happy hanukkah!

So since I got back from London, things have been very relaxed. I should be working more on my papers, but I'm a procrastinator...we all know this. In my mind, they will be very simple to write. I know that once I actually start they will be fairly simple actually. They won't win any Pulitzer Prizes, but they will get me a decent grade. Truthfully I'm more worried about presenting them to my teachers. I have to sit with each of them and talk about what I wrote. I hate talking to teachers about papers. I would rather they just read it and give it back to me, no questions, no suggestions. Talking to them individually makes me very nervous and I can never explain what I was trying to say accurately. Oh well, I have some time before that goes down.

In the few days after London, I was so worn out I didn't really leave the apartment at all, so lately I've been trying to push myself to go out and do at least one thing everyday. Even if its just taking a quick walk, every little thing counts. Since I only have 2 weeks left, I want to enjoy every moment of Venice that is possible.

Last Tuesday was a long day because of my art class. I knew when I woke up that I had to be prepared physically and mentally for the day. We started at 11 am and ended at 7 pm. Yea it was long. First, we went to the Salute, which is a church in the Dorsoduro section of the city. It is amazing. It is definitely my favorite church in the city. It is completely Baroque in style, which is a style I'm in love with. After exploring the church for a few hours, we got lunch at this local cafe. Apparently, in the 60's a lot of famous artists used to go there so that was kind of cool. After lunch, we headed to the Accademia Gallery. I had already been there, but wanted to have Elena show me around and it was free :) I remembered a lot of the painting from the first time I walked through, but having someone personally guide you around and talk about them changes things a lot. You really have a better appreciation of the works. There are so many works that I love in that place and I wanted to buy postcards of them, but they didn't have any of the pieces that I liked. It was very sad. After Accademia, I went to Ca D'Oro because it is free the last Tuesday of the month. It is a smaller art gallery that I was planning on not seeing because of the entrance fee. When I found out it was free, I jumped at the chance to go. The gallery was pretty interesting. I was really interested in the sculptures that were there. There was also a concert that night. It was a group of people playing ancient Venetian music with things that sound like flutes and recorders I guess. It was pretty cool. I was so tired from the day that I started to fall asleep in the middle of it.

The next day I had class and was a bit unprepared for it. I was supposed to have more research done for my paper, but whatever. Later that night, I went with some people to watch them light a huge menorah in the middle of the Campo Ghetto Nuovo. We got there a bit early, so they invited us into the synagogue to get warm. We ended up meeting a few people from Australia and Israel so that was cool. After the lighting they had a small party with food and dancing. The dancing was a bit crazy because we didn't know the dances. The food was fantastic! I was introduced to latkas, which are potatoes and onions put together, and I couldn't get enough. They also had these amazing donuts and cakes. It was pretty awesome. After that, we went back to the synagogue to continue the party. They played games with the kids and we talked to some more people. We also got to watch this video about the Jewish history which was made for kids so it was really funny to me. Then we got to eat more good food! They had meat, and hummus, and pita, and a whole bunch of other stuff. I was excited. Oh and I got a free menorah. I haven't been lighting it every night because I don't have matches, but its pretty cool.

Other than my Jewish craziness, I've just been "working" on my papers. I have been doing some research everyday and hope to finish them early so I can enjoy my last week. Thats about it. Thanks for reading! Ciao.