Quattro e Cinque: "....yeah. I know."

"Yeah, because you totally look 

like you would shank someone." 

--to Erin being waved off 

by the security even though she made

 the metal detector go off on our way

 to mass at St. Peter's Basilica.

Tre: Villa Borghese

"Miss Hien, Italy is such a beautiful country with warm & welcoming people... 

You are going to fit right in. You are going to have an amazing time. 

You should take Kasorn's advice & make a side trip to Spain. 

Travel safe, travel often, bring back pictures... we'll wait here. Have fun!" 

--Tracy Love, in my going-away card from the UWMC Service League.

I'm not sick, but I'm not well.

Heard my dad's voice for the first time tonight and I just talked to my mom for the first time last week. I really miss them, but they know that I love them, I am taking good care of myself, and I keep them in my prayers constantly, so it's all okay.

Due Mezzo: Three Bruins and a Husky.

Staying in hostels has been an interesting experience. I'm going to admit it, the thought about sharing a crummy room with five strangers freaked me out at the very beginning but I found that it hasn't been too bad. The hostels that I have stayed in have been decently kept at the very least, which makes sense. I'm sure there are government regulations so that people cannot just rent out beds all willy nilly. Most importantly though, the people that I would share a dormitory with are just like me, penniless travelers who just want a good night's sleep. I don't mean that you can whip out your wallet and count your fat stack of bills or leave your passport lying around, but you can certainly count on meeting people who have traveled the world and have useful information and experiences to share.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how I came back from teaching some Bruins a lesson. No, I did not beat them up, that would have been terribly unfair and just plain mean. What had happened was that when I met them earlier in the evening at my hostel,  they introduced themselves to me as two students and an alumnus from UCLA and so I told them I was from Seattle and studied at UW. It turns out that one of them was actually from Federal Way, Washington, but chose to go to a California school instead. I immediately asked what led him to making such a horrible decision and then just like that, the endless exchange of taunts and witty banter began.

Gelato break!

Okay... I know that I am extremely behind in my blogging, but I promise that I haven't forgotten about you! In fact, I'm working on about seven days' worth of blogs right now. I am almost completely over my cold and I finally put away my clothes in my closet and hung my pictures on the wall above my bed -- I should start being productive very soon. And don't let this picture fool you, I'm actually really busy with lectures and service learning to attend, readings to do, and personal matters to take care of as well! Well, I guess you wouldn't know since I haven't been updating the blog. Geez, what a terrible cycle.

Anyway, I'm leaving for Naples, Pompeii, Capri, and Sorrento early tomorrow morning so you definitely won't hear from me until late next week. My professor informed us that we shouldn't bring along our laptops unless we want them stolen rendering me unable to stay connected with the world via the interwebs.

So, this blog is taking a brief gelato break!

Until next time,
hd

P.S. Old Bridge Gelato by the Vatican. That's a €2 cone and you can have up to three flavors with whipped cream. Get some. But don't get lemon. It's very unexpectedly sour. Even when you expect it, it's still really sour.

Due: Pinch me.

"Because I would do something stupid like pack two spare toothbrushes 

and forget to grab the toothpaste." --upon opening my duffel bag.

Friday, March 25th, was officially my first day in Rome! I didn't think ahead and had no plans for the days leading up to the first day of my program (I was too focused on getting to Rome in one piece), so I decided the night before to pack up half of my belongings into an empty bag that I brought with me. The thought of dragging my unnecessarily large duffel bag half way across town gave me chills, especially when I could just avoid the entire ordeal. So Friday became my walking adventure from the Termini to Campo de' Fiori, the location of the University of Washington Rome Center.

Uno: Holla, Holland!

"I wonder if Amsterdam would get mad at me if I took a brick from their street." --while staring at a loose cobblestone on my way to the Vincent Van Gogh Museum.

It was Thursday, March 24, and this is the sight that I woke up to a couple of hours before my plane landed in Amsterdam. Well, I wouldn't really call it waking up since I did not actually get any real sleep. My flight was scheduled to be 9 hours and 40 minutes long so the plan was that about an hour into my flight, I would knock out only to wake up from an restful, 8 hour slumber at 7:55 am in Amsterdam. Perfect, right? Except I didn't know that so many passengers were bringing their babies on board and that many of them had the capability of crying for 9 hours straight. About two of them exercised this ability quite liberally. Ah, well, you know as they say, "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."