22 now

its been a strange week. i turned 22 on tuesday. we all rode the train to verona, spent like 5 or 6 hours traveling. i bought myself a wine juice box. i thought it was funny. we got to our hotel around 2pm and went out to get food. ended up splitting up with everyone and eating with six people from the group. walked to a castle, took lots of pics and headed back to take a nap. went out to a park nearby and had some wine. some people went to a bar and i went to bed. talked to mom.. that was nice. but i dont know. it was strange. the park was fun but it didnt feel like my birthday.

everything here.. i feel like i dont know what i expected from this trip, but it wasnt this. i dont know if that is a good or bad thing, just strange.

its hit a point with the 19 of us where we all are together constantly for the past... 20 days and tensions and frustrations are running high. all the little things are starting to become big issues. it should all get resolved, but right now its just irrating.

when we got back from verona, which is an adorable little city, the palio was full swing. i staked out a spot by the wall to get some good horse race pics for two or three hours for one of the trial races. the day after, i didnt get to go to any of the other trials because it was pouring down rain with thunder and lighting. it was pretty intense and really enjoyed the bit of rain and the break from the sun. for palio all the pre races were cancelled.. so i decided to brave the crowds and get locked into the campo for the horse races.

before heading to the campo, i went to the duomo and took pictures of the parade of all the contradas. it was pretty cool. we walked into the campo 3 hours before it started and it wasnt too bad, but more and more people kept streaming in. very impolite too. i whacked some mans leg for stepping on our bags and he was a pissy asshole about it. it was crazy. so many people. they had almost 1 hour of false starts before the race actually happened. and it was over so quickly after all that waiting. the winners, the silk worms, all head to the duomo, the giant cathedral, to celebrate. that was even crazier than palio. people were trying to fist fight at the entrance to get in or out. i just wanted to get out. i couldnt believe the whole atmosphere. the entire thing is crazy. men dressed in medieval gear and knight suits and flag throwing, its just such a huge deal to them and so important. the second place is the worst place, if you arrive second place they run from the campo. to hide. its insane. completely insane.

made dinner after that, and went to the campo and drank wine. yesterday we had a dinner party at four of the girls house. almost all of us brought food and/or wine.

i enjoy siena more that im staying here, then a quick visit.

its just been a strange and crazy week. im ready to do something else though.
ill post more pics when i can.

lovejordan