Countdown to Roma!

At this exact time tomorrow morning, I will be waiting at the Terminal to board my flight to Rome, Italy at Queen Alia International Airport.  Excited doesn't being to explain.  I'll be meeting family in Rome - and that alone is enough to have me jumping for joy.  Add the fact that I feel like I'm exploring my heritage (my family is half-Italian, after all) and that I'm following Ezio Auditore da Firenze's footsteps (Assassin's Creed reference; yes, I am a geek)...this is going to be an epic spring break.

Before I leave, though, a quick update on life between Iraq and a hard place.  This past week I found myself fully recovered from my stomach bug.  The weather here is still a little chilly, and this week has decided to be beautiful in the morning and go crazy in the afternoon.  One day this week, around about 2pm, the shining sun disappeared in the wake of a thunder/hail/rain storm!  Drainage problems, thy name is Amman.  When we have flash rain storms like that, I really wonder how the bottom of the city (Amman is built on several mountains, remember) doesn't just disappear underwater.  The streets here become literal waterfalls when it rains.  It brings new meaning to the phrase, "flash flooding".

Beyond that, I had midterms this week, so the majority of my free time was spent brushing up on my International Relations knowledge and arabic grammar.  Besides that, I was busy getting ready for Spring Break!

Arabic Grammar! Also... I've been on a bit of a Western Fantasy kick this week... I bought Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small on my nook and watched A Knight's Tale for the nth time... but that doodle is educational!  

We had to fill out travel forms for CIEE.  You have no idea how tempted I was to turn mine in with a full plan of what I  would do in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse... it's a legitimate possibility!

Before I wrap up and start to pack for Spring Break; here are  a few pictures from Jerash and Ajloun that didn't make it onto the original blog posts!  

Anyone want to take bets on how many more pillar pictures I'll post before coming back to the States?

Jerash, roman columns, city and mountains behind...no big deal.  It's just how we do things in Jordan...

At Mer Elias after community service; tired and happy from our hike and covered in paint!

I do plan on blogging about Italy; no promises on how soon that post will be up.  It's likely to be broken in to a few parts, and the week right after Spring Break is going to be super hectic (some of my professors decided to have mid-terms after break) because I have a bunch of tests and papers due.  I'll do my best, though!

Until then...

Arrivederci  miei amici!  Vediamo quando torno da Roma e Firenze!  :-P