*Natale e un Nuovo Anno....BeLLiSsiMO!! - Christmas and a New Year...!!

Christmas, as expected, was filled with a ton of family, friends, fun, and was exactly what I needed. I love the experience of living over here in Europe, but it's always a great time to go home and be with my family and friends I haven't seen in awhile. Some of my friends I hadn't seen for a whole year since when I first came to Italy! Of course, this means a lot of celebrating, laughter, celebrating, fun, and more celebrating. :) I was fortunate enough with weather and everything that I was able to be in Onalaska and also go to Cedar Rapids. I spent as much time with family as possible...you know you have the best family ever when I can go out with friends and also bring along my parents and brother- they only make the night more fun! I was happy I got to go to both sides of the family for Christmas and see most of my relatives as well! Again, I missed my family, so it was really great to be surrounded by them as much as possible when I was home.

I went to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for the time around New Years Eve. After much deciding of where to spend the big night of New Years Eve, we just ended up staying in Cedar Rapids because we realized that it's more about being surrounded by the people you love rather than the place. It ended up being a great New Years Eve and saw many friends I haven't seen for over a year! It was so great to see my good friends from college again...I missed them so much along with my high school friends from home! One of the things that keeps me going in Italy is that I have pictures of all of them surrounding my room so they are still apart of my every day! The two weeks home went so quickly, I have to say that I was not ready to come back to Palermo yet, but I know myself enough to know that I attach myself so easily to places and settle into places so quickly. I knew that I would be alright once I arrived back into Palermo and saw my Italian friends and little kids again...which was absolutely true. Of course, there is nothing like home, but I soon was happy to be back in Italy- ready for whatever was coming next on my journey here!

It took a long time to get adjusted to the time change only when coming back to Palermo- not going from Palermo to home. I needed to sleep during the day and couldn't at night. Eventually, I got adjusted, saw all my friends again, started work back up, and was back in the groove of my Italian life. I noticed that I really love both "worlds" that I live in..here in Palermo and back in the States. It's going to be interesting to see how I feel when I eventually move back to America! I have the want to travel more now than ever, especially since I am planning on going back to the States in July. I know my time is winding down, so I want to do as much as possible while I am here in Europe! It's so much cheaper to travel around once you are in Europe rather than going from America obviously, so I want to take trips as much as my work allows me!

One weekend, some friends of mine and I went on a mini road trip to a city in Europe called Erice. (All the pictures from the at a restaurant with my friends and down are from Erice. At the table are the friends that I went there with.)It's so great to take little trips all over the island of Sicily, the only thing is I have to find a friend with a car to be able to take us! It hasn't been easy adjusting to not having a car here, although I do enjoy not having to worry about gas, parking (which is not easy here), crazy Italian driving (ha), and of course, no drinking and driving for me! :) It is difficult not to be able to take a weekend trip to one of the beautiful cities of Sicily and explore this wonderful island of Italy. Fortunately, my friend had a car for the weekend and 5 of us went to Erice. It is a small town up on the mountains. We literally drove in circles up the mountain into the clouds to the city of Erice! It was a cute little town. The day we went was a bit foggy plus we were up in the clouds so we couldn't see much in front of us. Everyone seemed to be staying inside that Sunday as well, so it felt like a little deserted ghost town! They had some nice shops, good food, and a beautiful castle. It was great to get out of the city for a day and relax in this quiet town with good friends.