the first 3 days

Some of the great things in the last 3 days. 

• Taking a five hour nap on the couch with a miniature greyhound (the director's dog) who now seeks me out at the school (I was waiting for my housing assignment)
• Carrying luggage up 5 flights of stairs to the third floor. 
  
• The middle of the steps are so worn, you think you're going "going down" every time you take a step.
  
• A washing machine in the bathroom
• Single rooms (which cost more) are the size of a bathroom.
  
• The triple room I ended up in (since I was the last to enroll) is like a large sized living room
  
• The view from the balcony at the apartment next door. (the girls next door are from my program, the "third floor" is equal to the bottom of the church and the dome of the Duomo rises above us, especially because we are only 2 blocks away
• Having gelato at the Duomo
• The Ponte Vecchio is just something you see walking near the school, grocery store, approximately 5 minutes from my apartment
• Getting lost (while there is still daylight) and finding the place by fluke
• Getting mistaken for an Italian ( "... and you will know the Americans by their shoes..")
• Trying to speak Italian in restaurants and being laughed at by the waiter, then being told they understand English (but I don't want to speak English in Italy!)
• Roasted chestnuts in the rain (with frutti di bosco-fresh mixed berry- gelato, too)
• Planning weekend trips to Venice, Ireland, Pisa, Wine tasting in Tuscany
• The stove in my apartment that takes finesse to light (like the stove at the BlueBox)
• The small absinthe trial bottles found leftover from the last tenants
• The lack of knives in the apartment (how am I supposed to cook?)
• The girl who claimed that she would just treat the Euro like it is equal to the USD (fyi, one Euro is like $1.60!)
• Taking a nap at 6pm, waking up at 3am, and sleeping again from 5am - 9am. 

Pre-trip jitters

While this trip was easy-peesie in the making. God set it all down less than a month ago, and according to the circumstances I was in, He basically said (in a very overpowering, booming voice): YOU ARE GOING TO ITALY. Thankfully everything else was taken care of in a snap. No housing, no job, ADX hopeful Bible-study not given the go-ahead, no recent graduation, super easy time attaining a student visa - last minute, and the parents leading the study-abroad-in-Italy parade... it was peachy.

Except for tonight.
Tonight I completed my packing. For me packing lite is a thing of skill - and pride. And I make every attempt to keep the things I bring to a minimum. So 2 suitcases a backpack and a camera bag for 6 months seems like I'd love it. But the fear of the unknown for 6 months is killing me.

But tonights events are sort of amusing. Especially when everything else has been so smooth. It starts with me finishing the packing. Then attempting to use the 20-odd year old scale to weigh myself and the suitcase then figure out if it will make the requirement. It doesn't help that every time someone hops on the scale it gives a different weight, by 5-10 pounds. My mom was excited... she thought eating 3 Cowboy cookies today made her loose 5 pounds since this morning.

So her bright idea? Take the suitcases to Curves. Weigh them there, she has a membership (that she hasn't used in 4 months) so why wouldn't they let us in. On the way out to the car with the suitcases I discovered that one is broken... Costco trip at the 11th hour! And a complete repacking of two suitcases later, results in: using one the same and one smaller than the original, fitting it all (and more) in, and lighter weights. Miracle!

Well, I'm leaving at 8:10 am tomorrow. So the next post will be in Firenze!