Attakid8: Living in Rome: July 2005

Done with School

I just took my last final and I have to say..... Well, I won't say how it went. I don't want to be one of those people who talks about there tests. However, I am done and now it is my final ten days here starting tomorrow. It is going to be a great time and it will fly by really fast. Here's where I will be and when:

July 9: Still in Rome
July 10: Florence
July 11: Florence
July 12: Umbria and Tuscany by car
July 13: Venice
July 14: Venice
July 15: Lake Como
July 16: Lake Como
July 17: Back in Rome
July 18: Rome
July 19: Leave for Home

Well, there is my schedule and I will be sure to post at least twice during those times; however, I am not sure if I can put up any pictures during that time so I will put those up when I get back.

Also, I have received a few worried emails about me because of the London attacks yesterday. First, those attacks were horrible and the people that orchestrated and carried them out should be punished. Second, I know that you guys are worried about me but I am fine. It was a beautiful day in Rome yesterday, and beside being a little sick, I am doing great. I will be careful during my remaining time here. Third, despite some added security and hassle on my way home to Wyoming, I'm sure everything else will run smoothly and without any problems. But thank you for worrying.

Well, I have to get train tickets now for my travels next week. I already have hotels and such so this is my last thing I have to do. Can't believe I have a little over a week left. Its gone by really fast. Well, talk to you all and will actually see you all pretty soon....

Finals Week

My roommates and I went out for a good dinner last night, one of the last one before Matt leaves to go home. It was pretty good, but I have had better since I have been in Rome. I have been studying a lot for this last test and I think I know the material pretty well. It is my civil litigation test tomorrow (for those of you who don't know, it is all about procedure) and unlike my professor at UW, I get to take in an outline. The rest of the day is set aside for reading through my outline and maybe to start to pack.

Oh, speaking of packing, I have my plans finalized for my last ten days. I will post those plans tomorrow so everyone will know where I am at. However, right now it doesn't look like I will have a reliable source for internet during those last ten days, so I might not be posting about those last ten days until I get back into the States.

Wow, I almost forgot to tell this story. Woman here get a way way better deal on everything. We were talking to a lady in our class here last night when she joined us for dinner and she was telling us all of these stories. The ranged from having dinners just paid for for them to never paying more than 10 Euros for a taxi. NO MORE THAN 10 EUROS FOR A TAXI!!!! Being a guy, it automatically starts out at 5 Euros for me and than is never less than 15 Euros and more than likely way over 20 Euros. Its amazing but not unexpected that that happens.

Anyways, back to studying....

One down; One to go

Well, I just got done with my first final. I don't have another one until Friday, which is good because it will give my hand a chance to recover. I had to handwrite my test today....all I can say is that mad props to all of you back at Wyoming who hand wrote there tests this year. I couldn't do it and my grade will reflect that fact. My hand started hurting after about five minutes and my handwriting got steadily worse as the test went on. It didn't help that the test was probably the worst test I have ever taken.

I hated this test because it was how fast you can write. The test was so broad and general that anyone could have done well on that test if they could write fast. I new this stuff inside and out and could have done a lot better if the questions weren't the way they were. Now, I am thrown back into the rest of the class. To give you a general idea about how broad the freaking questions were the last question was, "You are the lawyer for 'said' client who has never done business internationally before but is about to start getting into the international business area. Please describe for your client the process of imports and exports, what laws apply, who are the players, etc...?" All I have to say to that question is..... @#$^$^%*&^*&!@#! That was they worst question ever written and it was the last question on the test which means that everyone was time crunched when they got to it. To give you an idea about how broad that question is, just my outline for imports and exports was twenty pages (and that was a short outline for me) and the applicable law for the question covered about 200 pages of statutes, regulations, and procedures. Needless to say, I guess, all I need is a C to have it transfer to UW so here hoping.

Also, it was extremely differently not being in the US for the Fourth. Oh, I also wanted to so congrats to my cousin, Stacey, who got married over the weekend. (I'm sorry I couldn't be there).

Well, it is back to studying and time to forget about this test that I just took.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Well, this is one day that I wish that I was back in Wyoming so that I could see the fireworks on the fourth. Well, that and so that I didn't have to study for finals. Anyways, Happy 4th everyone!!!

Finals suck, by the way. Talk about a dose of reality. I have been studying all weekend and while I think I get most of the stuff for my test tomorrow, I still have a long day of studying ahead of me. At the same time, it still hasn't hit me that I actually have a final tomorrow.

This past weekend was nothing special except for the Live 8 concert. It was interesting to go to. We got there about three hours after it started and missed all of the English speaking bands except for two. However, the Italian bands that went on for the rest of the night were pretty good. Some of them were really good even though I couldn't understand a word that they said. At that concert, I saw the most amount of drugs that I have ever seen. Everywhere you looked there were people doing drugs. Which is fine for them, just different for me to see all the time. All in all, it was a good time and something that I can say that I was a part of.

Well, back to studying....

Again, Happy Fourth of July!!!

Live 8 Concert 5

Live 8 Concert 4

For all of you who have been asking for a picture of me in Rome (that means you Nick) here you go.

Live 8 Concert 3

Live 8 Concert 1

Almost Forgot...

Wow, I almost forgot to tell everyone this. I'm sure a lot of you have heard about the Live 8 concerts that are going on tomorrow around the world. If you haven't, well, it is a serious of concerts going on around the world at the same time to help send a message to the members of the G8 the week before the G8 summit to reduce or abolish the debt of the African nations. With the politics aside from the concert, the concerts are being held in the eight countries of the G8 and needless to say, there is one here in Rome tomorrow and I am going!!! The concert is free and is being held at the Circus Maximus. Some of the biggest names in the music business will be at these concerts. The concert in Rome will have Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, other country stars, and many top European bands. So it is going to be a great day tomorrow.

Last day of classes :)

Today is my last day of classes. It is hard to believe that I am almost done with classes here. I have two finals next week: one on Tuesday and one on Friday. My final schedule works out real nice because it gives me enough time to study and prepare for each test. The only bad thing about finals is that they do it differently here than they do and Wyoming and I don't get to type this exam. My hand is going to get way too tired to do well on this exam. But, I am almost done and than after that, I am off on my ten days around Italy.

This week kind of went by really fast too. Tuesday night we had our good-bye dinner. It was nice, the food was good. I had baby octopus for the first time. It was weird to eat but actually pretty good. Than on Wednesday, as you can see, I went to the Pope's blessing. Matt and I got tickets to go on Monday thinking that it was going to be a quick blessing, but we didn't realize that it was a big festival and holiday in Rome on Wednesday. You see, Wednesday was the Festival of Saint Peter and Paul. Therefore, the Pope's blessing turned out to be a really big deal. Instead of just a blessing, it was a full mass in St. Peter's Basilica. After the mass was over, Matt and I went outside to see the blessing of the crowd you could not get into the mass. The square was filled with people. When the Pope came out, the crowd went crazy. It was really amazing to see. The Pope gave blessings to the crowd in several different languages including English. It was truly one of my highlights of my trips to see and do.

Besides that, it has just been studying and going to school. This weekend will be devoted to studying. Have a good weekend everyone.