i'm a wanderer.

literally my favorite song of all time. i will always always always and forever love listening to this song, it catches me every single time. i absolutely love marc broussard's voice. cheesy picture but i couldn't find a good clip with the beginning line, which is my favorite. i would do anything to see him in concert!

"dance for me sweetheart while i strum my guitar, you sure look pretty tonight..."

la festa.

last night was the school party for villiagio giardino. we've been practicing in music class since i got here, especially this week. each class had a dance they performed and caitlin, ansley and i were invited. school parties are a big deal here. it was in the park right outside of the school and my house. parents, grandparents and anyone from the community who wanted to come watch were there. in practice during school after the cinque anni class finished their dance they lined up with the quattro anni class to sing a song. this is when caitlin informed ansley and i that we were going to be singing michael jackson's "heal the world" with them since we knew english. haha. i had to come home and look at the lyrics, i was a little nervous about this.

we showed up at the party after our meeting and everyone was decked out in western gear. the kids looked sooo cute! here's the parents who were part of the performance. they like told a story between each dance, i didn't understand but it was cute.

all the parents were so excited to see me. they kept saying "ciao maestra anderson" and they loved talking to me. they are so sweet they always try to ask me how i am and things like this in english. one of the dads told me his son spoke about me all the time. it was great to be able to see all of them and know how much support i have. my kids dance went well. they are so funny when they do it. they get so confused sometimes, the parents loved it! here they are in their sweet little bandannas.

gosh i'm going to miss them so much. here's us singing "heal the world" haha it was awkward but so funny. notice the dad's holding their hands up in the back. the kids did a great job. the four year olds sang just the chorus but the five year olds sang the whole thing. they learned it in english class and you could understand pretty much the whole song.

this is me with my teachers Lucia and Laura. they are so great! after the performances we just hung out for a little bit and got to talk to the parents more. one of the dad's had made sangria and Laura practically shoved it down my throat haha. i have a feeling they would be fun to party with. they always ask if i went to the discoteca.

the party was a success, this morning one of my girls came in crying because she didn't want the party to be over. she wanted it to be again tonight. it was too cute!

under the tuscan sun.

i just got back from what i would without a doubt say was and will be one of the best days of my life. i spent the most beautiful sunday "under the tuscan sun." no, i haven't seen the movie but i plan on renting it when i return.

within the first minutes of driving in tuscany (i don't remember the name of the town we were in) i had already fallen in love. the hills covered in small villas, grape vines and olive trees. it was beyond gorgeous. we arrived first at an estate owned by a family whose name i cannot recall. hearing the history behind this place was awesome. then we got to get up close and personal with the olive trees, and our guide explained alll about how olive oil is made. especially how it is so much better here.

i'm not sure if you can see, but there are lemon trees next to the front steps of the house. we were encouraged to smell the lemons, and i was shocked. they smelled like a sweet lemon candy. it was amazing. i wanted to eat it right there. in the winter time they move the big pots into a greenhouse type room in order to keep them warm enough. if you couldn't tell they take food very seriously here in italy.

then we had our wine tasting. we got to taste this amazing olive oil with bread, and he was right it is so much better here. the wines we tasted were great too! it was so neat to hear the science behind how everything is made. wine making really is such an art. there are regulations on growing the grapes to keep the quality high. and there's so many differences depending on the amount of sunlight, the type of soil and the location on the hill as well as on the vine (whether closer or further away from the ground). it's just mind boggling.

we left the estate and went to an old house were we took a cooking class. jessie (our guide) was from arizona and moved here with his wife to start the tour group. he was a chef back in america and he was very well knowledged about food. here are our final products. we made ravioli and fettucine like pasta from just flour and an egg. it was so much fun!

this is the house. it is 800 years old and has been in the man's family for over 100 years. a grandmother and grandfather open it up to these tours, she said in the spring/summer she cooks for people almost everyday. i cannot find the words to describe how wonderful this experience was. the house had the most beautiful charm to it. and the woman was so incredibly kind.

this was my view from the table. the door and all the windows were left open so the cool breeze and fresh air was filling the house. the food smelled wonderful and tasted even better. there was 1950 big band, jazzy type music playing in the background. i felt like i was in an old hollywood film. every now and then the nonna would start singing as she walked through the kitchen or onto the porch. we had three courses, two of which were the pasta we made. and strawberries for dessert. we also had unlimited red wine. i could have sat in the chair at that table for days. i was so content. it was so incredibly peaceful and simple and absolutely beautiful. i literally felt like i was living in a dream.

all of us at the end of the afternoon with jessie and our nonna. an absolutely unbelievable experience.

flore.

in italy there are flowers everywhere. walking down the streets, the balconies, windows, yards are patios are covered in them. they're so bright and make everything seem more alive and welcoming. i can't get enough of them. each balcony i see is wonderful in it's own way. i get excited every time.

when i grow up i hope to have my house covered in flowers. in cute pots or clever designs. flowers make everything happy.

what i love about sunday.

it's sunday and it's finally sunny here in Modena! and what a wonderful day it has been. today was my mom's school party. here school is about a 30 min drive from Modena, but it's ok because it's through the countryside and there are no words to describe how beautiful it is. i think it's because i'm a romantic but everything seems a little bit more beautiful here in Italy. even their buildings that have been left to rot in the middle of the fields have a certain charm about them. driving through the country i couldn't help but smile at the beauty surrounding me. everything was green and there were farms with grape vines or pear trees and fields that didn't stop until they hit the mountains in the distance. you can see all the small towns and sometimes just the houses that sit alone. they are bright and colorful and have pretty shutters and the flowers, oh the flowers. they are everywhere. all over the balconies and the front gates, and the yards. so many bright colors and pots covering the cobblestone driveways or brick paths. i wish i had been able to take pictures of everything. there were also beautiful houses with the big gates and trees that lined a dirt drive all the way to the front door. literally if you looked straight through you could see a big wooden door at the front of the house. the clouds were perfect today as well. they seemed to blend in the with the mountains, a few of which were snow capped. what a beautiful setting, i wanted to take off my shoes and run through the fields and pick grapes from the vines and pears from the trees and take them inside to my "nonna" cooking fresh pasta and bread. dear italy, i love you!

this picture does it absolutely no justice.

after the school party we got to drive back through the countryside for another 30 min and definitely wasn't complaining. then we went to this awesome gelato shop that was packed. i got to have 3 flavors! it was great. we went and ate in the park. giuliano (my dad) told me that sundays are a day of relaxing in italy just like in america. there were tons of people all over the place, not just the park we were in. italians are much more active than americans are. everyone was running or riding their bikes. the sun hasn't been out for quite some time and everyone was taking advantage of this gorgeous may weather. eating gelato in the sunshine and watching the cute little children running around was just great. i'm thankful for such an amazing day. i'm off to read about the reggio schools, it's quite inspiring and i can't wait for another week with my precious three year olds!

a universal language.

i think children are the ultimate example of the universal language of love and happiness. my three year olds could care less that i'm American, they think it's really cool when i show them where i live on the map but they love me just the same. they talk my head off like i can

understand every word they're saying and i just shake my head and smile. through working with them i've realized that all kids just want to be loved, they want to be happy all the time. they all react the same to a smile. when laura is teaching and i catch one of their tiny little eyes, and i smile or show a face of excitement they kinda tilt there head and look away as a huge smile forms across their little face just as any child would do. they get so excited about the small stuff! they hold their bellies and pull at their hair and their noses are constantly, i mean constantly running and it's wonderful.

from the second i arrived in modena i have felt an overwhelming amount of love. when i was nervous on the first day of school i walked in to find this sweet sign and i was extremely relieved. all the parents have loved meeting me and always try to talk to me in english. there

broken "hi how are you's" or "good morning's" make me happy everytime. i think they're excited that their child gets the opportunity to hear english was someone who speaks it.

this is the class i'm normally with. i'll keep updating pictures. THEY ARE THE BEST! i'm in love with every single one of them. i could write pages about each one's little quirks that i love so much but i'll spare you. some of them just make me crack up in the middle of lessons. others make my heart melt. they are so much fun! it's great when the kids walk up to me when i'm sitting on my tiny little stool and hug me and kiss my cheek. i love watching them dance and sing and run around and play.

this was the class i was with on friday. they're a little crazier but they were so cute. they dragged me around all over the place to play puzzles or dress up. look at their precious little faces.

pioggia.

it's been raining a lot in modena. "pioggia." i mean one second it's beautiful next it's thunderstorming. i love rain, so besides that one time i had to wait thirty minutes for a bus in the monsoon in athens before my 8 am exam, it makes me so happy. and had it not been raining the day we toured the "piazza roma" or "center city" i would not have gotten this picture that makes me so happy:

i don't see why people always complain about rain. so many great things come from it. it gives you the perfect excuse to get muddy and dirty and wet. and jump in puddles even when you're 20.

it also gives you a great opportunity to lay in bed with 500 pillows and watch movies or tv shows all day. or listen to norah jones, or john mayer and sleep and relax. or curl up with a good book.

or you could go singing in the rain.

or even dancing.

or you could just go for it.

or be in love. simply be in love.

"tobie"

meet toby. he's the dog of the family i'm staying with for a month in modena, italy. ohh toby. they warned me "little dog, bark bark bark bark." but toby only barked at me the first day. they say "americano, piacuto!" haha i guess it's true he likes me because i'm american. toby barks at anyone else who comes in the house (besides the family of course), he's really warmed up to me quickly. he likes to sit at my feet and put his paws on me at dinner to beg for food (he does this to everyone). he'll even sit with me on the couch, i pet him a lot because i'm new i think that's the only reason he likes me so much. when i was completely overwhelmed my first morning here (i had left my passport and half of my euros on the bus, and i was living in a strange place with hardly any communication) toby was here for me. the rest of the family had school and work and it was nice to wake up to an empty house so i didn't have to worry about talking to anyone. and even though toby understands italian, it was nice to have him around to feel loved. it's funny how dogs are just like people. they learned the language they are spoken to in. i guess its' universal, dogs are a man's (or girl's) best friends.

moving on.

as i walk through the chi o house today i'm getting sad because some of the rooms are now completely empty. living with 69 other girls this year has been an absolute blast! i'm going to miss hanging out in the halls (which are quite large- this is a good rush topic) and eating meals together. especially wednesday or friday lunches. those are always the best. it's nice to have so many friends in one area, and it's definitely better than the dorms, although brumby was a blast. here's some of what i'm going to miss about living in the house!

hallway hang outs. mary cate reading the "red hot read," she ads her own little tid bits, quite entertaining.

late night escapades. providing unlimited amounts of laughs.

late night taco bell. any late night food for that matter.
the chapter room. here's us in front of the owl tree at christmas. during finals in the winter we'd study with the fireplace going, it was wonderful! i love the big couches and especially enjoy curling up and watching movies in here.

destroying carol's room! we took all the owls we could find and put them in carol's room, it was covered.

gameday banners.

the front lawn! with nilla our snowman.
we loved hanging out on the front lawn, or laying out in the courtyard on pretty days. favorite memory was walking out for my 2:00 class on a thursday to find carol, kennan and mary cate palying frisbee. well of course i wasn't going to go to class now. we brought out the speakers, jammed to some O.A.R. as we threw the frisbee for over an hour. great afternoon!

thanks Chi O for lots of great memories. i'll be sure to come back and visit every now and then.

s and b.

studying for exams is making me crazy (if you can't tell from all my recent blogging). last night during gossip girl i decided, i think i actually decided this a long time ago, that i would love to be friends with blair and serena. s and b. they're the trendiest, funnest, prettiest, sexiest, awesomest, most bad ass duo out there. no arguments. plus i wouldn't mind having either of them on my side if i was ever in a bind. who wouldn't want to be caught on the upper east side with these two?

"do i really have to graduate or can i just stay here for the rest of my life?"

italy, here i come!

this is modena. the town in northern italy where i will be living for the next three and a half weeks. isn't she cute? oh i can't wait! i'm living with a family and we have been emailing back and forth for awhile now, they are precious! they are so excited to meet me, and i am so excited to meet them. i can tell they are going to be just wonderful.

if every street looks like this i'm going to be in heaven. it's so bright and colorful. i'm hoping for wonderful weather. my mother says it is getting nice there now.

they are famous for balsamic vinaigrette. apparently if you look on most jars in the US they say "di modena." i'll have to bring back some authentic jars.

i'll be teaching in a class of either four or five year olds. we're focusing on the american family and hope to teach them how to say basic words when referring to their families. children are love of mine, but i have a feeling that italian children are going to be some of my favorites. i hear everyone there is so loving. i'm looking forward to seeing their bright little faces looking up at me everyday, and i'm ready for lots of hugs.

"cool is enjoying the view.

cool is making them hold their breath.

cool is time off for good behavior.

cool is living the legend."

i think Mischa Barton is cool. and she's even cooler in her keds ads.
i love that she loves dogs.

she makes a hammock look good. i love the cheetah print and hat here. also adore the flower in her hair below. these pictures make me so excited for summer.

right now i'm craving light yellow keds. they're so cute, i would love walking around in them while i'm in italy! they're just happy shoes.