Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

So yesterday I was neglect in my posting duties, so I apologize :-)

Before I continue, I should share that I was really excited to post yesterday from the patio and tell everyone that I was looking down upon Florence while writing to you all, but the internet wasn't working. So, I took it as a sign and did some reading for class instead. This morning, you will get me writing from the comfort of my room.

So yesterday: We had class all day, and I found the topics really interesting: intelligence, covert action, renditions, targeted killings, and war crimes. Some can be a bit depressing, but all are fascinating to learn about. I really wish we had more time to cover all of the topics in the course. Sometimes I feel like we rush through things because we have so much to cover. Almost like we have the same amount of material as last year, and not the same amount of time. So it can be a bit frustrating, but I still feel like I am learning a lot, and the whole experience has been great so far. For our academic fact, I learned that all covert action has to be sign off by the President, and that he has to tell Congress. Meaning, he has to tell a select group of 8, some of which my professor could not remember, but including the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Intel Committees in the Senate and the House, the Speaker of the House, and the Chair of the Armed Services Committee. Also, while the President has to tell them, it doesn't have to be immediately, it can be after the action has already begun. Interesting stuff.

So anyway, post class I sat outside on the balcony, doing some reading and enjoying the view of Florence. Then, dinner was at 7, and this was the first meal where I really didn't eat much. Usually they have something somewhat plain, but not last night. I survived though. After dinner, we all (7 of us) congregated in the library. I tried to catch up on some US news that had been piled up in my Google Reader (literally, about 80 news articles I had not read), followed the Angels game on my computer (they won!), and just relaxed and talked with everyone. I also made an imovie for one of the guys here. It was my mitzvah for the day as he is not one of my favorite people in the program. I did it though, and am quite proud of it actually. Anyway, after the time in the library, we (Pat, Aaron, Andrew, Kel, LC, and I) decided to head up to Fiesole at about 11pm to get some gelato. So we meandered up the hill, ate the best gelato I have had since I have been here, and then we sat at the pub J.J.Hills while the boys all drank their beer. After that it was homeward bound and bed time.

I think I mentioned earlier that my total number of bugbites had not been too bad, or that I had yet to have a bad reaction. Well, I spoke too soon. Literally the next day I was bit on my thigh and elbow, and bother are pretty bad, with the one on my thigh about 5 inches in diameter of readness surrounding the bite. So I used some hydrocortisone cream and took some benadryl last night, which seems to have helped. I will take some more today and hopefully it was get better soon. I hate being allregic to the bugs that bite me.

Anyway, on to today. We are going to Cinque Terre, catching the 157 train hopefully. We were going to leave earlier, but then we were told we could have lunch here first, so we decided to take the free lunch before heading out on our travels. It should be a fun adventure. We will get in tonight, wander arund La Spezia, and then hike the trails tomorrow before coming home. Then Sunday should be relaxing and a good time to further explore Florence. Hopefully it will all work out.

Next week we have our simulation, and I was picked to be attorney general, so that should be interesting. We shall see how it all goes.

Time to start packing and then off on my travels! I will write again on Sunday and be sure to take a ton of pictures :-) Ciao!