Word of the Day: percuniary 'There is no reason to feel bad but there are many seasons to feel bad, sad, mad, it's just a bunch of feelings that we have to hold but I am here to help you with the load.' I know you are. So I'm in the capp bar procrastinating from studying for my philosophy test. Cait, Aaron, and I are going to play bocci at 3. I haven't procrastinated so much since I was in Irving. I've forgotten how it feels. We have our test tomorrow, then five day, then two more B-day classes and one more A-day class, then finals, then that's it, no more Rome semester, no more St. Peter's, no more Termini, no more Dr. Hatlie or Dr. Flusche, no more Father Mark, no more freezing cold rooms and unreliable hot water, no more gelati, no more legal alcohol, no more standing in front of the big map of Europe squinting to see the city names and trying to plan for trips, no more ping-pong at all hours of the day and night, no more Rome semester. Fr. Mark was right--I'm not going to know what to do with myself when I get home [although I won't have too much free time before I have to start working and working on my poet]. The whole way I think about how life works is going to have to change when I get back home because it's not the same. It's like the Rome semester is a little slice of pretend in our college careers. Let's pretend we're travellers and we know what we're doing, let's pretend we are Roman and walk around Rome, let's pretend we matter in the great expanse of Western civilization. Oh, but we do matter in the great expanse of Western civilization. Someone here is going to change the world. It might not be me, but it'll be someone. And they're going to change the world because of this semester, because they've lived in Europe and studied in Europe. I know this has been some of the most important four months of my life with regard to understanding who I am and what I'm to do with my life, and I know I'm not the only one. I wonder... I wonder what my parents are going to say when I get home. I wonder if they'll notice that I'm not the same. I wonder if my friends are still going to want to be my friends or if they'll think I've gotten lame and weird, more lame and weird than I already was. I wonder how long I can stay in Edna without going crazy out of my mind frustrated with the idiots around there. I wonder if I can stay friends with Aaron. I wonder if I'll be as faithful and I think I am. Things are so much easier in Rome, sometimes. 16 days to home.