Can Michael Speak Italian?

Hello, world. Long time, no correspondence. Sorry about that, but things have been ridiculously busy, as usual.

I'm currently in the midst of an Irish intervarsity volleyball tournament. I, Michael, am officially a college athlete. I'm having a blast playing volleyball for Trinity. 2 of my roommates and I are on our melting pot of a team, consisting of 3 Americans (us), 3 French, a German, a Chinese, a Filipino, and an Irish coach. Melting pot, I tell you. Great guys, good fun.

As the post's title implies, my Italian skills were put to the test recently. For Trinity's Reading Week, a week free of lectures and tutorials meant for catching up on reading, I spent 6 days in Italy and 2 in Malta. I went to Italy alone, with no concrete plans outside of hostel bookings, one train ticket, and a flight to Malta where I would meet a friend from Dublin. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but it turned out great. I made friends in hostels and got to explore cities with them. Nothing quite like an American/Australian/Swedish group of tourists galavanting around Florence! Made for a wonderful time.

Bologna was tough - not much to do, and not English friendly in the least. For those of you who know me, you may know that I took three semesters of Italian earlier in college, and it went pretty well. I was excited to put my skills to the test...until my plane landed in Venice. Then I was intimidated. But you know what? It turned out fine. My incessant grammatical correctness garnered some strange looks, but everything worked out. So the answer to the question, "Can Michael speak Italian?" ...not well, but enough to survive and have a few brief conversations. Hooray!

Here is a life tip for everyone. Forget your next vacation plan. Put it off, because you need to go to Malta. I could not believe a place like Malta actually exists; it is like a combination of Agrabah, Vatican City, and Florida all rolled into one small Vacation Island. Beautiful, friendly, English-speaking, and cost-effective. You will not believe your eyes. And there is no adventure quite like a Maltese bus ride. Please check out the pictures soon to be uploaded on Facebook. You will be rewarded for your efforts with this wonderful, little-known EU member state. Go there. Trust me.

Now I get to tackle essays for school. I have a lot, but some teachers were kind enough to give me extensions over the break. Those are much-needed, and much-appreciated. I've spent a lot of time applying to law schools the past 2 weeks, even during my Italy/Malta trip; you know it's bad when your parents tell you you need to stop working and relax. I'm getting old, it seems...

My life is full of adventures, and this blog does not do them justice. Please send an email if you would like to hear more. I'd love to share, this just isn't the best medium for it.

Much love,
Michael