen and wool products, and other goods produced by local artisans. There was some beautiful jewelry and porcelain work, but it was a little out of my price range! I spent the morning working in the archives until they closed at 1:30pm and then I headed out with one of my friends to visit the market. It was so fun to wander around and there were so many people! It was a chilly and overcast day but with all the people milling around and the yummy smells of the food there was a really nice atmosphere. I remembered as I was getting ready to head home that I had my camera with me so I quickly took a few shots. They aren't very good, but they at least give you a sense of what it was like. It was a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

My post about Scotland is up, but it posted below the one about my ring. I am still have trouble getting Blogger to post photos so it is also sadly without accompanying pictures. But you can see them on my Facebook page, I have created an album for them there. Cheers!

I was in the kitchen making dinner tonight and I looked down at my right hand after drying it off and saw that a stone was missing from my ring. I am so sad! Those of you who know me well might remember that I purchased this ring in a little town called Arundel in southern England while on my study abroad in London during the winter of 2001. It was on display in the window of a little jewelry shop and it caught my eye, but when we tried to go into the store the door wouldn't open. At first I thought maybe I was just trying to open it incorrectly so I tried a few more times, but the door was indeed locked. A little disappointed I turned to leave, but suddenly I heard the voices of several women coming from inside, arguing about whether or not to let me in. Kindness prevailed and a sweet little old woman opened the door and invited me to come in. It turned out that the shop was owned and run by three adorable little old ladies who reminded me of Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, the three fairies in Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty. The nice one who had let me in retrieved the ring from the window and as soon as I put it on I knew I wanted it, but I didn't have any cash and they didn't take debit card. I felt so awful that they had taken the time to let me in (one of them was rather put out that they were late for tea) and then I didn't have the money for the ring, but once again, one the women told me that there was an ATM across the street and they would wait for me if I wanted to run and get some money. So quickly as I could I ran across the street, returned within minutes, and this little ring became mine! But now the black obsidian stone that used to be in the ring is gone and I have no idea where or when it came out. I remember it being there this morning when I put it on, and it was also there while I was at the archives, but after that I went to the grocery store and came home and I could have lost it anywhere. I used to joke that someday the frog on the ring would turn into my handsome prince . . . I hope that losing the stone is not some kind of bad sign! Anyway, I just thought I would share my sad story with everyone, so there it is! I can still wear the ring without the stone of course, but it just won't be the same!

p.s. I have another new post in the works about my wonderful trip to Scotland last weekend and I hope to have it up within the next few days, so keep an eye out for it!

Two weekends ago I was able to take a little break from research and visit my friend Shona in Scotland. It was such an amazing trip! When I did my study abroad to London way back in 2001 we traveled in the northern part of England but never made it over the border into Scotland so this was my first official visit. Shona lives in a little village near Glasgow called Eaglesham and her adorable flat faces the village green and is near the church so you can hear the bells ringing. But I am getting a little ahead of myself . . . let me go back and start from the beginning.

My adventure began Thursday afternoon as I waited for the bus to Milan. I found a really cheap flight from Milan to Glasgow, but the flight left too early in the morning for me to go straight to the airport from Siena, so I had to spend Friday night in Milan. While waiting for the bus I met a sweet older couple from California who I was able to chat with on the journey. The ride from Siena to Milan is about 4 hours, and we hit some traffic going into the city which added about 40 minutes to the trip, so I actually gave in and took a taxi to my hotel instead of trying to take the Milan subway during evening rush hour- the streams of people pouring out of and into the subway helped me make that decision! After checking into my hotel around 6:30pm I went wandering and found a small grocery store where I bought myself some dinner and things for breakfast the next day and then I went back to my hotel room, ate, watched the Italian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" and by 8:30pm was so exhausted that I go ready for bed and went to sleep. It was so nice to go to bed that early- I don't know why I don't do that more often!

After an amazing night of sleep I was off to the airport early in the morning. I had to catch a shuttle to the airport from the main train station in Milan, and walking from my hotel to the station I ran into a group of missionaries on their way to a zone conference. They all looked pretty surprised when I stopped and said hi, and there was one sister missionary in the group who thought she recognized me and asked if I had been in Torino. When I told her I was actually living in Siena she gasped and said "Were you there last summer?" and suddenly I recognized her too: last summer she had been one of the BYU study abroad students who I met in Siena, and here she was back in Italy on her mission. Sometimes the world is a very small place!

Anyway, I had a smooth flight to Glasgow and then took the train from Prestwick airport into the city centre. Shona had to give a presentation at work that day so she and I had arranged to meet at the Border's Books on Buchannan Street. I found my way there and then wandered around for a little bit, before ducking into the Border's and browsing for awhile. When it got close to our meeting time I stepped back outside and to wait and after a few minutes I realized that the Border's is common meeting spot- there was a whole line of people along the front of the shop waiting for and greeting people. Finally I saw Shona coming up the street and we did the whole run-hug-squeal-girly thing, and then we went to a yummy Asian restaurant to eat. (Well, my food was yummy- Shona had a tricky time with her order because she asked for no sauce and then had to send it back because they brought it to her dripping in sauce!) We finished off the night by returning to her beautiful little village, Eaglesham, and popping into a charity sale at the local inn where Shona's wonderful mother was manning one of the tables. It was so lovely to meet her! After saying hello we went back to Shona's flat, ate ice cream, watched a movie, and fell into bed exhausted but happy.

Saturday we woke up to pouring rain- fun!! We first headed into Glasgow because Shona had to go wedding dress hunting with a friend she is a bridesmaid for, so I sat happily in Starbucks for an hour with a huge mug of hot cocoa and a book to read. It was a very relaxing hour; I then met back up with Shona and we drove to Edinburgh. Our plan was to park at a train station a few stops outside the city and take the train into the centre, so we parked at Haymarket and were walking over to the tracks when a man passing us said what I thought was "Hey Shanes" and Shona didn't understand him either. We thought it was weird until we got down to the tracks and a girl shouted from the other side that there were no trains going into Edinburgh for the day since they were working on the line. It took only a few minutes that the strange man wasn't strange at all- he was a polite stranger trying to tell us that there were "No trains." Whoops! Anyway, to make up for the lack of trains there were "wee buses" as Shona called them, that shuttled us into the city. Edinburgh is a lovely place! We enjoyed walking around and seeing the town, ducking into stores, and eating hamburgers at TGIFridays. We wandered across the bridge and up to the cathedral and the castle by the time it got dark. It rained on us a bit, but we managed to make it to the train, the shuttle bus, and back to car before the huge downpour started. When we got back to Glasgow around 8:30pm we attempted to go to a movie but we could not find parking near the theatre (or far away from it) so we just headed home and spent the evening in our PJs chatting and watching TV.

Sunday morning came too early, and neither of us wanted to get up, but we forced ourselves and rushed around to make sure that we would be on time for church. Of course we heard the church bells chiming the hour as we were hurrying out the door so we knew that we were already late. We drove to church in the cold and pouring rain and were shocked to see only a few cars in the parking lot. Shona was horrified by the terrible attendance and couldn't imagine what was going on. We entered the building and said hello to a few people who were in the hallway who informed us as we rushed down the hall to Relief Society that there was a meeting going on. This increased our confusion, and they looked at us and said "It isn't time for Relief Society yet. Didn't you know that the clocks went back last night?" Oh. Well, actually we did know, having been reminded in a store in Edinburgh the day before, we just forgot! We were so devastated! We missed a whole extra hour of sleep! Shona made an executive decision and said "We're going home!" and so we returned to her flat for a little rest and a good laugh at ourselves before coming back for church at the correct time.

After church (which was really good, by the way) we changed clothes, grabbed a quick lunch, and headed back into Glasgow. We went to St. Mungo's Museum of Religous Life (which had some interesting points but I thought was a bit disappointing overall) and then across the street to the oldest house in Glasgow. We had to rush through because it was almost closing time and the man working wanted to lock up, but it was still fun to walk through what used to be an old hostel/boarding house. Being in Italy where all the buildings have high ceilings I had forgotten how low the ceiling could be in old homes and I almost hit my head a few times. It was still raining as we left, and it was growing dark, so we went straight to Shona's mother's home for Sunday dinner. She made us fajitas (my first Mexican food in 4 months!) which were so good and also trifle for dessert. It was such a fun evening (we even played Scene It after dinner) and I am so grateful for their kindness in inviting me into their home! Back at her flat Shona and I watched the result show for X Factor (which included a great performance from Michael Buble) and then we chatted until we realized that I had to be at the airport early the next morning, so we headed off to sleep. Shona dropped me at the airport at 7:30am and I was so sad to say goodbye! I loved spending time with her again; she is such a cheeful person and so energetic and fun to be around, plus she is a good friend! I hope that I can return to visit again soon.

After a long day of travel (Glasgow to London, London to Milan, train into the city from the airport, bus from Milan to Siena) I finally got "home" at 11:00pm. I am glad to be back in Italy, but I am glad that I had my weekend away!

p.s. Apparently Blogger and my internet connection hate each other so the pictures that I have to accompany this post are instead posted on my Facebook page in an album I created, so you can see them there!

I have a new post all ready and waiting to go . . . except that every time I try to upload the pictures that accompany the post, blogger does not want to cooperate. I keep getting a "page load error - connection timed out" message. Hopefully it decides to work soon- I have been trying for two days now. ARGH!!

Welcome to my first "Little Things I Love About Italy" post! I believe that when most people think of Italy they picture leaning towers, Roman ruins, gondolas, pizza, the Sistine Chapel, and the list could go on. And although those are all things that I love about Italy (especially the Roman ruins and the pizza!) they are not the only great things about this beautiful country. I hope to write "Little Things I Love About Italy" posts every once in awhile so I can show you some of the small, day to day things that I think make life here enjoyable. So, for the first time, here are five little things I love about Italy:

1. Ciccolato e Nocciola! Living in Italy allows me to indulge my love for the combination of hazelnut and chocolate on a regular basis. Here are a few of the products that I currently use to satisfy my addiction: Nutella, Kinder Bueno candy bars, and this yummy granola cereal from Kellogg's that contains both hazelnuts and little pieces of chocolate. (And now, having admitted all of this, I would just like you to know that I have been here for almost three months and I have only gone through one and a half jars of Nutella -based on previous experience I should be up to at least four by now- and I have only had my other chocolate/hazel nut fix -in the form of gelato- six times in three months. Hooray for me and my willpower!)

2. Green shutters! These are found in some form on many, many homes and buildings in Italy, and I am not sure exactly why they make me happy, but they do. Maybe it is because they are useful for so many things: you can open them wide and get full light through the window, or you can open your windows inside and leave the shutters closed or half-open to control the flow of air (and bugs!) into the house, and keep it cool in the summer. Plus, they look pretty! This is a picture of the house I am currently living in; my apartment is on the top floor. (I'll get around to posting pictures of the inside on of these days!)


3. This next one might sound a little strange to some of you (especially my mother who tried for years to get me to eat tuna casserole and like it- I still think it is yucky!) but I really enjoy tuna. I eat it for lunch all the time at home so I was thrilled to find these wonderful little cans of tuna in the stores here. They are a perfect, one-person serving size and easy to carry around and open (there is a pull tab on the other side), plus you can get the tuna in oil, water, or natural (which is what I go for). It inexpensive and healthy- I love it! (Do we have tiny cans like this in North America? I've never seen them!)


4. The Farmacia! I love the pharmacies here in Italy, and especially in Siena. For one thing, they are their own little stores (not hooked into some big superstore like WalMart) and you tend to receive really personal attention. I actually go in and ask them questions about what to take or to buy for certain things and I never do that at home- the atmosphere just doesn't seem to be conducive to that kind of interaction. There is one particular pharmacy I go to here in Siena where they wrap up your purchases in paper before they send you on your way and I love that- it is a lovely, old-fashioned touch! Pictured below is a box of chewable Vitamin C tablets I bought recently and the paper they were wrapped in so you can see what it looks like. (p.s. These vitamin C tablets are some of the best I've ever had- really good flavor and not chalky at all!)


5. My keys! Not only do I love them because they enable me to get into my apartment, but I love they way they look and the mix of new and old-fashined locks that they open. I actually use all four of these on a daily basis: one for the gate to the house, one for the front door of the house, on for the apartment, and one for my bedroom. As my Mom put it, whenever I am home I am safely locked away!

So I know I definitely cannot compete with all the troubles my sister Brittany faced during her horrible September, but I have to say that this month has been pretty rough for me too. I know, I know- how can I possibly be having a rough time when I am in Italy? Well, let me tell you. This trip is not all fun and games folks, I am here to get some serious and essential work done. And although things are moving along, they are doing so slowly. Part of this is due to the fact that I have been feeling ill for about three weeks. My symptoms include terrible sinus headaches, sore throat, cough, runny nose, and general exhaustion. I am eating healthy and getting 8 or more hours of sleep each night but I am still exhausted all day, every day. This makes it rather hard to concentrate when I am sitting in the archives faced with fifteenth century handwriting and eyes that will barely stay open. I have tried to rest a day here and there, and I have also tried just spending half the day in the archives, but to no avail. I am starting to feel very frustrated about it, since I am here to do this research but I am having a hard time getting things done.

Add to my health issues the following events which occurred today:

1. I have a grant application that I had to finish and mail off to Toronto, which I did; only to realize later in the day that I forgot to include my transcripts in the envelope so I had to go back to the post office and send those off as well. This would not be so bad if the post office in Italy didn't involve such long lines and eternal wait times.

2. My iPod got stuck in one of the USB ports on my computer (it's a first generation shuffle) and I seriously couldn't get it out. I didn't want to break it or my computer but I didn't know what to do. I played with it for awhile and then just sucked it up and pulled really, really hard . . . which didn't work! So, I hauled my laptop to the archives with my iPod stuck in it; I managed to get it out this afternoon by pulling up first, and then pulling really, really hard.

3. While I was at the archives today I was working with some documents from the 1500s that are bound together with a leather spine and wooden board covers. While trying to shift the book to the other side of my desk my hand slipped and I got a huge splinter in my pinky finger- ouch! I got it out, and promptly gave myself a tiny paper cut. I decided, shortly thereafter, that it was probably best to just go home.

Needless to say, I was feeling pretty lousy (both mentally and physically) but after a bit of self-reflection I feel much better- mentally, anyway! This past week I co-taught the lesson in Relief Society and we talked about the concept of "being of good cheer." This afternoon, as I mentally counted down all the crummy things that have happened to me lately, a few key points from the lesson crept into my mind. I remembered that despite all the trials or difficulties we face in this life, ultimately we are here to have joy. We find that joy by making the gospel of Jesus Christ the centre of our lives. I was reminded that I have so much to be thankful for because of the Savior, that even in tough times I can have joy in my life. That doesn't mean that everything will automatically be better or that things won't be hard (did I mention that a pigeon pooped on my foot a few weeks ago? Gross!) but it does make things a little brighter. So here's hoping to a better day tomorrow and a better month ahead; but if not, I know that things will be okay and I will come out a stronger person in the end, and that thought makes me happy!

This past week I experienced my first Italian thunderstorm- well, actually we had several! It rained and thundered Monday through Friday and although I do love that kind of weather I was very happy to get up this morning and see sunshine coming through my window. I originally planned to stay in, rest, and get some work done today, but the sunshine is calling me so maybe I will have to go out. In honor of the return of the sunshine I thought I would post some pictures of a day trip I took a few weeks ago with some of the girls from the program. We got up early one Friday morning and caught an 8am train to a place not far from Siena called Rapolano. It is a small town well-known for its hot springs, which were our reason for going. The train ride only took about 30 minutes, and then it was another 20-30 minute walk to a large hotel/spa. The day was so beautiful and sunny and the countryside so lovely that I didn't mind the walk there. When we arrived we each paid 13 euro and had access to the spa's hot spring pools for the entire day. It was such a great, relaxing way to spend a day off! There were a series of pools, each with a different temperature, and there was even a mud pit where you could cover yourself in a white, chalky residue, wait for it to dry, and then rinse it off. I am not sure exactly what it was supposed to do for the skin but it felt good! Anyway, we swam, soaked, slept, and relaxed the day away until around 5pm, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. (The only downside was the major sunburn I got on my legs - blisters and everything! But it wasn't from lack of responsibility; I mean, my legs were in the shade when I fell asleep, it's just that pesky moving sun!) After a long walk back to the tiny train station we all collapsed on the train - an entire day of sunshine and soaking in the water left us pretty exhausted, but in a good way. It was my first hot springs experience and it was a success!

As some of you already know, the study abroad program that I worked with for the month of August finished last Saturday. At 5:15am we loaded up three buses and took the students on the group flight to the airport in Rome. We stayed while they all checked in for their flight (which might sound boring but it was actually a little amusing to watch many of them heave gigantic suitcases onto the scales and wince as they waited for the total weight to appear) and then, when the last students finished, Ninni and I said goodbye to Joe, got in a rental car, and drove back to Siena. We arrived back in Siena around 4:30pm, which gave me an hour or two to finish packing my room and talk to my family before calling a taxi and heading across town to my new apartment. The entire day felt very rushed and before I knew it, I had left the Sperandie Residence behind and moved on, without really taking the time to think about it. My new apartment is great (I'll post some pictures soon!), my new roommates are lovely, kind, and considerate girls, and I feel very lucky to have found it. But I have some wonderful memories of the Residence, so I thought I would share one of them with you. One my favorite things about the residence was the random decor that could be found on the walls in nearly every room. Unlike the dorms that I have seen in North America, the students here are not required to remove everything from the walls when they leave. For example, two of our girls were staying in a room that had race cars, bikini clad women, and a dart board on the wall, while others had random paintings, sea shell decals, and other odds and ends. Even my room had a few quirks, as you can see in the pictures below. My favorite room, however, was that of my neighbour Helene: she had kittens on her wall! It was amazing! So here's to the Sperandie Residence and its random decor- kittens, sea shells, dart boards, and all!

Last night I went with our Italian language course to a small town about thirty minutes away from Siena called Monteriggioni. The town itself is a small fortress located on top of a hill, and it has the distinction of being one of the only Italian fortresses that has never been conquered, at least not by military force. (It was just betrayed into the hands of the Medici during the 16th century by a corrupt captian!) But these days there is no military force behind the fortress walls, just a beautiful, peaceful little town. It is a popular location for honeymoons and romantic evenings, and the setting is, indeed, perfect. We arrived around 5:30pm and wandered through the streets and around the walls, before going to a small restaurant in the village below the fortress for dinner. The food was . . . well, words just won't do it any justice! We had a four course meal with traditional Tuscan and Sienese dishes, and both the pasta and the meat were to die for. (I think I gained a few pounds at least because I ate so much!) After dinner we went back up to the fortress for an hour or so, because the Professor insisted that the students see Monteriggioni at night. It was definitely worth it. The steps leading up to the town from the parking area were lined with lavender so it smelled wonderful, the stars were out, and I haven't heard such quiet since I arrived in Italy! It was so beautiful, standing there in the shadow of the 13th century walls with the scent of lavender in the air and the stars twinkling overhead, that it almost made me cry. It was magical! My photos don't really do it justice (and my camera battery died before dark so I didn't get any evening shots) but at least they can give you an idea of what it was like. We are now in the home stretch of the program, and I am not able to think of a better way to spend one of our final evenings- it was perfect!