Sunshine!

Wake up this morning and peek out of the blinds to see beautiful sunshine! Am so excited it is not raining I get dressed in record time. Grab new, very expensive hair dryer and try to shove plug into tiny holes in the wall Italians call an outlet. Will not fit. Try every outlet in room before giving up. Make it to the bus stop quick enough to catch the early bus. Early bus does not come early because of horrible traffic. Fellow bus riders look quite angry, but I am smiling because the sun is shining!

Early bus that is running late gets me to school exactly on time. My teacher has a lot of patience, but I can tell by the look on her face she isn't thrilled by my horrible pronunciation. I try my hardest to guess, but sometimes g is guh and sometimes it is juh and sometimes c is chu and sometimes it is cuh. Usually, our conversation proceeds with the teacher reminding me this is not english class. So I try again. Then she reminds me this is not spanish either. I will learn one day, I hope.

School ends and before I know it, I've wandered halfway across the bridge that divides Pisa. All of this walking is improving my knowledge of Pisan roads, so I'm not too worried. Stumble upon tiny open market. Nothing too interesting, but the vegetables at the stand smell amazing. I never realized vegetables could have such a powerful smell. I walk back and forth in front of the stand sniffing until woman selling vegetables looks at me funny. I walk by one more time then sneek a picture.



I keep wandering around window shopping for clothes and jewelry that will never be in my price range (unless I one day marry a millionaire.) I do see a bookstore further down the road and never quite having enough willpower to resist any bookstore, I make a beeline. Most of the books look the same but in Italian. A few have different covers. I do notice the first book I ever learned to read in English and immediately know that this will be the first book I learn to read in Italian. I continue to be thrilled with today.

Get home after wonderful walk around Pisa and decide I can't just sit at home; there is always a possibility of rain tomorrow. Walk around and see Carrefour, which I'm quite sure is a giant car dealership. I definitely want to see how much a car in Pisa costs (solely to shock myself.)

Navigate crazy sidewalk towards Carrefour. I still close my eyes and hold my breath every time I step out in front of traffic, although this is probably not the best practice. The cars do consistently come to a screeching halt, thankfully. Cannot figure out how to get closer to the building, so I decide to walk up on-ramp. Not the best idea I've had, but the only car coming sees me and compensates their driving for my dumbness. See a sign for a store that sells food for dogs, cats, fish, birds, and toilets. Toilets?

Now that I am close to Carrefour I realize it is definitely not a place to buy a car. Walk in and am thrilled to realize it is another WalMart-like store complete with groceries and not nearly as full of people. I smile super huge at everyone and attempt to practice my horrible Italian with the cashier. Not really successful in speaking Italian, but really a great day overall.

Also learn via my dad's blog comment that mystery dresser is actually a well-disguised bed. Brava Italia, once again you surprise me!