Pronti? Mai.

Hey Friends,

So, my post today is a bit more somber than previous entries. The reason being that I had to say goodbye tonight to one of my best friends here in Rome. It's a long, complicated story, but my friend, Clementina, had to leave early from our program in Rome to head back to Venezuela, where she lives.

It's amazing how time has flown here. We were reminiscing at dinner tonight about all our memories here and how everything now is routine and common, whereas it definitely didn't start off that way.

I remember the first day of school like it was yesterday. I walked downstairs in our building and saw four people sitting at a table together, looking very shy and quiet. I sat next to a blonde girl, Isabella (who is now one of my closest friends here), and Clementina, Demetri, & JonCarlo. We asked each other normal questions, "how long are you here for?", "what level of Italian are you?", "are we in the same class?"...etc. I destinctly remember Clementina's response to 'how long are you here for?' because she said, "six months. But I know I won't last that long".

You see, Clemen is only 18. And in my mind, going to college is hard enough at that age. Imagine going across the world, to another country where you don't speak the language and having to live on your own. Not exactly the easiest thing to do at the volunerable age of 18. So, I understood as her homesickness was stronger than the others. However, it only made our bond stronger (between all of us girls, really) as we supported each other and leaned on one another when family and friends were time zones away.

Throughout the months, Clementina and I went on many of the school trips together (Siena, San Giovanni, Pompei, Napoli..), shared our passion for high-end fashion (which is, of course, dangerous in Rome ;), laughed about boys, cried about boys, had each others backs when people let us down, and had, not to mention, the four to seven hours of class together everyday. So, inevitably, we became really close friends.

Never in my life would I think that one of my best friends would reside in Venezuela. It's such an odd idea, but just another one of life's surprises. Never did I think that any of my close friends in life would be from any further than Canada. But, in fact, the hardest part about my experience here isn't the language, but meeting amazing people from all over the world, building the strongest of friendships, and then leaving them & having to keep such huge distances' between us for the rest of our lives.

The friendships here are unlike any I've experienced. It's like kindergarden, or first grade.. you all cry when your mom leaves you with these strange people, but then you look around the room and see that each person is feeling the same things you are and before you know it, you've formed some of the strongest bonds of friendship you'll ever know. And it's like that all over again, but this time you're aware it's happening, and especially aware that you won't be sharing the next 12 years with these people.

Despite the coming goodbyes, I am so grateful that I have met such amazing people here. And I'm very lucky that I still have another month and a half left to continue creating great memories. It's also taken me this experience of Clementina leaving early, to appreciate the moments shared, and savor the moments left.

So, Clementina, I will miss you beyond belief. But, it's not goodbye, it's see you later..

And as the wise Emily Dickinson once said,

"That is will never come again is what makes life so sweet."

Words to live by..

Buena Serata,

Kate

Greece Pictures

Me doing a quasi-Heisman pose at the Partheneon

Santorini red-beach

Hillary and I at Fira, Santorini

IA, Santorini

view of houses cliff-side (Santorini)

Athens, Santorini, Florence & Rome..

Ciao Amici,
Thought I'd bring you all up-to-date on my adventures here in Italia. I should first tell you that it's been so long since I've written because my laptop pooped out on me here :( Believe me, this was probably the biggest issue since I've lived in Europe. So, I apologize for the delay in writing. Luckily, by the great skills of the Geek Squad in good ol' USofA, I have my laptop back here and ready to take on the world. Well, world-wide-web, at least.
Alright, where to beginnnn...
About a month ago, my cousin, Hillary, and her friend, Kristen, came out to visit me in Roma for 2 weeks! They came all the way from Oklahoma and camped out on my floor like the troopers they are. However, we didn't stay in Italy the whole time they were here. Our first trip was to Athens, Greece!
It was pretty awesome. We met two ladies from Greece while waiting for our plane in Rome and we are sooo lucky we ran into them. They helped us figure out the airport in Athens and took the subway with us to our hostel. I don't know if we would have made it without them, as we didn't realize how difficult it was to get around the city. But, we made it! And stayed in a decent hostel called "Easy Access" LOL Despite the name, it actually was a pretty nice place. They had free internet and breakfast for $15 euro a night! pretty amazing. After only one night in Athens, we left to travel to the Greek islands. We aren't exactly the richest girls so we decided to choose just one. Kristen had always wanted to go to Santorini (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants island), so we chose that one.
After an 8 hour ferry ride (which we'll never do again), we arrived in a rainy, cold Santorini. Not exactly the best time to go island hopping. However, we made the best of it, and met some more extremely nice Grecians who helped us find a cheap, beautiful hostel right in the capital of Santorini, called Fira. *word of advice: keep in mind when looking on hostelworld.com that some hostels may not be open due to off-season schedules... yeah we didn't think far enough ahead lol which is why we needed a recommendation as to where to stay when we realized we'd be stranded*
Anyways, we had a great time, enjoying the food, people, and scenery in Santorini. We hiked a few days up and down the cliff-side of the island, which was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Absolutely unreal. (I'll post pix)
After 3 or 4 days in Santorini, we went back to Athens to tour the Parthenon and the rest of Acropolis. Once we left "Easy Access" for the last time, we headed back to Rome.
Hillary and Kristen wanted to tour more of Italy, so we went to Florence for a day and then they continued on to Venice, as I headed back to Rome for school. Florence was amazing. It was like a smaller Rome with beautiful landscapes surrounding it. The only thing with Florence was the insane amount of Americans there. I honestly heard more English than Italian while there. Kinda crazy. Although, we met some nice American grad students there who were traveling throughout Europe for 100 days to study architecture. Sounded amazing, and expensive! But, they were pretty cool kids.
Once Hillary and Kristen made it back to Rome, they toured the city more in depth and actually ran into our Florence friends at the Vatican! Such a coincidence. But very cool.
My moms good friend from home was also visiting in Rome while Hillary was here, so we got to meet up with her (shout out to Tricia ;) It was great getting to meet up and have dinner/wine with family friends from Pittsburgh.
But before I knew it, Hillary and Kristen were on their way home :(
I had an unforgettable time with them and hope to visit them this summer or fall in Oklahoma! It may not be Rome, but doesn't matter where you are when you have your friends :)
Now, I am getting ready to head off to Pompeii (Naples, Italy) on Saturday with my school for a day trip. Should be fun! Just hope the weather holds up. Italy has been super rainy here. It actually snowed for the first time in 25 years in Rome last week! I was excited I got to experience that while here. All the Brazilians and south american students from my class ran outside immediately to play in the snow, as they've never seen it before! So, that was extra cool to witness. The weather is starting to get better. Still rainy, but definitely more warm. It felt like spring today and I absolutley LOVED it! Nothing puts me in a better mood than great weather.
Well, I'm sure I'll have stories to tell about Pompeii and many pictures to share. So, stay tuned and I'll talk to you soon!
Love,
-Kate