Butterflies

One week before I leave and every time I think of it I have 1,000 butterflies in my tummy! I am excited- YES- but also nervous! I am getting more and more organized now which is calming my nerves slightly. I was talking with my best friend's step-mom today, and she was helping me go through my checklist of important things to do. She lives in London and reassured me that if I need- they are a much shorter plane ride away than the States. Brianne and I finished booking another hostel, this one is in Milano-- http://www.ostellolacordata.com/services.htm. Her and I have been texting almost non-stop talking about who is bringing what and how! It is so nice to have a friend coming with me. So if all of these things are settled, all of my I's are dotted, why am I still so nervous?

It feels like I am about to go on The Hulk (for anyone who has ridden this, you can understand my feeling). The Hulk is a roller coaster in Islands of Adventure in Orlando and not much like any other you have ridden. You are strapped in, feeling secure and excited when all of the sudden the coaster starts to shake and you are blasted out of this tunnel onto this extraordinary ride. At the end of it all, all you want to do it ride it over and over and every time getting that same feeling. It is a familiar feeling. This is the feeling I have and I hope to have after my adventure. There is fright right now, true, but at the end of this ride, I KNOW I will want to go over and over and over...

These butterflies can stay, they are familiar and good!

Getting Ready!

For those of you who do not know let me give you a brief summary of what I am doing this summer. I was accepted into a program through UNM to go to Italy and learn Italian Sign Language, Italian, and Italian Deaf Culture for three weeks. There were two people accepted from UNM and there are also other kids from the US and Canada going to Italy to do the same thing. I will be living with a host family during the program and in hostels and hotels otherwise. I will be traveling before (with my friend) and after (with my Aunt, Uncle and two cousins) to many places and many countries.

I am getting more anxious as the days continue. I am starting to look through my tired, old wardrobe and try and pack a few essential items I actually like problem is, I have never been out of the country before and therefore am having a little bit of a hard time deciding what the "essential" items are exactly. I went shopping and got 3 new really cute dresses to help me feel ready. My friend, Brianne, and I are going to Siena together. We are arriving in Italy a week before the program actually starts to do some traveling on our own. We are going to meet in Rome and then travel to Florence, Venice, Milan, Pisa, and Lucca. We have been researching everything there is to do and the hostels around the areas we will be. We just booked our first hostel. Check it out -- http://www.plusflorence.com/. More in the days to come! :)