A senior in college?

That's what I am now. Scary, huh? Seems like only yesterday I was just moving into school and thinking about studying abroad somewhere, who knows where. Well here I am.

Yesterday was a day for studying. Went to class in the morning and presented my paper, then had lunch and came home and had lunch again (mmm lunch) and sat down with Zuzana to gather up those recipes.
I spent the rest of the day studying for the Art and Architecture test today, which I really didn't need to do, but oh well. I also downloaded the pilot for Heroes which, as expected, is a good show but is certainly no Lost.

Last night Dan and I had an experience that I think does justice to the kind of attitude I've developed here. He was playing in another poker tourney (he didn't win, I didn't play), and on our way back from the casino we couldn't help but hear a group of girls speking English to each other, trying to navigate their way through Prague. With a smile, we turned and nearly in unison said "where are you trying to go?" "You speak English!!"

After we got over that initial shock, it turned out it didn't matter where they were going because they decided to go with us. And that's how Dan and I found ourselves in the hotel room of a girl we had just met waiting as she grabbed her coat so we and the rest of them could head over to a bar down the street. As it turns out, this was a great group of girls of all ages (all in college, don't worry), and we had a great time dancing the night away with them.

Didn't do much today except take those two tests. When I was finished I sent an SMS to my mom saying "yay! I'm done!" and immediately wasn't sure if I meant it. I just can't get over how interesting this feeling is. I was talking to my dad just a few minutes ago (it's his birthday!) and explained what's going on: I'm so excited to get back to the US (and I am) because I have an amazing year ahead of me. And here, in Prague, I've developed a lifestyle that's so different from any I've had before, one where I ::GASP:: don't have to be doing something every second of every day (I've become a master at just disappearing into my own mind in a crowd of people speaking Czech). In a way, I'm leading two lives right now.

And on top of that there's the whole "it's possibly my last year of schooling" issue. You know, there are so many things in our lives that we're so excited to end, so many points in the future that we're so excited to get to, and when we get there we truly are elated. It makes you (or maybe just me) think differently about endings, about changes, and about the context where we create and live our identities.

I haven't mentioned yet, I'm almost finished with Brave New World Revisited and I started to think about what I should read in my last week in Europe, while I hike around Croatia (I booked all my hostels and hotels the other night, by the way). I was going to open it up to all of you to suggest it to me, but then I realized there was really only one book that was appropriate for the time.

So next week I'll be alone for five days reading On the Road. My mind will be clear, my eyes will be filled with beautiful sites, and my skin will be warm in the sun.

But first I've got two more days in the best city in Europe.