The Hunger Games Meets Siena

Yesterday, in class we had the windows open, and suddenly we heard this lady SCREAMING at someone in the square below us. Our teacher looked out the window, which kind of gave all of us an excuse to jump out of our seats and go look too. The lady had wild hair and was slapping a man in the street calling him “disgusting” and yelling, “I’m not crazy!” Yes ma’am. Yes you are. It was quite entertaining. Our teachers, Elaina and Sara said they saw the same lady out the night before and she was screaming then too. You have to love the crazies!

That day for lunch, I went to Gusto Panini. I couldn’t read the menu, so I just asked the worker, “What’s your favorite?” He looked me right in the eye without pausing and said, “You are.” BAHAHAHA! I love him. He’s so dang cute and that was the best sandwich I’ve had since I’ve been here. I still need to know cutie pie’s name, so I’ll go again tomorrow and keep you posted!

After class, we took a bus to the town of Siena. I had heard of Siena but had no idea what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. First, we went to a church that had St. Catherine’s actual face and right thumb. It was incredible that after 700 years, she still looked the way she did the day she died. Catherine stopped eating all together in a self-sacrifice to God, and survived 6 years before finally dying. How incredible!

We couldn't take pictures inside the church, but this was the view outside. The buildings in Siena all looked very similar and had a much older feel than the ones in Florence.

The town of Siena is broken up into 17 districts (totally Hunger Games style) with each being named after an animal (dolphin, caterpillar, giraffe, goose, ram, rhino, etc). Twice a year the town has a horse race in the middle of town with one horse from each district. The winning district gets to line their streets with the flag of their district and have a massive feast in celebration! It was so cool!

In August, the goose district won the horse race! This is one of their streets decorated with their flag.

The town square where the races take  place. The track is located on the dark gray stone, while the people watching stand in the middle on the reddish stone.

All through the town, there were these little corridors that I loved! This is right before the entrance to the rhino district. As you can see, they did not win the last race, since there are no flags!

When we got back, 13 of us went to Tijuana, which is the Mexican restaurant in Florence. Obviously we came to Italy to eat Mexican food, right? Right. We had a great time! It was a lot of fun and fairly inexpensive. The funniest part was that they played the song “Candy Shop” by 50 Cent about four or five times. I thought that was supposed to be a family establishment! It was so weird but funny.

Today, we had class. Again. I swear these 4.5 hour Italian classes have to end eventually! (Tomorrow actually.) It is very obvious that people are losing focus here at the end. Everyone has mentally checked out. After our half way break, my class of 14 lost 8 people. Oops! Let’s just say Marco wasn’t too thrilled when he walked in. But hey, I got a 100% on a quiz I thought I bombed, so that was a wonderful surprise! Tomorrow is our oral exam! Send well wishes our way please!

Then, we went to the Ferrari museum. I had to go for one of my classes, but other people could opt into going as well. I wish I had more of an appreciation for cars, because I wasn’t that impressed. It just wasn’t my cup of tea. Oh well! I got some pictures.

The newest Ferrari that came out in 2012.

Tonight’s dinner is fried chicken and french fries. FINALLY some food I recognize. Can I ask for seconds, thirds, or even fourths? Would that be weird?

PS- THANK YOU to the kids in my program who read this blog. I never imagined that anyone other than my family would see this, but I’ve already gotten so many compliments on it and over 1000 views! Thanks a million!!! You all are the best!