Ciao everyone!! My semester is almost done, I just have finals week left to get through. And then once those are done

I’ll be heading up north for a month and a half to complete research for my final senior thesis. It’s been a stressful and very confusing end of the semester. The guys have been and will continue to be a huge help in getting me through it.

My one good friend and I continue to watch videos of them when we’re stressed and need a break. More and more of our other friends have been joining us as well. Recently, we’ve been watching some older funny videos and they are doing a very good job in relieving our stress. One of our new favorite videos is of Piero singing Cielito Lindo in Latin America.

Since we both come from strong Hispanic families we grew up hearing this song a lot and it brought tears to our eyes to hear Piero sing it. It made me think of my Abuelita when she was younger. Unfortunately she now has pretty advanced Parkinson’s, but before she was sick she’d be constantly singing and dancing as she walked around the house. Cielito Lindo was one of her favorites and when I showed her the video of Piero she started crying. She adores the guys, but due to her health I’ve never been able to take her to a concert. She is one of the ones who introduced me to them when she first saw them on American Idol and she has delighted in my growing love for them since then. Speaking of grandparents, the other person who introduced me to them was my Italian Nonno (my mom is Mexican and my dad Italian). He also saw them on American Idol and was very moved by them singing O’ Sole Mio and has bought almost every CD of theirs; which means we listen to them at almost every family gathering. One of my earliest memories of my Nonno is him singing O’ Sole Mio as he walked around the house, so this song has special meaning to me. We were all very excited when he recently discovered that his family is from Abruzzi, from one of the towns right by Montepegano. Needless to say, my entire family is pretty much a family of Il Volovers.

Now back to school stuff, I’ve discovered another way the guys help me! I’ve always listened to their music to help me fall asleep if I need it, but recently I’ve started listening to them in the mornings as I walk to class too. Starting last week my life kind of exploded with projects, meetings, papers and exams. This means that I’ve been averaging about 3-4 hours of sleep a night, which will probably continue through exams. Even with napping when I can, this means I am a very grumpy person most mornings. Well, I found out that if I stick my headphones in as soon as I get up and listen to a select playlist I’ve made of their songs, I am a much happier person who no longer gives everyone I see before 9am a death glare lol!

All right, I should probably get back to work since it is the last day of classes and I am supposed to be proctoring an exam for the Gen Chem students. Hopefully this first group finishes early so I have time to go take a quick nap before the next set comes this afternoon! Ciao ragazzi!! Ti voglio bene!

Ciao everyone!! It’s been a crazy couple weeks for me! Since it’s close to April Fools I thought I’d tell you about a prank my roommate and I pulled on our friend last year, it involves Il Volo. But first, since many of you haven’t heard the story, let me tell you what happened with Gian, Ignazio, and my hair at the meet and greet, lol.

So after I got my picture with the guys, I turned to Ignazio and was thanking him again and hugging him and just pretty much freaking out. Well, my back was to Gian and my longer than waist length, very thick hair caught his attention. Gian started touching my hair and saying how amazed he was with how long it is and he accidentally caught my already loose ribbon on his sleeve and completely untied it. Ignazio smacked his arm and said “Yes yes, she has beautiful hair, you have your own beautiful hair! Leave hers alone!” Ignazio then turned me around and retied my ribbon and then hugged me again. I still have that ribbon and am never untying that bow! Hehe!

Now for my April Fool’s Day story! My roommate and I last year had a friend who we could tell liked the guys, but she wouldn’t admit it to us. She’d say she liked their music but she wouldn’t admit to liking them like we did. Well when the pictures of the guys with Pope Francis got posted she finally couldn’t contain herself anymore and started gushing about how adorable Gian’s smile was. This gave my roommate and I an absolutely hilarious idea. We printed around 80 wallet sized pictures of Gian, mainly of him smiling but of course we included many speedo ones as well! She had to work the entire morning of April Fool’s Day, and had Chem lab with me in the afternoon. So that morning my roommate and I snuck into her room and tapped pictures all over it. On her door, in her fridge, in her closet, above her bed, on her walls, on her desk, everywhere! We even made streamers of pictures that we hung just inside the door! We had three friends hide in her room to video her reaction and I pretended to just be going to her room with her after we got back from class and videoed from that angle. Her reaction was hilarious!!! She was basically attacked by the streamers as she walked in the door and then she was laughing so hard she could barely look for the other pictures! It took her almost a week before she finally found all the pictures we’d hidden, lol. It was one of the best pranks ever!

One more quick story for you all, I showed the Grande Amore video to two more of my friends and both were literally almost drooling over Piero and Ignazio and when Gian’s mask got pulled off at the end and he smiled both of their jaws literally dropped and the one said “That’s it, a Spiderman kiss is now on my bucket list. He’s so sexy!! How is that even possible?!?” And both friends told me the other day that they have each watched the video at least 20 more times on their own.

I hope you guys enjoyed my adventures again! I have tons and tons of homework to do and I think I’m getting sick, so until next time, Ciao ragazzi!! Ti voglio bene!