The First Week Of Classes

Wake up call. I'm actually here to study! Classes have been intimidating. My Italian teacher forbids the use of English in the classroom, so that has been quite a challenge. I come out of the 55 minute class exhausted, and my effort in the classroom probably sounds like a toddler, but I guess the bright side is, it will probably greatly improve my speaking ability. My philosophy teacher is pretty funny. He said he usually has 7-8 kids in his classes, and he has 27 in each this semester, so as soon as we walked in, he started encouraging everyone to drop the class because he doesn't want to grade all the papers. Once we actually got into class though, it was pretty fascinating. It's an Italian Renaissance philosophy class, so we discussed different points of view such as idealism and materialism, how the Church fits in, and Plato and Aristotle. It was just him sitting behind a desk for 75 minutes, but I liked it. My writing intensive Italian history class will be a handful, but the teacher seemed nice enough. Tomorrow is the first day of Art in Rome, and I heard it's basically just going over the syllabus. Despite only taking 4 classes, I think my hands will be full. On a different note, today I got an e-mail from SLUH icon Richard Keefe, which made my day. It brought down my stress level and made me feel a bit closer to home. It's been a week filled with planning, so I am stressed to say the least. I signed up for the school Spring Break trip to Tunisia, which includes camping in the Sahara Desert and a camel trek. I signed up for a day trip to see World War II sites. I bought the flight for a trip to Amsterdam from February 3rd to 5th, and I have the school orientation trip this weekend to various destinations such as Salerno and the Amalfi Coast. Other trips in the works include Spain to see my Loyola and SLU friends, Sicily, Venice, France to see the band Dispatch, Brussels, London, and Ireland. I would really like to go to Cairo to see the pyramids, but I think my poor mother might kill me for even mentioning it. We'll see what comes of that idea. Too many places to go, and too little time and money. I keep telling myself this semester is a once in a lifetime experience to make myself feel better about watching my bank account dwindle. My godfather told me a few weeks ago when we were discussing him possibly coming to visit, "It's only money, right?" You only live once. Why not? I'll try to throw as many Hallmark clichés as possible to make myself feel better. I miss my family and friends. Hearing from people at Loyola is tough. The Sandy Pilgrims, my band at Loyola for anyone who doesn't know, is releasing the CD we recorded before Christmas at a show this weekend. I am disappointed to not be there, but as a shameless plug, be sure to check my Facebook this weekend for a link to the free songs. Nothing else is really new. I hear the Blues are doing quite well. I leave the country and they turn it on. Maybe I can get some superstitious season ticket holders to buy me a house here. I doubt I'll be able to write this weekend, so I'll try to recount my adventures when I return on Sunday. Have a great rest of the week people, and stay in touch. I love hearing from you. The picture is me in the library, which is a really cool room. That's all I got. Buonanotte!