Scholastic life has begun. Italian, French, Global Social Movements and the Media, Writing in the Humanities, and Game Theory are my new subjects of focus. It was day one when I realized that I, in the multicultural whirlwind of the past few years, had forgotten how to study or do homework by any effective means. Today marks week two, day two, and I have already reacquired a portion of my pre-Norway vocabulary (thank goodness). At the moment, I feel exhausted in every sense of the word. Schoolwork is slowly consuming my soul. The past days have blended together in a constant interchange of books, notebooks, Microsoft Word documents and languages. I feel that I live at Panera, the boys’ apartment, along with everyone else I have contact with. (Walking all the way home between classes is quite unrealistic for me, my roommates, and many others I know). In the past few days, every discovery of free time is cause for celebration: “Fantastic! I can do some homework!” I can at least be thankful that I am learning something, and that the people I spend time with are also dedicated to that cause.
In contrast, this past weekend was packed with incredible fun. A jazz/blues/rock music festival, Blues to Bop, was going on in downtown Lugano, which we explored both Friday and Saturday nights under the stars and glittering of the city lights reflecting on the lake. Narrow cobblestone streets led us from plaza to plaza, where various stages played different kinds of music amongst gelato and crepe stands. It was magical. On Saturday we walked to a rope swing and flung ourselves into the lukewarm waters on Lake Lugano. It was beautiful.
I am now editing this post some hours later. Fed up with all work and no play, I ventured into nighttime Lugano with my roommates and Greg. We crept under the shadow of a parked boat and waded out into the lake for a secret nighttime swim under the stars.
