Turns out not where but who you're with that really matters....

It would be completely ignorant of me to talk about my experiences in Italy without mentioning the people I am sharing them with. We joke around that coming here has been like living on the show "The Real World" on MTV, but we truly are the cast of The Real World Florence. CET and Maryland have put together the most diverse group of people I could have ever imagined living with. We have been thrown together as strangers living on top of each other and experiencing Florence together. The eleven students that I am here with have completely made the experience everything that it is. We have everyone from the frat boys, the very religious Jews, the non Jews, the people you would never imagine yourself hanging out with in college park and the people you cant believe you didn't find until now. Despite the little quarrels and mini-dramas, we are experiencing this as a group, as the twelve of us, and if anyone of us weren't here, the entire trip would be changed. For me, everyone has added a little somethin' to the adventure to make it as amazing as it has been. Whether it be dancing with the boys at the club, or listening to HRH talk about how he rules the world because he works for the state department, or listening to Joe and Ilana bicker in Hebrew, not having a clue what they are saying, or just spending time with Lauren and Michael and wondering how I've gone the last twenty years without havin' these girls in my life. I guess I have just realized all of this because Michael is going home for the weekend, and we REALLY hope, coming back on Monday. Lauren and I have been with her all day and have kind of just been bummed that she is leaving because this experience has especially been so amazing because of how much the three of us have clicked and I can't imagine the rest of the trip without her. Everything that we have gone through, especially the three of us, has been together. Whether it be the fun times dancing at the club, or riding the train together, or sleeping in the same room - we have literally done everything together. Even the frustrating times when the electrician tears the apartment apart or when our laundry turns purple, we have been frustrated together. I can't imagine what the experience would be like without the other eleven individuals that are here, and especially without these great ladies who are making this trip the time of my life.