Hello Hello

Hey hey, I found 100 euro on the ground today at school. It was great because I found it right before I gave a presentation about Iowa (I think everybody wants to visit now). I was supposed to go to Venice last week, but a life-threatening illness (just a bad cold) kept me from swimming through the gondola-filled canals. We had the hostel booked and train tickets bought, so it was a big bummer. Oh well.

I would like to be telling you guys about something exciting I did since the last time I wrote, but there is really nothing to write. Since last Tuesday, I have been forced to stay inside by one of my friends in order to get healthy. It's taken quite some time, and I've been pretty bored for the past week, but I'm finally starting to get better. I need to get better by the weekend because my crazy friend Michael DiMarco is finally coming to Klagenfurt on Friday. He is studying in Italy, and if you've read my blog for awhile, you know that I went to visit him in February. I'm very excited that he's going to come see Austria.

I guess there is one little thing I could tell you about. I went swimming yesterday for the first time in a long time. Klagenfurt is located on a huge lake called the Wörthersee. The crazy thing is that you have to pay to swim in the lake or even lay on the beach. I'm not down with paying for things like beaches (or toilets), so some friends and I went to a little-known river that leads into the lake. It was a hot day, and the sun was shining, so I decided to swim despite being sick. The water was absolutely freezing, but it was a blast. The river was spotted with groups of people also unwilling to pay the fee to enter the beach. There was a tree to jump off of and a rope swing, which we put to great use.

No, that's not me in the bikini. Nor is it me in the water underneath. I'm somewhere else, but those are two friends of mine. We swam for awhile, realized the water was really really cold, then went to the park to enjoy the rest of the sun. I think it was the sun that started my recovery. Everybody needs the sun. It makes you happier. Nobody should ever say their goodbyes to the sun.

That's all for my short update. Actually, here is something I wrote a couple days ago that maybe you would like to read:

One of the things I've been realizing lately, through a number of friendships and experiences, is that no matter how far apart we live, how much our cultures differ, or how different our languages are, it's not the differences that our pulling this world apart, rather, it's the commonalities that are holding us all together.

We need each other in order to live, just like we need the sun. According to my Mother, who paraphrases Alexander Supertramp, happiness is only real when shared. Thank you Mom. I love you. Have a good week.