Firenze Day 2 and 3, and Thank Yous

        Corresponding to July 7 and 8, 2011, yet my memory isn't nearly as vivid. And I'm not putting any particular effort into the eloquence of this post. I probably got burned out after writing Day 1, and traveling, and giving guitar/ukulele lessons when I got back to the ship.

        I woke up at 7 am on the second day, simply out of regularity. I wasn't the first person awake, other people were too. Jessica (oh my god watch even this name be wrong), Tita Met's teenage(?) daughter, made me a cup of espresso. (I just have to say, I thought she was very, very pretty. Moving on with my life...) And so was Alex Aquino (… I'm so confused by my own family tree, I'm just not going to try to figure out theirs. He's an old dude. There.) So after a breakfast of eggs, hot dog, and kanin, I watched a soccer replay until Dave and Deo arrived.
        When they did come, we made our way to a metro stop, and into the historical center of town. We walked past a number of churches, including the duomo. But outside the duomo was an immensely ridiculous line that went all the way to behind the church- and this church is amazing gigantic. I don't know how anyone could stand in line for so long, thank goodness I found other churches to visit earlier in the trip. We also passed by a number of shops selling clothes and souvenirs- I left my money at home, thank god. So we walked and walked and walked, anf then found... the Ferrari store. It was really expensive there, but the picture with the Schumacher F1 replica was free, so I'm glad I got that.
        Just something to laugh at, Deo found a particular fascination with a living statue, so he payed a couple cents to the dude. And then he moved and waved at him. Cool.
        It seemed like the two were in a bit of a rush, and didn't really ask me what exactly I wanted to see. (Hello? The BELLTOWER? It's only of my top ten favorite spots on the planet...) But I had no goals, missing the bell tower made little difference. Besides, it gives me reason to come back.
        Uh, Yeah. It was that kind of a day. This post is of ridiculously bad quality, but deal.
        We also went to a doctor's appointment. Not going to elaborate.
        When we got back to Tita Met's, a lot more people were there. Today they were celebrating the birthday of one of the Filipino Italian girls. The women talked, the kids watched television and played games, the old men (and I?) drank and smoked (No, I didn't smoke.), and there was cake. And then everyone played cards. There must've been four or five games going on at once, these people really liked cards. I'm more for karaoke though, and that wasn't brought out...
        Next morning, I woke up, had a cup of espresso, and Deo and Tita Edith came. Tita Edith gave me a very long hug, and we said our goodbyes. Eventually Dave came by, and we waved goodbye to the in-laws and made our way to Firenze RMN. When we got there, I dropped by the electronic ticket machine to pick up my tickets to Rome, and ultimately Civitavecchia. With some time left, we went across the street to buy shoes. I bought a pair of Nikes that, if you didn't know better, might've thought were Converse All-Stars. I decided I just needed walking shoes, nothing else, and they were on sale, so these would suffice. (though watch me tear them up playing basketball...) So then I shook Deo and Dave's hands, told them to drop by America someday, and left.
        I got to Roma Termini. I saw a couple other people from Semester At Sea. I ate McDonald's. Moving on.
        We got to Civitavecchia, and stuffed a cab with eight people from Semester At Sea- felt kind of like Senor Frog's all over again. I checked in.

Thank Yous

        Thank you Tito Percy, Tita Gloria, and Benadetta for hosting me and for the first half of the trip. Also, thank you to Tito Ronnie, Memeth, Roy and Ron, and Andro for spending time with me. Also, thank you Clarissa and everyone in Pisa for showing me around, lunch, and a couple gray hairs. I had so much more fun in Bologna and Pisa than I thought I would, and spending time with you all really made my trip what it was.  Also, I know I won't die of starvation until after I get back to the United States, so thank you for that.
        Thank you Tita Edith, Tito Danny, Deo, and Dave for showing me around Florence. I know I didn't plan out my stay with you all very well, but I'm so glad that you guys made time to see me. Hope to see you all again, maybe next time with everyone else.
        Special thanks to Tita Met, Alex Aquino, Jessica, Samantha, and everyone I met in that Florence apartment. I know I'm not blood-related to you all, but you took me in and treated me as one of your own. Your hospitality was top notch, and I had a great time at your place and talking with all of you and playing for you. I am in your debt.
        For all of you, feel free to come by to the United States if you can get visas (… in 3-5 years when I have my own place or something, or maybe just ask my mom?) and I'll be glad to return the favor to any of you.

Final notes:

*Just to warn you, if someone calls me an American-Negro again or if I hear that phrase around me I'm going to go berserk. (Again, nothing against black people. Just a self-identity issue.) I don't care how many years go by or how long my beard is or how buff I am or how much tan I get any particular year. I'm Filipino, body and blood and all. End of conversation.
*That said, I'm really really tan. I pull up my my sleeve and it's like looking at black and white.
*I hate 1 euro and 2 euro coins. That's more a product of Barcelona than Italy, but just saying. Currency of actual value should be paper.
*Don't use a hairdryer to blow dry polyester underwear. It's not pretty. I was late getting back to get my clothes washed, so I'm washing my clothes by hand.
*I'm going to miss facebook. Again. I don't know if I'll be able to upload anything in Croatia.