Procrastination

Well, only three more days of vacation left and I have wrote more on this post than I have for my term paper on St. Augustine due on Tuesday. I don't know what it is about these breaks that make you want to stay in bed until 11 AM and avoid looking at a textbook for the rest of the day. I've been feeling very lethargic this past week, but I'm looking forward to getting back at Siena where time seems to go by much faster. The routine of classes, meetings, homework, and other random activities gets you into a rhythm that you get used to.

I'll be heading to Siena fairly early on Sunday, as I have one of my LSAT review classes. As I might have told you, I have to take the Law School Admissions Test test in June. Once again, the test is tremendously important as far as getting into a law school goes. Its not much more than three months until the test, and I already feel stressed (and I almost never feel stressed about anything ever). Needless to say, I'm glad that LSAT review courses are available right on Siena's campus. Hopefully I'll be prepared by June.

Winding Down Break

So it's Friday. Just a couple more days of break. It's been pretty relaxing but I haven't gotten nearly enough work done yet. I have to read another 350 pages by Monday morning. It's ok though because the book is a NY Times best seller and seems like it will be pretty good. Last night I went up to Boston to see one of my best friends at Boston College. Other than that, the week has been pretty uneventful. I DID break my nose last Saturday after the Siena basketball game. Long story but it's not really that bad. I'm hoping the cut goes away before the play in a couple weeks :/ My parents laughed at me haha. Oh how they love me. Oh oh oh!!...I also bought these new soccer shoes and a SWEET soccer ball that will be arriving next week. It's my incentive to go outside and get my butt in shape! Ok well next week will pick up with more events and activities to bring you o speed on. Until then, I hope school is going well for everyone and you get excited as those college letters come in. If anyone is going to the Presidential Scholars' Dinner next week I'll see you there!

YAY PAT!!

Hey everyone!! just wanted to get on and drop in and see how everything is going.
I know siena kids (the loudonville ones, lol) were on break this week but us siena students here in siena, italy have been working hard! Our spring break is next week..i'm so excited!! I'm going to be going to England, Ireland, and Scotland!!!! I'm SO excited! As far as classes and such they've been pretty tough...studying abroad is no vacation! haha. This week I also have to submit abstracts for my final papers. Each class requires a 10 page paper (yes, in italian =x ) about a topic of your choice thats of some relevance to the class material. I'm taking european union economics, business ethics, advanced italian linguistics, history of italian emigration, literary translation, and creative arts. Yea...thats more than the average course load...but i'm an over achiever, what can i say, lol. But this is going to end up being like 60+ pages of writing...AAAHHH!!! Anywayyy, today was a beautiful day and after class a bunch of my friends and I just went and got lunch and sat in the piazza del campo (Siena, Italy's main square). It was so crowded with people. Last week it was so cute because it was carnivale week so there were TONSSS of little toddlers in costumes running around the piazza with silly string having a blast ( yea, idk why silly sring but it looked like fun). Tomorrow during the day my friends and I are taking a day trip to the nearby hill-town of San Giminano. I was there 3 or 4 years ago but i am so excited to go back..so pretty!

Whats new with everyone?! Have most of the decision letters from your colleges come back? I hope you are strongly considering coming to Siena. As a junior, i can most definitely say that coming to Siena (both Siena College AND abroad to Siena, Italy...haha) was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

For those accepted students that have made a profile on Siena's new online
admissions portal (facebook-like thingy), add me!! my user name is "gregorio"

ciao!

Siena...Italy!

Hi Everyone,

I hope all is well. How are things?

Break has been awesome so far, I have just been relaxing and doing absolutely nothing. 

Remember, Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it (Ferris Beuller). 

So, its February 26, has anyone committed to Siena? Anyone still making up their mind? Any other college news? Can someone please fill me in? Haha. 

So, I'm not sure if I have blogged about this yet...however I am studying abroad Spring Semester Junior Year in...Siena. Italy!!

I am so pumped and just finalized my country and program about two weeks ago. 

So needless to say, I have been in contact with Greg (Our fellow Siena blogger!) about his experiences thus far studying in Siena.

I also know that Lauren is considering studying in London, England next year as well.

The Study Abroad Office is amazing here and they really work with each student to pick the best program for us. 

My Uncle has been to Siena, Italy many times and he says to picture, beautiful old school Italian buildings, cobblestone streets and friendly people. I cannot wait to spend a semester of my Siena career studying in Siena!!!!

My goal is to come back with three things.

1. Fluency in the Italian language.

2. Becoming an amazing chef.

3. Successfully bringing back the Italian culture which I am sure will change me for the better.

Anyway, I have to go start writing a research paper, however I just wanted to check in and see how everything is going!

Best,

Patrick.

Vacation! Already?

No more than a month's time has passed between the first days of our semester and our first week of vacation. It has been ridiculously busy for me the past few weeks between mock trial, school work, and the five million other things that require my attention from time to time. Needless to say I'm grateful for the week off, even if it does seem too soon to have one. Over the break I'll be getting a head start on the rest of the semester by writing a term paper on St. Augustine for my Medieval Philosophy course (exciting I know!). Aside from that, I have been deluged with e-mails about applications for a number of positions across campus. Here is a sample of them: Editor of the Promethean (our school newspaper), Student Conduct Review Board, Political Science Society Committee Chairperson. Now that mock trial is over with, needless to say, I'll be looking into some of these options!

By the way, in case you haven't heard, our Siena Men's Basketball Team cruised to another MAAC Conference Championship. Tomorrow, they'll be playing the University of Northern Iowa in a Bracket-Buster game. That means that the winner of this game could seriously hurt the other teams chances of going to the NCAA Tournament. Fortunately for those of us who can't make it to the game, it will be on ESPN2 at 3:00. So what do you say: GO SAINTS!

Vacation!

Hi Everyone!

How are you? I hope all is well!
Vacation is finally here and it's amazing to be with my family!
I have arrived home a little while ago and am now preparing for Florida!

I can only write a fast blog, since there is so much to do.

Actually on my flight, I have to write a bibliography for my Environmental Ethics class. The topic of my paper is Food ethics. So if anyone has any ideas, feel free to help me out.
So far, I have fifteen sources for my 12 page paper. I have yet to formulate a thesis statement, however I am thinking about saying, "Food ethics has become an increasingly relevant topic in recent years. Currently, we are in the midst of an obesity epidemic and this directly relates to how we live our lives. If it's true, you are what you eat, than we definitely are an malnourished nation." Something along the lines like that.
My paper will go into great detail on agricultural farming and how we are slaughtering animals too soon while giving them more steroids, so they can be killed faster. I will also discuss the McDonalization of Society. It is too convenient for Americans to eat cheap fast food instead of enjoying a home cooked meal.

As you can blatantly see, Food ethics and nutrition is a topic that I am quite passionate about.

As a closing thought, I will leave some song lyrics from Lazyboy's song, Underwear Goes Inside the Pants.
Americans, let's face it: We've been a spoiled country for a long time. Do you know what the number one health risk in America is? Obesity. They say we're in the middle of an obesity epidemic.An epidemic like it is polio. Like we'll be telling our grand kids about it one day.The Great Obesity Epidemic of 2004."How'd you get through it grandpa?""Oh, it was horrible Johnny, there was cheesecake and pork chops everywhere."
Nobody knows why were getting fatter? Look at our lifestyle.I'll sit at a drive thru. I'll sit there behind fifteen other cars instead of getting up to make the eight foot walk to the totally empty counter.Everything is mega meal, super sized. Want biggie fries, super sized, want to go large. You want to have thirty burgers for a nickel you fat mother ******. There's room in the bag. Take it!Want a 55 gallon drum of Coke with that? It's only three more cents.

La Republica Connecticata

That's right- that's where I'm going for spring break...Connecticut. Exciting isn't it? haha. A) I'm too broke to go anywhere exotic and still be able to live when I come back and B) I found out too late that a bunch of my friends planned a trip to Cancun. I think they're all flying as I write this which makes me pretty jealous. But I'll get caught up on work, relax, and save some cash while I'm at it. Bust since my car broke down on the way back from Boston a couple weeks ago, I need Mommy to come get me!!!

So I JUST finished recording a radio spot on 88.3 The SAINT (our radio station). I'm a student worker in the Chaplain's Office and they wanted to do an ad for Lent, and of course they made me do it! I think it came out nice. If you live in the area, be on the listen for it this week!

So we're supposed to be off campus by 9am tomorrow, but we have a HUGE basketball game against Northern Iowa. It's our bracket buster that will be on ESPN2 tomorrow. Look for me- I'm thinking of making a sign. Something funny obviously. Since everyone's on break I think there won't be as many students as usual, which is disappointing since its on TV. But check it out tomorrow afternoon.

My off-campus indoor soccer team won the division last night on a header with 1 second left in the game. It was unreal. Whoever won the game won the title and we had a throw in with 5 seconds left! Really awesome, because we won the last session undefeated too!

My last bit of news before I depart, I just received a letter in my mailbox nominating me for Phi Sigma Tau- the National Honor Society in Philosophy (my minor). I'm pretty excited and I will be inducted in May. OK that's all for now. We'll talk later. Good luck with all you college response letters!!

La Republica Dominicana

Yes, thats right, the Dominican Republic.

That's where I'm going next week for spring break! It is actually a service trip hosted by the Women's Center here at Siena College. 10 students and 3 faculty members will be traveling down to Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic's capitol, and volunteering for a week. We'll be staying with a group of nuns who host an after school program for children to keep them off the streets.

While we are down there, we will also be visiting an aids clinic, traveling down to the beach, browsing around the market place, and dancing around with the locals. I am friends with some of the students who have gone down in years past and they've all had phenominal experiences.

This year, we'll be down in the Dominican Republic for ash Wednesday and the DR's independance day! That means there will be lots of festivities! Apparently for independance day, the locals have something called 'carnivale' where they all dress up in costumes and celebrate in the streets. I'm really excited to be able to go down and see it all first hand.

I'm also really excited to enjoy the warm weather! It's dull and dreary up here in Albany, and I'm still waiting for spring. But... I get one week of 80's and probably a nice tan before I have to come back up here. Below is a picture of the beach that one of the students took on a previous trip.


So, this is probably the last post until I return from the DR, but I promise to post new pictures of my trip when I return.

Paz y bien,
Indira

Ciao from Italy

Ciao tutti!

just a quick note to let you all know what i've been up to. we went to venice this past weekend for carnevale and it was A-Mazing...so much fun! There were so many people and so many beautiful masks! Monday was the first day of the actual semester-classes ( the first 3 weeks was intensive italian). I am taking Italian Emigration, European Union Economics, Business Ethics, Creative Arts, and Italian. All of the courses are taught in italian so its a little tough (especially for those who dont have much knowledge of italian). Tomorrow night we are going to the Opera in Florence! I'm excited. We are seeing Pagliacci, which i've seen at the NYC Met Opera but this should be amazing.
New Pics are up!!
http://picasaweb.google.com/greg.papa/SienaItaly?feat=directlink

-Gregorio

weeeeeeeeee vacation!

Hello all! I hope everyone's weekend went well, as well as everyone's Valentines day! My Valentines day was probably the highlight of my weekend :o) My boyfriend Keith took me out to a restaurant called Provence, which serves French cuisine. It was absolutely delicious! I didn't know if I was going to enjoy French food, but turns out its like my second favorite next to Italian now. :o) Anyway, he also got me flowers (half Roses, half Lilly's), which are beautiful and are still smelling up my room!

This week has been super crazy. First off, its the week before we go home, so teachers are piling on the work. Last week too actually. I really have been lucky with busy work, but now I have two papers to write. They shouldn't be too bad, and I'd like to get at least one done before I depart for home/ Florida. Oh yea, I'm going to Florida over break! Nice warm weather will be a nice escape from frigid Siena College. Speaking of frigid, IT'S GOING TO SNOW---AGAIN. WHAT THE HECK?! It like never stops!

Any who, time to go give a tour :op It's like February break for all the highschool kids, so this week is probably the busiest week as far as tours go. Talk to you later in the week!

--Laur

The Competition!

Hello all. Well, weeks of preparation, hard work, and dedication culminated this weekend at the annual Mock Trial Competition at Syracuse, New York. I am pleased to report Siena held its own as we competed against schools such as Cornell, Hamilton, and Colgate. If you don't know what Mock Trial is, let me briefly explain. In a Mock Trial tournament teams from different schools study an imagined court case and then prepare both the defense's and plaintiff's perspective of the case. Participating members play one of either two roles: the attorney role, or the witness role. Experts in the law come to judge the competition and comment on any ways in which an individual might improve his performance. I have been part of the Mock Trial Team all three years at Siena and I have to say am thankful for the experience. Not only do I get to learn more about the law, but I get an added insight into the work of a trial lawyer.

Take Care,
Mike DiSiena

My Blog is As Productive as My Saturday...

Hi Everyone,

How are you? I hope all is well. 

Today is Valentine's Day and as you can tell from my 10:19pm blog post, I am not out! HaHa!

Well my date cancelled on me. So needless to say, it's kind of a bummer! Thats neither here nor there and life goes on. But how unbelievable is that! 

Well anyway, another week is in the books and we are definitely back into full swing. One more week of classes and we have a one week vacation! I am so pumped to head home. Well actually, I am heading down to Florida to catch some sun with my parents. I cannot wait to see my family and of course, get a tan!!! Even though I am a sophomore, I still miss home. And besides, my mom is the best Valentine, haha she doesn't cancel! (So for all the moms, even the college guys still show their parents love)

My brother just left for a cruise to the bahamas with his girlfriend today! Talk about the perfect gift for his girlfriend! Hopefully soon to be fiancee! Since I know he reads my blogs, Have fun John!

All in all, today was a very lazy Saturday. I went to the gym and watched movies all day with my single friends. It definitely was a nice Saturday though.

I am just counting down the days to vacation! 

Lastly, I am hosting some more Presidential scholars this weekend! Anyone coming?

I look forward to hopefully meeting some of you!

*With all this Florida, Bahamas and Sun talk, I have attached a picture of my mother, myself and my brother from this past summer! 

Patrick

The Roomates

Hope everyone had a good week! Valentines day has come and past eh? Sad to say I didn't have a valentine, but hey maybe next year. This week has been hectic between tests, labs and projects , but lately I've been worried more about the housing for next year. Getting a good group of roommates more specifically. Over the summer break, I met my roommate while at orientation. That was a pretty big deal for me because I wanted someone who I not only got along with, but wouldn't be a distraction for me to get my homework done. Though I ended up getting Andrew as my roommate I also got another student, which has turned out fine. He's a great kid and we all get along. Life is good with the two of them. Looking towards next year, I couldn't see only one person in particular I wanted to room with. As I talked to my buddy down the hall about the situation and another buddy I had on the hockey team, we decided, why not get a quad? Three of us were down to room, so it was up to us to decide on a fourth. We quickly decided that our other friend from the second floor was going to be a perfect fit. Even though we have our choice of roommates we still have to wait to see how good a housing number one of us gets before our plan can be put into action. The lottery for housing is random for the most part, but those kids with better GPA's are drawn first as I've been told. I hope that with the stiff competition and few available quads that our group gets our choice of living. My grades are good, but I'm not known for being too lucky so I guess we'll see how everything plays out.

Keep it real ya'll, Josh

Valentine's Day, Shmalentine's Day

This is the worst day in the world to be single. All my housemates are buying flowers and going out for dinner and blah blah. I'm listening to my iPod doing homework on a beautiful afternoon...but hey, I'm not bitter or anything haha :)

So as Lauren pointed out I DID NOT WIN Mr. Siena....really bummed. I had 9 people from home come up to cheer me on, including my parents and sister for the 4th time. My best friend came up for the first time. Now let me say, it was an awesome show and we broke the record for the amount raised for Habitat for Humanity. BUT, as much as I love Bryan (the winner) I must say that I think the judges botched it a little. I mean, not only was it my 4th time, but I wore a zebra pattern halter-top dress (yes, ladies I DO know what that is), nailed my song, had giveaways for the crowd, the whole place (600 ppl) was even chanting my name!! My parents were even kinda disappointed I didn't win!!! Haha when your mom is proud that you were wearing a dress, you know something is wrong! Anyways, I can't even say that there's always next year :( Oh well. I'll remain title-less...although I did win best talent, which I guess is some consolation.

Tomorrow is a huge Presidential Scholars day. Maybe some of you will even be here...Last weekend went well ad we're all very excited for this weekend too. Anyways I hope you enjoy your Valentine's Day!

P.S Rehearsals for the play are going well. I ALMOST have all my lines memorized...I might recommend coming to see it if anyone is into theater. I can certainly get anyone interested more info! BYE!

RA on duty...

I am currently sitting in the RA office of Hennepin Hall. Yes, thats right, I'm an RA, or Residence Assistant. During the year I make nametags, put up bulletin boards, create a community on the floor, and am occassionally on duty for the evening.

It is actually a pretty fun job. You get to meet a lot of other people, such as the other RAs on campus and the students who live in your building. You also get the added bonus of a paycheck every other week. That reminds me, I have to pick up my paycheck tomorrow. yay!
Here's a picture of the Hennepin Hall RA staff from the fall when we had RA training.

So, today was a pretty long day. I had an interview in the morning because I had applied for the SAINT position. That means I help out during freshman orientation in the fall. (If you end up coming to Siena, keep an eye out for me!) I would move in a week early and help students adjust to campus and attend the sessions.

I also had to help one of my professors install a program on his computer. He was having issues and sent out a cry for help via email. Then, I had my one on one meeting with my RD, Adam. We meet every other week just to touch base and see how everything is going.

Then later in the evening I went to the Asian Students Association's Valentines Day Dinner. They had amazing food and chocolate covered fruit!!

After that I met a friend in the library to study for an exam I have tomorrow.

And then I had bhangra practice. We finished choreographing the girl's dance earlier in the day, so we had to teach the other girls. It was a fairly laid back practice, so it was fun.

And now I find myself in the RA office, writing to all of you. It's been a long day and im pretty excited to go take a shower and go to bed. I get off duty at 12:00, so one more hour and I'll be free.

Until next time,

Indira

Mr. Siena & tons of workkkkk

Hello all! I hope every one's week went well! Mine like totally flew by, and I seriously feel like that's how all the weeks are going. We go home for "spring break" in like 2 weeks. Cool, spring break in February. Awesome? Ha ha :o)

Anyways, nothing too exciting from this week. But I did get a 97 on my first exam of the semester! Whoopee. Hopefully that will carry through with all of my classes. Doubtful.

I really want to go see a good movie. Any suggestions? I haven't seen like a really good movie in a really long time. OOOO!!! The Grammys are on tonight, yay! I should probably put those on considering they start at 8.

Today I had a Presidential Scholar come and stay with me. Her name was Nikki, and seriously such a sweetheart! She said Siena was her first choice, which is so awesome. On top of that, she was from Long Island. Best place in the world! I mean, besides Siena of course! No but on a more serious note, she really did love the campus, and I think coming and staying with an actual student was great, and I really think Presidential Scholars, and any over night program for that matter is really important. Its good to get a feel for the school while shadowing an actual student ya know?

Okay, so last night was Mr. Siena, the 4th annual to be exact. And let me say, while I think the winner did a WONDERFUL and amazing job, I was really disappointed that Conor didn't win! I think he deserved it after trying all four years. I was actually really sad for him :o( But he did win another title, which is good. All the contestants in the Mr. Siena contest were all really good and sooooo funny. Love it.

Anyways, I know this blog was kinda a stream of consciousness, but hey, interesting though! Catch up with you next time!*

Mr. Siena 2009

And our new, Mr. Siena 2009 is...

Yes thats right, every year at Siena we have a Mr. Siena competition. It is actually a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity. In this men's pagent, 10 Siena men compete in three categories: Habitat wear, Talent, and Formal Wear. It's a huge event every year and I'm willing to bet a good portion of campus was there last night.

The show started at 9:00 and started with a dance routine performed by our lovely 10 contestants. I was actually in a small portion of the show! I was helping him with his talent act. He had decided to sing, so we made a mock American Idol and I was Paula Abdul.

Unfortunately, my friend did not win, but its all in good fun. The show was amazing and Brian Schroder was crowned the new Mr. Siena 2009. He's currently a sophomore and was actually in the show last year.

I would post a picture, but I don't have any from the show. Perhaps later in the week I'll post one, so keep tuned!

:o) Until next time,

Indira

SIRA

Hi Everyone,

How are you? I hope all is well! 

I can't believe it's already February and we are already rapidly approaching midterms! Classes are going so well but I just can't believe how fast time is going by. 

Once you guys come to Siena (hopefully!), I will be a junior! I don't believe it! It's actually really upsetting, so I won't say anymore about that. 

Two good friends of mine just recently created a new club on campus! It's called Siena Investment and Research Association! It's a club open to all majors, however it specializes for students who want to make contacts with the business world and who really want to learn all about the business world. We have corporate sponsors from Northwestern Mutual, Nestle Corporation, Citizens Bank and Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Within SIRA, there are five divisions, Global Markets Division, Economic Advisory Division, Marketing Relations Division, Accounting and Business Ethics Division and the Investment Banking division.

The club focuses on current economic and financial events and each division creates a research project on any topic that fits within their division. Each division has a faculty advisor and a corporate advisor. This is an awesome club.

Actually as of yesterday, I was hired as Vice President and Chief Accountant of the Accounting and Business Ethics Division! I cannot wait to get started and accomplish great work for this club. I am going to pick five students to join my team and then we will decide what to research. When we are ready, we are going to put on a 20 minute presentation, along with a paper for the whole campus and our corporate sponsors. 

I cannot wait to start going through resumes and interviewing applicants for my division!

I'll let you know what we decide to research! 

Lastly, any Presidential Scholars?!?!?

I am hosting someone this weekend and am very excited.

I will be around all weekend, so if you read the blogs and recognize me, talk to me!

Or ask around! I hopefully look forward to meeting you all!

-Patrick

Everybody's Workin For the Weekend!

Hey all- So it's Friday night, about 10:30...and instead of going out with all my friends for a fun enjoyable night, I decided to blog for you guys! Haha sorta kidding. I mean you're all very special to me, but I'm trying to conserve some energy. You see tomorrow night is the 4th Annual Mr. Siena Competition/Pageant/Contest/Ridiculously Embarrassing Night. I'm the only person at Siena to have been in all 4. NO, I haven't won...yet! It's the largest non-mandatory, non-sporting event on campus. We should get about 600 people in attendance tomorrow. It will feature choreographed dances, talents, formal wear, questions and answers, and more. I will be singing for my talent...we'll see how it goes. Be sure to check Youtube in the coming days if you want to see what it is like! Wish me luck.

Also, if any of you are Presidential Scholars coming to campus I'm really excited to see and meet you guys. I will be there in my suit and Siena tie ready to meet and greet you and your families! Travel safe and keep it up in school!

I think I promised you more Inauguration pictures, so here you go!

This one on the left is Michelle Obama in her limo. I had a great shot of Barack but the woman in front of me waved her hand as he was driving by so all I have is the thumb of her white glove where his head should be...miserable.



The next one is the Capitol just before the Inauguration ceremony.

The last picture is the Air and Space Museum where we had our Gala.

Honors Thesis!

I think I might have mentioned this a long time ago but I am one of several "Honors Fellows" at Siena College. Let me briefly explain. An Honors Fellow is an individual who is selected by the College-Wide Honors Program to engage in particularly challenging coursework throughout College. Part of the program includes writing a very lengthy paper known as your "Honors Thesis." This isn't just any old paper, this is a paper that requires taking three different classes in order to complete it. This semester I am beginning the first class, which focuses on the research component of the paper. Students are asked to think of a topic (just about any topic that you have a background in based on the classes you've taken up to that point), and start researching for it. The class meets once a week during which a small group of students discuss their progress.

At this point I have just selected a topic. Seeing how I am a political science and philosophy major, I thought it would be fun to look at the origins and development of the concept of executive power. In any case, I am looking forward to the whole process, which won't be completed until the end of my Senior year. Like I said, this ain't just any old paper!

Hope Everyboy is Doing Well,
Mike DiSiena

"Without education we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously." ~G.K. Chesterton

The Blogging Crew

Hope everyone had a good week. I'm stoked that it 's finally the weekend for sure. Homework and hockey are kicking my butt so I'm ready for a break. Aside from that, the other day I finally got to meet my fellow bloggers. We had meetings originally scheduled earlier on in the year, but they kept getting post-poned due to sickness or prior commitments. I would have to say I was a little nervous to meet the my fellow partners in crime. I didn't know what to expect of them or what they were like. The unknown makes me timid! :( But as I've come to find out, like all the other kids on campus it seems, they were very nice. Being the new kid I didn't really have much to talk about, although it was nice to just listen to what they had to say. We discussed about traveling abroad and attending the presidential inauguration. Two of my peers were planning on going to Europe for their study abroad. Greece and France seemed to be the topic of choice for the two of them. I was kind of jealous about their travels when I heard about their soon to be adventures. Last summer I ended up going with one of my buddies from home to Sweden. It was unbelievable. My friend showed me all around Gothenburg. I got to see both parts of Sweden and Germany. Europe is incredible. Siena encourages studying abroad and experiencing new cultures. Just about anywhere in the world you could imagine to visit is available for you to go and stay. If I had the time I would definitely take part. I don't know where I'd like to study. Maybe Norway or Finland, try and see the other two Scandinavian countries. But then again who knows, France and England are nice too!

Sorry everyone, but I have to go. Take it easy, Josh

News from the REAL Siena =]

Ciao tutti!
Gregorio here, writing to you again from Siena, Italy, where I am studying abroad for the semester. its about 9:45am here and I am sitting in the lounge at school working on a powerpoint presentation that I have to give. As I had said in my previous post, Italy is absolutely amazing...I love living here. This week is the last week of the "intensive" Italian language courses before the actual semester classes start. Butttttt, before that, the school is taking us all up to northern Italy to the Dolomites (Italian Alps) for a week! We're also going to be stopping in Verona (city where Romeo & Jiulet took place) as well as in Trento (Italian city that borders Austria). And when we come back on Thurs, me and a few friends made plans to go to Venizia (Venice), Italy for the famous "Carnivale." For those who don't know, Carnivale Venezia is kind of like Mardi Gras in the USA. I'm so excited. Then when we come back the actual semester courses begin.
Wed after school my class has a cooking workshop which i am so excited for....as a matter of fact my host-mother is the instructor! (its at her cooking school which is right next to ours). My roommate's class had his yesterday and he said it was so amazing and he learned so much. The weather here in Siena hasn't been too great...lots of rain...but apparently it is supposed to get better!
Anyway I'm going to get back to work, but here a few pictures!!

Ci Parliamo! (talk to you soon)