Field Trip

The other day I went on a field trip. I had fun, but three out of four meals were pasta. The first remarkable thing about the field trip was I made a good impression of an idiot, because I turned up at school, when I was supposed to be down by Consolazione. Then I wasn't properly equipped because I had not understood what we needed. Then I proceeded to leave my umbrella at the hotel when it was raining.Then I continued to look like an idiot because I didn't have money with me, so I couldn't buy a poncho, so I got wet while going from umbrella to umbrella. My excuse was I was talking to people; in reality, I just like being in the rain. Then I took off my sweater, which doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but every single other person was wearing a heavy jacket (I took it off because it starts to smell like a sheep when it is wet). Then I looked too old because I ate politely (actually the others did to, they just didn't use a knife). Then I went to bed just after we got to the hotel. My room was a social gathering point after I had changed into my PJs, and when I went to sleep there was a boy still in my room. I made another impression of being slightly, well, off my rocker, by not having chocolate with breakfast (I couldn't find any). All of my classmates think that I am anorexic already, because I don't usually eat at school.

However, that is just social standards. When I got to the bus, I climbed on, and I sat in the last seat on the bus (except for one, which I didn't see). Then we started off. We rode the bus for about two hours. I had gotten up early to get ready for the field trip, so I was tired, but it isn't the thing to sleep in public. The only people who were talking were the rowdies in the back. After two hours of keeping myself awake, we arrived at the hotel. It was a nice hotel (3 stars). We dropped our bags and went out to tour a church. Sadly, very few people knew how to behave. We were then told to traipse around town until twelve o'clock. We did, and I got wet. I had to explain that I am NOT made of sugar several times. At least at lunch I impressed my table mates by using my knife. Then we went out to the middle of nowhere (mezzo di niente) and we were sent on a scavenger hunt. We were given teams, a map, a compass and a pen. Each clue had two letters on it to copy down to prove that you had seen the clue. Because of friends, each team ended up calling the others to see if they had found the clues, and to copy the letters from the other team. It was very muddy, and only two of the six of us weren't wimps about mud (incidentally, the other girl was from my class). The guy on our team was freaking out about getting mud on the bottom of his sneakers! Then we went back to the hotel, changed out of our clothes and into new ones ( I just dried mine) and went out to dinner at the same place that we had had lunch. After dinner, I went to bed, and most of the other people had a party. The next morning, we set out on the bus to go see another town. It was bitterly cold and windy, but my skirt kept me warm. One boy commented to friend that "Americans are immortal". The reality was that I am not one for complaining about things that are my own fault, and I didn't have anything to complain about anyway. After a two hour walk, we went to have lunch (different place). After lunch, we visited  a once underground stream; now it is a large chain of sinkholes across a field. Then our tour guide gave a lecture on being prepared, but he gave it outside in the misty wind, and some people were on the bus and refused to get out. At last, we clambered into the bus, and we were on our way home. We were a little early to get on the road because the weather was not very pleasant. So, in order to kill some time, we stopped at a chocolate fabbrica (where they make chocolate).  We were told that only the people who had listened to the lecture could go in, so, naturally, the bus was evacuated in seconds. When we were back underway, our teachers put on a movie. It was (as far as I could make out) about two men trying to impress their wives, who had run away. One way to do that was to get Italy to be efficient! It was definitely a comedy. We were left at Consolazione, and I walked back home.
Ciao,
Florence