1 month down

Ciao!

I realized yesterday that I've been here for a month and that fact is hard to believe. I can't believe how fast time goes. This post is going to be a bit all over the place, so bare with me.

I've been thinking a lot lately about "luck". So many of my friends and family have been saying "you're so lucky to be studying abroad!" But... is that what it is? Luck? Now of course I am lucky that my parents can afford this, and yes I'm lucky that I've been blessed with certain circumstances allowing me to go, but... other than that, none of this is luck. I've wanted to travel since I was very young, and I worked hard in high school and in college which allowed me to get accepted to certain programs. I worked for this. It wasn't by sheer luck that I've had the opportunities I've taken advantage of. Yesterday my roommate said to me that I am lucky that I have been to so many countries at such a young age, but I still don't think it's "luck". I'm blessed, absolutely, but I've done so much because I went after what I wanted and didn't give up.

Never give up. I can't stress that enough.

Random thought: Yesterday I was watching the USA/Canada Men's Hockey final and something struck me. Now I know that there are people out there who roll their eyes at my love for America, but I don't really care. Despite it's [plentiful] flaws, I love my country. And yesterday as I was watching the game, I was also following my news feed on Facebook and saw many of my friends' statuses were something along the lines of "GO USA!" What struck me was that many of these people were in different places around the world and it didn't matter. They were watching and cheering for their country no matter what continent they were on. That gave me some sort of hope that I can't really explain, but I couldn't stop smiling for an hour or two after the game. Maybe that's why I love the Olympics so much... it brings people together no matter where they are, no matter what their races/political views/religious views, it doesn't make a difference. I have a feeling that all Americans everywhere watching that game were doing a little "USA!" chant in their head.

Switching topics again =) For those of you who don't know, last week I was accepted to do a internship this summer in Mumbai, India. I created a website about it for anyone who would like to check it out. It's basically a donation/information site for some people who expressed an interest in donating some money to cover the costs of tuition. If you'd like to donate, I can't thank you enough for whatever you can give. Please check the site out: http://sites.google.com/site/mumbaiinternship/home

Thank you everyone so much!

Well I've got an Italian final on Wednesday, so I'm off to study. I miss you all. Ciao!!