10/24/08 Last Day in Rome we visit the Piazza Navona, La Boca della Verita, and St. Peters in Chains

Yo quiero convencer una persona reconocer yo no estupido o una bebe deficil. Yo una chica, yo una ella, yo tengo diez y sies anos, pero no bebe y no estupido. Yo sabo yo intelligente y no bebe. Mi madre sabe yo intelligente y reconoce mi.

Again, we made our way from the hotel to Rome via the bus and the train. Again, we got out near the Piazza del Populo. This time we decided we were going to walk down the Via del Corso again to check out the shops and look in the windows. We spent at the most an hour doing this, during that time I got to check out all of the clothes, shoes, and other items along with the people (there were two men playing accordions together, really quite wonderful players). I haven't mentioned this yet in my blogs, but long ago (in Paris) I realized that many of the big cities have a dress code: where pigeon clothes. The pigeons have mostly gray, black, and brown colors. Pigeons also have hints of green and purple in their neck feathers, and they all have feet that are either orange or are red. The people in the big cities have taken a cue from their "pests", many of them donning dark colors with a few things of color here and there (mostly dark colors).

In Rome they even follow the advice to wear colorful shoes. Italy is famous for it's leather, and I've seen quite a few people wearing their colored boots/heels proudly. I'm not a huge fan of the pigeon theme, all of the dark colors tend to be quite boring for me after a while, but I do realize that the dark colors are very functional. Big cities all have their filth, and darker colors don't show the filth as much (my jeans display this frighteningly well). Another function the dark colors serve is that of a "slimming" effect. People do look skinnier when they're wearing black.

Since I've seen the pigeon-like clothes multiple times over now, I was definitely ready to look at the colorful things, or at least look at the cuts of things a bit closer. Ahmee and I went into several shops were we "educated our tastes" and decided which things we'd be happy to try out, and which things we'd rather simply look at. After only seeing a large amount of color in shoes, I was ready to go into the store that had contrasting colors blaring at me in their window. This store had cute pieces and then also had some stranger ones. I liked looking in this store because the things were different. After this we needed to head to the Post Office and then catch a bus to the Piazza Navona. We had to catch the bus to get to the station first so that Poppy could send some post cards.

As we went to catch the bus Ahmee and I wondered what we'd wear if we were filthy rich. Normally it disgusts me to think of wearing something that would cost huge amounts, but then I know that there are things that I think are pretty that are expensive and that I know I would buy if I had the money (ex: Ahmee and Poppy got me a gorgeous pair of boots when we were in New Mexico, they were expensive, but I loved them-I didn't have the money). We caught the bus to the nearby bus station, and then ended up waiting for 45 minutes to be seen in the Central Post Office.

Basically to send mail from the main Post Office in Rome you have to take a number and then go to the window that has your number above it. Obviously it takes a while for your number to come up. During this waiting time I got to reflect on the outfits I'd seen. At the time I longed for my sketchpad because I was completely in the mood to draw.

After the post office we caught the bus that took us close to the Piazza del Populo. We had thought it would take us directly to it since that's what we'd asked when we asked the bus driver. Nope, it only got close. It was a good thing that we saw the sign that said the Piazza del Populo and that there was tons of traffic on that road, otherwise I'm not sure how far we would've gotten from the Piazza. We asked the bus driver to open the door, which he did with no problem because at the time the traffic was terrible and no one was moving, and then we headed towards the Piazza del Populo. Before we got there we stopped and had a bite to eat. Our original plan had been to eat in the Piazza, but by the time we'd gotten close by our stomachs were just about to combust. After we watched the people and the traffic we headed to the Piazza where we were greeted with a wonderful sight. Tons of artists were in the Piazza, painting, and selling art. I know that before I said I was collecting prints, I didn't get any prints there simply because so many of them looked the same. I like different takes on things rather than the same old front on picture or the same picture I have in my tourist book. I enjoyed browsing though, and I really enjoyed watching some of the performers. There were two tap dancers in the Piazza with their radio and their box for coins who I liked the most and who brought a smile to my face. They were really quite good, and they went from one dance to the next with very little break time. I made sure to put a few coins in their box.

From the Piazza Navona we decided we'd walk to our next destination: La Bocca della Verita to put our hands into the mouth of a medieval drain cover. The legend of this drain is that if the mouth ever closes on someones hand the end of Rome and the end of the World will occur.














The walk there was a long one, and we did not have too many shops to peer into on the way. The few furniture shops I saw were often on the other side of the street from me. I wasn't interested enough to walk across (except for a few times). Once there we discovered quite a line for the bocca. What took a bit were the photographs. The bocca was Italy's Blarney Stone. Luckily this one didn't have scary steps leading up to it. After we all three put our hands into the bocca we went into the church: Santa Maria in Cosmedin, the church that houses the bocca on the outside. This was a small, ancient church, I was glad that it had it's own icon to bring in income because this place of worship was much more intimate and real to me than St. Peters or other various cathedrals.



We left the Santa Maria in Comedin and hurried over to St. Peters in Chains, weaving our way through windy streets, past the Roman Forum, up the hill, up through a tight alleyway (with an english-speaking homeless person resting in there), and into the courtyard of the church. We made it in time to get in (we were afraid we'd get there and it'd be closed). Once inside we got to see the church, St. Peters chains, and Michelangelo's famous carving of Moses. This carving of Moses was said by the tour guide of the Vatican to be the true masterpiece of Michelangelo, the David wasn't even close. My opinion was that Moses had been well-loved when people were able to reach him. He was shiny from all of the oily hands who had rubbed him. The church made a lot of money from this sculpture. They put up lights that only shone for about a minute before they turned off. To keep the lights going you had to keep putting money into the box. Since many people wanted to take pictures of Michelangelo's sculpture the coin box was fed very often. I think the longest amount of time I saw of darkness was about 30 seconds (yes I counted).



I didn't go down to see the chains that supposedly bound St. Peter to his cell (story goes that an angel came and released him from his imprisonment). Perhaps I should've gone down to inspect them further. From a distance the chains looked completely whole, if a little rusty.




Before leaving to go catch the metro to head back to the hotel we looked at one particular sculpture that I'd seen already while in St. Peters and heard others comment on. This was a sculpture of a skeletal grim reaper holding a hour glass. The sculpture displays two things a person can never escape: death, and time. The meaning of the sculpture is: to appreciate the time you have because at some point your time will be up. Wonderful to have this statue in a church. I think it's better than sculptures of Heaven and Hell. This sculpture focus's the person on life on earth and promotes the practice of enjoying it while you can.

Once back at the hotel we dined in the dining room, typed on the computer, and then went to sleep. All of us were happy to be off our aching feet.

10/23/08 Rome, The Vatican, and the Colosseum

Muchas edificios de historica son en Roma! Quiero mostrar las personas en Hanover la ciudad y yo escribo para ellos. Las personas leo mi blog y miro la ciudad yo espero....

This morning we got up, went to breakfast (were rushed by the waiter who wanted to close up early), and then went to Rome (didn't have to get tickets because we got day tickets). Once in Rome we didn't even go to the Piazza del Populo, we went straight from one train station to another. We went next door to the underground station. In Rome there are only two lines, Line A, and Line B. Since the underground is one of the fastest ways to travel and since there's only two lines you can bet that these trains were full. This time when we road to the stop we needed for the Vatican though it wasn't packed like Sardines.

Once we got out of the underground we got to walk to the main entrance to the Vatican and the museum. The Vatican, for those who don't know, is the world's smallest country. It covers 44 acres and is run by the Pope, the leader of the Catholic Church. On the way to the main entrance to the museum we were hounded by tour guides saying "Tour of the Vatican! Tour in English! Sir you look English, would you be interested in our guided tour?" I felt sorry for the ones who said, "I work for a different company!" or who trailed off at the end of their sentences.

It was terrible. Quite like walking through a bunch of vendors down in Mexico. You like what they're selling, you're actually somewhat interested, but there's just so many of them offering that it's overwhelming and you know that if you stop and talk to one of them you immediately grab the attention of the rest of them so if you deny one the rest will hound you (10 times worse because then they're all lowering prices while you're sitting there wanting to get out and wondering whether you could bulldoze your way through the crowd of people). We didn't take any offers though (to some peoples disgust) and walked up and in to the Vatican.

After customs (the place is important so they do check you on entry) we went over to the guided tour sign and managed to fill in the spots of a few drop outs of a once filled up guided tour that was offered by the Vatican.

(not the true Sistine Chapel, but a funny image)We got headsets and got to join in with an assorted group of people to follow and listen to a wonderful older woman who told us loads about the Vatican, about the Sistine Chapel, about Michelangelo's time spent there, about the Pope (a guy asked the ludicrous question of who was in charge of the Vatican-I almost laughed at look our tour guide gave the man, it was obvious she was thinking, "Are you serious?"), about the Catholic faith, about the many art paintings we saw in there, about Raphael and his paintings, and about why the Vatican was made into a country. We walked through long hallways, courtyards, a garden, and multiple rooms filled with paintings. (an image of the Sistine Chapel --->

















All of the things we saw in the museum were things that the Pope loved and put up along the area where he went on his daily walk. Some Pope's liked sculpture and put his own collection in the courtyard, some liked geography and so commissioned a group of painters to complete multiple maps to line a hallway (all of the maps were from the viewpoint of Rome, if they were south it was painted as if the people of Rome were looking down on them), some had rooms painted with the stories from the bible (famous one of Raphaels is his painting of St. Peter being released from his prison by the angel), and some had a collection of modern paintings (glanced at these).


Our tour guide left us near the Sistine Chapel, informed us to not talk in there unless we wanted our heads bitten off, and then went on her way. We went in to the Sistine Chapel to take a look at Michelangelo's prison work, the panels of paintings along the walls that were painted by the teams of top artists, and the mass of people and the guards who were there to quiet them and "stop" them from taking pictures. People talked, and people took pictures. They completely ignored the big, buff man in uniform up at the front who shouted multiple times for people to be silent (he only succeeded in causing a few seconds of silence-just to give him some credit). Once we passed through the screen I saw a huge atrocity, a tour guide was pointing out things and chatting away quite loudly, seemingly oblivious to the silence rule. I decided then and there that that was how you could determine the certified guides with the uncertified/undignified.

After the Sistine Chapel we walked over to St. Peters Basilica, which is supposedly the model cathedral. Main impression upon entering: vast, and decorated but not all gild. Within this cathedral we saw many memorials dedicated to past Popes, Michelangelo's Mary and Jesus sculpture (the Pieta),



Bernini's canopy above St. Peters tomb (the Baldacchino), the Dome of St. Peters, and the cherubs of St. Peters. The last ones aren't really that famous, but I liked them and since I was in charge of the camera I took a few pictures of the angels holding the holy water.




















St. Peters Basilica didn't hold too much interest with me, maybe it was just too much. The art inside was wonderful, the carvings were all spectacular (if they have one of Michelangelo's they're pretty much set), and nothing seemed to be worn out, but the church didn't hold any real beauty for me. It seemed gawked at, but is it loved? The dome, the dove stained glass window, the cherubs, and the Baldacchino were my favorite things. Once we left the church we walked out on to the Piazza San Pietro, one of the most famous Piazza's in the world. This Piazza is famous because every time there's a Sunday, religious festival, and/or special occasion the Pope will bless the crowd that gathers in front of St. Peters, meaning, he'll throw holy water on them.


Vendors drag their goods into the Piazza and fight with hundreds of other people for space so that they (and everything on them) will be blessed. When we were there we didn't get blessed by the Pope (glad to avoid the crowds), but we did take advantage of something else the Vatican is known for thanks to the Pope: it's postage system. It took us maybe 10 minutes to prepare our 20 someodd postcards. After that we walked through the pillars that surrounded the Piazza and then we left the Vatican to cross the street, grab something to eat, and to feed the pigeons. We then checked out a few things to see if the stores close by had things that had been "blessed by the Pope", I will not say if we found anything or if we got anything for anyone.

After all of this we decided to hop back on the subway and make our way over to the Colosseum. This did not take us very long and soon enough we were inside the Colosseum, guideless and loving it. Ahmee told me about it's history, about what it looked like back when, about how the place had been built to house thousands (and to be able to clear the building in under 10 minutes), about where everyone and everything was held, etc.. I also read in her book what it had to say about it. I found it interesting that the elite sat towards the bottom.

In the theater the elite always have the box seats that are above everyone else, why would the Roman elite choose to sit on the bottom? Answer: they were watching their enemies get killed? They enjoyed being in the front row seat of the blood and guts? They didn't want to have to walk up the steps? I don't know what their reason was, but I do know that if I were an ancient Roman, I'd want to sit towards the back or not in the Colosseum at all (definitely wouldn't want to have to battle a beast in the arena either).

I wonder if in the future people look at our football, our rugby, our soccer, and go, "They did that!?! What!?" Actually, they might not be so surprised at that, they'd probably be more surprised over some of the shows that are on tv nowadays, probably wonder what we find entertaining about that. Boxing, wrestling, etc. those have been around for ages, and now the game isn't loser=death. The Colosseum had battles between lions and barehanded people. I've seen a painting of the arena of the Colosseum where it was filled with Elephants and people battling each other like crazy. It was mass chaos in there! Compared to the Elephants the people and their little spears looked miniscule and pretty hopelessly defeated, but then you'd look at the Elephants and how some of them were in a stage of terror and you realize that the Elephants felt just as threatened. I wouldn't want to sit close to that. Not only would I dislike the blood, guts, and gore, but I'd be worried about whether or not a body would go flying through the air and land in the crowd (elephants can throw.... right?). I also wouldn't want to go for a Gladiator.

As we left the Colosseum all three of us decided we were hungry. Ahmee checked in her book to find a recommended place to eat and we headed out, following her up the steps across the road from the Colosseum. At the top of the steps Ahmee looked around, puzzled about where her cafe was and then I pointed out a corner cafe and we forgot about the other recommended cafe for this cafe that had gelato in it. While inside we ate gelato (killer!!), used the toilet (had a seat!), and talked about the days events and what we were planning on doing.

(another famous Raphael)
With the sweet gelato taste still in our mouths we packed up and headed back to the hotel where I spent a fair amount of time working, where we ate in the restaurant, and where we all went to bed at some point (I no longer remember when).

10/22/08 We leave Pompei to go to Rome

Yo actuo feliz normalmente. Para mi es facil actuar feliz, pero es no realidad, nada persona es feliz todo la dia.

After eating breakfast we got on the A1 to head towards Rome. The road was a fairly straight one, but I ended up having to put aside my work anyway because my stomach started grumbling at me. I got to see the roads this time. I got to see all of the olive orchards, the sheep in the fields, the almost sand-like dirt, and the plants that grew along the roads and how they looked incredibly similar to the plants that can be found in the south west. I wasn't cursing too loudly at my unyielding stomach.

We got back to the Giocco, the hotel we'd stayed in the last time we were near Rome, and we put our things up in the same room. Almost immediately after we checked in and put our bags up we went back downstairs and asked the man at the desk where we needed to go to get a bus ticket and then a train ticket. He told us to go to the tobacco store, that the ticket would only last 45 minutes, and which buses we would have to watch for. We thanked him and went on our way. It did not take long for us to get the tickets, to catch the bus to the train station, and then to take the train in to Rome. It might've taken about 30-45 minutes total. The entire time I was watching the scenery, looking at the garbage that dotted the sidewalks and streets, admiring the trees and the countryside, watching the roads for crazy drivers, and (as always) enjoying the ride when we got on the bus and the train.

Our train stopped just outside the Piazza del Populo, where I got to use my navigation abilities to get us to the Spanish Steps. From the Piazza del Populo we had to take the farthest left fork. On this road we stopped in a local cafe to grab a quick bite and then we continued on our way, glancing in shop windows as we went.



When we reached the Spanish Steps I wasn't surprised to find that they were jam packed with people. I also wasn't surprised to see that the entire right hand side was filled up with people. It was easy to see why people were preferring this side: it was in the shade. It was quite hot out and we got fairly sweaty walking up the steps (I no longer remember just how many there are). At the top I reread what Ahmee's book had to say about the Spanish Steps and I was happy to see that the Spanish Steps had once been known as the English Ghetto area, and that just at the bottom of the steps there was an older tea shop. Of course there was much more to the book, it would take too long to write it all. We didn't go to the tea shop, opting instead to navigate our way over to the Trevi Fountain which was a matter of blocks away. Again, I got to navigate. We didn't go too fast because Ahmee and I enjoyed looking in designer shops and at the many people. Even though we were distracted by what was going on around us it didn't make us loose our way. We got to the Trevi Fountain without any problems.

In all of the movies the Trevi Fountain is the fountain that's famous for being the wishing well. You make a wish and you throw in a coin when you go to the Trevi Fountain. Something else that happens in the movies is that normally there aren't toooooo many people at the fountain when you throw your coin in. Yeah. Don't trust movies.




When we got to the Trevi Fountain we found in jam packed with people (even though they were doing a bit of work on it with a crane), and that in order to get to a position where you could throw in a coin you had to elbow your way through a mob of people. We elbowed and excused ourselves through to the railing and then I got to throw a coin in to the Trevi Fountain. As we shoved our way away from the Trevi Fountain and towards the Pantheon I asked Ahmee why she didn't throw a coin in. She told me she'd already done it, and that she'd had her wish come true, that she had come back to Rome.

As we walked through the streets towards the Pantheon I reflected on past movies where the heroin or hero had their wish come true from the one coin they threw into the Trevi Fountain.

I had never read anything about the Pantheon before in my life and I think that that's a shame. The Pantheon was a really interesting building. Before it had been a pagan temple, devoted to worshiping some odd amount of gods. Now it's one of the few round churches in Rome (perhaps there are more but I highly doubt that the round church is popular anywhere). Before we went in I read what Ahmee's book had to say about the Pantheon and then handed the book back over to Ahmee and Poppy so that they could read. I sat down and watched the scene that was going on outside the Pantheons front door. There were tourist groups, easily recognizable due to the clusters of people (some were even wearing the same color of hat or something), there were Roman soldiers (I suppose tour guides who're all dressed up), there were people riding through on their bicycles who were probably cursing at the blockade of people they had in front of them, there were a few pigeons resting just around the restaurants, there were people like me who were sitting and gawking, there were street entertainers (one of which I thought was very very good-he spun a ball on his nose just like a seal, and he juggled), and behind me there were a few drivers who were there one second and then gone the next (so not going to get a picture of the motorcyclists).

After about five minutes of viewing the circus we headed in to a more solemn place. As we passed through the main entrance we squinted in at the dark, and then stepped in to a quieter and cooler place. I say quieter, but I do not mean that it was dead silent in this massive, circular room. There were people talking and pointing at various things within the Pantheon, people taking pictures, people walking and having their feet tap on the marble floor, and then there were a few people who nudged others into silence. Directly in front of the main entryway there stood the cross, the alter, and the benches. As we looked around the room at the statues, the ceiling (with a few windows blocked up), and the floor I got the distinct feeling that this building was meant to worship some sort of heavenly god since the building was round, their was a hole in the very center of the roof, and there was plenty of space for people to dance in. An old school video of Greece and how they worshiped their gods by dancing is what gave me this vision of toga-clad Romans dancing round and around this room. The circle is a moving thing, I'm glad that the Pantheon is so famous, otherwise it's current role as a church would be far too still for my liking. The tourists are what keep the motion going within the Pantheon now.

We weren't in the Pantheon too long before we decided we needed to head out again towards the Roman Forum. The Roman Forum is situated on one of the largest streets in Rome and sits behind one of the biggest monuments I've ever seen in my life. Vittorio Emmanuel, the man who united Italy, has a building the size of St. Pauls Cathedral (in London) dedicated to him. Behind his massive structure is the Roman Forum, the ruin site the displays to the imaginative (or the well informed) the way life was lived in the days of Cesear and the Senators of the great Roman Empire. The idea when we walked in was to read what Ahmee's book said, walk around, soak it in, and then head over to the Colosseum (which was just behind the Roman Forum). After we got in to the Roman Forum we quickly flipped the book open to the correct page and started reading, some out loud, to each other. The book wasn't very descriptive and when we were done we were deliberating over which way to go and which way we should go if we wanted to head out towards the Colosseum.

As we were talking a skinny woman clad in black asked us if we were from the South. When we said yes she said that the Southern people were just magic. After a few more questions she asked us if we would like a tour of the Roman Forum. Poppy was against it and started to move off while Ahmee was about to ask the price and while I wondered why we shouldn't. When she said that that was how she made her living was through the tours Ahmee asked what the price was and she told us, "Dirt cheap, 10 euros per person per hour." This was very true. 10 euros per person per hour is a real bargain when in Europe. Before she began talking about the forum she made sure to inform Poppy that he looked just like a Senator, a Roman Senator, and he also acted quite like one, that he was interested in the specifics and not interested in having his time wasted. Spot on, that assumption was.

I won't go through everything Antionette (she told us her name afterwards) told us, it was too much to take in at once anyway. I'll simply say that it was a history of Italy, of Rome, of ideas (such as the Gregorian Calendar-previously we had the Julian Calendar; question: Has anyone wondered why our calendar starts in January, the month that is the number 11? It's because the names of the months were given in the Julian Calendar and the year started in March then), and about the purposes of some of the buildings (I liked hearing about the Vestal Virgins the most because I haven't heard much about this group of women). Antionette truly in love with the history and the city of Rome. Later when we all sat down to eat dinner we decided that she was hyper in her tour. She jumped from one thing to the next and kept us completely on our toes the whole time. Some things we learned about her include: that she is an Italian who's from Pennsylvania, she quit her job with the U.N., she loved the history of Italy and of Rome, she despised people who didn't bother to try to learn more, she despised the street vendors (called them creatures), she loved astrological signs (was excited to find out that Ahmee and Poppy were both Ares, and was astounded that I was a Pisces-she didn't think I was one), and she made money by picking up the tickets people threw down on the sidewalk to reuse the next day to get in to important buildings. She adored us, calling us the best sort of people (because we wanted to learn more-even if we hadn't gotten the tour with her we would've been looking up things in our book), saying that we were just magic, reiterating that Poppy was such a senator over and over again, talked mostly to Ahmee (we were following her every word and bringing in what we knew, me mostly from Shakespeare and a few other books), and at the end of the tour she flattered me quite a bit. Throughout most of the tour she was busy flipping through pages, pointing out things, and lost in her own words.


Ahmee and I were right beside each other the whole time and we both followed her the best we could and added in what we knew when we could. At the end of the tour we were walked out of the Roman Forum towards the Colosseum. At the end Antionette took a good long look at me and said that I was perfect, that I was statuesque, and that if I had lived back in ancient Rome I would've been a scribe virgin (if my parents were wealthy and if I had been 10 years old). Later as we walked out of the Roman Forum towards the Colosseum she asked me what my sign was and as I told her Pisces she exclaimed again that I was perfect, saying, "Wow.... You really are perfect! You're gorgeous! Sorry, sorry...." It was very flattering of her to say that I looked perfect. After Antionette showed us where to go, showed us where to get the tickets, and then saw us off on to the right bus, I began to wonder about her. Antionette was very different from other people. She had no qualms about letting her opinion come right out (called the street vendors creatures and skum and rushed away from them like they were insects), and she seemed so full of energy she didn't know which direction to put herself first (told you she jumped from one thing to the next). I decided that what she'd said about all of us was her true opinion, that it wasn't just her trying to advertise and make more money (which we all knew she could use).

She truly thought of Poppy as a Senator, she really thought the vendors were scum, and she really thought I looked perfect. As I ate my 8 lamb chops (don't judge, I was hungry from walking) I also decided that Antionette couldn't see the zits on my face, the bug bites, or the few flakes of dry skin because it was too dark. Nothing about me is perfect, but the dark managed to obscure things.

After eating dinner we walked back to the Piazza del Populo by way of the Via del Corso, a street that's known for it's shopping. We did what we do best: window shop, or in other words, educate our tastes. The few windows we got to look in we didn't gawk at for too long, we were all tired and wanted to get back to the hotel. Once at the train station we got to wait for a short period, road the train, got out, got to catch the bus, got to ride around on the bus for 30 minutes (missed our stop the first time and a nice lady helped us out), and then once we got to the hotel we got into the elevator (me exclaiming how fast the door shut, and Ahmee complaining about the loud speakers) and went to our room. Once there I did a bit of work, emailed people, and then went to bed.

10/21/08 The Almalfi Coast and Italian Drivers

Las carreteras de Italiana son moy (en Italiana) "mata". No me gusta las carreteras porque las carreteras son pequeno tambien y los coches va rapidamente.

The next morning we woke up, got dressed, went downstairs, and ate breakfast next to two other Americans. We ended up sharing vital pieces of information with each other. They told us that driving along the Almalfi Coast was beautiful, but it would raise the hairs on our necks. We were warned to stop when a tour bus comes through on those skinny roads because they wouldn't be afraid to knock off half of your car. We also informed them that the city of Pompei was within walking distance. We warned them about the hustlers, and we warned them about the entrance fee to get into Pompei. Very vital information was exchanged at this breakfast. I'm glad we met that couple.



When we got on the road Ahmee and Poppy commented about the crazy Italian motorcyclists (btw, I haven't mentioned this yet-the motorcyclists in Italy have no problem taking to the middle whenever they want to pass someone, even if there is traffic going both ways) and how tunnels were so dreary and how we couldn't see anything in them.

After several tunnels we arrived on the hillside overlooking the city and the Mediterranean. We drove on a road where on the right I could see that the sea was a mere 200 foot drop below us (add more to that as we went up the mountain). As we started getting closer and closer to Positano (the town where Marcelo lives in UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN!!!!) the road lost its yellow line and continuously got thinner and thinner (with the wall between us and the cliff face where 500 feet below us was the sea).


No one seemed to notice this as they went flying around the curves. Once we got to Positano the question was asked if we should stop and window shop like the guidebook recommended. I said I didn't want to. Why didn't I want to? The roads were tiny in Positano and I just wanted to get out, I didn't want to walk on the streets where I felt like hitting a pedestrian would score you 10 points, where tourist buses had no problem scraping away parts of cars (Ahmee and Poppy saw a mirror that had been torn off on the road), and where no one seemed to slow down enough for you to really get a chance to walk across the street. We continued on through Positano and found a marvelous ceramic shop that had (a choir of angels sings at these words) a parking lot.



We pulled in and got a lesson on how they make the ceramics, how their tables were different from other ceramics in that they could withstand heat (the paint wouldn't fade in the sun), and how they didn't break easily at all (were made of rock, not clay). I adored the tables. My favorite one was their biggest one that was upstairs. My tastes are far too expensive for the times ahead of me I think. The table I liked most was hundreds of thousands of dollars. I can't even remember how much it was. I think something like 150,000. Educating my tastes might be a bad thing if I'm only introduced to high-quality, expensive things. The things I picked out that I liked managed to convey something to Ahmee though: I like rich colors (not just blue).

Before we left we grabbed their business cards so that whenever I get older and have enough money to get a table I'll be able to get in contact with them (ha!). Then we headed on to the next town where we parked the car and walked through town to find an excellent restaurant where we got to enjoy the view of Positano (the famous city known for it's ceramics and it's antiques), gobble our food, and sip our drinks (I got tap coca cola with lemon and it was incredible! Even better than the coke that comes in a glass bottle). We savored everything, and I adored the time not spent in the car on the road or walking on the road. Before we got back in the car we checked out the local church. The outside was in need of work, but the inside was very very pretty. It had a ceramic floor, painted ceilings and walls (yellow, green, and gold look really good together),

After admiring the church we got back on the road to head back to the hotel. The roads got thinner, the curves got sharper (had mirrors up to give you a short warning if another car or tourist bus was coming), the minuscule tunnels became more numerous (people had no problem parking in these too-insane!), and the super-fast drivers never ended. I came to appreciate the "crazy" motorcyclists, and dred all other vehicles that took up a large percentage of the road. I tried looking out the windows at the beautiful scenery. We went from the cliffs above the sea to the forested mountains, and eventually to the big city. Throughout the drive I apparently wasn't focusing enough on the scenery, the whole time I was talking to myself (I didn't know this until we got back to the hotel room and Ahmee told me) and going, "Go on the other side of the road! Oh gosh no! Oh oh are we going to make it? Here comes a bus! Ah! Get over there! Oh oh are we going to make it?" (these are the things Ahmee said I said). I'm surprised that Poppy asked how I was doing one of the times we stopped. My answer was accurate. I told him that I was strung tighter than a piano string.

After navigating our way back to the hotel (we got into the town of Pompei but couldn't find the ruins for an hour), we ate and then Poppy and I took the computer down to the restaurant where I made sure to email people and send schoolwork (I told Sara that if we ever go on a trip and we go to Italy that I never wanted to drive).

Sleep came quickly for me that night. I wonder why....

10/20/08 We move away from the Sand Castles to explore Pompei

La ciudad de Pompei es moy vieja. Es facil para mi perder yo en las ruinas. Yo feliz la mapa es buena.

I moved very very slowly this morning. Yet again, I was dragging my feet because I did not want to leave a place. I've always loved the beach, the beach has never failed to bring a huge amount of joy to me and to aid me when I need physical and mental rejuvenation (when in Mexico I had a cold that I got rid of sitting next to the Pacific, drinking the Daquiri Del Dia Sin Alcohol), this time was no different. I didn't want to leave it.

When James came up to me during breakfast to ask what we were going to do that day I was sad to tell him that we were leaving. James (who's 5 by the way) looked at me, pouted for a short period, and said, "Who am I going to play with?" He quickly perked up before I had to say anything by shrugging and saying, "Oh well, I'll play with someone else! Would you like to eat with us Rachel?" I smiled, considerably cheered up from James, and said that I was going to go eat with my grandparents because we'd already nabbed ourselves a seat out on the patio. James didn't mind this too much and we said our goodbyes and went our ways to eat breakfast and then for him to go to church and for me to climb into the car and say goodbye (only temporarily) to the Mediterranean.

While on the road I worked. We stuck mostly to highways, so for most of the day my working went uninterrupted and my concentration didn't get rattled by my environment. After about 4 in the afternoon I stopped and watched the scenery. Shortly after I stopped we pulled off the highway, following the signs to the Pompei ruins. We eventually got directed into a parking lot where we ended up paying the the man who'd waved us in and where we ended up being taken to the Cameo Factory (Ahmee muttered about them trying to hustle us-I have to say that I agree) where we were told that nothing on the hill lasted and to only buy things out of the cameo factory. For those of you who don't know what cameo is, it's those engraved faces you see on various pieces of jewelry. We got to learn the process for making the cameo, how many layers are required, how long it takes to carve, what the best materials were (specific male shells were the most rare and thus only the masters carved on those and thus they were EXPENSIVE), how to tell plastic from real (the face shines through when you hold it up to the light), and how to tell the quality of the cameo. The salesman told us that those cameos that had the faces of his mother in law (ugly, terrible woman is what he said) were the cameos that were done by students. The ones that were slightly better were the teachers, the professionals were beautiful, but the masters were outstanding and were often very large. After admiring the different cameos for a few minutes we excused ourselves, saying it was too expensive, and went on our merry way to Pompei. Before we went in the gates to go up we nabbed ourselves a guide-book, ignoring what the hustler had told us earlier.

We got our tickets (a staggering 20 euro per person) and went into Pompei where we poked around the ancient city, read out loud the details of what happened in what building/area, and where we walked in the footsteps of thousands of people (some of which we know lived in the B.C. era.


Ahmee spoke of the different pillars, I spoke of the different time periods of the wall paintings (yes the wall paintings were still intact in some houses, incredibly enough), and we both shared back and forth stories we knew about Roman Gods, about the history of what happened there and how a civilization can be halted in its steps in one night (Mt. Vesuvius's ashes preserved the entire city and it's people, but halted all growth of the city because so many were killed and because so much was covered up).


Here we also got a warning of what we should expect from Roman roads. It's an ancient principal to be an aggressive driver here in Italy. The drivers of Pompei had make their own room amongst the street vendors, pedestrians, and other carts. Some streets were even blocked to carts (signs with a man carrying a pot displayed this). We didn't get to see all the parts of Pompei that we had wanted to see, but we ended up having to head towards the exits because we knew it was getting close to closing time. We made our way back to the car, avoiding the calling vendors as we went, and once at the car we got back on the road to start heading farther south. After about 5 minutes of driving Ahmee and Poppy decided to turn around and head back to the hotel I'd seen that was right by Pompei. Why did we do this? We did this because: 1) we knew where a 3 star hotel was, 2) it was close to the road we needed to get to the Almalfi coast, and 3) it was right next to the entrance to the A1-the highway we knew we'd need for Rome. This hotel had internet, had good food in its restaurant, and had comfortable beds.

We ended up taking advantage of the last two that night, sleeping soundly when we went to bed.

10/19/08 A Different Kind of Beach Therapy

En la mar es normal para personas calentamos muchas tambien. El sol es moy caliente para personas. Yo nado en la mar porque la agua de la mar es fresco, es no frio o caliente.

The next morning we went down to breakfast (still raggedy, but we figured that no one minded too much) where we spoke to all the people we'd met the previous day, and where we loaded up our plates with goodies. Of course, the breakfast ritual is almost always the same so I'll simply continue on to the rest of the day.

I did the exact same thing on the beginning of this day that I had done the day previous. I working on schoolwork during the hours where everyone else was in church (and when it wasn't as hot out). After about 2 I left the work to play. This time I didn't stay in the water long at all, even though the water was completely calm. I'd gotten a sunburn from the previous day (and knee abrasions from going around on my knees when playing in the sand) and the cooler water was made freezing whenever I went in past my hip. So, instead of taking the usual path, I decided I wasn't going to dive in. I went and played in the sand again. This time I decided I'd work on a sand sculpture instead of a castle. This is another thing my family used to do when we went to the beach. My Momma is a huge sand baby and enjoyed making at least one sculpture every time she came to the beach. We built dragons, sea turtles, mermaids, and dolphins.


Since my favorite thing to do was always the pods of dolphins I decided I'd make those. I built three different dolphins over the course of 2 hours. They weren't whole dolphins though. Never in the wild do you see a full-bodied dolphin above water unless they're jumping. Since I am not gifted enough to make a sand sculpture of a dolphin jumping out the water, I made three different sections of a dolphin.

One dolphin you could see the head coming out of the water and you could barely make out the fins. Another dolphin you saw the main body with the fin on top and the side fins being very predominant. The last dolphin was the hardest for me to make. This, was the tail that was sticking up out of the water as if the dolphin had just dived. It was difficult because the thinnest part of the dolphin is at the point where the fin and the tail are connected. Basically, the issue was of balance. After having the tail crumble on me multiple times I managed to finish it off.



As I was building these castles many people came up to check on what I was doing. James was the first to walk up and check on me, asking the same question he'd asked before: "Whatcha doin?" This time when I told him I was making dolphins he didn't ask if he could help, it was too advanced. He did ask if he could build a sand castle nearby, which he did and which he didn't spend much time on before heading off to play elsewhere. The next people who walked up were two women about my Momma's age who came by asking what it was I was making, and exclaiming to each other how life-like they looked (even though they both guessed wrong at first as to what they were-tis ok, I hadn't seen a dolphin for years) as I worked with the sand to make them more-so. The women got a photograph of me (my hair in my face tehehehe) and my dolphins (I hadn't gotten started on my tail dolphin yet so it wasn't the whole thing). They continued to stand there and watch me work for at least 45 minutes. Meanwhile another man with a very fancy camera came up and said (as he took pictures), "Those are definitely dolphins!

I lived by the beach for years and I can definitely tell that those are dolphins!" They ended up asking me if I'd lived by the beach, if I had an interest in Marine Biology (at one point yes I did-an interest that hasn't died yet I'm afraid, I've just not been so adamant about fueling my own interest in the field), if I was in sculpting contests, if I was in my schools art program (am not-instead I'm in choir), and what else I'd sculpted before. After answering their questions I turned back to my final project: the picky fin. As I was working on this another person walked up. This was a guy only a little bit older than I am (not sure how much), who praised my work and my artistic ability, and who enjoyed staying around. I didn't mind talking to him as I worked, but he followed me around long after I'd gotten done and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't slightly relieved when he had to go inside. I'm not sure exactly what it was about him that I didn't like. I think the most likely reason I didn't like him too much was the attitude he had towards the kids I'd had a good time with the day previously. One of the first things he'd asked was how I'd managed to untangle myself from the kids. I'm not sure what to say about that guy. There were moments where I wished he'd go away, where I'd get uncomfortable with him looking at me constantly, and following me around from job to job and even up to my grandparents. Then there were also times where I really enjoyed talking to him-like after we moved past art or religion to things like the dance or things like hobbies and studying habits. I enjoyed talking to him about some things, but then other times his staring unnerved me and made me want to be alone.

After we left the beach that night we went out to eat at the same restaurant we'd eaten at before. The people in this restaurant mistook us as German (which made Ahmee laugh), but treated us kindly enough and were very nice to us (even though we'd arrived incredibly early for dinner on the Italian clock). After dinner we went back to the hotel where I sat in the hotel lobby with the laptop for at least an hour trying to send an email to my teachers my work. As Poppy and I sat there I got to watch all the kids who were in the church group as they huddled around the computer in the lobby (I have to use the laptop to send and receive work-related email so that I can download it onto the computer I take with me, complete the work on the laptop, and then send completed work back from the laptop). I also got to watch as they all went down to the dance. The guy who'd talked to me earlier in the day saw me again as he passed through to the dance, stopped said hello and asked if I was going to the dance, told Poppy (again) about my artistic talent, noted I was doing homework, as if I could go to the dance later, and then went on his way when I said no. Some of you may be surprised that I turned down the opportunity to dance. I had several reasons to not go. The first was that I was exhausted and I only wanted to go cuddle up in bed. The second was that I had a strong suspicion that this dance was only for the church members. The third was that all of those people who were going down to the dance were extremely dressy. My dress-up clothes wouldn't do (girls my age had on dresses that looked between semi-formal to promish), AND I couldn't see how people could really dance in their outfits. Many of the women I saw had strapless dresses. The type of dancing I had in mind would have caused some indecency on the dance floor (those dresses slide all too easily). My final assumption was that those women were either not going to dance at all, were going to get drunk (don't know if the religion permits it or not) and then dance like crazy when they were intoxicated, or that the dance-type they had in mind was more formal and didn't require the movements that I enjoyed so much (for a second I pictured ballroom guys coupled up with girls-but that was a silly thought). I was happy to not go and to instead climb into bed, but I wasn't happy to leave the scene of action. After deciding I didn't want to go down (took all of two seconds) I went back to watching the scene in the lobby. One of the last things I got to watch was the smooth-talking of two younger boys. These guys were about 12-13 and had snuck out of the dance to sit and wait in the lobby. When one of the boys fathers asked why they weren't down there dancing the older one replied, "This has got all to do with man-points!" The dad went, "Oh really? How so?" The boy said, "Yeah! You get more man-points if you go in with a girl." The dad chuckled and said, "Ahhhh I see, you're waiting to snag a girl. Ok then, go for the man-points."

Once I reached my bed I enjoyed reviewing the day in my head as I slipped into a deep sleep.

10/18/08 Beach Therapy

En la playa yo construyo muchas cosas. Mi familia se gustan mucho la playa. Me rio y sonrio cuando yo visito la playa.

The next morning we found out exactly what the dress code was for the dining room. People dressed up for breakfast. Boys younger than 13 years of age were walking around in tuxes, girls were wearing what I would've considered a sunday dress if I'd been living in North Carolina, and adults were all dressed up rather than down. Many of the people in the dining hall were speaking English however and they didn't act like shicky mickey's, they spoke to everyone, including us, the slightly dissheveled-looking bunch. After having several people walk by us saying, "Good morning!", instead of, "Buonjiorno!", we asked a woman if they were a church group. She told us that yes they were a church group, called the United Church of Christ, and they were holding a gathering at the hotel for that week. She told us that they hold this gathering every year, and that the people who came were from all over. Later, I found this to be quite true whenever I got to talk to the children who were in this church group.

After breakfast I immediately conducted beach therapy. My beach therapy consisted of working for half the day on the beach, and then playing during the hottest hours in the water and in the sand. The first part of the day I worked in the lounge chair, looking quite the shicky mickey with the laptop out and my schoolbooks open next to me. I kept thinking this as I glanced around at the empty beach-side, and at how if I had been walking and had seen someone typing on their laptop on the beach instead of playing then I would've tisked at them (in my brain of course) and at their poor values. After I'd thought this thought I'd sigh and go back to working on a study guide, or I'd sigh and go back to working on a blog, or I'd sigh and continue on in my Spanish book. After lunch I was completely ready to put everything aside so I could properly enjoy the beach.



I ran for the water! This time when I ran for it it had people in there playing and swimming (church had gotten out and the beach became swarmed shortly after lunch). Unlike the previous day, I didn't want to stay in the water very long. This day the water was rough in comparison to the previous day where the water had had little wave to it at all. For a while I played in the water, body surfing and catching as many waves as I could. I started getting tired though and after getting knocked over by a wave I decided I needed to head in fairly soon. I caught a different wave in and got laughed at by a young girl who was playing in the shallows. She came up to me and asked, "How old are you?" As I adjusted my swimsuit I replied that I was 16, the girl giggled, started doggy paddling in the air, and said, "You were doing this!" She was referring to my ability to get up after catching a wave, in other words: every time I do it I'm crawling and I look quite funny. The little girl made me laugh and made me decide to stick close to the group of kids so I could hear them playing in the water and occasionally watch. I decided I'd make another drip sand castle.

As I was working on this castle a young boy with brown hair and bright shining eyes walked up to me and said in a squeaky but confident voice, "Whatcha doin?" I told him that I was building a sand castle. I was surprised when he asked if he could help. What surprised me more was how long he stayed with me. James, as I later found out from all the people who came by to see what we were doing, thoroughly enjoyed making a huge sand castle. He and I spent hours working on a sand castle that ended up looking like an anchor. The bottom part of the anchor was my wall that James asked me to add to protect the section he was building from the sea. As we working on building this structure we talked. I told him about how the closer you get to the sea the less you have to dig to get to water (I demonstrated shortly afterwards), and about how you have to pat gently to keep from crushing your own work, and how you can let wet sand drizzle through your fingers and create little mud towers (these are drip castles). I also asked him many questions like: why he didn't like to get in the water, if all the people who knew him were his family, if he went to the beach often, where his family was, etc.. He told me he didn't like getting into the water because "it's too dirty", that he had no idea how the people knew him "they just do", how his family did go to the beach often, and he showed me were his Momma was sitting-conveniently right next to my grandparents. Talking to James and working with him made me so happy. What made me even happier was showing him new things, like how to make his castle stronger, or how to dig a tunnel, or how to play in the water without going too far in (jump over the next coming wave before it touches your toes), or how to reach water without running back and forth between the ocean and the castle, etc.. The list could go on a while because James and I worked on that castle for at least 3 hours. Our final touch to the castle were a series of tunnels. By the time we'd completed our castle all of the other kids on the beach had started building one of their own. As we had worked a boy or a girl would run up, take a look at our castle and what we were doing, and then they'd run off to add on to there's. A group of boys down the beach had dug a huge hole and were building a castle that was just about up to my knee in height, and a group of girls was starting something new behind us. James and I, tired of working on our castle, decided to go help the girls.

We found out that the girls wanted to dig a series of tunnels. James was the only boy allowed into the group. As we got started digging (me showing the girls how it's best to rotate a clawed hand when digging an underground tunnel) a boy came up and asked if he could join. The brown haired girl spoke up and told him that none of the boys were invited because they'd refused to let them help. As the boy walked away she turned to the rest of the group and said, "Plus he's my brother." Two of the girls there were from England, while another younger one was from Minnesota. She told me that she and James were both from Minnesota, and that she was going to have to go sing in the choir. She eventually left, as did one of the English girls named Michele (completely different reasons- Michele had just taken a shower and shouldn't have been playing in the sand), leaving James, the brown-haired English girl, and me alone to talk and to dig connecting tunnels. As we worked James' mother came up behind me and asked if I didn't mind watching James for a minute while she went inside to take care of his brother. My answer was that I didn't mind in the slightest. I enjoyed having James around, and when his mom came back I was sad to see him go. After he left though I did get to have a wonderful conversation with the English girl.

She turned out to be 11 years old, and quite intelligent. We swapped stories of what life was like back home, about difficulties in our schools (she had issues with bullies for being smart, and her sister had issues with bullies for having red hair), about our religion (mine-nothing to tell, and hers quite interesting), about traveling, about our favorite things (pizza and talking were among her tops), and we in general had a good time talking to each other. She made me laugh more than once, and I made her laugh more than once. Later I told Ahmee about pieces of the conversation I'd had with her and I made sure to tell Ahmee about the time when she saw her dad coming towards us. She'd said, "Oh, my dad's the one with the big nose! See.... there! Oh he's coming this way!" (I'd told her that I couldn't see very well because I didn't have my glasses on and she'd told me this). After her father had said a few things to her about how they had a short bit before they had to head in she caught my eye. As he walked away she took her pointer finger, touched it to her nose, and started making pinochio-like gestures. As her father walked away I was cackling! After I stopped I said, still laughing slightly, "Your father must REALLY appreciate that!"

Such a wonderful time.

At about 6 I went inside with Ahmee and Poppy and enjoyed telling them all about my adventures on the beach as I got ready for dinner. After showering and putting on my dressy clothes (and mascara) we went to dinner in the dining hall where we ate, drank, and chatted till about 10. As we ate the three girls I'd met on the beach walked past us on their way downstairs to the talent show (they'd invited me but it was going to be far too late for me). On their way down we said hello to each other and waved. As the night went on I continuously thought about how I'd inherited a love for kids of all ages from my Momma, who'd inherited it from Ahmee and Poppy (both of whom coo and smile and play with babies every time they get the chance). I enjoyed thinking about this and about the day all throughout supper. Afterwards however, I went to the computer where I was preoccupied with something quite different.

After the computer I went down to bed, completely exhausted from the days events.

10/17/08 We Don't go into Rome Due to a Strike

Viajamos en la coche para mucha la dia. Cuando nosotros no viajamos nosotros comemos y bebemos en una restaurant y vamos en la hotel. La hotel es en la playa. Me gusta mucho el mar. Es tranquil para mi, y me no enojo todo la dia.

The news that there was a workers strike going on in Rome (traffic systems) wasn't surprising, we'd seen it in a newspaper. The news that my old email was no longer working was. When we got on the road to head farther south I cried in the car a bit. I was extremely grateful that Ahmee and Poppy didn't bring up the subject, and even more grateful that Poppy lent me his hanky.

I worked while on the road, but this work was very difficult to do because I was continuously thinking about other things. Let's just say, I didn't get very far in my work until after I'd had a really good cry.

I worked on my blogs, typing the good times and for the time being forgetting the bad ones. When I got pulled away from my work I was asked to help find a hotel. We'd made it to the beach, to the Mediterranean. We ended up following the signs to a great 4 star resort that was on a peninsula off the coast in Sabaudia ( Mussolini had the town build as part of his attempt to drain the marshland around Rome). The name of this hotel was Oasi di Kufra (Oasis of something neither Ahmee or I know). We got an apartment that opens right up onto the beach.

The instant I stepped on the beach I felt immensely better. I wasn't sad, I wasn't angry, and I wasn't thinking murderous thoughts. After we moved our things in and got lunch in town (got rained on and once we got back I worked some more in the room) I joined Ahmee and Poppy outside for the remainder of the evening. I put on my swimsuit, built a drip sand castle, played in the waves (got completely soaked as I body-surfed), and I searched for shells. Before we all settled into our lounge chairs to watch the sun go down we went for a walk along the beach, chuckled at the girls who screamed at the water (everyone was saying it was cold-I thought it was colder out of the water than in it, oh btw, once I got out in the water up to my belly button and higher I could see all the way to the bottom and the loose sponges and sea weeds rolling along on the floor there). I've always loved the ocean, the sea was no different. It was my litteral happy pill.

Once the sun had settled behind the horizon we went off to find the restaurants down the coast. There we ate delicious food and wondered if the dinner in the hotel would require us to dress up.

After a delicious dinner we headed back to the hotel where I got on the computer in the lobby (it's free, I'm going to use it) to check email and to respond to anything my Momma had sent. I told her that the simple action of pulling up Ahmee and Poppy's email infuriated me. It was true, even though I was in the one place that calmed me the most and made me most happy that action made me grumpy in less than a minute. I need to point out that my Momma feels she's doing this for my own good. The issue is between her and me, and I DO NOT WANT ANYONE TO SAY ANYTHING TO MY MOMMA ABOUT THE SUBJECT. I WRITE THESE THINGS I THIS BLOG SIMPLY BECAUSE WITHOUT IT THINGS WOULD BE VERY CONFUSING.

We left the lobby to go back to the room where I planned on working some more. I didn't realize how tired I was until I stretched out on the bed and started dozing off as I typed. Needless to say, I closed up the computer earlier than I had planned and went to bed with the noises from the neighbors in the background.

10/16/08 We Leave Florence to get closer to Rome, and I get news of a change in email

Yo permanezco me enojo para mucha la dia. Es deficil explicar la situacion. Me dico, yo no feliz, me enojo. Mi madre y yo padecemos porque la situacion es mala para nosotros.

The next morning we got up and got moving fairly fast. Our plan was to get on the road as fast as possible so we could get close to Rome. We stuck mostly to interstate this day so I was able to type loads and to do homework.

Other than that we didn't really do anything. We checked into a hotel (didn't have any stars but the internet connection was free so I immediately gave it 5) and took our things up to the room where I hooked up the computer to check my email and send a few things. As usual, I handed the computer over to Ahmee and Poppy to check their emails first. They then handed it over to me. I was stunned when my username and password didn't work. I immediately knew that my Momma had changed my email so that I could no longer talk to Iain. That night I didn't utter a word in my sleep.

(btw, I know this because every morning I get a report from Ahmee and Poppy about how I slept, it's normal for them to hear me talk a lot in my sleep-it's not normal for them to hear nothing at all)