Buon San Valentino

Okay, so I don't love Valentine's Day. I have always loved getting chocolates and cards from Jules, however! I think one of the reasons for my slight dislike of V-Day revolves around how commercialized it is in the United States. Can't we just love every day? Why do we need a special holiday for it? (This is coming from a girl who loves sappy romantic movies).

Rant over. That being said, my Valentine's Day in Italy was a very special one. It isn't overdone here. There are the sweets in the windows (but there are everyday) and the flowers, but nothing extreme. However, that probably isn't the case a few towns over, where Saint Valentine is the patron saint! In Perugia, there was this little cart giving away free Baci chocolate! You can be sure that I hit it up multiple times.

In the evening, I went to a wonderful dinner with five of my friends here. We decided that we were going to splurge a bit and made reservations. It was SO worth it! I got this pasta/broccoli/sausage dish, delicious lentil soup, and pear strudel for dessert. Everything was amazing! And the wine was some of the best I've tasted since being here. It was a great night to celebrate new friendships.

I had my Italian midterm today, so not much else to report from this week. I had my second meeting with Ernesto and the family, and I love them more each time!

A funny story from my internship this week: My fourth years had just taken a test, and were correcting it as a class when I came in on Monday. One of the girls asked me for suggestions on how she could further improve her English composition (even though she got an A on it!) I can tell she really wants to learn the language like a native speaker. The reason she is so good at English already is because she watches American television shows! Turns out, her two favorite shows are also two of my favorites (Grey's Anatomy and Gossip Girl). She watches them in English, without subtitles. I found that incredible. It also explains why she knows some idiomatic expressions that she wouldn't know from English class. It's amazing how music, shows, and other forms of media spread throughout the world! Makes everything feel a lot smaller, as I've realized since coming here.