Hey everyone,

So a lot has happened since our last update. Classes have officially begun and we are getting into the swing of things here. I've been doing a lot of exploring around the city and thus have seen some really neat things. I've been having a lot of fun with all of the other students in the program, they are all really cool and all have different styles. Its been a lot of fun getting to know all of them.

But back to classes, as I said before I'm enrolled in two writing classes. Both of these classes have been really fun and interesting for me so far, and I've been writing for both of them, which has been great. I really enjoy writing, but rarely set aside time on my own to do it, so it's been nice to have a motivation to write. It's been mostly poetry so far, which I think is a good style for an experience like this because you can write so many poems about so many different things in not very much time. I really enjoy poetry, and have been using it to color my experience a little more. Here's one poem that I wrote for a writers workshop in the class. I got really good feedback from everyone in the class and the teacher, so that made me feel pretty good. It doesn't have a title, but its about my motorcycle.

I tuck low behind her shield,

Trying desperately to escape

the attacking wind above me.

There is noise, so much noise.

Earth’s air screams, in competition

with my machine.

I tuck ever lower, as man

and machine become one.

We rely on each other,

this cannot happen without

our unity.

As the numbers climb, the noise

gets louder. The road narrows,

everything blurs. I can feel

my machine, the roar of

her motor, the shake of her grips.

She reminds me to shift, as she knows

I have forgotten. We are now

one, moving through the world

as fast as we dare.

With a twist of the wrist

the excitement grows.

With a twist of the wrist,

                                               everything else is forgotten.

 I'm also gonna be writing some short stories for my fiction class, so I'm looking forward to getting into that process. 

Anyways, this weekend the group is traveling to Florence and Venice, we leave bright and early tomorrow morning. We're scheduled to stop at a Tuscan winery for some tasting on the way, so that should be really fun. I don't really know what to expect from these two cities, but I'm excited nonetheless. It should be a fun weekend. I'll be sure to update you guys on how it went next week. But until then, take care and have a good time with whatever it is you do.