The REAL thing

Mary Shannon: Well. First of all, it took me three tries to put in the correct password because the keyboard isnt set up exaxtly the same haha. And, not to make you jealous, but I am sitting at this internet cafe RIGHT next to the River Arno! It is 6:50 at night and one of the most beautiful sites ive ever seen (I cant find the apostrophe)!! Now, about yesterday...the TRAVELLING day from H%£$!! Kelsi and I got to Memphis where they immediately had to put us on another airline because the original one had been delayed. While on this flight Kelsi and I were both pretty relaxed, discussing life and the things we hoped to accomplish while on this adventure. I looked out at the skies over Chicago as we landed (thinking they looked like the overly buttered Country Crock mashed potatoes I would miss so much) listening to Disappearing World by David Gray - but then we landed - and the escapade began! After walking at least a quarter mile to the next terminal, the attendent went one to explain to us our luggage had only been checked to Munich, Germany...NOT to Florence and that upon arrival in Europe we would have to check out, re-claim of luggage, then re-check them all before our flight left in less than an hour! Now frustrated, Kelsi and I got on the plane (after the not-so-patient attendent yelled at us to hurry) to find that our seat request wasnt put through and we were on opposite sides from each other. Fortunately, the lady sitting next to me heard me 'venting' to my dad on the phone and switched with us (God bless you wherever you are Sandra!) With our good luck, we also got to sit next to ALL the babies, and a paralyzed French woman, who by the way happened to be so sweet and if I couldve picked anyone else to sit next to for 9 hours, it wouldve been her. (Im sure Kelsi will also tell you about her French sister breast-feeding right next to us!) When we arrived in Munich, we didnt land until 11am, 10 minutes after our Florence flight had already left! We had to check out through customs, where a nice German airport employee walked with us back through security to the Lufthansa airline desk (which I guess is the major airline in Germany because everything in the airport was in there blue and yellow colors, and everything looked almost futuristic with sliding glass doors and overhead music everywhere!) They gave us new tickets to Florence leaving at 2:30pm but left us on our own to re-claim our luggage. Well, by the time we made it down to the baggage area, our bags were off the rotater being checked as lost luggage. As we searched for ours, Kelsi and I both realized we were MISSING a bag!! So, then we had to find the luggage tracking area, where it took me 15 minutes staring at this ticket-number machine to finally realize how to get an actual number to stand in line. As soon as I got up to the desk, I heard Kelsi yelling from across the airport, "here they are, here they are!" A German airport in all blue came out from the luggage area looking half-scared at us two little American girls running straight at him. (This is where I like think God is laughing out loud, I think he has a very rich sense of humor...) This is where you must use your imagination: two girls carrying almost 200lbs of luggage each, I had two on rollers plus a 40lb bag on my back, Kelsi had three (one a huge CAMO duffle bag strapped with bungee cords and another bag to a metal roller)!!! At the direction of the 'man in blue' who had become our friend even though he spoke absolutely NO English, we headed back out of the terminal to find where we needed to check our bags. I literally think I have two holes in my back, for I have never been stared at the way we were in Munich, Germany! Probably because at this point we were either going to only cry or laugh. So we had chosen laughter; I twice lost my balance because of the backpack and fell backwards over my luggage, then barely missed a child who ran into me...where her mother came screaming scooping up her child - yikes! By the time we finally reached the check-in the woman walked out from the desk, gave us one look and said, 'Im going to lunch, you'll have to go upstairs.' I must say, Germans are somewhat lacking in the hmm...Southern Charm? Yes. Thats definately the word. We brought our luggage upstairs, amidst the stares, glares, and laughter of those who werent helping us (That's right Mrs. Ford, you better feel sorry for us now!) WhenI finally got my first piece of 60lb luggage on the scale, the German Lufthansa lady looked at me with disdain and preceded to imply that she wasnt stupid, and knew that I knew my bag was 3kg too heavy. I then told her that I did know they were overweight and that I had already paid for them to get to Florence and that in the USofA that was o.k.! She said I would have to take some of it out, and then I quit laughing and released my hypoglycemic, stressed out, sweaty, tired self out on her stating I would be removing nothing and that my bag needed to be checked. Then, after saying something in German to the woman next to her, she became extremely helpful, and even patched up a hole on Kelsis bag. (Guess you must act like a German, to get respect from a German! just kidding haha). Then, after going through German security a second time, we got to our gate and fell asleep, thankfully through the two hour delay the flight to Florence was facing. Thankfully, another SAI student woke us up before boarding since we were the last two in the gate! (Odd things I noticed in Munich: it was snowing on and off, most everything was in English, lots of lingerie and purse shops, very very clean, cold, a German business man in a suit who had to cancel a meeting because of the delay to Florence-he had told me he had to turn around and drive three hours home.) When flying from Munich to Florence, the airplane was small but seemed incredibly more spacious and comfortable than airplanes in America, there was also calming music playing as we boarded. I couldnt sleep the whole way, and just looked out my window...and thats when I saw something out in the distance. Everything was overcast even though we were above the first layer of snow, so I though at first glance it was an island surrounded by water. Then I realized it was the tops of the Alps sticking out of the clouds. I have to say, I was awe-struck by how relaxing this once-in-a-lifetime sight was. It really made all of our frustrations worth it. When we landed we realized that half the plane was filled with other SAI students from all over: Seattle, Texas, Tennessee, Ohio, Florida, Kansas, and more. As soon as we claimed our luggage (which ALL got there, yay) the SAI (Study Abroad Italy) people were there with buses and more students, including one of our roommates from Pittsburgh. While putting our luggage in a bus, me and Kelsi ONLY started getting POURED on with rain...which came out of nowhere! Here-again-we just started laughing while standing there in it! As we travelled from the airport to the school for check-in I had to overt looking out the front window because the traffic was horendous! People were honking everywhere, zooming out in front of one another, barely missing swiping of limbs of walkers on the street, speeding down vasts amounts of alley-sized streets. (I would never ever get behind a wheel here)! Then, the drivers veered onto a sidewalk, dumped our luggage and took off, leaving us for check-in where we got sheets, a cell phone, and a tremendous amount people exclaimin how worried Kelsi and my family were! (The ONLY parents that had called, thats Arkansas for ya). Another shuttle then picked us up, and began dropping off the other students in various places all around Florence, speeding by cafes, clothes stores, hotels that I had seen with my parents on Orbitz, the Duomo, Uffizi, Ponte Vechio, etc. It was still pouring, and when the driver would pull onto a sidewalk, he would literally throw out the suitcases and drive off. These apartments are not like in America, where they are easily recognized...all these buildings are connected to each other, all the same height and color, with similar looking old doors and no signs or postings depicting one building from the next, expect for the number of the address (there are not even door knobs!) So when you get dropped off, there is no way of knowing what the hell you are standing in front of. Our apartment was even more fun to find, its south of the Arno and there a million one-way streets surrounding Via Santo Spirito (where we live). The driver began getting so frustrated he kept pulling down all these one-way street going in the WRONG direction, and fast! The kid in the back with us, and Kelsi and I all kept looking at each other, scared! At one point, he almost hit this car pulling out (who was going the right way) and they stopped the cars and began yelling at each other, and before driving off our driver SPIT on the other car! When we finally got to our apartment, we had to have someone else show us the technique of turning the key and pushing open the huge door. Then! Kelsi and I realized we had to go up 4 flights of steep, old, stone stairs to get our over 200 lbs of luggage to our room! It took us almost an hour, and lots of blisters. But, thankfully, our apartment was worth it. Built in the 1500s, with its original floors, ceilings, walls (and I think furniture haha) it has three bedrooms, one bath, a kitchen with a washing machine, and two breezeways. The best part is Kelsi and I's room because it has a 20foot ceiling with a massive old light blue painting on it, and a HUGE window looking out onto the street. And other than you really can hear EVERYTHING out in the streets, its amazing. We've only blown out the circuit once so far (haha). We also went and bought bread, bad tortilla chips, sprite, and water from a little asian store next to our apartment last night. Today, we thought wed get up early to get some stuff done, but none of us woke up until after 2:30pm! After we leave this cafe, we are going to the Piaza Santo Spirito to have our first real Italian dinner! mmmm! Wish us luck, and I'll put pictures of the apartment on here next time Im here! Love you all, miss you all, please keep in touch.