Long Time, No...Read?

Once again, I have sadly neglected my blog, and once again Joy has shamed me into writing another post! So much has happened since Easter, but I'll try to do a quick summary.

I spent my last month in Italy traveling and studying. We took a fantastic class trip to Venice and Florence. It was a spectacular five days, and it was the first time I really fell in love with Italy. Venice is truly one of the most exotic places I have ever visited, while Florence is just plain beautiful. The view from the top of the Duomo is just breathtaking. I also took a trip to Padua with some friends. I was already a big fan of St. Anthony before we went, but after visiting all of his shrines (including the one where he lived in a walnut tree!), let's just say I'm an even bigger fan. I also took a day trip to Tivoli with some friends, and we spent an idyllic afternoon wandering around the villas Gregoriana and D'este.

Of course, right after that, exams hit, and that was just unpleasant, so I'll skip the gory details. Then suddenly our Rome semester was over. I spent a very teary night packing to go to the UK and wishing that I was going home along with everybody else. But I boarded my plane to London and made no attempt to sneak onto the plane back to Philadelphia. Once we stepped out of the airport and into London, however, I had absolutely no regrets. I grew up in England, and being there once again was amazing. My three friends and I had a whirlwind trip through England, Scotland, and Ireland, before they headed home, and I went to spend a few days in Cambridge, where my family used to live. I'm sure I'll write another post about my time in Cambridge, but let me just say that to be "home" for the first time in ten years, was the best experience I had during all five months I was abroad.

After four very blissful days, I came back to the US! As awesome as Europe was, I had really missed my family and friends, and it was fantastic to see them again. I was especially happy to get to spend some time with Joy before she moved. We had a great time, and even though she's only been gone a week, I really miss her.

I had five days at home to get over my jet lag, then I packed my bags and headed up to camp for a week. Now, going to overnight camp is a ton of fun, but working as a camp counselor is exhausting and, very often, thankless work with bad pay. I do enjoy working at camp, but this past week was rough, especially since I was already exhausted from all my traveling. I did survive, however, and now I'm back home for a little while.

I'm at loose ends for the next month, but I'm working on some craft projects, as well as reading some poetry in preparation for my Junior Poetry Project this fall. And watching a lot of chick flicks. Yeah, mostly watching chick flicks, but Y'know...

There will be more detailed posts forthcoming, but I just wanted to check in and say, "Hey" (and that I didn't die in Europe, in case you were worried about that).