A few talent show pics

Matt telling the "wide mouthed frog" joke. Hilarious

Nelson and Lily dancing

 

Adham and Lily dancing

Keith: Super creeper extraordinaire

 

Shehab... just... Shehab

Only 2 Today

But next time… you get the talent show…

 

Chane added the "peace" and captions to my notebook. Apparently choosing war was offsetting at a peace conference

 

This is where we had class Monday - Friday. 9-6. For a month.

July 16: Casual Afternoon in Bologna

This is Chane, from S. Africa, chillin like a gangster. And Ryan, from California, transferring my movies to his hard drive.

Ariana, from Peru, making faces. And Sascha, from Australia, begrudgingly smiling for the camera.

Nirma is one of the most impressive and busiest people I have ever met. Some people travelled to Venice or Rome for the weekend. He went to Germany to report on the situation in his native Sri Lanka.

So what if I’m 3 weeks behind on my blog?

These are from the last night Laurel was in town. From the roof of the Aemilia Hotel.

I’m going to get in a lot of trouble for posting this…

But in an hour (Bologna time), its my God mother’s birthday. And while I’m hard at work (read: just got out of a hot tub and will quickly head to the terrace for cards and drinks), I would like any reader of my blog to pause briefly and acknowledge one of my favorite people. Aunt Jeanne has a fantastic habit of texting me at the very moment I’m freaking out with a message like, “hey dan, just remember that its all worth it”. Somehow, she inherently knows exactly what I want to hear at the exact moment I need to hear it. And while I’m quite a ways away, and haven’t seen her in some time now. I want to wish my Aunt Jeanne, my godmother, my sympathizer a fantastic birthday. Thank you for everything.

Some Italian fotos

I woke up this morning in the best mood in forever. Between now and then I may have upset someone pretty close to me and it feels like crap. So now I’m doing all the errands I’ve been putting off. Cleaning, extra readings, updating CVs, etc. Being anti-social a bit. These are some of the pictures my mom took when she was here. Dad’s will come shortly.
Enjoy

Its been a crazy few days…

Favorite Things About This Trip:

• Caprese (Tomato, Mozz, Basil, etc) is everywhere: pizzas, sandwiches, paninis, etc
• Every conversation I have is with someone from somewhere else in the world, and they’re passionate about their work.
• Beautiful, intelligent, multilingual women
• Wearing suits and business outfits, all the time
• Italian food, Italian desserts, Limoncello, Tiramisu, Vino Rosso
• Calling reception instead of setting a phone alarm
• Not having a phone!
• Not having to worry about time, texts, phone calls, etc.
• Listening to brilliant and famous diplomats from around the world teach us how to be awesome.
• Long walks, on cool nights, with cheap beer, music we don’t understand, with good company, under clear skies.

Also, Dr. Wanis St. John pointed out the pros and cons of Bruce Willis-style negotiations. (In case you need a good laugh)

Fiorenze

This weekend I had the opportunity to go to Florence to participate in some leather market “negotiating training”. Of which I declined this offer. Instead, my good friend, Laurel (from Boston) got to head my way by way of greater Europe. She, too, started in Boston. But instead of going straight here she did Iceland, Sweden, Germany, Czech, Austria, and then Italy.  After spending the weekend here she’s off to more and more crazy places. So I give to you the Florence I should have seen. Hope you’ll learn to forgive me.

Happy Fourth

I know I haven’t updated in several days. This is not because of a lack of things to say, but a resounding lack of energy after a very full week full of very full days. And to be perfectly honest, today is no different. I just got back from a day trip to Venice with my parents (did I mention they’re in town?). So yeah, at some point a fully rested Dan will recap you on the week: the food, the late night terrace happenings, the wanderings through cities. Even more excitingly, I’ll post some of the pictures mom and dad took (I’ve been camera lazy).

But tonight, I write my paper. I’m writing it now (instead of sleeping) so that tonight, on America’s birthday, I can go out. Whether its a hot date, an evening in, or a night of debauchery, is irrellevant at the moment.  The only relevance is this paper… shortly followed by a minute or two of sleep… even more shortly followed by class all day long.

Best wishes, all. And to all a good night.

 

In the mean time, assume my trip to Venice was something like this. 

I forgot to mention…

that last night when I had dinner with the doctors… it was amazing.

 

Appetizer: Sauteed eggplant, zucchini, peppers.

Entree: Grilled mozzarella, mushrooms, tomatoes, and more eggplant, zucchini, and peppers.

Dessert: Tiramisu and panna cotta with caramel liqeur drizzle.

 

Wine was flowing all night, and to finish the night they brought out a pitcher of limoncello.

 

Bask in it.