No Sir, My Name is not Jennifer Lopez, Thanks Though

Welp, it happened, I did it, I got on the plane and now I am in Florence! What an experience. It all began on Tuesday, August 26th with my mom and dad dropping me off at the airport to catch my 2:50pm flight from Pittsburgh to Newark. When we got to the check-in counter for United Airlines, I was expecting to have a not-so-pleasant experience..I swear it must be a requirement to have a sour attitude to work at United. My mom and I were shocked when the lady who helped us, undoubtedly a mom, was so nice. I knew that my bag was going to be over weight. There was no doubt in my mind that after being able to pack everything in one bag, it was going to be more than 50lbs, and it was...by 25 pounds. The woman helping us said, "you know what honey, don't worry about it, call and email your mother every single day and we won't be charging you that baggage fee." WELL OKAY! I got to eat lunch with my parents  afterwards and then left for security (which was much harder than I thought it would be). I gave them both giant hugs and got into the security line teary-eyed.


When I got through security and found my gate, I was feeling pretty accomplished! (Believe me, since I have never done anything like that before, it was a pretty big deal) I waited for about 45min at my gate to board the plane with everyone else and then got on. To my surprise, this plane was for 30 people. Yes. That's 3-0. With every twist and turn in the air, I could hear the plane creak...which was why I tried to distract myself by talking to Reuben, my seatmate. I enjoyed this because of the funny way he smiled (which looked like wincing not smiling), and how he wore his glasses which made him look like a librarian, not a sandwich.

When I landed in Newark, I was so glad to see some familiar faces, the wonderful Tolles clan. Mrs. Tolles and Ben came to drop off and support Zach and I on our respective study abroad trips--Zach is off to Luxembourg until December...he is awesome. After having some appetizers with them, we went through security (where I had to down a whole nalgene full of water because it was full...clearly no prob for me though you would think). We got to our gate and I can honestly say that I have never been more nervous or more close to wanting to turn around in my life, but Zach kept me calm and veered my mind in the right direction and we got onto the plane. Let's just say that seats 25K and 26K don't seem quite so glamorous once you've walked through first-class, but we survived. After our 8-hour plane ride, we arrived in Munich and it was time to say goodbye for a while (THAT was really very hard).

I got onto my plane for Florence of what me and about 40 other study abroad students and 3 or 4 native Italians thought would be a quick one-hour flight. We were wrong. Due to too high of winds, we were forced to circle the Florence airport for 30 minutes. The winds did not die-down, so we had to land in Bologna (yes where the food comes from), a quick 15 minute flight away. After we got off of the plane, we were shuttled by bus to the airport and told to wait for our bags that would take about 30 minutes. They did not take 30 minutes. after 2 1/2 hours of waiting to see any of our bags, one of the native Italians flagged down a worker to sort everything out. She was our golden ticket because she spoke English and Italian fluently. I always knew that the Italians thought nothing of time but I couldn't believe what this dude said. After flailing his hands in the air quite a few times he said, "You must be patient! 20 more minutes!"...excuse me sir, is 2 1/2 hours of patience not sufficient?. But anyways, we waited and sure enough, they came...thank goodness, both of my bags were there. Then, we all had to wait outside, in the heat for another bus to arrive to take us to Florence. The airline was organizing our trip to Florence. The driver who took us had a thing for 90's American music but nonetheless, he took us the 1 1/2 hour drive into the Florence airport.

Once I arrived, I had to find a taxi, which I did. The man driving was taking me to student check-in for my school, LdM. You may think that some Americans are scary drivers...but not even New Jersey or your older sister can come close to comparing to the drivers in Italy. I sat in the back seat of the little car literally praying to make in to student check-in. Once I arrived, I was given a brief run-through in the fastest English I had ever heard, given a map, and told to find my apartment...which happened btw.

Once I got there, I was able to take a (much needed) shower and meet some of my roommates. We went out and grabbed dinner...just a sandwich nothing to report yet, and then went exploring some. My apartment is literally 100 yards from the Arno River and a little less than 0.25miles from the boathouse I will row out of! A lot of people had been staring at me in Italy but I chalked that down to my height. An artist along the river stared at me and said "My God, it's Jennifer Lopez!"...no sir, I am not a 30-something Latin-American actress from America but thanks for that. What a weird night haha.

All in all, I am here, I am safe, my roommates are chill, I am a little bit homesick, but I am so excited to be here! I plan on checking out the boathouse today or tomorrow so I'll update on that next post. I have not had any pizza, pasta, gelato, or wine, but I plan to. Yes, Italians do seem to always dress nicely. Italian men really are quite forward. And when they say "you have to be here to understand its magnificence", they aren't kidding. This place really does have its own beauty.

T-13 Days Until Departure

It is crazy to think that in this year long process of praying, planning, wishing, hoping and working, that I am off to Florence, Italy in a mere 13 days, for 100 days. First and foremost, I want to thank my family for being so supportive of my dreams of Europe in the most recent months, and being so excited for me. Secondly, I want to give an immense "THANK YOU" to my Marietta College friends, coach, professors, sorority sisters, and teammates who made this all very possible...I will see you all in a matter of months (don't have too much fun!). Next, my best friends Zach Tolles, Bella Hildebrandt, and Amanda Lusky...you all know how much you mean to me and I am so lucky to have your support. And lastly, to the few people that are taking the time to read my blog (its my first time so be easy on me) and thank you for being so awesome. Believe me, you will not be disappointed.

I have always known that I wanted to study abroad at some point in my life but I kind of left that desire in my list of "wishes". You know, the list of things that would be totally rad to experience, but never in your wildest dreams would you actually do these things. Whether it be learning to play an instrument, losing weight, or even becoming more crafty, we all have this list. Since I am so consumed in school with being a Resident Assistant, involved in a Sorority, and a Varsity Athlete year-round, I thought that there was no possible way that traveling could ever happen. (Oh, add student to that list too...). Needless to say, I am a busy individual.  I was continually encouraged by my boyfriend to pursue this desire up until the application date, so I thought "what the heck, why not?".

Form after form, signature after signature, and meeting after meeting accumulated to a few months of applying and hoping for my acceptance to Athena Abroad's Florence, Italy program. Then, sitting in my sorority house, during the fall 2013 semester, I received a call that I had been officially accepted into the program. The excitement of that moment was infinitely better, (especially when coupled with 30 excited and screaming women sitting beside you), than the week of midterms I had been having, and my nalgene breaking earlier that day. (The whole nalgene thing--embarrassingly--put my into quite a foul mood so anything could have been better than that).

Since then, I have completed form after form, and found out that I will be lucky enough to row on the Arno with the real Italians and done my fair share of research. All that I have left to do is pack, and leave, but as I sit here typing this first post of what I hope to be many, I can not help but feel such a rush of emotions. I know that I am confident, I know that I am strong, and I know that I can do this, but at the same time, I can not help but feeling absolutely terrified. Of what? I'm not sure. Finding myself? Maybe. Figuring everything out on my own? That's not even a question. Leaving everything that I know and love? You betcha. (Well, all of that and the fact that I don't speak a lick of Italian). But you know what? In life, and in a situation like this, I don't have time to be afraid. I don't have time to wait for adventure. The only thing that I have time for is to explore as many things as I can and take full advantage of every opportunity that I am presented with, so, thanks for all of the support, and I hope my posts will be interesting enough in the months to come to keep some of you around. For now, Ciao, I'll see you again in 113 days!