Midterms are OVER!

Midterms are over! Finito! Sopra! BASTA!

Ora è tempo al partito! Vado in Svizzera!

2 down, 1 to go

I got my Italian midterm back yesterday, and I did better on it than I expected, so that got me in the mood to study a lot last night for today's midterm (cultural, with Nicholson). That went extremely well, and I had one of those feelings that you get after you take a huge test that just makes you feel--accomplished. Social is tomorrow, and that one I'm a little more worried about.

I decided to go ahead and donate blood today, even though I had a midterm, and it all worked out well in the end. But ever since I donated I've had an upset stomach that won't seem to go away with pepto, but I still feel good about donating. Good feelings all around, I guess, which is a little weird in the middle of midterms. But starting friday we have 10 days off, and I can't wait.

Well, time to study, again.

-OUT-

Midterms

I got a 24/25 on my Italian Oral midterm today, so that gave me a little confidence for tomorrow's written midterm. Then next week on wednesday I have my Social midterm, and on Thursday is my Cultural midterm. So basically, I'm going to have my face buried in notes and books, and not surface until next friday. Well, I might go out this friday night.

We'll see.

Chocolate and Brothers

Saturday we took a trip to Perugia, about a two hour train ride outside of Florence, for the annual Chocolate Festival. There were signs proclaiming everywhere that over the years this chocolate festival has made Perugia the "chocolate capitol of Europe." I have to admit, I was a little skeptical at first, assuming that Belgium or Switzerland would be more chocolate oriented than Perugia, but I tried to remain open minded. We came up out of the train station to the main street of Perigua, a quaint city in Umbria, Italy, and were immediately rushed along by the rivers of people streaming through the streets. Hundreds of chocolate "tents" had spiced hot chocolates, chocolate dipped bananas, churros with chocolate, chocolate crêpes, chocolate spaghetti, and of course, millions of assortments of chocolate bars, balls, candies, and liqueurs. By the end of the day, I had tried many things, and I thought I would have a huge sugar high, but I really didn't. All in all, it was well worth getting up at 6:30 in the morning in order to catch the train down there, although I still remain skeptical as to whether or not it can be called the chocolate capitol of Europe.

I was sitting in class today, taking notes on an intense (and therefore extremely boring) lecture about Tacitus' The Annals of Imperial Rome, when all of the sudden my professor looks down at her cell phone (which was on silent) and immediately blew up in front of us, as it seems all Italians have the genetic ability to do. "Dunque, WHY does my fratello (brother) ALWAYS insist on calling me on a Monday morning when he KNOWS that I might be a little busy with this concept of WORK?" in a heavily accented italian accent, which instantly brought me back up to my senses from the state of drowsiness I had already begun to fall into. "He always says, 'Why you never answer, why you never pick up?' and I tell him every time that I DO have a JOB, and can't exactly stop the world for a few minutes to GOSSIP. 3 times he has called me in the past 10 minutes." Someone in the class said, "Well, maybe it's an emergency?" Then my professor said, "Well, I can't imagine who it could be, because I JUST talked to my mother on the DRIVE OVER HERE! AARRUUGGHHH! [my poor attempt at trying to phonetically spell what noise came out of this stereotypical short Italian woman]" and seemed as though she was about to run out of the room. Then, just as is the cultural norm, she picks right back up where she left off on the lecture, in a perfectly normal tone of voice, and acts as if nothing had just transpired. Why can't we do that in the states? Just learn to say whatever's on your mind at the moment, not matter how embarassing, crude, annoying or rude it may be, then get over it in a matter of seconds. If you've never seen it before, you're definantly missing out on a unique adventure.

I love Italy

Myspace Profile Update Finished

I had a lot of time on my hands today, and instead of doing homework like I should have I decided to finish updating my myspace. There's lots of pictures added as filmloops under the "interests" section, a new song, new background picture...almost everything is new or updated. Check it out: http://www.myspace.com/bmw_teen and let me know what you think.

You know you're from California when...

I found this on a facebook group, and immediately joined. Everything is so true! You'll really appreciate it if you're from California. If you're not, well then you can read a little about our state that visitors usually find out the hard way when the visit.

You know your from California when...../Californians are better because............

Everyone hates cops

You live next door to Mexicans

You say "like" and "for sure" and "right on" and "dude" and "totally" and "peace out" and "chill" and "tight" and "bro" and "hell of" and "hella"(Nor Cal only) and "faded" and "stoked" and "fo sho" and I say them often

You know what real cheese taste like.

All the porn you watch is made here, cause we fuck better and thats how it is.

You don't get snowdays off because theres only snow in Mammoth, Tahoe, Shasta, and Big Bear.

You can wear sandals all year long.

You go to the Beach - not "down to the shore."

You know 65 mph really means 100.

When someone cuts you off, they get the horn and the finger and high speed chase cuz we dont fuck around on the road.

The drinking age is 21 but everyone starts at 14 (legally 18 if you live close enough to the border).

Our governor can kick your governors ass.

You can go out at midnight.

You judge people based on what area code they live in, and when asked where you're from, you give your area code.

You might get looked at funny by locals when your on vacation in their state, but when they find out your from California you turn into a Greek GOD.

We don't stop at stop signs... we do a "california roll"
No cop no stop baby!

You can get fresh and REAL Mexican food 24 hours a day.

All the TV shows you "other" states watch get filmed here.

EVERYONE smokes weed. no exceptions.

We're the Golden State. Not the Cheese State. Not the Garden State.....GOLDEN!!!

We have In-N-Out (Arizona and Vegas are lucky we share that with them).

We have the most representation in the House of Representatives, which means our opinion means more than yours, which means we're better than you.

The best athletes come from here.

We got disneyland....wut now!

We call it soda, not pop.

Oh, and no one from California calls it Cali... that's how we know you're not from around here.

The fastest part of your commute is down your driveway.

You were born somewhere else.

Your sense of direction=Toward the ocean and away from the ocean.

You eat an In n Out burger at least once a week!!!

You know how to eat an artichoke.

The primary bugs that you worry about are electronic.

Your car has bullet-proof windows.

Left is right and right is wrong.

Your monthly house payments exceed your annual income.

You can't find your other earring because your son/brother is wearing it.

You drive to your neighborhood block party.

Your family tree contains "significant others."

You don't exterminate your roaches, you smoke them.

You see 25 lawyers chasing an ambulance.

More than clothes come out of the closets.

You go to a tanning salon before going to the beach.

More money is spent on facelifts than on diapers.

Smoking in your office is not optional.

You pack shorts and a T-shirt for skiing in the snow, and a sweater and a wetsuit for the beach.

When you can't schedule a meeting because you must "do lunch."

Your children learn to walk in Birkenstocks.

You'll reluctantly miss yoga class to wait for the hot tub repairman.

You consult your horoscope before planning your day.

All highways into the state say: "no fruits."

All highways out of the state say: "Go back."

The Terminator is your governor

You can't remember . . . is pot illegal?

It's barely sprinkling rain and there's a report on every news station: "STORM WATCH"

You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from California.

Your coworker has 8 body piercings and none are visible.

You make over $300,000 and still can't afford a house.

You take a bus and are shocked at two people carrying on a conversation in English.

You don't care what race people are because you're too busy wondering what gender they are.

You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown and can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian.

You know which restaurant serves the freshest arugula.

It's barely sprinkling rain outside, so you leave for work an hour early to avoid all the weather-related accidents.

A really great parking space can totally move you to tears.

A low speed police pursuit will interrupt ANY TV broadcast.

Gas costs $1.00 per gallon more than anywhere else in the U.S.

A man gets on the bus in full leather regalia and crotchless chaps. You don't even notice.

Unlike back home, the guy at 8:30 am at Starbucks wearing the baseball cap and sunglasses who looks like George Clooney IS George Clooney.

Your car insurance costs as much as your house payment.

The normal symbols on restrooms mean "people wearing pants" and "people wearing skirts".

Your hairdresser is straight, your plumber is gay, the woman who delivers your mail is into S &M, and your Mary Kay rep is a guy in drag.

Both you AND your dog have therapists.

You have to leave the big company meeting early because Billy Blanks himself is teaching the 4:00 PM Tae Bo class.

You pass an elementary school playground and the children are all busy with their cell phones or pagers.

[Source: http://nyu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2211572727

At the hands of Nokia's Wibree, could Bluetooth be on the ropes?

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/wp-trackback.php?p=3707
Worth reading for you tech buffs out there. This is hot off the press. Google doesn't even have it in its search engine yet.

By ZDNet's David Berlind -- Now this is interesting. In an incredibly bold move that has all the makings of a gauntlet, Nokia, a company known for including Bluetooth support in its handsets, has released what appears to be a Bluetooth substitute that it's calling WiBree. According to a Reuters story that we're carrying on ZDNet's News channel (subscribe), Wibree [...]

Supreme Court Hears Deportation Debate

"The Supreme Court wrestled with the question of whether convictions for minor crimes should force the deportation of legal immigrants, as justices heard the first oral arguments of the new term Tuesday."

Hhmm, let me see now. I'm going to attempt to see what the attourney from the New York State Defenders Association has to run with here--oh wait a minute; they don't have anything to run with. I think it's ridiculous that the case has gotten as far as the supreme court, and that they actually decided to hear it. I point out the majority of other countries and their policies on the issue to back my case. I'm studying in Italy under a student visa, so in effect I am a legal immigrant (for a year) under Italian law. However, since I am not a citizen, if I were to even forget to buy a bus ticket (the buses in Florence are state-run) and failed to present one after boarding a bus, they can legally drag me off of the bus, take me to the nearest ATM and have me withdraw the anywhere from € 70,00 (roughly $89.00) to € 240,00 ( $305.00). If I didn't have that much in my bank account, or refused to pay, etc. I, as well as any citizen, can be arrested and put in jail until I either pay up, opt out for community service, or serve time. In many EU countries, if you are arrested and you are a legal immigrant, they have every right to deport you. Another example: the Carabinieri (a form of police here) catch me publicly intoxicated, ask for identification, see that I am here on a student visa, and can immediately revoke my visa, and thus have me deported. It's that simple.

Now here we're not just talking about forgetting to buy a bus ticket, we're talking about drug possession. So the NY State Defenders want to make sure that the aliens can continue to possess drugs during their visit, because we want them to continue trafficking and feeding the supply lines that pump drugs into our schools and society. A little cocaine never hurt anyone, right? We should wait until they have multiple offenses under their belt, rather than nip the problem at the bud.

"...an immigration judge and review panel as well as a federal appeals court all concluded that his crime should be considered an aggravated felony, which severely limits immigrants' ability to fight off deportation, be granted asylum or become naturalized U.S. citizens."
[Source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003288044_scotus04.html]

If they all concluded that this should be classifed as "an aggravated felony" then that's the least I would expect. But let's look at what Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler said:

"Defending the government's approach, [he] said the law as Congress wrote it "looks to state law." If a drug crime is a felony under state law, it is a felony that leads to deportation under federal law."

Uh, what's the problem here boys? I say that precedent stands in this case. Deport them after their first offense. Period. We tend to have this forgiving attitude towards immigration and illegal acts relating to immigrants, including immigrants that are illegal themselves. I don't see the logic in forgiving someone who has broken the law. And that goes for both citizens and non-citizens alike.

Don't give me that BS that, "Oh, you don't know what it's like to try to get into the US, and how selective they are." I had to work my butt off my whole life in order to get to where I am now; in life, you get what you work for, and if you take all of that hard work for granted by breaking a law, then you should be punished accordingly. It's that simple.

A Heartfelt Pick-Me-Up From my Cousin

I was debating for a while whether or not I should post this--if it was too personal, or if it was blog material. Well, I obviously decided to post it, and since today is "The Feast of the Guardian Angels," I thought it was appropriate. I dedicate this to all of you out there who are going through a little homesickness.



"The thing is, though the days will be long and sometimes seem to drag by as you are homesick, just do everything you can to be anywhere but wallowing in that, because in two blinks you will be coming back home, and then before you know it the year will be over and it will have felt like a short summer camp and you will be looking back wishing that you had done more, seen more, experienced more, learned more, laughed more, felt uncomfortable more,met more people, ate more, looked around more... you get it. This is something old people say, but life goes by fast. A year is the smallest amount of time and don't let your head convince you otherwise. Don't worry you are not missing a damn thing back home. When you get back everything will be exactly as it was- you are the most exciting thing happening, just because you are experiencing a lot and changing a lot don't think that the same thing is happening to everyone here without you because it just isn't!

I love you!
Send me some pictures!"

Isn't having a large family a wonderful blessing? It always seems to be the little things in life like this that make you or break you.