When we stepped out of the hotel this morning to walk to class, we saw sunshine for the first time since we left the states. It was AWESOME! It lasted for all of 2 hours because it's pouring down rain right now. Ha.I now know that I could never live in Seattle because all this rain is depressing. Hopefully it will be nice by the time we got to Venice this weekend.We just got out of class so we're all hanging out at the language school using the internet. College kids would rather live without oxygen than give up internet…seriously. Were going through withdrawals here! Oh well. We can pay to have it installed in our apartments in Rome so never fear! We will soon be back online 24/7 J

Midterms start tomorrow so I'm going to need everyone to pray for me…REALLY pray for me…on Wednesday. I've never failed a midterm or a final exam before….but I think this may very well be my first. Haha We went into the countryside yesterday to watch a soccer match. We were the special guests of the president of the Vicchio soccer team and it was QUITE an experience. We sat in the middle of a crowd of Italian men chanting "Vicchio! Vicchio! Vicchio!" The game ended with a tie score of 0-0. VERY interesting. Really. (Now I remember why I hate sports so much) The people of the town set up a large dinner for us after we took a tour of town in the freezing cold. I will never again complain about the winter temperatures in SC. I promise! The dinner was a lot of fun, complete with an overly excited Italian DJ that loved to do the YMCA and a disco ball in the center of the room.Good memories of Italy! We got back to the hotel around 8:30 and got ready for the LAST full week of Classes. AMEN! I've worked out a system in Italy for when I do or do not know the answer. If I know the answer and want Marco to call on me (so I can seem half way intelligent) I look him right in the eye…and he calls on me. Haha When I have NO idea what the answer is, I stare down at my notebook and pretend to write something. It's working fairly well so far!Pathetic…I know.

I think everyone is still dying of jet lag….It feels like we're never going to get caught up on our sleep. I'm glad I get to call home often because it's definitely helping with the homesickness but of course…I'm still missing everyone…and Mexican food. Well, a lot of American food really but I'll get over it. We're going to try and make our way from the school back to the hotel room in the pouring rain now so I'll stop my writing for the day. Sending everyone lots of hugs and sunshine that were OBVIOUSLY not getting here in Florence. Love you!!!

PS Mom: The bags are cute!

Michelle