My first week is up and I'm feeling really good about what I've done so far, which is mostly just getting reacquainted with the city and the language. I'm all set up for my language course at the Universita' di Siena per Stranieri and in the meantime have been going out and trying to speak as much Italian as I can. Part of that, as noted in my last post, is reconnecting with the locals. Yesterday I did something of a course intensivo when I decided to visit Crisitna and Dafne.

Friends, meet my friend Dafne.

When I was a student here a year ago, I tutored Dafne in English and got to know her and her mom Cristina pretty well. Seeing them was like coming home...again (because I am so lucky knowing only the best people). We caught up and after a while Crisitina had some errands to run so I was invited. Lucky for Dafne and me, the first stop was to the gelateria. There's a posh new one in Siena that serves only gelato made of fresh products and although it seemed like we waited in line forever (even by Italian standards), the product was worth it.

We went in farmacia and I learned the word for one of my favorite things: nail polish. Now, for those of you that haven't seen me much in the last year may not know how one of my greatest pass times is painting my nails in outrageous manners. Unfortunately, I chose not to bring any with me, getting nervous about the weight of my single bag and within days of arriving regretted it. Turns out, crazy nail polish colors is a big thing here and I didn't feel quite myself without mine. Explaining that to Dafne, I suppose she felt bad for me so she ushered me this awesome new store. It's a makeup Mecca store: eyeliner, eye shadow, and nail polish galore! My first purchase:

Dafne had to go home for her piano lesson (she's quite musical and is training to get into a conservatory for her violin in Florence), but Cristina and I continued to the grocery store. I was invited to dinner on the condition that I acted as Cristina's helper. No, Mom, I didn't burn down the kitchen. In fact I was cutting fresh tomatoes in the perfume of frying eggplant and listening to Dafne's musical musing when I had my first official "Is this REAL LIFE?!?" moment. Can you blame me? Here are a few pictures of our fantastic meal and mealtime setting:

Coming home, I'll admit that I had a bit of a breakdown. It was minor and thankfully Filippo's already trained in dealing with "my big drops," but I really feeling present here in Italy and all of the pressure that comes along with that. For the past week I've been pushing myself into everything that I can do, trying to speak and listen to Italian as often as I can, and walking around in and among those who know I'm not a part of "them." I'm pleased by how the language is coming back and how many words I'm learning each day. I'm so proud of myself and know I need to continue along, but I need to unscrew an emotional valve for a while. Here's to staying on the path! Salute!