This weekend was a long weekend for celebrating All Saints Day which is apparently a huge holiday in Italy as well as a holy day of obligation. I took this amazing opportunity to visit the land of my forefathers- Sicilia (my great-grandparents on my father’s side where originally from Palermo and Messina in Sicily)!!! It was possibly the best experience of my life and not for any of the obvious reasons. All of our planes were delayed, the weather was horrible, and everything we wanted to see was really spread apart and, therefore, required hours on a bus. In spite of all of this, I had the time of my life!!! I saw an active volcano and a house that was buried in its lava flow. I saw the ruins of temples to the various Roman gods (Hercules, Jupiter, etc.). I visited the most beautiful beach I have ever seen and I visited a quaint seaside fishing village. The best part of the weekend, though, was meeting the people that went on the trip with me. It was a little uncomfortable at first because I really didn’t know any of them before hand but we really formed some very good friendships by the end of the trip. I realized that to really enjoy myself on any trip, whether it is in the States or in a different country, it is better not to expect anything and it is necessary that you “roll with the punches� as my mom so sagely advises. That is when you are yourself and that is when you are going to have the most fun. I guess the same can be said of any new experience. It is better to stay true to who you are but sometimes just a little bit of flexibility and understanding make that experience ten times better. I had a great time in Sicily and I can’t wait to visit again with my Mom and Dad someday- it will happen!!!

So I'm really hoping these people had insurance...this happened in the last eruption which was about 5 years ago!!!

A Caldera which is another word for crater found about 7,000 meters up...I played in a volcano crater!!!

The powerful yet beautiful Mount Etna located just outside the city of Catania

Sara, Amy, and I inside the massive crater

Me inside the Grecian Theater in a beach town called Taormina

One of the Temples at Agrugiento

A fisherman's boat in Syracusa

All of us gathered for four course dinners every night and buffet breakfasts every morning.

Waiting for a plane... so goes the life of the jetset!!!

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!!!

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!!!!