Fly Away!

Today is the day that I finally go! It's still not hit me with the full force of "I'm going to Italy", it's at a point where I know it's happening and I'm realy stoked, but I think I won't realize the full awesomeness of it all until I'm in Italy and it's 36 degrees and I'm sweating my arse off!

I packed and repacked all my luggage when my Zia Sandra came over and advised me not to pack my camera in my checked bag- so, out went my camera and all my other things, and I decided not to take a few other things, all until I had everything packed tight and ready and only a measly 2 pounds under the 88lb Italian limit.

Buut, now it's time to go!! I need to do some more random blogging on Quibbles, and I need to get ready!

Byebye! Write soon!

Two Weeks...

As I wrote that title, I was reminded of my friend and roommate Alison, who, two weeks into school listened to the Grizzly Bears song with that title.

Two weeks before school ended, she gave it to me and I put it on my iTunes, and listened to it.

Now, two weeks before Italy, I'm thinking of doing the very same thing. Here's to two weeks!

Well, let's hope it moves along, too! :P haha

I don't know whether I want it to go fast or slow. I'm not sure that it's sunk in that this is really happening yet. Uh-oh. It'll be interesting when it does happen, and it has to sink in. Yes, it will.

Anyways, right now I'm kind of living out of my suitcase because I've packed a lot of stuff already. Mostly experimenting with what I'll pack where, and whatnot.

What a weird sentence.

Ugh. Okay- mood change- time to go for now! I'll talk about the rest of the cool stuff later.

Bye!

Packing

Packing is a new kind of hell!

Today I decided it was probably a good idea to clean my room, and I took it as a chance to start packing as well- considering that it's only just over two weeks until I leave.

Now, I was excited at first- until I was trying to figure out what to take on carry-on, and what to take on checked baggage, and how to pack necklaces, and how much to bring, and which valuables to leave here at home even if I wear them all the time... aah!

Anyways, once I got all that fixed up, I realized (since I am going to be wearing my clothes until I leave), that I needed a way to document which outfits to bring. So I photographed different arrangements with my new Canon A480 :D

A lot of shorts, but most of them can be alternated with the three skirts that are there, too.


Okay, so then everything was organized, and ready, and...

...wait.

I forgot the most important of Italian things to take overseas to the country of your relatives: gifts. My Nonna had bought about a million gifts for our foreign family, and those alone would take up an entire piece of luggage. So, back to rearranging everything.

Eventually, after my Mom's patient prompting, I decided to use my tote as my carry-on, and my roller carry-on as a checked bag with my larger suitcase. Pack all my clothes in the roller case, and the shoes and gifts in the large suitcase. Problem solved?

Not quite. What I may have to do now is repack everything into the large suitcase, and wrap all the gifts into a box of their own so that all I have is a checked box, a checked suitcase, and a carry-on tote. Phew!

I guess I'll figure it out eventually.

Anyways, I have to go sleep. I work tomorrow! (ONLY 12 MORE DAYS LEFT!)

Ta-ta!

Italy Reading List

So I decided that there was no way I could go to Italy without bringing a couple of books. Especially since I'm going computer-less. :(

I would have brought books anyway.

So, after browsing the fiction section of Chapters for quite a while (this is even after I spent time looking for the perfect notebooks), I was rushed by my family to pick some books fast because we had a long day of driving ahead of us taking my sister back to school.

In a stir, I grabbed a book that seemed intriguing, about a French girl and her friend and their chaperone who go to India in preparation for a marriage. It's kind of summery and romantic and adventurous.



My Dad pushed a book at me and said, "What about this one?" It was about finding a large underground library covered in volcanic ash, and something to do with a lost Gospel. Apparently, when you "mix Indiana Jones and Dan Brown, you get [this]":


So I'm excited about my reads. Especially for on the 8 hour flight... but it's a red-eye, so I should sleep. Yes... sleep.

Ta-ta!

Where I'm Staying

My cousin recently sent me some photographs of his house so I could see what it was like over there. I must say, the furnishings are a completely different style than that of North America, but the courtyards are very nice. The architecture is fascinating (his father's an architect), and as you can see below, picture frames decorate every wall.



Here is the courtyard:



This is a view of the house from the front:



And this is the family on Zia Nina's birthday a few years ago.

The 15-year-old fashion designer is the giganto ragazzo in the back, there, with the glasses. His mother Marisella is to the left, and his Nonna behind the cake. In the striped shirt is Pasquelino, his 24-some-odd brother who just got married last year, and the last is Marco, his other brother, who has cerebral palsy like my Zio Rocco, and who has hair identical to my Scottish Dad.

Silly, eh?

4 Weeks and Counting

Yes, it's four weeks until I leave for Italy! I received an email today from Sunquest telling me when my flight would be leaving: 6:45 on August 5th, 2009. A red-eye, but hey, I'll try to catch some sleep (like that'll happen...) and I'll watch Anastasia, Narnia, or Mamma Mia on my iPod.

I just bought some Moleskine notebooks, but they have a brown "recycled paper" softcover look which I prefer to the black for a travel journal. I printed an old Italy map and cut it out, pasting it on the front. It's cool, because I can sort of make my own journal, too. Moleskines have won me over because they're durable, thin, but have enough pages, softcover, and the lines aren't enormous. I like small lines. Plus, they have a back pocket.

Now, enough about the world's favourite notebook.

I've been listening to Zero Assoluto and Lunapop and Vasco Rossi and realizing how hilarious Italian music actually is. Zero Assoluto isn't bad, actually, and Lunapop is like a 1990's band (well, they actually were), and Vasco Rossi reminds me of a really demented version of Bono... why, I don't know.

Anyways, since I have a summer waitressing job at a teahouse, I've been getting enough money to make my first payment for school and simultaneously enhance my wardrobe for Italy. My new clothes fill a suitcase (very messily, keep in mind). I've scarily become a shopaholic (well, not really... I've just become interested in fashion). I now have 3 bathing suits, a change from my one bathing suit consisting of surfer shorts and a sporty unmatched top. Oh, and I have red pants. And shoes, I have bought as well. It's crazy!

I've been counting down the days until I leave. Every time I go to work, I think: only 24 days, only 23 days, only 22 days...

And I try to find something exciting about every day to get me quickly through the weeks until I go!! But you know what? Everything's good, everything's still fun even though I'm in my plain ol' hometown waitressing to old ladies and young couples. I'll be remembering this summer years from now. So I might as well be optimistic about it!

But yes, I am counting down and I want it to come faster than it is coming... I've been on msn with my 15 year-old fashion designer cousin, and he has gotten me back into drawing (with the help of my friend here, too. Their fashion drawings made me want to do it again), which is great.

I'd better go sleep now! I work tomorrow. 30 days. 30 days until I leave <3

Like I had on my Facebook status a few days ago: "Sara is feeling nervous, excited, terrified, and bored all at once. Who knew all those emotions were possible at the same time?"

Ta-ta for now!

The Summer Has Arrived...

Now that I'm out of school, the pressure to really learn Italian is creeping up on me. I have no excuses now! Between job hunting and friend-get-togethers, I should be able to learn the language I've grown up with all my life.

If my Indian friend can learn it, then so can I! So out come the dusty old Italian dictionaries, pens, and papers.

Italian language, here I come!

My Destination

So I figured I should put some pictures up of where I'm going to be staying, because it seems like a wonderful city. I found these photos, of course, on Google Earth, so none of them are mine.

Here's an aerial photo of Amantea:


This is a little square in the middle of the city, at night (it's beautiful at night):

A view of one of the buildings that is perched on the valley side:



And of course, il mare:
Those are only four of the... well, quite impressive number of photos that I saw on Google Earth. I love that program, it's really exciting to look at where I'll be going.

The Beginnings

So... Here I am in my first year of college, studying media, loving writing, and looking out of my window every day, admiring the world. Well, maybe until the winter hit. Okay, it's a love-hate thing with the winter in Canada.

Here I am, an individual who has traveled a lot of the east coast of North America. I had a taste of the west when my family traveled to British Columbia and Alberta a few summers ago, and I loved it. The Pacific ocean was a shock to me- the way the coast drops so fast and the water quickly becomes dark. It also struck me how odorless the ocean was compared to the Atlantic.

I've been outside of North America twice, both times when I was five and six. When I was five, my family had a chance to go to Jamaica, and although I was so little, I remember a ton about it. A great trip.

When I was in kindergarten, we then visited the place of my dad's birth, Scotland. And I remember that trip as well, but probably not to the extent that I can recall Jamaica. What I do remember, however, is the castles and the house my grandparents were living in at the time. I remember the bedroom my sister and I slept in, with two twin beds and matching pastel-coloured comforters, and stuffed monkeys on each bed. My grandparents (now in Canada) still have those monkeys sitting on their dresser.

So, here I am. In school. And I'm looking outside every day at the Canadian landscape of suburbia, and I'm thinking: what better time to go out of the country than now? It's been a while. And hey, I realize: I haven't visited the other nation that has formed a huge chunk of my lifestyle: Italy.

I don't exactly know where I got the idea... or why I decided to go now. But somehow I got it in my head that I should fly across the Atlantic by myself, and stay on the southern Italy coast with family that doesn't speak a word of English. And I'm not exactly fluent in the language.

But somehow, we booked the flight, and I'm due to travel on August 5th to Calabria, my first airplane ride on my own. And considering I hardly remember what it's like to be on a plane, and the longest flight I've ever been on was only a couple of hours, this should be an interesting experience.

Besides that, there are other things on my mind, like the language barrier. Since I'm going on my own, I'm staying with family, and they speak only Italian. Except for my young cousin, Francesco, who speaks English quiet well. I won't be staying with his family until the second week I'm there, so the first week should prove interesting.

I'm excited, though. This is the country most of my Italian relatives still live in, and I want to see the culture, the architecture, the coast.

I've been on Google Earth madly for the past while, looking at the little ocean-side city where I will be staying, and I've almost memorized the sights and roads from pictures. I know about the two volcanoes visible from the beach, I know the main square, the watchtower... But I'm sure that when I arrive, I won't be able to navigate the city from the ground!

It's an experience. The preparations are insane, though. Already my Nonna is dictating all of the clothing I will need to look stylish in their summer: heels, nice sandals, summer dresses, at least two new bathing suits, stylish sunglasses, a nice clutch and purse, non-tourist-looking shorts... And I have my own instincts, which are pretty much the same.

But what my instincts weren't prepared for was my Nonna going to Costco to buy a crate of bubblegum that I'm to carry over the ocean to all of the cousins in Italy. I guess it's true, I should come bearing gifts. They are letting my stay in their homes for two weeks.

On this trip, I'll be staying in the south, and many people say it is too bad I'm not exploring Rome and Pompei and many of the other great cities, but it's my first go. With the amount of money I have, and considering I'll be on my own, I am ecstatic just to be going. Next time I go, I'll do my exploring. This time, I'll explore around the city I'm in, and get to know my family.

Yes, it is intimidating to know that I'll have to learn an entire language in order to communicate (this gives me 6 months to perfect my skills). It makes me anxious. That's probably the most terrifying thing about this trip, is the language.

The bright side: I've taken a course in Italian, so I know the basics, the grammar, and most of the tourist lingo.
The not-so-good side: I still have a lot to learn. Mostly hundreds of everyday words, like book, toilet paper, and all the others. Eek!

I've heard that renting foreign movies is a good way to learn. So I think I'll start there, because copying dictionaries was giving me horrible dreams and headaches and stress so tangible that I could have strangled it with my bare hands.

Movies it is, then! With Italian dialogue, and Italian subtitles. At least so I can learn the language at that speed.

You would think that being around Italian-speaking people my whole life I would have known more of the language, but apparently not.

And we'll see what happens from there...