where i am RIGHT NOW

All right guys, I know many of you are only vaguely aware of having heard of palermo and therefore are likely wondering where the hell I am. So, first thing's first: where I am geographically.

http://www.ils-milano.it/italy_map.gif

So Sicily's the island off the toe of the boot, and you'll see Palermo's on the northwestern coast. Essentially, this is just about as south as you can get in Italy. Well, you know, you can go further south in Sicily. But Sicily in general, I mean, is the very southiest of the South. Note, if you will, its proximity to northern Africa. A lot of Africans come into the country (legally or illegally) through Sicily and many make their way north through Italy to economically greener pastures.

And now, a few photos for you all. As it's the first sunny day since I've been here, I took some photos from the windows of my friend's apartment. So now you can get a sense of where I actually am. Yay!

The street view, from the balcony. If you can see the sort of gray shape in the background, that's a fatty mountain, although I know you can't really tell in the picture. It's pretty much visible from everywhere in Palermo, and it's gorgeous.

Here's from the other side. Lots of palm trees in this city.

And here's the view of my friend's darling little cortile (courtyard) in the center of his building/palazzo. Complete with pond (though you can't really tell here because it's covered with greenery) and fish and a few resident cats.

The "up" view from his inner balcony... Sunday's laundry day.

So, alas, I have still not found an apartment. But I can tell you definitively that when I do, it will be nowhere near as nice as this one. I couldn't afford a place like this on my measly grant money. But that's okay, I'm young... there's only a short period in your life when you can live in shitty apartments with no heating and no washing machine and not be considered a failure at life. And I, friends, am still in that blissful period.

By the way, I just got back from looking at a place in the older, central part of town with the aforementioned defects (no heating or washing machine). And the commute to my schools would be a little long. But, there would be five other girls, three of them art students; I met two of them, and they were very sweet. The area is a bit more run-down than some parts of town but it's where most of the students live, and where all the bars and nightlife are. So I'm not sure. Ugh, apartment hunting is so stressful. I can't really think about anything else while this is still up in the air. But once it's settled, I can start showing you around the city.. and finally see it for myself.

A presto...