He looked into her eyes and saw the stars

Blog title is a line from "Apollo and Daphne" by Ovid, in the Metamorphoses

Being a foreigner in Italy, it was inevitable that I would begin to draw comparisons between this country and my own country. Somers and I just drew up two lists our favorite things about each country. They're both a work in progress, but here's what I have down so far:

Things I love about Italy
-Walking through the city every day
-ART. Out the wazoo. Tons of it and all of it amazing.
-Siena and the Contrade
-Gelato! Especially from Vivoli in Firenze and Kopacabana in Siena :)
-Cheap European chocolate like Kinder and Milka
-HARIBO. Mmmm.
-Cheese and prosciutto
-Having class with Talbot aka D-Tal
-Hunky Italian men
-Marco and Paola!
-Fiat cars
-Eating pasta for dinner every night
-Fresh fruit that wasn't picked in Mexico 3 weeks before you bought it
-Fanta
-Seeing the black and white marble of the Duomo every day
-Multigrain baguettes from Conad
-The art. All of it.
-Amazing views of the Tuscan hills around every corner
-Window shopping
-A good transportation/bus system
-Panini from Gino Cacino's and pizza al taglio
-Speaking and hearing Italian every day
-The Wednesday market
-Italian art
-Having everything around you be way older than you can even comprehend
-The fountains (large and small) in Rome
-Sleeping like a rock every night
-Hinged windows
-Italian shoes and scarves
-Well dressed men
-Art-packed churches everywhere
-The LDS members of the Siena Branch
-The awesome friends I've made with my BYU groupies
-Laughing with Somers every night

Things I love about America
-Towels fresh out of the dryer
-Washing my hands with warm water
-Not having to use soggy toilet paper and sit on a wet toilet seat because your potty is in the shower
-Being able to do laundry at my own house for free whenever I want
-Not having to re-wear clothing without washing them
-8.5" x 11" paper
-Knowing where to buy stuff
-Knowing what I'm buying
-Knowing when I'm getting ripped off
-Air conditioning
-Being able to drive
-Music everywhere
-Being able to walk down the street without walking into and inhaling someone else's puff of cigarette smoke that they've left in their wake
-ICE WATER
-Being able to communicate with people and know what they're saying to you
-Cold skim milk
-My mink blankey
-My kitties! :(
-Not being taller than 90% of the population
-Full-length Mirrors
-Carpets and vacuuming
-Blow drying my hair every day
-TEXTING. And cell phones in general.
-Netflix and watching movies
-Eating dinner early
-Money bills that are all the same size and actually have value to me
-People that don't hate Americans
-Taking science classes
-GROCERY SHOPPING!
-Having a schedule
-Chocolate chip cookies
-My BB gun
-Playing music loudly (iPod, guitar, ukulele) and singing and dancing along


...And many more to come, for both lists!