Boarding Passes & Things.

Overwhelmed.

I'm trying to stay caught up, but I can't. It's incredibly difficult. So I'm slowing down, and willing time to do the same. But it won't, and I know it, so I'll watch the next 30-some days slip by.

It's been a whirlwind.
Mostly the last month, more specifically the last two weeks, but this entire semester in general.

August seems like a lifetime ago...

Budapest came and went.

Hungary is something else; the farthest east I have ever traveled in Europe. It was cheap. The food was good. The thermal springs were relaxing. My company was delightful.
A new friend, Tevis, took us to a very American bar where we were introduced to the tequila shot paired with a slice of orange sprinkled with cinnamon. God's greatest gift to the Hungarian college bar crowd, I think.
So, besides a rave and an altercation with a homeless man, I made it home to Milano safely.

Then came Paris...

We left this past Friday and landed in Paris to be greeted by cool weather, clouds, rain. But, what can overcast Paris's magic? Honestly?
And although we enjoyed the French capital's Frenchiness, we had one of the most American weekends of our semester: two American films in English, an American diner, English CNN, English newspapers, English bookstore, random encounters with IES students.

It was also a weekend of firsts:

My first time at a DisneyLand of anykind... EuroDisney.
My first time on a rollercoaster... terrifying.

The Tower of Terror was certainly terrifying.
The elevator we were seated in first broke as we were getting ready to be terrorized.
My confidence was shaken, but I was comforted by the presence of like 2 children under the age of 10 who were oddly chill. It was soon made evident that those two minutes spent in the Tower of Terror had scarred at least one of the kids.
A sobbing little boy was rushed from the ride by two embarrassed parents.
He'll never ride in an elevator again.

It'll be better for his health.

... And as everyone's families come to visit, I'm regretting telling my mom to visit Texas instead.



While trying to put everything into words I've realized I cannot.

Because, my Canon cannot capture the simple joy of spending a weekend with him. My pen cannot spell the words to describe our last night in Budapest. The keyboard is a difficult tool when trying to express how living in Italy for these past months has made me feel.

*la sigh

In other news: Rob Lindberg does business in Vienna, Italy. Yea, it's complicated.

xoxo.