I am currently at the Genoa HI youth hostel. I have been unofficially finished my degree for four days now. Last week was so busy! The dinner on Saturday night (the 10th) was good--faily expensive however. But I enjoyed dressing up and the company of my friends. Then on Sunday it was a challenge to finish my history paper. I wrote all day, stopping only for mass at 4:30-5:30. It took me until 3 am to finish. Then on Tuesday I had my Italian oral final. then that night, I had to study for my history and anthropology exams on Wednesday, both of which turned out good, especially the history. Then on Wednesday night, I had to study for my Italian written final, for which I hadn't started to study, and finish my Classics paper, for which I had only done a bit of research but hadn't started! I started by getting the Italian out of the way. That took 3 hours. then I was so exhausted, I couldn't think clearly and therefore knew that I wouldn't be able to write my Classics paper in that state. So I had to take a three hour knap. I got up at 3 am; it took me over an hour to plan my essay. So I had less than 7 hours to write the last essay of my history degree--crazy, but what a way to end! Anyway, I managed to churn out 9 pages in that time. I was actually pretty happy with it. Luckily, it wasn't a research paper proper--more of an opinion essay. So after I finished on Thursday, I had to go down to the laudromat in Camucia to wash and dry one last load before the beginning of my travels. I would have used the washer machine at the hostel but it had broke a few days before. Guess why? there was a blizzard in Cortona! in Italy! in March! It's Italy's coldest winter in about 25 years! What kind of luck is that? on Tuesday it snowed about a foot, and it was very hard to get to school for my tests, because my shoes have very poor grip. (I didn't think I would need good grip in Italy.) About my health: my arthritis did get flare up beginning last weekend before the exams, and of course those long hours of writing and studying didn't help. So I am still trying to recover from that. Luckily, I bought a fold up cane that I can easily store in the side pocket of my bag while traveling. I had to use that Thursday and again on Saturday. Thursday night I had to pack my bags. Again, something I had to leave to the last minute. I took me until 4 am to sort everything (between what I would keep in my suitcase in Cortona, what I would carry in my back pack while traveling, and what I would throw out), and then strategically fit everything in the bags. I will go back to Cortona before I fly to London from Rome. In London I can store my luggage at a friend's place. All I have with me are 2 pairs of pants, shorts, 2 t-shirts, a dress shirt, an exercise shirt, a muscle shirt, shoes, shower sandals, a sweater, my jacket, toiletries, mp3 and charger, my harmonica, my camera and charger, documents, a map, an alarm clock, my ice pack, 2 small towels, and few miscellaneous items. it's not a lot, but still hard to fit in my 28 litre pack and on me. Anyway, I got only 18 hours of sleep in 5 nights. I have been trying to catch up since then! Check-out from the hostel was Friday morning. The Italian public transit industry striked that afternoon, so we all had to get to our destinations by 2pm. I went with Brenden, Emily, Danielle, and Cloe to the famous Cinque Terre. Our hostel was actually at Levanto, right near Cinque Terre. We stayed there 2 nights. it was beautiful, and the weather a big improvement from Cortona. It was about 10 to 15 degrees on those days. Before the hostel opened on Friday, we laid on some benches beside the beach, soaking up the sun. On Saturday, we visited the five towns, meeting up with 3 ladies that were staying in a different town. We parted with them yesterday to come to Genoa. It is a city full of history, of course, but very dirty--reminds me of Naples. Lots of museums, but we haven't visited any. The weather is nice here too. The hostel is a fair ways from the city centre. Brenden and I walked up a huge hill yesterday to get here. It took almost an hour. We met back up with the girls, who were staying at a Bed and Breakfast. then we walked along the port, old city, and ate supper at a fancy restaurant known for its seafood and the famous Genoese pesto. I had cod; it was fine. then Brenden and I parted with those ladies, as they went there own way today. so today, the two of us took a train to Nervi, a suburb, and walked along the sea about a third of the way back, then bused the rest of the way. I bought a French book at a book store, then we bused back up to the hostel to meet Erik, who was rejoining us. He had gone to Brussels on Friday for a big rave. Tonight, we went to a German pub. It was us plus two other guys we met at the hostel--an Englishman and an Italian. We went there, becouse our hostel cards give us a 10% discount, but now that I think of it, we forgot to even show them our cards, so we paid the full price. (That's what beer will do.) Tomorrow we're off to Turin for a few nights. xo to all back home.
Mike
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