so much!

There's so much to say--I don't even know when the last time I wrote was. Oh yeah...I was still in Milan and telling you all what I'm supposed to do with my life for the next month.
WELL. I went to Rome and Tuscany and it was a blast. I met Ross' parents and ate really well. Rome was great, as usual--I got to see the Renoir exhibit there AAAAAAND went to the Vatican! It was beautiful, but I'm pretty sure if they broke it all down and sold it the Catholic Church would end word hunger for the rest of time. (I even think Jesus would prefer that ::cough::). But I drank Holy Water! Thank you Benedict (did you know he likes cats? Like, a lot).

Tuscany was really cool. We spent a few hours in Florence before driving out to this awesome hotel (it wasn't warm enough to go swimming in the pool, though...). Basically Ross and I were in the middle of nowhere for about 24 hours with his parents and their friends who are all the epitome of the midwest. It was cute. We went back to Milan to pick up his friend Erik, and it was nice to see Melissa before she left, and hang out with Courtney for a while (she has the CUTEST studio apartment because she works for Calvin Klein now). I was glad to be back in the familiar (and kind of can't wait to get back).

I went to London shortly after that on the 22nd with Erik and Ross. So great, and absolutely wonderful to be back in an English speaking country. I met some political figures that my best friend Ariana and her friend Jimmy have both befriended...I don't think it's best to write about it in public, but I had a really great time at an exclusive London club. If you ever want to hear about it, I can tell you have I have come to own a Gucci ring.
I did a lot in London-I visited the National Portrait Gallery, which was having a Vanity Fair exhibit (superb), the Tate (and bought a very expensive umbrella out of necessity) Modern, and the Victoria and Albert (SUCH a cool museum--its all about concept and design). I walked all around (very important, sight seeing is half of your trip), ate lots of ethnic food (helloooo indian and thai and chinese. CHINESE. Good chinese! What a foreign concept!), and went to some cool hangout spots. The last night in London I did the coolest thing. Ross had read on Kanye West's blog about this thing called the telectroscope that views Brooklyn and London. I contacted my parents and had them meet me at 7 pm their time, 12 am my time. There wasn't a line and it was raining when I got to the Telectroscope on my side (which is right by the tower bridge), I was able to see my mom and dad (with a whiteboard, asking me questions such as "how's the queen?" and "have any fish and chips? a pint?), the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. Completely amazing. I talked to my parents just a little bit before the credit on my phone ran out (damn pay as you go, what a crappy idea). Anyway, here's a link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/arts/design/21tele.html?ex=1369108800&en=218d505864d14f2c&ei=5124&partner=facebook&exprod=facebook

The last afternoon in London Ross and I went to go see Sex and the City. That's right! I've seen it already! Go see it. I can't tell what your opinion would be, and I'm not going to say mine. But it was worth the $18 I paid (NINE POUNDS!).


Now we're in Barcelona. It looks a bit like Milan, only with a tropical twist and (undoubtedly) happier people. BUT SPANISH IS SO HARD! And let me tell you. Have you ever heard CATALAN? Barcelona, being in the Region of Cataluna, has its own dialect. And it's WEIRD. It's the craziest mix between spanish and french that you've EVER heard. But on the upside, It's so warm here (a change from chilly London), and the Mojitos are quite good. We went to the beach for several hours, and now we're going to go get something to eat. I can't wait to see Gaudi's works and do some window shopping.

I'm in a very strange place emotionally. I really want to go home, but I'm having such a good time and love visiting new places (next we go to Croatia where my friend Sid is, and she and I worked at Camp Takodah together for 3 years. I haven't seen her since 2006, so I'm really excited...camp songs here I come!). I feel like because I'm just traveling, I feel really displaced, and I'm starting to feel nostalgic about my program in Milan ending. It didn't hit me while I went to Rome and Tuscany, or while I was back in Milan for 36 hours. It hit me a bit while I was in London, but there was so much going on that I didn't really have time to register it. I wonder how I'll feel when I get back home to New York, if I'll feel more grounded (which is an emotion that most of you who know me have come to understand that that's usually how I prefer to be), and whether or not I'll like that.

Who knows what the future brings, because everything that's happened so far I've been unable to predict.