Sometimes, things are awesome and sometimes, things suck. So speaks sage Lauren.
Today I am home sick, which is not a good thing for multiple reasons, the most important being that I'm missing Italian class ,which I'm already struggling in, and now I'm even more behind. I guess that's just life.
The good news is that Christine is here! She came in on Monday after much, much, much stress, but she made it and it's great to see her again. She's been exploring the city on her own while I'm in class [or while I'm home trying not to throw up my intestines - I hear that's kind of bad for you] and we've been exploring more together afterward.
Last night, we had a reunion dinner with Mike, like the good ol' days back in Freshman year. We went to this little restaurant that my flatmate Gilli recommended and it definitely lived up to our expectations. Four words: crunchy potatoes with brie. Oh my god. And then a crepe filled with mushrooms and cheese. As one of my major goals is to like, or at least appreciate, wine by the end of this trip, I wanted to order a glass but of course I have no idea what differentiates a Merlot from a Chardonnay. I sucked it up and asked our waiter for a recommendation, and he actually gave me something I could handle. Halfway through dinner, and halfway through my wine, our waitress put a knife through my glass [probably trying to kill me so she could eat my potatoes. I can't really blame her] and made a really cool wine stain on the table. No really. So of course they refilled my glass and I did myself proud and drank the whole thing [Most of you don't understand how little liquid I drink. It sounds stupid but it's true]. Maybe because we were talking about it during dinner, maybe because the waitress broke my glass, or maybe because he just liked our faces, our waiter brought us some complimentary Limoncello after we were done eating. That stuff is intense.
Afterward, satisfyingly full and a little tipsy, we wandered over to the Trevi Fountain, which is beautiful at night. After throwing in coins, we were in search of this gelato place that Mike has been raving about for years now. It took us a little while to find, and we were joking about how it would probably be closed even though we knew they stayed open until after midnight. Well. We found it. And it turns out they are open every day of the week except for Tuesdays. Gotta double check this one... yup. Yesterday was, in fact, a Tuesday. It was too ridiculous. But at least now we know where it is. Stupid Tuesday.
We split a cab home because by that point the buses stopped running, and fell asleep faster than we could say "pistachio" [which, by the way, is amazing combined with chocolate and hazelnut].
My friends all joke that they are going to go broke from buying drinks and I'm going to go broke buying gelato. It would be sooo worth it.

I'm going to end by somewhat stealing an idea from a fellow blogger and give you a short list of things in Rome I've found very surprising or different or awesome, which I'm sure I'll continue as time rolls by:

> There are no rules about where your dog can and can't go potty. Therefore there is dog shit all over the sidewalk. You have to look down all the time to avoid stepping in it. It's really gross.

> I sort of knew to expect this, but Italians dress incredibly well. Especially the women. It's dead of winter and cold and they show pretty much no skin except for their hands and face, and they still look smart and sexy and classy. I love it. And the boots. The only footwear Italian women wear is boots. Most of them are flat but occasionally you'll see a woman strolling around in her spike stilettos and I seriously don't know how they don't break their necks. The ground is all made of cobblestones with big gaps between them. Crazies.

> Apparently Italy has a ban on PETA [and delivery Chinese food], because let me tell you, fur is IN. It's everywhere. The little old ladies all have their huge fur coats that they wear everywhere and I just want to pet them but that's probably inappropriate. If I try it I'll let you know.

> Cashiers and shopkeepers HATE giving change. Seriously. They make you feel like a terrible human being when you pay with a 20euro bill. And at least one of my friends has had their purchase refused because they didn't have correct change. And everyone pays in cash. I think I have yet to see a single person swipe a credit card.

> Italians must be the staring contest masters of the world. Staring is not only acceptable, but everyone does it. This made me really uncomfortable in my first few days here. You know how if you're looking at someone, checking them out or whatever, and if they turn your head toward you your first reaction is to quickly look away? Well here everyone stares, unabashedly. And when you catch them staring at you, they don't even flinch.

More to come. Buonasera!