Sometimes You Just Have To Wake Up!

So since tomorrow and Tuesday are our last two days here, we have finals these next two days. With that being said, today 7 of us got together to study for our Economic Institutions of the European Union exam that we have on Tuesday. The only bad thing about the whole morning of studying was that I had somewhat of a slap in the face "o crap" moment in the middle of studying.

Tom Brady and Gisele (They have absolutely nothing to do with this post at all, but he always makes me feel better, she is gorgeous, and I bought a sweater like that yesterday!!)

However, before I talk about that, I want to talk about this crazy thing that is Google Docs. Today was the first time I had ever heard of it, and obviously ever used it. I will be honest in saying it has its positives and negative. For instance; the fact that 7 people can work on the same word document together all at the same time was awesome. I know that for most of the time we were all able to be writing on different parts of the document at the same time! BUT.... This also means that for someone like me who is slightly OCD about the format of documents that I work on, you can get people mad at you very quickly. This includes when you are going through a paper and deleting all of the extra bullet points to make it less cluttered, EXCEPT when you delete the bullet point that someone is about to write on! It was similar to this, but not exactly:

Jillian Marie Blandino

On a more serious note, after everyone figures this out you can also write each other fun notes when someone is researching something, so that when they return to write it says something like "Tric Trac Trac Fran Fran Troc!" (if anyone can translate this I will buy you Bella Poque Kebab!)


But really though, today when we were working, I looked around and realized although these are my closest friends here right now, they are not going to be here after Wednesday. In fact, I have made some really cool friends here, and they are all leaving, with a real chance of never seeing any of them again. Its always very nice to say something like; "We will see each other next summer" or "In five years we need to have a USAC reunion", but the reality of this is that I have spent the best four months of my life with some really awesome people (whom in my opinion made it the best 4 months of my life) and I will probably never see them again.  People go home, get girlfriends or boyfriends, get a job, grow up, get married and life moves on.


But after isolating myself from them because I couldn't listen to the 6 of them talking about leaving (I was being a small baby), I recognized that sometimes you just have to wake up! I have to rather than dwelling on the people I met here, the relationship I have built, and the experiences I have had, understand that this is a part of life. If I see these people again AWESOME, but if I don't, ITS BEEN AWESOME!! As of 4 months ago, I didn't know any of them, for some of them, I met them just in the last few weeks, but IT HAS BEEN AMAZING!!!! In fact, here are some photos from last night (our last night out together).

Kelly, Hannah, and Matt

Gabe, Jill, and Juliet

Juliet and I

Kelly and I (Tom Brady)

Jill and I trading shoes

Best Christmas Light Part EVER!!

Its been an amazing 4 months, and I would rather have met all of these people and have to deal with the goodbyes that comes with it, than to have never met them at all. It has been awesome, and I am excited to meet the people that I will be spending next semester with as well!

PS - TO ALL THAT I STUDIED WITH THIS MORNING; WE ARE GOING TO ACE THIS TEST AND GET GELATO AFTERWARDS!!

The People I Met This Semester: Part I

As this is the last week (less than the last week) of this semester here in Italy, I decided to do a couple part blog series about the people I met here in Italy. I am not 100% sure how many parts this will be, or what it is going to look like, but I do know that I have met a bunch of really cool people here! However that all started with my roommates;

Matt

This is Matt, he is one of my best friends, and definitely my closest friend here in Italy. This trip would have not been the same without him. We have gone to school together for the last 3 1/2 years, but I would say that I grew closer to him during these 4 months than all the other time before.

Gabe

This is my other American roommate Gabe. It has been a really cool experience living with someone who culturally, politically, and personally didn't always agree with me. I really enjoyed have talks with Gabe about life, and being able to listen to a different side of an idea, with both of us respecting the other. 

Cesare

This is my Italian roommate Cesare. Without Cesare Matt, Gabe, and my experience would not have been the same... He really showed us the Italian aspect to life, brought us in to his culture and showed us the true "Stile Italiano" to everything. I am looking forward to living with him again in the spring and spending more time with him.

Samantha

 This is Samantha when she was finishing the Torino Marathon. I am happy to say that I molded her into the PERFECT euchre partner! It was really fun to have someone like her that I could chat with. Her female opinion on things was much needed and even more appreciated!

Taylor, Brian, and Emilio

This is Taylor, Brian, and Emilio. I became very close to these guys while here, and really enjoyed hanging out with them. The relationship that I built with these guys surprised me more than any other ones that I formed mainly because our lives in the states are completely different. I had an absolute blast hanging out with these guys and even traveling. PS - check out Emilio's clothing company 1990 Villians!

Jillian Blandino

This is Jillian, I had the privilege of working with her on some group projects at the end of our semester here. I am still not sure why she asked her parents to bring her Creme of Wheat when she could have asked for Fruity Pebbles, but that is beyond the point. I appreciated the fact that from the beginning she understood me as a person and related to some of the things we talked about; I always felt like I could ask her advice, and ironically I did.

Chelsea, Hannah, Janna, Kelly

WARNING: These 4 girls are a force to be reckoned with. Seriously though, I enjoyed my time with them; through hanging out, cooking dinner, and them welcoming Matt and I to what I call the "California Club" I have gotten to know them very well. I appreciate that these girls in some ways reached out to me and befriended Matt and I. It was a bit overwhelming having 60 kids from California all hanging out, and feeling a bit isolated, however now I feel as though I have made 4 friends that I will have for the future.

Although there are 80+ other students here, and I am sure I have offended someone by not adding them to this post (I APOLOGIZE) these people have left genuine lasting impressions on me, and I can specifically point to situations where they have all changed my study abroad experience this semester.

So to all of you I say THANK YOU!! It really has been an awesome experience getting to know you all, and I hope to staying friends with all of you!