Festa Dell'Indipendenza

Week 4: I cannot believe I have been here for a month already! The time has definitely flown by and each day/week is something different/new (in a good way). Well, I have to first to say Happy (belated) Fourth of July! We did our own celebrating here in Rome, with hamburgers on the grill in honor of the holiday...and Heinz ketchup (of course). This week was a really nice because my work picked up and I have more long-term tasks that I have to complete over the course of the summer (without getting too much into it). I am also getting more of a "social network" too, with all of the interns (more on that in a second). Aside from that, something I have been excited about is Kurt Vonnegut (feel free to make fun of me, haha). Yes, I am excited about reading a new author. I was always a bit skeptical to read Vonnegut, associating him (for some reason) with Joesph Heller (Catch-22) which, for those who have read it, is a very difficult book to get through (the way he wrote it with multiple names for single people and the writing syle). Anyway, I finished "Slaughterhouse 5" and "Cat's Cradle" and I loved them! Vonnegut is quite funny and brilliant. Anyway, this weekend was really nice. On Saturday I was able to relax until the afternoon, when I went to Wendy's (friend/mother of one of Chris's ex-students at Marymount) to help her cater an event. She is a terrific chef and happened to be cooking for a retirement party for a "big wig" at FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). So, I helped her prepare/serve her 6+ pastas, turkey, chicken, salmon (stuffed with mussels and other miscellanous seafood), and desert (8 or so cheesecakes/mousse) for about 50 people. It was a really neat experience and I thought it would be something "interesting" (or different) to do (not to mention earn a couple extra $$ or €€). After the event, Giulia (Wendy's daughter/Chris's ex-student) and I went into the city to meet a couple of my intern-friends for a drink. It was nice "hanging out" (as we college students say) with the interns outside of work...(it was nice to be able to go "out"). This upcoming week will hopefully go pretty quickly, because Jess and her Mom are coming to visit on Friday (7/11 or "11/7" as we say here in Europe). They are flying stand-by (Jess's father is a Northwest pilot)... so we will keep our fingers crossed on the flights! It will be really really good to see Jess (and Mrs. Freesen, of course)-four weeks of being apart is a long time! I plan on taking off a few days the following week (they are here for about 8 days) so we can go into the city and I have a few things "up my sleeve" (i.e. "things" that not may tourists do/see---see next post, what a nail-biter!). That's all for now! Take care...