Insomnia and Mean Old Ladies

It is nearly 3am in Rome. And I can't fall asleep. I took sleeping pills around midnight...they seem to be having no effect. I have an exam tomorrow that I am supposed to get up early and study for!! Really wishing sleep would come.

Not sure if I mentioned this before...but I joined a website for military personnel's significant others. Dad suggested I find some other people who are going through the same situation I am with Michael. So that is what I did. Some of the people on there are amazing and really helpful. Others are inconsiderate, rude, and immature (and most of these women are married with children).

Let me take for example a lady who refers herself to "Queen of the Entire Universe." The name right away screams crazy. This lady informed me that I was just another military men's fling who sees dog tags as a trophy. :o  Who the hell does she think she is?  I told her she was being rude and she said she didn't care about my opinion. Who does that? It is one thing to have an opinion and disagree with someone...it is another to make those people feel bad/degraded in the process. Which is what many of these women on this site do. They sure as hell don't act their age. Another women (I think it may have even been the same one) said that when women wear their significant others dog tags....it is just to show that they "nailed a military man." Is that not going to far? Yes you can have an opinion, but there is a point where it crosses the line. And that was definitely crossing the line, which I told her. Then I had all these ladies telling me I needed to grow a "thicker skin" because I get offended to easily. Who wouldn't be offended by a statement like that!?

They women saying these things are married!!! And many of them have children! They are acting like middle schoolers. It is absolutely ridiculous. And even one of the moderators on the site was calling this one girl "crazy" because she put her bfs dog tags on her review mirror when she was driving. That started a whole identify theft fight. Which I can understand, but this girl said she only did while she was driving. Another girl (whom I have come to like) said that, if a person can get the SSN off of the dog tags that are hanging in a moving vehicles rearview mirror...they deserve it!! Ahaha. Amen sister!!

Instead of being nice and saying...I really wouldn't suggest putting the dog tags in your rearview mirror. These women are like "are you fucking nuts!" Which again...I see this as crossing the line. Being a psychology major, I know that that form of communication will not result in the girl taking the dog tags off her rearview mirror. Nothing comes out of lecturing her about it. I'm 20 years old and even I know that!

I was also lectured in another forum that I shouldn't tell anyone the my bf is deployed in Afghanistan. Apparently that will make me a target cause I am home alone and someone will break in my house and rape me. How ridiculous! I am a 20 year old college student who lives on campus. I love showing my patriotism and support for the troops. And I will do so publicly. But the ladies tell me I should never let anyone know "the man of the house" is away. (??)

In yet another forum, I discussed the idea of getting a dog. I recieved responses about the fact that I didn't understand what went into caring for a dog. I explained that I raised 48 huskies and still they didn't think I was responsible enough. Apparently raising one dog is totally different than raising 48...and it is apparently harder? I was also told by someone who resided in Alaska...that she knows how "sled dog" kennels operate. I informed her that we raised all 48 huskies on our own...we didn't hire people to care for them for us. That shut her up real fast.

I swear that these woman have no lives. They are probably jobless and thrive off of the fights they can start on the internet. They feel that they are better than everyone else on the site because they have "lived the lifestyle" longer. Just because you have been in the situation longer, doens't make your opinion any better than the next persons. I don't care who you are. And there is absolutely no reason for them to make people feel the way they do. Especially considering the fact that it is supposed to be a support site....people are supposed to feel better after they get done with viewing the page. They are supposed to feel worse about themselves! It is absolutely appalling the way some "adults" act.

Now that I am done ranting about all that. I have a mid-term in psychology tomorrow. I have to do good in it, since my last test in that class wasn't as good as I would like it to be.

I emailed my advisor back home about what classes to take next semester. She informed me that I had yet to fill the GS5 requirement. Back in high school, I had taken two college English courses. I have a signed sheet, which I have shown the registrar several times, approving these courses to transfer as a GS5. I have sent them a copy of this form several times, and yet they won't accept it! So I have to now have my mom photocopy yet another copy and email it to them. Ughhh.

On the bright side of things...I will be going to Germany this weekend. Gives me something to look forward to. :) Oh and I dropped Intro to Italian today as well. I feel so much better about my course load now. I had a mythology exam that I think I did pretty good on. My Stats exam score was okay...not great. But it was about what I expected. I have never been good at math.

I am in the process of finding a new place to live next semester. Since my roommates now hate me. For whatever reason, I do not know. But I am not willing to put up with all that drama for an entire semester. I think I would rather sleep in a cardboard box. Which I might end up having to do. =/  But Laura said she would take me in and care for me. lol. I am hoping that I will be able to get a single room. So I don't have to deal with a new roommate or anything. But frankly...anything would be better than living where I am supposed to be next semester. No joke.

Okay there I went ranting again. :o  I suppose I should force myself to sleep. Maybe I can try counting sheep or something. But everytime I try to sleep...I have too much on my mind and it won't shut off. Ughh. Well I guess I will try for the hundreth time. Good Night!!

Photoshoot and some more procrastination

This past week I had two mid-terms. I think I did fairly well on them. They weren't as bad as I thought they were going to be...which is a plus.

Friday I had my Little Black Dress photoshoot. :) It was a lot of fun. Let me explain it first.
Last semester (spring 2010) I did a "photoshoot" for the Tea Party. I basically walked around and handed out fliers and a photographer followed me around a took pictures for a book that Capitol Models was producing. It was an unpaid shoot, but they promised other opportunities in the future. So I got an email a while back inviting me to make a submission into a new book they are producing. The Little Black Book. Submissions are done by invitation only, so I felt pretty lucky to be asked!!

Anyways, I started doing research right away on photographers in Italy. I found one. Not only did a find a photographer, but I also found a clothing designer, hair dresser, and make-up stylist. And I got them all to contribute their time for free. Yay!!

So on Friday I met up with everyone. We met at 9:30 am. It took nearly 3 hours to have my hair and make-up done. I was really happy with how it turned out. The clothing designer made a dress especially for me. I even picked out the design!! :):) It turned out lovely.

The photoshoot lasted less than an hour. All the time spent to get ready and the actual shooting was real short. But I am fine with that. I think we got some really great pictures and I cannot wait to see how they turn out!! :)

Saturday I spent the entire day in bed. Only to get up and go to dinner with Tim and his dad!

Today Bliss and I went to the flea market. I got two pairs of boots. :) Very happy with my purchases. OOOhHHH and I got a pair of booties :) That I haven't taken off since I got them. hehe.

Now I should be studying for my exams tomorrow...but again I am procrastinating. I have decided that I am going to drop my Intro to Italian course. I need to focus on my other classes. I can't afford to fail those classes, because I need them to graduate. And this language course is stressing me out way too much. It will be better this way. :)

This is a really fast blog...sorry for not giving much detail into the life of Casey, but I am ready for bed!!

Mid-Term Week...Procrastination

This week and next week I have mid-terms. I am completely worn out and I am lacking the ability to study. I am having a really hard time concentrating in classes because I have too much on my mind. And the stuff on my mind has very little to do with school.

I just took one of my mid-terms and it wasnt as bad as I thought it was going to be. Which is a relief. It was the one that I was most intimidated by. Later today I have my statistics exam. I am freaking out about it and am currently taking a break from studying. I hate math and I am dreading this exam. I have a bounding migraine and just want this day to be over.

Next week I have 3 mid-terms. So it wont be any better than this week. But at least I have Germany to look forward to next week. This Friday, I have a photoshoot. I am doing this Little Black Dress project. I get to submit my photos into a book. Which is really great. I have a clothing designer who is making me a dress, a photographer, a make-up stylist, and a hair stylist all set up. I am meeting them at the studio Friday at 9:30am. I am hoping that it doesnt last too long, since I have a ton of study to do yet. But I am excited and it should be a great time.

I am glad I didnt make plans to go anywhere this coming weekend, because I would never get any studying done. I am going to force myself to go to the library and study. I have also been working on internship stuff this week. I have a list of all the places that I want to inquire about internships. Currently I am looking in Kentucky. I am sure you know why.

This week is homecoming week back at St. Norberts and I am really sad that I am missing out on all the events. But it sounds like the Kappas are doing a great job. Just wishing I could be there for it.

The weather in Rome is finally starting to cool down. I am actual cold at night time. Our apartment has become an ice box. It is warmer outside than in the apartment. Which I thought would be a good thing, but I freeze. I am glad it is now sweatshirt weather. I am no longer drenched in sweat by the time I reach school.

I guess I should stop procrastinating and get back to studying. I am waiting for Bliss to assist me with some Stats problems. Ughhh. Wish me luck!!

Weekend in Athens, "OPA!"

I just spent the most amazing weekend in Athens. To say the least, I did not want to leave. I am really wishing I had the opportunity to study in Greece rather than Italy, but St. Norbert didn't have a program. There are so many reasons why I love Athens, and I will explain them all below!!

The weekend started Friday morning. We hoped on a train at 9am to the Fumincio Airport. When checking into the airport, I had this young Italian lady shoving me out of her way to get in the front of the line. I wasn't having it. She ended up checking in another faster line. I watched as she ran to security. The security lady wouldn't let her go through security because her suitcase was too big. The pushy lady was freaking out and practically on her knees begging to be let through. But the security lady made her go back in line and check her baggage. Hehe. Karma is a bitch.

We boarded our plane at 10:30am. We got to our boarding area just in time. We took Easy Jet, which is a discount airline. So there was free seating. The whole flight consisted of them trying to sell refreshments for a very expensive price. Followed by them trying to sell all kinds of other products. It was really annoying.

We arrived in Athens at 2:15pm. We searched for a place to get our passports stamped, but couldn't find it. Apparently they don't care about the passport unless you are leaving or coming into Europe. We took awhile to figure out the metro system. And the ride to our hostel was really long. A young couple was sitting next to us and the man said that we had to be from the United States. Apparently we screamed American because we were smiling. I thought this was weird at first, but after thinking about it, he is right. No one in Italy ever smiles. Everyone looks like they are pissed off all the time. I guess that was common in Athens too.

We made it to our hostel after 3pm. We stayed at the AthenStyle Hostel which was rate #1 hostel in Greece. The front desk lady was extremely nice and spoke very good English. She said my last name perfectly and I felt this urge to hug her. Our room was just for the four of us. It had two bunk beds and a private bath. Tynisha and I called dibs on bottom bunks. So Bliss and Tim had to be on the top.

Just an interesting fact about Athens, and probably all of Greece. You are not aloud to flush toilet paper down the toilet. Apparently they have a huge problem with clogged toilets. So whenever using the bathroom, toilet paper had to be thrown in the garbage. Gross!

Our first mission in Athens was to find food. We ended up eating at an authentic Greek restaurant. The staff was extremely friendly and not in a creepy, perverted way like in Rome. I ordred pork chops and a caesar salad. It was absolutely amazing. Tynisha ordered a greek salad and introduced me to feta cheese, which I fell in love with. When we were leaving the restaurant, the owner taught me how to carry my purse while in Athens. And explained that pickpockets work together (one shoves you and the other takes your purse).

After lunch/dinner we did some shopping. I quickly discovered Kombolói or worry beads. They are part of the modern Greek culture to relieve stress. They resemble prayer beads, but have no religious significance. I would say it is similar to a worry stone back in the states. They come in every color and design you could think of. There are even shops where you can make your own. I am carrying my worry beads with me right now. They are my new obsession.

Some of the worry beads had the "evil eye" on them. And much of the jewelry just consisted of a blue evil eye. The evil eye is believed to be able to cause injury or bad luck for the person at whom it is directed for reasons of envy or dislike. I would like to believe that it actually worked that way...but unfortunately it probably doesn't.

We were told that the roof of our hostel had a very good view of the Acropolis at night. And boy were they right. There are absolutely no words to descirbe the view. And no picture will ever do it justice.

We decided to get gyros for a night time snack. It was probably the best thing I have ever eaten in my whole life. I could have sat there and ate them until I exploded...which wouldn't be very lady-like, so I decided against it. While we finished eating our gyros, some loud music started in the middle of the square. We wandered over and witnessed some amazing Greek break dancing. I was immediately in love and would have watched for hours. Nothing like that happens in Rome.

The night ended early. None of us felt like going out, so we were all laying in bed by 8:52pm Rome time and 9:52 Athens time. We were being lazy bums. I didn't sleep well at all. I read until about midnight and didn't fall asleep until awhile after that. I didn't bring my sleeping pills because I figured I would be exhausted from traveling. So by the morning, I was tired and crabby.

Saturday we started the day off at 9:30am. We first went to Ancient Agora. The other three were walking in front of me, but decided that none of them wanted to be the first to go in. Frustrated, I pushed past them and told the guy at the counter that I needed a ticket. He was probably the rudest guy I have met since being abroad. He wasn't much older then me. When I was reading the price list, he started snapping his fingers at me and saying "Look at me. Look at me." I didn't hide my digust and looked at him with a not so nice face. I finally was able to get a student priced ticket.

I came to realize that no one is ever going to take me serious because I am a little blond American girl. Which started to make me really mad as I was realizing this. I am probably ten times more educated than the rude guy at the ticket counter, but I will never be treated that way. It makes me wonder whether or not getting my Ph.D. will matter in life.

Well back to Athens. Tim, Tynisha, and Bliss are not ones to take intiative. They stand around looking at one another until the other makes a move. For example, when searching for the place to get our passport stamped, Tim came up with the idea that we should go ask someone. He said that all there was to it was to show them your passport and ask "where can I get a stamp." It is as easy as that. I looked at him and said, "Well if you have it all figured out, why don't you go ask." Which of course he wouldn't. They all like to stand around saying lets do this or that and wait for me to finally do something about it. It has become a pet-peeve of mine. I am always the one who has to step up and lead the way.

As we were walking through Ancient Agora, I started to wonder how the Romans (in particular) and the Greeks went from believing in hundreds if not thousands of different gods to believing in one god. It just doesn't make sense to me.

We were starving so we ended up back at the gyro place from the night before. As I sat eating my gyro, I noticed the both the men and women in Greece are much more attractive then those in Rome. I have not found one attractive guy in Rome. Not that I am looking or anything, but it is something that isn't hard to notice.

Now for the trek up to the Acropolis. It was one hell of a hike. By the time I reached the top, I was drenched in sweat and dying for some water. Unfortunately we couldn't find any place that sold any up there. The entrance to the Acropolis was free on Saturday. I am guessing it was because of the recent strike. There was a coach bus filled with police officers on top of the Acropolis. I am guessing it was due to the strike that apparently happened, that I didn't see.

The Acroplis was amazing. Not as gorgeous as it looks at night time, but it was still spectacular. However, it was extremely hot way up on the hill. So we headed back down to get some water before we all passed out. We also had lunch too. We couldn't decide where to eat, and as we were passing a restaurant, one of the waiters said that "Here is the best." I looked at him and said, "well if here is the best, then I want to eat here!" Soooo that is where we ate. And it was to die for. I got some feta cheese and a traditional Souvlaki shish kebap. The food was mouth watering.

I was beginning to wish that I studied abroad in Athens instead of Rome. I wish I had more time to do some island hoping throughout Greece. I can't even tell you how much I loved Athens.

To end our day on Saturday, we went to the 2004 Olympic stadium. I was really disappointed. Yes it was a beatutiful set up, but it wasn't taken care of. It was completely deserted and rundown. There was graffiti all over everything. We weren't able to go inside anything. It was not worth the three different metros we had to take to get there. I couldn't believe how much money they put into it and now it was just sitting there.

We ended up having dinner at the gyro place. I had donner pork with feta cheese. We initially had a Greek waiter, but an English speaking waitress took over for him. Since he was really confused.

Sunday morning we had to check out of the hostel at 10am. We were able to leave our suitcases at the hostel. Which was great because I really wasn't looking forward to dragging them around. We did a little bit of shopping and got some food. Ohhh and the break dancers performed again right before we had to leave. I got a lot of it on video :)

We made it home around 4pm. I took a three hour nap, at dinner, and went right back to sleep. I was really tired since I couldn't fall asleep in the hostel.

I am sad to be back in Rome. Back to all the rude people. I am looking forward to our next weekend trip to Germany!!

Best Day EVER!

This may sound crazy, but today was my best day in Rome so far. I have been really down in the dumps lately. After the nightmare involving Michael, and not talking to him in over two weeks. Nothing really seemed to be cheering me up. All I wanted to do was be locked away in my room in the dark and be alone. I would go as far as saying I was just plane depressed.

Today however, Michael finally called!! We got disconnected four times, but I still got to hear his voice. But to make things better...he finally got skype!! He doesn't have a computer over there, so he had to borrow a friends and download skype on it. It took as about an hour to finally get connected and stay connected. The interent over in Afghanistan kinda sucks. But I finally got to see him for the first time since he left. It was the greatest feeling ever.

It put me in an immediately wonderful mood. :):):):):):):)  No more depressed Casey. I am hopefully going to skype with him tomorrow too. I told him that I was sure the Marines didn't have problems with their internet. Haha. I always poke fun at him since my daddy is a Marine. I am partial between Marines and the Army.

Michael and Me the day he left :)

A Week With An Egyptian

Things have been crazy and I haven't had the opportunity to make a blog entry. This past week Laura was in Rome. Laura is one of my sorority sisters who is studying abroad in Cairo, Egypt. It was a great week!!

It all started on Mon, Oct 4th. Laura showed up in my apartment with Tim at 8:45 in the morning. I was still sleep but Laura woke me up with a huge hug. :)  It was the best wake up present ever. Tim and Laura dragged me out of bed to grab some breakfast. which consisted of a sugar donut. After I had to go back to the apartment to get ready for classes. I had class from noon till 8pm. I came home to a nice supper of pasta and sausage with Laura.

At 9am Tuesday morning, I met Laura at the bus stop to go to Vatican City. We did some shopping around the area. Collected a few religious items to be blessed by the pope. We tried to get our tickets to meet the pope, but we weren't able to until 3pm. And I had class at 2:15, so Laura had to get them on her own. But first we had lunch at the T-Bone Station. We each got a yummy burger (YAY American food!). I had to meet with my group for a project at 1:15. So Laura headed back to the Vatican to get the tickets. They people who gave her the tickets informed her that the viewing with the pope didn't start until 10:30am, but suggested that we begin lining up at 8am.

So Wednesday morning we woke up at 6:30am. We left the apartment at 7 to meet Laura at the bus station to head back to the Vatican. When the gates opened, it was crazy. All these old people started running across the square. It was absolute chaos. I have never seen so many old people running before. Hehe. We ended up getting in the front row. Yay!! There were hundreds, no thousands of people that showed up. The only people who sat in front of us were a group from NATO. The pope came out on his popemobile. He was wearing a red hat. They drove around the entire square. The pope would wave to everyone. Then he went and sat in a chair right in front of St. Peter's. I would describe it as a lovely throne. Everything that the pope said, he repeated in 7 different languages. It was a long process.

It was hot and the pope talked very slowly. I thought I was going to pass out. Tim told me I was going to be struck by lightning in the middle of the square. :)  I had to leave in the middle of one of the pope's speeches. I felt really rude. Everyone was glaring at me. But I had a huge presentation in my class that I couldn't miss. My professor made it very clear that it was unacceptable to miss class to see the pope. So I had to speed walk all the way to campus. When I got there, we couldn't get our presentation to load, soooo we didn't end up doing it. Lovely. I was quit angry that I had to walk out on the pope for that.

We decided to go out that night. We wanted to show Laura the nightlife in Rome. Luckily she was there to protect me because a bartender got a little carried away that night. I was in the ladies bathroom right before bar closing. Laura was about to go to the bathroom too when the bartender walked in. She must have known something was going to happen, and she said she didn't have to go to the bathroom anymore. Right after, the bartender came up and ran his hands down my face like he was going to kiss me. Laura pointed at him and yelled "NO!" She grabbed me and pulled me out of that bar. Thank god for sorority sisters!! Got to love those Italian men. NOT!

Thursday I had class from 2:15-3:30. After class, Laura and I went to the Colosseum. I absolutely love the Colosseum, so I didn't mind going with her again. We had a great time, did a lot of sister bonding. We were going to do the Roman Forum as well, but it was closed by the time we got out of the Colosseum.

On our way back to the apartment, we ended up taking the right bus the wrong way. This happened last time I went to the Colosseum. Just my luck. So we spent over an hour on the bus. When we got back to the Colosseum, it was night time. I hoping that the Colosseum would be lit up. Which it was, but it wasn't anything amazing. I was kinda dissappointed.

We had dinner at Tatas that night. Tata gave us all kisses when we left. She is amazing. When we got back to the apartment, Laura and I cuddled in my bed and watched Glee together. Neither of us were feeling very good. We think it was from what we ate at the Colosseum.

Friday was a make-up day. So I had classes from noon till 8. It sucked since Laura was in town. I was late to class too because of a protest outside of the education building. There were probably a good thousand teenagers there protesting. They had to shut down the public transportation because these teens were standing in the way of the tram tracks. SO I had to walk to school. These teens were also smoking weed in the middle of the street. Hmmmm.

After classes we had dinner and then took Laura to Scholars the Irish Pub. They played Build Me Up, Buttercup at the bar. :) That is our sorority song. It was amazing. Laura and I sang and danced in the corner together. Tim videotaped it!

Saturday was Laura's last day. :(  We went to Piazza Del Popolo to see a nice view of Rome. I wasn't feeling the best and I complained the entire way. I have gotten pretty good at complaining lately. I have been so irriatated with life. After getting back, we just relaxed in the room until Laura had to leave at 6:15pm. We brought her to the train station. I was almost in tears when she left. I felt like a part of me was leaving. :( I will be seeing her soon in Cairo thought over Thanksgiving. :)

Sunday I slept till 1pm. I was feeling really sick. I think my sickness was more emotionally ill, then physically ill. I ran with Bliss to the market to get a new suitcase for weekend travels. When we got back, I went straight back to bed. I was starting to get chest pains again, like before I had left for Rome.

I was woken up by Tim skyping. I got really crabby because I was tired and wanted my silence. I thought it was over when he finished skyping, but then Peter showed up and skyped too. The internet in their apartment hasn't been working, so they used ours. I was very close to going to a hotel. I was so annoyed that I was almost in tears. I was sick and depressed and wanted to be in the dark in my room in complete silence. I didn't even eat supper that night and I slept straight through the night. I had a terrifying dream too.

My dream was about Michael. It was extremely graphic and felt so real. I woke up sobbing. The entire day I had the images from the dream replaying in my head. It was making me physically sick. I hadn't talked to Michael in over two weeks, which made it even harder.

Monday night at dinner, my dream got brought up. I told Bliss I didn't want anyone else to know about it. I had written it all down in a letter that I sent to Michael. But I let Bliss read it first, and she almost started crying. One of my guy friends commented, "why do you worry so much anyways." I wanted to bunch him in the face for saying that.

I feel like no one hear understands what I am going through. I guess I can't expect them to understand, but I do expect them to respect my feelings. Not make me feel worse. When I talked to dad, I finally brokedown. It was the first time I had cried since being in Rome. And it was not just a tear hear and a tear there, I was sobbing.

Sicily

This past weekend Bliss and I flew to Sicily. :)  It was an amazing trip and definitely made up for last weekend at the Amalfi Coast. Our adventure started off at 11am on Friday when we arrived to the SAI office. This program was offered by SAI for an extra $635, which mom and dad paid for as a Christmas gift. Only 10 people from SAI Rome attended. Other groups meet us in Sicily, including 2 people from Milan and 22 from Florence (for a total of 34 of us).

SAI provided us the transportation to the airport. Lisa (an SAI director) made sure we all got checked in and saw us through security. Then all of us headed to our terminal. We had a little over an hour before our plane took off, so we just relaxed on the very uncomfortable benches. To board our plane, we had to take a bus to the plane which was located away from the airport. Everyone was seated on the plane and ready for take off when the captain announced that we all had to get off and go back to the airport. The captain was speaking in Italian, so we were all clueless as to what was going on. But we jumped on the bus and went back to the airport.

Turns out that a rock had hit the side of the planes door and they felt that the plane was not flyable. They were unsure of when another plane would be available and offered flight changes to those who wanted them. A large portion of the people went up to change there flight, but we decided it was best to wait it out. The front desk of the airline called out every single persons name and we had to go get the part of the boarding pass that they collected before we got on the plane. It was chaotic.

We found out that the next plane wouldn't be available for another 2 hours. So Bliss and I decided to try and find something to eat. At this point, I was thinking that we were just bad luck and that this weekend would turn out like last weekend. I resulted to getting some McDonalds. We got it to go and were planning on sitting at the terminal and eating. As we were walking back to our terminal, the speaker came on and said that out flight was boarding immediately.

You know when you are sitting in the airport and people watch. Typically you poke jokes at those who are running down the hallway to their terminal. Well....that was Bliss and I. We were on the wrong floor on the airport and on the opposite side. Fumincio airport is huge!

Luckily we made it on time. The sitting on the flight was "free." Meaning we could sit anywhere we wanted. I guess that was their way of saying sorry. The flight was really short. It took us less than 50 minutes to get to Sicily. We literally went up in the air, the flight attendants handed out drinks, and then we were descending for our landing.

Once at the Catania airport, we meet up with the rest of the groups. Then hoped on a coach bus for our hour ride to Siracusa, where our hotel was located. I slept on the entire ride to the hotel!

Bliss and I roomed together at the hotel. We were in a tiny little room and our beds were about 4 inches apart. Which was unfortunate for me, because Bliss was coughing on me all night. Right after getting our stuff situated in our rooms, we went on a walking tour of the Ortigia Historical Center. We saw the temple of Apollo and some other interesting sites from back in WWII. Siracusa is a well known city from  WWII.

After our tour we walked to our restaurant for dinner, Osteria Bacco. Here we had an amazing 5 course meal. It was endless amounts of food that just kept coming. After supper, Bliss and I headed right back to the hotel for bed.

Saturday morning started off with a 10am market tour and tasting with a culnery chef from Siracusa. For the most part, the market was filled with fish. Lots of fish and different seafoods. The smell was nauseating. There were swordfish, snails (that were still alive), squid and little octopus. In Italy, there are no health/sanitary codes like in the U.S. All of this food was sitting out in the open. Flies were all over it, costumers were touching it with their dirty hands. The butchers would wipe the sweat off their faces and then use their bare hands to cut the fish.

At the end of the market, we went into a little store to do some taste testing. We tried three different kinds of wines. One was very sweet, more of a dessert wine. We also tried a traditional Italian pizza. I would describe it as a calzone with patatoes in it. We tried some chocolate, which was disgusting. I was very dark chocolate with little sugary pieces in it.

After our market tour, we took the coach bus up the mountains to the Pantalica Ranch. The roads in Italy are very narrow, I would consider them a one way street back home. So as our bus would round the sharp corners going up the mountain, he would have to honk his horn to warn people coming from the other direction. The honking got really annoying after the hunderth time.

We ate at the ranch. It was another 5 course meal. I didn't think I would be able to eat after the previous nights dinner. But it was delicious.

After lunch, we visited the mini zoo located on the ranch. Here we came across a pen of all kinds of birds (chickens, peacocks, peasants). As well as a goose. Which hissed at us and kept skwaking. I was about ready to kill the thing. There were also some goats. Then we came to the horses and the donkey.

I fell in love with the donkey, whom I named Jack (the ranch calls him Splinter). Jack was an extremely dirty donkey. Most people wouldn't even touch him, but Jack and I became good friends. He wouldn't let just anyone touch him, but he loved me. At one point he tried eating my hair...which I believe was a sign of affection. :)  I really wanted to take Jack home with me, because he seemed so lonely. He will forever be in my heart.

We got the opportunity to go horseback riding. I was extremely excited to have this chance. I got to ride on a beautiful brown horse named Stella. The girl who rode her before me warned me that all she does is eat and won't take any direction. I had no problems with Stella. Stella and I would gallop around without a care in the world.

We went horseback riding up into the mountains. It was very rocky and the rocks were like slate, so they were really slippery for the horses. At one point, Stella and CC (another horse) got into a little fight. Stella took off running down a rock hill and I saw my life flash before my eyes. Luckily I have experience riding and I could handle the situation.

On the ride before mine, a girl had fallen off her horse when the horse started fast down a hill. She panicked and let go, instead of holding on tighter. Another girl ripped the crotch of her jeans while trying to get on a horse. It was quite interesting seeing all these city girls trying to ride horses for the first time.

The ranch wasn't strict at all about riding. Back in the U.S. we are required to fill out waiver forms. In Italy, you just hop on the horse and go. I liked it this way because we were given more freedom. The man who lead us through the trails let us do what we wanted. He didn't make the horses walk in a straight line. When Stella and I would take off, he got excited about it. He was an Italian man who spoke no English. He enjoyed riding his horse backwards so that he could watch the beautiful women behind him. :)

After riding, we went back to the hotel and had free time for 3 hours. This gave us the opportunity to do a little shopping. It was a challenge finding any tourist areas for shopping. There main shopping street was all designer clothing, which I wasn't interested in purchasing (since I am poor).

At 9pm we had another 5 course meal  at Spizzica. This was probably the best meal of the weekend. However, after eating it, I was in a food coma from eating so much. After supper, we went right back to the hotel and hit the hay.

Sunday morning started at 10am at the Archaeological Park where we had a guided tour. Here we saw an ancient Greek theater. We also saw Dioynsis' ear, which is a huge cave. While in the cave, our tour guide sang a Sicilian love song. Her singing echoed throughout the entire cave. We also saw the altar where public sacrifices took place and an ancient ampitheater.

At 12:30pm we headed to the Cantania airport. We had over 3 hours before our plane took off, so we sat and stared out a window the entire time. It was wonderful. The flight back went great and now I am ready to pass out!