a little inspiration.

Prepare yourselves. This may get sappy.

Italy is fully of beautiful sights, though few of them compare to the building in the photo above. That is the Basilica di Santa Maria di Fiore (or something like that) and is better known around here as il Duomo. I'm trying not to allow myself to become desensitized to sights like that, to allow them to become a part of my every day routine, because I want to feel everything here as much as I can, while I am here. I am also trying not to ever wish anything to go by faster, which is kind of hard. I often wish for the weekdays to go by faster so that I can reach the weekends, which are filled with wonders like the chocolate festival, Pisa, roomie time, and this upcoming weekend, Carnivale in Venice. I also sometimes, secretly, wish for these four months to go by faster simply because I miss my family and friends, which is something people who know me may be shocked by...as I don't often admit to these kinds of affectionate feelings. Baaawwww.

But being here has given me back something that I thought I'd lost way back in high school. I gave up English as a major when I reached college because I let my horrible experience in AP Literature color my views of what I truly love. It turns out that two years at UF was enough to remind me of my love of literature, but even since returning to English, the only writing I've truly done is the occasional scribble in a journal and the faux-academic papers I dash off in the middle of the night for my classes. I have often felt like a fraud, listing "writing" as a hobby when asked what I do for fun, since I haven't truly written something for myself in so long. I chose to take a Travel Writing course here because, honestly, it seemed like the easiest and funnest option that would count toward my major. I didn't truly consider what it would be like to write again for the first time in years.

It turns out that I love it. I am writing creatively again, and enjoying it. Our teacher, Kate Bolton, gave us our first out-of-class writing assignment today, and I am looking forward to doing it. To perfecting what I write. To sharing with a teacher what I have created. To hearing praise about something that I have done. I used to base a lot of my self-worth and self-esteem on how well I write, but that was something that I somehow let slip away from me.

Italy is beautiful; the food, art, and architecture are overwhelming, and though it is hard to be away from home, being here, for only two weeks, has already given me so much. This is the end of my sappy post. Don't expect to see another any time soon.

:)