American nonos and tuscan hills

To top off the craziest week ever, I think I may have just had one of my most beautiful weekends. Friday the ladies and I went out and had some crazy times (stories by request only) so by Saturday I was quite ready to head off to the country with some other gal pals to visit a friend's grandfather. We went to Viaggio which is a little township outside the bustling metropolis (speck on a map) of Figline- pronounced feel-lean-nay, not fig-line. There, my friend's American grandfather from Mississippi lives with his Pisan wife in a beautiful old Tuscan villa overlooking the township and the surrounding hills. They have a small olive grove whose olives nono uses to make his own olive oil (we had it with dinner- it was absolutely delicious). We hiked up to the grove and took pictures of the vista while nono told us stories about his grandkids, and Figline and his travels. That night we had a 5 hour dinner- from 9 pm until 2 am! In true Tuscan style, we grilled little pieces of meat (chicken and turkey sausage for us, but you can do whatever you want) on a table top grill. It's such a social and slow way to enjoy a meal- definitely something I want to bring back to the states with me. The food culture here is just so much healthier because of ideals like that. But, we also got our bbq fix (I swear, the things I miss are so incredibly random it blows my own mind) with his homemade southern style baked beans. Yum! And naturally, among those courses (and numerous others) there was wine like you wouldn't believe. 7 people consumed 3 bottles of red, 1 bottle of lambrusco, vin santo and limoncello. We vehemently said basta! (enough!) to the grappa though. I now understand why Italians drink espresso as a digestivo (digestive aid)- I had a shot of espresso at 1 am and still slept like a baby. But that also might have been because I was deliriously content and sleeping in a cozy bunk bed (I adore top bunks more than anything else you could ever imagine sleeping on) in a house where I felt so incredibly welcomed it was almost making me teary. I have met some of the most incredible people on this adventure who have opened my eyes to such different ways of living a wonderful life. I now need to put live in an Italian villa and host young travelers on my bucket list. This list is growing by leaps and bounds here.
In other news, spring has officially sprung here. The mimosa is in bloom in all it's bright yellow glory, daisies are popping up all over the giardino, and i can be seen with flowers in my hair at almost any moment. Trees have green shoots and the climbing plants on the palm trees are coming back to life. It's absolutely gorgeous. I also just discovered on my Saturday morning hike up the mountain to Fiesole that Italy has aloe like you cannot even imagine. These plants grow on the side of the roads and look like something out of Honey I Shrunk the Kids. There were numerous plants that were wider across than I am tall, with individual "leaves" that were the size of my leg! Spring makes every outing like a grand discovery because there's always something new blossoming- i'll be sure to keep you all posted on the transitions. I hear that after it blooms yellow, spring also blooms purple! We shall see, we shall certainly see. By the time I am back from break it will be in full swing- I'd say I can't wait but I am also quite looking forward to spending a week exploring the Amalfi Coast with Mike. Once I make it through midterms that is. Plus, once I get back, it means my time here has passed the halfway mark. As little as 3 weeks ago that would have been a very exciting thought- I won't lie and say the transition to living here was easy for me. Now, though I still miss you all like crazy, it's a much more melancholy thought because I have found people and places here that I really love too. I suppose that's the inherent danger of going abroad- but also the inherent beauty.