My classes are over, my finals are done, and my stuff from my room at school is all over my living room at home. I’m glad to be home though. I have started work at the pool and have the sunburn to prove it and I just got my grades yesterday. My GPA went up (which I am very excited about) but despite the fact that my mind gets a rest for the summer I know I am going to miss my friends, my sisters, and the fact that there is always something going on. However, I love being home and hanging out with my family and seeing my friends at home and it is awesome to be able to talk to my mom and just sit down and watch a movie or play scrabble without worrying about what is due tomorrow in class or what do I need to do for the meeting next week. Summer should be interesting and senior year has come so fast. I feel like I was just a freshman and now I’m a senior and getting ready to graduate in less than a year. I hope it turns out to be a great year.

One of the great things about Saint Leo is the fact that our professors give us the best opportunities to network with people in high positions in our fields of study because they are still so involved in what they teach. In the International Hospitality and Tourism Management Department we are lucky to have the Industry Liaison Council which meets regularly to be informed of what we are taught in the classroom and to make sure we see what is happening in the industry firsthand. A new way of doing this is every year they sponsor a trip to see a hub of the tourism market and what companies have to offer. This trip gives a chance to network and ask executives for advice about getting a job or how they got to where they are today. This year the trip was to Atlanta and I was given the chance to attend. There are no words to describe what we, the other three students and I, experienced being able to meet these people who have advanced so high in the Tourism industry. We met people from all sectors because we visited the headquarters of Intercontinental Hotel Groups, Coca Cola, CNN, and Delta Airlines. One of the conditions of this trip is that we create a presentation about our trip and present at Academic Excellence Day (a whole day devoted to students and their projects and showing what they have learned) and the ILC meeting on the 21st of April… wish me luck!!!

The Coca Cola Polar Bear!!! (I love those commercials)

This building was huge!!!!!!!

On our way to the 3D show and wanting to be Charlie's Angels

In front of CNN Headquarters

Checking out the weather maps for the Atlantic International flights at Delta

The Spirit of Delta

The engine is bigger than me!!!!

So it is St. Patrick’s Day and I have a lot to celebrate. I just got back from Spring Break and had an awesome time just chilling at home with my family. I saw my cousins and my aunt, hung out with my mom and dad, played scrabble, and ate lots of really great meals (and they were free). Oh and I got my laundry done which is a definite plus (to clarify my mom got my laundry done). The entire break my cousin who was very pregnant felt like she was going to pop but she didn’t…oh no…the baby decided it wanted to be a leprechaun so today (about two hours ago) we added Elias Steven (Eli for short) to our family and he is sooooooooooo cute from what my mom has told me. That’s ok I’ll be back home in a week for Easter so I can hold him and make strange baby noises and such. It’s hard missing things while you are away because sometimes it makes you feel a little out of the loop at least I do, and I don’t like being out of the loop but it’s something my family and I have talked about so they try not to make me feel like I am missing so much while I’m at school and I try to come home whenever I can (which with a busy schedule isn’t easy).

So since I have been back at Leo I have had meetings, events, meetings, classes, and more meetings…and I love every second of it. I have celebrated birthdays of friends and participated in the overall spontaneous craziness that happens when you go to Saint Leo. I have learned how to protect myself in a women’s self defense course offered by my sorority and have donated money to charity by shaving some dude’s head in a fundraiser for Children’s Miracle Network put on by one of the fraternities. My sorority got new girls and I started a new job because I spent way too much money in Italy (but it was well worth it). It is hard to keep track of everything I have written in my calendar but I vowed when I came to college that I would be as involved as possible and I love being able to do all the things I do and participate actively in all of the organizations I join. There are so many things to do that I am actually going to cut this blog short because I have an event tonight and a little homework to finish!!!! Happy Leap Day!!!

Some of my lovely sisters

Hangin out at Applebees (aka the bee)

one of my many meetings...we need to be crazy sometimes too

So I am back at Leo and I am so excited to be around my friends and sorority sisters and finally be in the loop again. I didn’t realize how behind I was until I stepped on campus and was faced with the fact that I didn’t know where anything on campus was for the first time in three years!!! Everything had changed or had moved to a new location with the opening of the new buildings on campus. It was absolutely beautiful and it was so great to be home again. The way I see it I have two homes: one with my parents which I enjoy going back to, and one at Saint Leo where the campus might change but the people and the feeling you get when you are there never changes. Anyway, as soon as I got on campus everyone somehow knew I was there and they were already calling to make plans. One of these plans was being told that I HAD to go to Gasparilla with some of my friends. Gasparilla is this huge parade in Tampa right on the bay where pirates invade the coast and everyone tries to catch insane amounts of beads that are thrown off of the 100 or so floats. It was a lot of fun and while it was a little rowdier than is my usual scene- well, let’s just put it this way… by the time the parade was over I had caught a lot of beads. After the parade we went and had pizza and then went back to Leo where I fell asleep as soon as I hit my bed.

The whole gang all Pirate-ed out

ARRRRRRRRR!!!!!

The floats were sooooooo big!!!

So I haven’t written in a while but I have some updates. My plane home from Italy was delayed by a huge snowstorm in New Jersey. Luckily, my connecting flight was delayed as well so everything went as planned. I met my Mom and Dad when I got out of the terminal and they didn’t even recognize me until I dropped my purse and consequently my carry on and the sweatshirt I was holding (I am a notoriously clumsy person). No sooner did I get in the car when I was presented with a minute by minute itinerary of the next week and a half. We went shopping, saw a movie, lounged by the TV and ate Chinese food (which I had missed like crazy). The best part was that I worked a lot over the break and earned some extra cash for next semester (and got a pretty nice tan doing it). One of the highlights of my break was being able to see my sisters and their families this past weekend. We all had fun going out in the pontoon boat and hanging out at Donna’s (one of my sisters) new apartment while the kids opened their presents. I am so glad to be home. I think part of me will always want to go back even if it is not to Italy, but for now I am content to be here at home with my family.

My nephew Jonathan playing with Dad's hat.

"Someday maybe this will fit."

I love hugs from my niece!!!!

Dad lets the Grandkids drive the boat

Mike and Alex chillin at the dock

So good news…I am finally finished with classes!!! Bad news…finals start Sunday…not fun. However, they only last until Monday and then I am free to explore Rome without worrying about deadlines and homework. It is really starting to hit home that I will be back in 7 days and it is a bittersweet realization. Bitter because I am leaving the most beautiful, wonderful place I have ever seen. Sweet because I am going back to my own home with my own bed and a family that I have truly missed over the past four months. I would not have traded any of it for anything in the world. I feel that I have changed for the better through this experience. It has made me more independent, more outgoing, and less apprehensive to try new things (food, activities, etc.). It has made me a well-rounded individual and has taught me the importance of being open-minded. I hope that these newly found characteristics will continue and that future experiences will have an affect on me because of what these characteristics.

So good news…I am finally finished with classes!!! Bad news…finals start Sunday…not fun. However, they only last until Monday and then I am free to explore Rome without worrying about deadlines and homework. It is really starting to hit home that I will be back in 7 days and it is a bittersweet realization. Bitter because I am leaving the most beautiful, wonderful place I have ever seen. Sweet because I am going back to my own home with my own bed and a family that I have truly missed over the past four months. I would not have traded any of it for anything in the world. I feel that I have changed for the better through this experience. It has made me more independent, more outgoing, and less apprehensive to try new things (food, activities, friends with different personalities,etc.). It has made me a well-rounded individual and has taught me the importance of being open-minded. I hope that these newly found characteristics will continue and that future experiences will have an effect on me because of what these characteristics have taught me.

This weekend was Thanksgiving and although they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Italy, our school is American so they gave us a long weekend. I went on a trip to the Alps right near the spot where Italy meets Switzerland and France. Around 40 students representing 3 study abroad schools went on this trip so I met a lot of really cool people from all over the world!! I had a nice, relaxing weekend which reenergized me to get through the last two weeks of classes. We went sledding, ice skating, built a snow fort and a snow man, and I made my first real snow angel ever (I decided not to go skiing because I didn’t really want to humiliate myself by face-planting on the mountain). Oh did I mention that it snowed all weekend so that by the time I left the snow was up to my knees!!! Since I am from Florida everyone got a kick out of my reaction to that much snow and all of the mountains. The village we stayed in was a quaint little Alpine village that could have been packed up and put right into a Disney movie (it helped that at the ice rink they were playing Disney soundtracks). We had a Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday that was very good despite the fact that we were all freezing and the food for the rest of the weekend (which was provided by the hostel and the company that sponsored the trip) was really good. I had so much fun and met so many new people that I really hope to stay in contact with even after this whole adventure is over (Oh my gosh… that is only 16 days away!!!). Right now I can’t wait to get home and see my family and friends (and earn a little extra cash!!!) but I know that I want to return someday with my family so that I can show them all of the amazing things that I saw and experienced while I studied here. I really missed not having Thanksgiving dinner with my family and watching the Macy’s parade and the endless football games that follow but since I had to give those things up, this weekend was a very good substitute.

The Alps for Thanksgiving

Funny part... that car was dug out of the snow the night before

Barricades to stop Avalanches

Playing in the snow

Look Mom... I'm a snow angel!!!

Our Huge Snow Man!!!

The snow fort

The Alpine mountains are so pretty when they are coved in snow!!

The beauty of a restaurant and bar attatched to a skating rink...eat and then skate!!!

We stayed in the little town of Cervinia, Italy.

Ashley and I decided to take a trip this weekend to get our minds off our schoolwork. We decided that everyone must see Venice at least once in their lives so that is where we went. It was definitely an adventure as our trips usually are. The funny travel stories begin on the train where some Italian guy decided that, even though there were four empty seats on the other side of the aisle, he wanted to sit on top of Ashley (Euro Trip moment???). He sat there for almost three hours holding his newspaper in front of him but actually peering over Ashley’s shoulder and reading the book that she was reading. He then proceeded to engage us in a conversation about proper business marketing techniques (thrilling…riveting…really)!!! We finally got to Venice and even though it was late in the day we went exploring and found all of the wonderful things that make Venice such a great place to visit. It is truly a city you could be content getting lost in. When we got lost we did a lot of shopping. We bought some typical Venetian treats and Venetian masks for family and friends back home. There are no cars allowed in Venice so all transportation is by boat which made getting from one place to another a very interesting experience however, they have water taxis and buses, which made life a little easier. We passed by a theater while trying to find our way back to Piazza San Marco (where we had to catch the bus back to the hostel). We went inside and discovered that it was a dinner theater and was relatively inexpensive because of the student discount we received. We bought our tickets, went back to the hostel to put our bags down (lots of shopping= I am so broke!!!) and change for the show. The dinner was seven courses and they had actors that went around socializing with the people. The show was awesome and we learned a lot about Carnivale which is a Venetian festival used to get rid of all the meat in the town before the beginning of Lent. The next day we had to leave really early in order to get back to Rome and get some work done for that week’s classes but despite the fact that it was a short visit to Venice it was a very good experience and I would love to go back someday.

The bridge of Sighs...Lots of canals mean lots of foot bridges and every one of them is artistic and beautiful...even the ones leading to prisons.

The Campanile

Gondola that had just dropped off its passengers who were taking a romantic Gondola ride by moonlight

Gondolas are "moored" in the Bacino Orseolo

Best Western Venice style...every room overlooks a canal!!

Gondola with its passengers going under one of the many bridges of Venice

Basilica and Piazza di San Marco

Waiting for the water bus in the floating bus stop... that's right even the bus stops are on water

and there's the water bus

A Venetian snack for the train home