And so it begins
The trip to Italy started with five different alarms set before 5AM so as to ensure I would wake up for the day I’ve been waiting for. When the first alarm sounded, I immediately woke up and got started on the day. I went back and forth between my bedroom and the bathroom because the alarm kept going off; I set more than I expected. When I finally turned off all the alarms on my phone, the show was on the road.
Once all my luggage was brought upstairs, we weighed my check back one last time. Like the human body, my luggage gained 10 pounds overnight. My mom, grandmother, and I shoved my raincoat and beach towel into the emergency carry on and made a run for the car. We would have been on the road except that they insisted I eat breakfast. I ran back inside to grab yogurt and granola. With their approval, we were finally on the road.
The nerves of the trip finally sank in but I couldn’t do anything about it. My mom kept asking me to tell stories, stories about how this trip came to be, for my grandma. Before we knew it, we were at at the Salt Lake Airport. With one last hug for my mom and grandma, I made a run for the plane before I could cry. My mom is my best friend and even during college, I was never gone for more than a month.
The line to check baggage was long but the line for security was longer. When I finally made it through, I met with some classmates and we waited at the gate. The group of us would have one layover at the New York JFK airport before arriving in Rome. I have never traveled out of the country before and I wanted to be sure to do it with someone who knew what was going on. When Professor Bule (Steve) bought his ticket, I bought the same flight.
The flight to New York was stuffy but easy. I was at the window seat next to a man who wore a nice hat. He played word games on his phone throughout the flight and panicked when he fell asleep and lost his hat. I saved my sleep for the second flight so I saw it fall off his lap and onto the ground.
The JFK airport is a cursed land. In order to access the terminal we needed to go through, we had to go outside in the rain and walk along the road because the sidewalk was so narrow. Because we had to go outside, the group of us had to go through security again and I have never seen a line for security as long as this was.
Before I boarded the plane in SLC for JFK, I filled my water bottle but I neglected to drink any of it during the flight. I didn’t anticipate going through security again and having to empty my water bottle. Due to the long line, I thought I could easily drink water and use the restroom before boarding the plane. When my 40 oz water bottle was empty and security was a thing of the past, we headed for our gate that would take us to Italy.
During the walk to our gate, I heard a woman say a name that sounded almost like mine; she wanted someone to report to Gate 6. After a few minutes of her calling a name that sounded similar to mine, I decided to check it out. I left my group at Gate 9 with my carry-on items but as a last minute thought, I brought my things with me.
The woman at Gate 6 told me that I was the last person to board the plane and that she had been calling me so I wouldn’t miss my flight. What was going on?! I bought a ticket to fly with Steve! There was no sense in arguing with her. If this plane was taking me to Italy, then I would take this plane. And to think I almost didn’t answer the page!
I had never been in such a big plane. Despite the massive size, it was difficult to make it down the aisle to my seat, probably because of the huge hats the Jewish men wore that were taking so much space.
During the long flight from JFK ago Rome, I sat next to an nice Parisian woman who now lived in Orlando. She was going to Palermo on business for her restaurant. I was scared to bother her because she already had to move once so I could get to my seat. But now I had to go to the restroom and no amount of praying would save me. When I couldn’t wait any longer, I let her know I had to use the restroom and she let me by.
I watched the movie Hidden Figures on the flight. The events in the movie took place not too long ago; I can’t believe people were (and still are!) so racist and discriminatory. I fell asleep in the middle of the film and the nice Parisian woman woke me up so I could eat dinner. Like I said, she is a A Nice Lady™️. It was an option of chicken or pasta. I’m a recent vegetarian so I went with the pasta. It wasn’t awful. I went to the restroom one more time and tried to go to sleep for the rest of the flight. It was cramped enough that I am seriously considering upgrading my flight the next time I have such a long flight so I can have enough room to fall asleep!
I woke up around 5a, Italy time (close to 11p in New York I think?). I started playing the movie The Green Book, another movie which touches on issues of racism and segregation. As the sun peaked through the clouds, the flight attendants handed out pastries that tasted like hot towels. The attendant also gave me a glass of juice. No idea what kind it was but it was good.
When the plane landed, I couldn’t be happier but then there was the issue of customs. The line was long and my backpack was heavy. I’ve been trying to learn Italian over the last few months but nothing has prepared me in my studies for passport issues. Luckily, it went by without a hitch and I left with a grazie. My passport was stamped and I was ready to take on the country by storm.
I still don’t believe I’m in Italy mostly because this post is being written inside the Rome airport while I wait for Steve’s flight to land.
Today, we will be introduced to Rome. Hopefully I can shower and eat something that doesn’t taste like a hot towel.
Once all my luggage was brought upstairs, we weighed my check back one last time. Like the human body, my luggage gained 10 pounds overnight. My mom, grandmother, and I shoved my raincoat and beach towel into the emergency carry on and made a run for the car. We would have been on the road except that they insisted I eat breakfast. I ran back inside to grab yogurt and granola. With their approval, we were finally on the road.
The nerves of the trip finally sank in but I couldn’t do anything about it. My mom kept asking me to tell stories, stories about how this trip came to be, for my grandma. Before we knew it, we were at at the Salt Lake Airport. With one last hug for my mom and grandma, I made a run for the plane before I could cry. My mom is my best friend and even during college, I was never gone for more than a month.
The line to check baggage was long but the line for security was longer. When I finally made it through, I met with some classmates and we waited at the gate. The group of us would have one layover at the New York JFK airport before arriving in Rome. I have never traveled out of the country before and I wanted to be sure to do it with someone who knew what was going on. When Professor Bule (Steve) bought his ticket, I bought the same flight.
The flight to New York was stuffy but easy. I was at the window seat next to a man who wore a nice hat. He played word games on his phone throughout the flight and panicked when he fell asleep and lost his hat. I saved my sleep for the second flight so I saw it fall off his lap and onto the ground.
The JFK airport is a cursed land. In order to access the terminal we needed to go through, we had to go outside in the rain and walk along the road because the sidewalk was so narrow. Because we had to go outside, the group of us had to go through security again and I have never seen a line for security as long as this was.
Before I boarded the plane in SLC for JFK, I filled my water bottle but I neglected to drink any of it during the flight. I didn’t anticipate going through security again and having to empty my water bottle. Due to the long line, I thought I could easily drink water and use the restroom before boarding the plane. When my 40 oz water bottle was empty and security was a thing of the past, we headed for our gate that would take us to Italy.
During the walk to our gate, I heard a woman say a name that sounded almost like mine; she wanted someone to report to Gate 6. After a few minutes of her calling a name that sounded similar to mine, I decided to check it out. I left my group at Gate 9 with my carry-on items but as a last minute thought, I brought my things with me.
The woman at Gate 6 told me that I was the last person to board the plane and that she had been calling me so I wouldn’t miss my flight. What was going on?! I bought a ticket to fly with Steve! There was no sense in arguing with her. If this plane was taking me to Italy, then I would take this plane. And to think I almost didn’t answer the page!
I had never been in such a big plane. Despite the massive size, it was difficult to make it down the aisle to my seat, probably because of the huge hats the Jewish men wore that were taking so much space.
During the long flight from JFK ago Rome, I sat next to an nice Parisian woman who now lived in Orlando. She was going to Palermo on business for her restaurant. I was scared to bother her because she already had to move once so I could get to my seat. But now I had to go to the restroom and no amount of praying would save me. When I couldn’t wait any longer, I let her know I had to use the restroom and she let me by.
I watched the movie Hidden Figures on the flight. The events in the movie took place not too long ago; I can’t believe people were (and still are!) so racist and discriminatory. I fell asleep in the middle of the film and the nice Parisian woman woke me up so I could eat dinner. Like I said, she is a A Nice Lady™️. It was an option of chicken or pasta. I’m a recent vegetarian so I went with the pasta. It wasn’t awful. I went to the restroom one more time and tried to go to sleep for the rest of the flight. It was cramped enough that I am seriously considering upgrading my flight the next time I have such a long flight so I can have enough room to fall asleep!
I woke up around 5a, Italy time (close to 11p in New York I think?). I started playing the movie The Green Book, another movie which touches on issues of racism and segregation. As the sun peaked through the clouds, the flight attendants handed out pastries that tasted like hot towels. The attendant also gave me a glass of juice. No idea what kind it was but it was good.
I still don’t believe I’m in Italy mostly because this post is being written inside the Rome airport while I wait for Steve’s flight to land.
Today, we will be introduced to Rome. Hopefully I can shower and eat something that doesn’t taste like a hot towel.
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