Adventures of A College Student: Rome

Well, we are alive and well in our apartment in Trastevere. After a long day full of travel, I can barely use the energy I have left to write this blog post. But, there is so much to share. We departed from XNA at 12:20 Arkansas time and headed for Chicago. I traveled with about 10 other University of Arkansas students, so that helped calm my nerves. Upon arrival in Chicago, we wandered around the airport to our gate and found a bite to eat (I got a Chicago style hot dog, of course). We called ourselves the K12 gang because that was the number of our gate from Chicago. So thanks K12 gang for making me less nervous about international travel. Flight to Chicago O'Hare We left Chicago at 4:50 Arkansas time. The flight from Chicago to Rome was 9 long gruesome hours and because of the awkward timing I wasn't able to sleep very well. I did have an open seat next to me which was nice. My monitor in front of me didn't work except for Disney channel, but I can't complain

Time keeps passing progressively slower as the time ticks away till I depart for Rome (now only a week away). How else is time suppose to go by when the trip of your lifetime awaits you? Up until a week ago, I thought of my trip to Rome casually, pausing occasionally to think of churches and architecture, the eons of history in this ancient city, and opportunities to seek new adventures in the vein of increasing my own individuality. But again, about a week ago, those thoughts came to a screeching halt. These nice ideas of the fanciful dream-like coma that Rome would induce me with were trampled with the over complicated, terrifying actuality of the responsibility I was spear-heading with this experience in Rome. Packing, flights, apartments, details, details and more DETAILS overcame my thoughts. I felt trapped. But, I happened upon a quote that dug me out of the sink hole of these commanding concerns. A trip to Books-A-Million found me wandering the travel section hoping to

Whew . And just like that my freshman year at the University of Arkansas is coming to a close. I thought I would spend this first post recapping all the craziness that has happened this school year. So much has changed, but some things have stayed the same. I still wear khaki pants almost everyday (thanks Subiaco), but hey old habits die hard, right? But I will say I have had the courage to branch out from my worn-out brown dress shoes to a nice new pair of vans (I'm a rebel, I know right?). I have enjoyed so much about this year. Late night trips to Whataburger and Taco Bell have sustained my "healthy eating habits." Mario Kart on the Gamecube kept me familiar with the kid I truly am and has caused more than enough anxiety about blue shells. Wednesday night Adoration at St. Thomas got me through what seemed like weeks that would never end. New York Times crossword puzzles filled our door throughout the year as we completed them. I think we ended the year with about 2