Last night while trying to fall asleep a thought occured to me. it's nearly mid march. and as the sun is starting to shine, the days getting longer and the need for a scarf dissapearing, im reminded that my time here is almost done. while i had wanted to try and find work here, ive since decided that i need to be responsible. i've got debt i need to pay off, and the smart thing for me to do is move back to the states. so as i try to find motivation for school, im also trying to enjoy my time that is left here. Spring is beautiful in Italy and I look forward to the coming months, few as they may be.

April promises to be a good month. every weekend is a long one, with numerous hollidays taking place. the real news though, is that my brother is coming to Italy. He'll probably only be here for a few days, as it is just a business trip, but it will be good to see him. Of course he's not coming to northern italy, oh no. Puglia. looks like i got a 10 hour train trip ahead of me. Still, it is a good excuse to go to Puglia where I have never been but have been wanting to go for some time. I am only hoping that he'll have a couple free days so we can explore. He's going to Taranto which I have heard is pretty much just an industrial port town. I'll definitely be taking day trips while he is working, but it would be nice if he was able to come along. He's never been here before and I would love to show him a bit of Italy (even if its places i dont know either!)

In addition to visitng my brother in April, I hope to be able to spend a few days in Macerata. I havent been there since October, and I feel a need to get back. April will probably be my last chance for longer trips, as after that it's only regular 2 day weekends. Not to mention lots of projects. May will be a month full of presentations as projects finish, and June will be spent re-working past projects from the year, and getting ready for the final presentations that we have to do of our work. Before I know it I'll be on a flight out of Italy.

It really is amazing how fast time goes...