Hey everyone,

I thought it was about time I write a little about what I've been up to recently. I haven't posted in a while, and many great things have happened that I'd love to share with the family.

To start off, I just returned to New York from a semester abroad in Bologna, Italy. The experience was an incredible one -- and one that I cannot do justice with only a few paragraphs of description. Nonetheless, I'll try to explain my life in Italy and how I spent those four months.

In terms of school, I went to an Italian high school, and so I only spoke in Italian. The classes were interesting, and I read Dante's "Purgatorio" and learned loads about Descartes and his philosophical teachings. Asides from Italian Literature and Philosophy, I also took Art History, Math, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Latin, French, Photography, and History.

I made a ton of friends in Italy, all of whom were extremely welcoming and kind. Bologna is a great city for youth, and at night the piazzas were always filled with kids and street parties and bands. Generally, my nights out always began with eating a whole pizza, and then continued from there with dancing at a disco club or walking around the center.

Speaking of pizza, the food of course was incredible. Although there were times that I missed very spicy food, in general I was always eager for all the food I was fed. Pizza, pasta, and panettone were staples of my diet there. (And gelato...except it was cold these last few months!)

Outside of school I tried to travel around Italy as much as possible, although by the end I often wanted to stay in Bologna during the weekends to hang out with friends. Nevertheless, I did manage to make it to Milan, Ravenna, and Venice (the latter being the most incredible, gorgeous, and inspiring city I think I've ever seen).

It was an interesting time to be in Italy as a student, because the Minister of Education was attempting to implement policies such as an 8 billion euro budget-cut that would result in a huge reduction of teachers and electives. As a result, across Italy there were protests, and even occupations within the high schools, meaning that we didn't go to school and instead picketed, protested, and then slept in the school, thus "occupying" it!

Overall, my experience in Bologna was really great and I am so happy that I had the opportunity to meet all of my friends there and learn about this new culture. Although I tried to speak in Italian all the time (and generally succeeded), there was one facet of my life that I couldn't avoid doing in English -- my college applications.

They're finished now! I have applied to Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Brown, Williams, Wesleyan, Princeton, U Penn, and Amherst, and now am just waiting to hear back... responses should trickle in around April 1st.

Christmas was very relaxed and low-key, and now I'm just preparing myself to get back into the schedule required in NY (What??! School doesn't end at 1:40 anymore?! Homework?! ) You get the idea!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, filled with great time spent with the family. My best wishes for the New Year...

Love,
Sophie

Merry Christmas...

Sorry I don't send Christmas cards. Not because I don't want to, or because I am not thinking fondly of all my friends and family. It's because I am a procrastinator and couldn't get it together in time. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! Love, Wendi