Oven-Roasted Grilled Cheese

So, I guess I’ll tell you about Vulcano, which I visited after Stromboli, until October 5^th, when I came to Trecastagni, later. Because this adventure in cooking has to be told now, while it’s fresh on my mind.

So, Friday, October 5^th, I arrived in Milazzo via boat, around 10. Then, I caught a bus to Messina and got there around noon, and caught the first train out to Catania. I must have gotten to Catania around 2, and then found a bus to Trecastagni, the “suburb” of Catania where my Etna contact, Boris Behncke, lives, and where my residence for the month is, and bought a ticket for it. I was told it would leave in 40 minutes from spot 1 in the bus parking lot. Alright. So, I got to the lot and looked for others that were Trecastagni-bound. Didn’t find anyone, but I knew what I was looking for. I refused to set my bag down, as the rocks I have gathered at each volcano has made it weigh a ton, and the worst part of carrying my bag is getting it on my back. I forgot to look at my watch at the time that I was told 40 minutes from now, so guessing, I figured around 2:40. That time came and went, it was probably closer to 2:20 or so when I talked to the guy I bought my ticket from, but it couldn’t have been later than 2:30, so around 3, give or take ten minutes. For those of you that don’t know, I’m TERRIBLE at estimating time. So, keeping an eye on my watch…3:10 passed…ok, so…dang. I started asking around again. Still no one was Trecastagni-bound. Someone spoke good English though! Yay! Hope! He started asking around, in Italian, and found out from a bus driver that said bus would leave at 4. Fine. At this point, I took the bag off. I had already stood around for an hour with iton my back, after all. But the 4 o’clock bus was on time from spot 1! Maybe I misheard the ticket guy, I guess I don’t know. I arrived at i Rustici, my place of residence, and checked in and looked around some. The place is gorgeous, however, I’m in a basement room. And it feels like a basement room. But, it’s cheap, and I have access to wifi and a pool, and I have my own kitchen-ette and bathroom.  So, who am I to complain?

The next day, Saturday, I decided to find food. Find a grocery store and do some shopping, like the grown-up I’m trying to prove myself to be. Found one, and got lots of junk food, and some bread and cheese and butter and milk and juice. Good deal. Grown-up I am. I also got frozen pizza. I got back to my room, having not eaten lunch, around 4 or 5, and HUNGRY and looking forward to my frozen pizza! I read the instructions on the box, and started preheating the oven to 220°C, like the box said. I put the pizza in, because I was hungry enough not to bother with truly preheating. Yay! Pizza soon! Then, I got the fridge turned on and put away groceries before…DARK. The lights went out, including in the fridge. Ok, I shorted the circuit. Great. So I went in search of the owners…and couldn’t find them. Anywhere. Next I looked for the circuit-breaker…again, couldn’t find it. I was texting mom, freaking out now, because I had bought some ice cream, which must have been melting! She says, simply and oh so obviously, well, call them. Duh. But I don’t have their numbers. I text and ask her for them, while trying to find the owners again, and she says she already sent them to me, but before that, I found their numbers on a sign, so all good. I call, and fighting the language barrier, seem to successfully communicate my problem. Her sister will be over soon to help with my ice cream, and they’ll arrive in an hour. Fantastic, not. But at least the ice cream problem will be solved. The sister arrives, and as we’re leaving the building, to go to her fridge, I think, she spots the breaker and flips the switch! Poof! I have lights! Perfect! So, I turn the oven back on, and I’m in the dark again within minutes. I continued this dance a few more times, trying variations, hoping to use the oven. No such luck. So, I gave up, and ate a partially raw pizza. Oh well.

Next day, I just ate cereal, and worked on pictures and relaxing and such. It was a nice day. And, in the evening, Boris came and picked me up, and we went to the Hilton in a nearby town, where he gave a presentation on Etna to a group of American tourists. I think I nearly passed out from excitement. He had so much information, pictures, and videos incorporated. I was…in an unbelievably happy place. And, sitting in the front row, I looked like a freak, my face was so contorted with happiness.

On Monday, I relaxed less and worked more on the same stuff as the day before…I try, but I don’t tend to do so well if I’m taking a “chill day”. But, I got stuff done.

Today…was the first day of a 5 year old in a world of eternal Christmas. I was a 5 year old in a 5 story candy store. I was a 5 year old little girl riding her first pony.

It was AMAZING! I kept Boris very entertained, as he introduced me to different people, and showed me different areas of the Catania branch of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), as I was so enthralled. It was so cool. I met geochemists that sample the gas emitted at Etna. I met a cartographer, and saw lots of great posters and maps that thrilled me. It was amazing. Boris also has a group of German students, mostly high school, visiting, so I met them today. They all laughed when I exclaimed,” I’ll remember your name!” as I was told the name Kim amidst insanely German names. But I seem to have impressed Kim, as I did not forget her name. 

Me and the Germans

Then, the Germans and I were brought to the control room…to stinkin’ cool! There are a bunch of seismic monitor screens and other monitoring screens! And there’s an alarm that goes off in case of a real earthquake, a change in volcanic tremors, or some other changes! And there are live video feeds, both in normal view and in thermal imagery. It was amazing. And I can now die happy. Oh! And I went to a lecture given by Brittany Brand on pyroclastic flows, using Mt. St. Helens as the focus (she’s from Seattle), which was really interesting! So I had a fantastic, and amazing first day at INGV!

The INGV Control Room Screens

The INGV Control Room Screens

For dinner tonight, I wanted grilled cheese. So, I cut two “slices” from my brick of provolone cheese, and buttered my bread. Then, I tried turning on my stove…nothing. I don’t know if it’s some funny business that I don’t understand, or if it just doesn’t work. But no stove. Well, now I have two small grilled cheese sandwiches waiting to be grilled. I know! I’ll use the oven, after all, I had been told to use a particular little symbol on the knob, and use 180 at the highest, so I heat it up to 60, and put my sandwiches in a sauce pan of sorts. The butter melts…but it seems like it needs a little more, so I turn it up to 80…then to 100…then my room goes dark again…SERIOUSLY?! So, I’ll be talking to the owners tomorrow again, this time with Boris I hope, so I don’t have to resort to broken Spanish…as I’ve never learned how to say “going above 100° with the oven causes my room to lose power” and even if I had, I don’t think they have in Spanish. But, I continued to roast my sandwiches, until I gave up on them getting any darker (they were still yellow, rather than golden or brown or even black). They weren’t bad…but they didn’t really satisfy the craving for grilled cheese I’ve had for a while now.

Wish me luck in figuring out my kitchen! And just as I had begun to really settle into this room! I hope I don’t have to move, but I may…I guess I’ll find out!

Ciao!

Explosive Stromboli Part 2

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted. It’s easy to get distracted here and to forget to do things like blog, even with mom bugging me to do so nearly continuously.

So, I left you all at the point when I’d relaxed the day away, before my trek up the volcano! At 3:30, I left my room and went to the MagmaTrek office, to check in for my climb. I was told to take a yellow helmet, and wait at the square. At 4:15, my group would be leaving from there. So, I found a yellow helmet, and sat in the square. I had a 2 liter bottle of water already, but decided to get a second one from the restaurant there. I was actually really nervous at this point. I was sure I could do the trek, but since I have asthma, and they say this trek is not for asthmatics, I was nervous. But as soon as our guide came, that nervousness passed, and excitement returned! I was about to go see Strombolian explosions! He counted us, saying it was generally considered polite to come back with the same number of people that you go up with, and then, we were off!

The hike was nice. It was very scenic, and a little tough with the constant uphill direction, so I took a couple puffs of my inhaler. No big deal. I was taking lots of pictures and loving it. We all were. There were some stairs, or at least the path became stair-like, and I wasn’t a big fan, but no big deal. I got this.

Then, after around half an hour, we had our first break, and I listened to our guide talk with interest, hoping for some new knowledge about the beautiful volcano. None really came, well, no new geology knowledge came. However, new knowledge did come, I suppose. I learned about two fires on the flanks, one of which, the most recent, was human caused. The other less recent was caused by a volcanic bomb landing on vegetation. For those of you that don’t know, a volcanic bomb is a piece of rock that is thrown out of a volcano during certain eruption types that is 60 mm or bigger across.

After he told us a little bit, we continued on. Now, the hike was getting tough. But, it’s ok, I told myself. I can do this. My muscles were aching, and beginning to protest, but my asthma wasn’t doing too badly. Next, I noticed my heels were hurting. But nothing was too bad. Just keep going. It’s alright. Then, we got another break (breaks were every half hour or so), and I gulped down at least a liter of water. Our guide talked again. Kind of interesting, blah blah blah, just breathe. It’s all good.

The next time we started hiking, I was lagging. I was falling to the back of the group, and now my heels were screaming in protest with continuing going uphill! Blisters were definitely forming. And the awkward way of walking I had developed to try to avoid adding to the blisters was adding to the muscle ache. At our next break, I had gotten so slow that the guide came and talked to me. Talk about embarrassing! I told him about the blisters, which really did seem like the reason I was going so slow to me. He told me to take my shoes off so he could take a look, and they weren’t really bad blisters, but we still had a ways to go, so he put some tape on each heel, over the blister, and I pulled my shoes and socks back on.

Now, with the pain of the blisters subdued, it became obvious that the real reason I was so slow, was in no way the blisters. It was my pathetic muscles, as I was, apparently, completely out of shape still, despite the weight I’ve lost in Europe and all the walking I’ve been doing here. Now, my muscles were screaming in protest, rather than my heels. And now, I was beginning to feel faint. Not good. I was convinced I was going to die. I wouldn’t die of exhaustion, but I was sure I would randomly pass out, and then proceed to fall all the way down the mountain, bouncing off of rocks and everything. ‘No! Don’t think like that! You can do this! You HAVE to do this! You aren’t just doing this for you! You’re doing this for Dusty, too! And for mom! You’re doing this for Dusty and mom. And for Ian. And for Allie. And for Rachel. And for all the geology majors. And for everyone that reads your blog. And for all your friends. Not everyone can do this, most people you know don’t get to. You’re doing this for them! So do it! Oh my word, I’m gonna die. I’m gonna pass out and die! No!’ I told myself, going in circles and listing off everyone that was counting on me, in any way, getting to the summit of Stromboli.

Finally, we were almost there. It was dark, and there was a shelter ahead, where we were going to take our last break, before reaching the summit. But this last bit was in ash, which was defeating me by making me slip down faster than I was climbing up. But Dusty, mom, Ian, Kerry, Allie, and everyone else kept going through my mind, until I made it. I did it! I survived! And we took a nice rest, before finishing up the summit, which was easier after a longer than normal break. And there it was.

As soon as we reached the summit, we could see the explosions. They were beautiful! It was SO COOL!!!!! There were fountains of red hot rocks spraying out of different vents every so often. A Strombolian explosion is a specific type of eruption. In this type of eruption, no lava is erupted. So, it is a type of pyroclastic eruption, in which only solid materials come out of the volcano. This particular eruption type is explosive and shoots out red hot rocks from the vents. So stinkin’ cool! Also, there were two vents that were continuously on fire. Flames just came out of them, and didn’t stop! It was awesome!

After watching for almost an hour (I think), we started our trip down. My muscles were all so much more willing to move from the start, after an hour rest. But the rest wasn’t even necessary, as the path down was almost entirely downhill. Go figure. And, to top it off, it started off as essentially a sand dune! Except technically, it was made of sand-sized ash, rather than sand. Bounce! Bounce! Bounce! I bounced down the volcano flank, in the dark, and thoroughly enjoyed it! The path was a little harsher on my knees, as they were used to the dune like feel, rather than walking on solid ground, but it was still much better. We got to MagmaTrek, and returned our helmets, and then departed. I got back to my room, took a shower, and collapsed.

On Saturday, I had been hoping to go for a long hike, or two, across the island, but when I got up that morning, I knew it was not going to happen. Upon hiking up the short path to the square to return my rented gear to Totem Trekking, I discovered that my legs had absolutely no desire to work. I made it there and back, and then collapsed on my bed and watched TV in Italian, and worked on understanding what was being understood. One word I learned while watching Grey’s Anatomy was “spingere”, which was when I vowed to never give birth in Italy, as I would be laughing rather than pushing as the word for push (spingere) sounds so absolutely bizarre.

On Sunday, I worked on some paper stuff throughout the day, and went down to the port to find out when I needed to be there on Monday, and to look into a boat ride around the island. By the time I got down there, there was only one option left for the day: a boat ride near sunset to Sciara di Fuoco, which is one of the sides of the volcano. It’s actually the side underneath the vents, which is made up of pyroclastic materials, materials like rocks and ash that have been thrown from the volcanic vents. Sciara di Fuoco is also where, in 2003 (I believe), a landslide occurred when the volcano emitted. The landslide actually began below the surface of the water, and created a tsunami in the area. So, I was excited to go on this boat ride, especially since I’d be able to see some more explosions! The boat took off at 7:00 pm, or so, and I had a fantastic evening, though my camera failed to take many good pictures.

Next up, is the island of Vulcano! I'll try to get this one and my first post about Sicily up soon, but (obviously) this tends to be easier said than done!

Ciao ciao! 

Explosive Stromboli

So, I'm trying to be all clever with my post names...I hope this works for what I want it to...at the very least it'll work for the volcanic activity...

Stromboli, the island, is beautiful. It's been in the 80s or 90s consistently since I arrived by boat. My first morning here, was quite the ordeal. I got to the island around 6 in the morning, and it was still dark. So, I followed the crowd, figuring some of them must know where they were going, and must be going to the same area, because I had absolutely no idea where I was going. Then, the crowd was gone. Just kinda gone. How or where they disappeared to, I don't know. But there was no more crowd for me to follow. Alright. Oh look! There's someone outside of an office, I'll ask. So I did, and she gave me directions. I followed them. Up hill. For a very long time. In the dark. She had told me to go up to the square...there were no squares. So, I'm wandering up narrow roads in the dark with all of my stuff on my back and I'm trying to convince myself that everything is gonna be fine and suddenly... "You looking from someplace to stay?" says a random male's voice. I jump and search for the source of the voice, and I'm about to start cussing him out and yelling at him to get out of the dang shadows and show himself! When, thankfully, he says "Up here". He's on one of the many rooftop terraces. Just in time. Glad he said that, otherwise I would have made a fool of myself and of American's. Phew! So, then I explain I'm looking for La Lampara, my B&B in Stromboli. He tells me I'm not far. Go to the church and then 200-300 meters. Alright, cool. I got this. Except that all this uphill walking has awoken  my slumbering asthma, so when I get to the "square", which is only kind of a square, as one side of it is railing-ed off (I think of squares as being surrounded by buildings) I take out my inhaler and take a couple puffs, while looking out over the coastline at all the boats with their little lights. The guy came down from his terrace and met me in the square, making sure I understood. He told me that I couldn't miss it. Alright. I got this. So, I kept going. All along I had been texting mom, keeping her in the loop. No big deal. So I'm walking...and finally I run into another church...it really sucks that I still don't have a good grasp on how far a meter is. And the guy made it sound really close...but did he mean from the next church? Now I was just frustrated. So, I texted mom, asking if she could look it up for me. I told her where I was. Alright, she said go left. The road on the left was like a dirt path, so I tried double checking (we were on the phone now), but that's what she said! Ok! Left I go. And I'm going. And I'm going. And she says it's a little way, but it shouldn't take long...and I'm in like wilderness and there are lots of bugs, and no sign of any B&B...so now we're both getting frustrated. She gives me the hostels number and says to call them. So I do. And the guy that answers doesn't speak a lick of English! I give up. I'm annoyed with the bugs. So I go back to the main road. And mom calls as I'm almost there, and I've finally broken down to tears. "Erin! Stop it! You're making yourself look like a target!" she say. "I don't even care anymore" I say. Finally, she finds a decent map, and realizes, I'm at the second church. And those directions were meant for the FIRST church after all. So I go back up the road I came down, and this time, I really couldn't have missed the B&B. Hallelujah. And then I find out that the guy went down to the harbor to pick me up. Twice. So I went through all of that for nothing. Awesome. I then went to bed.

After that experience though, the island really charmed me! It's beauty is seriously almost explosive! It is so quaint and picturesque! It's gorgeous! The town and the wilderness blend perfectly! It's really amazingly charming! I love it here! I've been spending my days wandering and exploring the town, more or less. I also went for a swim in the ocean, which was lovely. I've really been enjoying my time here! My only issue with this island is that there are like two places with internet, one is all the way back at the harbor, and the other isn't the greatest. But Parde's, the wine bar with internet, is a charming little wine bar with charming people. So, overall, it's worth it. And at least there's internet! Parde's is also relatively cheap, for the island. Oh, I should also mention, that everywhere closes from around 1 until around 5. The island is deserted during those hours.

Moving on from just the island, after wandering on my first day (Wednesday), I came back to La Lampara, my B&B which is also a restaurant, for a late dinner. I was trying to figure out the etiquette of the place. And I was directed from one person to the next, because someone always spoke better English than whoever I was talking to, until the person I was directed to invited me to join the huge group standing there. So I said sure, I mean, why not? It turns out, this giant group of people I was invited to eat with, was a group of professional volcanologists, whom had just arrived on the island to conduct some research on the volcano! How cool was that? I just lucked into eating with them and meeting them!

On Thursday, I went to the Advanced Operations Center, or COA. This is a live monitoring station of the volcano. And when I got there, I was put off by a sign, that said "No visitors allowed today due to the helicopter activity. But I had been told to go on Thursday...so I stood at the gate, looking lost and hoping someone would take pity on me, which eventually they did. I was let in, as they knew I was coming, but only after the helicopter came and left again. The helicopter was around to take that group of volcanologists up to the summit with their equipment, just for this one day! Vivian brought me around the center and told me about it, and about some of the most recent eruptions, and we just chatted for a while. It was a lot of fun, and a very nice day. I spent the rest of the day lounging around and enjoying the weather.

Friday was my trekking day. I went to Magmatrek around 10:30-11:00 to check that weather was good to trek up Stromboli, and to see if my shoes would work for the hike...they wouldn't. So, from Magmatrek, I went to Totem Trekking to rent a backpack (it was what was recommended), a flashlight, and some shoes. Then I spent the day relaxing and just hanging out, working on paper stuff, to conserve energy for the hike.

Right now, I probably need to get going. So, that's it for now, but I'll be working on typing up a part 2 to this post! Ciao!

Getting Lost in Time

It's amazing how easy it is to get confused over how long I've been here. I mean, I've had nights where I've cried, and nights where I've had a lot of fun, so I should be able to remember how long I've been on my own by comparing the number of nights each of those happened...but I essentially have no idea. It's only when I think about where I am, Napoli, and my schedule that I have any clue how long I've been alone. Two weeks about.

The worst part is how dependent I've been on internet. Now, I'm about to potentially leave internet for 10 days. I'm scared to be so on my own.

Anyway, this weekend, I wandered the city of Napoli, and on Sunday I checked out of my first hotel and checked into Le 4 Stagioni, or the 4 Seasons, a B&B in the heart of town. I've loved it here! In both hotels/B&Bs, really. On Monday, I wandered lots, and went to the University's mineral museum, which was a lot of fun and really cool! I saw the Duomo, a palace, and a castle. It's been a fun and busy weekend!

Then, today, I packed up and got officially checked out of my B&B. Then, Lorenzo and I went to Campi Flegrei for the day! We went to a beach, where we could see a ton of different deposits from different eruptions. Campi Flegrei is what is called a monogenic volcanic field, which means that it's a big area made up of small volcanoes that generally only erupt once.

So, after seeing the cliff of deposits, we went to one of the craters, Solfetara Crater. It was soo cool! I got to see a bunch of fumeroles, which are the vents that release steam continuously. There were also a bunch of sulfur deposits in the area. It was a lot of fun to see! Oh! And there was a mud pool. So, I had a lot of fun there. On top of that, we were like walking through fumerole vents and sulfur deposits. It was really cool, and kind of freaky. I also got my first sulfur sample! So cool! There were also realgar deposits, at least I think. But I don't know if I got any of that, because those deposits were behind hot steam, so I didn't go for those. But I did get some unknown samples from there, that were near to that color, so maybe I got some!

I had a lot of fun here in Napoli, but now it's time for me to take a boat, un nave, to Stromboli overnight tonight. I'm a bit nervous, but I'm looking forward to it! Unfortunately, I don't know when I'll next have internet, or if there will be any internet on the islands. So, I'll definitely have access to internet starting on October 5th. Wish me luck!

Ciao!

My First Volcanic Experience in Italy...VESUVIUS!

Buonasera!

Praise the lord for this day! It was amazing! It was spectacular! It was educational! I LOVED today! And I'm still a little bit in shock. I can't believe I actually went there and did that.

My day started early, at least for this trip so far. But it was SO worth it. After all, the first stop of the day was an active dig site at Pompeii!! They found what they think is the first kiln of Pompeii! For all the pottery there, there haven't been any kilns found, until recently. So I got to go and see that, and see them work some, which was really cool and exciting. I even got to help just a little! I found two pieces of a thin world pottery drinking urn that fit together! The lady that was actually working on that urn told me I did a good job and everything! It was fun and made me feel all special inside! Lol.

After that, Celestino and Alberto, the two applied petrologists that were showing me around today, brought me on a walking tour of Pompeii, at least the most impressive places. It was so cool, and I was definitely in shock that I was actually there and seeing Pompeii! It was fantastic! I learned a lot there, including where the zebra stripes of crosswalks come from! In ancient times, crosswalks were built above the road, so that people didn't have to walk in water or whatever else was there. They were built low enough though, so that carts could go over them. They were essentially stepping stones across the road!

After the walking tour, we went back to the excavation site for a free lunch of sandwiches, which were super good. By the way, "real" mozzarella is nothing like our mozzarella cheese. Well, they taste very similar. But real mozzarella comes as little balls of gushy-ish cheese in water in a plastic bag. I was nervous about trying it, because I have never seen cheese come like that, but it was really good! As was, of course, the provolone cheese!

After lunch, Celestino took out a geological map of Vesuvius to show me and explain some of the geology of Vesuvius to me. It was a really interesting lesson! Apparently, Vesuvius has a true eruption pattern. It begins with a plinian or subplinian eruption. A plinian eruption is the kind of eruption that occurred in 79AD and buried Pompeii. Subplinian eruptions are just a little less explosive than plinian eruptions. After that first big eruption, Vesuvius enters a period of less explosive activity with an open vent, meaning you can actually see lava or magma in the volcano for that full period. At the end of the cycle, the volcano enters a period of fumerole activity with a closed vent. Currently, Vesuvius is in the closed vent stage. So...

When I went to Vesuvius today, I saw it steam! It was soo cool! Seeing the cone itself thrilled me to no end! But, then to see fumeroles within Vesuvius?! It was insane! The hike up to the cone was a bit rough for me though. It was all uphill, with no level respites to give us just a second to breath! But it was all worth it! After going around the north side of the cone, we returned to the base...taking our time in order to take samples! I found two fist sized rocks, both of which are scoriacious, or holey rocks, therefore lightweight. I also found a bunch of cobbles of scoria with little crystals in them, and a bunch of just plain crystals! It was really exciting for me! I know I'm a nerd and a dork, but I LOVED just looking at the loose rocks on the walk to and from the cone and just looking at the crystals within them! I can't help it! After we got back to the base of Vesuvius, we returned home.

Since then, I've been working on uploading pictures and typing this, which has taken a surprisingly large amount of energy for me to do. So now, it's 10:30 pm here, and I'm about to crash. I have more to tell about today still, but no energy with which to do it! So, for now, this is it.

Buonanotte!

Benvenuti a Napoli!

Hey all!

After my last blog (as in the next day), I checked out of Hostel Pisa Tower, which I loved staying at, because they didn't have room for me for the next two nights. After checking out, I went back to the University to meet with Marco Pistolesi, an associate of Mauro Rosi's. I spent the day working with him and talking to mom to figure out where I should stay and how I should get to each island. By the end of the day, around 4, I had a solid plan for Vulcano and Stromboli!

So, I went back to Hostel Pisa Tower to pick up my bag, and then left for Hostel Station - Airport Pisa. What a trip! First off, I was tired from the start. Then, as I was walking there, I reached a neighborhood that felt really sketchy, based off of what it's like in the States. So, I was getting anxious, as well as being exhausted. Then, my road dead ended! I tried turning around and taking a slightly different turn...which was a driveway...I was freaking out. I wanted to give up. I wanted to collapse and start crying. But then I was too afraid to. So I just stood there and tried to think clearly.

Luckily, a kindhearted man drove up to his house, like right in front of me. I asked him for help finding the street that I was aiming for...he didn't know. He ended up giving me a ride to my hostel. I know that's not exactly a smart thing to do...but at that point, I really didn't care. I collapsed on my bed when I got there, and did a little crying to let all the frustration out, then I ordered a pizza and had it delivered! My night was improved with the pizza and with chatting online.

Yesterday, I woke up not feeling so great, after sleeping in a bit late. So I had a really slow moving morning. Around one or two, I took off for the university again...and got lost. At least once. I was not a happy camper. But I got my errands run, and I eventually got to the university. Upon getting there, I looked up a way to take the bus back to my hostel. After that, I met with Mauro and we planned my Napoli stay! Then, he gave me a personal interview! It was SO exciting to hear what my dream career is really all about and what can be done with it. It made this study seem so much more real, you know? I got completely jazzed about everything again. It was an AMAZING afternoon/evening.

So, I decided to walk to the train station, instead of catching a bus there. After all, I knew that part of the walk. It was totally worth it! I loved being out at that part of evening. I wanted to stop and experience it a bit more, but I didn't want to risk getting lost. Seeing that part of the culture has given me more confidence about being outside at night now though, so it won't be wasted on me! Anyway, I walked through town and picked up some gelato before catching my bus back to my hostel.

Back at my hostel, I talked with my two, new, English roommates. They told me an EASY way to get to the train station. So this morning I got up at 5:30 to catch a 6:49 train to Napoli! I was dead. I tell you, DEAD. But I got up, somehow, and managed to catch my train! I arrived in Naples around 1 this afternoon. On the train ride, I got some paper stuff done, I slept some, and I met a man that lives in Herculeam, or however you spell that, and his father was an archaeologist there, and brought an archaeological magazine for me to keep! It's all in Italian, of course, so I have no clue what it says yet, but it's the thought that counts!

I took a bus to near my hotel, found it, got checked in, and fought with internet. It took me a while to get the internet figured out here. But once I did, I went and took a shower, using the razor I found last night...OH MY WORD! It feels SO good to feel thoroughly and properly clean, which only comes with shaving! Sorry for that tangent. Anyway, I found food again and took a chill night off. But now I need to get to bed...tomorrow's a big day...oh, I didn't tell you? Let me expand...

I'M GOING TO POMPEII AND VESUVIUS TOMORROW!!! I'm entirely PSYCHED! My first trip to an ACTUAL VOLCANO on this trip! THIS is what I've been waiting for! So, I need to sleep so that I can thoroughly enjoy it and still, possibly anyway, blog about it tomorrow night! I can't wait! Wish me luck! I'm so excited!!! Can you tell? No way! I'm not at all excited. My heart rate didn't just jump like 50 beats per minute just thinking about this. No. Never. Lol. It totally did. I'm totally freaking out right now, so sleeping may take a while to actually happen. Wish me luck with that too.

Buonanotte!

Better Already!

So, yesterday I told you how weak I was feeling and how hard things were on me and how poorly I've been doing. And at the end, I told you I'd do better starting tomorrow...aka today.

Told ya so! Told ya so!

Today was great! I went out at 11, like normal here, and found the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Pisa! I found Mauro Rosi's office, and then spent a couple hours working on some project stuff, typing notes up and organizing my potential questions for Mauro while hanging out in the geology student courtyard. It was so cool! I'm totally jealous of those students! Aside to the geology students of UWRF: we need to work on getting a courtyard of our own to study at!

Anyway, from there I came back to my hostel to get dressed and do my makeup for my meeting! I was so excited!! I couldn't wait!

Finally, it was time to meet him! He was half an hour late, go figure. But at least I was still early! And he was fantastic! He introduced me to a second professor there, I forgot his name...oh well. And the three of us talked! I went over my plans and they were both very into it and told me that we could arrange plans for me! Beyond that, Mauro said he was very optimistic about getting everything set up for me! So, it looks like I'm gonna get free, nice tours on three of my volcanoes! I'm so excited now! Oh yea, they gave me a new free geologic map of Vesuvius! The best part about this free map is that Dr. Cordua's map of Vesuvius that he gave me can go back up in the petrology room! Tomorrow I need to be there by 9:30 though. So, I'm a little bit nervous that I'll be late since I've been moving later than that lately...but I'm SURE that I'll really have no problem doing this! I'm psyched!

Finally...a special shout out to my grandma and grandpa! A little birdie told me that they were gonna look at my blog today...so hi guys! I love you! I'm having a great time here and loving it! And how many kittens did Stuffie have?! I expect a number today!

Wish me luck in my further adventures! Love you all! Ciao!