I am in FLORENCE!

Ciao,

I have arrived safely in Firenze. I hope everyone had a great New Year’s eve. Mine was an interesting one. On Friday, I flew to Miami from Dallas with all of my suitcases! Check out the picture…. I cannot believe I made it here with all of those bags (they were each 70 pounds!, it was a sight to see). I went to stay with my cousin, his wife and their cute baby!!! It was so much fun.. very relaxing and the weather was incredible. Thank you Mike and Stephanie for having me.

So then I left for Italy. I woke up on Monday morning and went to the airport (4 hours early…lots of fun!), haha, no actually it was great because I got to talk to most of you on the phone. It was so great to be able to say goodbye to everyone individually. So then I boarded my plane and was surrounded by really tan italians that had just vacationed in miami! HAHA, I thought that I was tan… then I saw them! The flight was easy, only about 8 hours. And each seat had their own tv so I got to choose out of 10 different movies and then I also could play video games. I think I played who wants to be a milliionare 1,000 times! And never made it out of the hot seat with more than 1,000 dollars! It was pathetic! Oh, so my new year’s… We had just gotten on the plane and after like 30 minutes it was new years in Italy. So the captian announced “due Minuti, un minuto, trenta secondi, then once he got to 10, 9, 8…. He only counted the even ones! He was like “dieci, otto, sei, quattro, due, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!” It was so funny. They didn’t have time to give us all drinks, so we all had random drinks. I had a bottle of water and the couple next to me, who didn’t speak any english… tapped me on the shoulder and they were like “ ching ching”. It was interesting! Then a bunch of families pulled out the traditional christmas cake and they were passing it around clapping and screaming!!! Even the captians came and wished everyone happy new year…. But all I was thinking was who is flying the plane! Haha.

Anyways, so I arrived in Milan an 8 am and changed planes to go to florence… I didn’t sleep at all, so im sure I looked just lovely! I then got on my plane and finally made it to florence. I then went straight to my hotel, took a shower and then went to sleep! I didn’t even get a chance to realize that I was in Florence. But, now as im sitting here in my hotel on the first night, I cannot believe that I am here!!!! I went and walked around the city for an hour or so. Everything is just how I remembered it. I guess that’s what things are like here. They havent changed in centuries, so I guess they wouldn’t change in a year and a half.

Well, tonight I have dinner with Monica and Michela (my host mom from last time and her best friend). I am so excited. I get to see them and have a home cooked italian meal on my first night here! I am so thankful that she is here.

Then, tomorrow I am going to meet my landlord LORENZO, and move into my apartment. I know its going to be small, but I think it will be great. The only thing I am worried about is… Im not sure if there is a closet! Haha. I guess we’ll see!

Anyways, hope everyone is well. Email me and keep in touch. I am pretty much hanging out in florence this week, just getting everything organized. But I start school on Monday! I cannot wait. Miss everyone

Baci!