I'm heading to Montevarchi for my best friend Sara's eighteenth birthday party. She came to Rome for my birthday, and now I'm going to hers because that's what friends do. The gift I want to give her is a bracelet that says "friends forever." Covid has shut down parties, but you can still see people if there are just a handful of you. I'm close with Sara's whole family—her brother Giacomo, who I call Jack; her sister Elisabetta, who I call Betta; her dad Tommaso, who I call Number One; and her mom Anna.
I absolutely love parties and can't wait until we can have them again. Still, I managed to have my own birthday celebration. I'm eighteen now. I wanted to throw a party at a nightclub on January first, but Covid wouldn't let me. I'd already sent out invitations by phone. I was disappointed, but I found a way to celebrate anyway. I met up with a few close friends—and some guys too—on the first, second, and third of January. Lunch and dinner both days. We couldn't all be together at once. The nightclub would have been better, but I'm absolutely thrilled with how it turned out! I told everyone not to give me gifts because I just wanted to see people and be together. I couldn't see everyone because lots of people were in quarantine. But I did tons of video calls, which are always a blast. When I get home in the evening, I do video calls back-to-back. And if someone doesn't pick up, I call again and again. I get really into it and even see what they're eating for dinner. But I always say: if we can't see each other because of Covid, at least we can talk and see each other on our phones. I think that's a beautiful thing. I still go to school and I have fun even with Covid around. I feel really good in class. Soon I'm starting a month-long internship at a hotel in the Eur district—at the front desk. I'll be there three hours a day in uniform. I can't wait! I really hope I can do it despite Covid. Because right now we basically can't do anything. Even rhythmic gymnastics is closed because my instructor has Covid. I go to Mass every Sunday at 10:30 at my parish. Before it starts, I go say hi to the altar servers—they're all friends of mine. They ask if I want to be an altar server too, but I don't. When I was little I was an altar server, but then a priest scolded me and said I shouldn't do it anymore. Dad was furious when he found out.