And It’s Only Just The Beginning! 9/02/08 to 9/03/08

It all started the night before I left for Italy. Nervous and excited, I stayed up till 4 AM packing up all of my stuff and thinking about the adventure I was about to embark on. Three hours later, at 7 AM, I woke up feeling a little apprehensive. Was I going to have another panic attack like I had suffered as a freshman going into Iowa and not be able to go study abroad like I had been dreaming of for so long? I told myself, “No! This trip is about you!!!” I had learned to face my fears… to turn life’s negative experiences into positives, and nothing was going to stop me from going on this trip.
Arriving at the airport, I knew that it would only be a matter of time before I had to say goodbye to the people who loved me and would miss me most, my parents. It wasn’t easy but I had to bite my lip, tell them I loved them, gave my final hugs “goodbye”, turned around and started heading for my terminal. As soon as I walked through the gate, feelings of being alone, missing my family and friends, and the idea of moving to a whole new country for 4 months where I don’t know a single soul or even a word of Italian started to overwhelm me. I closed my eyes…took a deep breath…and reminded myself that these next 4 months were going to be the best time of my life!
Traveling to Europe has truly been an interesting experience. First, I flew from Chicago O’Hare to Munich, Germany on Lufthansa Airlines. The plane was brand new, state of the art, had two floors, and was very comfortable (even in Economy). Each seat was equipped with your own touch screen computer, which let you do anything and everything…check the status of the flight, watch brand new movies on demand, TV shows like PlanetEarth, listen to popular new CD albums that just came out , and even had “In Your Seat Yoga”…Yes, I said YOGA! And I’m not gonna lie, I did it…there, I said it! Haha. I also had the pleasure of sitting next to a young guy, Larry, in his late 30’s, who has been living his life against everything that is considered to be the norm. He had never been married or had kids, but instead chose to live his life according to his own plan and based on what he truly loves to do…mountain climbing. This guy has done it all! He’s climbed almost all the biggest mountains in the world and has amazing stories to tell about each one. This guy was one of the most “down to earth” people I had ever met and I truly feel lucky for having the opportunity to meet such an awesome and interesting person.
Meanwhile during the flight, a baby cried for the whole eight hours straight to Germany and when I say cry, I don’t mean a harmless little baby cry…this was a death shrill unlike any other I have ever heard. And on top of that, there was a man so obese sitting behind me that I wasn’t able to put my seat back the whole 8 ½ hour flight and each time he stood up to go to the bathroom, I truly thought that he was going to rip my head rest off or break my chair causing me go tumbling backwards. But other than then that…smooth sailing! So to Larry, I would just like to say “thank you” for telling me all those fun and exciting stories that lasted for hours and kept me from straight up killing someone on the plane…haha! No, but seriously!!!
Arriving in Munich after an interesting 8 ½ hour flight, I decided to walk around and take in all that Germany had to offer…big beers and high fashion. During the 4 hour layover, jet lag and the fact that I had only slept 3 hours in the past 18 hours started to take its toll on me. Frantically, I started pounding coffee and espressos (5 of ‘em total) like it was my job. It got to a point to where I was so physically and mentally exhausted that I stared to see black spots and thought the floor was melting…pretty bad! Finally, 11 AM rolled around and it was time for my final flight to Florence. Walking up to the plane, I knew it wasn’t going to be a pleasant flight. This plane was one of the smallest planes I had ever seen! It’s holding capacity was 40 passengers and the plane was powered by two huge propellers…and of course I was the lucky one of having the window seat right next to the “blades of death”. Or so that’s what I referred to them as I chatted and made jokes with the older Italian gentlemen sitting to my right. I don’t really think he understood me or I him but in the end we both had a good laugh. Fifteen minutes into the flight and as we were flying over the Swiss Alps, I must have blacked out hard for exhaustion because next thing I knew I was being shaken like a rag doll and the Italian stewardess said that we had arrived in Florence and it was time for me to get off the plane.
Having arrived in Florence, I didn’t really know what to expect. I got a cab, pointed to the address on a piece of paper and we were on our way. Initially, we drove through the outskirts of Florence and immediately I began to notice the crazy drivers, all the little SmartCars and scooters, the graffiti on the sides of buildings, and the intense aroma of cigarettes (especially as we drove past the trainstation). This is Florence?! What the hell!!! I thought it was supposed to be beautiful and romantic?! Soon enough, it was! It really was!!! The sights…the sounds…the smells…I couldn’t believe it! This is really where I am going to be living for the next 4 months? HOLY SH*T!!!
The taxi finally pulled up to fairly decent sized building in the center of Florence that said, “Lorenzo de Medici”. I had finally arrived! Outside of the building, kids from all over the country stood with there bags anxiously awaiting there housing assignments. I got out of the cab, went inside, met my housing coordinator and finally got the keys to the new apartment I was anxiously waiting to see and move into. During the 10 minutes I had to wait for another cab, I had the chance to meet a lot of really cool people that were in my program. Turned out that the initial size of our program, about 10 students, had grown to nearly triple the amount that we had initially been told. Now there were kids from all over the U.S. for me to meet and share new experiences with.
As my taxi pulled up to my new apartment, I couldn’t believe it! Middle of Florence, two to three blocks away from my new school and next to all of the most scenic spots in Florence! As I walked through my new apartment and started to unpack, I was stunned and amazed by the accommodations our program has set up for us: 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a big living room, an up to date kitchen w/all appliances, fully furnished and to top it off, I had my own room with a huge balcony. And when I say huge balcony, I mean I could fit 20 people on it (literally!).
After unpacking all of my stuff, meeting all my new roommates (4 total) and getting over the shock that my apartment was so nice, we took off on the town and started to explore. For the things that I saw/tasted in only the first 1hr ½ of my experience walking around Florence…all I have to say is, Oooo Myyyy GOD!!! And it’s only just the beginning!
(To be continued…)