la bella italia

So maybe I'm due two posts about now. I'll work on the first one now and hopefully before the end of the week I'll get the second one up.
Friday, the 7th, I went on a cool visit to the "Caves de la Chartreuse," where we had a tour and learned about the production of the Grande-Chartreuse liquor made in the monastery that I visited a while back with my host-family. After the tour, I quickly rushed to the train station to catch my train to Milan, Italy. I spent four days there and had a wonderful time! So many people I knew, had heard of, or shared mutual friends with. It was very weird to go to a brand new place, and feel like so much was familiar. I stayed with a girl that my parents hosted over the summer in TX. I had met her brother before when he stayed with us about 3 years ago. Anyway, it was nice to get to visit the church and the ministry that Grace Bible Church (back home) has been a part of for years. I also got to tour around Milan some and see things like Il Duomo, the Galleria, the ruins throughout the city, etc.
I think the coolest thing was seeing the people and fitting in so well, so soon. I felt very comfortable there. It was a good break from the "properness" of France.
For those of you who are from Grace and might find this interesting, here are some people that I got to see while there: Serena, Luca Macchiaolo, Daniel Roberts and his wife (not my brother, Robby Roberts' son), Bruno Perossa, Gabriele and Melissa, the Lukers, Stefan and his wife (can't remember her name), and a several others. I also met someone that went to LeTourneau University with my brother...small world!
Other random news from this side of the world. Last week, when I got back from my trip, I payed a visit to the doctor for an allergy that I've had for some time. Usually in the evenings I break out in hives, and I've figured it is because of a reaction to French dairy products. I'm glad to have medicine that prevents the skin irritation, and I don't have to cut out milk and cheeses of my diet (especially in France, the cheese kingom!) It's been interesting doing the research and learning about it on my own. All the doctor really helped me with was give me a good medicine... :) Things are back to normal again. Anyway, it's late...as you can probably tell from this post. I need to get to bed since I have class at 8.30am tomorrow.