Happy Birthday...To Me (6 July 2010)

Today is my birthday. I am 25-years-old. Don’t ask me how it feels because I really can’t tell you. However, being around all the other students who are on average 20, I felt old before today, so now I feel older. In a less than happy way to sum up my day, I felt depressed pretty much all day. And it was really hard for me not to show it. I didn’t spend my birthday with my family. I spent it with a bunch of people I met less than a month ago. I think this was the first day that I really felt homesick and wanted to be back with my family. But my roommates are very cool and got me a photo album from a place here that binds books by hand. I was very excited for that since I have been eyeing it.

Aside from that, today we spent the day in Florence. I would have rather been back at the hostel in Sorrento on my birthday than in Florence. Luckily, it wasn’t 100 degrees out and we did get a little bit of rain. We spent the day walking around the city visiting several churches. We got to see the living quarters for monks way back when. That place kind of freaked me out. Then we went to the Duomo where we got to climb up into the dome. If you’re interested in knowing anything about the Duomo, Google “Santa Maria del Fiore” and check it out. The hike is 473-ish stairs up. The space gets smaller and at a couple points, you walk around the inside of the dome on a walkway that’s about 4 feet wide. I had a panic attack and went back down never making it to the top. I really wanted to go up there though. If there was one thing that could possibly redeem my feelings for Florence, a skyline would be that. I saw some amazing pictures from people and really wish I would have been there. Unfortunately my nerves couldn’t handle it.

Ellie and I bought a fan for our room at night. Even with the windows open, with no a/c, it can get pretty blegh at night. This fan, even on low, feels incredible! I’m thinking we’ll sleep well tonight! I really like Ellie. She’s so cute and funny. She’s really quiet in a crowd so we always have to keep an eye on her when we’re in big cities with lots of people. She doesn’t speak up much. But when it’s just us and the other roommates, she’s such a trip! I’m glad we’re roomies! My other roommates are all very cool, with the exception of one who is starting to drive everyone mad. Well, I had her pegged from orientation back in April so I was so bummed when I saw her name on the list. Ugh. Dr. Harper, our program director, told us last night that this is the week where roommate problems start to arise. Umm, little late for that.

Well, tomorrow is class and I’m hoping to get a decent night’s rest. All this walking is wearing me out!

¡Ciao!

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