~~ Takeoff ~~

I sadly left home at 6:45am on the 24th. It was a sad and rainy drive to O'hare. My mom dropped me off extra early with my two huge bags and some carry-ons. One of which I left in the car...not on purpose but it was my camera so my mom circled back to get it to me. Once in the terminal I walked around for a bit and found a Jamba Juice. My favorite!!! My good experience at Jamba ended when the kid ahead of me started talking bad about the badgers and how we weren't in the tournament anymore. He whipped out his Penn State ID and showed it to me and proceeded to say "Penn State. Now that's what it's all about. There's no doubt that Wisconsin will always be inferior to us. " I simple said to him, "and who didn't make the tournament this year?" and turned around. I walked back to my gate and sat down with satisfaction. Not long after so did a family of 6 with 4 kids under the age of 7. And yes I got stuck sitting behind them on the plane. I did get lucky with a window seat and no one next to me. The flight was bumpy, but tolerable.

We landed at Dulles and I just dreaded the 3 hour layover with so much time to analyze my situation...I tried to keep my brain occupied with books, sudokus, and phone calls, but I still had no concentration. I stopped reading after I read the same paragraph 8 times. We finally boarded and yes the TSA was randomly checking passengers, and of course I was one of the last to board and one to get pulled aside. If you know how I pack the outcome wasn't pretty. It took me 15 minutes to get all my stuff back in place after they emptied both my bags. Everyone was already seated and of course I was in the 3rd last row, in the middle.

I got settled and got lucky again. I had no one sitting to my right and a really nice guy the next seat over. If it weren't for talking to him throughout the flight I think I would have went nuts, because when he was sleeping it was like I had a terrible case of the "what-ifs." What if this family is crazy? What if he doesn't come get me? What if I can't understand them at all? What if I can't get a hold of him and I am stuck here? What if my phone dies? and so on until, Jude, that was his name woke up and we talked about something else...basketball, Rome, how to say bathroom in 3 different languages. Again this flight was extremely bumpy. We kept having to go up and down to avoid all the turbulence and my ears weren't really a big fan of that. Once we landed I departed from my buddy Jude, who was going to transfer flights, and I was on my own. EEEK! It was 7am on the 25th here in Rome and I was all alone.

I went to baggage claim and my bags came off one right after the other...I have been getting lucky and i was convinced something bad had to happen, but again luck was on my side. Not taking more than 5 steps out the baggage claim there was Giulio waving me down. I was so relieved. We talked all the way to the tiny car. He spoke English very well and I felt like I already new him. We drove around town for a bit (and I thought China had crazy drivers, there are no real lanes, everyone drives every where. there are no parking restrictions...front ways, parallel, perpendicular...anything goes) and then stopped for an "Italian breakfast," a croissant filled with chocolate and some cappuccino. YUMMY!!!

We came back to the house and I met the family. Alessandro is super cute...not as cute as brooke or katie :) The flat is a lot bigger than I thought it would be. It has three bedrooms, a kitchen, a living/dining room, a bathroom, and an awesome balcony that stretches the length of the flat. My room is super big and a great view of the park across the street through the trees. We took Alessandro to school and then I came back to unpack and get settled. I took my first shower in the tiny tub and made my first meal of pasta with tomato sauce...The area is so pretty. There's nice people and good food. I think I am going to like it here...