Napoli

Ciao! So day three of our Italy trip and things are still amazing. We were supposed to go to the coast today, but it was rainy this morning, so we went back to the museum we went to yesterday. It's called the Museo (museum) Capodimonte. I bought a guide book that has a lot of the pictures. They opened up a new room today with an original Botticelli that was amazing and I got to see all the other fantastic ones I missed before. We also went to a tiny little chaple in Naples with the most AMAZING sculptures. There were two that were statues of people draped in thin veils... amazing artistic feats since you can still see almost all the details of the body but that it all is carved to look like there is thin fabric over the top. There was also one draped in a net which was AMAZING. I don't even know how you would carve something like that. It was so intricate you could see the texture on all the "ropes" that made up the net. It was incredible. After that we decided it was dry enough to go to the coast anyways and so we set off, but all we got were some amazing views of the beaches from cliff-top. Today is a holiday somewhat similar to Labor Day that the Italians take pretty seriously... It's a socialist holiday and no one works on this day. The young people party a lot and it used to be a huge day for political rallys and other activist events. There was a catholic procession in the town we needed to get through to get to the beaches, so we got stuck in traffic for a LONG time and then just turned around and went back. Riding in our bus is always an interesting experience. The roads are narrow and winding and huge busses don't really fit on them, but traffic works a little differently here. If you want to cross the street, you just cross it (or just walk down it for that matter). People treat most traffic rules more like guidlines and even though things are pretty much craziness all the time, they are all really laid back. No one minds having to wait for pedestrians that jump in front of their cars or for a bus to make a three point turn... or for a bus to get out of both lains around a corner that was not made for that bus to drive through...It's funny, but I like it. Cars always make sure that they don't hit pedestians, but they don't mind getting right up next to you with their car or sortof pushing through crowds. It's nuts.
Our busdriver Marco is funny. He's a really nice guy and is super smart. I've spent a lot of time talking with him. He studied Italian History at University probably 10 or 15 years ago and remembers so much! He tells us all about dates when important things happened, the geography and sites we will be traveling, and he was even the one to tell me all about the holiday today. He's great. We're good friends he and I. He's super smart and could be doing anything, but he likes driving buses. He gets to tour Europe all the time which he only likes because he gets to meet so many interesting people. He's really neat.
The other people I really love hanging out with are Peter and Brian's kids that are here. They are so fun! I love kids. The girls aren't too crazy either and we're all getting along and having fun. They decided today that if I were an animal it would probably be a black bear cub. They're funny!
The scenery is beautiful. A lot of it looks like western washington. They have fir trees and all sorts of other trees and lots of clover and small white daisies and morning glory and scotchbroom and blackberries and things, but they also have palm trees and all sorts of exotic looking flowers and plants. It's amazing! I'm loving it!
The Italian boys are funny. They seem to think it's their duty to flirt with american girls... sometimes even if theyhave other girls with them. One girl in our group, Krista, who is tall and blonde, seems to be getting the most of it. No one speaks a lot of English around here, but they usually know a few words. The Pizza guy at the local pizzaria asked if we call Krista "Barbie" which gave everyone a good laugh. Some of these guys are just funny like the guys who say "beautiful" or blow kisses as we pass... some of them are slimey and creepy like the guys I saw in McDonalds today (we stopped to use the restroom or toilettes as they are called here) who walked by and said "kiss kiss" to me and when I ignored them one of them said "kiss, kiss. You and me kiss, kiss" I said no and tripped on the stairs and they laughed which was pretty much hilarious, but they were gross... anyways...
Apparently when I'm not with the group I pass for Italian because everyone keeps trying to talk to me in Italian. There was a guy in a park today who saw me playing with Peter's daughter Eve and started speaking to me in Italian. I said I only spoke English and he asked me if she was my daughter and said she was "Bella Chica". I can ususally understand a little if they speak slow enough and communicate a little since it's so close to Spanish, but for the most part I'm lost. Supposedly people in more Northern Italy speak English usually which is a little sad because I'm already learning a little out of necessity, but it'll still be fun. We head from Naples to Florence tomorrow - an 8 hour bus ride- where we will settle for a while at the school. I'm having so much fun and am so excited to start my classes. I've been really inspired to paint especially after seeing all these fantastic paintings.
My camera won't be much use for my photography class unless I can get my luggage with my battery charger from it, but our BYU travel agent is on the case now and she's good at what she does, so I'm hoping we'll get something happening soon. Everyone has been taking great care of me though and lending me whatever I need and I just keep hoping I'll have it soon.
I miss you all sooooo much and I love you!