Last Hurrah

School is out, and I’ve been enjoying the heat of a real Italian summer this past week (it’s been in the upper 80’s and 90’s all week). So far, it has been a very laid back beginning to my summer; I've been  basking in the sun at Club Giardino and watching World Cup games. Though the World Cup has been filled with exciting games so far, Italy’s opener against England was definitely one my favorites. The game started at midnight here, but you got the feeling that the entire country was still awake. After some initial tense moments, Italy’s class shined through and their 2-1 victory was thoroughly deserved. 

Another fun part of the week was a mega-concert held in the piazza last Tuesday night. The concert featured some of Italy’s biggest names, and the crowd that came out to see them didn’t disappoint. In fact, there were an estimated 35,000 people in the piazza (that’s half of Carpi’s total population).

One of my overall highlights of the year came two weeks ago when my friends threw me a surprise birthday party. My entire class was in on the plan, and I genuinely didn’t see it coming. It was a really fun night, full of food, good music, and plenty of laughs. This is just one of the many ways in which my friends have been awesome this year. From the first day of school forward, they have been welcoming, friendly, and incredibly helpful. I consider myself really lucky to have been a part of their class at school. And because you take all your classes with the same people the whole year, you really get to know each other well. I’ve made some great friends this year that I hope will last well beyond my time in Italy.