I didn't really have a whole ton today to do, so I came into school early to connect to the internet and blog to you guys. I think that it's about time that I explained a little bit of everyday life in Italy.
Grocery shopping is a good place to start. As I look back today on my first grocery trip, I'm relieved that I went with a small group of friends. First off, you have to buy your bags, so we brought some ahead of time so that we wouldn't have to pay. There are only the baskets to carry your groceries in, no carts. Everything is in a different language, obviously, so figuring out what is what and how it might taste is mind boggling and overwhelming. There are SO many different types of meats and cheeses! Prosciutto is probably the most amazing thing invented in the world. At first, I was scared of it because it looks like uncooked meat. Apparently, it's just very very very thinly sliced deli meat. The cheeses melt in your mouth and are dirt cheap, same with pasta. I went to buy body wash and that was an adventure. I couldn't figure out the words for lotion, body wash, and bubble bath, and they were all next to each other. I probably spent about 15 minutes just staring at them all. Overall, shopping at the supermarket is a great experience and so much cheaper than eating out every night.
The cafe's and most of the stores close down between 12-4 ish by custom for lunch. It's common here to take a nap after eating, and to take your time eating. The people are so skinny and tiny and beautiful! I think that it's because they truly treasure their time with people and take joy and time with the simple pleasures of life.
I think I explained apertivo already, but to enforce the definition...
You buy a drink and it comes with many different finger foods that you fill your plate up with. The one I went to had pizza bread, cheeses, several quiches, and a few meats. It's a great experience, sitting there sipping and eating and chatting with people.
Off to Class!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Genova (Genoa)
I've been quite the traveler lately!
This weekend, I traveled with the most awesome group of people ever (Barbara, Lullo, Will, and Matt) to Genova by train. It's about a 2 and 1/2 hour ride. The entire way was snowy, which scared us all, as we were supposed to be traveling south and towards the ocean. We went through about 3 tunnels, and at the end of the last one, there was SUN! It was the first time I'd seen the sun in 2 weeks!
We spent the weekend perusing the shops, cafes, and enjoying the weather. On Sunday, we spent the day going through 3 different palaces that doubled as museums: the Red Palace (Palazzo Rosso), the White Palace (Palazzo Bianco), and another one that I didn't catch the name of. We saw paintings from the 16 century, some older, some newer. There were coin collections and original metric measuring things.
Genova was really the Italy that I dreamed of. There were cobblestone streets, buildings so cramped together that only a single car could pass through (which happened when we thought it was just a walking road). On buildings, there were random icons and there were tons of beautifully decorated churches. The cobblestone roads wove up and down crazy hills, and everything looked like one giant puzzle. Overall, I'm currently wishing that I could live there for the rest of my life. It was gorgeous.
Today, for the first time since being here, it's officially snowing and sticking! I bundled up to go to class and here I am, sitting in my second class of the day until 2:15 pm.
Here's a few pictures that I think you guys might like.
This is my little apartment living room/kitchen/closets.
A view from the top of the Lingotto Fiat testing track. This photo ALMOST get's my apartment in view.
The inside of the Duomo church in Milan.
This weekend, I traveled with the most awesome group of people ever (Barbara, Lullo, Will, and Matt) to Genova by train. It's about a 2 and 1/2 hour ride. The entire way was snowy, which scared us all, as we were supposed to be traveling south and towards the ocean. We went through about 3 tunnels, and at the end of the last one, there was SUN! It was the first time I'd seen the sun in 2 weeks!
We spent the weekend perusing the shops, cafes, and enjoying the weather. On Sunday, we spent the day going through 3 different palaces that doubled as museums: the Red Palace (Palazzo Rosso), the White Palace (Palazzo Bianco), and another one that I didn't catch the name of. We saw paintings from the 16 century, some older, some newer. There were coin collections and original metric measuring things.
Genova was really the Italy that I dreamed of. There were cobblestone streets, buildings so cramped together that only a single car could pass through (which happened when we thought it was just a walking road). On buildings, there were random icons and there were tons of beautifully decorated churches. The cobblestone roads wove up and down crazy hills, and everything looked like one giant puzzle. Overall, I'm currently wishing that I could live there for the rest of my life. It was gorgeous.
Today, for the first time since being here, it's officially snowing and sticking! I bundled up to go to class and here I am, sitting in my second class of the day until 2:15 pm.
Here's a few pictures that I think you guys might like.
This is my little apartment living room/kitchen/closets.
A view from the top of the Lingotto Fiat testing track. This photo ALMOST get's my apartment in view.
The inside of the Duomo church in Milan.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Adventures of the Bus System
Ciao!
It's been quite awhile since I've written and I finally have a chance to sit down and write and to actually have internet! I can only get internet at school, which is why my blogs have been few and far between.
This past week, I've been getting into the swing of things, moving into my apartment, getting used to the public transit system (a nightmare), and starting difficult Italian classes. We finally have heat and warm water! It was touch and go at first, but having a warm shower was amazing! Probably the most interesting thing I've had to do so far is learn how to shower sitting down while keeping the shower head between my knees to keep warm water running actually over me. Probably not a pretty picture, but definitely an experience.
As for the public transit transit system....I have sworn to myself to never take Bus 101 anywhere! On the sign, it says it stops at our crossroads, but TWICE it hasn't and we've ended up way out of the Torino city limits. At first, we were with a group of 5 and we ended up having some Italian guys on the bus use my phone to all us a taxi, which only fit 4. It was after 1 in the morning and nobody else was driving for the night, so I had to duck down and sit at everyone's feet so that we wouldn't be pulled over by the police. It cost us 36 euro to get home. Good thing we split it 5 ways! The next time I got lost was actually just 2 days ago. I was downtown with a few of my friends, and Will, one of them wanted to go home. It was a school night, so I asked if I could go with him. Once again, we got on bus 101....mistake. Again, it didn't stop where we thought it would and we ended up over 15kilometeres out of the city. We walked for awhile, hoping that a bus would pass us and that we could flag it down, but to no avail. Will joked that we should hitch hike our way home and I said, "ok". As soon as he said he was joking, I stuck out my thumb, and immediately a car pulled over. We'd been walking for about 20 minutes in 0*C weather. I was in boots, tights, a dress, and a polyester jacket. Needless to say, I was FREEZING! The guy that pulled over drove us for about 5 minutes then dropped us off at the metro, which was also closed. We began to walk again, looking once more for a bus. By this time, we had already been traveling for an hour. A second car picked us up. When I stated where we were trying to go (home via Genova i Millefonti) they didn't understand us. So, when we got in the car, we said the Lingotto (which is a huge mall two blocks from our house). They understood this and we headed off. Knowing that many Europeans speak several languages, I asked the couple if either of them spoke Spanish, since they didn't understand English. The man spoke Spanish! My friend Will doesn't speak another language, so as I was talking to the man, I had to interpret for Will at the same time. I explained to the driver that we were in Torino studying Italian and exploring. I also explained why we were out so late on the road. I was SO blessed! He drove us all the way home (15K) which was at least 13K from his own home. When we got out, Will and I had decided to give him 5 euro for gas, and while I was putting the money in the driver's hand, he said "NO NO NO" and kissed each of my cheeks. He then turned to Will, kissed his cheeks, then mine again and wished us a good night. :D Best experience ever. We arrived home at 2AM with no feeling in our freezing bodies at all!
This weekend, we went to Milan and visited one of the biggest churches in the world! The Duomo. If you haven't heard of it, I recommend that you look it up on the internet and google photo it. We stayed in a very very interesting hostel. Apparently, you even have to have your passport to stay in ANY hotel within Italy or outside of it. We hadn't thought to bring ours. The room didn't have any towels. There wasn't any heat, and it was COLD at night. There were only sheets on the bed, no even a blanket. There was dry rot in the bathroom and the ceiling leaked. Needless to say, we're definitely not staying in a 2 star hostel again!
Well I have to get back to class! Have a good day everyone!
It's been quite awhile since I've written and I finally have a chance to sit down and write and to actually have internet! I can only get internet at school, which is why my blogs have been few and far between.
This past week, I've been getting into the swing of things, moving into my apartment, getting used to the public transit system (a nightmare), and starting difficult Italian classes. We finally have heat and warm water! It was touch and go at first, but having a warm shower was amazing! Probably the most interesting thing I've had to do so far is learn how to shower sitting down while keeping the shower head between my knees to keep warm water running actually over me. Probably not a pretty picture, but definitely an experience.
As for the public transit transit system....I have sworn to myself to never take Bus 101 anywhere! On the sign, it says it stops at our crossroads, but TWICE it hasn't and we've ended up way out of the Torino city limits. At first, we were with a group of 5 and we ended up having some Italian guys on the bus use my phone to all us a taxi, which only fit 4. It was after 1 in the morning and nobody else was driving for the night, so I had to duck down and sit at everyone's feet so that we wouldn't be pulled over by the police. It cost us 36 euro to get home. Good thing we split it 5 ways! The next time I got lost was actually just 2 days ago. I was downtown with a few of my friends, and Will, one of them wanted to go home. It was a school night, so I asked if I could go with him. Once again, we got on bus 101....mistake. Again, it didn't stop where we thought it would and we ended up over 15kilometeres out of the city. We walked for awhile, hoping that a bus would pass us and that we could flag it down, but to no avail. Will joked that we should hitch hike our way home and I said, "ok". As soon as he said he was joking, I stuck out my thumb, and immediately a car pulled over. We'd been walking for about 20 minutes in 0*C weather. I was in boots, tights, a dress, and a polyester jacket. Needless to say, I was FREEZING! The guy that pulled over drove us for about 5 minutes then dropped us off at the metro, which was also closed. We began to walk again, looking once more for a bus. By this time, we had already been traveling for an hour. A second car picked us up. When I stated where we were trying to go (home via Genova i Millefonti) they didn't understand us. So, when we got in the car, we said the Lingotto (which is a huge mall two blocks from our house). They understood this and we headed off. Knowing that many Europeans speak several languages, I asked the couple if either of them spoke Spanish, since they didn't understand English. The man spoke Spanish! My friend Will doesn't speak another language, so as I was talking to the man, I had to interpret for Will at the same time. I explained to the driver that we were in Torino studying Italian and exploring. I also explained why we were out so late on the road. I was SO blessed! He drove us all the way home (15K) which was at least 13K from his own home. When we got out, Will and I had decided to give him 5 euro for gas, and while I was putting the money in the driver's hand, he said "NO NO NO" and kissed each of my cheeks. He then turned to Will, kissed his cheeks, then mine again and wished us a good night. :D Best experience ever. We arrived home at 2AM with no feeling in our freezing bodies at all!
This weekend, we went to Milan and visited one of the biggest churches in the world! The Duomo. If you haven't heard of it, I recommend that you look it up on the internet and google photo it. We stayed in a very very interesting hostel. Apparently, you even have to have your passport to stay in ANY hotel within Italy or outside of it. We hadn't thought to bring ours. The room didn't have any towels. There wasn't any heat, and it was COLD at night. There were only sheets on the bed, no even a blanket. There was dry rot in the bathroom and the ceiling leaked. Needless to say, we're definitely not staying in a 2 star hostel again!
Well I have to get back to class! Have a good day everyone!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Culture Shock!
I have so much to tell you guys! The past couple of days have been so hectic and trying to find internet is proving to be quite difficult. How about I start at the beginning of the beginning? Sounds good to me.
Saturday morning, I woke up at 4 AM to get ready to fly out of the Portland, OR airport. My boyfriend had to do the awful duty of dropping me off at the airport and saying goodbye, as he had class up in Portland for the weekend.
Saying goodbye was the hardest thing ever. ☹
My flight from Portland to L.A. took off at 6:55am. I landed there around 9:35 and picked up my baggage from the claim and walked my way to the international terminal only to find out that the airline that I was supposed to be traveling with didn’t even open for another hour. There was nowhere to sit in the International terminal, so I sat myself on the tile floor and people watched. It was amazing to simply listen to the many different languages and see all the different outfits. When it was time to check in, I met two other girls going on the group flight. As we waited, we met another girl right before we were to board.
The flight was strenuous and oh so long! I had a window seat and the foot space was definitely quite limited. I only got up twice the entire flight! They served us two meals, which was definitely a shocker as all national airlines only serve peanuts even if you are flying during a mealtime.
We met up with the rest of the group in Frankfurt for a super quick layover, since our first flight had been delayed due to snow in Europe. The second plane we were on was going to be small, so they told us that we had to check our carry ons. Little did we know, we’d regret that forcible move later on.
Getting to know the other people in my group was awesome! There are some from the East Coast, and some from the West. It’s an eclectic mix of people for sure. The plane ride was short and sweet. In Turin, we went to grab our baggage and get through customs. As we watched the turnstile go by, and people dwindled away after getting theirs, we realized that all the carry ons that had been checked weren’t coming around. It ends up that the airline lost 40 carry on bags from the gate at the Frankfurt airport to the plane in Frankfurt. We ended up waiting in line just to report the missing bags for over 2 hours. One of the USAC employees ended up having to come backwards through customs in order to save us and speak to the airline in Italian, as none of them spoke English. It was definitely an eye opener for what was to come. Unfortunately for me, my missing bag contained 2 of my 3 pairs of jeans, my only textbook, and my makeup, as well as my camera cord. So I apologize for the apparent lack of photos. I swear to you, I’ve already taken over 200. Oh, and my battery charger was also a victim to the baggage. UPDATE: The luggage was procured today (Tuesday) but won’t be delivered to our school until tomorrow.
It ends up that customs was simply walking through a door. They didn’t even check our passports! We drove through the city to stay in a hotel for the night near the center of the city. Once we arrived, we got rid of our bags and bee lined it for the pizzaria that we were going to eat at. The pizza is spectacular! Of course ☺ how could it not be? Fizzy (or carbonated) water is very popular here, and ice is never used. At all. Drinks that you would normally expect to be icy or like a smoothie are instead like juice, but are somehow magically always cold. Oh, and breadsticks, Amerians have it all wrong in this department. The doughy, bread-y parmed sticks you think of are actually quite the opposite of what Italians view as breadsticks. We were served skinny, long, pretzel-like bread.
The next day we were told our housing arrangements and a few of us had the chance to explore the city for a bit, as we live near the school, so we were the last that had to leave to be dropped off at our housing. That day, we ate at a caffeteria, which is a crazy mix of food that you choose from, just like our cafeteria and then you pay for the items individually.
Then, we moved into where we will be living for the next four months. I live on Via Genova in the outskirts of Torino. Our apartment is in the attic on the 4th floor, or the gables of the building. We have 5 skylights. I’m truly bummed that our apartment is one of the two of the 20 apartments that didn’t get a balcony. Most of them have more than one balcony. Apartment living in Italy is drastically different than what is expected in America. Our sloping ceiling is getting in the way of my designer chi with all the wasted space! But hopefully I’ll slowly get used to it. I’ll upload pictures as soon as I get my cord tomorrow and have internet. I’m going to try to do a video of the apartment and upload it for you to watch. Our water heater broke when our landlord came to turn it on. The USAC lady that had helped move us in had already left, so we had no one to translate what he was trying to tell us, and he couldn’t speak English. So the afternoon passed with him calling the USAC office, telling them the info, handing his phone to me, and me then listening to the translation and going back and forth like so. We were unable to get it fixed yesterday, so we had no hot water until later today. Also, our toilet seat is unattached and falls off when you sit! The tub/shower is a sit down one, so you sit and hold the showerhead above yourself. A skylight is right above, and construction is going on next door, and the scaffolding looks right into our bathroom…there isn’t a shade on the window…we’re trying to get that fixed. Oh and the metro rail car goes right below our window. Needless to say, it’s been very interesting. My favorite part of the apartment is probably the heater in the bathroom that looks like a grid of pipes and duals as a towel warmer!
Phew! Now onto today. We met at our school, which is only two blocks from our apartment and had breakfast in the café at the school. Espresso here is delicious! You order what you think would be a regular coffee, and they serve it in very tiny glasses, not the American idea of a coffee portion for sure. But, it has the kick that you need and the flavor that makes your mouth go wild. The school is small; because I guess in Italy they separate the university because there isn’t enough space for the school to be in one place. The school is strictly business and architecture and design. There are about 200 students including us I believe and other international students as well. After the orientation, my friends and I went out to lunch at a ristorante. I ordered, faltering, in Italian adding many gratzis and ums. When my food came, I was stunned. There was so much pasta! It was filled with fresh oregano, whole baby tomatoes, and a sweet garlic butter sauce. It could have fed at least 3 people. All this for only 10 €, which is about $14. It was a pricey place, but now I have leftovers for at least three meals, which is a plus since we haven’t had a chance to go grocery shopping or found a great open air market to frequent.
On a better note, we bought cell phones today! I found out that I can receive calls and texts for free, and that it doesn’t charge me, but the person who calls or texts has to pay. I’ll have unlimited service in Italy so that I can get in touch with people in my program easily which is nice. I can also send free texts all day after the first one, including emails. So I’ll try to figure that out ASAP for all my friends and family back home.
Tomorrow, I start my Italian class. This weekend, I’m headed to Milan (Mee-lahn) with some friends to explore on our own a little bit.
Feel free to ask any questions. I feel I haven’t covered even half of the past couple of days and I’d love to answer anything that you wonder about. I just don’t know what to talk about and what to omit, there’s so much! My roommate bought a little internet hub for one computer and we’ll be sharing it in our room and I’ll just use the internet at the school as much as I can.
Saturday morning, I woke up at 4 AM to get ready to fly out of the Portland, OR airport. My boyfriend had to do the awful duty of dropping me off at the airport and saying goodbye, as he had class up in Portland for the weekend.
Saying goodbye was the hardest thing ever. ☹
My flight from Portland to L.A. took off at 6:55am. I landed there around 9:35 and picked up my baggage from the claim and walked my way to the international terminal only to find out that the airline that I was supposed to be traveling with didn’t even open for another hour. There was nowhere to sit in the International terminal, so I sat myself on the tile floor and people watched. It was amazing to simply listen to the many different languages and see all the different outfits. When it was time to check in, I met two other girls going on the group flight. As we waited, we met another girl right before we were to board.
The flight was strenuous and oh so long! I had a window seat and the foot space was definitely quite limited. I only got up twice the entire flight! They served us two meals, which was definitely a shocker as all national airlines only serve peanuts even if you are flying during a mealtime.
We met up with the rest of the group in Frankfurt for a super quick layover, since our first flight had been delayed due to snow in Europe. The second plane we were on was going to be small, so they told us that we had to check our carry ons. Little did we know, we’d regret that forcible move later on.
Getting to know the other people in my group was awesome! There are some from the East Coast, and some from the West. It’s an eclectic mix of people for sure. The plane ride was short and sweet. In Turin, we went to grab our baggage and get through customs. As we watched the turnstile go by, and people dwindled away after getting theirs, we realized that all the carry ons that had been checked weren’t coming around. It ends up that the airline lost 40 carry on bags from the gate at the Frankfurt airport to the plane in Frankfurt. We ended up waiting in line just to report the missing bags for over 2 hours. One of the USAC employees ended up having to come backwards through customs in order to save us and speak to the airline in Italian, as none of them spoke English. It was definitely an eye opener for what was to come. Unfortunately for me, my missing bag contained 2 of my 3 pairs of jeans, my only textbook, and my makeup, as well as my camera cord. So I apologize for the apparent lack of photos. I swear to you, I’ve already taken over 200. Oh, and my battery charger was also a victim to the baggage. UPDATE: The luggage was procured today (Tuesday) but won’t be delivered to our school until tomorrow.
It ends up that customs was simply walking through a door. They didn’t even check our passports! We drove through the city to stay in a hotel for the night near the center of the city. Once we arrived, we got rid of our bags and bee lined it for the pizzaria that we were going to eat at. The pizza is spectacular! Of course ☺ how could it not be? Fizzy (or carbonated) water is very popular here, and ice is never used. At all. Drinks that you would normally expect to be icy or like a smoothie are instead like juice, but are somehow magically always cold. Oh, and breadsticks, Amerians have it all wrong in this department. The doughy, bread-y parmed sticks you think of are actually quite the opposite of what Italians view as breadsticks. We were served skinny, long, pretzel-like bread.
The next day we were told our housing arrangements and a few of us had the chance to explore the city for a bit, as we live near the school, so we were the last that had to leave to be dropped off at our housing. That day, we ate at a caffeteria, which is a crazy mix of food that you choose from, just like our cafeteria and then you pay for the items individually.
Then, we moved into where we will be living for the next four months. I live on Via Genova in the outskirts of Torino. Our apartment is in the attic on the 4th floor, or the gables of the building. We have 5 skylights. I’m truly bummed that our apartment is one of the two of the 20 apartments that didn’t get a balcony. Most of them have more than one balcony. Apartment living in Italy is drastically different than what is expected in America. Our sloping ceiling is getting in the way of my designer chi with all the wasted space! But hopefully I’ll slowly get used to it. I’ll upload pictures as soon as I get my cord tomorrow and have internet. I’m going to try to do a video of the apartment and upload it for you to watch. Our water heater broke when our landlord came to turn it on. The USAC lady that had helped move us in had already left, so we had no one to translate what he was trying to tell us, and he couldn’t speak English. So the afternoon passed with him calling the USAC office, telling them the info, handing his phone to me, and me then listening to the translation and going back and forth like so. We were unable to get it fixed yesterday, so we had no hot water until later today. Also, our toilet seat is unattached and falls off when you sit! The tub/shower is a sit down one, so you sit and hold the showerhead above yourself. A skylight is right above, and construction is going on next door, and the scaffolding looks right into our bathroom…there isn’t a shade on the window…we’re trying to get that fixed. Oh and the metro rail car goes right below our window. Needless to say, it’s been very interesting. My favorite part of the apartment is probably the heater in the bathroom that looks like a grid of pipes and duals as a towel warmer!
Phew! Now onto today. We met at our school, which is only two blocks from our apartment and had breakfast in the café at the school. Espresso here is delicious! You order what you think would be a regular coffee, and they serve it in very tiny glasses, not the American idea of a coffee portion for sure. But, it has the kick that you need and the flavor that makes your mouth go wild. The school is small; because I guess in Italy they separate the university because there isn’t enough space for the school to be in one place. The school is strictly business and architecture and design. There are about 200 students including us I believe and other international students as well. After the orientation, my friends and I went out to lunch at a ristorante. I ordered, faltering, in Italian adding many gratzis and ums. When my food came, I was stunned. There was so much pasta! It was filled with fresh oregano, whole baby tomatoes, and a sweet garlic butter sauce. It could have fed at least 3 people. All this for only 10 €, which is about $14. It was a pricey place, but now I have leftovers for at least three meals, which is a plus since we haven’t had a chance to go grocery shopping or found a great open air market to frequent.
On a better note, we bought cell phones today! I found out that I can receive calls and texts for free, and that it doesn’t charge me, but the person who calls or texts has to pay. I’ll have unlimited service in Italy so that I can get in touch with people in my program easily which is nice. I can also send free texts all day after the first one, including emails. So I’ll try to figure that out ASAP for all my friends and family back home.
Tomorrow, I start my Italian class. This weekend, I’m headed to Milan (Mee-lahn) with some friends to explore on our own a little bit.
Feel free to ask any questions. I feel I haven’t covered even half of the past couple of days and I’d love to answer anything that you wonder about. I just don’t know what to talk about and what to omit, there’s so much! My roommate bought a little internet hub for one computer and we’ll be sharing it in our room and I’ll just use the internet at the school as much as I can.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
My Mom the Superhero
Throughout these past few weeks, my mom has come to my rescue on many occasions. She's reminded me of a million things that I'd forgotten to do, and things that I hadn't gotten around to doing. She bought me last second items. Although it was a bit stressful at times, I realize now that I woudln't have been able to get much done if I hadn't had her help.
And today, she had to leave, three days ahead of me for a business trip in Texas. The goodbyes were difficult, as she's quite worried about me going so far away and her inability to just fly over and help me out if need be. I love my mommy and I'm going to miss her a whole lot. Mom, just for you, I was strong and didn't cry. But the moment that door closed, I broke down. I love you.
And today, she had to leave, three days ahead of me for a business trip in Texas. The goodbyes were difficult, as she's quite worried about me going so far away and her inability to just fly over and help me out if need be. I love my mommy and I'm going to miss her a whole lot. Mom, just for you, I was strong and didn't cry. But the moment that door closed, I broke down. I love you.
It's Time for Time to Change
The countdown is dwindling down and things are beginning to get a bit tense. I was just informed this morning that due to the recent terrorist attack attempt on Christmas day, my luggage allotment is one piece due to heightened security measures for overseas travel.
Now lets think....
A girl+one suitcase+four months+shoes+clothes= one sticky situation.
Not to mention a lot more needs to be packed than just clothing. Lets add in a textbook, school supplies, and a converter, etc. Needless to say, my super ultra woman packing skills came out today as I rolled and stuffed and configured. I was determined.
Tonight, I've come to pity those I'm leaving behind. Not because they won't be with me, but because it will be a royal PAIN to get in touch with me. I've had to make calls tonight about a Eurorail pass that I ordered and shipped to my program in Italy...let me tell ya! There's a nine hour time difference, and businesses open at nine. So, here I am, making calls at midnight, trying to figure out how the whole calling out of the country thing works. Good thing I'm learning early!
I have a wonderful home church family who blessed me this Sunday with prayers and blessings over my journey. Everyone seems super excited to hear about everything, and I plan to keep them well informed throughout my journey.
I forgot to mention in my last blog that if you have any questions, feel free to ask! I would love to answer what I can and to try and figure out those I don't have answers to. Be curious :)
Now lets think....
A girl+one suitcase+four months+shoes+clothes= one sticky situation.
Not to mention a lot more needs to be packed than just clothing. Lets add in a textbook, school supplies, and a converter, etc. Needless to say, my super ultra woman packing skills came out today as I rolled and stuffed and configured. I was determined.
Tonight, I've come to pity those I'm leaving behind. Not because they won't be with me, but because it will be a royal PAIN to get in touch with me. I've had to make calls tonight about a Eurorail pass that I ordered and shipped to my program in Italy...let me tell ya! There's a nine hour time difference, and businesses open at nine. So, here I am, making calls at midnight, trying to figure out how the whole calling out of the country thing works. Good thing I'm learning early!
I have a wonderful home church family who blessed me this Sunday with prayers and blessings over my journey. Everyone seems super excited to hear about everything, and I plan to keep them well informed throughout my journey.
I forgot to mention in my last blog that if you have any questions, feel free to ask! I would love to answer what I can and to try and figure out those I don't have answers to. Be curious :)
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