Tuesday, April 12, 2011

dancing slowly in an empty room...

I gave notice today to my current nanny family about Italy.

Italy is just 22 days away now. !

Homework needs to be my priority, as Finals week just happens to coincide with flying-to-Rome week. Yes, I have a Linguistics Final the morning before I fly out. How awesome is that? I have a lot of homework to do still but the weekend is now calling for SNOW and cold temps. Hibernation, here I come.

I had planned to have a garage sale at my sister's on Saturday. Pretty sure no one will come in snow and 30-degree weather though, ahaha. Not like I'd want to sit out there myself. I have stuff I need to get rid of but don't have time to put it all on craigslist + most of it is clothes. I've donated so much of my stuff that I thought maybe I could use a little extra money from selling things. Looks like I'll have to list just a select few things on eBay. That's all I have time for.

Oh! I purchased my unlocked cell phone last night too. It's an LG Cookie and super cute. Even though I assume using the internet via phone would be super expensive with a prepaid sim card, I got a phone with internet anyway so I could still use it later if needed. My iPhone should be able to work like an iPod over there via wifi. At least, I'm really hoping it does.

Have to get up early tomorrow to bring my car to the dealership. They messed up my windshield wipers back in January and I've had to reschedule my return appointment at least 500 times since then because of weather. Of course, Mother Nature chose tomorrow to rain so I can't see (w/o the wipers, obvs). Sigh.

Monday, April 4, 2011

everything in its right place

As everything comes down to the wire for my departure, I have been super busy! That's probably obvious (and an understatement) but here's a brief recap of Italy-related preparations since my last update.

My flight is booked! Just when I start to become anxious about something- and believe me when I say I am the most patient person I know- that's when it turns out alright. Of course. It is hard to understand the pace at which Italy does things, being at a distance for the moment. I am excited for the more relaxed nature of doing things, as opposed to the American "always in a hurry" mentality, though. My original flight preferences skyrocketed in price by the time I was able to book so I ended up with an 8-hour layover on the way THERE in luxurious Newark, NJ. LOL! I have no idea how I will spend 8 hours in an airport on US soil. Most likely, I'll be doing things online (and checking out Dunkin Donuts- they have one!). The flight is obviously an overnighter and I'll arrive in Rome at 7:45am local time. This will seem like over 24 hours to me, what-with departing here at 6:03am our time. I do realize there's a 7-hour time difference so mathematically, 24 hours is not correct but we are figuring in jetlag here.

The return flight is a bit more "exciting," if that's the correct word I'm searching for. I fly from Rome into Munich for a couple hours, then over to Chicago, my least favorite airport I've ever visited. O'Hare is huge and they always seem to organize flights so that you are running from one end of the airport to the the complete opposite side on minimal time. I missed my flight the last time I was there. I was booked with a 45 minute layover going from concourse B on the right end (if you consult a map) to concourse L on the left end- no kidding. I am relieved to see the international arrivals are all in one terminal and my layover is something like 2 hours. Then I fly back here from Chicago, which is just over an hour flight.

Other than arranging and booking my flight, I have also obtained my International Driver's Permit!! This was super exciting, as I've never had one before. The process is as simple as getting a passport-sized photo taken, showing your current/valid license, signing some dotted lines and paying $15. Our local AAA has a travel store with this service so I was able to pick up a few items for my trip while I was there too. The Permit is actually a little paper book, like a mock-passport. This was a bit disappointing. I think I imagined more of an ID card but then again, $15 isn't going to produce anything fancy. I also waited in the wrong area for my #605 to be called (they were on #40 when I got there...) and when I was finally called up, I was informed I only needed to go to the travel store, where I had started out browsing while waiting for my #. Ha!!

I have also purchased some Euros here to get me started. Now I'm wondering if it's better to wait and exchange at a local bank in Rome for more or to do another exchange here. I'm also getting a Visa Travel Money card from a bank with some money on that for a backup form of currency. Italy is heavily-Euro-centric though and "cash is king." If anyone has knowledge of the Rome bank vs local exchange of Euros idea, let me know. They used travelers' checks and Lira the last time I was in Italy so long ago.

4.5 weeks to go...!