Library Work

The library is an enormous mess right now. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is being torn apart! Quite literally, actually. They're renovating the ground floor this summer, which is where I do most of my work. The carpets have been pulled up, the walls have been torn down, dust is everywhere--it's not a very nice place to spend a lot of time! Unfortunately, I spend the majority of most days here! However, I think the final product will be worth the trouble.

That's all that's going on with me right now. I'm afraid my blog entries won't be very interesting this summer if this one is anything to go by!

Here I am

Home again. Back in the United States. I guess I'll have to stop calling this a travel blog now, sadly. I'll still try to write, though, maybe as much as I wrote while I was in Italy! Pretty sad record, I know, but maybe I'll even write more now that I have so much more uninteresting stuff to write. That's usually when I write the most; when I have absolutely nothing to say!

I was very excited, though, that one of my teachers from the school in Italy was here in Tennessee for a bit. She's still here, actually, but she leaves tomorrow. That made it a little easier to come back since I knew I'd have at least one connection to Italy at least for a little bit. We love you, Milena! Now, I just need to watch Italian movies and listen to Italian music and try not to lose what I've learned.

Italia lost!

I don't know if anyone out there is a fan of soccer, but I just watched the game between Italy and the Netherlands for the European Cup. Man, what a brutal defeat for Italy! Netherlands won 3-0. We were all together in the TV room watching the game on the projector, groaning and yelling and cheering for the poor Italian team.

I have to say, though, the olandese (Netherland-ish...how do you say that, anyway?) goalkeeper was pretty incredible! Even Simona, the Italian girl sitting next to me, said that. What made me laugh, though, was that every time the camera would pan to him, he'd have this huge frown on his face or he'd be yelling at his team members or something. Why so angry? You're apparently unbeatable! Well, at least by the Italian team. Silly goalkeeper.

Back in Florence

And a bit relieved to be here. I hadn't thought about how stressful it would be to fly back from Malta only to have to be ready to fly again within a few hours. I'm glad I decided to come back earlier because now I have this week to figure out how I'm going to get to the airport and whether I'm going to try to pack that extra kilogram or not risk it.

It's kind of funny how much we worry about packing. In fact, if I were afraid of flying, at this point I'd probably be more afraid of getting through the weighing of the suitcases than that. I'm not afraid of flying, but I'm definitely worried about my suitcases! I wish it was easier than it is! I'm even considering just paying the extra money for my suitcases, but since I'm so close that would be pretty pointless. Right now I've already packed my suitcases and they're at a friend's house, but I've still got a few things I need to fit in somewhere, and they're not fitting in my carry-on! Anyway, that was a pointless little discourse about the petty worries of packing.

So, in more global news, Hilary Clinton has apparently finally given up her bid for president. I'm curious to see how the elections will pan out. I suppose I'd better get back to getting my stuff ready. I'll worry about the elections in November!

No sand, too much sun and broken bikes!

Yep, so I'm in Malta. Quite a gorgeous place, actually, though the title might fool you. The beaches are mostly rocky and I think I got too much sun today when I had to walk back from a bay with Erin and our bikes. Her gears kept slipping on her bike, so we couldn't ride back to the hostel. It wasn't too bad, just a bit hot and sweaty. Now we're back, though, and tomorrow we'll meet some friends from Villa Aurora at the Adventist church here. So...that's my impression of Malta so far. No, just give me a couple of minutes of coolness and I'll give a much more positive report! :) Ciao everyone!