10/30

Ok. So an overview since the last post-

On the 28^th I got up early to see the first group (Sam, David, Ellen and Carly) leave. They were on their way to Venice (yes, tears were shed as good-byes were shared). Josh, Anderson, Lauren and I left OGC at nine to catch two separate trains. Josh and Anderson were headed to Milan via Ancona and Lauren and I were headed to Rome. We got on the train only to notice that we hadn't validated our tickets (it is required). Luckily the conductor had seen us get on and had pity on us so he let it go. Three and a half hours later we were in Rome. Lauren was just passing through but needed to drop some things off at Anderson's friend's apartment. Her stuff was heavy and hard to lug around so I ran to drop my stuff at the YWCA (where I am staying) and ran back to help her out. We hopped onto the number 40 bus and were on our way. We passed the celebration of a church's saint day, which at the time we thought was really cool. We arrived at the friend's apartment and realized that we had no way to get in. The last few times that some of us have gone to visit there were people in and out all the time so we figured that we could just wait. We had plenty of time before Lauren's train was supposed to leave so we waited. Five minutes went by- nothing. Fifteen minutes- nothing. Twenty minutes- nothing. At this point Lauren is starting to freak out a little. He train was leaving in an hour and we had no idea what we were going to do with her things. There were some Italians standing nearby who spoke very good english and tried to help us but to no avail. We were down to 40 minutes before her train left and we were about to give up when the door opened. The look of relief that passed over Lauren's face was great. We left her things on the right floor and ran out to catch the next bus. We thought we were set but as we past by the spot where the celebration had been we noticed that it was over and there were at least 40 people waiting at the bus stop to get on our already full bus. People packed on and it took twice as much time at every stop to get anyone off let alone trying to get anyone new on and still be able to close the doors. She missed her train by almost 15 minutes. However, there was another, more expensive, train that was leaving in 20 minutes that she was able to get on so not all was lost.

This was the first of many bad luck experiences.

I left the train station in search of last minute souvenirs. I was almost done and about to head back when I got a call. I knew what it was about. My dad was calling to say that they had canceled my flight. A swear word or two may have escaped my lips. He told me that Hurricane Sandy was causing thousands of cancelations but he was going to try to figure something out. I headed back to my room and waited for the call that would tell me what to do. It came. I was to fly out in 36 hours at 6:30am today (the 30^th). I was going to spend the night at the airport (there is no public transportation going there that early) and then head to Zurich and then to Chicago. Too bad we didn't see the fine print that said there was going to be a stop over in Philly. I spent the 29^th just walking around Rome and ended up going back to the YWCA early to see if I could just wait there. As I was waiting there in the lobby, I got another call. It was my mom and this time I had no idea what was coming. My new flight was canceled. I broke down. I was sobbing while kids were leaving dance class with their moms. Yeah, I got some weird looks. My new flight was now going to be on Saturday, November 3^rd. It is the same itinerary just on a different day. I was a mess. I was so ready to go home and being told that I had to wait five more days was not what I wanted to here. I tried to pull it together and went up to the desk to find out if I could stay there until the 3^rd. The were so nice and helpful. One even gave me some of her bread. I could tell that they were truly worried and cared about me (my sobbing may have scared them a little too). I am able to stay here until I leave for home and they introduced me to a woman who is in the same situation. She had gone to the airport only to find out that her flight was canceled. Her new flight leaves on Friday. She is very nice and we talked for a while and tried to find out what was going on with the storm. I ended up going to bed early. The last 36 hours had been draining. I may have cried myself to sleep last night.... maybe. In the morning I woke up and was ready to buy a completely new ticket with my own money even if it was going to cost me and arm and a leg. I looked up some options. Either I could be traveling for 40 hours (and fly through Beijing) or I could pay 2000 dollar or more on a ticket. I don't have that kind of money and it was not worth $1000 dollars plus 40 hours of traveling. At that point I knew that I was going to be here for a while so I needed to go to the store to get some food so I wouldn't have to go out to eat all of the time. I went to the store and got some sandwich things and that was when everything sunk in and I accepted that fact that I was going to be here for another few days.

Neto, who came on the train a day after me, saw that I was still in Rome so he called me up and we went out and just walked for hours. Both of us have already seen what there is to see in Rome (I had even gone on one of those sightseeing bus tours on the 29^th) so we were content with just walking around. I have realized that if you want to find the truly cool parts of a city, you must just walk around with no destination in mind. Just walk and when you get tired take out your map, figure out where you are and walk back. I still want to go home like crazy, but I am more ok with staying here a little longer.

P.S.- It didn't hurt that we met some cute Canadians on our way back either :)

10/31

It is raining today so I hung out in the lobby and my room (not that I would have done anything else even if it wasn't raining). In the morning I finished my second book and worked on my knitting. I realized that this is going to be a long few days. I got another book, the new J.K. Rowling book, so I can read some tomorrow but this afternoon I watched movies. As of right now I have watched Despicable Me and Hercules and the Incredibles will probably be next (I kinda need the happy, funny ones right now). I am sure that I do not have enough movies for two more days but I can always watch some more than once. Neto went to the airport to catch his flight but when he got there they told him that it was canceled and they moved him to a flight on Tuesday. My plan for leaving has altered slightly but this time it was my doing so it is a good change. I was going to sleep in the airport on Friday night but instead I am going to arrange to have a taxi come and pick me up at around 4am and take me to the airport. This is probably the safer of the options. It will take about a half hour to get to the airport so that would leave 2 hours to check in and all of that jazz. During the day it would cost 48 euro to get me to the airport but the ladies, here, are not sure if it would be different in the middle of the night. They are going to help me figure it out so that I have enough money but I will book it on Friday. For now, though, I will just hang out, watch movies, knit, and do puzzles on my computer and maybe write some more even though nothing will get posted until I get home (no wifi here).

Ciao for now.

Once home-

The trip home went well. I woke up at 3am to catch a cab to the airport. The driver showed up on time and took me to the airport. I was 2 and a half hours early so the check-in desk had not even opened yet so I was second in line. I met some nice people from Green Bay and a family from England. The flight was great and I met a guy from California who had traveled all around Europe and was now heading to New York to bike around America. I felt the need to remind him that snow was on its way but he said that was the best part. We ended up walking through the Zurich airport together and it was nice not to be alone. Our gates were next to each other so we walked all the way there together. My flight was already boarding as was his so we split ways wishing each other safe travels. I sat in between two Swiss business men on my way to Philly. They worked together so at times they were talking over me (kind of annoying). After lots of reading and some knitting, I made it to the long awaited Philly airport. There I met a guy who had been living in Switzerland for 3 years. We talked quite a bit while waiting in line at immigration and I headed to my flight to Chicago. My face on the almost empty flight to Chicago must have been ridiculous. I had the goofiest smile on my face the whole time. We landed and I practically ran to the baggage claim. I saw my parents and tears of joy began running down my face. If I had not had a heavy backpack I would have ran but instead I walked the fastest I ever had. It was great. I had a great semester and am so glad that I went to Italy these last few months.