A Week Back

I am not sure when it will hit me that I am back. For now, I am quite content with my position. It was difficult to do do certain communications abroad, so I have settled down with a renewed discipline to get stuff done. My list of to-do's that I have gotten done is quite impressive. Hopefully it will continue and kick into higher gear before I start work in June.

The most obvious thing to me is the fact I am not in a tourist town anymore. No more people walking too slow as I walk to class. In fact, in my times I have driven, I have been the slow one. I forgot that 15 mph over is legit. And the grass. Oh, the grass. My yard is so big! And green. I appreciate it so much after having no greenery besides parks a good walks away. The air is metallic. That is the best way to describe it...

The variety of birds is also something I noticed. Of course, I am well aware of the robins, sparrows and duck family in our neighborhood, but after seeing only pigeons for four months, it is nice to see other birds.

As time goes on, I think I will miss the easy transportation in Italy. The train system that gets me an hour away on eight euro. If we had that here, I could visit my college friends during the summer. Also, the food is different. The eggs are easier to crack over here (in Italy, they are brown and about 3 times as thick as the white ones here) and they taste a little plastic.

I do like being near all my resources for my books and easier access to printer and scanner. Those I realize are luxuries.

I want to ride the feeling of Italy as long as I can so I can use my plethora of resources before I get comfortable and lazy.

I may or may not post here again. Thanks to everyone who kept up and clicked my link! I may update my posts on spring break (those kinda got lost in 'drafts'...). I will update on Facebook when I post again.

An End

It is kind of weird to be writing now.

Approximately four months ago, I arrived in Florence, Italy, to experience studying abroad. I learned a lot of things about myself and about things in general. My classes have been the most taxing I have ever taken (probably because I took all three at the same time...), but they have also made me feel as though I learned new skills instead of just showing off the ones I already had.

The people I met here I will not be able to see again for a long time, if ever again. Tonight we said "good bye." Or "see you later." Some I wish I had gotten to know better, and I am happy and lucky to have fallen into such great company. Technology will help us to stay in contact, and maybe one day, I will see one or more in their hometowns.

In no way could I have known everything that was going to happen this semester. My bigger regrets are not sending postcards. I promised, and completely failed on that. I figured they would cost more, but two euros for the stamps was more than I thought I could budget. I did buy the postcards, though! Funny things are funny...

I am so happy for the adventures I did manage to get in. Little towns around Florence, Rome, the UK... Truly, I could not have expected more. I did the things I could with the way I am. Sometimes I did not go to places because I did not have the initiative to go myself without the guts to ask someone to go with me. Other times, I plain forgot and got into a lull of schoolwork that overwhelmed my brain and mental sanity.

So I did what I did with what I could as who I am.

And I cannot wait to come home and share my adventures.