Ciao!

Well, everyone except a very few core people (myself included) left last night. It was so sad to see them go. We made vows to visit each other but I fear it will never be the same as it was here. But, as Dan, one of our fellow study abroaders said, "We take home the best part about our study abroad in italy-- the people."
I couldn't have said it better myself.
Well, after we saw the bus off at 12:30 am the four of us left went to the pub one last time to say our goodbyes to our italian friends. It was weird to think I wouldn't be back to this city for a long long time and maybe never. The whole thing was just a bit sad!
So, Im leaving for Milan this morning for my final adventure of this great great study abroad trip. I am attending an old friend's wedding on Monday, then I head back to TX on tuesday.
Thanks for reading my posts. I hope you enjoyed hearing about the great Italian adventure... it was great to have you along for the ride.
This is Amanda, signing off from Italy.
Next stop, TEXAS!

Good news! The haircut/color is a raving success! I love it and trust me, you will not recognize me! I think I actually look my age, for once!
We are about to go to coco palm to get one last gelato (ice cream) before we leave in a couple of days.
Its kind of sad around here. People are starting to leave.. four left today and it was so sad! I don't know what I am going to do when the large group leaves Saturday night. i will be all alone for a whole night.
Sunday morning I leave for Milan then I attend the wedding on Monday and leave Milan early tuesday. I can't wait to be back in Texas! It is so sad leaving here at the same time. I don't know.. everything is so crazy right now... ! Talk to you soon--
XOXO AJL

Well, I would have blogged more this week, but nothing, and I mean nothing, is going on! We are done with school and we are all just meandering around the building trying to busy ourselves with cleaning and packing. Well, no one has really started packing because we want to have something to do tomorrow and Saturday...
Meanwhile, back in College Station our counterparts are sweating out the worst part of the semester, the week before finals!!!
Anyways, the only event of note this week would be the pending hair appointment with Allesandro in Cortona tomorrow. Lee Anne and I will be heading over there tomorrow afternoon for our official last Italian haircuts. She is getting a trim, whereas I am going all out. Why, you ask, am I placing all my trust in a man I have yet to meet? Well, I have seen the evidence... Allesandro is worthy of such loose hair parameters as the work ive seen of his is gorgeous. My friend Erin's sister went to him a couple of weeks ago and her hair was sooooo cute! And, after all, he studied at THE Vidal Sasoon hair school for two years!
Other than that we are busying ourselves with packing and planning our great return to the homeland. Our tastebuds are firing up for our first taste of Mexican food!!--- I can practically taste the salsa now! :)
Love you all and see you in Five days??? thats soo soon!
I'm getting excited!

So, Im heading into my last week here in Italy. The emotions are mixed, I am so comfortable here and life is good, but I miss my homeland. (I love America!)
Today has been a great day of sleeping and restful activities. I've been a little sick as of late, with cough/cold type stuff.. but i slept a lot today so hopefully I can shake it off for my last week in Italy. Basically, school is over for me as of last thursday. All we have left is to turn in a art paper, but Im done with that already.
Not sure what I'll be doing this week. Probably a lot of cleaning up and packing up.. Fun!
See you all very soon. XOXO AJL

Hello everyone. I am currently in Rome with my cousins and my brother. Last night we arrived in Rome and met up with my two friends from College Station. We went to eat at a real italian restuarant. It was cool.. kinda mafia like. Then we were going to walk to the Trevi Fountain but it started pouring rain! We were upset that we couldnt go but we just went back to the hostel and there were lots of people hanging out because of the rain. We met some girls from New Jersey and some other students from Massachusetts studying in Switzerland. We sat around and played a few games then we realized the rain had let up. So we suggested walking to the Trevi Fountain. Everyone agreed and off we went. Good thing one of the guys from Mass. had been there earlier that day or we would have been miserably lost! We made it there and got home around 2 am. It was a random evening, but it ended up being a fun one.
Allison and Scott left early to fly back to Texas, while the four of us slept in until 1030 AM! I havent slept that late in months. It was sooo good! We got up and had showers and made our way to the metro. We were going to Vatican city to see the Vatican Museum and St. Peters.
First stop, Vatican museum. This museum is huge! I had been here once before, but the boys hadnt. The highlight of this museum is, obviously, the Sistine Chapel. We went in there and Dewey bootlegged some pictures of the ceiling. It was funny.
Anyways, then we went and ate some "holy" pizza at the vatican pizzeria to tide us over until we could eat a real meal. Then we went next door to St. Peters. It is the largest church in the world! We saw michealangelos Pieta and the tombs where the Popes are buried.
We left there and made our way to Piazza Del Popolo to get some food.
Next stop, Coloseum. Well, we decided we would walk through there later on tonight because we were exhausted! So, I went and took a nap and the boys found a laundramat to do a little clothes washing. Thats where where we are right now.
Tomorrow, we leave here in the morning. Spence and Dewey are headed straight for Florence, and Will and I are attending to a special Gucci assignment before he heads back to Florence. Their plane heads out early sunday morning.
thats all for now... XOXO AJL

Happy Thanksgiving from Italy! We are all donning the Indian feathers and Pilgrim hats for our big feast at 1 PM.
Yesterday, we had a large time on the field trip. The day started out at 8 AM with an hour and a half bus ride to Orvieto. It was a dreary day.. Raining a bit. Once we got to Orvieto we had to go on this tram type thing straight up the side of a mountain. Once in the city we went inside the church. It was a beautiful Romanesque/Gothic Style Church. After a short lecture on the church we were free to roam about the city. It was a beautiful little medieval city and not crowded at all, which was nice. After some lunch and gelat (ice cream) we sprinted through the rain back to the bus.
Thirty minutes later we approached Civita! It was soooooo amazing! It was this small little city perched high high on a little hill. You will have to see pictures of it. To get to this city you had to walk over a foot bridge which stood many feet above the valley. You will have to see pictures of this place to understand the magnificence. Anyhow, stepping into this city was like stepping into a time warp. It still looked very medieval and there were very few people there. We went expoloring around the city and found a tunnel that apparently was dug by early farmers to store their crops in winter. We ate some pizza and headed for the bus. We got a two hour nap in and arrived home at 6 o clock. We had a great dinner then went to get cafe' (coffee) at this little bar down the street. Mario, the owner, was quite nice to us and he and Dewey, W&S had a large time discussing motorcycles in broken English, Italian, and Spanish.
This morning Allison and Scott left for Rome. We leave after lunch and we are meeting up with them for dinner tonight in Rome.
Hope you are having a great thanksgiving. We are missing our food, football, and most of all family.. :)
Ciao from Italy-- A, D, W&S

One more update for the fam because I know they are itching to hear about the boys....
They called earlier today to let me know when they would be arriving in Castiglion Fiorentino. It seems the Ferarri plant excursion is taking longer than expected so they will arrive around 8 o clock tonight. Also, Allison and Scott are arriving today around 6 p.m. We will hang out tonight at the local pub because a sister of one of my friends here is visiting and she is a country music singer so she will be playing live there tonight. So I figured we would go support her!
Tomorrow, all five of us will get up for the 8:30 school field trip to Civita and Orvieto. They are riding the bus with us. It is supposed to be spectacular. I am glad my visitors will get the opportunity to see a couple of small Tuscan towns, because Im not sure that they would have seen them otherwise. Then we will return to school that evening in time for dinner. Allison and Scott are going to Rome and Dewey, Will and Spence and I will be going thanksgiving day. Then they will return to Florence and I will return to Castiglion Fiorentino on saturday evening.
should be fun! Im looking forward to seeing them in a few hours. love to all- AJL

London is coming! Don't worry...
For now, the next installment of Roomate spotlight!! Yea..
LEEANNE is her name. She is a (5th year) senior English major from Weatherford TX. She is graduating this December as I am! She, too, will be moving back home with the parents for a while, so as you can already see we have a heck of a lot in common already.
Now, the family details.... Her dads name is Bullet Bob (so she tells me).. Bullet Bob has had a couple of occupations in life. First he was a lawyer in the military. They travelled all around the world, from Hawaii to the far east to Georgia. Now, he is retired from the military and he went to seminary and is now a preacher at a church in Weatherford.
Lee Annes mom is named Jennie and she is a high school counselor at Aledo High. She is a very busy woman.. she doesnt get the summers off like the teachers!
Bullet Bob and Jennie met at Ole Miss when one of them was in grad school and one of them was an undergad (i think).. as they are both from the Mississippi Delta.
Lee Anne has one sister, Sarah, and she is married to Jack and has two precious kids, Peyton and Bryce, they like to refer to as "the pookies, or the pooks." I have seen pictures and they are just the cutest things ever.. They are aged 2 and 1.
Lee Anne has high aspirations in life. Her dream job is to be an editor for In Style Magazine. Yes, she reads every issue cover to cover without interruption usually. She is always on the cutting edge of fashion and is really helpful to us not so fashion savvy girls. Well, we like fashion, but I think its safe to say Lee Anne loves fasion.
Another great hobby of hers is reading and writing. She writes for a maganize in College Station called The scene. In fact she did a piece for them entitled "24 hours in Italy." As far as reading goes, she has devoured more books this semester than Jessica and I combined. Let's just say her bookshelf at home has to be brimming with books!
She is just plain fun to be around. She is always making me laugh with her great sense of humor. She has been such a great member of our room. I love her so much because she is such a loyal person and is so generous with everything she has. In fact, when I want to borrow something of hers I am not allowed to ask anymore, I am instructed to simply go ahead and borrow it.. (except for the Prada purse, of course, but that goes without saying, right?? :)
I am excited about seeing her in the future. We have already made plans to go meet up with Jessica in Austin some weekend in the not to distant future. I can't believe the semester is almost over, It is going to be hard to leave these precious friends.