october

October is a month of wildness.

I feel settled down into a school, rehearsal, and work routine.
Even so, midterms seemed to knock me off the course this year.
Several papers, my first science text in two years, and, on top of that, Tupelos rehearsals.

Also, I'm in a musical! I will be playing Rona Peretti in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. I am so excited to do musical theater again -- acappella is obviously one of my favorite activities I've joined in college, but musical theater is such a big part of me as well.

There isn't much else to say! Our Spookie Tupie Teaser is tomorrow! Aaaaaaah/

tupelos and flowers

I have finished my first week of Junior Year! I am currently sitting in Mabelly and Kendall's room because GUESS WHAT? I finished all of my work before church today. It feels so good to do that. This past week we tapped 5 wonderful first-years into the Tupelos! One of them chose another group, so now we have four awesome Newpelos! Tap night was fun and I could not be more excited to start singing with the Tupelos tomorrow. 

Here is a picture after all of the lil' babies had been tapped!

Today was Flower Sunday, one of Wellesley's oldest traditions. On this day you receive your Wellesley Little Sister. This is a picture of me and Lizzy's little sister, Kam. She is such a sweetheart!

This is Steffi and me. Steffi is my little sister! We're also in the Tupelos together. We became Wellesley Sisters kind of through our friend, Anisha. Steffi is always a light to my day. She is very calm, funny, and a very logical thinker. I love her!

This week I pledge to sleep more and take more time to think instead of just going all the time. 

happy junior year!

It's that time again.

That time where Grace is like "wow, time flies".

But really, it totally does --
Sometimes it's flying at a really slow pace, enjoying the world, just gliding past events and memories. Other times it is SHOT from a cannon and zooms past your before you can even notice what is actually happening.

Right now I am kind of in the middle of those two extremes. I still have two years left at Wellesley, so I have some time left. But it's insane to think that in a year from now I will be a college senior. It's odd to think that I have watched two classes of my peers and friends graduate from this wonderful, peaceful, and altogether psychotic place of a college.

This year I need to record more. My feelings, words, every-day happenings. Because I need to read back on something tangible. I should not rely on the fact that my memory is semi-good now because frankly, my head will just continue to make new memories. So this blog will be populated more often. I am unsure if anyone besides my mom (love you, momma) will read it. But even so, I will be able to read exactly what is happening right now.  

life & changes

I was listening to the this song tonight and it really resonated with me. Fun fact: I had never listened to this song before today.

Black Keys - Things Ain't Like They Used To Be

The mood of the song is a lot more angsty than I feel right now, but change is something that I have thought about lately. Life is built for change. If we always stayed exactly the same we would not fulfill the purpose of this life - to progress.

If I think back to myself even last summer, I see an almost completely different person - and I like that. I like that I have now lived on my own, worked on my own, and traveled on my own. I have driven more this summer than I ever had in my life, I have even better taste in music (truthfully), and I am getting to know myself and my personality in a deeper way.

I am still impulsive, impatient, and actually crazy, but I like to think that I have become a more thoughtful, grateful, and positive person somewhere along the way.

I will still never lose in a sass battle, but I have learned to listen and respect in new and more meaningful ways.

COTUS - Cats of The United States

I am not necessarily fond of cats, but I thought this was intriguing.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/summeranne/if-famous-us-presidents-were-replaced-with-cats

Cats that resemble presidents? Pretty cool.

summah lovin'

Why do I never blog? It's a problem.

Here are some things that I have done over the summer!

Saw the U.S.S. Constitution and Bunker Hill :

Visited the Mansions in Providence, Rhode Island:

Sent 600 new-student mailings to Wellesley College's Class of 2016 (that's my co-coordinater, Gissell!)

Went home to and saw Jackie Waldron graduate from high school and Sophie Jane was baptized by RJ!

On the 4th of July I went sailing, ate at Quincy market with friends, and watched fireworks from the Boston Harbor:

Helped plan the University Ward's first IndepenDANCE:

10 of us drove through MA and NH to visit our friend Liza in Camden, Maine. We went boating we ate some quality Maine Lobstah.

This past Thursday, Gissell and I were able to meet the President of Wellesley College, Kim Bottomly. 

And in case you are wondering, this is what I look like: 

I feel like I never see so many of you!

 

Up next: Many meetings for work, a trip to Palmyra, NY, roadtrip to CT and NYC (for the first time!), and then bracing myself for New-Student Orientation -- only 35 days until Student Leaders move-in and 43 until the first-years arrive! Game on. 

Summer state count: 5

2 to go!

a sweet lesson

About two weeks ago my Co-Chair Chris and I planned to do Cupcake Wars as an activity in our Singles Ward for Family Home Evening. We were both really excited for the activity and, at the same time, we were really busy the week before the event was going to take place. On Sunday as Chris announced the activity, a few people asked if they could bring anything. I told one person "maybe some candy would be nice, if you could" and to the rest I really just said "no, I think we'll be alright". As I thought more about it, I kind of became prideful in wanting to plan the entire event on my own. I thought "oh! we'll have tons of cupcakes, and candies, and themes for the groups...." (Hmm, what is wrong with you Grace? You don't have the time to do that). As I walked into the kitchen to clean up the Munch n' Mingle food after church, Sister Porter, the bishop's sweet wife, asked if there was anything she could do to help. I quickly gave her the same response as the previous inquirer "Sister Porter, it would be awesome if you could maybe bring some candies to decorate the cupcakes." She replied, "Absolutely," and that was that.

Now set the stage for Monday evening. This is most likely my second or third Monday at my summer job, I am exhausted and my hair is jutting out from my head every which way (I don't mean to complain, but it was!). I find 25 minutes after work to run with Kendrick to Christmas Tree Shoppes and what do I find? Umm, some animal crackers, a packet of gummy tarantulas, and some JuJuBees. Basically, nothing. But me, being the stubborn optimist that I usually am, was convinced that these three things would be enough for the entire ward to create a mass of cupcake creations. Wrong. But we move on.

Chris, Kendrick, and I arrive at the church with 8 dozen cupcakes and 8 cans of frosting, along with our "goodies" from Christmas Tree Shoppes (for those of you who don't know what that is, it's a kind of more-than-a-dollar dollar store -- they have everything). As Chris and I were putting our animal crackers and odd gummy novelties into styrofoam bowls, our friend Nikki made an AWESOME sign to put up in the gym. Once we were finished, I'd say we had enough bowls for each group to have 4, so 24 bowls. Pretty good, right? Not quite.


As I was worrying "Will this be good enough? Will people think this is a cool activity? Do we have enough cupcakes?", Sister Porter, Bishop Porter, and their daughter Rachel Porter walk in with bags and bags and BAGS of candy and fun things to decorate the cupcakes. And we're not talkin' more animal crackers, we're talking Reese's Pieces, Gummy Bears, M&Ms -- the works. Chris and I could not believe our eyes. I felt so blessed to be supported by Sister Porter and her family. It was just a speechless moment as we rushed to fill more bowls - eventually each team was allowed 11 bowls. That is 7 more for each team than we had originally planned!

It wasn't until after the event, when I was back at Wellesley, that I realized the lesson that this moment had taught me. When we do our best, and even when we don't, the Savior makes up the rest. He provides us with the mercy, strength, and hope that create a surplus of spiritual resources for all of us. All I did was my best, and I thought that what I had literally "brought to the table" was enough. And just like that, Sister Porter, Bishop Porter, and their family showed all of us, and especially me, that the Lord has so many blessings in store for us that our so much greater than we could ever imagine. We must continue to be better a little each day. When we do this, we are promised blessings - which sometimes may even come as Gummy Bears or Resse's Pieces.

Here's a little secret - If I could just have an intense jam session/dance party with myself and some professional lighting.. it would be a dream come true.

This song is kind of shady, but hopefully you get the point.

summer's beginning

School has been out for almost three weeks and GOSH what a cool three weeks this has been

Right after school ended, I moved into Kendrick's room and we were able to be roommates for about two weeks. During this time, we ran errands and hung out - also, our friend Camille left and that was sad.

Last week I was able to attend the National Conference of College Women Student Leaders in Washington DC. It was a terrific experience because I was able to meet so many different kinds of students and people, in general. Lately, I have been realizing how many people actually live on this earth. I am struck by the vastness of the world every time I fly (in an airplane, of course). Humility is the only thing that I feel as the plane lifts off of the ground and into the air - leaving the sense of stability behind. There is no room for pride as you watch the things below you become smaller and smaller.

I have also started work as a Wellesley Student Orientation Coordinator. This is such a unique and exciting job. I work with fun and happy people - which is my favorite thing in the world. I hope to post more adventures as the summer continues.

you know what i think?

I think that sometimes people do things just so they can post about it on social media sites. The more I hear people talk about Mobile Uploads, Profile Pictures, and a witty status they can post about an event, the more I'm just like "sttttttttooooopppppp it". Now don't get me wrong, I am definitely guilty of all of these crimes, but hey - a woman can change. I am tired of people just complaining, bragging, and just posting unnecessary things all over the Internet.

Wanna know something ironic? I just spewed all of these random thoughts all over my own personalized social media sphere.

no coincidences

Today, before walking to the Library, a few friends and I stopped to look through the Sustainability Bin that was in our Res Hall Lobby. In this bin students can give away things they don't want anymore: books, clothes, lamps, etc. While we were looking through said-bin, Kendall had already found two top hats and a pair of boots, when suddenly I spotted a pair of turquoise Converse sneakers. I was excited to have found this treasure, but wasn't sure if they would fit my size 8 feet. With some encouragement from Kendall and Kendrick, I tried on the shoes - and they fit! I was stoked.  Instead of running them up to my room, I put them in my backpack and left for the Library.

Fast-forward to around 3 p.m. this afternoon. I had just come home from a meeting in the Campus Center and was now sitting on my bed, watching an episode of The Office. --Cue the pouring rain-- I am not kidding when I say that I thought Noah's Ark Pt. 2 was going down outside. It was insane. And I was heading to work in 5 mins. With my backpack packed and my raincoat on, I ventured out into the torrential downpour. I NEVER KNEW SO MUCH WATER EXISTED. I was soaking wet from the top of my head to my shoes - in fact, at one point both of my shoes were underwater in a puddle. So I get to the Music Library and throw off my backpack, only to realize that I had that extra pair of shoes in my backpack! I didn't have to wear soggy shoes and socks for four and half hours!

Long story short: Heavenly Father always provides us with what we need, when we need it. Coincidences do not exist, but our Savior does! That is the greatest piece of knowledge that I know to be true. It's about 23049820948208394 times greater than any paper I must finish by tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.

FIVE PAGES LEFT UNTIL SUMMER.

spring memories

I don't really have time to write a super long post - but apparently I have time to write a short one?

I think that I will start with the present and go into the past as far as story-telling goes:

1. Today - We will celebrate three birthdays! Tyler Clites', Kyle Duke's, and MINE

2. It's Finals Week - Boo. Fourteen pages left.

3. Tupelos Indian Food Dinner @ Anisha's House - it was the last time singing with this year's seniors!

4. Tupelos Clam Bake (Will expand upon this day in a later post)

5. Tupelos go to Mormon Church! What a cool experience -- I was able to conduct the music in Sacrament Meeting in the Cape Cod Branch

6. Professor Greer brought a cake to the last day of HIST 252: The Modern Black Freedom Struggle - one of my favorite classes at Wellesley



I'm kind of tired of listing, so I will just let everyone know that work starts on June 4th and I could not be more excited! Before that I will attend a Women's College Leadership Conference in Washington D.C., that I know will be an incredible experience.

Here's to an awesome, fun, thrilling summer!

This is something that has been on my mind lately. It's tricky to balance thinking of the future in the same sphere as cherishing each day. Plus, Sister Marjorie Pay Hinckley is quickly becoming one of my favorite people of all time. That is all. Happy Thursday!

easter festivities

Can I just say - this past weekend was a blast and a half? (Maybe even two blasts.)

Friday: Kendrick, Chris, Gina, and I went grocery shopping for some things that we needed for the weekend. We spent a long time in Stop n' Shop (which I hadn't planned for) but it all was great and we were able to buy some awesome things for two dinners and Sunday's Munch n' Mingle. After that, we went back to Wellesley and joined Arbor, Allison, and Lauren to watch She's the Man. Now let me tell you -- that is a quality film. Just imagine - you decide that it might be cool to dress up as your brother and pretend to be him for two weeks. I still am unsure of the motivation behind Amanda Bynes' actions, but it makes for an extremely entertaining movie. Then, we ate Dirt Cups! (No, we did not eat actual dirt...weirdo.) I have been wanting to eat Dirt Cups (chocolate pudding, oreo, and gummy worms) for a long time, and while we were at the grocery store, Chris suggested that we use pudding cups as the base instead of having to make pudding. IT WAS SO BRILLIANT. Thus, Dirt Cups were made possible by this innovative suggestion.

Saturday: Wait...quick side note. I got the Orientation position! It was actually quite frightening because I received the email from Dean Tenser right as I walked into class. So I was like "Do I read it now? Do I read it later? Or never?" But it's happening! I will be living in Wellesley this summer and I am super pumped. Anyways, on Saturday morning I was able to have brunch with Gissell, my Co-Orientation Coordinator. She seems awesome and fun so it was exciting to see things get started. Then, the Wellesley peeps got together to make 8 dozen cupcakes for the University Ward Munch n' Mingle. We played some music and had a great time just waitin' for the cupcakes to become cupcakes. When the cupcakes were finished, Kendrick and I took them back to Pom and met up with our friend Tyler. The three of us then went to run some more errands. After errands we ran (drove, actually) back to Wellesley to change and get things together for the Ward Talent Show. I was really excited for this since the FHE and Activities Committee had been planning it for a while and a lot of people were helping to make dinner and show off their talents! It ended up being such a fantastic event! People came, people sang, and people ate some delicious spaghetti and dessert and the overall atmosphere of the night was so awesome. Really, it was a great feeling to take part in making that night. There's more! After the talent show a bunch of us headed back to Wellesley to watch Singin' in the Rain (psssst, I had never seen it!). It was INCREDIBLE. Definitely at the top of the "Best movies ever created ever" List. It was fun to have a great group of us there just spending time together.

Sunday (EASTER): What a beautiful day! I woke up and put together two casseroles for us to eat for dinner. After brunch at Wellesley we headed to church. Some of us had a quick meeting and then it was time to decide: "Do we sing in Ward Choir or not?" I was grateful for Chris who helped me decide that we should head up to the stand and perform with the choir -- it was actually probably the best experience that I have had singing in a ward choir. I was able to think about my relationship with my Savior and the real meaning of life and resurrection and love. When church was over we all headed back to Wellesley and had a great dinner together! For the entire week I had been set on creating a home-like holiday here at Wellesley so I decided that it would be awesome if we sat around a table. With a lil' bothering some people sitting in the Lulu - we did it! WE SAT FIFTEEN PEOPLE AROUND A TABLE. It made me extremely happy. With dinner over, a few of us watched The Prince of Egypt. That movie = the perfect Easter movie. To think that Moses had the faith to lead a people out of Egypt and make so many wild decisions in order to follow the Lord. Wow. What a great night it was.

I love my friends to infinity and beyond. And I especially love how they make my life a fantastic one. Each one of them blesses my life in specific ways and it's incredibly fantastic trying to figure out who how I can help them as much as they help me. I am grateful that Heavenly Father continues to put wonderful people into my life - He knows when I am in need of advice, a good talk, and especially a good laugh.

D&C 121:9 :)

Have a great day!

munday.

This semester I am taking Music 308 - Conducting.

Can I just say, this class has become something that I dread weekly. I am not sure if I am allowed to post about this kind of thing on the Internet, but I just have to. It's not about the professor - Dr. Graham is an incredible instructor and mentor. It's just about how you need to practice and perfect your conducting gesture while unfortunately, I do not have a full choir ready and willing to sing for me whenever I need to practice.

So if anyone has a set of sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses lying around - Would you please send them my way?

Gracias.

Other than that - this morning was great! After General Conference Weekend I feel reenergized and ready to be a stronger tool in the Lord's hands. I was able to eat breakfast and start my morning off right with some scripture reading.

Life is about perfecting ourselves to become the person that the Lord wants and needs us to be - and He knows our divine potential! Sometimes I think, "Well, I think I'm kind of cool already," but Heavenly Father will give us experiences throughout our lives that will make us even stronger and wiser than we ever knew we could be. How exciting is that? It makes me look at my life's comings and goings a lot differently than before.

It's thrilling to change and have the opportunity to become a little bit better everyday.

lucky penny

So there's this penny.

It's sitting heads up on my driver's seat and I have decided to keep it there. Every time I get in my car I sit on it. Then when I get out of the car it's just chillin' there heads up - giving me all kinds of luck.

I want to believe that this has potential. Hmm.

a lil' update

I have applied to two positions for this summer.

1. Student Orientation Coordinator for Wellesley College

I am (semi-secretly) really hoping for this position

2. Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Because I am looking into going into African American Studies after undergraduate school, this would be an awesome opportunity to network and gain experience in the field.

As for now, I wait. I have had an interview with Dean Tenser from Wellesley. Other than that, I am just continuing to do my thing. I didn't have class today and I don't have class tomorrow (crazy, huh?). This weekend is General Conference - we get to hear from the Prophet! This weekend happens twice a year and always fills me with a special kind of peace.

Tonight I am grateful for:

Old great friends & new great friends

Literacy

Macaroni & Cheese

Singing

the Ensign

Wearing cozy socks

Sleep

Texting my mom

Watching movies

Salami sandwiches

Institute on Wednesday nights

Easter

An awesome roommate

Deodorant (everyone should be grateful for this)

A car

Gasoline that runs said car

Cool shoes

Prayer

Everything that makes me laugh, including Napoleon Dynamite

Flowers

Colors

I hope to post on this more regularly, especially now that it doesn't hurt my eyes to read it.

My design always have the sweetest of intentions - and then I realize it something that should have been thrown out long ago.

Live & learn.

new things

SURPRISE - the blog has changed.

I am really liking this change.

you know what?

People should just assign me a summer job and I would do it!

I am good at doing what I am told to do.

Instead, I have to sell small pieces of my soul to a number of places in hopes of finding a summer internship.

In other news, so many exciting things are happening soon!

1. Rob is coming to Boston this week - he is staying with his brother at MIT

2. Kendrick and Kendall and I will be in California on Saturday afternoon. I am so excited for my family to meet them. It's as if one of your families is meeting your other one

3. All but one of my summer applications will be done by Friday afternoon

4. It's almost Easter and I love Easter

I know that I will go where I need to go - it's just a matter of being chill.

Joke of the Day:

Why did the boy eat his homework?

Because the teacher said it was a piece of cake

will you accept this rose?

From now on I am always going to carry around a rose with me.

That way, if I ever fall in love with someone by looking at them (cough, the Bachelor, cough), I can hand them one of my flowers and say "Hey you, will you accept this rose?"

Would anyone be able to resist?

reminisce

Do you guys remember when B2K was a thing?

Bump, Bump, Bump ft. P.Diddy

yeah, me neither.

the silly stuff

Sometimes I just like to laugh.

Well, that is an understatement. My favorite thing ever is laughing.

Lately, a lot of things have made me laugh.

1. The fact that there are only a few things that I love more than 90's R&B. I am so serious, whoever marries me better be okay with this because that and Motown are all that I listen to.

2. The fact that some pedestrians can be so rude. Today, I was driving through the Square and clearly driving through a crosswalk when this man with a beard just walks RIGHT INTO the street and I am just sitting there - flabbergasted. Poor Kendrick in the car had to hear me yell "OH MY GOSH, JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A BEARD!" (73% of the time what comes out of my mouth makes no sense)

That's really it.

I will let you know if I think of more things.

But just to put it out there -

My Husband Criteria

1. Loves and knows Heavenly Father and Christ

2. Makes me cry laughing

3. Straight up the coolest person on this planet.

It's kind of a secret test.

dummy

So I check my syllabus for History tonight because I have that class tomorrow. And to my surprise, I discover that we have an entire book that we have to have read by tomorrow - 235 pages of "Wretched of the Earth". This is ridiculous. It was never mentioned at all. Some things just bother me. Like how am I supposed to do this? I may sound like a dumb complainer, but that it so lame. Don't do that to me. We all have things to do and it would have been nice to plan ahead for this.

...I guess I just should check the syllabus next time.

today i feel

Do you ever have those days where you really feel like thinking but you just can't decide what to like about?

Like, do I think about what to do this summer?

do I think about how I have a paper to write for tomorrow?

do I think about how my dirty clothes need to be washed?

....or do I just stare at the wall?

The things is, nothing will get done unless you act. No matter what kind of inspirational quote stuff you post all over social networking sites - unless you actually do something, nothing will be done.

I guess I am wasting time I could be doing things by writing this blog post. But I just needed to put some thoughts on a page.

Just Do.

quick thought

Just for one second can we please acknowledge how good-looking Drake is?

Thank you. That's all.

let's recap

I am back in Beantown!

Classes have been fantastic so far. This semester will require a ton of reading.

Last Saturday Kendrick, Kendall, Mabelly, and I went to a Rascal Flatts concert in Providence, RI. It was AWESOME .

This weekend the Tupelos head to Connecticut!

A fun semester is ahead. Lot of learning to be had.

exhaustion

you know you are exhausted when you put all of your dirty clothes into what you think is the washing machine and then you spend five minutes (incredibly confused) trying to figure out where the detergent goes.

you then discover that what you have actually put your clothes in - is a dryer.

there's not a soap holder there for a reason, grace.

buona domenica

Instead of writing a whole new post, I am going to share an email I sent to my mom about one of the coolest Sundays I have ever had.

I had really wanted to go to church here in Italy and on Sunday morning I was almost convinced that it would be too hard to get there because I didn't not speak the language well and I also did not/do not know the Roman Bus System. My roommate woke up early to go to Pompeii and instead of going back to bed, I could not go back to sleep. I couldn't stop thinking about going to church. I knew that it was one of my goals and one of things that I had really wanted to do while I was here.

Long story short - I made it!

here is the email:

"today was so great.
I'm going to bed soon so I'll write a lil' email now.
Basically i woke up early and all I could think about was "I need to make it to church".
So I took the address to the front desk man and he told me I could get on a bus. Bus 90. Bus 90? Ah. So I knocked on Elena's door and we put on dresses and walked to the bus stop.
Thank goodness I had written this address on a piece of paper because that's what we kept showing people.
we were guided by so many guardian angels today!
After we had shown one woman our address she went and asked the bus driver if the address was one of the stops. And another woman overheard our conversation and worries and she warned us that our stop was coming. We then walked about 5-10 mins down the street, stopped in a cafe to ask if we were going the right way and guess what? WE WERE. And then when we got to the piazza, we stopped an old lady "dove e' la chiesa?" (where is the church?) and the sweet old woman goes "la chiesa mormoni??" and pointed to the left.

Mom. I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY AS WHEN SHE SAID THOSE WORDS. We looked to the right and the brown building had the name of our church on it!!!!! We were there in time for Sunday School and they have Sacrament Meeting last. My FAVORITE part was singing the hymns in Italian. I remember we sang "Oh, My Father" and "Where Can I Turn For Peace?" The youth speaker was this really sweet girl and the theme of sacrament meeting was adversity. it was perfect. One of the speakers shared my favorite scripture!!!!! i totally knew that was exactly where I needed to be - and Heavenly Father helped me get there. I was so glad Elena came with me. She said she really like it and it was the least intimidating church experience she has ever had. SOOOOOOOOO cool. and the missionaires spoke English! they had 4 sets of missionaries in that ward - 2 elders, 1 sisters and a couple from Lake Arrowhead. The couple missionaries were so nice! They said they are serving until the temple is complete, which could be 3 years -- wowza. It was awesome. It was like experiencing a baby mission.

Traveling internationally always blows my mind. Heavenly Father has so so so many children - but he knows every one of them, personally. How cool? But how crazy. So many different languages in this world. Lots of love. Love it. GREAT DAY. And we had chinese food for dinner :) hehe"

the end

I cannot describe the greatness of this day in words. Only in feeling. The Spirit was there. And I made it. I accomplished the thing which the Lord has commanded me and he prepared a way for me to accomplish it. Moments like this one are the building blocks to my growing testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Heavenly Father knows and loves all of us. He knows what we can become. If we follow spiritual promptings and keep high standards our lives will be filled with the most joy.

oh my pizza

I just ate a whole pizza.

the end

buona sera

It has been a few days since I have updated this – so here it is!

The past few days have been really laid back; that’s the way I like it. We’ve started class and have been drowned in Italian (in the nicest possible way). I have purchased a purse, two scarves, and the Sandlot in Italian! I am waiting until we come back from Florence to make any big purchases. Which reminds me – We are going to Florence tomorrow! Bridgid, Lizzy, Olivia and I are taking the train to Firenze tomorrow afternoon. There, we will explore and I will get to see Kelly O’Connor – a sweet friend from high school! She is studying abroad in Florence this year through Pepperdine University. I am so excited. And then hopefully on Sunday, my friend Elena and I will be going to church here. I really hope so!

Class has been great, but almost exhausted. Today was the craziest day by far. After 3 hours of grammar and vocabulary, we had a special guest lecturer, Fabio Caramasci, come and speak to us. Two days ago we watched his documentary on the Tuareg tribe immigrating to Italy and today we were able to ask him questions. HE SPOKE SO FAST. I cannot explain this in a better way. SO FAST. THE FASTEST. But it was really interesting trying to understand and keep up with what he was saying. Usually in class we don’t really get to speak as the ‘natives’ do, so it was extremely eye-opening.

One confession: Two nights ago I ate at Burger King. I know, I’m horrible but eating out at Italian restaurants every night is really getting to me. It has never been my favorite kind of food and it was so rich and carb-y that I broke and got some chicken fingers. Sorry, everyone. I had to.

Tonight we have a test to do and then I’m going to bed! And then Florence! And then Church! And then Boston! This is so awesome. I love everyone in the program and getting to know them more than just as classmates. People are so incredible. Everyone has such a cool life journey.

Ciao!

today's adventure

1. Trevi Fountain during the daytime

2. The Pantheon

3. Piazza Navona

4. The Vatican, Vatican City

5. Vatican Post Office

6. Stopped at a Cafe for a snack

7. Rode the Metro to Via Nazionale

-Bought food at the supermercado

-Had some down time

-AWESOME, cheap, delicious dinner

-Hangin' with friends

this experience has already been more than words

rome: day two

we found love in a roman place

Today our adventures were all about Ancient Rome.

We saw the Palentine Hill, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Roman Capitol, and many other wonderful sites! Lizzy, Elena, and I bought lunch at a panini stand and ate sitting in front of the Colosseum. How many times do you get to do that?

We have walked so much - my calves will be so buff by the end of these two weeks. I am actually excited for class to start so that we have some structure in our schedules. But site seeing is also a blast.

For dinner we stopped by a small ristorante and while we were eating they played quality musica americana ("Wrapped Around Your Finger - The Police and "School's Out For Summer") I laughed because we had been talking about that earlier.

A few things I have learned about Romans

1. Everyone wears one of those puffy winter coat with the little puffy squares

2. Sometimes speaking English gets you good things and sometimes it gets you bad things

3. One man was wearing a Yankees hat today

I bought a postcard from the Colosseum today! Time for bed

Ti voglio bene,

Grace

il primo giorno a Roma

Ciao!

Today was our first day in Roma - what an adventure!

First, our group took our first flight from Boston to Frankfurt, Germany. It was so interesting hearing German as the primary language on the flight. We had fun watching movies, sleeping and eating some quality airplane food. Next, our second flight was from Frankfurt to Rome. Upon landing in Rome and getting our bags, we waited for our Professor and then took a bus through the center of Rome to our hotel.

The hotel is this really small bed and breakfast kind of place where you turn in your key every time you leave and the staff is very friendly and willing to help you speak Italian. After taking a nap and having a group meeting, a majority of us headed off into the city for dinner and walking.

Walking around the city was such a cool experience right off the bat. You start walking and as soon as you turn the corner, there are ancient ruins to your right and museums to your left. For dinner we found a sit-down pizzeria and ate some great pizza. My body was exhausted after the 3 flights in 3 days and walking and not eating for two days. (yeaa...)

And we saw the Fontana di Trevi! It was gorgeous and humungous and so awesome to see in person. After dinner, we had to eat gelato - of course! That was the cherry on op for me. Such a cool first night in Rome. Tomorrow is Epiphany, a national holiday, so stores will be closed. But we can walk around and have a ball.

It is great being here with everyone. I am excited for class to start and becoming more comfortable with the surroundings. What an amazing opportunity this is!

Buona notte,

Grace