magicbeans. nothing if not awkward.

i spent some time this afternoon looking up student architecture competitions on the web. i found a couple, one is for an urban plan in a section of berlin, the other, through the american university of sharjah in the united arab emirates, is for a large, sustainable residential complex.

there's something to be said for working on a competition entry. it would give this coming semester some structure, and there are monetary prizes. but it would also sort of be at the expense of doing a self-created, self-directed project as something of a prequil to my degree project next spring. i haven't made up my mind either way. it doesn't hurt to have options though.

we went out for drinks with some other american kids tonight, who will actually be studying in florence next semester, but have their orientation here in rome this week. they seemed nice, although they had to get up early for a field trip in the morning and so the evening ended pretty early.