Watch where you're walking.

Ahh at long last I can say that my screen saver is actually a photo of the hills of Firenze that I have taken myself. The glory is insurmountable. With my first step off the plane I knew that this would be an amazing place and an amazing experience, but really had no idea just what I was in for. Of course the emails and Facebook messages are streaming in, ‘How was your flight?! What’s everything like?! What have you been doing?! How is your apartment and what are your roommates like?! What are the people like?! How’s the weather?!’ so I suppose I should thank everyone for doing the hard work for me.

The flight was, admittedly, not so bad. Compared to my first international travel experience ever, full of blood-shot eyes and swollen ankles, I really sort-of enjoyed this flight. I sat next to a very friendly (and talkative) Greek man, Steve (I forget how to spell it in Greek). The Uram and Hockenbrough clans would agree that I have quite the impressive ability to rant and ramble for hours on end, but, in a surprise that could startle Mt. St. Helen into erupting again, I was out chatted. There was no end! He was so nice, though, that I couldn't just put on my headphones and ignore him (although I did try - my damn iTouch wouldn't work..). Eventually I had to tell him I had to take my vitamin and it made me sleep. Half true. When I woke up three hours later, we were halfway over the ocean. We chatted and Steve actually invited me to come and experience Greece when his wife and daughter flew over with him to stay over permanently in May. His town, Mesopotamia, is about an hour west of Thessaloniki, a major city on the Northeast coast of Greece. From the pictures that he showed me, it is as picturesque as they come with one major lake and rolling hills on every side. I figure if the group of girls from Illinois State don't want to make the trip then my mother and I can at the end of May.

So, eight short hours the plane landed in Frankfurt, Germany. 

It was a cloudy morning there, but I managed to snap a few pictures of what looked like small provincial villages. I can't wait to venture back and see more than the airport which I only saw a bit of anyway. While waiting on the terminal for my flight to Firenze, I met three students who had arrived from New York at 5am Frankfurt time, jumped the soonest train to the nearest town, and wandered around. Cesar, Amanda, and David were really very interesting, very funny, and definitely travelers with whom I hope to explore Europe in the coming months. We exchanged emails and phone numbers after chatting a while and rode on a bus to our plane together.

The plane was TINY! Definitely the smallest plane that I have ever experienced. I did have a window seat, though, which afforded great views of the top of the Alps through the clouds. At one point, though, I noticed a yellow liquid of sorts on the end of one of the parts of the wing. As far as I know, planes aren't supposed to leak. Correct me if I'm wrong. Freaked me out just a bit.

So when we arrived on the tarmac in Firenze, after the picturesque approach, we hopped another bus to the terminal and made our way through customs...oh wait, no we didn't. There really were no customs to speak of during my journey from the U.S. to Firenze, which was nice. What an eye opener, though, to see just how strict and...suspicious? our government is. Not that they don't have any right to be after September 11th, but it was still just such an eye opener. Very strange to me.

While collecting my bags at...you guessed it, baggage claim *cue the bells drums and all other triumphant sounding things* I met Noah, a fellow Lorenzo de'Medici student who is studying Art History. He and I shared a cab to save money.  and then helped each other (him mostly helping me) find our flats. Note to self: Never pack so much shit again. Seriously. They post a 50lbs. limit on luggage, but that doesn't mean that you should pack 49lbs. Most of what I packed was soaps and other necessities that I didn't want to pay Euro for, but the walk, while scenic and amazing, was still confusing and difficult.

Pre-Departure Pondering

I've had all semester to get used to the fact that I'm leaving. In all honesty I've had a countdown going in the back of my head since October. But it fails to escape me: the nagging, incessant surge of emotions that make me feel as if I've gone insane. Excited, thrilled, happy, to be escaping the numbing culture of my home country. Sad, lonely, depressed, to think of the time I will miss with my family and friends. I know it would be better to pick a happy medium, but I just can't quite seem to. My instinct tells me that my family and friends will be here when I get back, so I guess that helps.

In a way I've always had the urge to get out in the world and explore. I can remember a younger version of myself (in between energetic performances of musical numbers) wishing that she might travel the world, making friends along the way. Of course, that younger version was only slightly naive in her thinking - unable to perceive the multitude of languages, cultures, and predispositions that might raise impenetrable barriers to stand in her way. And, quite apart from her naivety, she couldn't quite make up her mind as to just what she would be doing during her travels - Veterinarian, Beautician, Musician, Pilot, President? Of the few things that my little girl self was sure of, she was sure that Beauty and the Beast held her mantra,

'I want adventure in the great wide somewhere,

I want it more than I can tell...

...and for once it might be grand, 

to have someone understand, 

I want so much more than they've got planned...'

Damn you, Disney, that movie will forever be my favorite.

I think that my younger self is scratching her way to the surface as I prepare, during these last four days, to take what I consider a pretty major leap of faith into the unknown. She's clawing at my insides (a nice visual), anticipating the excitement and adventure that will no doubt be borne of my travels. But I am no longer as naive as I was at that age: the age of innocence. That's the scary part. Now I am aware enough...no, intelligent enough (hah), to realize that life is not a fairy tale. There are real problems with this world we live in; real issues that need to be faced instead of being pushed under a rug to accumulate into a heap of hard-to-clean-up proverbial crap (please see the economy).

This makes it only slightly more difficult to get on the plane. But it does make it easier for me to decide what I will do while on my travels. With all of the trouble in the world, it is hard to sit by idly, doing nothing to help. So, I will write. I will write what I see, how I feel, what I think others should be aware of, or what I think that they might not be fully aware of. While I know I will probably not encounter many of the true evils of the world while studying in Italy and traveling throughout Europe, perhaps what I do encounter will shed light on things that sheltered Americans have yet to learn. The first step to solving a problem is making the population aware of it. Crushing naivety is my goal.

Kay, so I've got my goal for my blog. Don't worry, though, my inner self will definitely be chiming in from time to time. Just to keep it interesting, you know?

I have officially become nervous (maybe?) about my trip. As I said before, though, I am more of a pillow-case stuffed with a jumble of nonsensical emotions as opposed to any precise one. For my younger readers, I would refer to myself as a cluster-f**k of emotion, if you will....

The unknown - a.k.a. an eight hour flight to Frankfurt, Germany, and another hour flight to Florence, Italy - isn't quite an accurate label for my actual trip, I suppose, but it sure as hell seems accurate from where I'm standing. The mean over-thinking side of me is rearing her head (Apparently I have several different people hiding inside me. Take from this what you will.) and keeping me from being calm about leaving for six months.

What if I get there and find out that I can't handle this whole student/travel-writer gig I've arranged for myself? Heck, I don't even speak a lick of Italian! At any rate, I will be sure to keep you all (my readers) entertained. Feel free to live vicariously through me...even if for only some of the time (the fun bits, I'm sure).