"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress." --Barack Obama

Funniest moment of my adventure so far?  Wait for it.....you're going to love this!  Today was the last day of my "beginner" Italian course.  Naturally, there was a huge final exam (which kicked my butt) and we all had to give a five-minute speech (all in Italian) explaining what our favorite things about Florence have been thus far.  When it was my turn, I stood up and opened with a line telling everyone good morning (Buongiorno!) and then expressing how much I have enjoyed learning Italian for the past few weeks.  However, I made a huge mistake.  Apparently, in Italian, you have to be very careful when you say that you "enjoy" something.  The word that I used translated into "I have enjoyed having sex..."  So, basically, the entire class howled in laughter when my professor stopped me mid-sentence and explained that I had just told everyone that I have enjoyed having sex for the past few weeks.  I was so embarrassed!  Obviously that was not what I wanted to say!

Go ahead....laugh.....okay?  Good.  :)

ANYWAY...

Thoughts on Life

I'm not really sure what I think right now.  For the past few days I have been so depressed and grumpy that I avoided posting anything to my blog; today has been the first day that I have felt like saying anything.  I was talking to a friend of mine the other day and she said it perfectly when she told me, "A lot of students imagine that studying abroad will be nothing but glam and a good time and as a result they fail to realize the reality."  And do you know what?  She is so right!  The reality is this:  studying abroad is hard.  I think that it is perhaps the hardest thing I have ever done.  I won't even begin to list everything that is, and has been, heavy on my heart.  Every day has been a challenge for me, in one way or another. 
Lately I've been walking home instead of taking the bus because I have found that it is very relaxing.  It's good exercise and it gives me a good 30 minutes to clear my head.  Some days, I don't think about anything at all.  I just focus on walking:  right, left, right, left, cross the street, right, left, right, left....
If this experience is teaching me anything it is definitely teaching me how to be more independent.  I have never felt more alone and yet I need to avoid breaking down and going crazy more than ever.  As I have said before, Stephen is serving as my greatest strength.  He is my rock, that extra little push that I need in order to keep moving.  It would be so easy to just give up, but I can't do that.  I want to make him proud.  I want our love to become stronger.  I want to come home to him in victory and not defeat.  I'm going to do this and I'll be damned if I'm going to give up.

Well, I hate to make this quick but I really do have to run.  Tomorrow I leave for Venice and my bust leaves at 7:30 A.M.  So, until next week!

Ciao!