Vacuuming Clothes

I must be the luckiest girl alive. I am returning to Italy in 25 days! While I have been eager since I made the decision, the reality did not settle in until recently when I began making preparations for departure. This reality is defiantly accompanied by a medley of inner emotions.

For the past six months I have made Raleigh home again. I have grown in community with friends at Vintage 21, reunited with some old friends, and made a few new ones. I have had my heart broken, mended it into a few fragments, and ultimately seen the Lord change my heart for his glory. I have lost the gelato pounds, picked up running, and began the adventure of training for a half-marathon- yes I’m crazy. I moved more times than Matt Duncan would claim kosher and finally invested in a storage room. I have now accepted this as my lot; I will sell my living room furniture for plane tickets and store the rest in an eight by eleven box! It is all worth it, especially when one has friends like Christina. Christina surprised me on my 21st birthday in May. She flew 600 miles to spend the weekend to celebrate with me. I had not seen my dear friend since we met in Italy, but her visit caught on like a bad habit! Since May, I have driven thousands of miles to hang out with my best friend and have found so much joy sharing my Raleigh friends with her. This is how my two realities– Italy and the United States-collided.

But now, I am embarking on a new adventure in Italy with new people, a new town and quite a different program. There will be nine women, all from Meredith College, living in the Palazzo Alberti in Sansepolcro. I am trying to not hold any preconceived expectations, with the exception of greatly improving my Italian, for the semester. I know it will be different (and amazing), thus it would not be reasonable to compare. But, I have a couple important pre-departure declarations

A few hopes.. I wish to be completely immersed in culture and the Italian people. I hope to spend the weekends sharing “cena” –dinner- with Italian friends and possibly traveling to Porta di Nonna to see Elisa and meet the rest of Daniela’s Italian family. I want to visit Kate Fassee in France and reminisce on Ferrara days with vino in Hogardann glasses! I want to walk into Loba Loca on a Friday night and give my Italian parents a warm hug... to feel at home again, in my second home.

I few vows ... I vow to not kiss an American boy, let alone think about dating one. I also vow to eat gelato only ONCE a day. Lastly, I promise stay away from tourist attractions, instead embracing the simplicity and locality of the culture....In any case, I didn’t say I wouldn’t kiss an Italian boy…

With three weeks till departure, I have many arrangements and lots of packing to complete! I began this process last night by vacuuming my winter clothes. Did you know you can actually vacuum clothing? This is a new idiom of the 21st century, like “facebook a friend”. One can now vacuum their clothes! I was defiantly a skeptic that this simple bag could be magical. But, after turning 5 coats into 2 inches of plastic, I am now a believer in air-tight vacuum bags. I have discovered that these are the key to packing. But, if you’re like me and already flirt with the 50lb airline weight restriction, they can be a very dangerous tool!

Ciao …I must return to vacuuming my closet… :) Thou shall have cute clothes in Italy….