Real Quick Catch Up...

Alright, so this is gonna be a little bit of a mini-post, but I thought I'd hop on the blog real quick and let everyone know what I've been up to. Right now, it's 1 am and I'm at the internet cafe with a Greek quiz looming in just 8.5 hours. Not cool, considering I am kind of stuck here due to the fact that its pouring outside and it's a decent walk back.
Anyway, this past weekend, I was blessed with the opportunity to go to Rome and Venice. I went with a few other people from the group and it was an absolutely fantastic weekend. The highlights were definitely The Vatican (St. Pete's Basilica) and The Coliseum. Really, I could talk about this all day, but I'll save it for later, I guess. It was just so great to see stuff like the Sistine Chapel, famous St. Mark's Square in Venice, and do things like climb to the top of the Vatican with a great view overlooking Rome, and take a gondola ride on the Grand Canal in Venice. Unreal, really. The food was absolutely unbelievable, too. If I lived in Italy, I'd be in serious trouble, because the food there is that good. All in all, it was a great weekend. It was only fitting that it was over Thanksgiving and it really made me realize I have a ton to be thankful for. God has given me a great family, great friends, and a hundred times more than I need in this life. Most of all he's given me the gift of salvation, which is really, the greatest thing I have to be thankful for.
So yeah, that was Rome. This week so far has been hectic. Things are winding down for school and that means everything is due in the next few weeks. I'm freaking out a little because I've got two monster papers and a few finals coming up as well. So this weekend I'll be staying in and studying and writing for about 12 hours a day. Should be a blast.
I'm doing great, although I am getting really homesick. Experiencing all the stuff in Rome made me think about how great it would be to share everything with my family and friends, which kind of made me miss them more, but the positive is that I have just 2 weeks left here. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love it here, but I am more than ready to get back to the states and the people that I love the most. It's hard to believe I only have a few weeks left, but that's another blog post for another time.
Ciao,
Ryan