There are three days left until I leave for Florence and it's almost time for me to have a nervous break down and realize that in no way shape or form will I be able to bring everything that I want or think I need. Keep in mind that although this happens before every trip I take, it's a little more legitimate this time. I have to pack for any possibility from winter weather in Prague to spring weather in southern Italy. Florence daytime temperatures will range from 40s to 70s while I'm there but it will be pretty cold at night and apparently rainy days are common. I'm trying to take a cue from my high school friend Liz who managed to bring a TINY suitcase when we went to France my senior year AND fit a pillow in it. True inspiration.
Beyond packing all my clothes, mom and I are also getting everything organized for my money, electronics, and safety stuff (you know... secondary in importance when compared to shoe and purse options). Thank god for her help because otherwise I'd show up in Florence with plenty of dresses and boots but have no working ATM cards, travel documents, or functioning electronics. Backing up my computer files was a particularly difficult task since I was born in the wrong century/family and still can't do anything on my computer more complicated than iTunes, Microsoft Word, or Safari. Mom pretty much did all that stuff for my while I sat there pretending to be useful.
It's finally starting to hit me that I'm going to be essentially moving to Florence for 5 months...casual. The past couple of days I've been non-stop reading all the guide books, googleearth-ing my apartment (which appears to be close to the Duomo, the Uffizi, AND the Ponte Vecchio), and looking up basic words in Italian (unfortunately, my plan to use the Rosetta Stone every day was overcome by my winter break laziness). Still, I feel like it's really not going to sink in for me until I'm actually at my apartment on Via Dell'Acqua with my new roommate Emily (a friend from Colgate).
My goal for this completely cliche Study Abroad Blog is to write at least a few times a week so that I can a) share some of my Florence experiences with my family and friends back home and b) remember a lot of it for myself later. My childhood diaries tend to have gaps spanning years in them so I kind of doubt my own ability to be habitual in writing. Then again, my life was never as exciting as spending a semester in Italy so I'm sure to have a least a few interesting stories. Guess we'll see!
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