Tuesday, April 23

 
this shall most likely be my last blog this side of the atlantic. i think that's what ocean it is, anyway. regardless, i have two more full days (counting today) in merry ol' florence, then at 6:00am thursday morning, i get whisked away on a glorious 24-hour adventure around the world, finally ending up at lax in the arms of my nearest and dearest. and then we get tacos, thank the lord. man have i been thinking about tacos a lot lately. and brendan frasier movies, and tilamook cheese, and disneyland, and toilets that function normally... there is just so much to miss back home. as well as, of course, my loved ones.

my excitement is building to barely manageable levels, so i must subdue myself with some shopping. see you in 66 hours, california.
posted by from shannon at 2:47 AM

Monday, April 22

 
finals are done and i am all myself again. as the stress fades the excitement is back on about going home, despite the fact that some of my friends here got packets from their home universities today containing pamphlets on reverse culture shock and the problems of going home from abroad. the title of one of the pamphlets?

"SUICIDE IS NOT UNCOMMON"

good work, wellesley.
posted by from shannon at 10:04 AM

Sunday, April 21

 
on the way to a big group dinner last night, we walked by a church that was covered in the front by large tarps because it is being renovated. as we passed a little closer, we saw a sign that said "renovation made possible by gucci". gucci had sponsored that church. the catholic church totally sold out! look to be seeing a nike swoosh symbol appearing on the pope's hat any day now.

i go home in four days. this is madness. it is all really weird. while a lot of my friends seem to be experiencing pretty extreme emotions, i had been sort of emotionless about the whole thing. every day still seemed like just another day in italy. but as it gets closer i am starting to freak out more, for many reasons. i am starting to really miss home, and yet i am scared to go home, too, because everything at home feels so distant and strange. i'm nervous about things being different and about the next year and and a half of college. i'm starting to second-guess all the decisions i have made from here, wondering how the hell i thought i could make choices about classes and jobs and living spaces from here. i'm sure i am, as usual, just being a dramatic weirdo, but it's still scary stuff.

of course, i am also sad to say goodbye to this place, though not as much as i thought. i think it is because a) i feel like i will be back to italy at least a few more times in my life, so it's not worth freaking out over, and b) though i have made some pretty good friends here, even my best friendships here isn't as good as my close friendships at home. maybe that's a bad thing, but i don't think it is. i mean, i've made a few close friends here, but even those really good people just don't measure up to my really good people at home. no contest. that's a good feeling - that my home friends are just so damn good.

okay, enough mushy stuff. time to go force myself to remember the year michelangelo painted the leda - well, at least when we think he did (i love studying info that is not even real - maybe get some gelato. my body is craving that stuff a couple times a day now. i think it knows that in four days it won't be able to get the stuff for a long time so it is trying to stow up. like it is going into hibernation. this is not good for me keeping my girlish figure.

ciao tutti.



posted by from shannon at 5:35 AM