So this crazy thing happened after I made my last post. AIFS emailed everyone in our group to talk about an optional tour to Sorrento. Sorrento was the only tour that I really wanted to go on because it was headed to Capri and apparently it is stunningly beautiful, so I was pretty pumped. I was under the impression that there would be three optional trips run by AIFS. I thought they would be Venice, Sorrento and Rome. I was alright with missing the trip to Venice. I've been to Venice twice already and I've never really liked it for a lot of different reasons. It was not that pretty when I've gone because its been summertime both times and the water level was really low. So you could actually see all the green gross stuff on the canal roads. Also it smelled really bad, and there was no place to go to the bathroom, which a lot of people don't think about. It was mad expensive there as well, way overrated, and not much to do after seeing St. Mark's Square. Rome is pretty cool because there is so much to see there and I wouldn't mind going back and seeing it again especially with a tour guide from AIFS. I went on two AIFS type trips when I lived in London and they were pretty great so I was definitely looking forward to these trips, especially Sorrento. As I've said, I know it is important to plan really early and to just be ready. It seems this time I panned a little too early because the trip to Sorrento happens to be the same weekend I'm going to be in Paris. That is literally terrible. I really wanted to go to Sorrento with AIFS people and now I doubt anyone will want to go with me now if they are all going with AIFS and if they are all going to Sorrento the weekend I'll be in Paris, they will not be able to go to Paris with me and I really don't want to go to Paris by myself. The whole timing of that seemed really unfortunate, I honestly don't know if there is anything I can do about it, but I will check with Easyjet. Not only that but Sorrento will be the only optional trip for this semester, which is also terrible. I guess I will just roll with the punches and maybe somebody would rather go with me to Paris, but I doubt it.I'm still really excited to go to Florence and I'm still planning a lot of stuff. Oh crap, I think I meet with the AIFS lady like really soon so I should probably check on that. Arrivederci.

It's definitely been a while since my last post and a lot of stuff has been done. I went to a meeting where I learned that only like 2 people had bought a plane ticket and out of a group of like 15 only like 3 people were going to be using Dulles airport to depart (it is the closest airport to our school, besides BWI, which no one was deciding to use). his was unfortunate because after the people selected their flights and paid for them I sent the info to my mom so she could book it, but the plane tickets got extremely expensive, extremely quickly and she was like "we need to find you a different flight, so you can't fly over with the two people you know." I was like "that sucks" but at the same time I was cool with because my mom was still paying for my ticket to Florence and paying for my whole trip (and beggars can't be choosers). So my mom's company has a travel agent that handles important stuff like that and he was supposed to book my trip and make it much easier. At this meeting we literally just go through all that crap about how the country is different and how we need adapters and converters and to bring important stuff cause they might not have the same over there, which I kind of already knew but we're building here. At the same time I made a Facebook group for our Florentine group. Our instructor had not had a Facebook at the time of the meeting but he decided that he would make one so we could have a group. He made one and I was his first friend (which I was pretty proud of)and then for some reason he made another Florence group on Facebook and invited everyone, and he did this after I invited him to the original Facebook group. So I thought that was a little weird, but I don't think he quite has the hang of social networking yet. At the group talk thingy I didn't mention that I was planning all these trips, but I had been talking to people and since there are like 12 girls going everyone wants to go to Paris. I wanted to go to Paris because even though last semester I studied in England I never got a chance to go to Paris. So I wrote it on the Facebook group wall that if anyone wanted to join me they could meet me in the library at 4. Well, no one showed up, but two people said that they couldn't make it to the meeting but wanted to go to Paris with me. So, I was little disappointed but hey I already knew when I wanted to go to Paris and when people realize that I'm going to Paris and did all the work they will want to jump on that too, right? So I was like whatever. I went on sky scanner and saw a sick flight that would let me leave Friday afternoon and come back Monday afternoon. I'm like "3 days and Paris, lets get excited." The flight was booked for the last weekend in March with Easyjet, for $115 and I'm hyped. I found like two really good hostels but I didn't book any of them because I want to book with other people going with me, so we can book together and hopefully room together. We'll see what happens cause I have this odd feeling that people that I'm going with aren't thinking about Florence everyday like I am, which I don't know why they aren't. I just really want to take advantage of every second while I'm there. So I talked to some people that had been to Paris (2 girls, one had lived there for 2 months and the other had been to Paris 5 times), so I was like "hey ladies, tell me about Paris." They told me a lot. They gave me a bunch of things to do while talking about how great Paris is, which I doubt, but we'll see. So here I was with this flight booked for Paris, yet no flight to get me to Florence so I can study abroad! I was freaking out a little bit. Then my mom was like "the travel agent got your ticket and you get to fly over with your friends". So I get even more hyped and mom booked my plane trip back seven days later than everyone else's so I can chill for an extra week with them and no classes. The hostels I'm looking at for Paris are "The Young and Happy Hostel" and "St. Christopher's Hostels." Shouldn't be extremely expensive but I am a poor college student so we'll see what happens. I got one kid that said he would go to Istanbul with me so I gotta plan that next and I'm super hyped. Also this woman from AIFS that is apparently in charge of the Florence trip as a whole will be visiting the school this Monday, her name is Kirsty Isherwood. I don't have many questions, but we'll see how it goes and I'll probably blog it later. Anyway still a big week and I get to chill with some friends from London that still go to my school and the instructor that went with us last year, at the instructor's home this Friday. I'm pumped cause I think it will be a really good time. I'm also going to Colorado to see my roommates from London because they live there. Its gonna be a road trip with another girl that studied in London with me and still goes to my school. We plan on stopping at cool places on the way to see cool stuff and to see our friends in Chicago, Milwaukee, Des Moines, and Larramee. I don't think the kids I'm going with now realize how close we will be by the end of this trip. To be honest: they will probably hate me, but I'm ready for it. Until next time children: BE GREAT!