i turned 21 on this day. damn, i had a fancy birthday. when i return from my roman holiday, i would like to visit vegas for some vice. and oh yeah, have like a million burritos and 2 million pieces of sushi.

why yes, i am drinking brau beer on the metro. 60ce for 66cl makes it the new pbr or natty ice. it tastes so good when it hits your lips.

yay for visitors on holiday.

m o n 03.21.05 | afternoon
ladri di biglietti

i hate thieves. i hate 'em. i want to spit in their faces and slap them all with a 10meter hand. i have never seen anyone get pickpocket and and i have never had anything stolen except for last night. hold onto your purses and wallets, the streets of rome are not safe.

as i was nearing the entrance of the as roma - ac milan match last night, i took out three tickets which for my roommates and i and in that moment someone going against the flow of the crowd shoved me and grabbed the tickets out of my hand. i ran as fast as i could. one of them disappeared with the tickets, the friend was out of breath.

we pushed him and yelled at him and cursed at him and wouldn't leave his side. he admitted to stealing but said he didn't have them on him. we walked him to the police and all they said was "non siamo in america, siamo in italia." we're not america, we're in italy. no one would help us. but one officer who could barely speak english talked to the person at the gate and let us in. that whole thing took about an hour.

and now my other roommate who couldn't get in won't talk to me. i did the best that i could manage, what more could i do. ob la di. ob la da.

i drank like the irish on st. patrick's day. this whole thing about being able to buy my own drinks still hasn't gotten old. somehow through the night i got tackled and was laying in the cobbled streets of rome and what else, a glass shattered into a million pieces at my feet. irish car bombs. that's about it.

i went to the peace march over the weekend too. i can't wait to be 21. 21. 212121. one more midterm to go and this half of the semester is done. and done. i got summoned for jury duty at home. no civic duty for me, i'm overseas, please.

w e d 03.16.05 | s i e s t a
can you invent a word for me

today it was 19c. now that i've grown accustomed to the metric system i see that america is completely backwards for not adopting it. it's like great britain being part of the EU but not using the euro.

19c is unheard of. living in california all my life did not prepare me for perpetual winter where my daily high was good if it got up to 7c. so today i wore flip flops, sunglasses, and i could even walk around in just a t-shirt not t-shirt sweater sweater jacket big jacket scarf gloves hat all at once.

this week i visited the fanciest chocolate factory in italy. it got me hooked to the damn stuff. the only things i can really stomach now are made by someone other than me. i look in the fridge and absolutely nothing i can make or eat looks appetizing so my meals mainly consist of cookies, oranges, cereal, and salad. mm. i discoed this weekend and somehow got all my drinks (each = $15) paid for. so i took that cash and bought some tights. i ran in the rome marathon on sunday as well. you wish your marathon started at the colosseum.

the time really is passing quickly. and for that i'm half grateful to be able to get back to normal and half sad that i won't be able to do everything i want to do. now that tourist season started and everywhere i go is a sea of bodies i still have to stop and think if this is really my life.

if i really live here and get by with my shitty italian and walk by things designed by michelangelo or bernini and live next to the pope and walk the same streets occupied by the germans in wwii lined with fascist monuments around structures that date back to BC.

after my tests and papers are done i plan on celebrating my 21st in all its glory. i don't know where all the time went but this birthday is a good day for it to stop and finally slow down and be classy. i will be a grown up after all.

f r i 03.10.05 | early morning
i invented pens.

someone i met in a pub told me "i fucking hate americans. i hate you." i had no idea how to reply to this. i don't remember how i replied. but soon after, his hostility turned into "what clubs are you going to tonight?" your luck can change that fast.

i'm turning 21 in less than two weeks now and no, i'm not going to vegas and no, i'm not going to a bar for my first time to get trashed. i don't care who is around... could be no one because everyone is leaving for their vacation on my birthday, but no matter what, i'm going out. i'm going out, i'm going to have 21 drinks. i'm going to start as soon as i wake up.

the time is passing by rather quickly now. at first it seemed like i would never get home and now it feels like i'll never finish everything in time. there are so many more places i want to see. my next big thing is skydiving in the swiss alps next month.

i think i caught wanderlust. i just want to get home and save up money so i can go back to travelling. i'm going to perugia tomorrow to visit a chocolate factory. one can only hope this includes a chocolate river.

t u e s 03.08.05 | 0845pm
you and me, our dialogues are poetry

...and today everything made sense. the alarm didn't go off. but someone called my room and i was out the door in less than ten minutes. as soon as i got to the bus stop i didn't even have to wait for the 492. i aced my oral. i learned about cardinals, the papacy, the power, the corruption on my field trip.

it's gossip. it's crack.

i could listen to my professor talk about neo-realist cinema for hours. i sat in front of the pantheon during my break and everywhere i go it's crowds. i want to try one new thing every day. the time really is slipping by. there was a time when i thought it would never pass and i would live here forever.

but it's march. i feel the hint of warmer weather on some days. it's close. and before i know it it will be summer. i'll be home and everything will be normal and i'll have to get a job and go to school and try to graduate and... that.

if less happens, there is more to see, more to suppose, it is not so easy to define.

s a t 03.05.05 | l a t e
siamo dal lupo, we are born from the wolf.

the day i arrived in rome, the weather forecast predicted a squall. i had never experienced a squall before. i'm still not completely clear if i have or have not. i assume that i have.

i went to my first football match tonight. i'm not sure if there's anything i can compare it to. the tifosi are mad. they launch fireworks onto the field. they yell profanities and make obscene banners and wave flags throughout the game. the two groups of fans are separated by an aisle of >100 police officers.

they sing songs and everyone knows the words. i didn't. but i was still amazed.

thank god i came to live in europe during the freeze... what cnn weather says is the coldest winter europe has seen in decades. more chappelle's show now. since i've been deprived of american tv in weeks and weeks i've been going on binges watching whatever i can. it's sad really.

f r i 03.04.05 | m i d n i g h t
this is but one story.

i woke up this morning and my head hurt. i think i drank too much last night. i hope the weather changes soon. it mostly makes me tired and gives me intense cabin fever.

i was caught in a hailstorm yesterday. i was only in it for one minute but by the time i got to my room water was dripping off of me.

i have been trying to cut corners and save money lately but i decided to start living it up soon. tomorrow i'm going to see my first football match.

i don't feel completely alone anymore. it's good and strange. i'm getting out of my slump. the time i have here is limited and the life i have at home will be there in june. it's not going anywhere.

so i'm horribly behind in my graduation plans and post-graduation plans but i'll probably never be able to live in another country like this. i know it will come together somehow.

you don't see electricity or radio waves but they're there.

l e s s | m o r e