Buon Annversario!

Today, September 2, 2009 marks my year anniversary in Italy. Last year about now I was on a plane realizing that I didn’t know anybody where I was going or anything about what I was going to do when I got there. It was the “panic moment”, when one doubts everything about one’s current reality. “What the heck have I have gotten myself into?” Little did I know I was about to embark on an amazing year, which would open so many opportunities for my life. This year has been only been the beginning of a lifetime of travel. But ultimately, I have been changed by my time abroad. The Lord has blessed me immensely! I will never be same because the people I have met and the experiences I have had. In honor of today here are some things I have learned in the past year. Enjoy!
12 things I have learned about Italy and myself this year:
1. You must bag, weigh, and tag your banana (i.e. any produce) before you buy it.
2. Dinner at 8pm does not mean you will eat at 8pm. Snack before you go, eat at 10:30pm. I love Italian food service.
3. One can only appreciate so many churches. Choose your favorite and just appreciate that the others are still standing.
4. Italian men are attractive, sexy, and witty- but they are still men.
5. I love public transportation. And self transportation. Give up the car, take the bike.
6. Learning a second language is hard. But worth it. I can now say, “I have a second language”. How cool! ?
7. Friends don’t always mean people that live in the same place as you. I have friends all over the world. They live in my heart.
8. I should have gotten a Bachelor of Science in Study Abroad
9. High emotions do not equal good decisions. Things are new and different, but that doesn’t make the consequences of a spontaneous bad decision any less easy to face.
10. The suitcase life is for me!
11. A little “vino” or sangria never hurt anybody.
12. It’s always good to go home. There is no place like it.