'Twas the night before Tunisia...

... and all the through the school
not a person was quiet
no, it wasn't cool.

I leave for Tunisia in 7 hours!!! YAY!!! I'm so incredibly excited!!! Tunisia, by the way, is just a hop, skip, and a jump, or in this case, a bus, a plane, and a bus, away from Italy. It's in Northern Africa, just across the Mediterranean.

We leave from the J-Force at 7, NO EXCEPTIONS...so we'll pull out around 7:30. I swear it's worse than Alpha Chi time. First we're going to the embassy and then hopefully check in to the hotel in Tunis, the capital.

But I'll talk more about the day-by-day stuff when I get back.

What you'll find entertaining is the meeting we had a few days ago. Being my father's daughter, I took notes. If nothing else, they will be funny to look back on later. I wrote normal things like "don't drink the water" and "wear a scarf at the Mosque" but then also wrote things like "don't wander too far in the desert or a sandstorm might come and I'll never be seen again" and "hold on to the camel tight so arabian knights can't pull me off and sell me into slavery in Algeria." Why Algeria, you ask? Because a month after the J-Force went last year, just that happened to an American tourist. But don't worry, my friends Danielle and Erin back at Marquette are already hatching a plan to save me from slavery. Seriously. Danielle gave my dad her cell number.

On a positive note, we'll get to see where they filmed the desert scenes in Star Wars!

What else is new.... I had class yesterday at the Vatican again. This time we went to the Vatican Museum, which, of course, was amazing. I wasn't feeling too well, darn pasta is getting to me, but still managed to appreciate all the wonderful art. I've also come to an important realization: modern art stinks. In case you don't know the story, my mom and I raced through Art Street in 10 minutes flat and through Andy Warhol in 20 minutes. The only reason Warhol took that long is because we couldn't stop laughing at Kathleen and my little joke... Love you sister!!!

No, modern art is horrible. Michelangelo made art. Raphael created art. Bernini made art. Warhol made Last Supper drawings with soup cans in the background.

Speaking of Michelangelo: I saw the Sistine Chapel!!! It was so impressive, although a lot smaller than I thought. Darn Ron Howard and Tom Hanks made it seem bigger in Angels and Demons. What really through me off was the Last Judgment. It's horrible. People being cast into hell and eternal damnation wasn't really enjoyable. Then I realized the next time I'd see it, I'd be a part of the real thing, which was very unsettling.

Signing off now! I don't know what Internet I'll have in Tunisia-- have they even heard of computers there?--but I'll try to update when I can! And I'm just kidding about the computer situation there, I hope...