SYA on the horizon

Tonight I'm going out to dinner at La Fornaretta in Old Town with my mom and Christopher and Lynnette to celebrate having been accepted to SYA. The day I got my acceptance letter was amazing. It was April 8th, and I'd just come home from a friend's birthday party at a great sushi place, completely unprepared for the letter (true, I'd been whining all week that it hadn't come yet, but I'd sort of gotten used to it not arriving, so it was a true surprise). When I opened the door, my mom and my brother were there, holding the envelope. It was really thick, full of forms, so I knew that it must be a yes, but I just couldn't feel it. I was too scared to dare believe I'd been accepted, but at the same time I was sure I had been. So we lit a candle and slowly I opened the envelope. "Macte virtute esto" read the letter. "It is with great pleasure that I write to inform you of your acceptance to School Year Abroad."

Brilliant!! I read the letter every day to remind myself I'm really going, because it still seems like some sort of really cool dream. Also I can't wrap my mind around the idea that I'm actually leaving for a whole school year; it feels like I'll be gone just for a couple weeks, get the feel of Italy, learn some Italian, and then come home. But I really will be away for a whole year. Wow.

I got another set of forms from SYA, and these make it much more real. It has the flight information both for travel to Italy (August 30th, 9:00 pm from JFK, NY) and from Italy (May 25th, 2006). There is a list of what to pack, which is pretty intense, because what I pack is all that I'll have with me for 9 months. Fortunately I'm allowed to bring my computer!! However SYA recommends a PC Windows laptop - I'll show them! (Go Mac!!) Among the forms also is a College Counseling packet. Next year is when I'll start looking at colleges and preparing to apply, and I won't even be here in the States! I'm so excited, though! This is going to be such a brilliantly wonderful experience.

Nothing else to report on, except "The Secret of Monkey Island" is a really great game, although I'm momentarily stuck. Oh hey, I found this really funny article, Hardware Torture Test. Seems like it would be so satisfying to inflict such damage on technology. But don't worry, I'm not rich enough or brave enough to sacrifice my computer and iPod even in the name of scientific research.

Well, that's about it. All hail Murray and his EVIL plots to Conquer the World. Bwaahaahaahaa