Chapter Two

Chapter one of this journey has closed. The routine has definitely set in and I'm on to the next portion of this grand adventure! Haven't updated in quite awhile, sorry about that. But I suppose it's good, better to have too much to say and not enough time to say it than the other way around.

So, let me backup. The last weekend in January I went to Barcelona. I was thinking I was going to go to Madrid, not Barcelona, but a bunch of people were going so I jumped on it. I can imagine that the cities are completely opposite, as I've heard from Adri and Jessie. But I did love Barcelona. I fell in love with all the art. We went to the Picasso museum which was fantastic! I also loved seeing all of the Gaudi work around the city. The Sagrada Familia was only one of the many wonderful sites we saw. We went to a Flamanco show one night, which was really remarkable. I had the best tappas in the world and had fantastic sangria as well.

Barcelona was also my first hostel experience. Overall, it was a good/fine experience. Except the first night when we arrived really late we thought we could try and sleep with our coats because we didn't want to pay for blankets. (I didn't think I would have to pay for blankets, that surprised me.) But around 4 a.m. when we all woke up because we were freezing we ended up getting them. Very good decision! But the hostel was in a great are of the city, with lots of shopping, and we felt really safe at night.

I think Barcelona is a lot more like America though, at some points I thought I was walking down Michigan Avenue. This, bothered me. It made me more homesick, because at points my mind thought I was home. But besides that I loved the city! Such a beautiful place!

This past week I've been sick, but have finally recovered. I hate being sick and what ever I have likes to keep appearing, since I've been dealing with it November. I did get to a farmacia though and bought some vitamin c, so that should help.

One of my best friends came to visit Rome this past weekend to see me and Josh. His name is Woj (Mike) we had a great time running around Rome and we went up to the top of the Vatican. I'm learning my way around the city more and more. I even went downtown by myself for the first time a few days ago. The adventure started out well, but then I couldn't find the correct bus to take for my transfer, wandered around for about 40 minutes, then it started to rain, and I eventually gave up and got a cab. It was still a good experience though.

Classes are good for the most part. Italian is really hard. My future self tells me this is a good thing so I can get a lot better, but my present self feels overwhelmed and frustrated. I literally have to sit with the dictionary when I do my homework. I just wish languages came easier to me. I'm still speaking more though, my broken Italian can get me a long way.

Last night watching the Superbowl was such an odd experience, it actually made me homesick. One, it was the first TV I've seen since I've gotten here. Two, it's the most English I've heard in a long time. It felt like I was watching America watching the Superbowl, it was very surreal. I've never been able to "see" America like that before. I did miss it, it's really hard to explain why, but I think something clicked while I was watching it and it really did set in that I'm in a different world over here. I love it though, but it's just an odd thing to realize.

I adore Rome, I love it more every day. I love it's bad parts and good parts. There is always something to do here and something to explore. Florence this coming weekend is going to be so wonderful! And I am counting down the days till Africa. I can't believe all of this is happening to me.