Things always hit me later on, but don't worry, because when they do, I'm entranced.
I woke up on January 14th at 3:30am and was def not feelin' it. 3:30am is just never a good wake up call, right? Even if it's from your mother super excited combing your hair back as you wake up praying for you in spanish but I got my butt out of bed and began the daily routine...brushed my teeth, put on mascara, and put my hair in a comfortable bun, went through the motions. I was about to hop on a plane to Italy and everything was still normal. Finally, when I was eating my cocoa puffs, the ball started rolling. My moment of "holy shit I'm going to Italy!! AHHH!!!" picked up some momentum. I realized this would be the last crap breakfast I'd be having until summer because we all know Italy is the culinary capitol of the world. Another push towards utter excitement - I woke up my little brother, Miklos, to give him a goodbye hug and he says, "I'm so jealous you're going to Italy. You're so lucky." Yeah, he's right. I SHOULD be bouncing off the walls right now...but I'm calm. Now, of course I'm happy about the situation but an experience that has the power to change my life is about to happen and I'm sitting there still talking about the Lakers as if I'm stoned beyond all comprehension of the fact that I'm about to embark on this immense journey, ya know? Miklos says, "I love you Gioconda. Tell me when you get there." I reply, "I will, go back to bed. I love you and have a good day at school today bud." I won't wish him off to school until April. I'M LEAVING. Little by little, I'm getting there.
Nothing at all happened on the plane so I'm not even going to bother telling you about it. I slept. It was great.
"Alrighty folks, this is your pilot speaking. We will be arriving in Frankfurt in 20 minutes." I fastened my seat belt. I looked out my window and saw the bright lights similar to New York city of Frankfurt at night and thought, "uh, what the hell is happening? Gioconda, you're in GERMANY. Guten morgen? Wow..."
Now shit's getting real. Talking to this adorable family from Germany while waiting for the plane to Bologna made me realize just how difficult this whole language barrier thing is going to be. You're in for it, Gioconda. All you know is, "Ciao, bongiorno, and MOLTO BENE." Totally in for it. I prayed at this point. What a whirlwind of emotions this ball carries - from excitement in the morning to terror and lonely in some Frankfurt airport. Don't worry though guys, God took care of me in the form of a cute German boy that spoke very good English. My mom, my brother, my grandma, my stepdad and my friends are all so far away and I felt like I had a companion..at least for a moment, and it was the most comforting feeling. Thank you, God.
Okay everyone, here we go...I'm landing in Bologna. Am I FINALLY going to be jumping up and down in happiness?? Not really actually. I flagged down a cab lugging around my two exactly 50 pound bags, a backpack filled to the brim and a purse with things I don't need. The cab driver, a Lorenzo, didn't speak great English but I couldn't shut up. Lots of excitement at this point. LOTS. WHAT UP, ITALYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?!?! The song "Bittersweet Symphony" came on and I turned on my camera and took a video of the drive to Via Giovanni Sacco Dodici, Camplus Alma Mater. It summed up the moment perfectly. Summed up my feelings perfectly too. Now, disbelief consumed me. The crackberry doesn't work here, there is no beach, you don't know anyone, and you're still following through with this. I got out of the cab and took a look at my new home...HOLY SHIT I'M IN ITALY!!!! It happened! I strolled up to campus not knowing where to go and didn't even care. I'M IN ITALY, I'M IN ITALY, GIOCONDA'S IN ITALY. THIS ISN'T SCARY ANYMORE. THIS IS GOING TO BE THE GREATEST SEMESTER OF MY LIFE. Bring on any challenges! I'm in Italy...finally. :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment