Oh Man, Pa comes in less than a week. Time is an idea worthy of much confusion. I must be getting old because the passing of time is becoming less and less noticeable.

It has been raining for days, or maybe not, I can't really tell because the days the sun is out, I am in and the days the sun is in, I want to be out.

Papers are this sort of glorious and exhausting immersion in the mind of some author. "You know you've read him well when you begin to understand and percieve the world around you through his lens and in his terms." -the most illustrious gentleman, Charlie Salem. Not an unfamiliar idea but it seems the power of this immersion is easily overlooked or underestimated. To understand, live through, and act by the mind of another...and there is some kind of unbounded effect in our limited being if the mind is God's. Though it may be presumptuous to think we can get into His head, but I don't think so.

Halloween was last night. Aimee and I danced together at the party on campus and I had a moment of sweet presence to the fact that we are both here going to school together. These moments are always accompanied by a rush of gratitude because I've dreamed of this now for years.

I was walking down from McDowell toward home today at a brisk pace when I heard a rustling to my right. I had just finished my 7th hour of class in 26 hours, my Mondays and Tuesdays are hell. Theoretically I have the whole weekend to prepare but I use that time to rest. Basicly, from Sunday at 6pm to Tuesday at 11:30am, I leave the books only to eat and maybe sleep. I just finished one of these 40 hour pushes...and as I was saying...walking toward my home and my pillow, I turned to see what was rustling. It was just squirrels and some leaves falling. I was stunned. Staring for an indefinite time, my eyes lost focus and I beheld the scene. I sensed myself behind my eyes and was overwhelmed.

⁴ Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.

⁵ The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.

⁶ The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.

⁷ All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.

⁸ All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.

⁹ What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰ Is there anything of which one can say,
"Look! This is something new"?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.

¹¹ There is no remembrance of men of old,
and even those who are yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow.

I went under the tree, plopped down my backpack, and dropped down onto my back to watch the leaves fall. I studied the movements of the squirrels in hope of becoming a better tree climber. I hoped for gusts of wind that the leaves would come raining down on me. The cold from the ground seeped through my shirt and chilled my back. I wondered why I felt so restless under such a beautiful tree and with so many delightful things to look at. I watch my classmates walk to class, each his own posture, stride, and underlying attitude. I finally surrendered to the cold ground, picked up my pack and walked home.

Liebniz Calculus, Newtons Laws and Definitions, hundreds of sassy french exercises, the monderns, I look forward to my precept on Calvin tentatively excited.

im sitting in a puddle of my own sweat

Im now safely back in Annapolis hanging out with Laurel. There is a mass collection of Europe photos on my camara that looking wantonly at me as I studiously read Don Quixote. When I collapse into procrastination and decide to publish them, then you will see.
Im very happy to be back in the USA. My heart jumped when I heard the first American flight attendant greet me with an American English "Hello". Though I doubted I really missed American as I received confused and distrustful responses as I attempted to hitch hike from New Carrolton Metro Station to Annapolis(...I did get a ride with some UVA frat boys who talked about how awesome boarding school was back in the day and talked shit on past classmates.) I sang the National Anthem for hosts many a time this summer but upon returning Im a little disappointed. Its goodto see Laurel though(and Chad, but I havent been able to spend much time with him yet.) We've been chatting up a storm. She works during the day. Ive been sitting in her Starbucks like a stalker, mooching drinks, and reading aloud quietly as I switched crossed legs because Im not used to the caffeine.
I was delighted today to talk to one of my room mates and hear that they have been taking initiative this last month in preparing for to furnish our home together. I no longer have to think about remembering to begin stressing in a couple days because we don't have access to our appt. until a the day of registration. I have great hope for our little sorority at The Ship at C.
Aimee arrives tomorrow night. It feels like the day before Christmas(or what I imagine the day before Christmas feels like, for those of you that know we never really celebrated Christmas...). Tomorrow is the end to a beautiful summer and the beginning of a family filled academic year. Im confident that Aimee will be a much better student than Laurel and I. (Though these kinds of things are mostly immeasurable.)
Ive been laughing out loud reading Don Quixote. Ill be reading in some public area, burst out laughing, then realize people are looking at me like Im the Don himself. Psshhh, I wish.

Rome to Spiez

After our sweet stay in Rodi Garganico in which I ate pasta for every meal except breakfast, for five days, in which Vincent taught the Italians how to play Spartan Madball and I read mass amounts of Don Quixote, we were put on a 4am bus to Rome. It was arranged for us to stay in a farm retreat a couple metro stops away from the Vatican City. It took us a couple hours to find our way through the huge metro system to our farm to drop our bags. Then we wandered to St. Peters Cathedral, browsed around, observed the Mass, beheld some sweet sarcarphogusss along with the grave of Peter, and then everything closed for the day so we got Gelato, Pizza, and Espresso(in that order, yes, we had ice cream first. though, please know, that we debated over the order of things for at least 15 minutes in front of the Castle of St. Angelo.) After shopping for the neccessities, like Nutella, Italian bread, and milk, we caught the last train back to the farm and crashed. The next day we visited the Sistene Chapel, the Pantheon, Colloseum, and other places. We got stranded in the middle of the city as it got dark. Had a hard time making decisions as we got more and more tired and grumpy. We hopped off the metro and out of hunger bought a huge loaf of bread from a just closing bakery. We were hunting for an open Cafe so we could get some Tiramisu. One stop more and we found the Cafe, the grocery store, and the Internet point all together. Just what we needed. Home to farm. We didnt leave the next morning without sun dried tomatoes. Ever since Vincent made this one toast in Georgia about Life being like a Tomato...Sigh.
We left Rome around 2pm and got to Innsbruck after dark. We had good fast luxurious rides. The first was the bicycle mechanic for the Ukrainian Olympic team. The second was a nice Italian man headed to the french coast on holiday. He was flying out of necessity, he hates flying. His mother called him twice in 2 hours. He shared with us in broken english how he "lost his brain" for two years after college until his dad came to him, grabbed him by the ear, and took him home to work in the family business. Sigh, losing your brain. He said it with such seriousness, I was giggling in the back seat. We liked him. We had another ride that day from a couple from Holland. They wished more young people travelled like us instead of going to the a Greek island, getting drunk, and dancing at the Disco. They had two well-travelled sons. The lady told us of a music camp in France she organized, they spend a week learning a classical piece and then perform.
Vincent and I split up just north of Innsbruck. It took me most of the day to get to Zurich, where I found out the Muffs moved near Bern. I hitch hiked onward, it got dark on me so I took a train from Bern to Zurich. "Switzerland, Get Natural."

Italia so far...Bari to Rodi Garnico

Im sitting on a beach of the Mediterranean. Rodi Garganico. We are staying with Vincents 3rd cousin. Im surrounded by 25 sweet italian children. The boys are playing soccer on the sand behind me. We slept in a bed the last two nights. so we are well rested.
We arrived in Italy two days ago. I was tired from the ferry ride and was not really excited about arriving in Italy. After we got a lay of land we went and slept in the park for the afternoon. When I woke up rested, I was able to soak in the things around me. I dont know the best way to explain what its like here. I think most people say its like im in a movie. Italy is very rich. The coffee tastes real. The gelato really is the best creamy thing ive tasted. The people and language are beautiful and nicely dressed. This is all in the city. It took us a couple rides to get out onto the Autostrata. Then we got a ride with an man in the Italian Air Force. He was a little stern at first but by the end of our 30 min. car ride, he was all warmed up and smiling. He baught us espresso and insisted on dropping us off at a train station crossroads so we werent stuck in the middle of the desert. We had just missed the train and so piddled around asking for rides in our newly learning italian phrase: Per favore, une passaggio il piu possiblile vincino Foggia. No rides so we decided to sleep there. Vincent had a dream, a goal, for italy. To be given coffee by some old village Italian woman. I had a dream for the whole trip, that we would trust in God and the general kindness of humanity to take us in. So we walked up to the nearest farm house and asked the family if we could sleep on their floor. (the last three nights had been hellish because of a mixture of things: bugs, loud Disco music, or terrifyingly dirty suraces that get wet and then get me all dirty and gross, etc) The three Italians looked us over skeptically, sort interviewing us to see if we were serious. We were serious. It was a couple that had just arrived that day to start their holiday, and the wifes brother who lived there real round working the grain mill. Once they accepted us, they gave us fresh beds(there were like 6 extra beds upstairs) laid out a provincial feast of pizza, bread, riccotta, mozarella, pickled mushrooms, tomatoe salad, and laraduchi?. (pretzel like baby bagel breads). Between their weak english and our english italian dictionary. we conversed. Vince and I sang the nat. anthem and amazing grace for them. We tlaked about St. johns and our homes. By the time we had to leave the next morning, there was great love between us all. They told us to come back. The dad teared up. The mother loaded us with pear juice, a bag of pears(wede helped her pick that morning), tomatoes, candied almonds, cherry preserves, and leftover pizza. Our hearts were and packs were heavy as we left. That day we had a horrible time getting just 100 km to Rodi Garganico to find Vincents cousin. it took us all day. After getting a quick ride to the city limit outside Foggia, not getting a ride, walking into the city, bus, two trains one that we missed or just dissapeared, we arrived around 6pm. To be escorted to a home full of 7 italian families on vacation. Pasta! for dinner. ping pong, talking with Nicola(vinces cousin) about family, philosophy, logos, etc. We will stay anothen night and then go on our way(unkown...Rome? eh...Florence, straing to switzerland because of time...welll see...we never really know...)

break time on Corfu

I found my distant relative Francesca in Athens. We had a lovely lunch toghether. She speaks greek, I speak english. The rest of the family had gone on vacation so there was no one to translate. I drew her pictures of my family and we sang a song for her. I couldn't tell how long to stay. Vincent and I were eager to get out of Athens. She got a little teary eyed and maybe told us she loved us. I may just have to learn Greek and go back to hang out with her.

I've been eating a lot of peaches. We spent the last two days hitch hiking from Athens. I'm on an Island between Greece and Italy called Corfu. There are a bunch of British tourists here. People keep telling us where the Discos are. Woo woo! the Discos! I think we'll be here for a couple days.

Today we got a ride into town with a man who just wanted to bag on America and give us his view of international relationships. Vince and I hadn't eaten all morning and were tired. Poor Vince was in the front seat listening patiently. Vince would try to say something, get cut off, then when he told the guy he agreed with something, then the guy would say "well, this is just my opinion you know..." like why aren't you arguing with me? Haha. It would have been funnier if I wasn't so tired.

Now I'm drinking cold milk. It is good.

Athens with Mike and Vasso

Vincent and I arrived yesterday morning. Hiked up to the hill on which sits the Parthenon. Found a couple trees, set up our hammocks(we didnt then know it but we were on the side of the Aeropagus where Paul taught), and slept for 4 hours. We were tired out from the ferry ride and I couldnt imagine enjoying anything without a nap. My body was all achy. In our hammocks, the wind swung us under the spotty shade. The air was warm and dry. Cicedas were buzzing. One way we could see white Athens spread across the valley, the other we saw the Acropolis.
After napping, we touched base with Mike, made a meeting point and time, then visited the Acropolis. Most of the plaques had info on the restoration process, its good thing Ive read some greek philosophy and plays. Secretly pleased to find the pillars crumbling, and I asked myself about the value of the experience. The sun was bright and the sun was hot. Vincent and I took some sweet tourist photos until my camara battery died. So we saluted Socrates and sat to eat a peach at the Entrance.
Then we made our way to Mike and Vasso s home. (I think Vincents wallat got stolen on the Metro...bummer.) This family is awesome. We spent dinner of Guros talking about Jesus. This morning we were informed that Greeks dont eat breakfast, just coffee till lunch. Mike showed us how to make Kefir. And Vasso is now making us Speghetti for lunch. Later, Iwill go look for my distant relative. I only have her address, most Greeks go on vacation this week. It ends up they live only 15 minutes from here. Well stay here one more night for a Bible Study and then make our way onto maybe Corfu then Italy.