And so the adventure begins.

I feel like one of the most exhausted people on the face of the planet, and right now it's overriding every other emotion. Haha. I still haven't completely grasped the fact that I'm in ITALY of all places. It's ridiculous.

The flight in was alright. I haven't been on a plane since I was five years old, so I don't remember anything about flying. I had the sappy little "Oh, dad, I ruv you" moment right before boarding, but as soon as I got through security, all was fine. The takeoff was a little scary, but exciting at the same time. And turbulence freaked me the fuck out, especially when we were sitting in a solid 10 minutes of it over the Atlantic Ocean. Yeah. Not so fun.

Landing in Dublin was fun, but man, is it a little dump. They're doing renovations, so that'll be nice, but seriously, when I got there, I was like "Wow. This is . . . special." It was strange though. As soon as I got through security (again), and made my way to my flight, everything was so pretty and nice, with all the shops like in JFK. Strangest little thing ever.

And then, the flight out of Dublin was actually nicer than the flight in. Seriously. We were on a smaller, older, crappier plane, but the seats were more comfortable, the stewardesses were nicer, and the view was absolutely beautiful (I'm writing this from the school, but we're going to have internet in our apartment soon, so I'll come back and post pictures). I am in LOVE with flying now. Only thing I'm not particularly a fan of is the Jet Lag. Hahaha.

The flight into Rome was good, but getting out of the airport was not. I got scammed by a damn gypsy taxi. Dude ripped me off 75 euros to drive me around Rome and drop me off at the airport. Was NOT happy. And then nothing made sense at the train station, cost me another 44 euros to get a ticket from Rome to Florence. I mean, I expected that, but I still was pissed about how much money I was spending and I hadn't even gotten to Florence yet. Nobody spoke English, which was understandable, seeing as I was the outsider, but still frustrating.

Even just sitting on the train, I felt better. Just knowing I was out of Rome. Knowing that as soon as I got into a (marked) taxi and got to the school, then someone would be there. And I would be okay.

Sure enough, got to the school, was walked to the apartment, got situated, got showered, got unpacked and went out to dinner with the new roomies. :)

We went to this little place right down the road to the apartment. I got fettuccine with salmon and zucchini. It was super yummy, and the dude kept just bringing us stuff. DUDE. I tried chicken pate. It actually wasn't bad. Looked like cat food. Smelled like tuna. Interesting, but not bad. Most of the table got some good ol' vino. I had glass, but towards the end, it was just . . . ew. I wish I liked wine more. You know, being in wine country and all. However, after that, got back to the room, hit the mattress and passed the flip out. Like a rock (be proud of me, I stayed up until 10, Italy time). Woke up once in the middle of the night, but I don't know why. Ended up just rolling back over and sleeping.

Woke up at 7, got dressed, met up with all the roomies again and went on an adventure to find some groceries! Hello yogurt and nutella/jelly sandwiches for the next few months! :D

. . . It was cheapest. I mean, I got some milk too, and got some pasta, but yeah, mostly I'm sticking to Nutella and jelly sandwiches. It was so strange. At il centro (the grocery store), they had peanut butter, but it was like, three times the price of the nutella. So. Yeah. No thanks. And hello. Chocolate and hazelnut are far superior to overly sweetened peanuts. Clearly.

I'm exhausted. Beyond exhaustion. Sitting at orientation. I felt bad. We're sitting with the Chief of Police, going over how to be safe, and my eyes were having so much trouble staying open. I paid attention as best as I could, but I SO need a nap. I know I didn't miss anything, I'm just hella tired.

And good morning caffeine withdrawal. I thought I'd be okay, but apparently, not so much. My head hurts, I'm exhausted and I was even a little nauseous during the meeting. I'm praying that by the time orientation week's over, so will the withdrawal be, and I can have some coffee in the morning without my sanity depending on five cups a day. Let's keep our fingers crossed, shall we?

Just before I forget, because I'm going to talk about all of my food eating experiences while I'm here: for lunch (for 2.50 euros), I had this huge sandwich. It was tomato, lettuce, and fresh mozzarella on focaccia with a little bit of olive oil and some spices. Oooooh, lordy, it was yummy. Very yummy. And just what I needed. Now I just need to make it through the rest of orientation today, and take a nap. Haha.

Excited about making my own sketchbook though. :D

This chica doesn't know what else to say right now. So I'm peacin' out. Hopefully, next time I do this, it'll be from the comfort of my own bed. :)

Ciao!