in cime al mondo.

I am on top the world. Literally. I am in the clouds way up in the sky, on top of an active volcano in Italy. I am standing on top of Mount Vesuvius, after a 45 minute drive up most of the mountain and another 1000 meters to the top walking, in my flip flops (not really sure why I thought that was a good idea), but I made it to the very top. With my walking stick in one hand and my bottle of water in the other, I paced myself up the mountain, I didn't care how many people were passing me or how long it took, I was going to make it to the top of the volcano. I wanted to stand next to the crater and see the world from so far up high. It was my one goal of the day, and I accomplished it. Partly for me, partly for the fact that my good friend and college roommate Denise was about to walk down the aisle and I was on a volcano. Jokingly before I left, I said I can't go because I will be at Mount Vesuvius that day. I did not realize that we were actually going to the volcano that day and had no idea I was climbing to the top til I woke up that morning.

I think that at the top of that volcano, I realized that I was actually here. In Italy, living in Rome, going to Naples and Capri for the weekend, just to get away. How crazy is it that the world can work like that. One day, I am sleeping until 2pm everyday, and never have a reason to even leave the house, except to go shopping or eat food. And now I am living in Italy, I have called Rome, home, more than once in just two weeks, and I am getting to know the city really well. I travel to Capri, Naples, Florence, and Venice for weekend getaways, and take a walk past the Trevi Fountain or the Colosseum or the Spanish Steps just because its on the way. Did I ever imagine that this could happen? I have thought about going to Italy for years, sent in my application last December and it was all set: I was going to spend my summer living in Rome. How does that ever seem like a reality? It doesn't, it all happens so fast, life happens so fast, especially when you are really starting to enjoy where you are and what you are doing. Right before I left, I registered for the GREs, senior year starts way too soon and I am now in Italy. Life moves at the speed of light, and as Ferris Bueller once said, "life moves pretty fast. you don't stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it."

Never have words been so true, right on the dot. Life does move pretty fast, and as I stand on top of Mount Vesuvius, which by the way could actually erupt whenever it feels like it, you realize that everything is real. What is happening right now is really happening, and even though I still feel like I live in a cloud, and it is funny to say at that very moment when I think I lifted out of my cloud, I was literally in a cloud.

So, if you ever feel like things aren't really happening or life is moving way too fast and you need to put some things into perspective, I dare you to climb to the top of a mountain, stand on top the world and just take a look around, take it all in, because things like this don't happen everyday.