Let's go crazy crazy crazy till we see the sun....

Every Weekend. Exciting.

Oh my goodness! It is FINALLY the weekend!!!! (not trying to say that this week was too long....),

Per request of my fine roommates, I will dedicate today's post to them :) If you want a week dedicated to you, let me know!

So, who are my roommates? Well.

Roommate: Henry Knight

<------ This is Henry. He's from Houston, Texas. He plays the guitar and I sometimes find his picks under my notebooks. He also sings (TENOR.) with me during our random bursts of song. We prefer to sing songs with male singers. I showed him the song "Glad You Came" by The Wanted. He liked the song. We share the love for Ramen noodles, talking about politics when I'm in the mood, and listening to male a capella groups because they're freaking amazing. Other than the fact that he hates waking up to the alarm every morning, we're on wonderful terms.

Roommate: John Jayo

This is John. He's from Boise, Idaho. --------------------------->
Other than having a goofy face in the picture, he likes to read books, mainly poetry, as well as play guitar with Henry. I don't think they've played together yet but I'm pretty sure that our room is known for being the musical room. I think. He once forced me to listen to Rage Against The Machine. I didn't think it was THAAAAT BAD but I mean, it was torture so... it was sort of bad. I'm not sure if John sings.. I think he does....He also has a cool last name. We're also on fairly wonderful terms.... I think he likes Ramen noodles too.










Well. Those are my roommates. I often do their laundry once a week.
EXPLANATION:
I do their laundry ONLY because it gives me something to do on Sunday nights and thanks to Polo, I'm an expert folder of the clothing. I think I taught Henry how to fold his t-shirts.

So. The weekend:
Friday - The plan is to go on the class trip (FREE) up to Fiesole to the ancient ruins to take pictures and learn about ancient theatre. Apparently, we have to write a report... but no one really knows what's happening. Then, I have work study for six hours. Lovely.

Saturday - I'll just leave it by saying that I'll be sleeping. All day.

Sunday - The same thing happens each week but basically, its Laundry and Homework Day. Luckily, I don't have too much homework this weekend :)

And then its Monday. But I'm not thinking about it. Nope. I refuse.

September Music Video Challenge:
Don't forget to vote for your favorite video. Like seriously, its either Gangnam Style guy or One Direction. C'mon. You have to like AT LEAST ONE of them.

I got no responses. So I was extremely disappointed. Don't make me declare a winner myself.

Well guys, that's all I have for you today, maybe I'll post some pictures over the weekend :)

Amore,

Joel C. Yates
Trying to get a better picture of John for my blog

Let's go crazy, crazy, crazy, until we see the sun....Tonight, let's get some and live while we're young

P.S. The first photo is of me drinking orange soda. For all of you that thought I was an alcoholic. PLEASE.

Let's Talk About Bad Ideas...... :)

Hello and Greetings from Florence!

Well. One month ago, I said goodbye to my friends and family and as I got on the plane, I realized that I wouldn't be coming back to America for three and a half months. Now that one month has gone by (even though it has felt like a year or so), I think I have (FINALLY) assimilated to the culture here in Italy. AND. I. Love. It.

September Music Video Contest:
This is just a little something to keep me entertained. Tell me in the comments which video you like the best! (and you can't like both)

Video Choice #1

Video Choice #2

Thanks! Your vote will be appreciated! :)

Bad Ideas:

1. Vogue Fashion Week Night Out --> So a bunch of friends and I went out to this event in Florence (it was free) and it was like a Tuesday night. We get to the event and it is crowded with people. I would say 'packed' but there was definitely enough space to walk around. Basically, all the stores are open until the wee hours of the morning hosting fashion shows, playing loud music, and most importantly, handing out free alcohol (Now before you all get concerned, I only had one glass of champagne and one cocktail). Here's the bad part: Not only did it get several members of our group extremely intoxicated, this event also attracted the Florentine hobos who were also getting drunk. Another thing, who gives out alcohol in a high-end designer store? Like champagne in expensive glassware? Yeah. All the drunkards dropped their drinks, ergo, smashing the glass and spilling champagne EVERYWHERE. Say goodbye to that 300 Euro jacket because the value just depreciated.
2. Wheelchair Escapades --> So one of my amazing friends, Anastasia, keeps her wheelchair in our room for safekeeping and ONCE IN AWHILE, I go out in the wheelchair on little, tiny adventures. You know what's hard to do? Trying to maneuver a wheelchair through gravel. That's hard. So anyways, I would be in the wheelchair and while no one is looking, I'd go down the valley path. Here's the bad thing: there is no possible way to steer a wheelchair when it is accelerating at rates too high to comprehend, ergo, I lost control of the chair and landed in the hedge by the volleyball nets. Luckily, my impression in the hedge was covered up the next day when the gardeners noticed the blemish and fixed it up. How nice. Oh. And I also wasn't wearing a helmet. :) #YOLO
3. Keeping food in your room --> Each week, I go out to the supermarket to buy some bread and sandwich supplies along with other snacks and drinks for the week and we keep all of it in our rooms. Now that everyone knows that I can make sandwiches fairly well, I get constant requests for sandwiches. Not that I don't mind, but if I'm trying to sleep, you're not getting a sandwich. Here's the bad part: We are out of bread. (I love you Perris <3 )

So, I'm talking to a few friends from high school and they're always like: How's Italy? Well. Let me tell you.

It's amazing. If you ever have the slightest chance of coming over, DO IT and you will never ever regret it. When its not cloudy, I wake up to the most spectacular sunrises that I've ever seen. The sunsets are so gorgeous especially since our campus is on a hill and we can see everything. The food, although questionable sometimes, is still amazing. It is not your "run-of-the-mill" Olive Garden style food. It is gourmet Tuscan cooking and it is so delicious, that you'll probably gain about 3 pounds just from looking at it. But its OK because, you're in Italy and you'll walk it off when you're taking the town by foot EVERYDAY. And although the drivers are crazy, you don't have to worry about it because you're a pedestrian... unless you're in a taxi. Don't get me wrong, I miss America, my friends and family, and real Chinese food, but its wonderful here. GET OVER HERE. please.

Well, until next week, I'm going to drown my time in 'One Direction' music, fake Nutella, and Plato's Republic. And I expect EVERYONE to Gangnam Style sometime this week: at work, at school, on the bus, in your bedroom, or with your mom. That is my personal challenge to you.

Ciao Ciao!

Joel C. Yates

Broken Bones because of wheelchair accident #YOLO

Buon Giorno! Its Tuesday!!!......wah.

Good Morning Everyone!

Me and my baby: Special K Chocolate :)

This morning, I had the ingenious idea of calling my old employer (Polo Ralph Lauren) back at midnight (their time). Now before y'all go crazy, saying that "S/He must've been mad at you"... I'll tell you that this week the Polo RL staff is going crazy and working overnight to prepare the store for the Holiday season (which is a bit early..) but anywho, I called and they were like "Oh my goodness, Joel! We miss you!" Then I told them how I missed the retail business and how I do my roommates' laundry to cope with my empty hole for retail. Yup. I standardize my roommates' laundry.

I'm going to call again tomorrow or something :)

If you haven't noticed, I found a box of Special K Chocolate at the grocery store here in Florence. Oh my goodness. My breakfasts now have a little more meaning than a pear, a crossiant, and marscapone cheese. I cannot wait to eat ALL OF IT. In a reasonable amount of time.

I would like to take this time to appreciate my family. I received a package the other day with a LOT of Ramen. Lots and lots. And tuna fish. And granola bars. And goldfish (Gosh, I miss those). To comment on the Italian food once again, THERE IS NO JUNK FOOD HERE. No Doritos, No Cheetos, NOTHING. Its good because I won't be caught snacking but its awful because if I do have to snack, I'll be eating a straight-up cannoli or a bowl of nutella. (Don't worry, I have not eaten a bowl of Nutella.... recently.... ;)

This evening, there is an 'NYU Theatre Group' Meeting for my campus. Tonight, I will be presenting the play by Mary Zimmerman, Metamorphoses, how it relates to the freshman curriculum, and how it will be an exceptional performance considering that we have a 15th century pool on campus. I'm so excited.

Other than that meeting, I have a few classes today.... like 3/4 of my classes. BLAH.

I think I'll go out for Italian karaoke tonight CONSIDERING my first class tomorrow isn't until 3:00P.M.... huh.

Until then, I hope you have a wonderful day. Wake up for the sunrise. It's beautiful. Like every other day.... but seriously. Its magnificent.


Grazie e Buona giornata !

Joel C. Yates
Craving Junk Food

Weekend Update: Its getting cold.... and we're getting colds.

Hello Everyone!

So, as you can probably tell from the title, I'm still a little bit sick from my trip to Rome (sad face.) but I feel so much better than I did yesterday....so that's an improvement! The only thing drawback about having a small campus of 300ish and a freshman class of about 80 is that when someone gets sick, WE ALL GET SICK. We don't know who the culprit is yet...but we'll find 'em.

So, I'm not exactly sure when I posted last but I did have an eventful weekend :)

Thursday - After classes, I went with a group out to the bars and clubs. Every place, except one place, was dead. And at that one place, it was CRAZY. (I was sober, for those who were a bit worried). They had like these firecracker cigar thingies and people were dancing EVERYWHERE. on tables. on chairs. with the DJ, with the DJ's friend. If you've ever been in a basketball court, cut it about in half length-wise and try to fit about 500 people in that space. We left around 2:30am.

Friday - After a crazyish night, I had my workstudy job for six hours. 12-6. as a receptionist. Now, I only had one shift and I know its going to be an awful job. First off, I'm a receptionist in a classroom building. Secondly, there are no classes on Fridays. Thirdly, no one (AND I MEAN NO ONE) is in the academic buildings on Fridays. And fourthly, I cleaned whiteboards and classrooms for 90 minutes and the remaining 4 1/2 hours I spent playing Mahjong on my laptop. I was bored. Good thing my boss listens to Gaga and Ke$ha. That night wasn't as crazy. We went to an American Diner (!!!!) and ate American food. Like a Bacon Cheeseburger, fries, AND A MILKSHAKE. (guhhhh..... dying). I'm having American food withdrawals. I mean, living in Italy is like being trapped in a mall's Olive Garden. The salads and pastas keep coming, but all you want is some McDonalds.

Saturday - Let's just say I slept all day. (OK, until about 3pm). and I attempted to do some homework. I was invited to watch "Mean Girls". I accepted this invitation.

Sunday - I worked on my term paper for Writing ALL DAY. It was fantastic. Then, our floor decided to watch "Bridesmaids" in my room :)

METACOMMENT: So. Dinner on Sundays: STORY:
Basically, everyone parties hard on Saturday night (except for me, of course....) and NO ONE wakes up for breakfast on Sundays. Actually, no one wakes up for breakfast EVER. NYU has this strange policy where they don't serve lunch on the weekends. So, we starve ourselves until dinner OR we can order pizza for about 7 euros. So, by the time dinner comes around on weekends, it kinda looks like this:

Dinner at NYU Florence = Black Friday at Macys

Now today, I'm attempting to read like 100 pages of "Mahabharata" and finishing my Italian homework. Thankfully, I have classes at 1:30 and 3:00, so, I have the morning to myself! :)

Today's cleaning day and I'm pretty sure that every time the cleaning ladies come in to do their thing, they're always judging my room and the mess it contains. Like basically they talk about it in Italian, EXCEPT I have no idea what they're saying... ONE DAY. I will come back and respond to your nonsense, ladies.... ONE DAY.

Well, that's about it...... Sorry for the lack of photos but here's one of me being studious:

The Five Dialogues. I only read two.

Until next time, buona giornata!

Joel C. Yates
The Cleaning Ladies' Nightmare

Sick. As. A. Dog. :/

Ciao!

Well, I guess this was going to happen sooner or later... but.... I'm pretty sick (just a cold, thankfully). Apparently, the trains here go a little bit faster than the trains in the U.S. (no one told me....) and there's lots of tunnels between here and Rome.....

Basically what happened was.... on the train, we would be going 120-140km/h (about 80-90mph) and we would go through these tunnels. The pressure would increase dramatically, and instinctively, I expected a mask to fall from the overhead bins... but they didn't.... and my ears were slowly destroyed by the pressure changes that I got a nice headache by the time I got there. 

METACOMMENT: Funny thing is, the fastest trains here go about 300km/h.... So, its pretty funny getting passed, then lapped, by the same train... TWICE.

Luckily for me, I knew in my mind that I packed some ibuprofen, so I decided I would get it when I got to my friend's house. But in reality, I left the ibuprofen back at my dorm. *ugh*. THANKFULLY, the Mancinellis gave me some Paracetamol (Italy's Tylenol equivalent). They're so nice :) I love them! They remind me of my family.

So, I'm trying to take some ibuprofen here at the dorm and take a few cough drops so I don't cough over everyone during class....

Huh. Coldplay seems to be soothing my mind.

I know I promised this a while ago, but the video tour will be done on a day when its actually sunny out. For some reason, we've been having some cloud issues.

Well, until next time....

Grazie per tua atenzione e Arrivederci!

Joel C. Yates
Sleeping All day.

Returning to Florence (:(

Well, its my last day in Rome :( but I can always come back!! :) Just a huge 'THANK YOU' (GRAZIE A MILLE) to the wonderful Mancinellis who were extremely hospitable, kind, and they took me in like their own family! I got to meet some of Veronica's friends while I was here and they are really excited for me to come again! I told all of them that since I visited them here in Rome, it is now their turn to come visit me in Florence :)

So, to end the week with a bang, I suppose that giving 'FREE HUGS' in the center of Rome wouldn't be a bad idea :)

Here are some photo highlights for you to enjoy!

 Looking at the Parthenon :)

 Joel's "On-The-Move" in Rome!

 Peace. with Veronica :)

 Veronica and the Colosseo :)

Shadow Pic :)

ABRACCI GRATIS!

(free hugs)

Until next time,

Ciao!

Benvenuto a Roma in Italia!

After a two-hour long wait at the Firenze Santa Maria Novella Train Station, four hours on the train (which I thought was an express.....), and ten minutes trying to find my friend in the Roma Termini Train Station... I am finally in Rome!!!

So. Ten Things About Today:

1) We went to the Hard Rock Cafe' here in Rome.
2) We went to the Spanish steps.
3) We went to the Trevi Fountain and made a few wishes.
4) We took a lot of awkward photos in an attempt to break some social norms.
5) I practiced my Italian with my friend Veronica, who is, apparently, very impressed.
6) We went to the Castel Sant'Angelo.
7) We took some photos in Piazza San Paolo (Vatican city)
8) We ate some gelato at the BEST Gelateria
9) We rode on the back of motorcycles.
10) We took full advantage of the public transportation system. Apparently, nobody pays for the buses.

Other than those 10 things, I am super super tired and I will sleep until 10:00 tomorrow morning!

Buona notte, e A Dopo!

Joel C. Yates

Week Two Update: Rome?

Well, I bet the majority of you are probably thinking.... "Wow, its been awhile since Joel has posted on his blog" and "Gee, I wonder when he'll post again". Folks, here is the remarkable post you all have been waiting for!

But in reality, the truth is that this was my first full week of school.... and not to sound like a freshman, but I would like to be able to adjust to my college schedule of classes, meal times, parties, and homework sessions in a relaxed fashion and organized manner.

So, its my 2nd weekend in Florence (whaaa?) and I decided that I would travel here:

ROME

It really wasn't a spontaneous decision, at least that's what I tell my parents, but I'm going to Rome because I want to see one of my friends from High School, Veronica Mancinelli, a native citizen of Rome, Italy. Sightseeing? I guess if I have to :)

OK, so this week, I had an encounter with one of these:

and if you're wondering what THAT^^^^^^^^ is.... well. its the Italian equivalent of a Twinkie with chocolate filling. EXCEPT its not deep-fried in a vat of oil AND its APPARENTLY super healthy. Why I bought it? I was hungry and I needed some quick energy. Did I satisfy my need? Partially. FIRSTLY, the Twinkie wasn't even a Twinkie. It was bread. Straight up, baked-in-an-oven, 'use-it-for-your-PBJ-sandwich', All-American BREAD. And inside was this frosting, almost like nutella, but chocolately substance.

All in all, I ate it anyway. It was super dry though.



And this week's Picture of the Week:

'The Art of War'

a required reading for my Social Foundations Class

So. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and I will try to post a little bit more frequently during my trip to Rome.

Arrivederci,

Joel C. Yates

P.S. If you haven't tried the Recipe of the Month, you better.