Siena, this is Rachel. Rachel - Siena.

Initial analysis of Siena:
Too hilly. Too many stairs for the love of god!
Too cold. Specifically, every building is the coldest. Well, most buildings.
Otherwise perfectly wonderful in every way! We wander around inside the city and flip out because everything is old, but the Italians just don’t care. 
Things I’ve done so far:

Had the cappuccino I’ve been waiting 3 years for. It was the best, durr. I cannot explain why, but it just tastes different. There was no fancy flower/leaf/frond thing in the foam. The cup was fairly small. But it was perfect. I even took a picture of it, I was so happy. Also – 1 €, which is approximately $1.30. So not only does N. America fail at flavour, it is all ridiculously overpriced. Bravo. 

Rode the bus all by myself with Kate. 

There is a girl who also lives with a little old lady who is friends with my little old lady right across the courtyard thing. Yesterday morning, we were all taken down into the walled part of the city (by the way, the walled part of the city is old Siena, and almost no Sienese live there, because it’s a UNESCO site, and so you can’t even paint your shutters any colour other than grey and dark green) by our host families. Most of them took us on public transit, because they all live on transit lines. So Kate and I were taken to the same bus stop and we rode it all the way downtown. At the end of the day, our families were supposed to pick us up, but we were pretty sure our old ladies had told us to take the bus home. So we called them, and they said yes, and so we did! It was very exciting. We asked the bus driver where Aqua Calda is (Hot Water is apparently what our stop means?) when we got close, and he showed us. It’s right by a soccer stadium, so that’s super easy to remember. In addition, I also now have a friend. Not that I didn’t before, but it seems like most people have roommates, or at least two people in their families. Both of us were very lonely the first night, especially because it’s just us and our little old ladies. 

Got Internet and a phone. We were told a phone would be most helpful. So we all did it. And for a lot of us, there’s no internet at our houses. Which isn’t bad, per se, except that there are only so many books you can read and it turns out at home is the best time to upload pictures and post blogs. Plus, now I can Skype from time to time. Also known as rarely, but there you go. 

Other interesting factoids:

1. Our school is in an old slaughterhouse next to Fontebranda, which is a sort of fountain thinger, more like a building over a mini bubbling pool. It was built in like… 1000 using aqueducts to bring the groundwater into the city. The slaughterhouse was there because then you could come in, kill your animals and wash them right away. But it hasn’t been a slaughterhouse in the longest time, so don’t worry.
2. Apparently Mussolini and Siena were not great friends, so Mussolini decided not to put the city on a rail line. Which makes Siena a little tricky to get to. Apparently there are now trains, but because it would have been ass-expensive to get them up the hill that is Siena, you have to go out of the city and down the hill. I am now in my second day - second cappuccino, second solo ride on the bus. Keep your eyes peeled for another post soon about Siena's history (pretend to be interested!) and perhaps some pictures. If you're lucky, and also very nice. And maybe if you send me an email. <3