IM GOING ON AN ADVENTURE

Well, technically I already went on one today with Rachel. And I felt a lot like Bilbo. Mainly because of the scenery, but also because I'm a total homebody like him, so venturing out into the city was a lot for me. I'm trying not to be lame like I am in the states.

So I took my fancy new DSLR with me and took some pictures. I'm only going to share a few with you all now so I don't destroy the internet for my roommates and neighbors.

So this is the Duomo. I pass it at least 3 times a day, and yet I still never get over how massive and beautiful it is. When you learn about this building in Architecture History, the material is mainly about the dome (which is massive) and all of the pictures you see are aerial. Nothing prepares your for the gorgeous statues and colored marble that adorn the exterior, or for the massive size of the building itself. I cannot wait to go up into the dome and see just how massive that structure is.

Pretty Rachel at the Arno River.

We called this the pro-suicide statue. I seriously have no idea what it's doing or why it's even a thing.

Ahh, and the lovely Italian road signs. I said in a previous post that we used the pictures on the products in the store to figure out what they are. But this picture isn't helping me at all. Seriously, someone explain what this means!

We kept on trekking further up; as a result, you can see how beautiful Tuscany is in the distance.

This is the photo-set of the things that really made me feel like a hobbit. I mean, come on. Look at that scenery.

Fun fact, I dropped my lens cap on this hill and it rolled super far down.  YAY.

And this is the result of me leaving Rachel half way up the hill to get my cap. Also, note my hobbit size within the scenery. [end hobbit-feels photo-set]

I tried to get all fancy shooting the Duomo through the fountain at Piazzale Michelangelo.

The gorgeous view looking down the Arno River towards the heart of Firenze.

And then when I got home, I was ordered to take a picture of their dinner. These neighbors are so cute. But really, They're mighty adorable and lovely to live next to.

ITS HEATING UP....

...literally.

You'll see what I mean.

After the bit of orientation I had today (which consisted of mostly walking. Walking will come into play later), I was ready to go on the planned grocery/necessity shopping trip with my roommates. After meeting up with everyone we first set off to find an electronic store to get a converter for one of my rommies. We walked for quite a while and no such luck, so we soothed our poor american spirits with our first taste of gelato! (I had the teramisu flavor) After we had our fatty fix we headed back past where we were originally and a few blocks farther to get to the store. 

Once we were there, Rachel and I were on a mission. Having decided that our apartment would buy food indiviually with a few stock items for communal use, we went around picking out everything we need to make ourselves food. We also had to get some major necessities for the apartment, like toilet paper (like badly). Seriously, we spent AT LEAST and hour and a half in this store. And it wasn't because we didn't know how to read the labels; they had pretty pictures on the labels that helped us out. We just literally needed that many things. Fortunately this place is super inexpensive, which is what us broke college students need, and i only spent around 28 euro (including the joint items that I'll get reimbursed for). For as much as I bought, that seems like quite a steal.

Then came the joy of taking all of our heavy bags back to our apartment. It's not difficult to get to it from the store or that long of a walk (only about 10 minutes) but with all of those bags it was certainly exhausting. But as we got back to our apartment we see the repair-men in the apartment next to us. Pam and Megan came over when they heard us get in and told us that they had already gone into our apartment and turned on the heat. HALLELUJAH WE HAVE HEAT! That made my day like 50x better, except that I was already sweating at that moment from lugging the groceries back.

So after we got back to our apartment and unpacked the groceries, we had to set right back out to turn in a form to the agency that handles our apartments. It was just around the corner, so it was super nice and easy to do. Right after we got back, my other roommate had gotten home and told us about how she found a place to buy a converter for 3-pronged plugs. Since I didn't have any of mine (they were all in my suite case) and I would need one for the studio anyways, one roomie and I headed out for the store around the corner. We got there, and I knew just enough Italian to be able to purchase the plugs for the two of us, and we headed right back. As soon as we got back we both had wanted to charge our computer, so we plugged them in.

And then mine didn't work.

So we had to go all the way back, and switch them out. The man at the shop was super nice and just gave me another one, but I feel bad for whoever wants one next because he just threw the broken one into the drawer with all of the rest.

After that we headed back to the apartment to test out the new converter. and BENE! it works!

I then set out to the kitchen to heat up water and make myself a cup of my new instant coffee, since I've been lacking on my caffeine intake lately. As soon as I put the pot on the stove, Pam comes running over to tell me that all of our luggage just arrived at the school.

So not even getting a moments rest, I walk across the city to get my long-awaited-for luggage. Unfortunately we get to drag our 50lb bags back across the cobble-stone roads. Sure, we could have gotten a taxi, but it didn't seem worth the 20 euro (and I still stand by that). With a broken wheel on my suite case and the cobble stone roads, I was lagging behind my friends and thoroughly exhausted; even more so when you consider how much I walked around today (please also note that I live on the third floor).

When I was finally able to get my suite case all the way up to my apartment (big ups to Pam for being she-hulk today) I saw that my coffee water was still hot so I decided to still treat myself to that cup of coffee.

A+ to Italy for even have good, cheap, instant coffee. Seriously, this stuff is fantastic. Especially for instant coffee.

So with a cup of coffee and one of my new apples, I set out to finally move into my room. Since it is now officially homey, I took some pictures to show you all the my swagged out pad.

 Rachel would kill me if she knew I was posting this. Oops!

 Our beds face this direction, towards our little desk we share.

 Thanks for the converter Thomas, we're putting it to good use!

"So will there be a bidet on the way to the hospital?"

Roomie #2 cooking.

Then I went across the hall to bother my friends as they were making dinner. Well, Megan was.

 This was how I found two of the ladies, working real hard...on facebook. They had wine out on the table so I took a sip. Not recommended. T'was nasty. We'll have to work on finding a fruitier wine to suit my taste buds if I'm ever going to drink any.

 Then poor little meg-meg is slaving away of the stove (I'm being dramatic of course, guys)

So i decided to annoy them with one final picture before I left. ahhhh I'm such a good friend. 

Anyways, I went back, and finally cooked myself a meal; it happened to be my first meal of the day since I apparently was just so busy I forgot to eat. I made bow-tie pasta, cooked some sausage meat in pan, and then poured sauce over it all. I'm quite proud of how it turned out since I never ever cook at home. Thanks mom! 

Anyways, that's all I've got for now. Two more days of orientation left, one day off, and then school begins.

Ciao! 

WE MADE IT

I'm not even sure what day it is.

Our flight, which was supposed to leave at 10:19am didn't have wheels-up until 4:40pm. From our first flight. All because the plane that we were supposed to be on was coming from Columbus, and it was delayed. I guess I shouldn't really complain though since their flight was supposed to take off at 7am that morning, so they definitely had it worse.

Because our flight was delayed so heavily, we almost missed our connecting flight to Frankfurt, Germany, despite having schedule a 6-7 hour layover.

How does that even happen??

Luckily a guest student who was meeting up with us in Philly had them hold the plane for us.

Needless to say, I smell so bad from running through the Philadelphia airport.

The next flight, then, was 8 hours straight into Germany. I didn't get much sleep, what with the couple in front of me all splayed out and leaned back almost literally into my lap. But it's all good. They had a good movie selection. And we got fed twice. And I got to see the sun-rise a little bit, and all of the city.

I'm glad I got a window seat.

Once we left the states, and while on the flights, there was no free wifi to be found, which made it super difficult to communicate with people back home. I hope they weren't too worried. Even now I'm writing this in the German airport waiting to post it until I get to my apartment and have free wifi.

At this point I don't even care if it's good or not (the nerd in me has given up).

I'm too tired.

*

*

*

*

UPDATE

We made it to our apartments, but my groups luggage did not. So that's fun.

But the internet works really well, and my apartment has the router ;)

Once I get my converters and am able to charge my laptop I'll upload photos of the apartment. 

This is it

The night before take-off. I'm all packed. My suitcase is exactly on-weight. I've seen all of my family. 

The only thing left is...to go. 

I feel like I'm going to hurl. And I can't quite tell if it's from excitement or fright. 

And I keep refreshing my flight information hoping that my flight doesn't get cancelled. 

Yeah...that's how I'm spending my evening. [After many a phone call from my roommate (who is taking different flights) about not being able to flight out tonight or tomorrow or who knows when.]

.

.

.

.

.

I'm just boring at this point. So I bid you all adieu. 

Ciao to the New Year!

Happy New Year friends, family, and random readers!

2014 is now upon us, and the time to take-off is nearing! I only have about 4 days now until I leave for Italy. It seems so surreal, and also too soon. There is so much I still need to get done before I'll be ready to go, and the date is nearing whether I'm ready or not.

So today, as only the second day of the new year and snowed-in, I'll be cranking out as much as I can. I'm spending the day finishing up my resume, setting up my new external hard-drive, setting up my Italian phone, and practicing my Italian.

I do feel very relieved, though, that I was finally able to pick up  my passport. I got to see my spankin' new visa (the picture for which is dreadful), which was super exciting. And I got to find out that I'm going to be neighbors with some of my best friends.

With all of these new developments slammed in my face as soon as business hours started again for the first time this new year, this trip is starting to become so real so fast. I feel very blessed to be able to have this experience, and I also feel very humble that it is a dream coming true.

I'm not very nervous about living abroad, or living away from my family; that's something that apparently isn't very common. But I just feel like I'll do fine over there. We'll see how that goes once the 'culture shock' sets in.

For now, Ciao!

(and sorry for the cheesy sign-off)

20 days

I only have 20 days to get ready to leave America behind and take on Italy.