boys! boys! boys!

People keep asking me about boys.  Its literally the first question they ask!  Not... What have you seen?  Where's your next trip?  Etc.  Its... So, how are the guys there, have you met any hot Italians?  And not to sound completly bitchy or rude, but... Dudes, BASTA (that means "that's enough" in Italian)!!!  To answer the question, yes.  The Italian men are scrumptious and grimmy and I love it.  They all smell like Aqua Di Gio (cologne), cigarettes, and greesy hair.  They all dress really well and have amazing eyes.  They all cat call every girl that walks by and stares you down as if they're about to pounce on you!  I freaking LOVE them! BUUTTT!!!  I purposely haven't written about them OR gotten involved with any of them because this trip isn't about guys.  This trip is about me.  The end.

The Simpsons???

They love the Simpsons!  Its kind of humorous actually!  When you walk through the markets, many of the souvenirs have something to do with The Simpsons... Simpsons t-shirts, Duff beer, posters, and whatever else you can think of!

My pants are officially tight...

Enough said.

beginning of the end.

Its been a while since I've posted anything, and for that, I apologize.  I've been rather distracted by the goings on of life the past week and a half trying to figure out what to do.  Let me tell you all what's going on.....

The grandma of the family that I have been living with and working for is getting ready to "semi" retire.  This coming April, she has decided that she doesn't want to work as much, and would rather spend her time helping out with the kiddos.  As a result, the family has asked me to leave at my convenience in mid April when my visa expires (I was planning on overstaying my visa and being an illegal immigrant... and was kind of excited to call myself one too! haha)

So... It looks like I have about 5 weeks til I'm home. 

Hopefully I can find a job... Anyone have any suggestions?!

b.

Non capisco... my first day of Italian class

I had to take a placement test on the first day of my Italian class.

I get to the language school promply at 9am and some people are already taking the placement exam.  So I sit down at an open desk and begin taking the exam as well.  I thumb through the first few pages and kind of laugh to myself... its all in Italian!  I look to my right, and the girl next to me is busy writing down all the answers, she knew everything!  The only thing I understand is "name" and "nationality."  So I write down the answers and raise my hand.  The instructor calls on me and I say, "Ummm... Mi scusi.  Non copisco!"  Literally translated means, "Ummm... Excuse me.  I don't understand," which I'm sure the Italian interpretation is somewhat similar to what we think of a dumb blonde from California sounds like.  So... Now I'm a dumb blonde of America.  Awesome.  People are looking at me funny. 

The instructor pulls me into the next room over, just the two of us, and we sit down next to each other at a desk.  He does this motion with his hand where he points to his mouth and then points to my mouth, back and forth.  OMG!!  Does he wanna make out?!?!  That's my first thought... but then I realize he just wants to talk. FEWFFF!!!!  Then he says, "We do oral."  Did he just say what I think he said?!  I must have a really dirty mind, because now I'm thinking he wants to do more than make out.  Anways, Bre, get your mind out of gutter... Please forgive me, its 9am, I'm tired. 

We continue with our "oral" exam which took all of 3 minutes and I see him write on the paper, "Level 1.  Beginner."  AS IF I NEEDED TO BE PUT THROUGH THIS EMBARASSMENT IN ORDER TO TELL YOU THAT!!!!!!!!! Hello!

So much for my first day of Italian class.  I didn't learn anything execpt for the fact that I'm a perv at 9am.

b.

a little ear candy.

For those of you who are like me and like to listen to music while you read...

Nina Simone - I shall be released

enjoy.

special.

I feel like I can't even write this posting because I'm so excited to tell you all about it!  I think I've tried writing the first sentence 3 or 4 times before I decided to just start like this! HAHA

I'm not really sure what else to say, other than my trip was really special.  It was one of those trips that, before I even got there I had an amazing time.  One of those trips that brings tears to my eyes, and I can't really explain why. 

This weekend I had the absolute pleasure of meeting my cousin, Germana, and her husband, Marco, in Torino.  Germana's side of the family didn't immigrate to America and they're the only relatives that I know of that are still in Italy.  I posted a bunch of pictures from our visit on my facebook page along with little discriptions of everything, so you can kind of get a sense of everything we did together.

The night before I went to Torino I met up with friends and was supposed to just hang out, "have a glass of wine," and go to bed early because I hadn't packed yet and my train left at 11am.  PFFFFF!!!  Yeah right... A few bottles of wine later, I got home around 3am.  I figured I would just get up with the kids, pack, and sleep on the train.  I was so gitty and anxious to meet Germana and Marco that I didn't sleep at all, it was a 3 hour train ride.

I got off the train and Germana recognized me immediately.  With a huge smile on our faces and open arms, we hugged as if we had known each other our entire lives.  We walked back to her incredible apartment in downtown Torino and chatted the whole way.  We were greeted by her two dogs, Nouvela and Ortellia.  Both of her "babies" were adopted from shelters and have physical problems.  Germana has a very nurturing heart and takes care of them with such patients and compassion, all the while with a beautiful smile on her face.  Germana and I spent the rest of the day walking around the city and getting acquainted with each other.  That night, all three of us (along with one of Marco's best friends AND Nouvela) went to a pizzeria for dinner.  The pizza was fantastic, of course!

What an incredible feeling to be loved so much by someone who you've never met, but share a common name, therefore a common ground and a common history.  Two completely different worlds brought together by nothing more than "Gastaldi."  It was like we had always known each other.

CIAO!

b.

p.s. Marco is a riot!

1 month: 3 things I've learned about myself so far....

1.) I'm really bad at asking for help -  I'm an independent person, which at times is my greatest strength, but it can also be my greatest weakness.  I'm the kind of person that likes to "do it myself."  I like being able to figure things out on my own and take care of myself.  But Florence is a completely different world from anything I've seen before.  There are different ways of doing everything; laundry, getting around town, finding a store.  Even simple, everyday activities like making coffee or cooking pasta are totally different!  I've discovered that its really hard for me to ask for help even if I really need it!  WOW... and its really hard for me to admit that... Did you just see how many times I said "really" in that sentence?!  Eeew... ANYWAYS... I'll work on that.

2.) I thrive when I'm active and productive - Growing up, I've always had a lot going on; different extracurriculars, homework, volunteering, dancing, blah blah blah... and for the first time in a really long time, it seems as though my schedule is almost entirely free!  Its the strangest feeling not having anything to do... No deadlines or duedates, no appointment, no goals.  Its cool not having anything to do, but I've realized that if I don't have anything to do, I DON'T DO ANYTHING!!!!  I end up sleeping in and being a lazy butt all day, which is something I totally hate doing!  Everybody needs those days where they don't do anything and they hang out in their pj's all day, but not an entire month straight.  Don't get me wrong, I've done things... Met some really awesome people, seen some incredible history, eaten some bomb food!  But what I've learned about myself, is that when I have more goals and more responsibilty, I really thrive.  I feel really good about myself when I do a good job at whatever it is that's expected of me.  I can't stress enough how much a love having a packed schedule... It keeps me awake and sharp!  Luckily, my Italian class starts next week, I've been working on getting a volunteer position at a local International Children's Theatre, and I joined a gym.  SO hopefully this will fill my schedule a bit and I'll feel more productive and energized!

3.) I feel most confident about myself when I'm around the people I care about - When I first began my journey, I never thought about how I was doing this by myself.  Then I got here, and I've never felt so alone in my life!  I know you're probably thinking to yourself, didn't you just say you like being independent?  Yes, I did say that, BUT what I've realized is that even when I'm doing things on my own, I have the most incredible support system on the planet!  If something goes wrong or if I need help, there are so many people close by who are more than happy to help me!  Everything I do, and everything I've accomplished is BECAUSE of the people who support and believe in me.  So, to those people, thank you!  Thank you for letting me be a crazy 23 year old who moves to a foreign country by herself!  Uhhh... I totally couldn't do it without you!!  I love you all!

Fascims vs. Communism

The other night I was walking home from downtown Florence, my usual route, nothing out of the ordinary.  As I'm walking, I notice a large group of people walking towards me waving flags as well as bright flashing lights.  At first it seemed to be some kind of parade or something, but as I got closer, I started noticing that people were wearing bandanas over their faces, the flags had the communist symbol on them, and store owners were closing down their shops.  I was obviously a little taken back by the situation, but continued on.  As I'm walking through this huge crowd, I see news reporters talking into tape recorders and people taking pictures.  No one was giving me a hard time, I got a few weird looks, but I just smiled and kept walking!

After I got through this first crowd of people, I realized that the bright flashing lights that I saw earlier were actually police lights.  Standing about 20 yards in front of me was a row of police with their plastic sheilds up and batons drawn; they spand the entire width of street, from building to building.  I shimmied my way through the "front lines" and was greated by pretty much every cop the state of Tuscany could scrounge up.  Police buses, cop cars, fire trucks, and pretty much everything else you can think of littered the streets.  When I finally made it to the outter part of the city, the traffic was horrible!!!  Cars couldn't go anywhere because the authorities had barracaded all of the interesections.  I couldn't get home because of this.  It took me about 15 minutes before one of the cops let me through the streets.  I wish that I would have taken pictures of the situation, but I just wanted to get home as quickly as possible.  What is normally a 15 minute walk, took about an hour!

When I got home, I asked my family what was going on... Alessandra explained to me that the police heard there was going to be a manifestation of the Communist and Fascist groups and that there might be a riot.  In an attempt dissolve the situation, the police blocked all the roads and increased the number of patrols on the streets.  Despite the efforts to prevent this situation, apparently the Communist group somehow managed to form and cause quite a bit of disturbance. 

The next day, there wasn't anything in the newspaper about the situation except that it caused traffic.  Luckily it wasn't that big of a deal.  There is, however, quite a bit of political instability in Italy right now, so there might be more to come.  I'll keep you posted!

the crack of europe

We have Nutella in America, but we don't really eat very much of it.  You can easily find it at grocery stores right next to all the peanut butter, but again, we just don't ever really think about buying it.  And that's a good thing!  Its freaking addicting!!!!  And its everywhere!  Walking down the streets of Florence, there are waffle stands all over, and the topping of choice is Nutella.  Big, huge buckets of Nutella.  Nothing in Florence comes in "Costco" sizes EXCEPT Nutella!  Lisa and Dario have it for breakfast everyday, and when we're out of Nutella, we have cereal with Nutella inside of it!



I had a conversation with Luciano about Nutella, and he told me about a study he read that had to do with people's reactions to different brand names... CocaCola, McDonald's, Volkwagon, Nutella, etc.  And Nutella ranked number one world wide.  People recognize and trust Nutella over any other brand in the world. 

My suggestion to everyone at home... Try it with caution.  Its delicious, but be careful, once you start eating it, you might never stop!

international toilets.

We've all read the book "everyone poops," but what we haven't talked about yet is WHERE everybody poops.  From my expereinces abroad, almost every culture has a different way of taking care of business.  The most memorable experience, however, took place in the Tokyo airport with my mom and sister...

The three of us arrived in Tokyo and just like any other group of girls, the first thing we did when we landed was go to the bathroom.  My mom and my sister went into the family bathroom together, while I went into the regular bathroom alone.  The only open stall was the very last one, so not knowing any better I ventured back there and let myself in only to find this....

I took one look at this "asian squat toilet" and immediately started laughing, there was no way I was going to use that.  So i waited for a different stall to open up, and little did I know that I was about to sit on the greatest toilet ever invented.  At first glace it didn't look any different from the ones we use in the states, but when I sat down the first thing I noticed was that the seats were heated.  As I'm going pee, I look down and I see all these buttons that look like this...

Being the curious, young woman that I am, I started pushing all the buttons... And ladies... This is where the good part of this story begins... The coolest bidet ever!  Not only can you change the angle that the water sprays you at, but you can also change the water pressure!  AND the best part is... It doesn't stop until you press the stop button.  And when you're all done and cleaned off, there's an air dryer. 

Captivated by my new best friend, I left the bathroom feeling clean as ever and really anxious to see what my mom and sister thought.  Both of them were already done and waiting for me by this time.  "Did you guys push all the buttons on the toilet," I asked them.  Of course, neither of them had even considered trying it out, so I made them go back to the family bathroom with me so that they, too, could experience what I just discovered. 

Steph was the first one to try it, and she handled it like a champ; both angles, all the different pressures, and the dryer.  THEN my mom sat down... The second the water hit her she went flying off the toilet and screamed like a little girl.  Remember when I told you that the water doesn't stop until you push the STOP button?  Well... My sister just happened to be standing right in the line of fire and got completely drenched in toilet water!!!  We all left the bathroom histerically laughing... What a way to be welcomed to the Asian continent!

Well... There are bidets here too! Every household has one as well as many restaurants.  Here is mine...

She might not be quite as fancy as the ones in the tokyo airport, but she still leaves me feeling fresher than ever!

recycling and sustainability in italia

After having done a significant amount of work in sustainability and recycling in college, I find it very interesting to see what other cultures do when it comes to dealing with their waste.  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Italy has taken huge steps in ensuring that their environment is being taken care of.  According to my host family, Italy outlawed plastic garbage bags in 2007.  In fact, when I went to a local electronic store to buy an electrical adaptor, they resued an old plastic bag that they already had.  When I came home with this bag, the daughter told me not to throw it away because they would reuse it for the reycling.  The only bags that are legally available for purchase in grocery stores are the kind that are biodegratable.  I used to use these biodegratable bags in the states, but they are much harder to find and are typically more expensive than what we traditionally use.

Also, all waste services have been taken over by the country of Italy... Meaning tax dollars are used to provide garbage, recycling, AND compost services for the entire country.  Every few blocks or so, there are dumpsters lined up on the side of the road which is where we "take out the garbage."

While I don't necessarily agree with the idea of letting the government take over providing services such as these, I do think that offering insentives for being more environmentally conscious would not only encourage better waste behavior and awareness, but would also be a great step toward better legislation as well!

.... just something to ponder...

i ruined dinner.

Luciano came back from Trento tonight, and Alessandra asked me to finish making dinner while she went to pick him up from the train station.  Pretty simple, right?  Boil some pasta, puree some soup; brainless... pfff... I over cooked the pasta! 

Alessandra told me, "Pasta for Italians is like hamburgers for Americans.  We like it cooked a certain way and we won't eat it if its not just right."  So, in an attempt to salvage the tortallini, she did what any good Italian would do... Add some olive oil and parmasian cheese.  Well, needless to say, no one would eat it... Except for me!  lol  I mean, its not like it was bad or anything, it tasted fine to me, a little mushier than normal maybe, but by no means unedible.  They thought I was crazy for eating it HAHA!

We all had a really good laugh about it...  Oh well... I guess I'm not as Italian as I thought!

Love,
b.

today was a good day!

I'll admit it, this first week has been pretty tough and eye-opening.  Everything hit me all at once... I don't know very many people, I certainly don't speak the language, I'm living in someone else's house, I don't know my way around, and EVERYTHING is new and different.  I've been missing my family a lot this past week because they're all in Oregon together celebrating my Grampa Al.  We don't get to see each other all at the same time very often and I was missing out on that.  I felt very lost and alone.  I had these constant sufficating thoughts of self doubt.  Why on Earth would I leave everything I've ever known??  I mean, to be perfectly honest, it wasn't like there was anything wrong with my life... I'm not running from anything.  My life was pretty awesome actually, I had a kick ass apartment practically across the street from the space needle, a great roommate, my friends, parents, and siblings were close by, there was a lot to do, and I had a lot of fun!  Sure, my job wasn't the highlight of my day, but it allowed me to be an independant woman; I could easily provide for and take care of myself.  So why should I move?  Once I got here, all this started hitting me really, really hard.  I've never felt so alone in my life! 

THEN!  Yesterday, I had lunch with a girl named Melissa... What a gem!  She put my soul at ease and shooed away all my worrisome thoughts.  Melissa is a friend of a friend of a friend (if that makes sense?)... And it just so happens that she literally has the exact same story I do (almost)... She's from Seattle and moved here after working for the same company I was working for for way too long... We both just kinda needed a change from the mundane and a challenge!  She's been here for over a year now and is studying at the culinary school, nannying, and teaching English lessons.  She's gone through everything I've been talking about and could  totally relate.  She assured me that everything would be ok and encouraged me to stick it out (not that I was planning on leaving yet).  I just need to stay focused on why I came here -- to refocus myself on what I find important in life.  She took me to a local, family owned and operated restaurant -- she's one of the regulars and we were greeted with big smiles and hello's!  She told me that when she first moved here she went to this place multiple times a week to watch them cook in the mornings.  The food was awesome... we both had tortallini in a meat sauce, and shared a salad and a beef stew.  I was stuffed!  Melissa is an absolute SAINT!  I am incredibly blessed to have met her!

UPDATE: My Italian class starts on the 14th of February and I've been talking to Alessandra about good places for me to volunteer at.  I'll let you know when I know more!

I love you and miss you all!

b.

la casa

Its interesting to learn about how people live in different parts of the world.  In Firenze, everyone lives in apartment buildings.  In fact, the first night we all had dinner together, the parents were marvelling at the thought of living in a house.  It is such a foreign concept that a family would have an entire living space all to themselves AND have their own yard, but to a lot of Americans, this is the norm!  Americans tend to have a lot of boundaries, we like our space, and we like to maintain our "bubble."  In Florence, this bubble doesn't exist to the same extent, people are much more open to letting other people in "their space."  The picture above is the building that I am living in, it is surprisingly modern given the setting.

If you click on the map, you'll see a purple dot towards the top, this is where I live... Piazza della Vittoria.  I'll come back to this map in a later blog, but just so you know... the purple line is the route I take to get to the downtown area (highlighted in blue).  I'd estimate that it is about a mile from my apartment to downtown. 

Anyway... back to our dinner conversation... Luciano and Alessandra agreed that most Florentine apartments are very small, and theirs is among the biggest they have been inside.  It is a beautiful apartment; really cool, intricate tile flooring, high ceilings, gorgeous pops of orange, red, and yellow, three bedrooms and one bathroom.  The kitchen is my favorite part (mom, you'll appreciate this):

Everything is red!  How great is that?!  On the far right there, that's the fridge (red, duh), in the middle... a red dishwasher!  There's another level of red cabinets above that you can't see in the picture.  Since space is limited, organization and storage is really important.  Everything in this apartment has it's place!  This is something that my Type A personality really appreciates... It ensures that everything is always very clean and tity!  I love it!!

This is the library in the livingroom.  This is probably only half the books in the entire library.  The family is very educated, as you can see... There are hundreds of books on various psychology and economic topics, travel books left over from past au pairs, kid's books, novels, and many, many more!

This photo was taken from the back porch.  Can you see the mountains in the way back?  So awesome... I loved being able to see the mountains in Seattle, so this makes me feel more at home.  Out of the picture, on the right hand side of the porch, is where the family's keeps their pantry. 

 



These last two pictures are of the piazza across the street... The kids like to play here after school sometimes.  There's always something going on in the piazza... People walking their dogs, moms out with their babies in strollers, young kids playing together, older kids skateboarding or lighting off fireworks. 

The whole neighborhood is something straight out of a movie... Very beautiful, quiet, and charming.  Its something you could really only appreciate if you see it for yourself.

b.

la famiglia

I haven't taken a whole lot of pictures of the family yet, so I'll post more later.  I thought I'd take this time to talk about the family...

Le Papa - Luciano - He is an Econ professor at a university in Northern Italy in a town called Trento.  Trento is in the mountains, right on the Swiss/Italian boarder.  Luciano isn't usually in Florence (Firenze) during the week because of his job, but since the new school term hasn't quite started yet, he's been here the past few weeks.  He's super outdoorsy and loves taking the kids bike riding, fishing, pretty much anything that gets the kids outside!  You can tell that the kids really love having him around.  Luciano has been very informative so far, giving me advice on things I should go see, and AGAIN warning me about the infamous Italian men (as if I haven't heard it enough!).  Luciano just recently got some really great news... An article he wrote got accepted into a major academic journal, and another one was accepted pending some revisions... We celebrated with some wine!

La Mamma - Alessandra - Alessandra does a lot!  She is a Psych professor here in Firenze, she also sees clients in the evening and works at a crisis clinic for battered women AND she started a center for perpetrators (the only one like it in Italia)... A very busy woman!  The kids absolutely adore her, you'll often find her snuggling and kissing the kids.  Alessandra has also been really awesome about telling me different things I should see and encouraging me to go out (the first couple of days I was extremely jet lagged).  Alessandra makes the most amazing homemade bread, I've woken up almost every morning to the smell of fresh baked bread... All different kinds; whole wheat, classic white, sweet bread with hazel nuts and raisins (and i'm sure many more to come!) so yummy!

Lisa - Lisa is turning 9 next week and we are having a party for her on Friday with all her friends from school.  She's such a sweet heart, loves to laugh and play with her friends.  She speaks English really well and loves to learn new words.  She's not intimidated by the language and often asks what something means if she doesn't know.  She's really great about helping me understand what certain things mean and often has to translate for me!  Lisa takes swimming lessons once a week and gymnastics twice a week.  She's really good at gymnastics, and her specialty is standing on her head!  The picture below is Dario's (the son) handy work with the camera. 

Dario - Dario is 6 years old, and just started school this year.  He's super active and loves to play rough with Luciano and is getting more comfortable with me too.  He does not like speaking English, but understands pretty much everything I say to him.  He usually tries to respond to me Italian and I just say "Dude, I don't know what you just said!" and then he'll try to explain himself in English.  He's getting better about it.  According to the parents, he usually ends up getting the au pairs to speak Italian... We'll see what he gets away with with me!  Dario is starting breakdancing lessons on Tuesday!  Below is a picture of Leo (left) and Dario (right) playing in the square in front of the apartment building. 

All in all, this is a really awesome family.  Full of love and laughter.  I'm really grateful to have been selected by them out of the many potential au pairs that they interviewed.  I couldn't have created a more fitting home for me.  They have been incredibley welcoming and warm so far and I can't wait to get to know them better!

b.

Kevin's bucket list....

My friend Kevin Del Rosario studied abroad in Florence one summer, and he wrote me a bucket list of things I need to do while I'm here....  and I'll get started on it today!  But here is the list so that you can get an idea of what to expect.... :)

·         Go to Cinque Terre – take a mountain hike, or ride the trails via mountain bike rental.
·         Take a cooking class in Florence
·         Go to the top of the Duomo – take the stairs, pray while you’re on top.
·         Boboli Gardens – tour the whole place. Sights and art is breathtaking.
·         Ride the Trenitalia to a Random Destination – Trains are cheap and take you to small little villages.
·         Go to Club Andromeda – take a shot of Absinthe. Forget about the rest of the night.
·         Piazza Michelangelo – Beautiful, fun, street vendors.
·         Take one night off, and drink beer at the Duomo stairs (This may become more of a routine rather a bucket list item)
·         Eat Gelato at Grom…every day.
·         Buy a Fake Louis Vuitton Merchandise – negotiating the price is the funniest part. Who knew you could have such an interesting conversation bartering the price of a fake Louis Vuitton wallet.
·         Visit “The David” and take a photo (it is illegal – no cameras allowed)
·         Dinner at Gato il Volpe
·         Attend a Firenze Futbol Match – Wear purple.
·         Eat at McDonalds – Their Italian menu is different from America…interesting options!
·         Go to Zara and shop till you drop – most girls do this anyways.
·         Eat Balsamic Steak at Aqua Al Due.
·         Have Drinks at Kikuya or Lions Fountain.
·         Scooter the Streets of Florence.
·         Space Electronic and Twice - great dance clubs.
·         Test out Trivia Night on Tuesday at Old Stove.
·         Panini at the Oil Shop – or pretty much any sandwich.
·         Late Night Doner Kabobs. There is a small kabob shop on Via Cavour St., by the McDonalds.  Be-friend the late-night workers.  They are always drunk and high. Eventually, they will recognize you, and start handing out free Kabobs to you every night when you come back wasted…
·         Be Safe – Italy is cool, but there can be Creepers. Buddy system!

And I'm off!

Peace. Love. Travel!

b.

Ciao, Seattle!

Oh man... what a long journey! Especially alone! 

My mom and sister dropped me off at the airport at 5:30am on Monday.  I was a little apprehensive and nervous because I've never traveled that far alone before.  So I went to go check my bag and I put it on the scale... 72.3 pounds.... ummm excuse me? That can't be right, I'm just tired, right?  Nope, my bag weighed 72.3 POUNDS!  So, basically, I'm traveling with a small child.  The woman looks at me says, "The fee for an overweight bag on an international flight is $200."  She then suggests that I put 22.3 pounds in my carry-on, which wasn't going to happen so i just said, "You know what, its ok.  I'll just pay for it."  I put my card on the counter and dropped my kid off at daycare and carried on with my day. 

The flight to DC was uneventful.  I sat next to an interesting guy who grew up in Africa.  His parents were missionaries and traveled a lot, which made for good conversation.  He was a pharmasist traveling for business.  Nice guy.

My layover was super fast, just enough time to get to my next flight.

I sat next to a firey redhead from Alabama (who reminded me of my stepmom, Lisa) named Amy on my flight to Rome.  Amy lives in Rome with her husband, Ziggy, who was not traveling with her.  Ziggy works for the UN.  They met in Bangkok, Thailand (which is somewhere I have traveled to, so we bonded about that).  They fell in love so she uprooted herself from her home and career in Alabama to be with him in Rome.  Amy was a Godsend, I don't know what I would have done without her!  I was never too worried about how to manage flying alone, I've been flying alone for a long time.  Traveling via train in another country, on the other hand, is a whole different story.  I was really nervous about this, I had heard from multiple people that the main train station in Rome was huge and full of people who like to pickpocket.  So, my new friend Amy helped a lot!  She basically held my hand through the whole thing.  She told me exactly what to do, where to go, and what to say.  She told me, "Don't let them get loud with you," in her southern accent, "If they start to get loud, just get loud right back.  Tell them exactly where you wanna go and don't let them get loud with you!"  Haha she was so great!  She gave me her email address and hopefully I'll get a chance to hang out with her again while I'm here! 

Anyway... OF COURSE my bag was the last one off the carosel.  I just kept telling myself that they were busy hand-carrying my bag from the special daycare center because of how much I had to pay.  I was expecting some poparee and bath salts to be delivered along with my bag for $200!!!  geez.

It took all my strength (which is a lot) and another guy to get my bag on the train.  The wheel got stuck... ugh... I don't even wanna relive the trouble I went through getting my bag on and off the stupid train... so just know that it sucked... like it really, really sucked.  And now my back hurts.  The end.

The train ride was pretty... Beautiful scenery.  The hills, the grass, the orange trees (minus the ridiculous amount of grafiti)... It was all very calming.  My mind was racing while I was on the train.  Everything started to get real for me.  I was no longer in America, everything I've ever known (besides my Paige jeans) was thousand of miles away.  I almost started crying multiple time on the train (not gunna lie).  The question of why the HELL am I doing this kept popping in my head.  No matter what I did to try to calm myself down, I just couldn't shake these thoughts.  As a result... my fingernails have seen better days (sorry Eric!  I'll do better, I promise!)

I arrived in Florence around noon, and Alessandra met me at the train station.  I saw her drive up and immediately waved her down.  She got out of the car and I threw my arms around her and told her how excited I was to see her!  I needed a familiar face, a familiar language, a familiar anything. 

All in all, I got here safely.  Fewf!

Peace. Love. Travel.

b.

grandpa gastaldi.

"Honey, leave no grape leaf unturned" ~ Grandpa

I'm supposed to leave for Italy tomorrow, and I just got the news that my Grandpa Al passed away last night.  Despite his health, we had such a great visit over the holidays.  A man full of wisdom and stories, never lost his sense of humor even towards the end.  After a thorough warning about how sleazy Italian men are, he sent me off with these farewell words, "Honey, leave no grape leaf unturned."  This phrase has now become the mantra for my trip. 

I'm sad that I can't be with my family during this time.

peace.love.travel.

p.s. The picture above was taken in San Diego at the welcome home ceremony when my dad returned from Desert Storm.  I used to tell everyone that my dad was "Saving Kuwait."