strange men tickling me in my sleep...

sorry i haven't updated yet this week, but that was the longest weekend of my life...and our internet has been on the fritz...let me begin with friday...we had an art history field trip to Orvieto which is a small town outside of Rome...the fresh air was incredible as always...we went to see the frescoes in the cathedral, which was built to house the Corporal of Bolsena...here's a little history for ya...in the early 1200's a priest was doubting the whole transubstantiation and started making his way towards the Vatican to talk to someone about it...on the way there he stopped in the town of Bolsena and during the mass the host started bleeding...obviously, the priest dismissed his doubts and brought the altar cloth to the Vatican...eventually, they decided that a church should be built in honor of this miracle, which is the Duomo of Orvieto...you can't actually see the altar cloth (except on the anniversary of the miracle) but it was still cool...

amy and i left early in order to get back to rome, and then get to the airport in time for our flight that left at 9...basically, we had more than enough time to make our flight...but do to buses never showing, and the fine print of RyanAirlines, we missed our flight...so frustrating...but hey, life is bigger than all of that...so, we rebooked our flight for the next morning...except there was only one seat left so Amy was on standby...i don't know why we keep messing up...but anyway, we got to the airport extra early the next morning...and Amy was able to get on the flight! That one goes up to the big guy...i was really nervous about us having to split up...thankfully He kept us together...eventually after struggling to navigate the metrobustramtrain mess of a place Brussels, we found Bailey (Jeff) and Cary! For those of you who don' know them, they go to Furman with us and are studying abroad in Brussels...it was so good to see some familiar faces...the original plans were for us to spend a night in Brussels, but do to recent developments, we could only stay for lunch...they took us around the main area of town and had a little taste of everything belgium...including fries and the best waffle on planet earth...then we took a train to amsterdam to meet Riley and Elizabeth (also friends form Furman)...but the two hour train ride ended up taking about 3 1/2 because of a train wreck...we finally got to our hostel at about 9 p.m...but Riley and Elizabeth were no where in sight! we sort of expected that since we told them we'd be there around 2 and had no way to contact them...by the way, we found out upon arrival that our hostel was a christian hostel...boasting a large sign in the red light district that says "jesus loves you"...amazing...we wandered up and down our street for about 20 minutes and then the crowds parted and we saw blazing red and blonde hair...it was miraculous...we ran towards each other...it was quite a glorious event...we had orginally told Riley and Elizabeth that we had to leave on Sunday afternoon, and since it was already saturday night, we stayed up talking, catching up, and planning our only day together...then right before we went to bed we told them that we were actually staying until monday! it was so exciting...so, we slept in and then toured the city...we went to the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House, and then walked forever...there isnt a whole lot to do in Amersterdam besides museums...and pot...so we just wandered...did a lot of people watching in the park...amsterdam was beautiful though...the leaves were all changing colors and the weather was perfect...it was so good to spend time with friends...so good...just good to have real conversation...with someone who already knows me...ya know?

anyway, the funny part of the whole trip was the train ride back...Amy and i took the 15 hour train home...and the first 6 hours were wonderful because we had a car for 6 by ourselves...but at 11 p.m. the train stopped and 4 Chilian men became our roomies...this was the biggest language barrier i've experienced yet...they didnt speak any english, and we spoke no spanish...we finally got the point across that we wanted to sleep, so i started to climb up to the top bunk...but then one of the men started making this weird noise and tickling my feet! really? i mean really? it was so weird...then he started reaching up through the cracks against the wall to try and get my feet again...i eventually started beating him with my crossword puzzle, but he just laughed...he did it again in the morning when i got down...and then proceeded to smell my shoes before he let me put them on...
well, this weekend is my second weekend to stay in rome...my parents just got here this morning and i'm about to go meet them at their hotel...peace

shout outs...
julie...do you think this will fit Elizabeth? i had a minor laundry issue...