A Protestant in Catholic Heartland? Hitchcocked! and LAW.

I'm living the life.
It hit me today that this is probably the best time of my life.
It makes me want to become an advocate of study abroad.
When else can I just live in another country, learn about it's culture, find things I'm interested in, and simply pursue knowledge?
It's beautiful. Simply bellissime.
I just got home from the Florence Cathedral's Sir Thomas More Society Social Dinner at a restaurant called Il Gatto E Il Volpe. Finally, a dose of community. I went with Olivia, and we met so many new, interesting people who love God. And they're fun, too! So rare. The dinner was delicious; for the first time since I've arrived in Italy I had authentic spaghetti with ragu! The noodles were so fresh and the ragu was to die for. Mmmmmmm. And the meal? Only 8 euros TOTAL.
Funny enough, Jess, Nicole, and two other of our friends walked by while we were sitting at the window enjoying our meal. They ran back by once they saw Olivia and me, and we had a hilarious conversation with our hands through the glass. Love those girls.
I'm really glad we went. As ALL of you know, I'm not Catholic, and didn't know what to do when they said a "Hail Mary" at the end. But, talking about keeping the foundational truths of the gospel in the forefront of our spiritual lives and having solid conversations about Christianity was refreshing, I must admit. This was my first taste of community, and I know it was God-given and meant to focus my eyes back on Jesus.
There is a trip to Rome with the bishop, who is apparently awesome, and plans to have mass in St. Peter's Basilica and the like. I'd love to go, but I'm not sure if it would be acceptable for a non-Catholic to participate. I want to be very respectful, and even more so since it is in the Vatican. Thoughts?
I've been keeping it easy lately, and unfortunately haven't branched out much into my city in the past week. Tomorrow, I have to go pick up tickets for Venice to meet my parents on Friday, and I'm hoping to get to go to the Medici Chapel and see where the famous patrons are buried. Wicked cool.
Honestly, whenever it gets dark and I can't go outside by myself, I've been watching Alfred Hitchcock non-stop. I'm a bit obsessed. I've watched "Notorious" with Ingrid Bergman and Carey Grant, "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Hitchcocked!" the documentary, and now I'm almost finished with "Rebecca." It's chilling but the suspense is so addicting. I'm overtaken by his brilliance and ability to pull the audience's heartstrings. Hitchcock is a genius.
Other than that, today was my class on "Stowaway on Board," so we got to talk about women's rights and the way women use/view their bodies. I had a male friend in the class so it was fun to hear his point of view as well. My eyes are open to the fact that I can think on my own. I don't have to let anyone else tell me what truth is when I am just as capable of perceiving it. I could go on into a schpeel, but I decided against it.
I've pretty much decided I want to go to law school for either mediation law or international law. I just joined an international society at UGA, and I feel that the Lord is calling me to use the many experiences I have had here to broaden my horizons and to love and help people of all nations. I talked to a friend, Ben, who is in law school, and he supports my decision. I love law and want to do something to benefit the rest of the world - redeem creation, if you will. It's scary...and it means I'll have to work hard to graduate. But if this is what I'm created for, I am more than happy to work for it.