Happy Halloween!

Well, it’s not technically Halloween anymore, but it’s All Saints’ Day, which is much more significant in Europe. It means a day off of school! Halloween is celebrated here, but not nearly as much as it is in the United States. It has been growing in popularity over the past decade though. Last night, I saw both kids and adults in costume, and it really reminded me of home.

With the celebration of All Saints’ Day comes a day off of school for we IES students! It’s pretty cool to have another break so soon after our 10-day fall break. Unfortunately, I’m not traveling this weekend, like I wanted to with the extra day off. Since it’s a national holiday, lots of traveling takes places, and prices are much higher for the plains or trains that I would need to take. So, my weekend is going to be a great, relaxing one in Rome! It got off to a great start today after I slept in really late, and then went for a nice, long run in the Villa Pamphili, a beautiful park that’s just a few miles from my apartment.  I did get caught in a little rain along the way, but that surely didn’t stop me!

As for the rest of the weekend, I think I’m going to do some more exploring in Rome. I do have some homework to do, though. We’ll see how much of that actually gets completed. I really want to take advantage of one of my last weekends in the city, since I’ll only have two left after this! It’s crazy that we’re down to only six weeks left. I need to make a bucket list and get as many things checked off as I can!

Everything is moving so quickly, and I’m afraid that the semester will be over before I know it. Either way, I’m certainly going to cram as much as I can into the time I have left!