il giorno delle donne

Today is the day of women! in Italia this day is filled with mimosa flowers, le feste, and the celebration of the woman! it is truly wonderful:) generally on this day the men give the women a bouquet of mimosa flowers, which are dainty little yellow things which give off the faintest sweet aroma. I was gifted one sprig of these tiny blossoms, and it is brightening my room.
one specific thing i love about Italia is that there are no screens in the windows. anywhere! you just swing the window open and you can pop your head out! or any other part of your body you desire! a leg, an arm, both legs... i have the strong desire to dangle my legs out of the top floor of a building, but whenever i begin to do this, someone stops me. I'm not crazy! non ti preoccupare:)
well, i am a bit crazy, but thats irrelevant here:) hmm what should I talk about...
my family's recent trip to Matera, si? allora... last Sunday Leda, Francesca, my mother and father, and I traveled one hour to the city of Matera with about 15 family friends. Matera is a very historic city, composed originally of cave dwellings. now these rock caves are reffered to as Sassi di Matera, or Rocks of Matera. This city is so old and it's history stretches back to the 3rd century BC and it is really neat to see how the topography has changed over the centuries. for example in Matera there is a large rock 'cliff' so to say, and embedded in it are some seashells! because hundreds and hundreds of years ago the Adriatic sea was 48 kilometers inland! for me this is almost impossible to believe until i think about Pangaea, and the original mass of contenents... For our trip to matera we had a beautiful day:) the sun was shining wildly and the sky was clear! i wore a tank-top and a light sweater with pants and was pretty warm all day... the first day without a jacket!
In the air i can feel primavera, finally! the days are warmer, the clouds are higher, and the sound of birds twittering is far more prominent. Next week is comming with so much excitement! My class, all 3rd, (3Ap 3Ac 3Bp 3Bc 3Cp 3Cc... the c signifies classico and the p signifies pedagogico) are going to Umbria for 3 days and 2 nights! I am so excited... Umbria in spring, a beautiful adventure!
School here is so different, I can't decide if i like it more than american school or not... i really like that every day we get out around 1, but then again i don't like that we go on saturdays. My primary class is 3Bp, a pedagogical class, and I  am primarily with them throughout the day. but so i can have a taste of everything, lovely intercultura has placed me all over the board. first third floor for two hours, then first floor for one hour, third floor again, finishing with an hour on the second floor. Its rather crazy, and my legs get so tired going up and down all those steps! ahaha but yes it is nice to meet so many different classes of people. the funny thing is that mainly during these crazy hours i am in studio autonomo, which is essentially: study whatever you want in this hour! so it would make more sense to just stay in one place for this, but i'm not complaining, its really nice to have that diversity:) My classes in school include: matematica, chimica, inglese, italiano, latino, storia dell'arte, and ed fisica. mostly i dont't know whats going on in classes but im starting to be able to follow along. 3 or four hours a week i have italian lessons with my tutor Francesca from intercultura, and she is so wonderful! i am learning alot from her.
I am starting to think some things in Italian, not full sentences or thoughts, but certain words and phrases! its very interesting to watch as the mind learns a new language.

Matera!