Back to the States / 3 1/2 months.

Rome is impossible to describe in words, you have to experience the history for yourself.

^ Most of my family while studying in Italy..

Rome was without a doubt the best 3 1/2 months of my life so far, I can not wait until I return. The last week of Rome was one of the hardest. So many exams, papers, and presentations but thankfully Italian was over. Almost all of my friends left on Friday morning the day after finals ended. I will never forget the facebook message Jimmy wrote all of us, thanking us and telling everyone how much he will miss everywhere we went together. I will miss Rome so much. My buddy from home Jeremy told me that it will be the fastest 4 months of your life and it was. It was so bittersweet returning here to America. I cannot explain what happened over the last semester of my life, it is truly unexplainable. I made so many outstanding friendships that will last a lifetime I am sure. This has been nothing short of the best time of my life and I honestly did not expect that at all! We have traveled not knowing a thing to foreign countries from Barcelona all the way to Budapest and even Munich. So many hours of traveling only to reveal the best things possible in the world to experience. Everything around me here at home reminds me of Rome and I feel as if the time that has passed there was a dream. I also feel like I am on a break from Rome and I will be going back in the Spring, unfortunately I will not. Honestly in Rome, we lived an unrealistic lifestyle that no one will ever be able to repeat again. Using credit cards and spending tons of Euro like we all had it; all to experience unforgettable moments that we could not do over again if we tried. I know that the tight group of friends that I made will all keep in touch and I cannot wait to meet all of your family and friends, and at the same time have you meet mine.

Rome was beautiful to me. CIAO!

The boys without Jeff in Barcelona!

One of the last nights in Roma, waiting for the tram!

Parliament - Budapest, Hungary

Budahhh/Pesch

This past weekend may have been the best weekend abroad. I traveled to Budapest, Hungary and the flight was ony about an hour to an hour and a half. We left very late on Thursday night, our flight was at 1020 p.m. but of course it got delayed because we all take such cheap airlines that they get delayed or something goes wrong every single time. Once we finally arrived at our town hall center apartment at around 245 am we decided that we should go out because we planned on it before our flight got delayed! It was absolutely freezing in Budapest similiar to Prague. Anyways, Jeff, Pat, Zini, and I walked around and found a 24 hour pub where we had a few beverages and watched the eagles football game. Then we wondered over to a 24 hour grocery and bought some more beverages and shampoo and whatever else we needed. Long story short, we didn't end up going to bed until around 500 am.

The next morning we woke up around 1000 am and went out to look for some lunch, pat was a little under the weather so he did not meet up with us till later. We went to this place that had a student speical in Euros which was odd because in Budapest the currency is the HUF and the rate is something like 19 HUF to 1 USD, so the converstions were a little sketchy. At lunch we had three courses, starting with a chicken pancake, followed by a cos cos with stroganoff beef and then a creamy desert. Jeff insisted on bloody marys, so I couldn't leave him hanging. After that we found a local pub and tried to escape from the cold! Our other friends Christie, Rachael, Sarah, and Lauren met up with us there as well as Pat. We were determined to do some sightseeing that day so we climbed "ice mountain" to the top of Buda castle with everyone freezing and slipping all the way up! The views of the city were amazing especially after everything was lite up. We all ended up going to Fridays for dinner, as if we were in America or something but it was very good! After dinner we decided to goto a place called aqua world which was kind of like a grown up water park and it was awesome as expected, Friday night did not end until around 400 am as well.

We woke up pretty early once again on Saturday! We were determined to find Subway so we asked around and found it in the Octagon which is a big shopping area in Budapest. We met up with the girls in the Christmas market which was amazing and walked around checking out all the sweeeet Christmas stuff every where in the world except for Rome has haha. We decided that we were going to goto the huge hot baths discoteca rave party that night but first we went back and has hummus and snacks before we had our all you can eat, all you can drink restaurant near our apartment complex. The dinner was amazing with a variety of foods from venison to dumplings and even some sushi. The all you can drink part wasn't too bad either. Finally after about a two and a half hour dinner we cabbed it over to hot baths party where we paid the cover charge and threw on our suits. This place was INSANE, it was a natural springs bath just like they have in Colorado but it was in a club with djs and laser shows all over. Everyone from Romew that was in Budapest was there. We danced and partied all night long, once again getting home at aroun 500 am.

Sunday we woke up later than usual around 12 and packed up and cleaned our apartment, we checked out of our place and left our backpacks in the office so that we could go exploring. We did all the tourist sites on Sunday from castle to the river and all the bridges, once again we got subway and after a long day of checking out the sites we left for the airport at around 515 pm for our 800 pm flight. Of course of flight got delayed until 1040 pm but at least we were with everyone in the airport. This whole no sleep thing is definitely catching up to everyone. We got into Roma about 130 am and tried to get a cab but none came for 30 minutes so I didnt get home and to bed until around 300 am.

Budapest was unreal and I cant believe it was my last trip, some friends are making early deprtures from rome and it is really starting to set in. Over the course of the next two weeks things will become more and more bittersweet. don't get me wrong I cannot wait to be home but leaving everyone here will be so difficult.

A couple places that I recently visited, check them out!

Ice Bar, Rome

http://www.iceclubroma.it/


5 Level Club, Prague

http://www.karlovylazne.cz/index2.php


The Pub, Prague

http://www.thepub.cz/


Park Guell, Barcelona

http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/gaudi/park-guell.html


John Lennon Wall, Prague

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lennon_Wall


The Red Light District, Amsterdam

http://amsterdam-red-light-district.info/
__________________________________________________________________

Besides that, this week has been stressful for everyone with final papers and presentations coming up. Everyone is also starting to realize the family we have become here will have to say goodbye before we know it. With Thanksgiving past and Christmas just around the corner.. We will celebrate this last weekend together in Budapest, Hungary where Jeff, Jimmy, Pat, and I have a four person hotel-motel-holiday inn, while our other friends are at a hostel near by. Our last weekend trip together, then the finale in Rome. What an amazing end to such an incredible semester..

Even though it is hard to keep in touch with everyone from home, I am definitely trying to e-mail, call, text, facebook, and skype. So I am SORRY if I am bad at getting back to you.. but I will be with you all sooner than later. 18 days and counting.

@ the Ice Bar with Jeff's Family

The end is near, but the best weeks are still ahead

"The Pub" - pour your own beer place in PRAGUE

Gothic Cathedral^

The John Lennon wall!

Dance Clubzzz

This past weekend I visited Prague which is in the Czech Republic but somehow still considered "Middle Europe". I left on Thursday which was Thanksgiving from Rome @ 4:25 p.m. The night before I went out to a restaurant called "Antiqua Roma" with my buddy Jeff's family. It was an DANK mutli-course meal and his family is great! They were so nice and I am thankful that I got to go out to dinner with them to a restaurant built in to the catacombs of Rome. Anyways back to Prague. Thursday night we got to our hotel/hostel/apartment deal that Ty found for 50 US dollars total for the weekend, which is definitely a steal! We went to a nice thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant called Crazy cow. Ty, Eric, and I had hamburgers while Jimmy had a steak. The currency "Czech Crowns" and everything is very high in numbers so we were not used to that. 3,000 crowns are about $170 US dollars. So when we would eat out or go to a pub our bills would be like 1775 crowns it was very different and hard to get used too!! After dinner we went to a club and danced like we never have before, meeting up with some Santa Clara people! A long night of dancing with Jimmy Sexton took place. Friday we went and checked out the OLD TOWN with the very old clock tower and the center square, seeing the biggest castle in Europe and then after eating KFC at around 12:30 p.m. for dinner we went and partied a club called Lucernia which was a huge dance club. Saturday during the day we walked around after eating at a place called Bohemia Bagel which was outstanding but full of Americans. We went to the NEW TOWN and the Jewish Cemetery which was sort of disturbing. It seems that is a huge mound of Jewish bodies piled up and then have thousands of tombstones all around the top of it. Maybe like a concentration camp? who knows but it was a shocking experience. Prague is very very cold and reminded me of home. During the walks at night to the dance clubs we would have snowball fights with locals and ourselves. It reminded me of home and was really nice! Following walking around all day we meet some girls from Santa Clara for dinner and I had pasta with shrimp and salmon while others had pork and veil with potatoes. Later that night we attended the PRAGUE BAR CRAWL which took us to 4 different very cool clubs and bars as we partied all night once again. We ended at the 5 level club that is the biggest dance club in Europe. It was UNREAL. Multiple levels and different kinds of music. So much fun!! Got home around 4 a.m. and woke up for our taxi at 8:00 a.m. to catch our 11:05 a.m. flight home.

The weekend was amazing and Prague was such a cool more modern city, everyone was so nice.

Only 20 days exactly left in Rome with one weekend away at Budapest. And I can't believe how fast this vacation of a lifetime is flying by!

I will be home before you all know it, can't wait to see everyone. But it will definitely be BITTERSWEET.

/kev/

Exactly one month to go..

Who would of thought time would fly by so quickly? I am here in Rome with everyone I met over two months ago with only one left to go. These people are not only my friends. They are turning into my family. I see them all day in good and bad circumstances. We get through everything together, everyone is always so easy-going. It is awesome how things have worked out with the people in my program.

This week has been full of homework and studying Italian, I have not been too enthused about it. We are still “internet-less” and I have to sit in my bathtub to get any kind of connection. Usually we go out and party on Tuesdays but this week we didn’t because everyone has so much work. I have been using so many euro minutes on my Vodafone trying to call everyone and figure out the whole internet situation. We are starting to finally get completely used to being here in Rome. Some of us have found the best options and places to accomplish the necessary tasks for everyday life here in Roma. People are finding laundry mats to get their clothes washed and dried since when we wash our clothes in our apartment and hang them up to dry they get so stretched out and do not fit well. We had to go all the way to University in Rome yesterday for Italian class called La Sapienza, it was a hike to say the least we left school around 3:15 p.m. and did not get back to our apartments until around 7:00 p.m. I was exhausted so I made some dinner and tried to do homework but without internet normal homework tasks are harder than you would think. Today Pat and I had a field study at St. Pietro which is where the Vatican is located. We got there and it was cancelled because today was Wednesday when the Papal Audience and the Pope have a ceremony. Wednesdays are by far my best day of classes considering I only have a morning class and then a huge break and Italian at 4:30 – 6:00 p.m.

This weekend most of my friends are staying Rome except for a select few who are going on the Economics field trip for our program. Some people have others from different programs visiting so we are going to show them a good time! I have several projects and papers I should get a head start on considering I only have three true weeks of class left, with two trips planned in between, and Italians finals in two weeks.

I am unbelievably lucky to be here in Rome with all of my friends from all over the world (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, California, Indian, Pennsylvania, and any other place you can name). Today we took a bus home from my field study and it was full of Italians. We passed the Colosseum and no one even commented or looked at it, it made me realize how amazing the place that we study in everyday really is.

The weekend in Roma!

This weekend most of my friends went to this huge rave in Copenhagen, Denmark called Sensation White. Everyone went but I decided not to because I wanted to have a nice relaxing weekend in Rome and appreciate where I am in the world. Rome is such a historical city, everything in it has a crazy story behind it of some sort. Everyday in class this week I learned fascinating facts about random things in Rome that I pass everyday. I honestly love it here. With only a month to go it is starting to really hit me that I have had this insane experience. To be honest I was SO nervous about going here and doing this. But I could not have picked a better place in the world and I got so tremendously lucky with the people I have met here in Rome. They will definitely be my friends that I will keep in contact with over the years, maybe even attend some of their weddings.

It is starting to get cold in Rome and they still have not turned the heat on in our apartment complex. My internet has also been out for the last couple days which has definitely been a struggle, but I am managing.

The only trips I have planned for the rest of my time here as follows:

Next weekend I will be in Rome again, then Prague for the weekend of Thanksgiving, Budapest Hungary for the weekend of December 3rd, then Rome again for my final weekend before finals.

I am very excited for Budapest because everyone of my friends from the program is going and it will be our last group vacation in Roma together.

liveyourlifewithnoregrets.

Be safe, I love you all -- Kev

Taking notes like its our job, well everyone else is. I on the other hand am taking pictures.

View from the top of the never ending stairs in my classical art class..

^ Having the biggest pre-game in IES history ^

The home stretch..

40 days left in Rome. I can't believe time has flown by so fast. Jeremy told me that times flies but I would have never guessed that I have been in Europe for more than two and a half months. I have a little less than 6 weeks here with all the amazing people I have met in this very historical town and I haven't even seen the best of it. I want to explore the non-touristy places and discover what Rome is really all about. Over the next couple weeks plans are still up in the air but some of the options which will most likely turn into reality are Vienna, Florence, Inter laken, and Prague. I am also going on the Scavi tour which is a very famous underground ruin tour here in Rome. If things pane out the way they are supposed to I will be visiting all of these places. To complete my stay in Europe as the best experience of my life. We got our mid-term grades back and they are better than expected. But now the hard part is all the final semester long projects and papers that we have to get after. Rome is known to be very rainy in the Fall and we are starting to see that in full swing right around this time. Public transportation is busier than ever and classes are longer than ever. Lets be honest I still am living the dream, if for one moment I do not appreciate what is around me or what I am currently doing, I just sit back and think and realize how lucky I am to be able to have this opportunity.

Everyone at home pack their belongings and come to Europe and live with me, then I would have no reason to ever leave.

You could say I am living the dream; or you could be here living up every moment with me

AMSTERDAM FOR 5 DAYS, DUBLIN FOR 4 DAYS, BARCELONA FOR 2 DAYS.

I honestly have no clue where to start with this about Fall Break but here goes nothing. You could say that studying abroad for a whole semester is a 3 month vacation which it is but this 11 day fall break extravaganza was THE vacation of a lifetime. We went in knowing almost nothing about each and every place we chose to visit, just going with the flow and figuring things out on the go with a group of amazing people. Jeff was very helpful in the planning of our trip by booking all the hostels and making sure we saw places we needed to see. Every person contributed something key and important to make this journey a life-altering experience. The trip began on Friday October 22nd, of course we had to go out the night before and party in Rome because that is just how we are here in ROMA. We got up around 5ish to take the tram, to the bus to termini, to another train to the airport, and then finally getting on our plane at the fumincino airport. Before boarding the plane we met a girl Hannah who was studying in Dublin.

^ IAMSTERDAM ^


The legendary "Red Light District"

Once we finally arrived in Amsterdam we took a van taxi to some random hotel in the city center and met a super sketchy hippie dude who rolled up on a bike and walked us to our apartment which was located right around the corner from the Red Light District and above a coffee shop. All day we just spent time exploring and looking for different sights around the city. We walked all the way to the Anne Frank Haus and than were too lazy to wait in line. We did get to goto mexican for dinner which was amazing. I had a chicken burrito and it was the best thing I have ever tasted since I am so sick of Italian food at this point in time. We did not really do anything to crazy that night and went to bed kind of early. I was in a room with Jimmy. Saturday morning after getting a bad nights rest because we seemed to be in a sketchy part of town we all woke up and showered, went to a local breakfast place and had a traditional American breakfast which was nice for a change. We walked around and tried to find the northface store so that mike and jeff could buy north faces since it was a lot colder in Amsterdam than expected. Jimmy bought a really cool winter hat. We planned on going on the tour of Heineken factory later that day but we were supposed to meet some of the girls so we went and had a couple beers at a local bar near the factory. Once inside the Heineken factory we took the self-guided tour which was unexplainable. They showed us how the beer was brewed to perfection. After the Heineken tour we went to the Van Goegh Museum which was definitely interesting to see to say the least. After doing those touristy attractions Jimmy and I went to Wagamama which was a Chinese/Japanese stir fry deal which was outstanding. Later that night we had a bunch of people over to the apartment for Jeff's birthday party but the apartment was pretty packed so a couple of us went downstairs to a local bar and hung out for a little before we went out! We all walked to the "club scene" of Amsterdam where we partied and danced all night long, Jimmy and I even wondered through the Red Light on the way home. We got back to our apartment around 3 a.m. and of course we did not have a key. Jeff lost his roommate Chris earlier in the night so I went with him to look. Amsterdam is not a city that you want to be walking around at night all over town because it is really really sketchy to say the least. We went to bed at 6:00 a.m. and woke up at 9:45 a.m. since there are 6 of us guys it takes about an hour to shower but luckily we had our own in the apartment. Sunday was Jeff's 21st so our day was going to be crazy. We went to breakfast with the girls when we woke up and then Mike, Jeff, and I went on a wireless internet search but the wireless is garbage in Amsterdam. The boys and I then went to a bar called "Players" which is sort of like an American sports bar where we watched the Manchester United soccer game and had this amazing beer that the really cool bartender called "white beer" We then met up with Tiana, Rach, and Christie. Some people went to a coffee shop before dinner while a couple people and me went to a bar. We all then went to Chinese for dinner and it was outstanding. I had sweet and sour chicken and a egg roll, surprise surprise. After dinner Jeff went and got both of his ears pierced because it is just something he does for special occasions. He is crazy. Took another journey through the red light and ended up just having a chill night at the bulldog. Monday was our 4th day in Amsterdam and everyone's bodies were definitely starting to feel the affects. We woke up and grabbed subway and then headed to the Anne Frank Haus. It was an amazing experience to be able to tour here house the way we did. We then journeyed home and watched "the inside man" and napped a little bit. We went out to the local grocery and bought some necessary items and went back to the apartment and played suites and hockey. All the girls then made there way over to our apartment and we went to see a live sex show which is something you just have to do when you are in a different world like Amsterdam. That was pretty interesting. Tuesday was our last day in Amsterdam and I feel like I was pretty ready to leave and move along with our journey. We got up and grabbed subway and coffee and checked out some of the carnival that was taking place in the city center. Something random about Europe is almost every big city has a "city center". We cleaned up the apartment a little bit and packed our bags to leave the fantasy world we have lived in for 5 days. We took Air Lingus to Dublin and I sat next to Jimmy, all of us ended up passing out the whole time. We took two cabs from the airport in Dublin to our hostel called "Jacobs Inn" where we had a 10 person room for all 9 of us. After getting settled in we wanted to go and check out the pub scene so we went to a pub called "O'shays" and drank some beverages and ate. I had a steakburger with mashed potatoes which was awesome as expected. After spending an hour or so at dinner we went back to the apartment and pre-gamed a little and off we went to a club called the Purty Kitchen. It was multi-leveled and really fun. We danced all night, but it seemed as if all the people in the club were either older or younger than us. Dublin was so nice because people actually spoke English and I could understand what people were saying.

This is a view of the castle in Dublin..

Wednesday morning I woke up at 6:30 instead of 7:30 because my phone alarm was set wrong :(. It worked out pretty well thought because I started my day very early. After an hour long run I went back to our 10 person hostel and woke up the boys. We went to a pub called the Dubliner for beers and lunch, but we were lucky enough to get the "lunch special" which was a chicken club or fish and chips with any draft beer for 10 euros. We then all went to another pub that had ten euro pitchers of fosters which we sat and consumed for a little over two hours. Next was the Guinness factory to take a tour of how they made there beer, that was amazing as expected. At the end of the tour with our ticket we got a free perfect draft glass of Guinness at the bar on top of the building called the "Gravity Bar" It had an un-explainable view of Dublin. It was also raining this day and I forgot my raincoat in the hostel. Before dinner we went and had appetizers at a local sport bar, quesedillas and nachos. We then went to "Elephant Castle" and got famous buffalo wings which were very tasty but not like buffalo wild wings or hooters to any extent. We then went back to meet up with the girls and headed to a pub called "Buskers" where we listened to live music and watched the Giants and the Rangers in the World Series. I was so exhausted I only watched 3 innings before Jeff and I walked home to end another awesome night in Europe.

Our ten person hostel in Dublin which was surprisingly very nice.

Thursday morning we planned on visiting the countryside of Ireland and we did just that. After we all got up and showered we grabbed subway and headed over to the train station. We bought tickets to go to Malihide where they have a famous castle and a variety of unreal views of the ocean. We went into a castle and took an audio tour which was interesting but not my cup of tea, Jimmy is convinced the castle is haunted. After hanging out and walking around all day we took the "dart" which is the name of the train about 30 minutes home back to Dublin. Once back in the city we were determined to go to TGI Fridays for some reason so after two hours of walking around we finally found it! The food was surprisingly good, I had a chicken sandwich and mashed potatoes. Dinner was nice and relaxing, some of us shared stories while others listened carefully. After that we all got ready and headed to temple bars, temple bars is a huge area in Dublin that has all the cool bars and clubs! We ended up at a bar called XX1 which was really fun, danced the night away once again with Rach and Christie (who has a broken ankle but somehow that doesn't stop here). Then walked home later with Jimmy and Ty! Friday was one of the best days of the entire trip. I got up super early to go on a run! Then when I got back I woke up Ty and we walked to get coffee. We stopped in at casino and played; putting 50 euro on red each we bet basically our life savings. Thankfully we won so we stayed and gambled a little bit. I found Nike leggings for running for only 35 euro so I bought them. And then we just walked around all day and hung out until our taxi for the airport at 5:00 p.m. from our hostel. We got to the airport and what do you know... our flight is delayed till 10:40 instead of 8:40 p.m. So we all ate dinner and relaxed for hours, until our plane got delayed again until 11:45 p.m. This was really putting a damper on our plans because we were planning on partying Barca when we got there @ 2 a.m. After a long plane ride and longer taxi ride, we finally arrived at the Sun and Moon Hostel. Once we got to the 4x4 room with 8 beds in it and no sheets or blankets on our beds we dropped the girls off and headed out to the clubs but it only lasted for about two hours because everyone was exhausted. The clubs were amazing with tons of levels and ridiculous music with crazy colors and lights everywhere. The women were BEAUTIFUL. Saturday morning we got up around 11:00 a.m. so that gives us a solid four hours of awful sleep. We made our way to this sandwich shop called "Bo De B" it was so good! Then we met up with Jimmy's Santa Clara friends who study through the same program as us in Barcelona. They took us to the fresh market was definitely a crazy sight to see. One of our friends is vegan so that didn't work out so well. Next we went to a pub and watched soccer for hours. Then Ty and I tried to walk back to the hostel but got so lost that we had to take two different cabs since no driver knew were our hostel was. We split a kabab for lunch. Then we all met up and made our way to this place that is three euro pour your own drinks, they give you the bottle of booze and a chaser and you actually make your own drink. It is definitely bad news. We then cabbed it to "Elephant" which is another crazy Barcelona club. Everyone uses cabs everywhere in Barcelona because the night life is sketchy at times and some of the places are not walkable. After dancing and partying all night once again with Santa Clara nation and everyone from the Rome Program, I took the tram home... It was an experience where I lost one of my clogs. Awesome. Crazy night though!

View from Parc Guell, the picture doesn't do justice.

Sunday morning was kind of rough because we once again slept for four hours. Jeff and some of the girls went on their own adventure while the boys and I went to see some of Barcelona. We walked everywhere and saw so much awesome sights. The beach is ridiculous, it is beautiful. We then journeyed to Segrada Familia which is a famous crazy architectured church that is still being remolded. After that we cabbed it to Parc Guell which was one of the most amazing places I have ever seen. It had an crazy view of the whole city and the beach! On our walk home we made dinner reservations at Princessera 23 which was a local restaurant. We went back to get everyone else but they weren't back yet. We had a all boys dinner which was kind of nice for a change while the girls did their own thing. We met them all at the three euro drink place around 11:00 p.m. where tons of people met up. Finally we tried to get into a club on the beach called "Opium mar" but there was no chance with it being Halloween and all. The girls got in but we didn't of course. So we went to another place called "Catwalk" which was very entertaining anyways. Most of the girls and some other people came and met up with us! We partied all night and ended up on the beach, not getting home till 7:00 a.m. where we got back to the room got our bags and left for the airport to catch of 10:30 flight back to Rome, all with NO sleep. Then back to Roma it was.

This vacation was too perfect and fun to put into words. We could not have been luckier with the way everything worked out and I am so happy I got to see and do all the things that we did with the people I was with. I enjoyed every moment of it. There was no drama, no injuries (Christie's ankle", no sicknesses (Rach haha), no jail time, or anything bad of that sort. Obviously it cost a lot of money but what do I expect? I saw three of the most amazing cities on earth. It was a perfect blend of variety and I am pleased that I had the opportunity to experience the whole thing. I am very appreciative that I am able to study abroad and would recommend it to anyone and everyone. It is never too late.


There are so many details and amazing experiences I left out, I could just not put this trip into text. It is impossible. Be safe at home, Love and miss you all. 6 weeks left in ROMA.

Hanging out on a Field Study for Ancient Rome and Myth

Sometimes on Fridays the kids protest having class and throw a huge party
near my apartment in the middle of the street, blocking all the trams and buses.

An overview of the "FORUM"

Mid-Terms, Mid-Terms, Mid-Terms

^Oktoberfest 12 hour bus ride through the ALPS^

Relaxing with everyone in Cinque Terre!

Hitting up the ATM before we spend all of our Euro an hour later
at a Discoteca called "Coyote" in a area called Testaccio near Trastevere.

This week has been to say the least hectic. We had our Italian oral presentation which Ty and I gave a 3 minute quick power point in Italian on our journey of Oktoberfest from a few weeks ago. For some reason my teacher, Marta, made all of us memorize our speeches even though I can't memorize a speech in English. But overall that went pretty well. We studied all night on Wednesday after I got home from the gym, which I am starting to like more and more as time moves on. Can you believe I have been here almost 7 weeks and my trip is basically half way over. How crazy it is when time flies by so quickly. Thursday I had class in the morning and then we went to a museum for my ancient Rome and Myth class that was located near Termini. It was a lot cooler than I thought it would be. After that for lunch I grabbed a "kabob" which are becoming a huge hit to us Americans throughout the duration of our stay here in ROMA. I studied with Ty in the basement of school for a couple more hours. I went in and took the Italian mid-term in about 35 minutes and I would say it went "okay..?" but we will see how that turned out. Thursday night we were supposed to go to the re-opening of this club called MOOD but it ended up not opening so we went to a different smaller club called LEVEL. The night was crazy and basically our whole program eventually showed up there. This was our last weekend in Rome before Fall break so we all figured we have to take full advantage of being done with Italian mid-terms and all. Friday was a pretty fun day as well since we do not have class to attend on Fridays we basically have all day to do whatever we want! Me being the studious kid that I am tried to crank our some homework during the day with Ty. Actually we got a lot of work done sitting at my living room table, I made a study guide for all the different Roman paintings and such that I have to remember for my mid-term in classical art on Tuesday. Then we got a pretty big group together and went to our local Italian restaurant called "Tony's" which is always a good time. I had Gorgonzola gnocchi and boiled chicken breast along with some red wine and bread. About ten of us came back to my place after the three hour dinner extravaganza and once again got ready for the crazy night that was about to be ahead of us! Mood was officially opening tonight and Jeff (Who knows a club promoter named Francesco) has a hook up. We got on the tram to get to Mood at about 11:30 p.m. and made our way there. Usually there is a cover but we did not have to pay and drinks were TEN EURO which is absolutely absurd. We danced on tables to awesome "house" remixed music all night, partied on the couches, and mingled with the Italians. Finally after sweating through all of our clothes we made our way home. I walked home with my two friends from class Carly and Julie while Jeff was lost and then miraculously we found Jimmy and Gina wondering the streets on their way home too! Last night was insane and of course tonight another club called Le Mesone is opening which was re-located because of the Winter weather that was coming up quicker than expected. As for today went, I got up early and cleaned the place, threw some laundry in and went to the gym. This week was a very good running week and I put in about 60 miles which was nice for a change. Ty and Jeff came over to study with me! Ty and I also went to the grocery and then we made ourselves chicken sandwiches for lunch. Tonight the plan for dinner is "Mexican night" where everyone brings five euro and something to pass, while we make awesome burritos and all hang out at our place! Then we may or may not go out. I am going to try to cram in a lot of studying before that and maybe watch a little college football at the same time. I hope everyone is enjoying the Fall weather change wherever you are in the world. It is getting pretty cold here at night and even today I am wearing sweatpants.

Keep in touch. Love you all. -Kev-

let the actual schoolwork begin

Finally the time has come where we have to do things for school, although I have been trying to keep up with everything; I am not gonna lie it has been difficult with all the fun places we have been visiting lately! This week we have our Italian mid-terms which are bound to be impossible (Oral exam on Wednesday and written exam on Thursday) then we party! Mood opens this weekend which is an awesome discoteca located in the middle of Roma. Le Mezone also opens up this weekend so we will most likely goto that on Friday. I am planning on staying in on Saturday and studying for mid-terms since I have four next week and I am starting to stress out about it! I have been very busy and will be all the way up until fall break:


Amsterdam: Friday - Tuesday
Dublin: Tuesday - Friday
Barcelona: Friday - Monday

Should be a blast! Tomorrow should be a tough Italian class along with Thursday.. I have been running on a treadmill lately and loving it for some reason, but today I forgot my gym card but luckily the man let me in no problem. I need to study as much as possible when I have time, but I will try to blog as much as I can throughout the next week.

Be safe to you all and thanks for reading as always.

best,
kev

Discovering yourself.

Studying abroad is such a life altering experience. You take a chance on yourself. You come to an unknown place with no one to fall back on but yourself, you figure out who you actually are and appreciate things more than ever. There are always awkward moments that are not awkward, no hesitations, just a place where you feel you can finally live freely. The truth is I left O' Hare airport in Chicago being more scared than ever before. Am I actually doing this? Now I have came to the conclusion that it does not matter where you are, its the moments you make while you are in those places. In Roma a family has been created, each and everyday we strive to find out every thing about each other. Each person has such an impact on the group as a whole, and each person makes it special in a precarious way. Some people are close to others, some people hate others with a passion, some even don't even know the others name, but the important thing is that we are all here together and striving through this unbelievable experience together. Even if you don't know someone so well, here in Rome is the place to get to know them. I absolutely am happier than ever with the people I am with and got so lucky. True I do miss home and the TEAM but I am here for less than three months. I want to complete the list of top 100 best things to see in Rome. I wanna party hard in Barca for Halloween. I wanna check out the castles in Dublin and I want to see the sites in Amsterdam. I wanna swim in the Trevi Fountain. Watch the sunrise on the Spanish Steps. Complete that 20 mile run passed the Colosseum and the Vatican. Everyday I appreciate being here more and more. I can't even explain to you my feelings running through my head everyday. I am walking passed thousands and thousands of years of real true history on my way to class.

This morning I went on a run up the main hill in Trestevere and passed Villa Borghese which is the cliff where you can see the entire city of ROME. It was unexplainable. As for this weekend went most of us stayed here in Rome because we are all trying to save $$$ for our 11 day fall break extravaganza. Yesterday some of the guys went to a pub and watched the Penn State vs. Illinois football game. I am very happy with my decision to hang out for the weekend and not always be traveling, not that I caught up on sleep as I should have, but it was a blast.

Week "6" is coming to an end.

Gladiator Costumes for 264 B.C.

The Colesseum, yeah this is what I do for class..

Week six of my amazing journey in Rome is coming to an end, it is going quicker than I could have ever imagined. This week was full with a lot of homework, running, and planning for Fall Break. We still have to book our hostels for Amsterdam, Dublin, and Barecalona for Halloween. It should be an unreal time. I just learned that we have an Italian mid-term next week, should be interesting to say the least. Today I had to give a presentation on Gladiators in the actual Colosseum, which as you can imagine was as surreal as it could be. Then I had a long day of walking because I tried to find a few things by myself and of course got lost! I also am going to buy a train/bus pass for 30 Euro this month hopefully. Rumor has it that Lady Gaga will be playing Dublin while we are there. Looks like we will be attending that weirdos concert. It should be a blast actually.

Anyways I am just relaxing this weekend in Rome and getting some stuff figured out with school and such. I will most likely blog again this weekend.

Keep in touch, Buonacera

Oktoberfest, heaven on earth.

This past weekend was one of the craziest weekends of my life. Sure you hear about Oktoberfest being a huge beer drinking fest where Germans dress up in there ridiculous outfits and drink beer uncontrollably. But what I encountered was so much different than I ever expected. I will start from the beginning...

The trip to Munich, Germany was through bus2alps which is a big student studying abroad company where they do most of the planning for you. Our trip to Oktoberfest was scheduled to leave from Termini which is the biggest train station in Rome @ 8:00 p.m. My buddy Ty and I brought our bags and stuff to Italian class which ended at six so that we wouldn't have to go all the way and all the way back because Rome is such a huge city and it takes time to get places especially at rush hour. We had some time to kill so we randomly picked a restaurant and sat down for a nice dinner before the dreadful 12 hour bus ride through the ALPS. I had thick spicy pasta and water while Ty had veil and potatoes with a beer on the side. Somehow our dinner turned out to be 20 Euro each, but that is besides the point. It is nice to sit down and have a good meal every once and awhile. Next, we made our way towards termini where we stopped into the grocery store to buy some snacks. Ty also bought a new pair of Nike shoes and sweatpants which will be talked about later in this blog. Anyways, time passed and we got on the bus. Everyone was partying but I was trying to get some rest because I wanted to feel 100% for the weekend. I did not really sleep that well but after several stops along the way we arrived in Munich at our campsite that was called "Stoke Camping" It was run by a bunch of middle aged Australian kids who partied just as hard as we did all weekend. We paid 15 Euro at the entrance to the site for unlimited all you can eat (breakfast) and drink (all day). It was actually quite a steal. The tents were two a tent or three if you wanted the extra body heat, but being boys we didn't figure we would need that. Well we were wrong the tents were absolutely freezing and all six of us ended up in the same one by the end of the night for one reason or another.

We got into our campsite at around 9:15 a.m. on Friday morning and after we all checked in we had a little breakfast which was pretty good for a campsite quick breakfast and we found out that our shuttle was not running to Oktoberfest. So they gave us a little piece of paper with public transportation directions, in German of course. We found our way to the bus then to the train and when everyone go off the train we were told to follow the crowds. So we did and it led us to heaven on earth as they call it in Germany. The tent we went to that day was called the HB tent, it was one of the many beer tents at this festival. The tents hold anywhere between 2 and 10 thousand people. The beer is served in 1 liter huge awesome mugs and cost 8 Euro and some change. But everyone pays ten! The drinking festivities continued all day with people taking naps on the lawn. We got there too late on Friday to get a good table but we walked around and mingled all day. Tyler and I left the tent and went on some carnival rides, we also both won little plastic whistles at the balloon popping game. Everyone lost everyone. After a long day of partying with the Germans and Americans we went home relatively early around 9:00 pm and passed out for the night. We all set our alarms for 5:00 am only to be woken up at 4:30 am by the crazy Australians who ran our camp ground feeding us beer through the zippers of our tents. We all got up as well as about 100 other people and got on the bus, dead tired might I add, and heading out to the fest. No one showered or changed clothes because there was simply no time in the day for this. This was the festival of a lifetime and we wanted to be first in line to experience it!

It was a sad site to see when Jimmy wasn't with the crew all weekend, but it just so happened that his whole college booked Oktoberfest back in May at a Holiday Inn with a pool, while we all slept in dirty old sleeping bags in 40 degree weather. But camping might have been the just as fun as the festival.

We made it to the festival on Saturday morning no later than 7 a.m. and the tents did not open until nine but we wanted to make sure to get a table in the middle where it would have been the most fun near the band. Of course something went wrong. One of the security guards knowingly told us the wrong entrance so we waited two hours in the cold at the wrong entrance when some of our friends got there at 8:30 and got a prime table. Luckily those friends were Jimmy and his Santa Clara crew. So a group of us got a table on the side and then just ran up and hung out with our other friends all day! The day went by pretty quickly, eating huge pretzels and whole chickens all day. Towards the end of the night Jeff, Caroline, Stephanie, and I went on some rides (roller coaster, swings, and log rides) which was definitely a highlight of the festival. Then Jeff and I snuck back into the HB tent somehow but could once again not find anyone. Somehow we made our way back to the campground later that night. As we arrived we found that Ryan and Tyler's tent burnt down because supposedly someone flicked a cigarette on it. Luckily no one was in it or hurt. We partied at the campground until 4 a.m. We were once again woken up around 8 am and made our way to the festival again, this time visiting Hippodrome. A more relaxed and low key tent. The girls ate some German food and some of the boys had beers. Before we knew it we had to rush back to the campground to catch of 12:30 p.m. bus home. The bus ride was long and boring but ended up being an amazing ride because we passed through the ALPS which are just a huge amazing range of mountains. We stopped at a local truck stop to get dinner around 8 p.m. and I had a terrible dinner. It was super super expensive but I was starving so we all ate a bunch of stuff. Finally after 12 hours of hell on a bus that smelt terrible since no one showered all weekend. We got dropped off at the Trestevere train station and of course we were all out of money so we walked home and did not cab it.

There are so many crazy stories from this past weekend that I wasn't able to put into words. I will explain to you all in person when I get home!

Oktoberfest 2010 will never be forgotten. I am so happy with the friends I have made here in Rome and I am sure there will be plenty more to come. I definitely wish some of my family and friends from the states were with me this weekend. One day we will all go back together. I also got a little homesick recently, but realized before I know it I will be in the States back with everyone missing my tiny apartment in the center of ROMA.

Be safe, arrividirchi.

Kev

The best way to cure culture shock? Vino.

The local dry cleaner.. on my porch

Michelangelo's famous paintings in a leisure home on top of a hill in Trestevere.

Sight-seeing in AH 230

(This is the porch of a relaxation home used by the Romans for leisure, it just so happens that their view is one of the best in the city of Rome... surprise, surprise)

This week has been awesome so far, two days of classes down and two to go! Italian is going pretty well for me so far, I am getting a newspaper everyday and trying to read it front to back by looking up the words I don't know. I am hoping that this will help me with learning the language that I need to pass out of Italian when I get back to school down in Champaign. Also, when i get back down there this spring I have to take my internship seminar, one core class, and one general education class until I can graduate. Scary and exciting at the same time. Anyways, I found out that I have to give a presentation on gladiators on October 7th and it just so happens that my class field study is in the Colosseum so I will be presenting inside the famous Colosseum which will definitely be a once in a lifetime opportunity. I am not to excited about the actual presentation but the place I am presenting will be awesome. As you all know Oktoberfest is coming up and I leave for that on Thursday night at 8:00 p.m. everyone is so excited, I am going with about 20+ of my closest friends from the program so it should be a good time. Most of my friends here have been waiting years to visit Munich during this world-known beer drinking festival. The rest of the week looks pretty easy going: Two classes tomorrow and three on Thursday then home to pack and off I go! I will blog again after the festival. I finally also received my birthday package from my mom that she mailed out 3 weeks ago... Italian mail is pretty skeptical!

I am hoping that all of you are going to have an outstanding weekend just like me.

Take care... Kev

Cinque Terre: The northern coast

The group of about half of us on our guided tour ^^

One of the 29843293 stunning views I saw this weekend...

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to visit the northwest coast of Italy in an area called Cinque Terre. This trip was the one trip we got to go on with my program IES. But on Thursday night before we left for this vacation, we all partied and went to a disco-tech in Testaccio called "Coyote" the problem was we got there kind of early and when we got there, to be completely honest, the place was DEAD. In a matter of no time it turned into one of the best nights I have had here in Rome yet. We danced and partied all night with a huge group of 20+ of us and the local Italians along with students from other programs such as John Cabut University. Friday morning, I woke up around 8:30 went for a run and scrambled to pack. We had to be at Termini by 11:30 a.m. We took the tram to bus "64" which got us to termini by 11:15. Pat, Eric, and I grabbed Mr. Panini while most of the others had McDonalds.We then took our two and a half hour train ride to La Spezia which is a local town near the region of Cinque Terre. We got in and walked to our hotel which was called "my one hotel" and finally got our room assignments, luckily I was roomed with my buddy Grant from Connecticut. After that the boys and I walked around what seemed to be an abandoned ghost town but then again it was "siesta" when everyone takes there afternoon naps. I grabbed a little piece of pizza bread because I was starving and then we went and sat up on some rooftop and enjoyed a local beverage on top of an awesome restaurant. The weather did not look to promising for the upcoming weekend. We had to be showered and in the hotel lobby by 8:00 p.m. for dinner. We attended dinner at a awesome restaurant called "Antica Trattoria Sevieri " where we had an outstanding meal. First they served us bread (wheat and cheese), noodles with pesto, rice and cheese with asparagus, beef wellington with salad, and then a coffee/amerreto dessert. The dinner was ridiculous. After that everyone was so exhausted that we just went to bed considering we had a 7:30 a.m. wake up call. All the hotels in Italy usually have breakfast available and free for our pleasure when we stay at the hotels with a variety of jellies, croissants, cereal, and juices. I even had my first espresso which I did not really care for. After breakfast at nine in the morning we met our guides of Cinque Terre, ours was awesome, her name was Veronica and she was a native of this sacred place. We took the hike through Riomaggiore-Manarola-Cornigilia-Vernazza but the problem was the rain the night before stopped us from hiking some places the guide wanted us too. This place was similar to Capri but nothing like I have ever seen before. Hiking was intense but definitely worth the views. In the middle of the tour we stopped at the Pesto capital of the world and had pizza with pesto sauce on it, unreal as expected and not too expensive. At the end of the tour we took a boat cruise back along the coastline while getting soaked by salt water from the Mediterranean. The views I saw on this day are definitely embedded in my memory for the rest of my life and I would love to go back sometime in the future and show everyone I can. Once again we got back to our hotel, actually before that we went on a search for the "Supermercado" to get some vino before dinner which we did. After we showered and got dressed we went up to Sarah and Elisa's room to hang with everyone because they had an outstanding balcony! We met for dinner @ 8:00 p.m. again in the lobby and walked over to "Ristorante da Duccio" where we snuck a couple bottles of wine in and drank them because since this was IES sponsored they did not really encourage drinking. We only had three courses this time, the first was a meat ravioli followed by veil and potato wedges, and then a creme dessert. We hung out down in Jimmy's room all night and talked with everyone for hours, some people went out but the town is not like what we are used to in ROMA.

Sunday morning we woke up at 7:30 am again and had breakfast but I slept through the wake up call and was rushed to eat. And then we walked to the waterfront with our bags and boarded our bus home. On the way home we stopped at Ca Lunae Winery and got a tour of the winery and had a wine and cheese tasting. Along with a liquor and jelly tasting. This was one of the coolest things I have ever seen! Some people bought wine and pesto but I resisted as I am trying to budget as good as possible, which may I add is IMPOSSIBLE. After the wine tasting we took an hour bus ride and arrived at a traditional Sunday lunch called "Pranzo" where I ate the biggest lunch of my life. First we had a type of pig meat with a broccoli and cheese bread, pesto lasagna, mushroom ravioli, beef and potatoes, and ice cream/amerreto desert. It was so filling but so good, along with some rosso vino and aqua minerale. Everyone was completely stuffed so we passed out for a solid two hours in the bus on the ride home. Until the bus driver stopped at a rest stop and everyone got out to stretch then we had another solid two hour bus ride left to Rome, where I shared an iPod with Sarah and we tried to sleep but it was pretty unsuccessful. We finally arrived back in Rome around 8:00 p.m. Pat, Eric, Jimmy, Gina, and Alex walked home together and hopped on the train. Jimmy and the girls stopping at VIP pizza and then we parted ways.

I have a long week ahead of school and running but can't wait for this weekend because Thursday night @ 8:00 p.m. we leave for a 12 hour bus ride to Oktoberfest!!!! Check it out: ( http://www.oktoberfesta.it/?gclid=CLm-jrH0paQCFQ8-Zgod0lbC5g )

Miss and love you all --- Kev

Week 3 here I come

This is the group of all of us who went to Capri and Serrento!

On the walk home from Campo on my 22nd Birthday...

This week has been packed with school and getting into the routine of normal everyday life here in the heart of ROMA. Went to Billa (our local grocery) on Monday and got some food for the week. Even though sometimes eating out is only around 3 euro it still adds up. One thing they do not have here are gallons of milk, they only have liters so Pat and I drink at least two a day.

My class schedule is quite odd. For my four area concentrated classes we have two lectures a week. One lasting for an hour and the other lasting for two but the two hour lectures are called field studies where we actually go to famous places and learn about everything around Rome. We get to go into exhibitions and historical places for free thanks to IES (my program). Most of my classes are Art History based which is different for me, but it makes them a lot better when I can actually see what my professor (who of course does not speak good English at all) is talking about. Today my field study was @ 9:30 a.m. and it was at St. Cicelia Church in downtown Trastevere.

Last night we went to Scholars for kareoke which was a blast as always. Now I am waiting around about to goto Italian class that I have from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. Where I am honestly learning a lot more Italian than I thought I would be.

Be safe in the States.

Ciao Kev

Capri and Serento

Ty and Mike passed out in the 7even!

This weekend was possibly the best weekend of my life.

To start at the beginning, we partied thursday night into the morning and didn't go to sleep where we caught the 5:38 a.m. train out of Roma Termini. We took a train that early because it was so much cheaper than at a later time. After about a two hour train ride we arrived in Napoli where it is to say the least the "Bronx" of Italy. We hopped on a train to Serento which was only an hour ride, making several stops on the way. Throughout the duration of the train we passed by the Mediteranean Sea and huge cliffs and mountains. We even passed a famous still active volcano. The sights were insane. Once we arrived to Serento which was the last stop on the train we took a walk to our hostel which was call 7even. It is on the list of top ten hostels in the world. (Check it out for yourself, http://www.sevenhostel.com/) It was ridiculous, but there was one problem we had 6 guys in our room and we had a reservation for five but thankfully we just ended up each paying 50 Euro instead of 60 Euro for the whole weekend. It was an amazing deal and I wish I lived there. After we got the the 7even we checked our bags, actually we just locked them up and put them in a random room. We grabbed our swimsuits and then 15 of us headed out to look for a beach. It took us forever to find a public beach where you did not have to pay but eventually we did. The boys ditched the girls and went to an awesome lunch. We had some wine and I had penne pasta with carne. It was great just as everything I have eaten here. After we hung out at the beach all day and swam in the black sand beaches we went back to the hostel and showered. We then attended dinner with all of us at this amazing restaurant that over looked the sea. We also had two courses for dinner, for example a pasta then meat. I had a macaroni and cheese pasta and then steak for my main course. Outstanding as usual. After that we walked home and I was so exhausted; we partied for a little at the rooftop bar of the hostel and then I passed out around 11:30 considering I have not slept in 40 and some odd hours. The following morning we all woke up and grabbed breakfast around 9 and then we had to be ready at 9:30 am for our private boat tour that was going to take us to Capri!

They picked us up in Mercedez vans and off we went to the harbor. After they shuttled everyone back and forth. The five guys and I (Jeff, Jimmy, Pat, Mike, and Ty) jumped on a boat with Christie and Tiana. And off we went to the coolest thing I have ever done in my life. Our drivers name was Francesco and he was pretty cool! We were laughing unbelievably hard on this boat ride because the driver was nuts and going full speed off HUGE waves. It was so fun! They took us to caves and coves to swim in but we did not get to swim in the Gratos because the waters are privately owned and you can get fined up to 300,000 Euros for entering. There were three gratos (blue, green, and white). It was awesome. After awhile of taking us around the island we headed to Capri where we got dropped off and went to explore the island. This island was straight out of Jurassic Park, just imagine the cliffs and crazy stuff because this was it! The coolest thing I have ever seen. We walked to the center of Capri and it took about an hour up hill and sweating but the view was worth it. Cruise ships everywhere, yachts everywhere. After we toured Capri a little we went back to our boat around 3:00 p.m. where the driver than showed us crazy islands and caves all around the island. The sea was very very choppy this day. We got to a certain point where you could cliff jump, it was about a hundred feet so some people did that. But the scariest part was the millions of jellyfish all over the place that are just waiting to sting you. They were big, small, brown, and yellow. Everyone got pretty sun burnt. By the time we got home to back to shore it was 7:30 p.m.

We all then showered really quickly and went down stairs for 7 Euro pasta dinner. Followed by a huge party at our hostel where everyone partied the night away, there were so many other college kids from other programs there. I loved our hostel. We went to bed pretty late. But this morning was an awesome morning too!

I woke up around 7 a.m. and went on a long run up and down the coast of Serento. Doing some of my own sight-seeing. By the time I got home from getting lost so many times I look at my watch and it was already 8:45 a.m. Luckily right across the street from our rooms was a turf soccer field. After my run I saw a guy kicking the ball around so I went and asked him if I could play with him, of course he let me. As time passed more and more people came to the field. (All Italian speaking) So i had to try to communicate. It turns out that it was a league on Sundays and they play all the time. One team was a man down for the first half so they let me play!! It was insane. So much fun! I played for a little over a half hour and thanked the Italians for letting me play. Then no one was awake yet, so I grabbed breakfast alone. Went upstairs, showered and packed up. We had to checkout by 11 a.m. The weekend was amazing! and thankfully not too expensive. We walk at least 5 miles a day here, it hurts the legs to say the least. We hiked with all of our bags back to the train, trained for an hour back to Napoli and then headed on our long train back to Roma Termini. We got back today around the 3:30 and the boys grabbed McDonalds. This trip was amazing, it is hard to explain everything in such detail but it was really cool just to backpack and leave. Just go with the flow, nothing is ever planned.

I just upacked my ridiculous Northface travel back pack and threw in a load of laundry. I also made some pasta with pesto and spinach. I am so dehydrated from all the activities that we have been doing. I have some Italian homework and reading for my other classes that I have to do tonight. But the boys are going to get dinner so I am going to go sit with them. I will blog more when I have more time. Hope all is well at home with school and work. Love everyone. Check my new picks on face book too!

!Arrividerchi!