Final Friday

Ciao tutti, and good morning to you all. I hope Friday is more exciting there for you than it is here for me. I am really just sitting around and studying, and I realized that for the first time in quite a while, I have a few day streak of blogging, so I thought I'd toss in some recent developments in my life.

Just a forewarning, I doubt this is going to be all that exciting, but we'll see where it takes us.

Today is Friday, December 5th. Yes, that's 5 days into the last month of the year. I am floored by this every time I think about it. How is it DECEMBER? It's pretty shocking to think about 2009 being really less than 4 weeks away. It's also tough to believe that this time next week, I will have said Ciao Roma for real, and not just for a few days. But for good.

I'm really starting to feel like it's upon me, my time of departure, and I know I am going to miss it here. The other day, walking by St. Peter's, I remembered the first time I saw it, how mesmerized I was by its grandeur, size, and splendor. I've seen it now almost every single day for 16 weeks, and I can walk by it without much more than a passing gaze.

4 months ago, I'd never seen anything like it. Now I've seen about a dozen churches in Rome alone that blow everything I'd ever seen prior out of the water, plus the Pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt, the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque in Turkey, the Parthenon and Temple of the Olympiad Zeus in Greece, and the Rathaus in Munich. I mean, it's really something to remark on, the fact that these places have dulled my amazement.

They say it's tough to see things as you see them the first time ever again, and boy is that ever true. I never thought I'd care more about an SUV (which passed by me yesterday at St. Peter's) than the most amazing church in the world, but I did. SUVs are much more rare here than churches. I spent a good 5 minutes looking around, doing nothing but taking it all in yesterday, and I felt like it was amazing, but I didn't lose my breath or feel awestruck like I used to, but rather a sense of familiarity and standard practice.

It's anything but standard, and I realize and recognize this fully. My mind has a hard time wrapping itself around this idea that while I see it every day here, I may go decades without seeing it again.

It's really something, this world. Let me tell you.

Last night, I just made some dinner, had some wine, and took it pretty easy. It's been freezing here recently, only really warming up to the 50s today, which was a welcome event. They put up a ton of Christmas lights yesterday on our street in a stunning effort from the Italian laziness (their words, not mine, but I could definitely say that), but then they didn't light them. Go figure, I guess.

Finally, last night I got a message from Travis, who I have lived with the past two years at school and am living with when I get back, saying he was probably going to get his own place and move out. I was really saddened by this, since the group seemed so ready for a good time and to be happy and yet there were problems I had no idea really even existed. I talked to Travis for a long while last night (costing me a fortune, but hey, you do what you gotta do) about what was happening and if I could help. The house group messaged back and forth, and I tried my best to offer anything I could do to keep us as a unit and work out the issues, but it sounds pretty solemnly declared at this point. Nobody's happy about it I don't think, but if it's what needs to happen, it's what needs to happen I guess. I'm still holding out hope that this can all work itself out though; maybe, just maybe something will change.

One can always hope, right?

I am getting really excited about the prospect of coming home, regardless of what's going on down at school. I really enjoy my friends there, and I think we'll have a good time. Portland sounds excellent right now too, just being with friends and family and relaxing, I can't wait. Studying and I are not getting along at the moment either, and I can't wait for next Tuesday when it'll all be over.

But with that comes Rome being all over, and we're back to where this post started.

I hope you're all doing well and that you have an excellent Friday, and it's my last one here. Get those requests in if you need or want anything! I hope you all have a great Friday, and until next time,

Ciao.