A simple weekend

Ciao everyone, and I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was quiet, easy, and nothing too stressful, which was much appreciated. My next few days are going to get stressful, as tomorrow is my oral final for Italian, which should be fun (ha) and then my reviews for my other two classes are on Wednesday, then my actual Italian final on Thursday. Should be fun, these next few should, that's for sure.

Yesterday I went to the basketball game between Roma and Bologna. We went to see Brandon Jennings, top NBA prospect playing for Roma, and we certainly did see him . . . warm up. That's it. His coach didn't play him at all, which was a bummer. We did, however, yell some things at him when he was warming up about being from the states and he pointed and nodded at us, which was kinda funny.

There was one surprise, and several pleasant ones after that: Earl Boykins, the 5 foot 6 inch guard who played for the Bucks, Nuggets, Golden State, etc for 10 seasons was Bologna's star player, and he is so darn short, it was hysterical to see him be so speedy and be booed mercilessly by the Roman crowd, and he made them pay, hitting the last second shot as time expired to give Bologna the win, deflating the crowd majorly.

It was awesome to be able to see some sports I'd watch in the states again, no joke. I miss basketball, especially with the Blazers doing so well this year, I'm really excited to be able to watch sports while eating Mexican food again . . . it took place last year quite often, and not at all in the past 4 months.

It will be happening sooner than planned, however; yes, that's right, Craig is coming home early. What, you say? No. I am leaving on the 16th now instead of the 23rd, having changed my ticket yesterday. It makes a lot more financial sense, for one, saving me a week's worth of food, hotels, and some travel out of that, which is a nice thing. I think I may yet make it to Paris, it will just be with 3 or 4 fewer days in Rome and 1 fewer in Barcelona. It will be nice to have an actual break back in Portland for another week and not feel so darned rushed all the time I'm home, that's for sure.

But yes, so my time in Europe is a week shorted than originally planned. Weird to think about a little, since now my time that was just 23 days has evaporated to 15, and where I had 14 days in Rome, I now have 10 left. What? 10 days? That's almost single digits. I know. It's crazy. With all these finals and studying to do yet as well, it's going to go by so fast, even faster now that I'm leaving sooner.

It's really weird to think about being home in just two weeks from tomorrow, but not in a bad way, either. I could certainly do another Study Abroad session, but this time in a place that spoke English, or not in Europe. Just see some more of the world. But not, and I repeat, not, without some time at home. I miss some parts of home (and by some, I mean quite a few after a few months) and it'll be nice to replenish for a bit longer than originally anticipated. I'll update travel plans soon though, fear not, and say how my last two weeks are going to look in Europe.

Man, two weeks. That's it. I've been over here for almost 15 weeks, and I have two left. Amazing. I've grown so much, learned a ton . . .

And that post is for another day. Off to study, but until next time (with pictures, I hope, of the past few days. My camera is charging right now and it takes so long to load, so they'll be up sooner than later),

Ciao.