November First.

Happy Halloween! It’s always strange to think about what everyone is doing back at home at certain times of my day. I am sure, as I wake up this morning, all my friends are partying into the night, fully costumed, no doubt. Hope everyone is having a blast as I have my Saturday morning coffee. Italians don’t actually celebrate Halloween. There were a few places with spooky orange and black decorations, but were catering to the Americans living abroad. I heard that the children go trick-or-treating, but I did not see one little costumed bambino all day or night. It was pouring like crazy last night. We celebrated by eating a ton of candy, which isn’t too different from any other night, other than we had an excuse that made it ok. We walked around town with our broken yellow umbrella that I made Sean buy from an Indian man selling them on a street corner. Sean has refused to buy anything from these particular vendors walking around Rome, selling...well....just stuff, as they tend to be obtrusive and pushy as most street vendors are. So against principal, we bought one. I have to say that selling umbrellas on a rainy day is a pretty smart business move. They also sell beer on the Spanish Steps which I also find a pretty genius idea. Anyway, so last night we trotted around town, doing a little window shopping. My 2 favorite words in Italian are “posso provare?”, which means “Can I try this on?” I also know all my numbers in Italian so I have no problem telling sales clerks my size. Thank God I learned this crucial survival vocabulary. I am currently in the market for galoshes, which are more for practical reasons at this time. All I could find were pink flowered ones or purple polka-dot ones and I quickly decided galoshes probably aren’t suitable for someone over the age of 11. I also stumbled across this little gem of a store. As we walked into this underground shop, my eyes were met with amazing clothes that I decided I have to have one of everything. Sean said he felt like he was walking into my closet...everything looked so “me”. I would describe it as a far improved, Euro version of my closet. Either way, I loved everything, but didn’t buy anything...yet. I am making note of all the fun places my mom and I will go when she visits for Christmas. I hope she wasn’t planning on sight seeing - only shopping. Just kidding...So, today is gloomy outside again. I am dreading the end of my last English-written novel, as I am not sure where I will buy another. Sean is making me learn more Italian vocabulary, which is only for my benefit. He is also trying to convince me to go on a day trip outside of Rome. I swear when it’s raining, and I practically live in a cave with no natural light, it is hard to get out of my favorite comfy sweats. Ok, ok, I’ll go.