update from italy

hi mom! glad you are having fun in utah. tell grandma and grandpa i
love them and that we had no problems with the gypsies. probably
because i am with two hunky italianesque men to scare them off. we are
staying at tonys house now in siracrusa sicily. it is beautiful here
and this cute quaint tiny little town where everyone has lived here
their whole lives. i cant believe ive been here for a week! its gone
by so fast but then it seems like weve been so many places and done so
much. i want to travel the world mom. i love it. you wont believe what
we did today. ill have to show you pictures because youll think im
exaggerating but im not, i promise. so tony decided to show us some
local river where they swim, but theres a hike to get down to it. so
we all go to the italian version of walmart and buy some cheap little
water shoes for 3 euro, which is 4 us dollars, and we hiked down this
huge giant hill. seriously it was 4 miles. took us an hour. so we
finally get down and it was unreal. incredible. it looked like a scene
out of the jungle book or something. these gorgeous little bright blue
pools of fresh water surrounded by huge mountains. it was incredible,
really. wish you couldve seen it. whit took a ton of pics so im sure
you will. anyway, after we swam around these pools, we headed back and
tony decided to take us a different route that he had been on once
before with a tour guide. seriously, you would be so so so proud of me
and you should be so so so glad i am alive. we swam and hiked for over
two hours in this river with a current going over rocks and plants and
everything and then we got lost and whit fell and the boys had no idea
where we were going and we could tell because they started speaking in
italian only because they didnt want us to know. it was so scary
because it was almost sunset time and we didnt want to get lost in the
middle of the jungle in sicily. but we made it out, after backtracking
and taking the huge giant long hill route to get back. im glad we did
it though because it was just that beautiful. this trip is so good for
me. ive decided that ive been way too sheltered in my life. ive lived
a beautiful life full of beautiful things but i sometimes wish i
couldve been exposed to things that are hard and uncomfortable. but
its okay, im adjusting just fine. omg last night!!!!!! last night we
went to the best pizza place on the beach and then climbed down to
these rocks on the water and the moon was huge and lit up the whole
sky and we were all there together and enjoying this incredible city
at night time when the sky just lit up like magic and everything was
covered with this blue light so we looked up into the dark sky and it
was like a giant shooting star. not a normal shooting star. i cant
even explain it really. it was like a huge falling ball and then it
exploded into a stream of light. it was unreal. the most amazing thing
ive ever seen. life is so beautiful. it is hard and full of trials but
it is also filled with beautiful things and beautiful places and
beautiful people. im so glad to be alive. this trip has changed my
life. okay i have to go eat dinner now but i love you. cant wait to
tell you all about this place. have fun in utah! love emma