Bongiorno

After a 13 hours or so in the air we have finally arrived. Only though after narrowly missed our second flight. All is well though as I am currently typing away in our new flat. But enough of that, I'm sure you will all what to hear about our explotes in beloved Italy.

Our new flat is right in town sqaure of Lecco. Literally, you walk out the door and BOOM there you are right next to all the shops. The food here is absolutely amazing! You wouldn't believe it but I had raw sauasage and bacon... but you know what's even scarier? I actually liked it! Just this monrning I went into town and ate breakfast and then took a ton of photos. The landscape here is absolutely spectacular. Really... I mean I thought that the photos online line were just some touristy pictures taken at the peek of the season. But no, it actually looks like that all year round. Some of the mountains are even capped with snow. The lake looks cold to me, but apparently not the wind surfers who are out there daily. It seems like most of the shop owner are pretty used to crazy amercians who point a lot and talk with there hands. Although it still can be a tad bit difficult to communicate. Later today we will be going to in Como, a neighboring town, so by the end of the day I am sure that I'll have more to blog about. So stay tooned as the adventures in Itlay continue! Ciao.

It's Getting Real

I've got three words for ya'll... "It's getting real." Just yesterday, we purchased three brand-spanking-new rolling duffle-bags. But of course they wounldn't be complete without 3 adorable luggage tags--mine is in a buckle shape and blue with pink edges. I also bought an eye-mask and ear plugs for a more relaxing sleep! After my mom got a new make-up bag, we all have our own unique one. Also, we went to Target and acquired a few necessary staple items. If that wasn't good enough, I just recieved an e-mail forwarded from my dad with flight information. In exactly 2 weeks and 6 days, on May 12th, we'll be boarding a plane at 1:30 P.M. After being contained to a cramped up, small breathing area, with few moveable inches for 10 or so hours we'll finally arrive in Londan. If that isn't bad enough, at 8:50, after barely an hour of walking around, we'll hop on our next flight to Milano, which lasts close to 2 hours long. From there we'll be picked up and swiftly ushered to Como, about an hours drive away. All said and done, we'll be at our final destination at around 1:00 P.M. on May 13th (nearly 24 hours after leaving the San Fransico airport, as well as beloved America).

"Things I've Learned in Italy" #7 & #8: On Being Green


7) Whenever possible, ride up on the bumper of the car in front of you and draft it. Bikes do it why shouldn't you.


8) When you go to the grocery store... bring your own bags. This apparently saves on the landfill waste. But to make up for the reduction, milk and juice are packaged in containers which will survive a nuclear blast. Really, all that will be left are the the cockroaches and the milk containers.

Preparation

Today, we just barely dodged a near catastrophy... Jamie was on the brink of not going to Italy. "Why?", you may ask. Well, we have permanently "misplaced" her passport. Something, as you may know, is essential to leaving the country. But need not fret, we have ordered a new one, and, on the bright side, the passport will be coming in a mere 2-3 days before we are flying. Just in time--don't you think? So as you could imagine, my mom is pretty stressed right now. But other than that we're pretty much ready to go. Oh who am I kidding? Nothing's ready. The house is far from being packed up, more clothes shopping is yet to be done, the house-sitter still has to be given all nessesary directions, and our technology, newpaper, mail, etc, must be suspended. So buckle up and bare with me through these stessful last weeks. But for now, well... Ciao.

"Thing I've learned in Italy #4,#5, & #6": Driving

4) Roundabouts appear to be a legalized form of gambling... with one's life.


5) Speed limit signs are merely suggestions. Please don't take offense by their ideas. The implied suggestion seems more to be "do not go below this limit".


6) The most dangerous place in all of Italy is not down some dark alley at night; it's merging onto a highway. Seriously, whoever designed the Italian on-ramp was either into population control or a form of Darwinism (survival of the fittest). In the U.S. I'm sure the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) would be all over this...

Lanuage

I can officially say that after tonight's movie of "Under the Tuscan Sun" I am definitely more excited for Italy. After seeing the spectacular views and beautiful houses I am ecstatic to experience all of it. For all of you who have watched the movie you'll know where I'm coming from. But for the newbies to the movie I would highly recommend it if you would like to get a taste of Italy. Speaking of Italy, we have been hastily taking in the language as bast as possible. What with our numerous books, online sources, and even technology applications. In fact Jamie was pleasantly surprised that the phrase "Are service dogs allowed here" made the top 10 common phrases in one of our books. I'm sure my sister will also be happy when she finds out that some Italians cannot roll their R's--she'll fit right in ;)! In the beginning I thought that all of these Spanish lessons would just be a waste, until, after further phrase-book-reading, I found out that they are extremely similar. In some cases, all you have to do is change a letter or two in a phrase.

More from my dad's e-mail:

"Thing I've Learned in Italy" #2 & #3:Time


2) Don't focus so much on time (as in it's 3:00, time for the meeting). Despite the fact that Italy borders Switzerland... punctuality did not survive the Alpine traverse.


3) The calendar on the computer starts on Monday. Get used to it. Embrace it.

Family Views

As always, my mom thinks that this will be an "educational experience of a lifetime." But we all know she really has a not-so-hidden fantasy of meeting "our neighbor" George Clooney who lives only about an hour away in Laglio. My sister, on the other hand, is sure that she'll be scuba divng in the Mediterranian Sea for she has just recently gotten certified. I am planning on purchasing a pair of Italian Boots--tres chic. In my dad's humble opinion, all he is excited for is to have us there. As for the animals... well I am pretty sure that we'll have absolutely no trouble with Storm (the family dog), because we have already had three families who are generously willing to take her in. We are already making arrangements for Bonnie with a Guide Dog "Puppy Sitter." One of my friends has already jumped on the ball for my rabbit, Mason.

While my dad is away he has been e-mailing me A LOT. Though my favorite e-mail by far was one titled, "Things I've learned in Italy." I found them so hilarious that with each post I'll be sharing at least one with you! So:

"Things I've Learned in Italy" #1:
Ciao is a very important word. It must be like "aloha" in Hawaiian. You should endeavor to say Ciao as many times as you can in a day. Ciao. Mornings are especially important times for Ciao. But you really should say Ciao at many different points of the day. Ciao. Say it over and over, Ciao Ciao. Say it when coming or going. Say it like you were saying Hi or Bye. Ciao. If you want to say ciao three times in a row say it like ciao, ciao .... ciao. (don't say it like Ciao, Ciao, Ciao ... sounds too much like a cat food commercial) You cannot say Ciao too much. Ciao.

The Start

For the slim chance that anyone has not already heard about how we got into this whole thing, I will repeat the story. One day my dad got a phone call from a friend he knew through his old job in the semi-conductor industry. His friend told my dad about this "great opportunity" for a job in Italy. Located in the quaint Northern Italian area of Lake Como, the company makes things such as high-tech mirrors that go into satellites. After that call, things seemed to move in a blur and what do you know? only a short week later my dad was on a plane to Europe. Thus I decided upon titling this adventure, "The Italian Job" after one of my all-time favorite movies. So now we have T-minus 42 days to go before the "Italian Job" officially starts for us Tryba Girls: my mom, my sister (Jamie), and me. Two months in a Northern Italian villa may sound like a dream come true for my sister, but I, on the other hand, think that it's two months with hardly any contact with my friends nor the American life-style I have come to know and love. I really don't know what to expect or even what I want to expect but I suppose the element of suspense has always been my preference. Now I have scarcely over one month to complete May Fair (our small towns' county fair), figure out whats going to happen to our animals (e.i. the family dog, Storm, Jamie's Guide Dog, Bonnie, Jamie and my four rabbits, and last but definitely not least our cat, Lily), pack up (and unfortionetely clean) the house, end my 4-H year early, momentarily stop playing sports, and say "ciao" to my friends. Since Jamie and I are home-schooled we get the "joy" of taking schoolwork with us, though I am pretty sure that Culinary (tasting the countries oh-so famous meals), Geography (naming and finding Italian towns), and PE (walking to and from everywhere) are going to be my newest electives. For the days leading up of flight over and the entire two months of our "extended stay" I will blogging to all of my fellow readers on my journey to one of the world's most magnificent country. As the Italians say "ciao for now".