Nothing like getting a haircut in a foreign country.

People keep asking whether I’ve experienced “culture shock” here. The answer – YES. Besides the language, of course, the day-to-day life is very similar to the USA, but some things have caught me off-guard. So I give you…

Angie’s Top 5 Causes of Culture Shock in Spain

5. HOMER AND BART. The Spanish are OBSESSED with the television show, The Simpsons. It’s on all the time, dubbed in Spanish. I’ve never really liked it in English, so I don’t really understand the obsession.

4. LA COMIDA. (The food.) The milk is processed differently. They buy it in bulk and store it in the pantry, not the refrigerator, and the milk we have now expires in August. My friends at school always tease me about how much I love milk, but I don’t like the milk here at all, so I haven’t been drinking much. (Sorry, Mom.)

The eat jamón (ham) all the time! Also cheeses, breads, seafood, other kinds of meat.

One food I really like is gazpacho, a kind of spicy soup of tomatoes and other finely blended ingredients (usually peppers, cucumbers, onions, lemons, breadcrumbs), served cold. It doesn’t sound good from the description, but prepared the right way, it’s great.

I feel like I’ve been eating a lot, but I’ve actually lost almost 10 pounds. Of course, that could also be all the walking I’ve been doing!

3. ¡QUE CALOR! The heat here is unbelievable. We’ve had record-setting temperatures, and it’s not even July yet. It’s enough to make me want to stay in the pool all day…or chop off my hair! (More on that later.)

2. TIME IS ON MY SIDE. As I’ve said before, everything is later and longer. Breakfast whenever you roll out of bed, lunch at 2 or 3, dinner around 10. Nightlife doesn’t begin until at least midnight and it’s normal for it to last until 6 a.m.

1. SPANISH MEN. And this is not all good. They are always whistling, winking, cat-calling, or saying, ¡Que guapa! They are ridiculously forward here, but it’s just the culture. I expected it, and I’ve heard it’s 10 times worse in Italy, but it’s hard to get used to. For example, the other day I was heading home on the Metro after a long HOT afternoon in the city, and throughout the course of the ride, 3 men approached me and asked for my number. (None of them got it – don’t worry, Mom and Dad.) Of course, I can’t generalize about all Spanish men – but it’s definitely an obvious trend.
Naturally, if the men are good-looking and nice, it can also be kind of flattering. :-)

NEWS OF NOTE: Regarding the heat, and my wanting to chop off my hair. Well, I did. Many of you may know the unreasonable anxiety I have about getting haircuts, so this was a big step for me! This heat was OUT OF CONTROL and yesterday, I just snapped. I walked into one of those chain places (think Great Clips) and a nice woman named Gema listened to my instructions (in broken Spanish and hand gestures) and actually did a really nice job! It’s just a little shorter than it was last fall, and already it feels so much nicer.

As I was going home on the Metro later yesterday, a man next to me told me, out of the blue, “You have beautiful hair.” I took it as a sign that chopping off my hair had been predestined. (But also, I refer you to #1 above.)

Stupid Things I’ve Said in Spanish, Chapter 4.

Duchar = to shower, Luchar = to fight

So imagine Ignacio’s confusion yesterday after our lesson when I told him, “Vale, voy a luchar ahora.” (Okay, I’m going to fight now.)

Random stuff...

Aunt Julie...a belated GRACIAS for your message! :) Grandma told me she is going to use you to relay messages...so if you get a chance, will you tell her thanks for the letter? And by the way, I´m not sure if I have your e-mail right, so could you send it to me, please? Thanks, love you lots!

Erin, Flá, Michele, and everyone else...don´t worry, I will be safe and behave myself with the handsome Spanish men. Mom and Dad, I can´t guarantee I´ll be home by 10 p.m., but I won´t wander around the city alone, or alone with handsome Spanish men. Unless they´re policemen. ;)

Flegel and Davis...I need some Cubs updates! :)

Stupid things I´ve said, Chapter III

Sometimes the Spaniards say "Hasta luego" (see you later) so fast that it sounds like "ah-lwey-ho." (That´s the only way I can describe it phonetically.) I was leaving a store the other day and the clerk standing by the door said what I thought was "hello," and I thought, "How nice, he must be able to tell that I´m American," so I told him "hello" back and he gave me a funny look. I was kind of confused, so I just kept walking out of the store, and then I realized that he´d really just said "see you later" in Spanish and I´d answered him with an American "hello."

OK, that´s all. ¡Hasta luego! (Not hello.)

Sad news

I was very saddened to hear of the death of a beautiful young woman from my hometown -- the youngest sister of a very special friend -- in a traffic accident this weekend. Please remember Jessica and her family in your prayers.

Update, part II

(continued from below)
The palace at Aranjuez was interesting to see. Like the Royal Palace in Madrid, there is one room completely panelled in porcelain, and other rooms full of tapestries and other treasures. Afterward, we went to a café and chatted for a while. Mercedes remembered that I´d said I was going to Italy, so she loaned me two guidebooks, one on Spain and one on Italy. (They´re in Spanish, but it´s good practice.)

Saturday, Ashley and I boarded a bus and headed to the amazing town of Segovia, which is about an hour north of Madrid. We walked around the town all day and saw a huge Roman aqueduct built in the first century without a drop of mortar. Then we visited a medieval castle. No joke, a castle! There were suits of armor on display and artillery and weapons and everything. And a MOAT and a drawbridge! It was all our dreams of fairy tales and castles, come true. They say the castle, called Alcazar, inspired Sleeping Beauty´s castle in Disneyland. We paid an extra €1 and climbed a long, dizzying spiral staircase up to the tower. What an amazing view!

We also went to the Cathedral of Segovia, which was truly magnificent. I think no matter how many cathedrals I visit here, I won´t get tired of them. (You all might get tired of hearing about them...sorry!)

After we returned to our homes and freshened up, Ashley and I met again in downtown Madrid, dressed to the nines and ready to hit the town. It was a great night. All I´ll say is that I met a handsome Spaniard named Manolo and IF I were to fall in love with a Spanish man here, it would most likely be him. I´ll try to have some self-restraint, because I don´t think the Latin-lover types here can be trusted. But Manolo´s a policeman...so I´m safe, right? :-)

The Spanish just love to party... so much, that they can´t just say¨"cheers" like everyone else. After someone buys a round of drinks, they stand in a circle and say, "Arriba" (up) "abajo" (down) "al centro" (to the center) "y dentro" (and inside), moving their drinks accordingly. It cracks me up everytime.

Not much else to note. I have actually been working a little with the children...it´s not all fun and Spanish men. I usually work for an hour with Elena, an hour with Ignacio, and then an hour with the two together. Ignacio has some trouble paying attention at times, but they are both intelligent, good students. We try to come up with fun things to do besides just workbook activities. For example, last week Elena and I emptied the clothes from my closet and made an imaginary boutique in my room, then took turns being the shopkeeper to practice colors and items of clothing. “Pardon me, do you have a black dress?” “Why yes, here is a black dress. How beautiful.”

Okay, that´s about enough updates for now. I miss you all! Thanks so much for your e-mails, letters, calls, messages, etc. :-) Any and all communication in English is appreciated.

Update, part I

At long last, an update. I apologize to those of you who live to read my stimulating musings on Spanish life.

The run-down:

Tuesday night I went with Fernando, my host mother´s brother, to a suburb south of Madrid where he is director of an English-language school. His English is better than mine, I think. He speaks with an interesting blend of British and Irish accents, because the English that is taught here is British, but Fernando also spent a few years living in Ireland.

The language school caters to students of all ages and walks of life who are interested in learning English. I met with about half a dozen of Fernando´s students and we all went out for tapas and drinks at a bar in town. It was great to speak English for a little while. Some mornings I wake up and the thought of trying to communicate in Spanish all day is just overwhelming. The problem is that I´m such a perfectionist that it bothers me to say things incorrectly. But I feel like my Spanish has improved already.

Thursday, Ignacio had a birthday party to go to in downtown Madrid. He wasn´t going to be able to go because his parents work during the day, so I volunteered to take him on the bus, and Elena too. Talk about a couple of well-behaved kids! Elena and I dropped Ignacio off at the party and did a little shopping downtown, then we went to the shopping center near our subdivision and had a nice lunch. She´s so mature for her age, sometimes I think she´s 10 going on 30.

Thursday night was a blast. I went with Ashley (my non-Mormon friend from Utah, who arrived here two weeks ago and is working for the same agency) to a little restaurant in downtown Madrid and then we decided to find a good club and go dancing. Well, it took a lot of work – the first club we tried ended up being way too expensive, then we made about 10 laps around the neighborhood and met some interesting people. Finally, we hopped into line at a club and some guys in front of us gave us free passes to get in. We ended up hanging out with them for most of the evening. (One of them, Jorge, keeps calling me, and I keep having to shoot him down, which is kind of hard to do in Spanish. He´s really nice, but I don´t think I need a Spanish boyfriend – right, Mom? Poor Jorge.)

Friday, I went with Ashley (we´re tight now!) and one of Fernando´s students, Mercedes, to a town south of Madrid called Aranjuez. Mercedes is in her late 30s and her 17-year-old daughter, Arroncha, came with us. The Spanish royal family has a "seasonal home" there, and extensive gardens...

have to run...will finish later!

Nightlife

Just got back from church (like a good Catholic girl) and thought I´d leave an update here. Right now, I´m watching Mary Poppins on TV with Elena…dubbed in Spanish. It´s not quite the same without Julie Andrews´s voice!

Friday, I went to El Escorial, a monastery commissioned by the royal family of Spain in 1563. It was an hour´s bus ride north of Madrid. The monastery looks very severe and austere from the outside, but inside, it´s something else. Almost all of Spain´s royalty since the reign of Charles V are buried in elaborate Baroque tombs inside the monastery. The kings and queens used to use the monastery as an autumn retreat, and the furniture they used is still there! It was amazing to see the king´s bedroom just as it was in the 1600s. The building has an extensive collection of paintings by Titian, El Greco, Velázquez, Tintoretto, and others.

After lunch, I walked around the small town and just watched people. It´s amazing to me that these people live with their nation´s royalty buried practically in their backyard!

Now, the fun stuff. Friday night, I went out with Laura (another non-whiny American) and some of her new Spanish friends, Rafa (short for Rafael), Tomas, and Victor. Before I left, Concha gave me the “don´t ride with people who have been drinking” lecture…then 10 minutes later, I got the same from Victor. We met for dinner at a great restaurant on the south side of Madrid, and later went back to Tomas´s apartment to hang out. The guys were really funny, but not exactly the Spaniards of my dreams…they were kind of goofy. J But I enjoyed hanging out with them. It was good practice for me, too, because only Rafa spoke English (and not a lot), and Laura can barely speak Spanish. All night, I had to be the translator!

Saturday night, I went with my host family to a block party and I met a girl who used to baby sit for Elena and Ignacio. Her name is Begonia! (Dad, there really are people named Begonia!) Anyway, she´s 23 and she seemed really nice, and she invited me to go out with her and her friends later that night.

As I´ve said before, everything is later in Spain happens later. Begonia and I hopped in the car at 11:30 and headed to downtown Madrid. We picked up her friends, Olga (what a name!) and Sylvia and went to a trendy, expensive club called Cats. Luckily, Begonia´s ex-boyfriend was working the door, so we got in for free. (Friends in high places.)

The club was pretty empty when we got there and the band that was playing wasn´t great. I was a little worried…where was the wild Spanish nightlife I´d heard so much? Well, I didn´t need to worry, because by about 1 the club was packed, the band had left, and the party was on. For some reason, I´m a much better dancer when I´m with strangers, and I had so much fun dancing last night! (And I hadn´t even been drinking, don´t worry, Mom and Dad!) We danced for about 4 hours straight and were joined by Begonia´s friends, Peter, Juan, and Nacho. (Nacho kept trying to teach me all the Spanish dances…we almost succeeded!) I also met a really cute guy named Raúl. Don´t worry, Mom, I don´t think I´ll marry him…but I did get his phone number! Begonia and I got home at 6 a.m.! It was already light out. But that´s the way they do things here…when in Rome, and all that.

So, anyway…Props again to Jason and Flegel for the Cubs updates, and to all my awesome friends and family who have been leaving messages! If I haven´t gotten back with you personally, I´ll try to do so soon. I try not to tie up the phone line too much.

Off to have lunch (at 3 p.m., GEEZ) and later to watch Ignacio´s soccer game…and then the Spain – Portugal game! ¡Viva España! Hasta luego...


Stupid Things I´ve Said in Spanish, Chapter 2

-At the club, a song came on that sounded like, “falta, falta” – which means “fault” or “foul” during sporting events. When the song came on, everyone started jumping up and down. I asked Begonia, “Oh, falta, like in a soccer game?” She started laughing and told me that they were saying salta, which means “jump”.

-While I was playing soccer with Ignacio the other day, I told him to kick it to me because I was the pelota. I was trying to say “I am the goalkeeper,” but what I really said was, “I am the ball.” (Pelota = ball, Portera = goalkeeper)

Lazy days, bulls, etc.

I feel like I´ve been on the go since I got here, but today I´m having a lazy day. (It´s almost 11 a.m., and I´m still in pajamas!) The maid is here from 8-12 everyday, so I feel like I should help her...but she never lets me. It´s HARD being a full-time tourist/houseguest.

Tonight, I´ll get my first taste of Madrid nightlife. We´re going to an "exchange party" in downtown Madrid at a big club. (It´s an open party for exchange students and natives alike. Should be a good time, although I hear the Madrid nightlife usually runs from midnight to 5 or 6 a.m., so it´s probably a good thing I slept in today!

Other news of note: I´M GOING TO THE RUNNING OF THE BULLS IN PAMPLOMA! My friends and I signed up to take a bus up to Pamploma on the 10 and come back the 11. Apparently it´s an all-night party. (But don´t worry, Mom, I´ll definitely be watching from a balcony somewhere. No bull-running for me!)

That´s all for now, except that I really miss baseball! Many thanks to my good pal Josh for his colorful and extensive (and I might add, "flegelicious") updates on the Chicago Cubs. Anyone who wants to talk a little baseball, feel free to drop me a line. These Spaniards couldn´t care less.

(Although I have to say, I´m really getting into this soccer thing...and I think I´m in love with Real Madrid´s goalkeeper, Iker Casillas! He´s currently playing for Spain in the Euro 2004. Click HERE! As Elena would say, ¡Que guapo!)

The Prado!

An update, newspaper-style (because I know how much my sister appreciates news briefs...)

Americans visit famous museum:
Today I went with an American friend, Ashley, to the Prado, Madrid´s HUGE art museum. We were there a few hours and only covered one floor. I hope to return again later this week.

Spaniards eager to converse with American girl:
My host mother´s brother, Fernando, works at an English-language school here. I think Concha is worried that I´ll have trouble meeting people here, so she asked Fernando to introduce me to some of his students who are close to my age so we can go out for a "cerveza" (Concha´s words, not mine)...haha. So I talked to Fernando (who speaks English, thank the dear Lord) and he was really excited about the idea. Yay for more friends!

Student to learn about Spanish government:
Concha´s other brother, Manolo, works for the congress. Soon we´re going to have lunch with Manolo and he´s going to give us the inside tour! Friends in high places!

Other news...
I pledged my firstborn child to the post office this morning to send postcards (well, they weren´t THAT expensive)...Madrid´s post office is in a PALACE, woah. So you all better appreciate your postcards. :)

Toledo (not Ohio)

There are 5 other American girls who are working through the same agency as I and living with families here. Last weekend, we went to the city of Toledo. There is a beautiful cathedral there (I believe they started working on it during the 13th century). Also, if you click the link above, you can see a famous painting of the city by the Greek artist El Greco, who lived in Toledo. The city has tons of tiny, winding streets, and beautiful old buildings. The hills are enough to give anyone buns of steel, too. We really enjoyed our trip there -- it was only about an hour from Madrid by bus.

Switching subjects -- I thought the only sport that Spaniards cared about was soccer, but it turns out that my host family also loves college basketball. There is a university here in the city whose team was in the playoffs last weekend against a team from Barcelona. It was too expensive to go to the game, but since Concha´s brother works for the university, we went to watch the game in their gym with a bunch of other fans. Our team lost, but afterward everyone still crossed the street to play in a huge fountain. (I guess it´s a tradition...I didn´t go in the fountain, because I felt like a fraud!) But it was a lot of fun, because I love basketball! And I definitely learned some new Spanish words from the men sitting behind us... none I could repeat here, though!

Okay, have to run. Thanks to all of you for your e-mails and messages! I´ll update more later.

You asked for it...a LONG update.

Sorry to all of you who just could not wait for my next journal entry...haha. I couldn´t write the last few days because our computer had to be taken in for some repairs, and I was too lazy to find an Internet café.

Things are going so well in Madrid!

From the beginning:
After my last journal entry (I think it was my first day here), I tried to dry my hair (with my adapter) and blew a fuse in the bathroom. It was like an explosion. No one was home at the time, but my host father, Victor, was due to arrive in about an hour for siesta (yes, they really have siesta here, but hardly anyone naps). I hadn´t even met him yet, and I had to call his cell phone to tell him about the fuse…ay caramba. Luckily, he´s a great guy and has a sense of humor. He reminds me of Ricky Ricardo, actually.

Anyway, in Spain, they eat A LOT and Ricky – I mean Victor – offered me a ¨simple¨ lunch of green beans and ham. I thought that was it, but then he brought out the bread. And then the fresh fruit. And then the crackers and (no joke) 7 kinds of cheese. And then more crackers. And then dessert. It´s a good thing I´ve been walking so much, because we always eat like this. Concha thinks I don´t eat enough, so she´s always offering me food!

I´m so glad that I decided to live with a family, because it means that I get a taste of real life. The funny thing is, real life here is not that different than real life in Indiana. My first day here, Concha came home from work around 2, and at 4:30, we picked up the kids (Elena and Ignacio) from school. Concha, Elena, and I returned home and got to know each other, then we went to el colegio de fútbol (literally, “soccer school”) to pick up Ignacio and his pal Fernando. Those little soccer players were so cute that I had to take a ton of photos. Elena and I decided that their coach was guapo as well…I “accidentally” might have included him in a few shots.

(For inquiring minds, I also have crushes on: The man I keep seeing on the #1 metro line, the lifeguard at our pool, and I guy who lives in our apartment complex, but I haven´t flirted with any of them yet…But it´s early.)

Anyway…later that first night, we had a beautiful dinner. Beautiful, except that in Spain, everything is later, so we didn´t eat until around 9:30 p.m., and that´s early here. But when it´s nice, we have dinner outside on the patio. For the most part, I like the food here, and it´s interesting to me that my family never eats or drinks out of disposable containers. Even when they have yogurt from a cup, they put it in a bowl first.

The dinners are always long and drawn-out, but in a good way, with a lot of conversation. Ignacio is a hoot, always telling a joke. He and Elena are both well-mannered, intelligent, and enchanting. Elena and I have a lot in common, and we are already really close. And I love the way that the Spanish greet each other with kisses on the cheeks...when Elena and Ignacio kissed me on the cheeks when I first met them, I almost melted.

So much to say, and I´ve written a book already. I figured out the metro (subway) system the second day that I was here. (It´s just like Germany, so I didn´t have to work very hard.) Madrid itself is an incredible city. So, so busy! That second day, I met up with 5 other American girls who are working for the same agency as I, living and working with families. From the way it sounds, I really lucked out and got the best famly! We visited an outlet mall and had lunch and got to know each other. They are all pretty nice, but live farther from the city than I and so it will be hard sometimes to hang out.

Later that night, I went to the opera with Concha and the children and family friends, Enrique, Pilar, and their children Julia and Fernando (Ignacio´s soccer pal). The opera was “The Little Magic Flute” by Mozart, and it was in a magnificent part of town near the Royal Palace (El Palacio Real).

So today, I returned to that part of the city. I ate my picnic lunch by a fountain in the courtyard, then took a tour of the Royal Palace. How amazing! There were rooms with wall hangings embroidered with gold, and one entire room had walls of porcelain! The frescos and paintings, many by famous Spanish (and Italian) artists, such as Goya, were truly awe-inspiring.

Today I also went to a huge book fair at El Parque de Buen Retiro, or El Retiro, Madrid´s most famous park. It´s comparable to Central Park in New York City. The park was also very beautiful, with a huge lake in the center. (Madrid is so HOT, I was ready to take of my clothes and jump in…but I thought the Spaniards might like it too much.) I was so proud of myself today…not only did I navigate the Metro with no trouble, but I didn´t buy any books at the book fair. (Books empty my wallet every time.)

Anyway, I should stop rambling. Really, the palace and the tourist sites are grand, but the best part of this trip has been living with a family. It´s so funny to hear the things Concha tells the children – she sounds like the Spanish version of my mother, or any good mother. And the children are the same. Ignacio pouts and wraps his mother around his finger like Andy, my brother, has always done. (Sorry buddy, it´s true – you pout.) They are obsessed with a local university basketball team that´s in the playoffs right now, and tonight, we watched them beat a rival team. Then I played soccer in the backyard with Ignacio, who wants to be a pro soccer player. And tonight after dinner, we sat on the patio after dinner and ate watermelon – I almost thought for a minute I was in Indiana!

Okay, enough of this rambling…keep sending those e-mails and questions, because they make my day! I miss you all!

For your entertainment (especially Mom and Shirley), Chapter 1 of Embarrassing Mistakes Angie has made with her Spanish. I really have been doing okay, but sometimes I just can´t talk:
-I tried to tell Elena that we have a rabbit. However, I said consejo instead of conejo…what I really said was that we have “an advice.”
-I was tired the other night, and instead of telling Elena that I´m a bum (vaga) I told her I was a cow (vaca).

Surreal!

I´m in Spain. I´m in Spain. I keep telling myself this, but it hasn´t really sank in yet. (Until I try to type on this ¿çº€ñ keyboard...it´s so screwed up!)

I am so jetlagged, because Spain is 6 hours ahead of Indiana, but I´m too keyed up to sleep. (Because I´m in Spain! ¡Estoy en España!) The flight took forever, but I sat by a nice lady from Arkansas who regaled me with stories of buying ceramics on E-bay. (Only she pronounced it "AY-BAY" ... which leads me to believe that if I can understand Arkansas-speak, Spanish will be a piece of cake. No offense, Leslie!)

My host mother, Concha, picked me up at the airport in Madrid. She´s a tiny bundle of energy, and very sweet and sincere. She gave me a tour of the apartment, which seems about the size of my house...3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, and nice backyard and porch.

The room I´m staying in actually belongs to Elena, who will be living with her little brother while I´m here. (We´ll see how that goes!) The apartment is gorgeous -- very modern, and elegant without being fussy. My room, although small, is really simple and cute, with cream-colored walls, a hardwood floor, and pale green decor. It also has the trappings of a 10-year-old girl, such as popular videos on the shelves ("La bella y la bestia" -- Beauty and the Beast, and "El libro de la selva" -- The Jungle Book.) And when I opened my wardrobe doors, I was not unhappy to find it decorated with Elena´s favorite "fútbol" (soccer) players. They sure brighten that closet up.

But the sweetest surprise was the gifts the children had left in the room for me. There was a red rose in a vase on my bureau. Elena had written out a pretty poem in Spanish for me, and Ignacio had pasted a photo of the family on a piece of paper and written "This is my family" in his best 8-year-old handwriting. So cute!

Concha gets off work at 2, so Victor, my host father, is coming home to meet me and have lunch with us then. At 4:30, I´m going with Concha to pick up Elena and Ignacio from school. I can´t wait to meet them!!!

(Although they will never be as cool as my American family...that´s for you, Mom.) :-)

¡Hasta luego! Send me e-mails, por favor, because I miss you all already!

Ahhhh!

Everything's packed...we're leaving for the airport in an hour...oh my goodness. Now I'm a little nervous!

We had to weigh my suitcase last night, to make sure I didn't go over the airline's weight limit for economy class (44 lbs.) ... I told my family that I didn't think it weighed more than 44 lbs., but my sister (the farm girl) said, "It definitely weighs about as much as a hay bale, and those weigh 50 lbs.!" (Indeed, we put it on the scales, and it was 50 lbs. exactly.)

Time to get ready to go...hasta luego!

I'm not good at packing.

I have been busy saying my goodbyes to everyone and (attempting) to clean out my room, closets, boxes from college, etc. (The reason I've spent so much time cleaning my room, I think, is so that I won't have to start packing my suitcase.) Not very productive, unless you count the two big boxes of clothes and books that I'm unloading at Goodwill tomorrow.

The real fun will be this weekend, because we're having my brother's graduation party on Saturday, and his graduation ceremony is Sunday. It'll be a great chance to see all my family and friends before I leave. And, my sister is flying in from Arizona!!! She has an internship there, so she's just coming back for the weekend.

We're both flying out of O'Hare in Chicago on Monday...Erin to Tucson, and me to Madrid. Mom and Andy are taking us to the airport. It'll be hard to say goodbye to my family. These past couple weeks have really made me appreciate them -- especially my brother, because he's going to training for Army Reserves ROTC in July. After Monday, we probably won't see each other again until January. But serving in the military is really important to him, and I'm proud that he's doing it.

Anyway...this whole online journal feels sort of weird...like I'm just talking to myself...so I'm stopping now. More later, when I actually have something interesting to write. :-)

Italy trip

Click here for details on my time in Italy...