"Gia's ideas are never good ideas"

When that taxi stopped in front of camplus Alma Mater, I just about peed my pants. Confidently I strolled up to my new house and hugged my RA hello. I got settled in my dorm room and then roamed the campus. I met Italians as well...lots of Italian studenti. More than anything I wanted to walk my new playground...so I did.

Bologna is very different. It's no Roma or Firenzi. The oldest university in Europe is Universita di Bologna so it's a mini New York City, with prettier architecture and crazier drivers. They don't honk at you here...they roll down their window and start yelling and screaming at you. It's hilarious but it's a city I definitely need to grow to love, but I'm sure that'll take place. I'm easy to please. I was supposed to do this typical AIFS program in Rome but I was told you'd feel more like a tourist and not practice the language as much. Although my heart is in Rome, I wanted to do what's truly best for a traveler because, after all, I want an authentic Italian experience and that is exactly what Bologna has to offer. :-)

So, I met some super sweet girls and thought, "Okay I can do this." And with that thought, I was packing my bags again for a town in the Swiss Alps, Interlaken, for orientation. There are no words for the beauty of this town. I have this thought a lot out here..."bellisimo" doesn't cut it when you want to describe these historical monuments and churches...not even "magestic" works...you do the math. This place is AWESOME. Anyways, we were given the option to snowboard in the Swiss Alps. Uh...DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HI MY NAME IS GIA, WHERE DO I GET MY TICKET?

As we were on the train up to Jungfrau, again...I was breathless. I keep having this sensation too...genuinely breathless. Or speechless. Breathless, speechless, not knowing any words that will do the beauty here in Italy justice...I feel it on the daily.

We reached the top of the mountain and I strapped on my board. Today I would be riding solo...and, even though these slopes were steep and I was a little scared, I liked that. I slipped and slided a few times because the snow was icy as hell but whatever, you know that song, "I'm in Miami, bitch?" I'M IN THE SWISS ALPS, BIATCH.

I took the gondola up some slope I didn't even know I could get down from or not. This could be a fiasco, but I'M IN THE SWISS ALPS, BIATCH. I wanted to be everywhere all at once and I didn't care how I got there. I got down the mountain from this slope alright...but I didn't ride my board. I rode my BUTT for this one...you know, for cushion of course. But whatever, right? When I got down, I saw Carolina, the funniest little ball of energy from Miami. It was her first time skiing and what better a place than the Swiss Alps? I told her I wanted to take her on a blue, because in the alps, greens don't exist, so blues are supposed to be "the easiest." And there's only one way to learn, ya know? Might as well try it! Gia's idea #1: Welllllllll...she was down, but she didn't ride it without a story for the grandkids!

We started going down and I was having fun teaching her "pizza" and "french fries" on the blue but I saw it was tough for her to stop. "Pizza" is always hard for beginners. So I said, "let's focus on going slow, so you learn how to control your body." I was in front of her to keep a slow pace and she was focusing, everything was great, and then, Caro wasn't in front of me anymore. HA.

Every time I think of this moment I can't help but laugh. You have to picture this: a beginner trying so hard to do "pizza" to stop and uh, all of a sudden, Caro is SPEEDING past me in her little ski stance, and I'm yelling, "PIZZA, CARO, PIZZAAAA!!" Chyeah...like that helped. Caro's going, going, GONE.

There was this turn...and, well, Caro didn't quite make it. She went airborne into this huge patch of snow, ski's upright and everything. I sped down, partly worried, partly laughing so hard, I could have peed my pants. This little boy yelled, "WOW. THAT-WAS-CRAZY!!! DAADDD, DID YOU SEE THAT?!?!" Poor Caro. I'm telling you, it was QUITE the wipe out. It was like everyone on that slope stopped to see if she was alive. And she was...but let's just say we walked the rest of the slope down and she was done for the day. She turned to me and said, like a little child that's just seen the grim reaper, "Um, Gia...can I just walk the rest of the way down?" I nodded and put my arm around my new friend to calm her down, asking questions to make sure she didn't hurt herself. Poor, poor, Carolina was doing just fine, thank goodness.

We rode the train back to Interlaken...or so we thought. We were basically dumped about 30 minutes from Interlaken and some men said there was no bus to Interlaken from there.

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUH, WHAT? HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GET BACK? Think fast, think fast, Gia! Idea #2: HITCH HIKING.

So, picture this one: Carolina and I, in snow pants and jackets, Caro with her ski's and me with my snowboard, on some scenic highway in the Alps with greenery and mountains all around us...with our thumbs up. Here we goooo.

Within 5 minutes, some Audi stops in the middle of the highway and picks us up. Carolina got in the front and I got in the back with the ski's and snowboard. It's a nice fellow. Don't worry, we're not as stupid as you think...we made sure he wasn't in a truck, or a white van, or looked like he could do bodily harm to us..oh and he had two booster seats in the back. A dad! Good sign. Harmless! I guess he also had a criteria for hitch hikers. He told us, after I asked if he picked up hitch hikers often, "Well..usually, no, because hitch hikers tend to smell bad...but you guys didn't look like you smelled bad." Thanks, random Audi driving father, how sweet of you. He helped us get back to our hostel and I couldn't have been anymore thankful. I said I'd pray for him and his family.

We'll end on a good note. At least ONE of my ideas worked out!!! :-)