Malta and Sicily

So I've been in Europe for about 10 days now and it's been a great experience so far.  I was nervous about getting on all the flights by myself, especially since I hadn't flown in so long, but the whole international flight experience was alright (except for my 12 hour layover in the Rome airport which was almost unbearable).  The first weekend we did an orientation for school that showed us a lot of the nearby attractions in Malta, including this beautiful Cathedral, and lots of views of the Mediterranean.  We then went to a nearby island with my roommate's mom which had the most beautiful viewpoint I have ever seen:

I've since been to a couple of beaches around the area, and we went to Sicily this weekend! It was one of the longest day trips of my life (5AM - midnight) but it was well worth it. We took a ferry ride across the Mediterranean and visited a couple of towns in the southern side of Sicily and hiked up Mt. Etna (a volcano)!  This week is going to be pretty busy with activities and school, but we still have this weekend to finish up our tour of Malta before we have to go home next weekend!

Living in the Mediterranean for 3 weeks is wonderful, by the way :)

End of School and Malta

My first year is finally over after many breakdowns, panic attacks, caffeine overdoses (it seems like), and hours of studying. I'm now a 2L (pending my grades)!  My first day off was seemingly boring, but it was nice to have time to actually do all the chores I've needed to do over the past few weeks, and I was able to cook again (made a tasty dish - baked rigatoni with mini meatballs). If you don't know about it already, a blog at smittenkitchen.com has a great selection of recipes, many baked goods, and everything my boyfriend and I have tried has come out great!

I leave for Malta in 5 days, and I'm finally getting over my fear of flying.  I don't think I technically have a fear of flying, but I've just never flown across the ocean, so doing that by myself is a little unnerving.  I'm starting to get excited about being on a Mediterranean island for 3 weeks though:

 There is so much to do on the island that I hope I have time to experience everything! I'm going to try and arrange trips to Italy and maybe Tunisia, but as of now, I'm not sure if I'll be able to (my school is NOT giving us any long weekends to travel).  My next few days will mostly consist of getting packed and ready to go, before I leave my cozy little apartment for an EXTREMELY cozy little dorm room in Malta.

The Media's Warped Views on What's Important

Time for a serious post. I'm pretty upset with the national media and our government right now -- most major news networks have not shown much footage at all of the floodings in Tennessee.  29 people have been killed as a result and many homes are destroyed.  Looking at pictures brings to mind images of New Orleans after Katrina.  Most of the historic downtown area of Nashville remains underwater, including the Grand Ole Opry! Not sure why the nation is choosing to ignore the country capitol of the world, but whatever the cause, it is clearly misguided.

Some news stations are slowly beginning to display coverage and stories about the disaster....nearly a week after the flooding occurred.  More of use need to be aware that a major natural disaster just occurred (the most catastrophic damage we've seen from flooding not associated with a hurricane), which is going to cost the city close to $1 billion.

I understand that there are important things happening right now, including the oil spill in the Gulf (which has affected many Houstonians already), the tornadoes in the South, and the potential terrorist attack in New York, but just don't forget about the people in Nashville.  Many are still attempting to piece their lives back together, returning to find all their belongings completely destroyed by something many of us just considered to be "a little rain".

CNN's story