Roma

Okay, short story.....Italy was AMAZING! I love it there. I mean, cappucino, pizza, wine, and gelato, not to mention unbelievable art and architecture....what's not to love?! We decided that we didn't have enough time in Rome so Ross and I are cutting a day out of France and going back....hope we don't like other places that much or else we might not ever make it back home. And now, since everyone keeps asking me for pictures......
(I can't get the explanations to sit with the pictures on the page, but they start in Rome and move to Florence)

blogs

There's something rather stalker-ish about reading people's blogs. The other day during a stint of boredom at work I started searching blogs and came across a whole list of Calvin Crest people who blog. Now I realize I only worked at Calvin Crest for one summer 4 years ago, hardly worthy of claiming any sort of loyalty to the camp considering that many people consider it their childhood home....but still it was fun to find so many blogs of people I once knew. I looked around a little, read a little here, a little there. And now, wham! I'm totally hooked. I realize that by posting anything on the internet you're making it free game and so I shouldn't feel like I'm invading privacy by reading it. I guess I'm just still in denial that anyone really cares to take the time to read this thing besides my mother. Anyway, I can't help it, I may as well admit it...I'm a blog addict. At least it helps pass the time some days.
There's something incredible happening in London....light in the evening. It's now 5:21 pm and I can still see St. Paul's perfectly. Last night I left work at 6 and it was still light when I got home - amazing! So much better than the absolute darkness at 3 pm that we were experiencing. Ross just sent me a text that we're going to see Billy Elliot on Tuesday. I'm quite excited.

five weeks

I ate the most amazing japanese food ever on Friday. I've always loved waitresses at japanese restaurants because they thank you for everything. "I'll have a tap water" "ok, tap water, thank you!" and then they bow and walk away. I mean, you just can't leave that place in a bad mood. I can't decide if being in the service industry here would be amazing or horrible, or probably most likely, a combination of the two. First of all, you get no tips. So honestly, what's the point? Although that leads to the complete lack of service and good moods in restaurants/pubs/stores/everything here. Today I walked into a furniture store on an errand for my boss and in the window was a sign for a sales associate needed. I walked in and found a completely empty store except for three sales associates sitting around the front desk drinking tea. Not a single one of them said anything to me. They barely looked up from their conversation. I mean really, it has to be kind of great. No smiles. No fake small talk. The customer is never right, because really the customer is barely even a person.
Ross and I bought tickets to Spain. The big adventure begins 19 April. London to Seville for only 20 pounds. Amazing.

mondays

I don't know what my deal is today, but I just can't get out of the Monday funk. I'm pretty bored at work today, there's not really any work for me...which is probably adding to my problem. My friends Trace and Stephanie are leaving London on Saturday. They're going to be travelling for the next six weeks or so and then going back home to Michigan in early May. Ross and I are hoping to meet up with them in Spain, the beginning of our travels and the end of theirs. I met Trace and Andy at orientation for bunac (they both like to brag that I gave them my number, but really that was just because they were too lazy to have mobile phones at that point and didn't have numbers to give me), they quickly became my first friends here. It's hitting me more than I thought it would that they are leaving so soon. For so long I was just trying to settle in and get used to living in London, and now all of a sudden it's almost time to be thinking about going home again. It's strange to start anything when you know there is an absolute endpoint. When I entered the country on October 20 I knew that I would have to leave on April 20, I would have no choice. I'm trying to experience everything I can while I'm here and use this short amount of time as much as I can, but at the same time I can't help but feel a little bit torn. Life over here seems surreal very often. I can't help but feel like it's make-believe sometimes. I find myself thinking that the real world will really begin after I go home. Ross and I got into a conversation about student loans last night which defenitely added to the whole "real world" dread. We both know that we really want to travel and know that this is the best time for it, but there's always that little voice inside our heads that wonders how we're going to pay rent when we get home.
I finally read the last Harry Potter. Now Julie has to stop making fun of me for being a slow Harry reader. But now I'm at a complete loss as to what to read next. Ross and I scoured the bargain table at Borders and picked up Gilead because he swore he'd heard it was good....I only made it 80 pages. I couldn't handle reading about growing up on a farm in Kansas. Any good suggesstions??