Everyday I fall more in love

  Before I forget, Please comment or email me your address if you want a postcard because I forgot to get addresses before I left!!

I knew that I would love Italy but I didn't think that I would fall so quickly. I feel more and more attached to Siena everyday and as excited as I am for Florence, I'm also sad at the thought of leaving here. EVERYONE I have met has been nice and patient with our atrocious Italian. I like my Italian teacher, I have fun in Italian class (although it is very long), and I've enjoyed all the activities our program planned. So far, I've gone to a cooking class where we made gnocchi, pici (a type of pasta), incredible tomato and bread soup, and tiramasu. I also did a wine tasting where we had Chianti wine and then went to a sculpture garden in Chianti on a tour led by the owner. After the tour, we went to his gorgeous house/art gallery where we were served wine, cheese, bread, olives, and meats. Yesterday I slept in for the first time since being abroad and then went to San Gimingiano which is even smaller than Siena with incredible architecture. We had a tour and free gelato. This morning, I went on an Art tour of Siena where we saw the Duomo and walked all around the city. Our guide was incredibly informative. Apparently Siena consists of 17 districts and everyone's allegiance is to their district. Each district is an animal which is why there are so many animal statues around. They have rivalries and the horse races in June and August here are crazy because whichever district wins gets the most prestige (it doesn't matter who the jockey is). The jockey is only picked a few days before and he has bodyguards around the clock to make sure that another district doesn't pay him to lose. The craziest thing is that they ride bareback! There is so much symbolism and history in every part of this city. I absolutely love it. After that, Kately and I climbed the Duomo for a fantastic view. I got my first pair of shoes today too, they are brown booties that were only 20 Euro!
  Also, I found out more information about my homestay family. I'll be living in the center of Florence with a middle-aged couple who have a small garden in the back. I have my own bedroom, bathroom, and tiny kitchen! The woman teaches Anthropology to American students and her fiancee is a computer technician. I'm really glad that I got a homestay and hope that I don't get tempted to speak in English to them since I know they would understand it.
 I don't think I know how to post pictures on this but I have posted a few on facebook so look there! I have lots of pictures already but uploading them is a slow and tedious process so I'm going to be selective about what I put up there.