Life As A Theater Groupie

There's so much to write. . . I don't know where to start. I wanted to start with the line: "Everything you've ever heard about Tuscany, it's true." But now I didn't want to start with it, because there's a lot of other things that happened BEFORE Tuscany. So... I guess I'll back up. Luckily, I pre-write stuff in my head (even this part that you're reading right now, yep, this part in the parenthesis), so I'm going to write what I would have written on various days, and then catch up to today. Okay? Okay.

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June 4, 2012: Udine, Italy
Let's make a list of things I did and didn't know:

List of things I knew:
1) Toms are the worst shoes for rain.

List of things I didn't know:
1) It rains a lot in Italy.

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June 5, 2012. Bologna, Italy

You know you're in Italy when you find a PIZZA vending machine!!!

That's me with standing in the corner. I'm not on time out or anything. Those are "talking walls." Two people stand on opposite sides, and they can talk to each other. I don't really understand it, but it was awesome. One of Bologna's 7 secrets. The other people in the picture are students from Teatro Dimitri (David's school). David would be in the picture, but he's taking it.

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June 6, 2012. Somewhere in Tuscany, Italy.

Everything you've ever heard about Tuscany, believe it. I don't know if "Under the Tuscan Sun" is a song or a book or a movie or a saying or something else, but it should carry a lot of wonderfulness with it. On the bus ride here, I dreamt I was in Disneyland and when I woke up because my foot fell of the seat, the scenery outside was WAY better than my dream. I woke up right when we were passing by some arches (which I later learned was an acient aquaduct. . . I learned that when we were illegally climbing across it. It was grand). They're beautiful. Just like how they're supposed to be. Old, pretty, magestic. And really . . . cool.  A little piece of history that made it through.

Traveling with this group is really an awesome privilege. I feel so lucky that I've had this opportunity. I've learned a little (not much!) Italian, and I'm loving getting to know the people in David's class. They're all pretty similar to David, so you can imagine how aweosme they are. Super talented and hard working and friendly, which is a pretty unique combination. So I get to go everywhere they go, and it's the first time that I've traveled in a group that HASN'T been whole bunch of Americans. It's like coming in the back door. And I'm tagging along with them, I get some cool opportunities too. For example, right now I'm staying at a villa overlooking Tuscany that has been converted into a theater school. The theater school is hosting us for the next two nights, which is awesome! I would never have this opportunity otherwise.

We watched the sunset today, which was absolutley beautiful.

Hmm...I'm wondering what else I can tell you. I had so much stuff that I wanted to write, and now I'm stuck. It's cool being places where everything is so old. Like actually old, not like "100 years!" old like we have in America.

I've realized tha American tourists (and Americans in general) can be REALLY loud and obnoxious, so I think I'm going to consciously be quieter and softer. The theater school we're at now is full of American exchange students, and being around them after being around just Europeans for awhile is a real shock. I'd much rather be like the kids at Teatro Dimitri.

Sunset:

Some Teatro Dimitri people: