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- Becca, Me, and Brandi.
A lot has happened these past few months, and there have been a lot of changes in my life. Some changes have been good, and some have been and still are rather difficult to confront. I will go into more details later, but for now I will just give a quick recap of what I have been doing these past few months.
I had signed up to study abroad in Rome in June, and before leaving I found out some very sad news. The person that had been like a father to me since I was about 12 years old, Dr. Elegado, was diagnosed with liver cancer in April. On May 10th, Mother’s Day, he passed away. It was and still is very difficult to deal with. It is hard to believe he’s gone. The tragedy did not end there, however, because his kids chose not to grant him his last wishes and have made this difficult situation even more painful and stressful. In fact, lately I have been suffering from panic attacks quite often and randomly. This is something new to me that I am having to learn to deal with. I guess there were too many changes and too much stress in a short period of time for me to handle.
On a brighter note, I did get to go to Italy! I even went on a side trip to Egypt. I flew to Rome at the end of May and stayed until the end of June. I had 5 roommates for a total of 6 girls sharing one bathroom! That made for some interesting times. Our apartment was in a nice location close to Vatican City. We could easily walk to St. Peter’s Square, Castel Sant’Angelo, shops, cafes, the metro, and bus stop.
I learned a lot while studying abroad not just about the classes that I took while there, but also about dealing with different people, roommates, Italian hospitals and healthcare system (not quite by choice), living in Rome, and of course, art and a bit of Roman history.
Instead of going on the optional trip to Venice I went to Egypt! It was my first time there, and on the African continent for that matter. It was extremely hot, but I had a great time there. I was able to see a bit of Cairo, the Nile, Saqqara and the ancient pyramid and temple there, Giza’s pyramids and the Sphinx. It was a wonderful experience.
The other exciting side trip I had this summer was to Las Vegas, Nevada. I spent three fun days there, and did a little gambling. I won $300 playing mini-baccarat, so I can’t complain. I even got to see one of Cirque du Soleil’s shows, KA. My favorite part was trying out the different restaurants and buffets there, which were all very good.
In a few days my summer vacation will come to an end, and school will begin. It will be my last semester, so I will graduate in December with a bachelor of arts in international studies. I am two classes away from a minor in Spanish, but I can’t fit anything else into my schedule next semester and I absolutely must graduate in December as a result of some of the unfortunate changes that have taken place with Dr. Elegado’s passing. All I can do now is hope for the best and try to stay positive, but it is hard at times.
That is all for today. Wish me luck in dealing with all these changes 
