School's out for Summer!

I'm finally done with finals!

I didn't study as much as I should have. I was too distracted by things: the gorgeous weather, my new residence, pizza, the pure excitement of my big brother coming to visit. . . But needless to say, I think I did really well! I might even pull off a 4.0 for the semester. (I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Food and Wine and Jewelry classes? How could you not get a 4.0?" . . .But it's really hard to study in a city that is basically the equivalent of Disney World.)

My food final was so cool.

The (quite difficult) written final was last week, and this week was the practical. We were divided into 5 groups. Each group was to make a dish for a meal. My group was in charge of the second course. We made swordfish rolls with artichokes. We had to serve the meal to 4 judges, including our teacher. They graded us on our dish's presentation (how pretty we made it look), the food itself (did it taste like poop, or swordfish?), and the summary we gave of the region. That was the hard part. We talked about the history of Calabria, the food they eat there, and then the dish itself.

I felt like I was on Top Chef.

Our average score was in the VERY upper 90s.

Oh yeah. (I was lame and failed to take pictures. The other wonderful girls in my group did, though. Once they put the pictures up on Facebook, I'll put them on here for you to see. Hopefully.)

My other finals weren't so fun. But it was really sad leaving each of my classes, each of my teachers. I've had so much fun this semester and learned so many things I totally wouldn't have gotten to learn as a business major if I didn't study abroad.

And speaking of studying abroad, can we please make that a requirement for every college student? Seriously. If you are in college/going to be in college, and if you have any possible way of getting the money to study abroad, do it. It is the best decision I ever made.

And I want to cry now that it's over.

In the next few days, my friends and I are going our separate ways.

Meghan is the first; she's leaving tomorrow morning (EARLY) on a bus to Pisa, to fly to Paris. She's going to be traveling in London, too, by herself. (Scary!) We're all going out tonight for a last hoorah, and then bringing her to the train station so she can get on the bus. The plans for tonight are big. We'll take our "Ciao Bella" picture, ride the carousel in Piazza Repubblica, eat Gusta Pizza, take pictures in the legit photo booth, and visit our favorite pubs.

Tomorrow I'll pack.

Saturday, I'll get a taxi to the hotel Josh and I are staying at. And then I'll wait there until he shows up. And then we'll have 2 weeks of Florence, Venice, Milan, Interlaken (and other towns in Switzerland), Fussen, Rothenburg, Munich, and a bit more Florence before heading home.

I miss you all, but do you think I could just stay, and you could come visit?