Well, the last few days have been quite routine. Nothing very exciting and unfortunately no new pictures to upload. Tuesday morning we were again lazy and took the bus to class. We decided to get off one stop earlier than normal, thinking that it would be faster. However, we were confused about where we were and it actually took longer. We made it to class just in time, but fortunately our teacher was a little late also, so we had time to settle in. We had another good class with our new writing teacher, spending time on each of the three pending assignments – the Illumin article, the technical description, and the final group project. At the end of class we did practice presentations in our groups to help develop rapport and good dynamics with each other when presenting. Then, we were let out about thirty minutes early so that we could “wander around Rome” to find our object for our technical descriptions. I had already decided on mine, so I didn’t need to wander and was able to spend the time watching the final episode of Season 1 of Lost on my laptop. It was so good, but ended in a terrible cliffhanger. Even worse, I don’t have any more of the seasons, so I will have to wait until I get back home to continue!

After the finale of Lost I went to ISE. We spent more time discussing Chapter 5 and did several example problems from the book. It was a good class, and I am liking this chapter much more than the previous two. When we got out of class we headed straight back to our apartments to pick up our passports. Our group of ten needed to go together to the Termini metro stop to buy train tickets for the weekend trip to Lake Maggiore. I don’t remember if I explained our plans, so I will do so again. We are leaving Friday morning at 6 am on a train for Lake Maggiore, which is on the Italy-Switzerland border. It should be a fun weekend outdoors, spending time hiking, swimming, and exploring the area. We may even cross into Switzerland for fun. Then, we leave Sunday morning on the train for Milan, where we will stay for the day and then get back on the train for Rome. If all goes according to plan we will be back in our beds by midnight on Sunday. So, we headed to the station to get our tickets, thinking we would get the 3 day EuroRail pass for Italy. It took 20 minutes to get there, then we waited in line for 1 hour. When we got to the front, we were told that we could not buy these tickets for some ridiculous reason. Some other people in our group had gotten them the previous week so we knew this wasn’t true, but there wasn’t anything we could do about it. So, we bought tickets for each leg of our journey, and it luckily ended up around the same price. Still, it took 30 minutes and was quite frustrating.

When we got back, it was almost time for the Italy-France soccer game to begin. I headed to a pizza shop across the street to grab a quick pizza for the game. Well, I wasn’t the only person who had that idea. There were maybe 6 people in front of me when I ordered. Then the phones kept ringing with delivery orders. I waited for 40 minutes before it was my turn, or at least I thought. Still, my pizza didn’t come. Then people who ordered after me started getting their pizzas. By the time I got the attention of the cook, it had been 1 hour and 15 minutes. And by the time I left it had been 1 ½ hours. The pizza was good, but nowhere near worth the wait. In the process I missed the entire first half of the Italy game. It was very frustrating to say the least, and was perhaps my first moment of true culture shock in which I felt completely helpless. Oh well, I now know I won’t be heading back to that pizzeria again.

So Italy ended up winning the game, and then Netherlands won, which means that Italy moves on to the next round and will play Spain. There was some mild celebration in the streets with lots of honking and yelling, but nothing excessive. Still, it’s exciting that they are moving on! After the game, it was time for bed, because we planned to wake up at 2:30 to watch the Lakers game. I slept well til then, and then dragged myself out of bed for the game. We found a decent feed on the internet this time, and watched the Lakers struggle through the first half. Then the connection went bad and we decided to call it a night. Good thing, too, because the Lakers only got worse. The Celtics earned it, and they were probably my second favorite team this year behind the Lakers. I’m starting to get tired of New England sports domination though!

So, in the morning I tried to sleep in as late as possible. I made it til 10:30 and then had to rush to get ready to go. Our writing class had been cancelled/postponed because we had talked our teacher into letting us go see the Pope give his Papal Address, which happens every Wednesday during class. We got there at about 10:45, and he had already begun, but it was pretty cool to watch him speak. Obviously we didn’t understand any of it, but it was a cool experience. After we finished we headed back to class, where we worked on our technical description, which was an in-class assignment. The object I had chosen was the mini basketball hoop from our room, so I had to rely on pictures for my description. It was a very easy assignment, and I was done in an hour and a half. We went to get some lunch, and then came back for ISE. We moved on to chapter six, and finished it rather quickly. This was the last day of teaching for Professor Bottlik, since Thursday is quiz day. He was a good teacher, but it will be good to have something new.

We walked back to our apartments and I started working on my Illumin article, which is due next Wednesday. I did some good research and got my introduction written. Then Eric and I made dinner. We boiled some sausage, then cut and fried it in olive oil and spices. We added some tomato sauce and cooked some pasta and had a delicious meal. After dinner we had our Bible study. We only had four this time, but we had some very good discussion about Romans 5 and several other tangents. And then at ten I met with my group for writing to discuss our group project – the restoration of the Los Angeles River. We got some research done and made up an outline for how we will proceed. Finally, after a busy night I got to bed for the night and slept wonderfully.

Today, Thursday, was a very relaxing day. I woke up at 8:30 to get some more work done for our writing group project. I found some good ideas from other river restoration projects and also emailed Mr. Thompson, Mike’s dad, who is on the board of Tetra Tech. They are the company writing the plan for the city of Los Angeles. He got me some great information – thanks so much! On the way to class we again took the bus. It is even hotter today than it was yesterday, definitely in the 90’s (Fahrenheit, of course). In writing we were given more time to work on our group projects and then had to present what progress we made. Our presentation went well and we got some valuable input from the professor and the class. Class went late though, and I didn’t have time to get lunch, so I had to go hungry for awhile. In ISE, Professor Bottlik wrapped up his portion of the class and then gave us his last quiz. It was again challenging, but not as bad as last week’s. I finished by about 3:30 and then Mike and I headed back to Via Candia. On the way we stopped at the Bancomat (ATM) and then the grocery store to get some food for dinner. We had an exciting find – peanut butter – which apparently isn’t used much in Italy. I’m looking forward to a good peanut butter, honey, and banana sandwich. Since then I haven’t accomplished much, but I’ve gotten caught up on some world news by watching CNN, our only English TV channel. I had no idea about the floods along the Mississippi and elsewhere in the Midwest. Our prayers are with everyone affected!

Well, I am guessing that this weekend I will again be without internet access, so don’t expect a post until Sunday or Monday. Next week looks to be busy, with several friends coming in to town to visit, so posts might be sparse in general. Ciao for now!