but i hate italian food.

Hard to believe, but it’s finally time for my last blog.  We are getting ready to head out to Rome then it’s off to London & finally home.  Home, that’s crazy.  I know people say the older you get- the faster time goes…they aren’t lying.  This has definitely been the fastest semester of my life.  It’s weird because I’ve planned on studying abroad since high school..it took so much effort, time,and planning but then it was over so quick.  I have to say- coming to Italy has been one of the best choices I’ve made in my life.  That may seem dramatic, but it’s true.  I don’t think there’s any other way I could have grown & learned so much about myself and the world without sometimes feeling lonely & submerged in the world.  After taking away my family, friends, church, school, comfort zone, car, Dr. Pepper, air conditioner, fast-food, community, cell phone & almost every other thing that I was connected to/relied on- what is left besides me?  The subtraction of most things I cherished added to a language and culture barrier created some interesting challenges for us- but it also gave us some great opportunities to be physically, mentally, emotionally & spiritually stretched.  We got a few hours on trains yesterday & I came up with the top five things I’ve learned this semester:

1.       Self-confidence.  I always thought I knew who I was before I came to Italy, but I think I only knew a fraction.  Living in Europe has forced me to deal with people I don’t know, handle situations I’ve never seen & navigate through countries I’ve never been to.  Not only had we never lived by ourselves- but prior to living abroad we had never cooked, cleaned or paid bills.  Much less- we had never tried to do these things without being able to speak the language.  Now I can.  Before living in Italy learning to travel on trains, planes, taxis, and boats without clear directions of where I wanted to go—all with information that’s in Italian, would have made me nervous.   Meeting crazy people, being stared at, hollered at, spit at and grabbed at would have made me uncomfortable.  If I had gotten lost in the middle of the German Alps (or anywhere), not known directions or where I was headed- I would have been a nervous wreck.  Not anymore.  I’ve learned that I can handle any situation, we can figure our way out of any mess & life will still go on.  I’ve learned not to panic over the little things- and I can manage the big ones.

2.       Jesus is enough.  This is the first time in my whole life that my community was completely snatched from under my feet.  Thank Jesus I had Toni & Callyn- but, there were still times when we felt completely alone.  There were hard days- days I remember thinking “what have I gotten myself into..?”  Days when it was pouring, the kitchen was flooded, the electricity was out, we had no phone, nobody knew us here, nobody cared & we realized we weren’t going home for months.  Days where it was evident that WE were the foreigners.  Days when nobody would smile at us, nobody hugged us, and nobody talked to us.  These were days I learned to trust on Jesus.  It’s funny how He puts you in situations that seem harder than you can handle- just so He can carry you right to the brim without you crumbling.  That was so many times this semester.  We learned within the first few weeks that we were “different” because of our faith.  We were the weird ones that didn’t drink, didn’t party & didn’t fit in.  I realized that I’m so blessed at home to have great friends that lift me up & support me.  I also realized that unfortunately, the world is not the same as the bubble we live in- in the middle of the Bible belt.  Most importantly- I learned that Jesus loves the person that doesn’t acknowledge me, the man that spit on Toni & the people we normally wouldn’t have thought twice about.  I learned that he loves them just as much as me. I learned that Jesus is all I need- when I’m tired, unfaithful, stressed, homesick, sad AND when I’m excited, happy, faithful, serving and steadfast.  He is always enough.

3.       Loving people.  Like I said- living in Italy took away everyone we held so close.  We learned within the first 2 weeks that of the 33 people in our program- many were atheist, many didn’t like sorority girls, many seemed like “extreme partiers” to us..and everyone was different.  I think I loved this most of all.  We were forced to completely rely on 33 people we never would have met in the States.  It’s easy when they’re all you have.  I learned that I can be good friends with people that aren’t like me & sometimes that’s the best thing to do.  I could not be more thankful for the friends I’ve met here.  I can’t thank Jesus enough for getting to know their hearts, and LEARNING to love them.  Love is a choice- and we chose to love each other.  By the end of the semester I felt like I could call every single person in our program if I was in trouble.  That’s what we became to each other.  Traveling the world, crossing the language barrier & helping each other through the up’s and downs will do that to a friendship.  I’m definitely excited to get back to my friends at home- but I’m also excited that I have 33 new friends.  Friends that will share precious memories with me that outsiders may never understand.

4.       Slow down.  It’s like the Italian phrase I wrote about in February- how sweet it is to do nothing.  At the beginning- this was one of my least favorite aspects of Italian life.  The fact that nothing is convenient, the world stops from 1-4, nothing is open on Sundays & meals take upwards of 3 hours.  Funny enough- these are now some of the things I cherish most about Italy.  The fact that people get off 3 hours in the middle of the day to spend with family, eat lunch, and live life together is great.  Nothing needs to be open on Sundays- people should be able to go to church, and hang out with the people they love.  && meals.  We’ve learned to embrace starting a meal at 8 and not ending until 10.  We’ve learned to slow down, enjoy each other’s company, and truly get to know other people.  We’ve learned that a 3 hour conversation over a bottle of wine composes some of our greatest memories.  When life is slower- there is more time for the important things—like people.  Some of my favorite nights were when 7 of us crammed into a little kitchen, cooked an Italian masterpiece & sat shoulder to shoulder at the kitchen table for hours.  Like I’ve said before- life is about sharing time with people, and that is one thing I think Italians have down.

5.       Perceptions of the world. Before coming to Italy I don’t think I realized how close minded I was- actually, I know I didn’t.  Living here has given me the opportunity to talk to people from 6 different countries, learn their opinions on life, America & what they value.  Don’t get me wrong- I love the States..but I’ve learned that we don’t have everything down.  There’s nowhere else I’d rather live, but I’ve found out that other people feel the same way about their countries.  I’ve discovered that life is often about perception & we are greatly formed by the way we are raised.  I learned that just because people do things differently- that doesn’t mean they do it wrong.  People may drink, smoke & do things I consider “bad”- but that doesn’t take away from who they are.  Once we started to see where people came from and the values that were they were taught, it was much easier to see who they are.  It was this way with everyone in our program too- everyone is fighting a battle I know nothing about.  && unless I take the time to care, some people fight it alone- and that is not right.  People are not defined by what they do…but who they are.

-So, here I am.  Sitting at my kitchen table, watching the minutes tick & anticipating going home.  People keep asking if we’re ready.  Yes & no.  No, I’m not ready to leave the fairytale we’ve been living.  I’m not ready to stop traveling.  I’m not ready to go back to the real world, stress & chaos of life.  But yes, I’m so excited to see the people I love the most.  I can’t wait to give my family a hug.  I’m excited to spend time with my friends & throw a ball with Moose.  It’s funny- I could care less that I haven’t driven car in 4 months or that I can have steak soon.  I don’t care about watching TV or going to Wal-Mart.  The things I’m most excited for are seeing people that I love.  There’s so much more to say, but time is becoming precious.  Thank you to everyone who read this- thank you for caring about me and my life enough to keep up with me.  Thank you for those of you that took effort into keeping us update on YOUR life.  Thank you Mom & Dad for making sacrifices to let me come have the greatest/ most trying 4 months of my life.  Thank you for loving me enough to let me be scared, alone & stressed- and thank you for allowing me to figure it all out on my own.  I will definitely appreciate being home and having everyone a phone call away.  Callyn & Toni.  The 2 best friends anyone could ever ask for.  Thank you for going on the best/biggest/craziest adventure with me.  There truly are no words.  Thanks for being my family, my friends, my support, my community & my joy.  Thanks for everything; I love you guys more than you know.  && thank you JESUS!  Thank you for the best semester of all time.  This time tomorrow we’ll be on a plane headed home…ciao for now!

Well it’s official.  We went on our last trip..definitely not for life, but for now.  I’ve learned a lot while studying abroad- one of the most important is that traveling is a priority of mine.  I don’t care what I do in life, but I want to spend it seeing the world & loving people…that’s what will be most important to me.  A priority for sure.  We decided to go to Cinque Terre for our last trip.  It ended up being a blessing considering we had to move our flight earlier and rearrange a lot of important plans—it ended up being nice staying in Italy.

Friday

We left on an early train to make our way to the Northern Coast this time.  Sarah was supposed to go with us- but unfortunately she decided she wanted to graduate and stayed home to finish her senior capstone.  So, against our will- we left without her.  It took us about 4 hours to make the 3 trains up to Cinque.  We were nervous because it was raining the whole ride there- but I’m pretty sure Jesus made in a special call for us..it cleared up minutes before we got off the train.  We were staying in the first city, Rioggamiore, so we decided to check in and drop off our bags first.  We checked in at this little house on the first floor of the village & foolishly assumed we were staying close- but no, no, no..we were wrong.  After walking uphill for a few miunutes, we took one flight of stairs, another, another, another, another & just when we thought we were done- there were more.  I am not exaggerating when I say the guy taking us there stopped multiple times to let us catch up and ask us if we were alright- it was pretty pathetic.  We were literally huffing, puffing, and sweating when we made it to our room.  The view was worth it though- we looked out over the whole village and the ocean, worth any amount of sweat.  Rick Steves describes Cinque Terre as “5 towns along the Italian Riviera…there’s not a museum in sight, just sun, sea, sand, wine, swimming, hiking, and pure, unadulterated Italy.”  I would say that’s a pretty accurate definitely.  All 5 villages are connected by a pretty grueling hiking trail that can be done in about 5 hours.  Unfortunately for us- the trails were wet from the morning and considered unsafe to walk on.  We were able to do a short hike between the first two villages but then were forced to take the train between the last 4.  This ended up being okay considering we didn’t have but one day and we wanted time to explore all the villages.  We found old crumbling houses built into the side of the sea, tons of olive orchards, fisherman, lots of sea, beaches, gelato & buildings of every bright color possible.  All 5 cities were insanely beautiful.  By the time we had finished exploring & making a few friends-it was diner time.  We decided to find a restaurant in the 4^th city, Vernazza, that my sister told me about.  She went there about 7 years before and said it was the best food & wine she had in Europe.  It was called le Castel and it was literally underneath/built into a castle.  We spent about 30 minutes on top of the castle and watched the sun set over the ocean while our bellies got ready for diner.  The patio overlooked the whole village and the ocean & was truly stunning.  We stayed at dinner until after 9, enjoyed multiple courses, the best wine we’ve had thus far & even got offered a trip on some guys big boat (we obviously said no way).  We headed back home around 10:30 and spent some good time in enjoying out of our last European life chats before sleep.  I really think those are some of my favorite times- laying in bed and hearing two of my best friends hearts.  I have truly been blessed with two of the most genuine, beautiful, Godly & wise friends that were ever created.  I feel asleep feeling incredibly sad that our last trip was almost over but so thankful that I’ve had a way more incredible semester than anyone could ever deserve.

Saturday

We woke up this morning to loud rain.  This was pretty disheartening considering we planned to spend the day at the beach.  We found out it was supposed to rain all day and decided we were thankful we got to explore the day before & headed back to Florence.  Sarah finished her paper and met us in Firenze, one of our very favorite cities.  The four of us spent the day shopping, chatting, eating & enjoying each others company.  I realllly love Florence & I love my roommates even more- it was the perfect ending to a great weekend.  We ended up staying until about 7 when we decided to rush home to spend a little time with everyone before Sunday came and we all headed our separate ways.  We made it back by about 9 and headed out to meet everyone at 10:30.  We got to go to a few of our favorite places in town & spend some time with all our friends.  It was bitter-sweet.  Very bitter knowing we are going back to a life that is a little tougher, a little more complicated, a little more stressful & a lot more realistic.  It was bitter knowing that tomorrow we are leaving people we’ve learned to not only trust with our lives- but leaving people we’ve learned to love.  People we now love to love.  But it was also sweet- sweet knowing we are going home to people that love us, people we love & people we’ve really missed.  It’s funny how that works- I don’t miss my car, my TV, my cell phone or my clothes- just the people I care about.  It puts life into perspective.  So, tomorrow we wake up bright and early.  We gave ourselves a whole few hours to pack our bags, clean the house & head out.  One more night in Roma & then back to the States.  One more blog, one more day!  USA here we come!

We finally made it to the Southern coast of Italy & it could not have been better.  I was super excited about this past weekend because my sister came to travel with us from India!  She moved there about two years ago & I have been anxiously awaiting her moving back home for just as long.  We decided to go to the coast since it was one of the few places we had left to go that she hadn’t already been to.

Friday-

After a brutal final, we headed on a 3 hour train ride to meet Becca in Rome.  I know she’s a big girl- but I was still a little been nervous about her finding her way on the Italian trains.  With no train number or time on the tickets, validations & only the ending city as the name- they can be very confusing to get around.  She was supposed to get there about 40 minutes before us.  I tried to text her on the train and realized our stupid minutes were up.  We have a reloadable cell phone & it’s such a mystery.  It doesn’t say how many minutes you have left, it may charge for text, we don’t know how much it charges for mionutse- and it basically runs out at the most inopportune times.  So we were trying to meet up with my sister, she was late, and of course our minutes didn’t work.  We tried to buy more but the reloading didn’t work- after going to two booths to try to fix it..she was an hour late.  While Toni & Callyn went to the Tim store, I waited at the meeting spot and tried my hardest to give off the “don’t talk to me look.”  Of all the places we routinely go- the Roma Termini is the one place you don’t really want to be alone.  Luckily, after about 15 minutes I saw my sister coming toward me- bringing some color to Italy!  We didn’t have but a couple minutes and we were on a train to Naples.  By the time we got there it was pretty late and we were afraid we missed the last train.  A “nice” man informed us that we did but he would be willing to drive us for over 100euros.  Although appear as if we scream –scam me-  we don’t.  We walked downstairs and realized he was lying to us and we definitely didn’t miss the last train, welcome to Naples.  By the time we made it to the hotel it was after 11 and we were all exhausted- especially Bec as she had been traveling for about 20 hours.  We had a big slumber party and headed to sleep.

Saturday-

As we woke up and looked across our balcony- we realized the long travel was worth it.  We had an amazing view over a lake that led up to Mount Vesuvius.  It was sooo beautiful.  We went to breakfast where we were the youngest people by about 20 years.  Day 1: Pompeii.  The old ruins of Pompeii were destroyed with a volcano (right next to Vesuvius) destroyed it in 79AD.  It was literally preserved exactly as it used to be so many years ago.  The coolest thing/sadest thing- was that the bodies of some of the victims were preserved.  They were killed by the volcanoes gas and you could even see their expressions as they died- morbid, but very cool.  After a couple hours we had enough & headed to lunch.  I loved watching Becca eat- it was obvious that she doesn’t love Indian food as she finished a whole pizza at our first meal J

Next stop: Mt. Vesuvious.  We decided we wanted to hike up the volcano that made Pompeii famous.  We took the absolute CRAZIEST bus ride up, up, up on this monstrous Mercedez offroading bus thing.  It was pretty intense- actually, really intense.  After we got about 1000 meters up we got out to hike the rest of the way.  It was the weirdest thing- one minute we were walking and it was clear as day and all of a sudden this massive cloud came down on us.  Toni & Callyn were about 20 feet in front of Bec & I and once the cloud came down then we literally couldn’t see them at all.  Then it got cold.  Real, real cold.  But it was worth it.  The clouds broke up for a few minutes and we got to look down into the volcano, climb on the harden lava & look out over all of Sorrent & Naples.  It was so beautiful.

We headed back to the apartment, cleaned up & finished our night off by going into Sorrento.  It was a very pretty little city that reminded me of a bigger Arezzo.  We had a typical Italian dinner at about 8:30 where we sat and chatted.  I knew me and Becca were really sisters when we both ordered a steak at dinner.  I’m not gonna lie, I was a little sad after the first day was over- knowing we only had one more day with my sister and we were one day closer to leaving Italy.

Sunday-

We were off to the Amalfi coast.  The only way to get there and truly see the city is by bus.  I think this bus ride was even rougher than the one up the Volcano.  We rode on this little streets with cars parallel parked on both sides as the Mediterranean twinkled a sheer 500-foot drop below.  Callyn got a little motion sick- which wasn’t hard to do- but getting to the coast was definitely worth it.  We first went to Amalfi and walked around the city center.  They had this beautiful church and we actually CHOSE to go visit a church during a trip!  With all our trips to churches for class- this doesn’t happen by choice very often.  We took a walk down and looked at the beach- then headed through these little white streets that was well away from the tourist part of town.  After site seeing and hiking for a bit- we decided to take a boat to Positano, a nearby city.  The ride was stunning- there were all these little cities built onto the sides of cliffs, I seriously felt like I was living in a post card.

We got to Positano just in time for lunch & after that, it was beach time.  They had one of the best beaches I’ve seen so far.  We bargarined with the man who let us use the 15 euro chairs for 5 & we all enjoyed some time in the sun.  I even got in the water (as Becca watched)- but it was still VERY cold.  By the time we were done soaking up the rays, we had to catch the bus ride back to Sorrento.

We headed back into town for our last meal together.  I think this was my favorite meal as we got to just sit and talk.  It really was the biggest blessing having my sister there- it could not have been any better.  We’re almost 9 years apart so we are just now starting to be on the same page in life- and I’m so excited for  her to become one of my very best friends.  Unfortunatley, the night finally ended and we had to head back for our last night at the hotel.

Monday-

We decided to head out early Monday so we could spend the afternoon in Rome.  Unfortunately, traveling took longer than we had hoped and we didn’t’ get to see much.  We did, however, get to have a really great lunch.  We spent the last 2 hours of our trip talking about life.  We talked about how we’ve grown, what we’ve learned & drilled my sister with questions about life.  It’s so great to have someone a few steps ahead of you that can tell you what to expect.   Sadly, this is where our trip ended- we headed to the train station, saw my sister onto her train & made the 3 hour trip home.  It truly was such a wonderful weekend in a beautiful city & it will hopefully be the first of many vacations I get to spend with my sister!

Our vacation to the beach was a big time success.  Class got move to Thursday so we got to have a stress-less trip to Sardenia on Friday.  Toni, Callyn, Jen, Liz & I packed our swimmers, flip flops & shorts and were headed to the sunshine!  Apparently Sardenia has one of the top 10 beaches in the world- lucky us.

Friday-

We took a train to Pisa & caught a plane at 4:50.  We didn’t lane in Alghero until about dinner time so we decided to check in & grab some dinner.  Originally there were only 4 of us going but Liz decided to come and we figured it wouldn’t be a big deal to sneak her in.  So, only 3 of us check in while Jen & I went to grab food at the grocery store.  We stayed at this really great bed & breakfast that was really close to the beach.  We had a big balcony with tables and chairs, a community room and our own part of the apartment with two bedrooms and a bathroom.  Callyn, Toni & I shared a big bed and Liz didn’t even have to take the floor!  We headed to dinner at this pizza place right by the water and enjoyed smelling the salty air while I had my first pesto pizza.   After dinner we decided to head to bed so we could hit the beaches early!

Saturday-

We set our alarms and headed out to the beach pretty early.  Luckily, it is still low season so it wasn’t very crowded.  We were able to get chairs right next to the water & a restaurant.  The weather was a little cloudy but the sun broke through and we ended up getting a few hours to bask in the rays.  It started to rain later on in the afternoon and we decided to head back to the apartment.  We spent a couple of hours talking & playing cards before we got ready to go out for the night.  We decided to head to the old historic party of the town, or the port.  It was completely surrounded by water and was so beautiful.  It was basically the perfect cobblestone streets of Arezzo with old rustic flats PLUS the ocean on all sides.  We decided to eat at a place our landlord suggested, Casa blanca.  Now, Toni & Callyn love seafood.  However- they  haven’t eaten it because we’ve seen how the pigs are served & we can only imagine about the fish…BUT for some reason- we forgot about seafood once we made is to the islands.  So, Toni and Callyn got served a big, FAT, green fish- teeth, eyes, fins & all on a plate with a little lemon.  Needless to say, they weren’t thrilled.  After they tried a few bites, we collectively perfected the art of moving food around to look like it’s been eaten.  This ended up working out alright as we finished the night off with a big round of AMERICAN looking candy!

Sunday-

We woke up and the weather was not looking too great.  It was cloudy and raining but we were determined to be at the beach.  We decided to head to the nicest beaches and called the taxi to take us to the areas with the 4 star hotels.  We literally climbed over rocks barefoot to sneak onto the small private beach of the Hotel del Primi.  It was great- since it was rainy and cloudy there wasn’t a soul out there.  Our taxi driver literally said he would see us in an hour, but we were going to prove him wrong.  After we laid on our chairs covered in our rain jackets and towels- the Lord decided to clear the skies for us.  The sun seriously came out of nowhere and we ended up with a couple hours of sunshine!  It was plenty for us as we all ended up with a light sunburn.  I wasn’t too upset though- we were starting to truly stand out in a city full of olive color skin tones.  We went back to the historic city center for dinner and had our typical Italian pasta.  We decided we want to be like the Italians and spend hours at dinner.  We made it to about 2 ½ but we had to bring cards to entertain ourselves.  It was a really fun night of being outside by the beach & we finished it off with some of the BEST gelato I’ve had thus far.

Monday-

The time went so fast and it was already our last day for the beach.  It was the perfect day though and the sun was in full force.  We decided to stay close and headed to our beach.  We spent about 6 hours napping, reading, getting in the water & eating ice cream.  It was the perfect way to end a very relaxing vacation.  Plus, we all ended up getting a good tan before heading back home.  We had a little drama when it was time to pay and our landlord realized there were 5 of us, not 4.  We played it off- quickly handed over the money- and booked it out of there.  We spent our last night eating at a close restaurant where we had moreee Italian food and some really great bread with olives.  I truly think it will be weird not having pasta on a regular occasion in the states- who knows though, maybe I will.

Tuesday-

Our taxi picked us up at 6:30 to bring us to the airport.  We landed in a VERY rainy Pisa, not surprising.  We had to pass through Florence on the way home and wanted to stop for a little.  Unfortunately, it was pouring and it wasn’t looking to promising.  I was so hungry- not surprising- so my friends decided to let me stop for some food.  Then our train was delayed 30 minutes which was a blessing since the rain stopped!  So, we got to spend a few hours in Florence, shopping & going to the market.

 I’m going to miss living a life where I can “stop by” Florence on the way home.  I’m actually going to miss a lot about Italy.  It’s crazy that we are leaving here in 13 days.  No, not leaving- MOVING.  Moving back to the States.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to see everyone.  Plus, it will be nice to drive, have different food & get smiled at.  But, I’m truly going to miss so many things about Italy.  It still takes my breath away every time I look out the window at our apartment and see the mountains.  It will never get old watching the hills and small villas out the window of our train.  I’m starting to love pasta, imagine that.  And we even have friends from the neighborhood.  This sweet man rings our doorbell to drop off pastries at night & our friend next door has been practicing her English at home just so can say “hi” to us.  I think I may even miss walking everywhere, seeing the people outside & living in such a tight-knit community.  It’s crazy our adventure is coming to an end…only two more trips left.  My sister is coming to spend the weekend with us though- I think I still have a couple more places left in me J

So, we’ve been on trips and done some very new things- but nothing was quite as adventurous as Germany.  We thought our trip was coming to a crashing stop when the volcano erupted in Iceland and every flight was stopped.  So, we tried to plan a backup trip to Croatia in a day while completely neglecting the Germany we thought was impossible.  But, possible it was and the skies cleared up just the day before we were set to leave.  We didn’t have our usual check list of where we were going & how to get there- but we figured we’re pretty good at the travel thing by now & could figure it out….

Thursday

And the adventure started, well almost.  We left Thursday afternoon for Pisa because our flight took off at 7am on Friday.  We stayed at a hostel consisting of orange walls, orange paintings, orange ceilings, orange pillows, orange blankets, etc.  I mean- it was ORANGE.  We sorta felt like we were at a horrible beach house in the middle of Italy with no water in sight.  We explored the little city and decided to grab some dinner.  It was obvious we still suck at Italian when Callyn’s plate was set in front of her.  Tomatoes and cheese. Ya, that’s it.  Just tomatoes in between the cheese, hm.  So, we all shared Toni & my meal and after dinner decided to try our luck next door at the wine bar.  The nice man there told us about a Tuscan special which we thought was strange since we live in Tuscany and had never heard of such a thing.  We tried it anyway , it was pretty pink with blood oranges in it- so we all took a big gulp.  It had to have been the absolute worst drink I’ve ever tasted in my whole life.  It was like one of those after dinner shots Italians take to help digest their food- only on steroids and made to look pretty and deceiving.  We were stuck though.  There were only 2 other men at the bar plus the bartender & Italians get VERY offended if you don’t like what they prepare you.  I literally poured my wine into a plant, Callyn drank a little like a champ, and Toni simply didn’t care.  We left the Pisan wine and decided to try out the grocery store, third time is a charm.  Unfortunately we don’t know the streets & left with no map- so after a bit of aimless wandering, we made it back to the hostel.  Little did we know that this was just the beginning of our great adventure.

Friday

We started the day out at a sunny 4 am- well actually, a rainy & dark 4am.  But nevertheless, we made it to the airport & before we knew it we were on the plane to Germany!  After a short hour we landed in what we thought was Munich.  This is where the REAL fun began.  Ryanair and those tricky little airports- it said we were landing in Munich, but by Munich they actually meant over an hour outside of Munich.  So, we loaded onto a bus that took us an hour and a half away to the actual city of Munich.  Once we stepped in the bus station we started to put together the logistics of our trip that we had thus far disregarded.  Our departing flight left at 7 am- meaning we needed to be there at 5 am to an airport almost 2 hours away.  This put us leaving at approximately 3 am which probably wouldn’t be a possibility.  However, we then realized the hotel we had booked (supposedly in Munich) was actually another 2 hours away.  We were now looking at a 1 am departure for a 7 am flight- absolutely not a possibility.  I think this is the moment I realize the extent of how much we’ve grown this trip.  At the beginning of living in Europe we would have been absolutely stressed/panicked.  But, with a simple shrug of our shoulders- we unanimously decided that we would figure it out later or sleep at the train station…and we were headed to lunch.

Post lunch we decided to head back to the train station and find our way to our hotel.  The problem now was that we weren’t exactly sure where our hotel was.  Matter of fact, we weren’t sure at all.  Since we thought it was in Munich & were really 2 hours away, we didn’t even know the name of the correct city.  We had the name of the hotel though and figured that’d be enough for the information center to get us there.  Now- the person behind the counter telling us what train to take looked roughly 14.  This is when we should have known not to take his advice- but I’ll get to that later.  He wrote down some extremely foreign words, muttered sometimes & sent us on our way.  German trains are very different than Italian trains though- and we had to corral a couple other people to help us purchase & validate our tickets correctly.  But, we were off.  Our trusty 14 year old leader told us to take the train 30 minutes then catch a bus and that would take us to the right city.  So, we successfully got off at a desolate train track in the middle of who knows where Germany via the guidance of a young boy.  We found our bus though and thought we were really on our way- an exciting trip already.  Fifteen minutes later, things started getting weird.  First, we were obviously not at a touristy place- nobody was on the bus.  Then, we stopped in front of a school- yes, a school.  Then another school.  Before we knew it, we were three white girls sitting in the middle of a school bus jammed pack of 6-15 year old German school kids.  We were in the hills of Germany, surrounded by a different language and not knowing where we were heading.  This is when we realized we forgot the cardinal rule of studying abroad- we forgot to tell a soul where we were, where we were headed, when we’d be back & our Italian phone dislikes working in other countries.  This would have made me nervous- but to tell the truth, it was really quite hilarious.  After an hour and a half of dropping kids off throughout the countryside- we made it to our bus stop, relief.  There was even an information booth right outside so we stopped to check on directions.  Now, we had been traveling since 4 am and it was roughly 4pm- we were beyond ready to be there.  The sweet lady looked up and kindly informed us that our hotel was over a mile away- the next bus would not be coming for quite some time, and we should walk.  So- we finished off our long journey with a peaceful walk besides the Alps, surrounded by green grass and underneath a clear blue German sky, not too bad after all.

Our hotel was perfect.  It was directly in the middle of both the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles.  We wanted to make it to one of them before they closed at 6 so we decided to go to the smaller Hohenschwangau.  It was a beautiful yellow castle that was once the home to a Bovarian King.  Already, the long day was worth it.  I had never been in a real castle before and it was everything I could have imagined.  All the furniture was original and it was so cool to see how the real royal families used to live.  By the time we were finished it was almost dinner time- well it was about 6:30.  The earliest dinner possibly starts in Italy is 7:30- but by 7 we were so hungry we decided to give it a try.  Apparently things work different in Germany though because every restaurant was closed by 7 except our hotel.  This actually ended up being a blessing because the food was amazing.  We all voted for roast beef and homemade pasta- it was SUCH a treat to get a new kind of meat.  By this point we were exhausted and headed to bed.

Saturday

We decided to make it a real vacation and slept in until about 9:30 on Saturday, the rest was much needed.  We were so impressed when our B&B called us at 10:15 asking if we would like them to keep out any breakfast for us.  We kindly declined as we were getting excited to see the big castle.  There are two ways to get up to Neuschwanstein castle: by walking 40 minutes uphill or by taking a carriage ride.  Since we were headed to a castle- we obviously chose the carriage.  Neuschwanstein is the actual Castle Walt Disney modeled his castle after, so we truly were headed to every little girls dream in a real horse drawn carriage.  We chatted with our driver for a bit- a 23 year old German boy- who filled us in on some daily living and even asked us to hang out later.  With the usual polite American way of saying no thanks we replied, “ya- maybe we’ll see you around later!”  And we were off- headed up to the castle.  Everything I thought about the castle from the day before was magnified 10x in Neuschwanstein.  After being built for 19 years, King Ludwig the 2^nd lived in the castle for only 1 year.  He was then pronounced too crazy to rule & mysteriously drowned.  His castle was HUGE!  It was so many stories tall, high up in the Alps, surrounded by a waterfall & had tall lookout towers and huge windows.  It was incredible- absolutely beautiful.  We stayed at the castle for quite some time then headed to our carriage for the ride down- what a dream.

We ran into our carriage driver friend on the way down and he informed us that he’d be waiting at our hotel at 7:30- great.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t really ditch this one considering he lived in the city with potentially 50 other people.  He brought a friend to dinner that didn’t speak one word of English.  Although somewhat awkward- the night actually ended up being really great.  We all sat down by the lake and discussed life, Germany, America & the world.  I love making friends in other countries and getting their opinion on America.  I think that’s forced me to grow so much this semester & my eyes on the world have been drastically opened

Sunday

This was the big day- the day we found out if we were sleeping in the train station or not.  Luckily, our hotel was so great to us and allowed us to cancel our reservation a couple days before.  I think the madness of the volcano worked with us considering many people had to switch travel plans.  We had a taxi waiting for us at 6:30 am & the B&B even packed us a to go breakfast.  We made it to another train station that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.  Funny thing is- it was only 5 minutes away.  Meaning- our 14 year old boy guide convinced us to take a school bus through the mountains for 2 hours while we could have ridden the same train 5 minutes from where we stayed.  Just our luck.  After some help from locals we made it back into Munich & subsequently headed to Dachau.  Dachau is a small city that contains a concentration camp from World War 2.  I really struggled with forcing myself to go to the camp.  I knew I could not leave Germany without witnessing it- but I also knew it would be an incredibly emotional and sobering day.  I was not disappointed.  Dachau was the very first concentration camp ever built & the only one to be in existence all 12 years.  Over 200,000 people went through the doors of Dachau- over 33,000 never walked out.  I loved being able to pay tribute to all the people that died at the camp- but I was absolutely horrified by the things that happened.  It was such a good reminder that the world is corrupt- but despite the corruption there is always beauty.  In such a terrible place- we were also told stories of survival, love & friendship.  I thought the symbolism was striking- there were beautiful white budding trees amidst sacred ground that told the stories of trials, mourning, poverty, and death. I don’t think I will ever forget Dachau- however hard it was, it was an afternoon that was well spent.

We always seem to be at the right place at the right time.  We just happened to be in Germany during spring fest.  This was pretty equivalently to Oktoberfest without so much madness.  It was kinda like a big carnival with some huge beer tents.  There were tons of people dressed in typical German clothes, lots of rides & obviously- lots of beer.  Although we didn’t drink any, we decided to check out the beer tents.  It was the perfect place to people watch & we spent the rest of the afternoon watching people in costumes & the German band admits all the chaos.

We decided to finish up our evening by going to dinner at Hofbrauhaus.  Hofbrauhaus is the oldest bar in the world- dating to the 1500s.  There is seating for hundreds and we chose to sit outside in the “beer garden.”  I got the typical German sausage for dinner & we even got to listen to another live German band.  We tried to drink German beer- and we all 3 split one.  However, even in the right context we just couldn’t do it- but I was truly proud of our valiant effort.

It was pretty ironic.  We were walking home and recounting the day- talking about the horrors of Dachau and everything the worlds doing right and wrong.  We really were consumed with the fact that humans could be capable of such terrible things.  Right at that moment- we came up to a crowd.  We had no idea what was going on-but we obviously pushed to the front to find out.  There were police officers and riot control everywhere and it looked pretty serious.  We found a friend to translate and learned that there was about to be a Nazi demonstration.  A Nazi demonstration!? I mean- I know I’m somewhat naive, but it was truly shocking that things like this could still happen!  It was honestly pretty weird.  People walked up from the subways and carried around banners, candles & helmets.  Apparently they were protesting the death of “martyr” a few years back.  Then the crowd started shouting angry German things and the Nazi’s proceeded to walk around the square.  It was really an interesting end to the day- and again, my eyes were opened even more.  Lucky for us, we found a hostel with a room left & we got out of sleeping in the train station.  Although it would have been quite the experience- it’s one I’m glad I went without

Monday

Our trip ended the same way it began- only without so much anticipation this time.  We took a bus to a plane and a plane to a train and were home.  Sadly, our time is running out.  I’m so thankful we made it to Germany though.  I left the country feeling wiser and more confident.  But more importantly, I left with new friends and a better understanding of the world I’ve somewhat blindly lived in for the past 21 years.

Sunday was Toni’s birthday, yup the big 21!!!!  I would just like to utilize my blog to tell the world how great one of my very best friends, Toni Thompson is.  Toni- thank you for being such a steadfast and faithful friend.  You are SO patient with me- weather it be listening to my long stories, guiding my directionally challenged self, or turning on the stove for the 5^th time in one day.  I simply could not have made it through this semester without you and Callyn.  You have spoken so much truth into my life & have loved me- and everyone- very well.  I love that you’re passionate about things- Livestrong, Breastcancer & Kate.  You live with a purpose & I truly admire that.  Thank you for going on crazy adventures with me this semester.  Our 5 country throw down (and the many more to come) would NOT have happened without you.  I love that I have crazyyyyy, exciting, and fun stories to tell my kids about- and I love that you’re in every one of them.  So, basically- just thank you for being you.  Thank you for loving Jesus, loving people & loving me- I love you best friend J

Saturday

On that note- we tried our hardest to make Toni’s birthday as special as possible.  The original plan was to be in Greece, but a shortage on time called that plan to a halt.  This ended up being lucky considering we know friends that have been stuck there for 6 days due to Iceland’s volcano eruption.  Callyn & I spent the week trying our hardest to break away from Toni for a couple hours and get stuff for her birthday.  We made a tiny fib one night and bought ourselves about an hour.  Kate met us on the Guido and we went cake hunting!  Now, Italy does not have its cakes down.  Everything sweet (besides chocolate & gelato) tastes like sugarless sponge bread.  Kate knew a place that had good sweets though and we were able to get Toni a chocolate mousse cake/pie.  We also got birthday plates, cups, and chocolates- just for fun.  Sarah was in charge of streamers and she found Toni’s favorite colors- yellow and pink.  Saturday night we had Pat & Bryce over for a little dinner party.  We cooked a typical Italian dinner of fresh pasta, bread, chicken, cheese & wine.  It was so nice to sit around the table and talk for HOURS.  I will truly miss having endless hours to just be with people without a stress in the world- I love Italy for that.  Our sweet sweet landlord, Mario, brought over a surprise birthday cake from him and his wife Loretta.  Considering we never told him it was Toni’s birthday- he truly is such a superstar. 

Right in the middle of our conversations, Kate texted us to tell us that she had to leave for another town at 10 the next morning.  Being the lazy friends that we are- we knew we wouldn’t make it over to her house that early in the morning.  So, we left all our friends at the apartment with blank looks on their faces as we ran to get the second cake of the night.  By the time we got home, Sarah was back and we decided it was the perfect time for a celebration.  We fit 21 candles on Toni’s itty-bitty cake & we sang our birthday girl her much needed song.  We finished the night out by eating more than is necessary, chatting, and falling asleep with a full belly.  Well- at least Toni thought we were falling asleep.  Callyn and I struggled to keep our eyes open for another 30 minutes until we knew Toni was dreaming.  We then mustered up all our toilet papering skills from high school- and went to town decorating the kitchen with ribbon, trying to be as silent as possible.  After some screeching chairs and dropped appliances- we were truly shocked that Toni didn’t wake up.

Sunday

I think she was surprised by our house decorations in the morning.  We spent most of her actual birthday doing our favorite thing- lounging around the house.  Toni & I met up with Bryce and Pat for some coffee later that afternoon.  The best part of her birthday was finding a site we could watch American movies on.  So, Toni & I finished her birthday with a bang as we both sobbed to Dear John while curled in a blanket on our couch.

Friday

This is going backwards- but I wanted to get the important stuff covered first.  Friday we had our art history lecture in Florence.  We left at 8 and didn’t finish lecture until almost 3- this made for a very long day.  Callyn, Toni & I decided to stay in Florence to do something a little different since Greece didn’t work out.  We stayed in a very nice hostel and even had a private room with a TV & computer!!  We went out to dinner Friday with about 10 people in our class at a MEXICAN restaurant.  They even had queso!!  However, the queso was supposed to warm up on the fire before eating it- and since we haven’t seen orange cheese in months, we ate it cold.  Worth it.

After dinner we walked around Florence for a bit- which is truly stunning at night.  Jessie, Callyn’s friend, is in culinary school in Italy- and came to spend the evening in Florence with us.  So, we met up with her and spent most of our night drinking coffee outside and chatting.  It was such a beautiful night and was so fun to hear someone else’s stories about living in Italy.  By about midnight we were exhausted from a long day and decided to call it a night.

Saturday

Well, the first part of Saturday at least.  We got up early and filled our bellies with a GREAT breakfast of eggs.  Then we headed out to the open air market.  Florence has a HUGE market every weekend that is full of vendors for blocks.  They are known for their high quality (& cheap!) leather.  We spent the better half of the day walking the streets and looking for bargains.  Callyn & I walked away with matching leather purses among a few other things.  It started to rain and we decided to head back home for our evening of cooking with the boys!!

Now

-This basically brings me up to date on my blog.  This big issue right now is the VOLCANO!  We have been planning to go to Germany this weekend for over a month.  Unfortunately- Iceland may be having other plans for us.  So, we have flights and hotels booked and paid for- and now we’re just waiting to see if we can actually go.  As of now, every northbound flight is cancelled until at least Thursday and we leave Friday at 7am.  We find out tomorrow if we can go- and if not, we’ll be fighting for our money back and going somewhere sporadic!!  Luckily, we’re pretty much pros at traveling now and should have no problem planning a trip in a day.  I think we may go to Croatia because we can take a boat there, but who knows!! So, now we just wait & see where we’ll end up this weekend. Italia- always an adventure!

As time continues to move fast & Italy begins to feel more like home, I get worse and worse at writing my blog.  I guess that’s a good thing considering we’re making friends and doing things.  Since we have LESS than a month left-classes have started to get crazy as usual.  I feel like everything is snowballing- which it is.  One of our projects in our film and video class is to make a documentary over a typical Italian family.  Last Thursday Callyn & I decided to be good students and so some filming, little did we know it would turn into one of our favorite nights in Arezzo.

We decided to go to one of our professors graduate students house, Irene.  I’m not gonna lie- we were a little nervous.  A. We don’t really know how to film B. Only the kids know English, and are not fluent C. We were going to someone’s house that we didn’t know…but go we did.  Irene might be the funniest person I know & she made us feel right at home from the beginning.  They live in this cute 3 bedroom apartment on the opposite side of town.  Luckily, Irene is a film major so she helped us set up a few scenes.  First, we interviewed her grandma.  She was such a little ham & told Irene that if we were filming- she wanted to be interviewed so she could be famous in America..I don’t think we’re that good of producers to get her famous though.  It felt very foreign and professional as we asked questions, she answered, & Irene translated.  Then we filmed all the ladies cooking dinner, her dad watching the news, and one of her brothers doing homework before dinner.  The plan was to record them cooking and about 2 minutes of their meal- but being the gracious family they are, they insisted we eat.  So, Callyn & I sat around a crowded little table with 6 Italians for dinner.  The conversation was hilarious as they didn’t understand everything we said and we didn’t understand most of what they did.  Our teacher would be proud though as we attempted to use every Italian word in our small vocabulary.  Our meal was great and consisted of stuffed artichokes, fresh pasta, brochette & strawberries.  We got to talk about the differences in America and Italy, all about their family, and just life.  I like that Italian families are so close.  They live in the same city and house with their parents until they get married.  Irene is 28, her brothers are 25 & 21- but they all live with their parents…even through college!  The grandparents are intimately involved with the family too & their grandmother comes over every night to prepare and eat dinner.  That was what they thought the number one number difference between Italian and American families is- how close they are.  I think my family is an exception because we are so close, but every family is in Italy & and I think that’s something I really admire

Regardless of how our project turns out, our night at the Sciatti’s will go down as one of my favorites.  Not only because the food was good and the conversation was hilarious- but just because of the family.  I think that is the one thing I’m most excited to get back home for, my family.  It felt so good to be surrounded by people that love each other and really just to be at a home in general.  We ended up staying at their house over 3 hours but it went by so fast.  We quickly decided that they are our pretend family over here & have even talked to them a couple times within the 4 days since we left.  So, as our time here is seeming to screech to a halt- there’s one thing we can definitely look forward to at home…being with the people we love the most, our families.

Oh the joys of cooking.  As anyone reading my blog knows- meals have been a big time struggle for us this semester.  Going from being cooked for at home, a meal plan freshman year, and having 3 amazing meals every day at Kappa—to try to cook for ourselves in a foreign country was not at all easy.  We started the semester with roughly more burnt, thrown away, inedible meals than identifiable food.  Luckily- we’ve gotten much better throughout the semester.  Regardless, a real Italian cooking class was offered last week & we jumped at the opportunity.

Ten of us decided to take the class which was taught by a lady that lives right here in Tuscany.  We drove out to her house which overlooked the Apennine Mountains and was surrounded by olive trees, small gardens, terrace covered outdoor tables, and tons of beautiful landscape.  She taught us about our main ingredients: pomodori (tomatoes), pane (bread), olio d’oliva (olive oil), & basilica (basil).  I knew going into the cooking class that tomatoes would probably infest every dish & for the most part I wasn’t let down.  We started by making and tasting an antipasta (appetizer) dish.  The first was crostini con fegatini-basically sausage, this seemed easy enough.  But instead of cooking the sausage- which would be logical in the States- she encouraged us (in Italian) to eat it raw.  Since I knew I would look rude by not eating the tomatoes later, I was the first to volunteer to eat the raw meat.  If you could get over the cold chewy texture, it was actually pretty good!  A lot of the class, including Callyn & toni, opted out of this dish.  Had I looked around the room, eating raw sausage wouldn’t have surprised me one bit.  What did surprise me was the four MONTH old sausage hanging from a string at the window.  I asked what it was- it was just airing out to be dried for eating.  Now, I know beef jerky is dried meat.  But hanging raw meat from an outdoor window for four months could not possibly be sanitary.  But- it was time to move on and next we made bruschette miste.  It was pretty easy to make and just looked like spread on hard break.  Too bad I don’t speak Italian or I would have been prepared that I was chomping into a giant mound of hot, brown, liver on hard bread.  I kept pretending I was on Survivor but even with that kind of motivation- I only choked down about half of it.  I was soooo proud of Toni & Callyn for finishing theirs- lucky for me, Sam helped me out.

We were onto the main dishes- Fett’unta e pomodora & Pappa al pomodoro.  Mind you- pomodoro means tomato, thank you Italy.  It really was so fun to cook.  The olive oil and wine we cooked with and ate were made at their own property.  We all helped chop, peel, and mix the ingredients for our main dishes.  It was so Italian- we even cooked over the fire in her kitchen!  Italians pride themselves on having a lot of taste to their food.  They absolutely don’t eat food when it’s out of season- which is foreign to my idea of an American grocery store having fruits year round.  I even learned some hints:

1.        Dipping an onion in cold water prevents your eyes from watering

2.       Setting a spoon diagonal across a pan helps when the lid is too small or hot

3.       Soaking a tomato in warm waters allows you to peel the skin off easily

4.       Cheese is much much better when it’s aged- just like wine!

As all 15 of us gathered around one giant table for dinner, I started to feel like a true Italian.  It really was so beautiful- we could even see the countryside from the large window at the table.  My parents would be so proud of me as I tried every dish, even the ones soaking in tomato sauce.  I definitely didn’t like that one though and discreetly passed it onto Robyn.  I loved the second dish of pasta with sausage and would have finished my plate if I knew the meal stopped here.  But- as Italians love to do- we kept eating.  For our dolce (desert) we had Tuscany’s famous cheese with pears.  I think it may be one of my favorite dishes in this country- adding just a little bit of honey and jam is the perfect compliment.  Our last portion of the meal consisted of this sweet flat bread that you dip in a VERY strong wine.  We’d had this before though and I knew it tasted like straight rubbing alcohol- so I passed on this one too.

We finished off the night with a tour through their property and playing with Kirk & Charlottes sweet boys, Max and Alessio.  We thanked our sweet hosts and were off- hopefully I can remember enough of what we learned to recreate something tasty in the states!

-I think Dr. Seuss still has a few wise words for us all  :)

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.

You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.

You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.

And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.

No! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don’t. Because, sometimes, they won’t.

I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot.

And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.

But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!