foreign [fawr-in]
of, pertaining to, or derived from another country or nation; not native
Synonyms include; derived, estranged

Buongiorno mi amici!!!

i cant find the freakin symbols on this dang italian keyboard so please pardon my grammar. i just had an espresso and i am HYPER!!! i'm punching the keys like no one's business and i'm having the hardest time looking for the apostrophe and the letters on this keyboard are fading so at first glance at it i said, THIS KEYBOARD'S IN ITALIAN! loser, i know...

so anyhow, this is Day 8 of our wonderful, beautiful journey through switzerland and europe. So far we've taken about 4,000 pictures between me, cile, pat, grammy and seong. we haven't really encountered any "problems" per se... except for our flight getting cancelled in Zurich and having to take a train, running up and down train platforms searching for the next train we had to hop on and wondering if we'd gotten on the right train number cuz of course the signs are either in swiss or italian, and people getting kicked out of a first class car, maneuvering through the streets of venice, which is the most (pleasantly) confused that we've ever been, all the while carrying our luggage; and then trying to look for a place to eat breakfast at 8 in the morning and realizing that Italians don't open a darn thing until about 10, searching for a grocery store in Florence in the rain at night. "Dov e che un supermercato? a destra? a sinistra?e longtano?" when we get to the market, it's literally the size of a blockbuster video! and you gotta pay for grocery bags here.

italian is a fun language and i've been the unofficial italian-speaker since we got here with some help from Chef. (THANKS TO LEIA FOR THE AWESOME PHRASEBOOK and my KUYA LANCEL AND ATE JANE for the "learn italian in 75 minuti" cd, which i used during morning commutes before the trip). Anyhow, we both realized that if you speak something really fast, it sounds like you know the language so that's what we've been doing, saying little phrases really fast..."Scusi, dov e il bagno? (wher's the bathroom?)...Grazie! (thanks!)...Prego! (You're welcome!)...Mezo kilo, per favore (Half a kilo please)...Ha ve te medicina per allergia di pelle? (Do you have medicine for skin allergy? - Seong got a rash from some sweet pea lotion. ops!)...Ha ve te basilico? (Do you have basil?)" and other words and phrases that have been getting us by.

we've been non-stop since we got here. driving through Italy is CRAAAAAAAAAAAAYZEE!! props to Seong and Pat who are the only two on this trip who drive a stick.

oh my goodness, i've been drinking wine every single day, sometimes more than 2 or 3 glasses, and on thanksgiving day i took a shot of SOMETHING and i was like whooooooooo gone, but since we were at the apartment, i fell asleep before my heart started beating in my head!!! thankfully i haven't done anything yet that i regret...have i? hahaha!!!! I DON'T REMEMBER!

okee dokee folks, i know you may think otherwise, but we do miss you all..okay maybe just me. hahaha!! jk! i will be home in about 5 days so i'll tell more stories when i get back.

until then...ARRIVEDERCI!!!