Tuesday February 20th

We had our first Italian quiz today.  I think I did well.  There were only a few exercises.  Worth 60 points total.  We had to match articles with nouns.  In Italian, like in many other languages, nouns have a gender - male or female.  There are rules for each as well.  For example, if a word is masculine and starts with a consonant but is singular the aritle is il, plural for this rule is i.  If the word is masculine but starts with an st or s plus any other consonant or z, the article is lo, plural of this rule is gli.  And if the word is masculine singular but starts with a vowel, the article is l', plural is gli again.  Feminine is much simpler.  If a word is feminine singular and starts with a consonant, the article is la, plural is le.  If the word is feminine singular and starts with a vowel the article is l', plural is again le.  Easy right :]

We also had to turn words from the singular to the plural as well as the articles.  The rules for this include:  if the word ends in o (singular) it turns into an i with the plural, a turns to e and e to i.  You should always know whether a word is masculine or feminine because this helps determine the article because while most the time words that end in o or i are masculine and words that end in a or e are feminine, there are exceptions! 
We also had to match question words with sentences and answers, conjugate the verbs essere (to be) and avere (to have) and choose the correct spelling of four words.  I think I did pretty well all in all.  I've been trying to use what I learn in class outside like ordering food and what not but its hard because I am usually just answered in english. But Im trying!

I had photography today so I developed the two rolls I took over the weekend.  Being in complete darkness to load the film in the exposure tank is quite an experience.  I almost cut my hand with the stupid roll opener (literally like a beer bottle opener but slightly more dangerous) and it took me a while to get the film onto the holders because i kept dropping them but I got them eventually.  I love tedious forms of art like printmaking so this is right up my alley.  Class lasted until 2:30 but I went back at 5 to do some more enlargements.  Ive added what I did today.  Sorry about the shitty quality of the digitals.  Thats about it for my Tuesday.  Made dinner and now I'm watching law and order svu on the internet.  I really want to go to the original sound theater sometime this week.  Going ot the movies is one of my favorite things to do at home so I wanna treat myself  :]  O yeah I also found ramen noodles and soy sauce at the convenience store just down the street from us!  That place has everything!  Even eggs. 

The first one is of a gypse I met at Santa Maria Nouvella.  I gave her two euro to take her picture.  The second two are from the Florence Chocolate Festival and the fourth and fifth are from Venice Carnival.  Im excited to enlarge more from both rolls :]