"Tu sei americano?"

2:25 PM, GMT +1

Last night around sette, we went to a little event called an aperitivo, which seemed like a chance to eat and drink before you eat and drink. Of course, I'm still waiting for my drink which never came.

Afterwards, I accompanied Lauren and Elise back to their apartment so they could safely wander the streets of Milano at nighttime. I was still exhausted from the three hours of sleep I got the night before... Old Fashion might have been the death of me.

We relaxed and then decided to go to to Drew, Ryan, and Leif's apartment for a little while. Can't say I remember much- I was so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open.

Now here's the scary part. After the 7-block walk back to the metro station, I was the only one who was taking the green line home. Everyone else was on the red line. So I said goodbye to them at the station, and hopped into the metro, where there were about three people on the entire train, and two of them were in my car.

Keep in mind that it was around 12:15, and the trains stop running at 12:30. I had a half-hour before my station came up, so I closed my eyes for a little. When I opened them, the train was empty, and the sign above my head showed St. Agostini. I had missed my stop on the last train to my station.

I was praying the train would stop, but the next two stations we passed were completely dark, and we didn't even stop at them. I thought I was gonna end up on the other side of the city, and I'd have to drag my Euro-less ass back home on foot.

Then I looked at the map on the train, and remembered that Famogosta was the next stop. And when we stopped, the ugly green sign that hung above the station never looked more beautiful to me. I crawled back home slowly, greeted Franco the doorman, went into my room, and passed out.

The next morning, I had a language exam for IES. Well, at least I thought I did. But since I was in Italian for Dummies 100, we just had normal class.

I planned on waking up at 7:30 and taking my time. Instead, I got up at 8:30, threw on a shirt, ran downstairs to the cafeteria, and wolfed down my brionche (croissant), aranciata (orange juice), and whatever the italian word is for mixed-berry yogurt. I got some funny looks from the three people in the cafeteria. I don't think Italians normally finish any kind of meal, no matter how small, in under a minute.

On the way out, I held the gate open for this Chinese student. He looked at me while we both walked towards the metro, and he said, "Tu sei americano?" I replied, "Si, sono americano." Then he said something else in italian that I could not understand. I just kinda blankly looked at him.

He smiled. "What are you doing here," he asked in english. We just talked, and I discovered that he was merely studying in Italy. He was a chinese student who learned italian and happened to know a fair amount of english.

Yay American education. Anyhow. The rest of the day was pretty bland. Went to class, was still tired, went home, ate lunch, passed out for six hours, woke up, got lost, got lost twice more, then ended up in a friend's apartment for dinner.

Damn, I love Milan.