Bear with me, I get "philosophical," haha

So I keep telling myself "I'm fixing my sleep schedule TODAY" and then suddenly it's 5 AM and I'm sleeping in too late for it to be worth it to go to class, haha. I still went to campus to meet Marshall and Jessica, though, and finished off a bottle of Riesling while swapping summer stories and seeing their places for next year (for the record, I already saw Jessica's yesterday and it is friggin' gorgeous). Then I went to Urban for a bit and there was a miraculous cardigan sale or something because I snagged two cute ones for $5 apiece (somewhere across the Pacific, my Asian mother did a celebratory dance and didn't know why). Vicki picked me up, and despite my slicing my finger open on her door, we had a great R4L date over happy hour sushi at Kyoto and gelato at Paciugo. Back on campus, Jessica and I talked for a bit (made plans to go dress-shopping tomorrow, yay!) and now I'm home watching old episodes of Grey's while eating a fresh fruit salad made of Central Market pineapple and strawberries, and Kristin's peaches from Waco or wherever, haha. Maybe it sounds mundane, but today has been another wonderful day in a series of many.

It's strange, I keep complaining about how boring it is being "stuck" at home due to Chinese Buddhist funerary customs, but I'm still managing to have a great time. Sometimes, I think I've got my life all figured out, and other times, I have no idea where I'm going or what I'm doing. I think, though, that either way, I'm fine with it. I'm at a place in my life where no matter what I *~think~* my plans are, I'm at peace, and I feel like I've found where I belong. Maybe I don't know where "where I belong" is in so many words, but I know I'm there. Maybe it sounds cheesy, but just this past year alone has been so incredibly transformative for me. A year ago, I was obsessing over how to arrange the furniture at my new house, in my new room; the impending two-year anniversary with the boyfriend; putting off thinking about the MCAT and med school. I hadn't met any new people, gone anywhere new, done anything real with my life.

Now, it's not even a year later but my life is so drastically different. Maybe not in terms of what I'm studying, or where I'm living, or even really the people in it, but the experiences I've had, the things I've learned, the relationships I've built... I'd never been to Europe before, and this year, I was lucky enough to go for both Spring Break and half of the summer, and explore five amazing new countries with amazing friends, both new and old. I've made old relationships stronger, and forged new ones with incredible potential that I can't wait to see how they develop. I'm planning my senior thesis and graduating in a year, then taking a year off afterward in hopes of getting some medical experience before applying for med schools the following year. Good thing I was a rockstar at my interview yesterday, and got a position as a clinical assistant with Seton at the Shoal Creek Hospital! I'm lucky enough to have the privelege of visiting the east cost for the second time in three months, this time to New York to see a great friend I made in the Netherlands, and I turn 21 at midnight the day I get back.

Maybe all that sounds like I'm bragging, but goddammit, my blog, my soapbox, haha. That's not it, though. I think this is more of an affirmation to myself than a declaration to the ether of the blogosphere at large or whatever. For the first time, I'm living my life for my own sake, making my own happiness and not taking "no" for an answer from life. God knows my life's not perfect, far from it: I still freak out about school and don't think my GPA is good enough for med school, I didn't think I'd still be single this long after the break-up, family life is still rough and sometimes unbearable, and my grandfather - the only one I ever knew - just passed away and my entire family is in Taiwan while I'm alone in Texas. But that's life. Life gets hard, and no amount of whining makes it better. But recognizing how much potential life still holds and making the most of it; that's not better, that's incredible.

Cinque cose!

Not five lands, but five things that make my life awesome right now:

1) There's only a month until I head to NY to spend the weekend with an awesome friend, and turn 21!
2) I aced my interview for the clinical assistant position with Seton today and got offered the job less than an hour afterward!
3) Jessica and had an early dinner at Central Market and went wine-crazyshopping.
4) It finally rained today, so hopefully Texas will lay off the heat for a bit.
5) Jessica and Kristin came over for Winetastic Wii Wednesday and as all JAK meet-ups go, hilarity ensued.

Take Me The Way I Am

Jesus Christ, my life is so BORING. Today was definitely one of my better days lately, though, because Jessica and I went to Freebird's when I got out of class (and tried to avoid the creepy dude who works there and defs has a crush on her, LOL) and then trucked through a couple of episodes of LOST at my house. So many people are obsessed with that show, but to be honest, I'm not terribly impressed so far. We've only seen four episodes, though, so we'll see. I told myself I was going to finish reading for Psychology of Religion today, but I've realized the reading isn't terribly pertinent to lecture. I don't need it to write my paper (which I'm doing tomorrow, really!) so maybe I'll just read the book after the course is over. I've found I enjoy books a lot more when they're not required for class, anyway.

I'm in a really weird place in my life right now. My life is so different now than it was two months or even one month ago, nevermind a year. I'm not where I thought I'd be, but then again, if you were to ask me what I think now, I don't know that I'd have an answer, either. I think I'm learning to roll with the punches, as it were, and just take things as they come. It sure makes life a lot easier and more enjoyable that way. I was rewatching some old episodes of Grey's Anatomy earlier, though, because I was kind of on a TV-watching kick from LOST and I'd also talked to Jessica about how much I used to love Grey's, even if I'm nowhere close to caught up with it now. I picked out Ingrid Michaelson's "The Way I Am" out of one episode, and good grief if it isn't the sweetest, most sickeningly cute (and now depressing) song ever, haha. I can't get it out of my head, so I keep singing it. But I miss that feeling. I want to feel that way again.

And then to distract myself from that, I took a conglomeration of surveys from people's Facebook notes (although I only took the most interesting questions, instead of "what time did you wake up this morning?" so it wasn't much of a distraction). So since I hate how people are turning Facebook notes into Myspace bulletins, I thought I'd post it here.

001. Does your iPod have a name?
Cadence. I name all inanimate objects, and especially my electronic devices, haha.

002. Have you ever gotten in a drunken fight?
Oh LORD, haha. Not like a fist fight, but defs.

003. What was the last movie you watched by yourself?
Transformers.

004. Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend?
Negatory

005. Would it be hard to kiss the last person you kissed?
Mm, hard? No. All the nonsense involved with why the hell that's even happening again? Yes, haha.

006. What websites do you regularly visit?
Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, FML, TFLN, LJ... I'm under house arrest so I'm on the internet all the time, okay??

007. Was your last kiss drunk or sober?
Sober, although at least if I were drunk, it'd would have been excusable, ugh.

008. What perfume do you use?
I alternate between Gucci Envy Me, Escada Pacific Paradise, and Escada Moon Sparkle.

009. What do you currently hear?
Ingrid Michaelson's "The Way I Am." So goddamn cute (and depressing now, ugh).

010. What type of music do you listen to?
I guess if you had to give it a genre, mostly power-pop/punk.

011. Describe your purse/bag.
Right now, I'm using my bigass red Primark bag as both my purse and schoolbag, but I have way too many others to describe them all, haha (I'm way more of a purse girl than a shoe girl).

012. What was the last thing your ordered online?
UT football season tickets!

013. What was the last thing you bought at a store?
A book for Psychology of Religion and a Moleskine planner!

014. What was the last thing you got in the mail?
An ad from Victoria's Secret (must go to the mall immediately, haha), but personally, a joint DC postcard from Meera and Lala.

015. Who was the last person in your bed besides you?
At MECA, I'm assuming the TriDelt who's subleasing my room, otherwise Jessica while I was packing frantically to fly to Annapolis, haha. At home, it doesn't even matter.

016. Who's one of your current celebrity crushes?
Just saw Transformers, so Josh Duhamel, unf. Sorry, Shia LaBeouf, I need a real man, LOL.

017. How many people have you kissed on your friends list?
Well, I'm posting this to my blog (because I hate how people are turning Facebook notes into Myspace bulletins) but I'm going to assume it means Facebook, so... 13? There's an explanation for that number, but I'm not telling, LOL.

018. Look in your inbox in your phone, who are all the people you have texts from?
Man, I am actually bored enough to do this: Meera, Mauro, Kristin, Emmanuel, Jessica, Saunders, Robin, Brian, Vicki, LanAnh, Natasha, Mateo, Jesse, Amalia, Alice, Josh, Johanna, and Liz (but the last few are only because I was out of the country for six weeks, so they've been sitting in there forever).

019. Are any of your texts in your inbox locked and why?
I didn't even know I could lock texts until I saw this questions and went to try. So yes, a few are locked now, some because they're cute, and some because they're hilarious, haha.

020. Do you recognize faces easily? What about voices?
Absolutely, to both. I think figuring out which boy was yelling from their apartment kitchen to ours was Vicki's and my favorite apartment game in Rome, haha.

021. Do you think it would be difficult to teach a kindergarten class?
No, I worked as a camp counselor for kids aged like 3 - 9 for three years.

022. Which would scare you more: horror movies involving creepy children or involving an abandoned hospital that had previously dealt with Tuberculosis patients?
Oh Christ, demon children! I just had this conversation with Jessica today, haha. And I'm a pre-med, I can handle TB.

023. Which book-to-movie transition was the worst, in your opinion?
TWILIGHT, LOL. I mean, the books were pretty fail already (softcore erotica for prepubescent girls, hello) but the movie was such a fail, it was a win. I DIED OF LULZ. So maybe I take that back and it was the best book-to-movie transition, haha.

024. What was the reason you last received flowers?
I got a tulip from Emmanuel at WorldMUN, haha. Flowers, multiple? Probably the ex kissing my ass for something while we were still dating.

025. When was the last time you went to a themed birthday party?
Err, birthday party? Marshal had a safari-theme going away party when he left for Africa, if that counts.

026. What is your favorite smell?
Cologne on boys (if worn well), fresh laundry, any sweet thing baking.

027. What is your favourite Queen song?
Fuck, this is when I admit I barely know any Queen and I get yelled at by everyone I know.

028. What was the last thing someone cooked for you? Who was it?
Err, no clue. I'm usually the one cooking for other people.

029. How many people have you dated since January?
Mrr, depends on your definition of dating.

030. Are you glad that I haven't mentioned anything about Michael Jackson before now?
I'm still hoping this is a hoax to set up for the greatest Thriller comeback tour EVER.

031. Are your eyes the same color as your dad's?
In that ours are both brown, yes, but mine are way darker, like my mom.

032. Have you ever crowdsurfed?:
No, but I've been crowdsurfed ON, which sucks. I can't support your weight, 200 lb douchebags!

033. Big trucks or little cars?
You'd have to get more specific than that, haha. I'll take my Mazda B-series over, say, a Civic, but if by "little car," you mean Maserati or something...

034. Have you ever given someone a hickey?
Okay, srsly, was this survey made for middle-schoolers?

035. Can you play poker?
Not really, which is why the boys try to get me to take over whenever someone has to leave the table for a bit, haha.

036. Have you ever broken someone's heart?
So I've been told.

037. Has anyone ever seen you kiss the last person you kissed?
Yeah, I'm sure people did.

038. Honestly, has anyone seen you in your underwear in the past three months?
Yeah. And even if it weren't for that, I have relatively little shame anyway, especially around close friends and roommates, haha.

039. Where did you last travel to?
I spent the first half of summer on the east coast (Annapolis, DC, NYC), and in England, Italy, and Greece.

040. Would you date someone who lived in another state?
Guh. I might've, but can we not talk about that? KTHX.

041. What are your weaknesses for the opposite sex?
Oh damn, haha. Dark hair and light eyes (the combination, not either/or), a good cologne/smell, friggin' dimples, abs.

042. How many times have you been in trouble with the police?
Err, I've never been pulled over as a driver, but I've been pulled over when someone else was driving like eight times, haha. Oh, and we had a noise complaint at a MECA party once, lame.

043. How old will you be on your next birthday?
21, SLUTS.

044. What tattoos do you have/want?
None yet, but I'm planning like, three, haha. I need to find someone who can help me design my rib piece o.O

045. Have you ever taken a picture of an ugly or fat stranger?
LOLOLOLOL YES. Our obnoxious roommates at the hostel in Florence.

046. Do you prefer pools or hot tubs?
Depends on my mood. I guess hot tubs, because I prefer Barton Springs or the ocean to pools.

047. Have you ever gone to Warped Tour?
Hells yes, last summer! I'm still bummed I missed this year.

048. What does your favorite shirt look like?:
Right now, I think my favorite is a like, sea foam green, J. Crew v-neck.

049. Do you tan a lot?
No, but I tan easily. Srsly, 10 minutes in the sun and I'll be two shades darker.

050. Can people usually tell when you're joking?
No, actually, so they usually miss my sarcasm and either think I'm a terrible person or a bitch.

Life, post-Europe

I swear, I just blink and a week goes by. Summer, what are you doing to me?!

So my dad randomly showed up last Wednesday night when he wasn't supposed to be home until Friday. Turns out my grandfather had been hospitalized and was in the ICU, so my dad came home early and bumped up his flight back to Taiwan from the 15th to that Saturday, the 11th. I drove him to the airport at 5 AM that morning, and let me tell you, driving our Suburban (thing is a BEAST, it handles like a tank!) by myself for the first time and that early was probably not the best idea, haha.

Then on Sunday, a bunch of us went to Schlitterbahn! Jessica, Robin and I all drove in one car, and Natasha, John and Kristin took another. We didn't get there until like 3 PM what with people at church and getting off of work and coordinating rides, but we still had an amazing time. I hadn't been there since I was probably like 14 or so, but I still think it's the hottest coolest time in Texas!

I started class on Monday, and I'm actually really enjoying it so far (barring the daily parking nightmare of UT campus, ugh). I'm taking Psychology of Religion with Dr. Domjan, and goodness, I love that woman. She announced to the class today how cool she thought it was that I attended High Mass at the Vatican and saw the Pope, haha, she's so adorable.

Tuesday night, however, I got the incredibly sad news that my paternal grandfather had passed away. I really regret not having had the opportunity to visit Taiwan (since I graduated high school in 2006) and now I won't ever see my grandfather again, but at least my dad made it back in time to see him before he passed, and I know he's not suffering anymore. But even though I knew it was inevitable, I just cried when I got the call from my parents. Now, I think I'm just still a little lost and trying to piece things together, I'm not sure if it's really hit me yet. I was never able to be super close to my grandparents like most of my friends because mine were across the world, but I did used to visit every other year, and always for like the entire summer. It's kind of weird to be home in the US by myself and so disconnected from my family in a time like this. I'm okay, for the most part, though, and it helps that I have incredible friends (who insist on coming to see me, even though I CAN take care of myself!). So RIP, 爺 爺, you were an incredible man whom I will always honor and remember, and I'm proud to carry your family name ♥

So I'm under house arrest, more or less, until he's buried. We're going through all the Chinese funerary customs, so like I'm not allowed to visit friends or go to parties, I'm supposed to wear drab colors and absolutely NOT red, I'm wearing a blue ribbon around my wrist, etc. And Chinese burials traditionally take 49 days because they hold a special ceremony once every seven days for seven cycles, but since my brother has to come back for school, they're shortening it to once every three days so my family is coming back August 11th. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with myself until then, but I really need to start friggin' unpacking and cleaning already. The house is a total disaster because I'm the only one in it so 1) my shit has spread all over the house and 2) there's no one around to yell at me about it. I'm SO in denial about NOT being in Europe in anymore and having to deal with *~the real world~*, ugh. August 21st, could you please get here sooner?!

Aντίο, Greece and back home to the States!

I think I've been putting off updating this because then I have to come to terms with the fact that it's no longer technically a travelblog, I'm not in Europe anymore, and I'm back in the States, aka the real world. Sighhh, reality is cruel, haha. I've basically spent the last week being as lazy as possible and avoiding correcting my jet-lag at all costs (although not intentionally, haha).

So last Tuesday, my last day in Greece and abroad for the summer, was incredible. We spent most of the morning and early afternoon at the new Acropolis Museum. We kept giving Stephen flak, like, "So how do you feel about this space, as an architect?" but he actually loved it, and for all that I know nothing about architecture, I loved it, too. Stephen kept pointing out little architectural quirks like setting columns into the ceiling to extend the vertical space, or using glass overhangs to make the seating area more intimate, or how the windows were angled to let sunlight in, but not direct light. Basically, things I would never have gotten on my own, but it was fun listening to Stephen geek out about it, haha.

The museum was truly incredible, though. We got really lucky, it had only been open for like a week when we visited. It was open, filled without being cluttered, and lit mostly with natural light. It was built right over an excavation site so throughout most of the museum, you could see through clear glass panes in the floor to see the site underneath. The terrace had a gorgeous view, and we had lunch at the cafe on it, with the Acropolis and Mt. Lycabettus in sight. Then on the third floor, the exhibit was set in the exact dimensions of the Parthenon with all of the friezes and relics set where they would have been on the building itself

After the museum, we went to the beach. We spent a while in our hostel trying to decide between Glyfada and Voula, but we got off the tram at Edem "just to check it out" and wound up staying because it was free and seemed decent. I'm sure there are prettier Greek beaches, whateverrr, but it was still incredible. We spent all late afternoon and early evening lying out under the blazing Mediterranean sun, taking breaks to swim (okay, more like "frolic," haha) in the gorgeous water - alright, and tell all the annoying hawkers to go away, we didn't want to buy any of their crap, haha - but it was a perfect end to a perfect Eurotrip.

I wound up staying up until like 2 AM despite needing to be up at 4:30, probably for the same reason I put off blogging since I've been back, haha. I couldn't bear to finish packing and go to sleep because then I would have to leave when I woke up. I did finally go to sleep, though, and Kristin and I got up at the asscrack of dawn, I finished some last-minute postcards, and we took a cab to Syntagma where we caught the bus to the airport. I fell asleep on the benches at our gate waiting to board, but then I was wide awake for the flight itself so I read We Need To Talk About Kevin (check it out, it's totally fucked up but still a really good book, haha).

Once we got to Heathrow, Kristin and I had to split up because I was continuing on British Airways and she had to switch terminals to fly American. So for all that LHR is supposed to be a terrible airport, I really like it, or at least Terminal 5. I bought a bottle of water and some candy for my flight, and then went to go sit at the Starbucks bar overlooking the runways (air field? landing strips? whatever) to journal (had a cappuccino and blueberry muffin; the muffin was fab and the cappuccino was horribly disappointing compared to Glass Bar and Tazza d'Oro). So journaling is something I can only do well and consistently when I'm traveling, apparently. I spent my three hour layover scribbling contemplatively (and quite happily, may I add).

Once aboard my flight, I took a nap, finished reading We Need To Talk About Kevin, and had my in-flight meal within the first couple hours, so I spent the rest of the time watching movies until my eyes fell out, haha. I finally watched He's Just Not That Into You (brilliant, hilarious and eye-opening, although annoying because its ending went against its own moral), 17 Again (completely idiotic, but was halfway redeemed by having Zac in it), the Hannah Montana movie (actually vaguely endearing, and Lucas Till makes one fine cowboy), and part of Gladiator (because I just missed the fuck out of the P2Roma crew, haha).

Most of the second half of the flight was miserable, though; there was a baby two seats away from me screaming his head off. Not crying, just absolutely screaming bloody murder. I felt bad for the poor kid, but I felt worse for my poor ears, haha. By the time the flight landed in Housotn, I was just dying to get out; I all but ran off the plane and out to baggage claim, haha. My US phone had died and my charger was in Austin, but while waiting for my luggage, I talked to a woman who had spent the last six months jetting all around Europe for the hell of it, so we traded Eurotrip stories. And luckily, my godmother was right there when I walked outside, so it wasn't a problem that my phone had died. Not having it for two days while I was in Houston sucked, though, haha. I got to catch up with Vicki over Jamba Juice, though, which was great.

So I got back to Austin Friday around noon, and immediately went to Barton Springs with the girls. I'd forgotten how much I'd missed Texas, haha. Lying out under the blazing hot Texas sun, catching up with BFFs from high school, jumping into the icy natural springs, driving my truck down the Texas highways in a drying bikini with the windows down and music blasting... Then Saturday was the 4th, so I had dinner with Robino's family who graciously adopted me for the holiday because I'm temporarily family-less (and while I failed to receive a certain call, I'm pretty sure I got a much better one, haha). Then we went to Auditorium Shores to see the fireworks, and while it was ridiculously hot, we were right up against the water and the show was gorgeous. Then Sunday, the girls did homemade brunch at my house (sweet potato pancakes, cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon, and biscuits) and then a bunch of us all went tubing on the Guadalupe with a cooler full of beer, and since we did run one with time to spare, we went around a second time.

So I've really had a series of "God, my life is awesome!" weeks, haha. Well, not lately, considering I've just been lazy as hell, and some other stuff. My dad showed up at home last night when he was supposed to come home tomorrow. Turns out my grandfather is in the ICU, so my dad bumped up his flight and is going back to Taiwan this Saturday instead of next Wednesday. While I said I could rearranged my schedule to get out of summer classes, my dad insists I need to take the class now to graduate, and that it's too late for me to get a flight, anyway. It's just really hard, because my dad thinks that by the time I do get a chance to head back, it will be too late for my grandfather. I haven't gotten a chance to talk to my dad about anything else, either, with all of this going on. Hopefully I'll still be able to go back over winter break, or better yet, spring break for WorldMUN in Taipei.

Anyway, I really am on my own now for the rest of July, starting this weekend. It should be a little less monotonous once I start classes next week, and hopefully Seton gets back to me soon about a job. I can't wait for everyone to come back to Austin, I'm ready for a P2Roma reunion already, I miss that crew and all of our shens so badly!

Sounion, Monastiraki, Mt. Lycabettus

Sometimes, I really think the best days are the ones that leave you gloriously exhausted but content at the end of them... like today! We got up super early (as in I hit the shower at 6:50 AM, guh) so we could catch the 8:30 AM bus to Sounion. The trip took two hours, but it was the coastal route and utterly gorgeous. We were at the Temple of Poseidon by 10:45, and spent some time wandering around the site. Then we (well, mostly Kristin and I, poor Stephen!) decided to go exploring, and we wound up trekking aaaaall the way down the cliff to play in the Aegean Sea! Stephen decided to stay higher up (afraid of heights, boo), but Kristin and I had a fantastic time wading in little tide pools and making friends with snails and tiny shrimp. They'd come up to nibble on our toes in the water, which would make us shriek but giggle and do it anyway; Stephen probably thought we were being attacked, LOL. We caught the 1 PM bus back to Athens, and I completely PTFO, but when we got back, we got lunch across from the National Museum of Archaeology and then headed to Monastiraki to do some souvenir shopping. We finally got back to our hostel around 6, but only relaxed for an hour or so before heading to Mt. Lycabettus to watch the sun set! The funicular ride was pretty lame because it was in a tunnel the entire way, but the view? Worth it! I brought some of the fresh cherries I'd bought in Monastiraki (only 1.99 euro/kilo!), and journaled while eating cherries at the top of Mt. Lycabettus. Amazing. We left around 9, so it was past 10 by the time we picked up dinner (most amazing gyros ever! Our goal is to have them everyday while we're here, haha) and brought it back to the hostel. Anyway, the plan for tomorrow is to sleep in a bit (by which I mean 8:30 instead of 7, oy), go to the new Acropolis museum, and then go to the BEACH! I am so ready to be lying out on the Grecian coast, haha. I can't believe tomorrow is my last full day in Europe, but here's to making the most of it!

Arrivederci, Roma, but Γειά, Athens!

I'm in GREECE now!

Well, Thursday was our last day of classes, and we went to the Jewish Catacombs and the Christian Catacombs at S. Callisto. The Jewish Catacombs were both way cooler and way scarier, we had to use our own flashlights because it was super dark and I couldn't get The Descent out of my mind the entire time, haha. It didn't help that the Stooges kept telling me tidbits from the Saw movies, either, or that at one point, Vicki shrieked and stared at something right over my head, which turned out to be a fuckin' huge cave cricket, GAH. S. Callisto was like being herded like cattle, it was pretty lame. Then that evening was our review with KG, and a bunch of us outlined our final essays early so we could go out. Most other people hadn't finished their outlines yet, so it looked like only a small group of us girls were going out for drinks at the Abbey (me, Meagan, Ashley and Kristin) but then we convinced Adam and Royce to come, and Shyam said he and Ishanee would meet us later.

So why is it that we find all these great clubs and bars during our last week? The Abbey had Strongbow on tap, decent Long Islands, AND free ladies' shots with every drink we got; we were pretty stoked, haha. Meagan and I decided there was no way we couldn't go dancing for our last night in Roma, so we all headed out. Adam had been wanting to head back, and then Royce, Shyam and Kristin decided to go back, too, but the rest of us all still wanted to go to Anima. Sure, it was just four of us girls, but we figured hey, we can handle it, right? FALSE. Don't get me wrong, it was a lot of fun, and some of the guys there were actually pretty cute, but there were SO many guys and they were all SO grabby, ughh. I sent our boys, "I am going to KILL you for bailing on us!" texts (haha, they all felt rull bad the next day). But srsly, I thought we were going to have to hold Meagan back from pulverizing some of them, and it was defs time to go after I got forcibly pinned up against a wall, ew. Still, epic, crazy whirlwind of a last night in Roma!

Friday were our midterms, which didn't go too terribly. Ashley, Harvey, David and I visited Glass for our favorite cappuccinos one last time. When I told Francesco, our usual barista, that it was my last day in Roma, he pretended to faint behind the bar, aw. After getting back to Via Rasella, Kristin and I decided to do some speed-shopping. Well, more like I wanted to and she was nice enough to accompany me, haha. I got some gifts for people back home, as well as a sweet Italia track jacket for myself, woo! Then I had to race home and get ready for the farewell dinner, which was SO amazing! Six courses of sheer mouthgasm and good conversation with some of my newest favorite people in the world over two and a half hours, it was incredible. The goodbyes with the professors were hard, I'm going to miss the hell out of them (and Albert couldn't even make it; I was so sad!) but we're already making reunion plans for whenever they visit Texas, haha. Then we had to HAUL back to Via Rasella because it was already like 10:15 and we'd wanted to be at Barberini by 10:45 but I hadn't finished packing yet. I got back to Via Rasella and packed like a madwoman, basically, running around frantically and throwing things into suitcases. Ashley, Royce and Adam came to see if they could help me, and then got all our stuff down to the street where everyone came to see us off, and THEN some of the group even accompanied us to Barberini and helped us get all our luggage there! Hugs GALORE and promises of P2Roma reunions were made as Stephen, Kristin, and I raced to catch a metro to Termini. Srsly, I love this entire group so hard, I miss you all already!

We made it to Termini with plenty of time to spare despite getting out of Via Rasella later than we wanted to. Our train was delayed a bit and the ride was SO long (six hours overnight, longer than the Pisa adventure!) but we still arrived in Bari on time, caught a shuttle to the airport there, and made our flight just fine. Getting from the Athens airport to our hostel was kind of ridiculous: we had to take like a 45 minute bus ride to Syntagma Square, a metro to Omonia Square, and then walk to the hostel itself which was exhausting dragging all our luggage, but we made it! And our hostel is super nice, all things considered. It's the Aristoteles Hotel, and we get free wifi in our rooms, complimentary breakfast, private bathroom, they clean our rooms every day... for fairly cheap, too.

So basically all we did yesterday was -- well, first, have the most amazing gyros EVER, haha -- but then we went to the National Museum of Archaeology. It was HUGE and Stephen and I were pretty over the Classical/Hellenistic stuff (given our past month in Rome), but the Egyptian exhibits were really cool. Today, we wandered the Monastiraki flea markets, climbed the Acropolis, and saw Hadrian's Arch, the Temple of Zeus, and the Olympic Stadium! It was tiringgg, and I already have ridiculous tan lines, haha. OH, and I got the shit owned outta me by the Greek mosquitoes last night so it kind of hurt to walk today because my entire left shin is covered in mosquito bite bruises, ugh. Other than the heat and the bugs, it's all been amazing so far. Oh, and we got more of those amazing gyros, and watched lots of HIMYM together in our hostel.

Now I should really be getting to bed because we're getting up hella early tomorrow to take a super long bus ride (two hours) down to Cape Sounion to see the Temple of Poseidon! I actually don't know any Greek (besides "thank you," although I still catch myself saying "grazie" and "ciao" all the time, haha) so I'm not sure how to sign off on these Greek blogs, but good night!

Anima, Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza, Sant'Andrea della Valle, and Sant'Agnese

Alright, I really need to take a sidebar here, so Italy, darling, let's have a talk. Let me first say, I adore you: your brilliant sun and dazzling blue skies, your awe-inspiring historical and archaeological magnificence, your sprawling countryside and breathtaking vistas, your delectable pastas, incredible cappuccinos and rich gelato... dare I even say it? I love you. There. The L-word. That's quite the commitment I'm making to you. Buuut your countrymen. Oh, but your creepy-ass, disrespectful, lecherous countrymen. The fact that I'm not wearing a nun's habit does not give you license to leer at me or stare at my chest. Saying "konichiwa" will get you nowhere; fuck you, I'm not Japanese, assholes. "Ni hao" isn't much better, either; I'm an American, not a fobby Asian tourist. I'm sick of getting "Ciao, bella!"-ed every time I leave my apartment; that's NOT okay (fine, unless you're a West Point cadet =P). To the very few cute Italian boys at clubs: if I'm dancing with my girlfriends, don't get all grabby on me! If I wanted to dance with you, I would; otherwise, keep your goddamn hands to yourself. Of all the things about Italy, I will NOT miss the Italian men.

[-Deep breath-]

ANYWAY, going out last night was a monumental success! I had basically napped all afternoon and therefore hadn't eaten anything since 3 PM, but surprisingly, that didn't turn out as disastrously as I'd feared, haha. Vicki led us (Christopher, Megan, Ashley, me, the slumdogs, and the Three Stooges) to a little club called Anima just past Piazza Navona. There weren't very many people when we got there, but they had 1 euro ladies' shots before midnight, which was awesome. They also played fairly mainstream, dance-able music, so hurrah for that, too. Then, just past midnight or so, people just started pouring in, and it turned into a legit dance party whic I've been wanting desperately. Two of the Three Stooges lamed out on us and bailed early (AHEM) and the handsy Italian boys were kind of irritating (thanks to Royce for saving my ass so many times, LOL), but all in all, AMAZING night! We're defs heading back tonight and tomorrow night, and hopefully checking out another club nearby.

Today, we visited tons of Renaissance and Baroque churches; the ones in the title are just the ones I remember. Also, our guest speaker was super adorable; I really liked her. We finished fairly early, like around noon, so KG treated us all to gelato and we just hung around Piazza Navona eating our gelato and talking. Ashley and I finished our TC rewrites, watched some HIMYM because she and Meagan were locked out of their apartment, and we just finished a "review" for HUM at the AIRC.

Now I'm about to head back to Via Rasella so Stephen and I can go to Termini and PICK UP KRISTIN! We're all going to dinner at Da Baffetto, getting gelato, and then maybe going out tonight, can't wait! Also, David just complimented my singing which made my day that much brighter, LOL. I LOVE this "living life balls to the wall" mentality, it's working out rull well now that I've resolved to not let shit hold me back =]

Ciao, and much love from Roma!

Tazza d'Oro, Pantheon, Campo di Fiore and the Cults of Mithras and Asclepius

So minus the part where I'm ready to PTFO right now, today has been AWESOME! Vicki and I got up early, went on a R4L adventure, and got cappuccinos at Tazza d'Oro (Albert's favorite place), took jumping pictures in front of the Pantheon, and went to Campo di Fiore where I got dried kiwi and fresh cherries (half a kilo for 2€!), both of which are absolutely delicious. We were running late and had to HAUL ASS to the Mithraeum that the rest of the class was already at, but it was totally worth it. Then I gave my presentation on the Cult of Asclepius on the Tiber Island, and we went to some other Mithraeum near the Colosseum for Royce to fininsh his presentation. The hour-long "discussion" at the AIRC nearly put me to sleep because I was so tired (hey, I still finished both my papers and my presentation by 12:30 last night! But Vicki and I stayed up talking, as per usual, haha), but I'm going to print out my papers now, turn 'em in, and then head back to Via Rasella for a NAAAP. Plus, I'm going to need it if we're pubbing and clubbing tonight ;] Tomorrow's class is about the Renaissance, I think, and a review for HUM 350, but then I get to see Kristin again, for the third time in Europe this year!

Aqueducts, Porta Maggiore... and cold weather?

Yesterday wound up super chill because most people were working on their papers (aw, bbz... aka LAME) so picnicking at the Borghese Gardens didn't happen, but maybe we'll go tomorrow or Wednesday. I called my dad for Father's Day and I feel SO bad that's he's all alone (my mom and brother are in Taiwan, and I'm, well, here, obvi). I asked if he was going to go fishing or something and he was just like, "No, I have to work..." poor Daddy =[ Then we spent the afternoon at the AIRC because most people went out of town earlier this weekend and KG wanted to give us some time to work. Oh, and we gave him a Father's Day card from all of us which I think he was actually really touched by, aw. Then when we went back to Via Rasella, I cooked dinner for me, Ashley, and Royce, and we just hung out for a bit and watched HIMYM. And Royce did the dishes! Or at least he tried, haha.

We went out to a dig site this morning to see ancient Roman aqueducts. It's was pretty cool, but the "dig" was hella lame. They haven't officially started excavating yet, so all we got to do was pull weeds, basically. We went on another "Death March," and while it was defs more of a march than last time, the terrain was more level and weather was gorgeous so it was actually really enjoyable. We also climbed up on top of an aqueduct! Yay for Von Trapp family photos atop it, haha. Then we metro-ed it over to Porta Maggiore, which was kind of silly because we were only there for 20 minutes, but whatever. Plus, Shyam and I got samosas, pakoras, and sweet chutney for super cheap on our lunch break and it was delicious!

I've been at the AIRC for like the past few hours now, but mostly playing and catching up with people. We have two more papers due tomorrow, and I've got all my sources and everything, but since I cranked out the last two in four hours and still rocked good grades on both, I'm playing the "how long can I put these off for, and still finish them in time and do well?" game. I don't know whether or not it's a good thing that I'm usually AWESOME at this game, haha.

Also, it's COLD in Roma right now, WTF? Unacceptable! The Weather Channel says 70 degrees but that's bullshit, it's definitely colder. Ashley and I are sitting in the AIRC library shivering our butts off, haha.

And since today is Monday, it's officially our last week in Roma, whaaaat? Five and a half weeks abroad sounded like such a long time but now that I'm starting the fifth, I can hardly believe how it's flown by. I still need to throw a coin in the Trevi to ensure I'll be back! Anyway, I'm not going to dwell on how little time is left, but instead, I'm living balls to the wall and savoring every last minute (I like how many people "liked" that on my facebook status, except Connor corrected me with "ovaries to the wall," LOL)! So I'm cranking out these last two papers tonight, but we want to pub-crawl tomorrow night, then Kristin gets in Wednesday! And I want to get the finals prompts outlined early, too, so we can do it up big one last time Thursday night before Kristin, Stephen and I take off for Greece (!!!) Friday night after our farewell dinner. SO. Here's to our final hurrahs in Roma =]

Ciao, and much love!

Forum of Augustus, Castel Sant'Angelo, Corso

Seriously, this is what life should always be like in Italy. Ashley and I have just been kickin' it back and taking it easy these past two days, like taking naps, cooking dinner together, watching way more HIMYM than anyone needs to at once, sleeping in, and shopping ("Dear ____, I met someone in Rome..." LOL). It's just been really fun and relaxing. Not that I wouldn't love to visit Venice or Cinque Terre (again), like a lot of the others are doing this weekend, but I can't really afford another weekend trip. I just tell myself Venice is smelly and sinking, haha, and besides, I'll be in Greece in a week!

Last Thursday was a superrr long day, looking at the Forum of Augustus and Castel Sant'Angelo. We got to actually go down INTO the Forum of Augustus; standing on the podium of the Temple of Mars Ultor was pretty damn cool. Getting back home from Castel Sant'Angelo was a pain, though. We were all already so tired, and it took like an hour to navigate all the buses back so I was just kind of grumpy and irritated, haha.

But then that night, [almost] all of us went to dinner at L'Archetto, the pizza place that Shyam & co. have been hyping up, which was SO good, holy crap. Kristin, we're taking you when you come next week! They seriously have like a hundred different kinds of spaghetti, and it's absolutely delicious. Then after dinner, some of us went to Frigidarium (where I had Baileys gelato the first time). I got strawberry and crema Florentina with whipped cream on top this time, and we went and sat in Piazza Navona to eat our gelato and just hang out.

We had yesterday off, so most of the group went to either Venice or Cinque Terre for the weekend. Only Ashley and I were left in Roma so we took it easy, I did laundry and took a nap, and we went to the AIRC for a bit. On the way back, we dropped by the place with a million different kinds of limoncello and the girl who worked there was super nice to us and let us try all kinds of different stuff, like limoncello and meloncello and some strawberry cream stuff that tasted like Tequila Rose, which we got. We basically had a girly slumber party, haha.

Today, we accidentally slept wayyy in, but then we went out shopping! We stopped for cappuccinos and croissants at a little place by the Trevi fountain (and didn't get creeped on by the dudes in there, for once). We basically wandered all up and down Corso, and I finally got to visit the Spanish Steps. We also wandered down some street that was basically ridiculous: Bvlgari, Gucci, YSL, Prada, Cartier... if I ever win the lottery, that's where I'm going, haha. On the way back, we stopped at the same place we went this morning, and grabbed some pizza.

Now I'm going to try to work on next week's papers for a little bit, and since Vicki, Harvey, and David came back late last night (poor Vicki had no idea where I went last night, haha), we're all going to do dinner together tonight, maybe go on a gelato run, and Ashley and I really want to try out what we're calling our strawberrycello, haha. I can't believe this is my last week in Roma, I will literally BE IN GREECE in one week! Here's to living balls to the wall and doing it up big in Europe =]

Ciao, and much love from Roma!

Midterms, the Pantheon, and Ostia

Gah, even missing a day leaves me super behind on blogging, much less missing two! So Monday were our midterms, but Ashley and I had finished our outlines Sunday night. We slept in Monday morning, and got cappuccinos and reviewed some beforehand. The midterms themselves weren't so bad, and then that night was dinner at the American Academy which was AMAZING! We all got dolled up, which was a lot of fun. Well, most of us (you know who you are, boys, GET TO MY LEVEL!) KG's only warning about drinking was to "be responsible," so we defs got good and giggly, haha. We went to a gelato place in Trastevere afterward, and a picture of last year's P2Rome group was still on the bulletin board! Then some of us Phased 10 when we got back to the apartments. Gooood night, all in all.

Yesterday, we were supposed to go to the Forum of Augustus but they wouldn't let us in, so we're going back Thursday. We visited Malta, though (LOL); I'll be able to say I've been to seven countries this year alone! Then we went to the Pantheon for Stephen's presentation, and to Circo Massimo, where KG had some of the boys form my quadriga, haha. I was super tired afterward, so I took a crash nap before heading back to the AIRC to work on my papers. I'm not gonna lie, I was totes unproductive, and Royce and I got cappuccinos at Glass on the way back to Via Rasella. So srsly, I think LASA or Plan II or being a LibArts major or SOMETHING has turned me into a paper-BSing CHAMP, haha. All the business/engineering bbz freak out super early about theirs, but I cranked both mine out between 8:30 PM and 12:30 AM, which included dinner and breaks to reread Eclipse. I don't know so much that that's something to be proud of, but whatevs, haha.

Today was sooo long, we met at Barberini at 8:15 AM to catch the metro and train to Ostia. Vicki and I had been up until like 3:30 the night before just catching up and having a good ol' R4L bonding-sesh (which Harvey said he could overhear some of, LOL) so this morning was pretty rough, especially without my daily cappuccino. The heat got pretty miserable, although not unbearable. I mean, c'mon, I marched in high school, haha. Anyway, it was tiringgg trucking through Ostia, most of us took naps just at the cafeteria tables duringl lunch, haha. And we were supposed to be done by 2 PM, but we defs didn't get back to the AIRC until like 4.

Anyway, I need to print these papers out. I can't decide if I want to take a cold shower or a nap, or watch Dark Knight with the boys, but I'm glad this week is almost over. Vodka tonics with Meagan tonight, although another hell day tomorrow, but then long weekend!

Ciao, and much love from Roma!

High Mass and seeing the Pope!

I didn't get a chance to update yesterday, but it was SO much fun! Well, maybe fun isn't the right word, but it was incredible. Ashley and I met Royce, Adam and Daniel (hereafter known collectively as The Three Stooges) downstairs at 8:20 so we could catch a bus over to St. Peter's to attend High Mass with KG. We actually ran into Stephen and Vicki at the bus stop, and all rode over together. We had half an hour to spare when we got there, so Ashley, Royce and I got cappuccinos in the Vatican City!

St. Peter's Square is beautiful, OMG. Ashley's inner (well, and outer) Catholic was just having all sorts of freak-outs, haha. David and Bhargav were late so the rest of us went on ahead through security and into the Basilica itself, and I was just blown away by how incredible it is. I haven't really considered religion in a long time, but I'm pretty sure experiences like that are what converted me in the first place; I kept getting chills all throughout Mass itself.

After Mass, we waited around for like ten minutes with the throngs of other people... AND SAW THE POPE! Yeah, he defs blessed me and was like, "Hey girl heyyy!" Okay, not really, he spoke out of his window way high up, but it was still pretty cool, haha. Then KG took us all out to lunch, which was super nice to him. I bet he's like one of those doting, indulging godfathers and Dar's daughter Emilia just gets spoiled rotten.

Ashley and I went back to mail our postcards, but we couldn't get the stamp machines to work, so we went wandering around the Vatican City instead and got gelato before hopping a bus back to Tritone. We were pretty proud of ourselves for navigating so successfully by ourselves and without a map, haha. We decided to go back to the Vatican on Friday so we can actually mail our postcards, and visit the Vatican museum and see the Sistine Chapel. I can't wait!

I actually have a midterm in 15 minutes, which I'm not too stoked about. We were already given the prompts and so Ashley and I got together and outlined them last night, but I really just can't be bothered to sit the stupid exam and write all of that, haha. We got cappucinos and reviewed some at Glass Bar this morning, though, and after midterms, we want to get cocktails before dinner at the American Academy. I still have my two papers to write, but I'm not terribly worried because they're due Wednesday this week instead of Tuesday.

Now that we're officially past the halfway point of our program, it's making me really sad. Vicki and I realized that this morning and were like, "OMG NOT THINKING ABOUT IT." Also, I'm really starting to miss friends from home, and dislike how little communication I'm able to have with them. That's okay, going back to the Vatican, getting cappuccinos and croissants at Tazza d'Oro and roaming the fresh fruit markets at Campo di Fiore this weekend, and then Greece with Stephen and Kristin after Roma!

Da Baffetta Pizzeria, Frigidarium Gelateria, and Roman night buses

Last night turned into an adventure of epic proportions, haha. So I went back to the apartment and just hung out and took a shower before meeting everyone for dinner at 7:15. We trekked all the way past the Piazza Navona to go to Da Baffetta, a pizza place Vicki and everyone else who'd moved in early had been hyping up for weeks. Their original story was that it had been recommended as like the best pizza place in Italy, so they went at the beginning of the program. However, they were exhausted, jet-lagged, and basically delirious when they went. Ishanee thought her margherita pizza was a bit bland, so loopy Vicki went and found some crushed red pepper. Everyone was like, "Oh, it's just like American red pepper!" so Ishanee put it liberally ALL over her pizza, except it turned out to be a million times hotter than American red pepper, and so intense that even the spice-loving Indians couldn't handle it, haha. They were downing all sorts of weird things like parmesan and flat Coke to cure the burn.

Anyway, this is the story we were all thinking about when we went last night. The food took some time to arrive, so we had house wine, played MASH (yes, like from sixth grade, haha), and some Never Have I Ever. The pizza was absolutely incredible (I got cappriciosa, which has mozzarella, artichoke, sausage, and egg!) even if the service was kind of shitty (our waiter was all sorts of cranky, haha). After dinner, we went to Frigidarium, which was hands down the most amazing gelato I've had so far in Italy: I had... wait for it... BAILEYS GELTAO. React! Yeah, MOUTHGASM.

We went back to the apartments for a bit (lots of drinking and Never Have I Ever, I really need to stop playing that game with people who are so freakin' innocent!) before heading out, but clubbing was a bust because the place we wanted to go to was closed, lame. It was at least quite the adventure, taking several buses, night buses, and a taxi around Rome, haha.

Now we're back in the AIRC because we just had a review for our midterms on Monday (boo) but there's a huge gay pride parade going down Via dei Fori Imperiali, rocketing glitter everywhere and blasting Poker Face, LOVE IT! Oh, and I put up my pictures from our long weekend in Florence, Cinque Terre, and Pisa, so check them out! You other P2Rome-ers (okay, besides David, haha) need to start getting y'all's pictures up, jeez.

Ciao, and much love from Roma!

Fascist architecture and Montemartini

I think it says something that the only thing I could think of to say when Liz asked, "HOW IS ROME?" was "ROME IS HOT," haha. Today's the hottest it's been yet, as well as our longest day yet (seven hours of class, killmeplz). We're officially halfway through the program, wut? I can't believe it. I think some of the initial novelty has begun to wear off and we're getting into the routine of things, so we're less like, "WEE, ROME!" and more just like, "Ugh, school," because we turned in two papers on Tuesday, just got them back today, have two midterms next Monday and then two more papers due Wednesday, mrr.

Today started off in the EUR going to the Museo della Civilita Romana. Haha, yay, Fascist architecture! Christopher and I spent the entire time calling it Fascist Land and going, "Daddyyy, I want to go to Mussolini's [Magic] Mountain!" And I love that Albert played along, haha. Then was a quick jaunt through the Museo Nazionale dell'Alto Medioevo, where we got to see some amazingly well-preserved opus sectile, essentially ridiculously detailed mosaics.

We met KG and had lunch in a park, where Ashley and I rocked out to the playlist I made yesterday. KG asked me if I was "in Lady Gaga land," ahaha. After lunch, we went to the Montemartini Power Plant where they have a collection from the Capitoline Museums, and it was really interesting to see how they juxtaposed the ancient sculptures with the more modern, industrial space. I'm going to write my next HUM 350 paper about that, I think; I at least like it a lot more than sticking random pieces of really bizarre, abstract, modern art in the Roman Forum. All seriousness aside, then Ashley and I ran around posing like the statues while Ishanee took pictures of us; I'm pretty sure it was the most fun I've had at a museum in a while, LOL.

Anyway, now most of us are just intarwebbing at the AIRC for a bit. OMFG REAL NEWZ: I got my MCAT scores. I'm really torn, because I was planning on retaking it anyway, BUT I did way better than I thought it would, BUT it's still not as high as my original goal. And I OWNED the verbal section, too, ugh. Damn you, science sections! I emailed Chris from TPR, hopefully he'll have some good advice. 

So most of us are all getting dinner at some pizza place Vicki's been hyping up later, and then she's determined to get us all to go out dancing so I probs need to head back to the apartments for a quick siesta and shower, haha. Ciao, and much love from Roma!

Musei Capitolini and the Mouth of Truth

Today was long, but at least got off to an easy start because KG and Lynda came to the apartments first instead of having us meet at the AIRC. The other apartments keep having electricity and hot water issues, so they wanted to talk to us about things like communicating and cooperating with each other. Whatever, Vicki and I have been pretty lucky to not have any problems with our apartment, and we got our inventory list in first, so woo!

We went to the Musei Capitolini, which as alright, I suppose. It's getting to the point where I've seen SO much Hellenistic art that it's all kind of blending together and getting boring, but hey, at least we're in Roma! Ashley and I are always so bouncy and giddy due to the fact alone that we're in Roma, it probs drives everyone else crazy, haha. Meeting at the apartments meant we didn't get our morning cappuccinos at Glass Bar on the way to the AIRC so we were all sorts of sleepytired, but KG gave us all 10 euros for lunch and I got an espresso with mine, which helped a lot. I'm going to be so caffeine-dependent when I get back from Roma, and it's going to be even more torturous because Starbucks lattes or whatever won't be able to compare to Italian cappucinos, haha.

After lunch, we went to the Temple of Marcellus and the Theatre of Marcellus, but by that point we were basically all like, "Are we done yet? How about now? NOW?" When we finished, though, Meagan pointed out that we were only a few blocks away from the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, which has the Mouth of Truth, like in Roman Holiday! I was the only other person in the group who even knew what she was talking about, but we both got super excited and decided to go see it. David and Ashley came with us, and we all took pictures with it and stood where Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn did!

Now we're all back at the AIRC trying to work on our next two papers, aka most of us are just puttering around on Facebook and various blogs and whatnot, haha. We have a guest lecture at 4:45, and then a review session at 6 PM, so today is longgg, ugh. Tomorrow expects to be just as long, but no one is planning on taking a weekend trip so it should be fairly chill. We really want to rent bikes and ride around, or picnic in the Borghese Gardens, and then KG is taking us to High Mass at the Vatican, which I'm actually pretty excited about. My tentative goal is to have at least one paper done before the weekend (they're not due until next Wednesday but we have midterms on Monday, ugh. At least they're taking us to dinner at the American Academy Monday night, wee!), but we'll see if that actually happens, haha.

I'm working on a P2Roma '09 mix now, because we spend so much time together karaokeing and dancing: Club Love, Every Time We Touch, Poker Face... no shame, what up! Also, Ashley just gave me tons of Taylor Swift and Dave Matthews Band (Connor insists DMB "rules his life" and I need to listen to him ASAP o.O), which I'm also pretty stoked about, haha. Alright, five minutes until our guest lecture, so I should probs move over to the other room. Afterwards, Ashley and I are going to try the cheap pizzeria near the steps by the AIRC, and hopefully this playlist will get put to good use tonight!

Ciao and much love from Roma!

Roman Geology and a Death Mosey

Once again, I've changed my mind about blogging, but I thought up "Alex's Adventures Abroad" last night and decided it was too adorably alliterative to NOT make into a blog (yeah, how typically me, haha). I'm a few weeks behind at this point, since I've already spent a week on the east coast (not abroad, I know, but still a part of my summer travels), another week in England, and my first week here in Roma, so I'll be back-blogging for a while.

Today was our second class with Albert (one of two professors teaching our HUM 350 "Preserving a World City" class and whom I adore), and it was about the geology of ancient Rome. We sat at the top of the Capitoline Hill for lecture, and then went on what was supposed to be a Death March, but it was definitely less of a march and more of a mosey, haha. I really enjoy Albert's style of teaching, where we sit for lecture and discussion and then walk around the sites. I don't think I've ever been as excited for class as I have been here in Rome, despite having to get up at like 7:30 every day. Being able to have classes on these historic sites is absolutely incredible.

Anyway, this summer has just been amazing so far. I'll go into more detail in my back-posts, but for now, let me just say I'm pretty sure this is turning into the best summer of my life. I partied raged with some of the craziest boys I've ever met and visited Annapolis, DC and NYC while I was on the east coast; I had a blast with my JAK girls in England, getting into all sorts of shens as only the three of us can; and now the fact that I'm in ROMA just blows my mind every single day. Y'know, just ambling past the Trevi Fountain (where some of our group saw DEBRA MESSING yesterday, what?!), grabbing a quick, delicious cappuccino (for only 1 euro!) at our favorite bar, having class within sight of things like the Imperial Fora and the Colosseum... no big!

The group this year is wonderful, too, we all get along and hang out together -- I love it. Vicki and I share an adorable two-person apartment with a loft, the other four girls have an apartment next door, and all nine boys are in an enormous apartment upstairs. It's great, we can just yell our our kitchen windows to talk to each other, haha. We've been playing tons of games, too, like Phase 10, Quiddler, Taboo, Bang!, Presidents... most nights, you can find us all crowded in the boys' living room, Banging, drinking beers, and just chilling.

I can't believe that I'm already a quarter of the way through this program. I miss Texas, but still, I can't imagine going back just yet. I'm actually catching a train to Bari with Kristin and Stephen the night the program ends, and then we're flying to Athens the morning of the 27th! I'm still bitter about how much the prices for the flight jumped, but still, I can't wait for four whole days in Greece. I fly back to the States early in the morning on July 1st and get into Houston that night. I'll probs be there a couple days (I really want to go to Warped Tour in Houston on the 3rd, somebody come with me!) before heading back to Austin, because I want to spend the 4th of July at Barton Springs and Auditorium Shores, of course. My mom and brother are actually flying out to Taiwan today, and my dad is joining them mid-July. I'll basically be home alone for all of July, so I expect lots of parties and sleepovers to keep me company!

Anyway, I hope everyone's summers are going fabulously, and I miss you all! Ciao!

First week and long weekend in Florence, Cinque Terre and Pisa!

So this first week (well, now last week) in Rome has been a whirlwind; I can't believe I'm already a quarter way through this program. Tuesday (6/2) was Festa della Repubblica so we had the day off. AIRC had an awesome breakfast spread laid out for us and we watched the parade from the windows because it's on the fourth floor and is right across the Imperial Fora. We all caught a train to Tivoli afterward and went to Villa d'Este, which was gorgeousss. It was like being dropped in the middle of an Alice in Wonderland garden, because it's a huge estate with hedges and gardens and tons of ornate fountains everywhere. I spent like an hour sitting on this ledge over what must have been a 50 foot drop, overlooking the countryside and journaling.

Wednesday was what I consider our first real class day, I guess, because we got rained out Monday and didn't have class Tuesday. I don't think I'd ever been as excited about a class as I was that day; Albert taught our class on the Imperial Fora while we were IN the Imperial Fora. I was geeking out pretty hardcore about things like being able to learn about the Temple of Minerva while looking at the actual remnants of the Temple.

Thursday, we took a long bus ride to Tarquinia and Ceverteri to look at Etruscan tombs. I keep getting blown away by how breathtaking the Italian countryside is. Even in the middle of what was essentially a giant cemetery, everything was sooo pretty. Apparently one of the tombs, the Tomb of the Leopard, is really famous in art history (all the tombs are painted inside). I'm not much of an art history buff, but I just think it's so cool that I get to learn about all these things at the actual sites and not out of a textbook.

Friday was our first class with Darius at the church of Santa Maria Antiqua in the Roman Forum but to be honest, I have no idea what we talked about at all because I felt like absolute shit for some reason. A bunch of us went over to the Colosseum afterward because our tickets for the Roman Forum got us into the Colosseum, too, and I felt really guilty because the group just hung around worrying about me. I made them go ahead, but Shyam stayed with me while I was like, hyperventilating. I still have no idea what was wrong, but I just walked really slowly, breathed, had some water, and was a little better when we got to the Colosseum. It's really cool that the hypogeum is exposed in the Colosseum, so you can see all the underground chambers and stuff.

But since we had a long weekend (we had today off!), we took a trip to Florence! We went in groups, so ten of us went Friday and then the other five went Saturday. The first group of the ten of us had a ridiculously ritzy dinner in Florence that night andddd I probs really couldn't afford to, but OMG Florentine bistecca and chianti, it was SO good. I'm one of those gimme-my-steak-still-bleeding people, so I really liked it, haha. Looking for a club afterward was kind of a bust, BUT we defs saw some drunk dude's junk because he was just peeing in the middle of the street, haha. He wasn't even trying to be subtle about it, his friends were all laughing their heads off and it was just like, "O hai, yr waving at with your OHHH!"

So I got put with the Shyam, Christopher and Stephen in a 6-person mixed dorm in our hostel because the private girls room was only for five, and Chris drew straws when he was planning. Our two random roommates were okay, minus the part where they came back at 4:30 AM and woke us up, and then again at like 6:30 AM because the dude was snoring SO loudly. I was greeted by a tubby, half naked, snoring Canadian dude when I woke up, it was great. We actually got really lucky while we were in Florence, though, because there was supposed to be like a 70% chance of rain and it barelyyy rained at all.

We all split up Saturday because we wanted to do different things, so Stephen, Ashley, Apu (Apoorva) and I went to the Galleria degli Uffizi first. There was a lot of really amazing stuff there, like Botticelli's The Birth of Venus and Da Vinci's Adoration of the Magi. After that, and lunch, we climbed the Duomo which was 493 steps of misery, but the view at the top was SO worth it, you could see absolutely ALL of Florence. Then we went to Santa Croce, and saw the tombs of Rossini, Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli (although his was being restored and covered in scaffolding, boo). It was a lot like being in Westminster and geeking out about the historical significance, haha. We wandered down Ponte Vecchio, which is one of three bridges in the world that has shops and apartments on it, and then Apu and I really wanted to go to Il Bovaro (Florence's microbrewery) but it was closed, SO lame. We went back to the hostel, though, and went swimming in the awesome pool (the lights in it changed color, so it looked like the entire pool changed color) and sat around in the steam room and stuff. We were all going to go to Piazzale Michelangelo that night because it's supposed to have an amazing panoramic view of Florence, but it started pouring so we just stayed in at the hostel because they have this downstairs bar/dancefloor area, and a couple pool tables. We met some guys from Maine, and played a few rounds of Never Have I Ever. I don't remember any of what people said, but I just remember getting out of those games quick, haha.

Waking up on Sunday was painful because me, Stephen, Apu, Ashley, and Shyam had to be out of the hostel by 7:15 to pick up Royce from his hotel and catch our train to Cinque Terre. We all PTFO on the train and I was kind of cranky and disoriented when we got there but that changed as soon as we got to Cinque Terre because it was goddamn GORGEOUS. We arrived in the first town, Riomaggiore, and the train station was basically right on the side of a mountain, overlooking the ocean. We had lunch on the way on our "hike" (mostly just a scenic walk, haha) to Manorola, the second town. We just sat at a scenic outlook and squee-ed about being in Cinque Terre while waiting for our train to Vernazza, the fourth town (we skipped Corniglia because it's quiet and inland). Vernazza is "the jewel of Cinque Terre," at least according to Rick Steves, so we hiked a little and then got cappuccinos while waiting for the rain to stop (we got SUPER lucky with the weather again. Despite a 30% chance of rain, it only rained for like the 10 minutes we were inside getting cappuccinos). We spend the most time in Monterosso, the fifth town. It's the one with the biggest and sandiest beach, although it's still a little rocky, but it's SO pretty. It was kind of scary, though, because going into the water was really rocky, which hurt, and then there was this huge drop-off, so your feet suddenly wouldn't be able to touch the ground. And because of the drop-off, the waves got HUGE right there. I wasn't prepared for it, and got knocked off my feet and dragged under while was mildly terrifying o.O

OH, and then we had a tragic train mishap, haha. We missed the transfer on the way to Pisa, so we got stuck in S. Stefano Magra for like an hour, which meant our entire itinerary got fucked up. The last train from Pisa to Rome was at 7:56 PM or then 2:19 AM, so we were just going to skip doing anything in Pisa so we could get back, but then we were like, "Fuck it, we're in Italy, it'll be an adventure!" and decided to see Pisa and just take the overnight train back to Rome. So we had like six hours in Pisa, and spent about two hours having a photoshoot in front of the Leaning Tower. It was SO much fun, haha. We were just being total little kids, running around shoe-less in the grass around the Tower and taking silly pictures. I only managed to get a few before my camera battery died (I'm impressed/glad it survived for so long, considering I hadn't charged it since before we left Rome) so I'm going to have to steal everyone else's pictures. We were utterly delirious by the time we got on the train (like, dancing and karaoke-ing to Disney music at the train station at 1 AM while everyone else probs thought we were drunk). Royce had a liter of Absolut with him but we decided drinking would have been totes disastrous, given how exhausted and weird we all were from already traveling so much and being sleep deprived, haha. The overnight train was actually kind of terrifying, haha, everyone was like, "OMG, this is just like Harry Potter!" We slept in shifts so we wouldn't miss our stop in Rome, anddd I basically wanted to kill myself by the time we got in at 5:51 AM or whatever. I got back to our apartment and just PTFO hardcore, nevermind still being friggin' salty from swimming in Monterosso.

I got back up at like noon to shower and head to the AIRC to attempt writing these papers. Not having internet in our apartments is seriously a pain in the ass. The boys get sketchy internet, but it's really slow and disconnects randomly or doesn't work at all, so it's barely worth trying. Most of the time that I spent at the AIRC today was actually spent catching up with people and starting to get my pictures onto Facebook , and staring wistfully out the windows because it was so pretty outside today. The underclassmen have been freaking out about these papers since like last Thursday, which I utterly fail to understand. They're still so young and unlearned, presh. The papers are only five pages each and it's like 11 PM now. I've only written three pages, but I figure I don't reallyyy have to worry until like 1 AM, haha.

Oh yeah, and I talked to my brother today. I'd talked to my dad last week, because he sent me an email saying my grandfather was hospitalized and they found a tumor near his liver. They're still not 100% sure if it's malignant, but either way, my dad told my mom and brother to fly back ASAP anyway, just to spend as much time with family as possible. I didn't know things were set yet, but I guess they got on the ball quick; my brother says they're flying to Taipei on Wednesday and my dad's following a week after. It's not critical, so I'm staying because of second session summer classes, and will probably go back over winter break. Regardless, I'm basically going to be all alone in Austin for like a month after I get back because my entire family will be in Taiwan... o.O

So if I could crank out papers the way I write blogs/emails, man, I'd be golden. Time to actually write these papers!

[back-posted from 6/11/2009]

First few days in Roma!

Okay, epic Rome catch-up! Rome has been GREAT so far. Barring having to wait at the airport for like three hours after I got in on Saturday (they pushed me back to the later pick-up group and didn't tell me about it, and my Italian cell phone didn't work), it's been all sorts of fun and surreal. I was like this in Brighton and London, too, except now I'm just like, "Oh my god, I'm in Rome. O hai, Pantheon! I'm in ROME, OH MY GOD," haha.

So the first night, Saturday, the professors took all of us out to dinner, and then on the way back to the apartments, we picked up a bunch of bottles of wine and busted out playing Taboo in the other girls' apartment (they have a couch and it's more furnished) anddd the girls kicked the guys' asses, kthx. Eric read "diary" as "dairy," so he was like, "Oh, like how Asians are lactose intolerant!" and then realized one of the phrases he wasn't allowed to say was "Anne Frank" so he was like, "Wait, thaaat's not right, is it?" It kind of went all downhill from there for the boys' team, haha. Vicki and I came back to our apartment at like 12:30, and then stayed up catching up until like 3. I really need to fix my sleep schedule, now that I'm starting classes everyday at 8 or 9 o.O

Yesterday was a walking tour of Rome, and we got from our apartments all the way over to the Tiber Island, stopping at a million places along the way like the friggin' Pantheon, the Piazza Navona and the Victor Emmanuel monument (which totes looks like a layer cake to me). It was exhausting, and we spent like two hours in the Church of S. Nicola in Carcere, but that was actually really cool. We went into the underground crypts AND I got to stand on the street level from 3rd Century BC! That's like 2300 years ago, I walked on ground older than Jesus! I thought that was pretty sweet, haha. Then on the way back, we got THE best gelato of my life, srsly. I'm having all these amazing things in Europe that are just going to be ruined for me when I go back to the States, like great beers on tap, Italian pastas, pizzas, and gelato, even being able to get alcohol whenever I want. Bah. We just stayed in our apartments and cooked dinner, and all ate and hung out upstairs in the boys' apartment. We don't have internet in our apartments, which is a pain, so we've been going to this little internet cafe, but I discovered that if you're near the boys' balcony, you can scavenge pretty decent wifi from the neighbors. Like seven of us wound up crowded around the window (there's not actually a door to the balcony, you have to climb out onto it) or on the balcony and had an internet party, haha.

Today was our first official class day, and it kind of sucked that it rained all day. Cold and rainy in Roma, wut? But we had our orientation at the AIRC (American Institute for Roman Culture), which was pretty standard, and then class consisted of walking around the Roman Forum and the Palatine. I think most of our classes are going to be like this, maybe one a week is in an AIRC classroom, but most of the time we're going to be on site.

Tomorrow is Festa della Repubblica so we have a holiday even though we've only had one day of class so far, haha. We're probably going to go watch the parade from the AIRC because they're serving the students breakfast and it has a gorgeous view of like Trajan's Column and the Victor Emmanuel monument. Then I think a few of us are going to the Colosseum and then probs most of us are taking a train and spending the day in Tivoli.

So are 15 of us total in the program. Nine boys are in one huge apartment (a 4/4, with three guys sharing one of the rooms) directly above us on the third floor, and Vicki and I have our own apartment on the second floor. It's actually a ton of space for two people. I basically have a loft, and I'm the only one in the whole group with a full-sized bed, wee! Downstairs is a hallway with like this strange open lounge area, then the bathroom, and in the main room is Vicki's bed, a small round table, a couple chairs, and the little sink/stove is over by the window. We've actually discovered that if we lean out our window and yell, we can talk to the boys upstairs if they're in their kitchen, haha. Then the other four girls are in the building next door.

Anyway, right now, Vicki is taking a nap and I'm just watching HIMYM (and eating strawberries with Nutella! NOM NOM NOM DELISH) before we're beering/gaming, and I guess I'm going to head up there soon, so ciao, and love from Roma!

[back-posted from 6/11/2009]

LONDON!

OMG, we went into London today and we did SO much, it was AMAZING! It was hands-down the best and most productive/tiring day I've had here so far, haha.

We got up super early so we could take all our trains and tubes into London, and I got really excited when I realized the London Victoria Station is the one from The Bourne Ultimatum. Our first official stop was seeing the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, and good grief, were there a lot of people. We walked past St. James' Park on our way to see the London Eye, Big Ben, and Parliament, and then Jess and I went to Westminster Abbey while Kristin waited for us at St. James because she'd been before.

Westminster? INCREDIBLE. We were only supposed to spend an hour there, but it defs turned into closer to two and a half because Jess and I listened to every single recording on the audio tour and just totes geeked the fuck out over things like Poet's Corner, haha. No joke, we spent about twenty minutes trying to pick out postcards before giving up because the guy at the kiosk in the cloisters (which reminded me so much of the Harry Potter movies!) told us there were more at the gift shop. I think we both picked out more to keep for ourselves than to mail to people, haha.

Jess really wanted to go back for the Evensong service at 5, so we took a break by getting food and going to Kensington Gardens/Palace. It was gorgeous, we just picnicked and creeped on Herculean-looking soccer boys, haha. We were almost late for Evensong because of how ridiculous the soccer boys were, but Evensong was really cool. Is it bad that the plainsong made me think of Monty Python and want to giggle? Probs, haha.

The Cobra Starship show didn't start until 7:30, so we went to Trafalgar Square and had a photoshoot with the lions. Yeah, climbing those huge lions in a short dress? Not one of the best ideas I've ever had. Some smart bystander gave us the idea of tying our cardigans around our waists to avoid flashing small children, though, so overall, it was still a success. Then we went looking for Platform 9 & 3/4, except we defs spent like twenty minutes running around St. Pancras before a sympathetic cop essentially told us nicely, "Hey idiots, you're in the wrong station!" We eventually found it, though, took pictures, and then scooted over to ULU for the concert.

Uh, so the concert was AMAZINGGGG: Cash Cash, Sing It Loud, and Cobra Starship, hells yes! Also, some other opener from Brighton called Mimi Soya, but we missed them, whatevs. Not the most outrageous show I've ever been to, but probs Top 5. I feel kind of bad for bringing Kristin and Jess and not warning them of the extent to which scenesters (and especially Cobra fans) are just totes insane at shows, haha. Now I sound like a 60 year old chainsmoker from screaming my lungs out, and feel like Barney (after he ran the marathon) from dancing my ass off, it's pretty sweet (okay, even I'm not entirely sure how much of that was sarcasm).

We were sooo exhausted by the time we got back to Brighton, all sorts of nonsense about baby ducks and stabbing England's weather, but the 2 AM falafel helped, haha. Now I'm basically going to take a three-hour nap so I can get up in time to navigate from Brighton back to Heathrow and then I'm off to ROMA!

[back-posted from 6/11/2009]

Primark shopping spree!

We've basically run out of things to do in Brighton at this point, but we went into town just to do some shopping. Poor Jess felt sick so she went back early, but Kristin and I stayed and I basically went on a ridiculous shopping spree, haha. Myyy bank account hates me right now, but my wardrobe is adorable! Everything was really cheap, though, so I felt justified. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself, haha.

We just stayed in and made curry for dinner, and I'm pretty proud of us, it came out DELICIOUS. I accidentally fell asleep after dinner while Kristin and Jess made plans for London, but then I got up to pack (because I wouldn't have a chance after we got back from London) and then stayed up until like 4 because I couldn't fall back asleep, ughh. Still, LONDON TOMORROW!

[back-posted from 6/11/2009]

Yo!, Pav Tav and Coalition

We slept in obscenely late today because we didn't get back until so late last night. Poor Kristin had to get up for a 9 AM class, but she went back to sleep afterward, haha. The weather was miserable anyway, so we just kind of hung out in Kristin's room all afternoon, but then we went into Brighton and got dinner at this AMAZING sushi place called Yo! (yes, the exclamation point is in the name). It's like conveyor belt style, and you just pulled whatever you wanted off of it, and then a chef station was nearby so you could order specialty dishes, too. The only other sushi place I've been to like that was in Taiwan, so I was pretty stoked. I totes earned my title of "eating like a champ," as Joey tells me, haha.

We met some of Kristin's friends at Pav Tav (short for the Royal Pavilion Tavern, how presh) afterward, and since they were from Louisiana, we had a good ol' Southern reunion, haha. Then went to this club called Coalition, which was fun because we were a bigger group than last night, but goddamn, European men can be some serious creeperssss! Some dude spanked me, and then tried to make me kiss his friend, and then another guy essentially mauled me and Kendall, ugh. Also, some English girl started following Kendall's brother around, and Jessica got into a linguistics debate with her, LOL.

[back-posted from 6/11/2009]

Rottingdean and Digital

We went to the Lanes yesterday, and I practiced dressing like a Brit: short dress, big belt, and tights. I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty adorbs, haha. We had lunch (Scottish smoked salmon, cream cheese, and cucumber sandwich!) in this cute courtyard by a fountain (where we spent fifteen minutes taking pictures of making wishes, haha), got red velvet cupcakes from a cupcake shop called Angel Food Bakery, visited the Royal Pavilion, stopped for tea, and had dinner at Wagamama's (Japanese fusion!) with some of Kristin's Uni. Sussex friends (I like how it sounds like all we did was eat all day, but that's all I can remember!). It was raining that night, so we just went to the East Slope Bar where I tried cider black for the first time: Strongbow with blackcurrant flavoring, SO GOOD. Things got sillay pretty quick, considering who the three of us. It deteriorated into secret-telling and tickle-fighting back in Kristin's dorm, aka all the things that make up a good girly sleepover!

Today, we went to Rottingdean and then back in Brighton for some shopping. Kristin insisted that someplace had "THE BEST cream tea in the world!" in Rottingdean, which is why we went, and holy balls was it amazing: shepherd's pie, tea, and scones with clotted cream and jam! Artery-clogging, but amazing. I'd never had shepherd's pie before or clotted cream, but I basically inhaled it, haha. Kristin told us that there are like 700 cal in a tablespoon of clotted cream, JEEZ, kill me now. We also explored the beach for a little bit, which was all sorts of danger (climbing huge piles of rocks in flats = dumb), but superrr gorgeous.

Later that night, we wound up going out to this club called Digital with one of Kristin's friends, who actually reminded us all so much of Robin, it was eerie. European club music is pretty silly (Jessica and I kept catching each other's eye, like "WTF are we listening to?" and LOLing), but it was a lot of fun. Well, minus the part where apparently English girls all wear hooker heels. One girl in stilettoes stepped on me and I almost knocked her the fuck out, but now I have this intense bruise on my foot, ugh. Srsly, I don't think anything gets me more feisty than large oppressive crowds, haha. Also, I got pulled into a dance-off with some random dude? Awk. All in all, super fun, but we got back to Uni. Sussex at like 3:30 AM, and when the sun comes up at 4 AM, it makes trying to fall asleep bloody torturous, haha.

[back-posted from 6/11/2009]

Arrival in England!

Back in the realm of Strongbow and Heineken on tap, ahh =]

My flight was alright, minus the part where these little kids were sitting behind me who kept shrieking and kicking. I felt bad and didn't want to say anything because they were so little, like two and six, but every time I fell asleep, they'd kick me awake. Srsly, by the end of it, I was ready to punt one down the aisle. The girl sitting next to me was super sweet, though. She just graduated from Taylor High School (I keep meeting Taylor grads this summer!) and is studying in Rome, too.

I had to wait for Jessica at Heathrow for like two hours, but we managed to navigate the series of tube and train rides just fine. Dragging 70 lbs of luggage up and down stairs and on and off trains was such a pain, though. We were really worried we were going to PTFO on the train from Victoria to Brighton so were totes dead by the time Kristin picked us up from the Falmer Station and basically took a nap as soon as we got to her flat.

We took a bus into Brighton when we woke up, got dinner (lamb doner kebab, mm!) and went to the Brighton pier to hang out, meet some other Uni. Sussex people, and see the fireworks for the finale of Brighton Festival or whatever. We're still pretty beat from all that travelling (14 straight hours, BALLS) so now we're just lying around in Kristin's room with Strongbow and talking. I think we're going back into Brighton tomorrow to explore the Lanes and stuff. I can't believe I'm in Europe, AHHH!

[back-posted from 6/11/2009]