This is a little song I wrote, might want to sing it note for note...

Don't worry. Be Happy!

I certainly am! I earned a grade of 97% on the midterm I didn't quite feel prepared for and life is good!

"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish."-John Quincy Adams

Me studying in the early morning hours during the sleepless binge.

The book finally came the night before the exam, making my review day go by much smoother than previous study times. There's really not much else to say about it...I'm just thankful I was able to press through and retain all that information despite the odd study hours and some interruptions of having to hand borrowed books back. And, it's always nice when you can follow along in class with your own book to make notes in as the professor goes through the notes. It was definitely a plus this morning.

If any of this isn't clear I'll give you a brief run-through of the past few days. I wasn't exactly speaking in chronological order in these past few posts, and it was really kind of a mess. So here you go.

Monday/Tuesday: All nighter and reading/vocab work on
all 9 chapters to catch up

Tuesday: Final class material before exam; book arrives;
review until about midnight; GLORIOUS sleep

Wednesday: Midterm; Italian class; and then some fun...
more on that with further reading

Today: Back to normal!

Now then, on to yesterday's (Wednesday's) fun.

After the midterm, a bunch of the girls who are planning a trip to Nice, France for their first weekend trip, hopped on a bus with me to the neighboring city of Mendrisio, so that they could purchase their train tickets. I wanted to explore some of the city, but didn't get much chance. The bus was making a return run shortly, and we had to make it back in time to eat lunch with everyone else at the Villa. What I did get though, is a picture of the Landmark Map posted at the train station, so that I know what to scope out for the next time I get into the city. Have a look. Not a top quality pic, but it still gives me enough incentive to go back and explore, those churches and plazas (things labeled chiesa and palazzo on the map) look really cool and I want to go back soon and take lots of pictures.

Anyway, we all catch the bus back, and get some lunch before everyone starts relaxing and hanging out as most do in post-exam times.

That night, we had a special guest speaker come in before dinner, and he had some absolutely incredible stories to share with us. His name is Denny Lane, and he lives some 20 minutes down the road from the Villa. He served in the US army for 30 years, the Red Cross for about 4 or 5 years in Kosovo, and then returned to the military as an advisor for the Department of defense. He's lived in some 12 or so countries, including but not limited to Cambodia, Great Britain, China, Albania, Iraq, Thailand, The United States, and Mexico. There are more that I know he mentioned, I just can't recall at this point. He talked to us about democracy, for the most part. On that subject, he offered several different cultural views on what justifies the needs of people... He mentioned that everyone, no matter what religion, race, etc., all need and want the same basic fundamental things: food, running water, shelter, and a promising future--and that a great majority of people don't appreciate that when receiving help they are told what they are doing is wrong and that there is only one way of doing things. He said this may be a part of the reason so many countries are feuding, including the United States, because some of the clashing governments and groups have lost sight of what people really want, and focus only on the surface(or basis) structure attempting to regulate those needs. It was a very interesting perspective, and may elicit a feeling of controversy to whoever listens or reads, but I'll leave that up to everyone's personal interpretation. Could spark up some good debate, and brings up a lot of questions, personally. But, that's something I'll have to explore in my own endeavors.

Denny also is the step-son of the man many consider to be the model for Ian Fleming's famous James Bond character, Peter Smithers. For more information on that,

go here.

Denny lives in Smithers' estate, and has invited the students out to see his garden and winery whenever we all as a group have some free time. Very Cool.

Here he is (right-center, seated) with us after our special formal dinner.


Then today (Thursday), the schedule has returned to morning class and work/free time in the afternoon. I had originally planned to go on a hike to a famous bear cave around here with some of the group and a guide, but it's absolutely POURING sheets of rain outside :(. We re-scheduled though, so I'm still really looking forward to that whenever it comes up.

And, in new news: this will be the last post for me until at least the 27th, maybe the 28th, as I will be traveling starting tomorrow afternoon!

Where to? Guess you'll find out when I get back!

Peace, and also love.

B Ezie