Back in Italy

Well after 7 weeks of being in the States, I have returned to Italy. Our visas came through, really without any problems, which just goes to show you that God had his hand all over this. But in other news, none of the other teams in Italy have been able to get their visas, so as of right now we are the only STINT team in Italy. The other teams are making efforts to try to get student or work visas to come back, so please pray for them that they can return ASAP. I must say it feels pretty good to be back, granted there are many things I already miss about the US of A, including of course all the loves of my life, sushi, TV, starbucks... But I did decide that I don't really like the person I am at home. I become so complacent and my life is just too comfortable there, it scares me a little to be honest. Anyways, it's really good to be back with the team and having a purpose to my daily life again instead of just planning my day around my favorite TV shows (which I didn't actually do, only sort of).

The most exciting news as of late is that this weekend we are leaving for our Mid-year conference in Spain, which in and of itself is exciting because we get to hang out with all the Crusade people from all over Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, but on top of that is the fact this it is my Motherland and I think part of my family is from the area that we are going to. And even more exciting news is that it costs way too much money to go direct from Italy to Malaga, Spain sooo we are going to fly through Dublin and spend a day there then have a team trip to London for 2 days on the way back. I am soooo excited about this! We are actually going somewhere that requires more than a bus to get there.

Here are some goals/new hobbies for this semester:
-Actually studying the italian language...I'm officially sick of speaking in 2 word sentences and hand gestures
-Re-reading all the Harry Potter books in preparation for book 7 coming out in July. I am currently on HP 2
-I have also begun crocheting, thank you once again Chrissy. My first attempt turned into some sort of deformed mushroom thing, so I have much to learn.