Unable To Sit Still

Yesterday I made the discovery that in one month and two days, I will be HOME!! This revelation first caught me dumbfounded at the sheer unbelieveability of it, and secondly gave me heart palpitations. When I leave Italy for Christmas, I will have been here for seven months - thats 6.25 months longer than Ive ever gone anywhere else in my life - and until now it has felt that I would never reach this point. I remember this summer, in a very low point of my experience in Italy, thinking that it would never end and that the months ahead of me were like a long sentence without a period. Now that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and can accept the reality of my upcoming trans-Atlantic voyage back, I can hardly sit still. Let me tell you, this feeling of having the jitters and also the pile of homework I have to do are not a good combination. Fortunately, with some calming tea and about 12 glances at my computer calendar last night (just to make sure this is reality), I managed to finish a major paper, which had been looming over me. I still have quite a few major assignments to go before I leave, so we'll see how those go. I feel like a student with "senioritis" or a child who has been sick and wants to go play. Every bone in my body is itching to run onto an airplane home, which I could probably propell with the sheer force of my adrenaline. I just cant wait to see everyone and to feel Austin again and to sense the holidays at home.
Another reason for my inability to sit still is that my best friend, Lindsay, is coming this Saturday (thats right, two days) and we are going to travel for Thanksgiving! Ive never been to France or Spain, both of which Ill be exploring next week - its so soon! That is one excellent thing about living in Europe - you can see the rest of Europe without paying for a trans-Atlantic flight...so I thought I'd take advantage of it a little bit. I am thrilled to see her and catch up; in addition to making flights at unGodly hours; seeing beautiful European art, monuments and cities; and eating (of course) new and wonderful foods from other countries. There are so many great things about my life and what is coming up ahead of me that its hard for me to stay in one place thinking of it all. Its such a wonderful thing to feel ecstatic just to be living and to be young - to be healthy and hopeful and to enjoy the one moment when the world stops spinning long enough for you to say "life is so sweet."