Homecoming: A Fight For My Life

It's been three days since I've returned home, and I think I'm just starting to get over the insanity that was this past weekend. It was the craziest two days of my life, for others the craziest five or six. No one really predicted that a freak blizzard would take over Europe on Friday, December 17th, and completely shut down every major (and non-major) airport, making it impossible for hundreds of students who had studied abroad for a semester return home for Christmas.

I remember Thursday night we all decided to try and stay up as late as we could. The goal was to see the sunrise off the Ponte Vecchio, and then just sleep all day on the plane rides home. Unfortunately I had been up all night the night before studying for three final exams that Thursday, so another all-nighter wasn't in the cards for me. Nevertheless, I got three hours of sleep, woke up at 6 am, tearfully said goodbye to an amazing new friend I'd made during the semester and got into my taxi headed towards the Florence airport just as it was beginning to snow.

The forecast was "light snow flurries." I wasn't worried. Planes take off in Colorado when there's snow everywhere. It wasn't long after I'd gotten to the airport that my flight was cancelled. I was immediately frustrated because other planes were still taking off, to Paris and to Switzerland, but mine was going to Germany. I tried to get on any other flight that day, but they had nothing. They offered a later flight to Germany, which was actually one that had already been delayed from that very morning. Things started to look pretty bad to me. The lady was only offering me flights out of Florence a couple days from now (and a couple out of Pisa), and all headed towards Frankfurt.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the snow wasn't going to let up. Where is the weather freezing? Germany. If there is an airport in Italy that can't handle anything which is it? Florence. I could see a huge disaster brewing. I went back up to the lady at the counter and asked if there was anything out of Rome that went directly to the U.S., and she found one. She said it was tomorrow morning (Saturday, December 18th), and that I would never make it. I asked to be placed on that plane, and then Lufthansa gave me a ride to a hotel they'd set up.

The hotel turned out to be really nice, despite my disappointment at not being able to go home that day. I spent the day calling lufthansa to see if that flight was going to get cancelled. I called my mom. I called my university, who told me to wait it out in Florence, because I would never make it to Rome. It snowed heavily all day in Florence, covering the entire city. Public and private transportation (buses, taxis, some trains) were completely shut down, and no one could go anywhere. I found out during the course of the day that other friends who were supposed to leave later got their flights cancelled and ended up at random hotels, back at our apartments in the center of the city, or were sleeping in the airport that night because transportation was down.

It was awful. I had never been in such a situation where the entire world just shut down.

I realized I wasn't going to be able to make it to Rome because transportation was down, and I couldn't walk to the train station with two fifty pound suitcases, a duffle and a backpack. My university kept saying to wait it out in Florence, but I wanted to risk it. I wanted to get home. My mom had an idea: "Why don't you get up at 3 am and just start calling for a taxi."

So that's what I did. I went downstairs at 3 am to the hotel reception and asked them to call a cab. They told me there was no way I was getting out of there because transportation was down, and I just said "Please, can you just try to call a taxi." One picked up in thirty seconds and said he'd be there in six minutes. I checked out of the hotel, and thus began my adventure getting to Rome.

The flight was at 11:20 am. The train to Rome left at 5:50 am and was supposed to get in at 8:24 am. There was supposed to be an express train from the train station directly to the airport. As soon as I got that taxi, I really started to believe that the whole plan was going to work.

On the way to the train station at three in the morning, a few Italian teenage boys were standing on the side of the road, and one threw a snowball at our taxi. My taxi driver got out of the car and ran and grabbed the kid by the collar and started yelling at him in Italian! He pushed and shoved him a couple times, and the kids ran off. He got back in the car, said as nicely as he could "Scusi," and we kept driving.

Florence was a mess. There were trees down everywhere, and snow covered everything. I've never seen a city just completely incapacitated by a snowstorm.

We made it to the train station by 3:30 am, and I had two more hours to wait. In the freezing, cold, open train station, I sat huddled against my two suitcases, duffle and backpack and waited for my train. I watched as some local and regional trains were cancelled or delayed, and a bum talked to me a couple times in Italian. Finally it was 5:30 am, and I got on the train and immediately passed out. I woke up to find out that the ride had taken longer than expected and we were going to be twenty-five minutes late. No big deal, I can take that.

After the train arrived, I follow the signs to the express train to the airport. I had to go slow and take multiple breaks because I was bearing the weight of probably 175 pounds on me. When I finally got to the platform (which was so nicely placed on the other end of the train station), I found out that the express train wasn't running that day.

The next hour was really a huge blur. I ended up taking a metro four stops to another train station and taking a thirty minute train to the airport from there. Along the way, some guys helped lift my suitcases up a flight of stairs, some policemen pointed me in the completely wrong direction, an old couple gave me a bottle of water, and I'm pretty sure I cried the whole way. Mostly from the pain of carrying all my stuff; I had blisters all over my hands.

On the train to the airport, I realized I wasn't going to make it. It was within one hour of an international flight to Charlotte. No good. I called my mom and told her the bad news. She told me to just go ahead to the airport and see if they could get me on another flight. You cannot imagine my frustration and disappointment. I had made it so far.

When I got off the phone, a man standing next to me in the train said, "I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. You're flying US Airways, right? When we get there you'll need to take a shuttle to Terminal 5; that's where US Airways is." Grazie.

When the train finally arrived at the airport, things got blurry again. I remember running with all of my stuff and barely making it on the shuttle to Terminal 5 before it left. At Terminal 5, once a lady saw that I was trying to make the flight to Charlotte (with 25 minutes before departure), I was escorted to the front of the check-in line, the check baggage line, and the security line. I got through everything within minutes and walked directly onto my plane. I'd made it.

Looking back on that day, it's hard to understand or even fathom how I made it home. Nothing was in my favor. But I had the random support of strangers who helped along the way and the drive to get home, and I guess that was enough.

Quite an ending to an incredible semester.

it hasn't felt like home before you

no. no. no.nonononoononono...noooooo.no.

The past few weeks have been amazing. I've done a ton of work, but I think they've been my favorite weeks of the whole semester. I don't want this to end yet. I didn't have enough time.

Honestly, what was I thinking? I want to redo this. Can I have a go at it again?

: (

Undici Giorni???? DIO MIO.

i hate all the parents who came to see their children. i just got my picture taken as a dad took a picture of the library on his nifty camera and i want he and his wifeto go back where they came from. i bet your kid won't show you italylike i would'veshown my parents...so you're missing out.

sprained ankle is poopy. it's okay if i walk very flatfooted and on no incline and put more weight on my right foot. but otherwise, not so great. and cobbled sidewalks and streets of florence are very inconvenient.

i bought boxes today!!! im excited to pack them. i just hope they make it home... but im only sending stuff that isn't from anthropologie. we are not losing 70dollar tops. but we can lose 5 dollar ones from old navy. :D and all my papers, books, and presents. so fam, if the boxes get lost, no presents for you. everyone just say a little quick prayer and cross your fingers that italy actually lets my boxes make it to the Stati Uniti, because that'dbe great, grazie.

i wrote an amazing oral today. ill post it later. you will all like it. naw ill do it now, it'll be good to study anyway. I can't be held responsible for any mistakes at this point because i havent talked to domenico about any of it yet, so itll be fixed eventually.:

im presenting 7 photos.

foto 1:

Il mio semestre a Firenze era stupendo, ma sono emozionata andare agli Stati Uniti. Non vedo l'ora che arrivino le vacanze. Primo, voglio vedere la mia famiglia. Ho quattro sorelle e un fratello. Ci divertiamo insieme. Questa foto mostra i miei genitori e tre di mie sorelle (dalla sinistra a destra: Jessica, Sarah, e Jennifer). Ci assomigliamo. Non vedo l'ora che mangiare la cucina di mia madre. Lei e' la migliore cuoca che conosco.

My semester in Florence was awesome, but I'm excited to go to the US. I can't wait for vacation. First, I want to see my family. I have four sisters and a brother.We have fun together. This photo shows my parents and three of my sisters (from left to right: jess, sary, and jer). We look alike. I can't wait to eat my mom's cooking. She is the best cook I know.

Foto 2:

Comunque, questo semestre, ho imparato cucinare come mia mama! io e la mia amica preferita abbiamo cucinato molto e adesso voglio cucinare per la mia famiglia per dimostrare le mie abilita'. Mi piace cucinare la pasta, il pollo, e le verdure. Vorrei bevere il vino con i pranzi che cucino, ma si deve avere ventuno anni (?) negli Stati Uniti.

However, this semester, I learned how to cook like my mom! my best friend and I cooked a lot and now i want to cook for my family in order to demonstrate my skilllzzz. I like to cook pasta, chicken, and vegetables. I want to drink wine with the meals that i cook, but you have to be 21 years old in the US.

Foto 3:

Anche, sono emozionata per il Natale in Florida. Abito vicino a un lago e sempre fa caldo. Questa foto e' dal Natale scorso. I miei capelli era lunghi. Il albero era molto bello! Di solito, io e la mia famiglia andiamo in barca intorno al lago. Questa e' mia sorella Sarah. Ha ventiquattro anni e frequenta la scuola di medicina all'universita' di Wake Forest.

Also, I'm excited for Christmas in Florida. I live next to a lake and it is always hot. This foto is from last christmas. My hair was long. The tree was very pretty. Usually, my family and i go in boat and go around the lake. This is my sister Sarah. She is 24 years old and goes to the school of medicine at the university of WF.

Foto 4: our gingerbread men from last year:

La mia famiglia ha molte tradizioni per il Natale che sono divertimenti. Questa foto mostra i biscotti di uomini di pan di zenzero (??). E' molto importante avere buone idee per i biscotti. Prepariamo le nostre idee durante l'anno. Il Natale scorso, ho fatto un elfo, un diavolo blue (la mascotte di Duke), Charlie Brown, Lucy, Henry l'ottavo, Anne Boleyne un uomo con un snuggie. Tiger Woods e' qui.

My family has a lot of traditions for christmas that are fun. This photo shows the cookies of gingerbread men. it is very important to have good ideas for the cookies. We prepare our ideas during the year. Last xmas, I did an elf, a blue devil (the mascot of duke), charlie brown, lucy, henry the 8th, anne boleyn, and a man with a snuggie. Tiger Woods is here (i'll point to him).

Foto 5:

Anche, non posso aspettare per vedere i miei amici a Duke! Questi amici sono attori. Facciamo quattro spettacoli ogni anno. Anche, ci divertiamo insieme. Andiamo in cinema, cuciniamo la cena in un appartamento, o facciamo una festa ogni fine settimana. Mi piace uscire con i miei amici.

Also, I can't wait to see my friends at Duke! These friends are actors. We do four shows each year. We also have fun together. We go to the movies, cook dinner in an apartment, or have a party each weekend. I like to go out with my friends.

Foto 6:

Infine, non posso aspettare per le partite di pallacanestro di Duke. La nostra squadra ha ottenuto il titolo di campione nazionale l'anno scorso e sara' di nuovo quest'anno. Mi piace dipingersi con il colore di blu. Questo e' il mio ragazzo. Vorrei vederlo un po' anche.

Finally, I can't wait for Duke basketball games. Our team won the title of national champions last year and it will again this year. I like to paint myself with the color blue. This is my boyfriend (pointing). I would like to see him a little bit, too.

Foto 7:

Ma, non dimetichero' mai il mio semestre a Firenze. Ho imparato molte cose di la cultura, il cibo, le persone, e di i miei corsi. Il mio appartamento era fantastico e le persone che ho conosciuto erano molti simpatici. Ciao Firenze!

But, I will never forget my semester in Florence. I have learned many things about the culture, food and people and from my classes. My apartment was fantastic and the people i met were very nice. Bye florence!

super cute, typing this out made me so sad.

ciao.

bec

Things I'm excited about going home for:

I've decided to make a list of reasons why I'm excited about going home in order to help (maybe) the process of me coming to terms with going home. Plus I'm going to be doing my oral in Italian on Monday on this (things I'm excited about), although i wont be able to say the majority of this in Italian, so it'll be much simpler.

I'll probably edit this a bunch over the next week or so, so check it regularly!

Things I'm excited about:

-All my favorite foods: mom's cooking, all our christmas cooking we do (holiday shrimp, gingerbread men, christmas cookies, eggnog, pineapple stuff), moes, panera, zaxbys, tropical smoothie, mellow mushroom, toast, cheesecake factory, and decent grocery stores.

-the beach!

-the lake, specifically boat rides on the lake

-my xmas presents for my family. :)

-a queen-size bed, at least for three weeks

-going back to anthro and urban

-things being considerably cheaper

-nicer weather (although it's sunny today in italy...i am in the library)

-people: Fam, the cruise kids, mj, brent, andrew, josh, caitlin, tyler, monica, fac board, hnh kids, etc

-duuuuke. i love the campus feeling. i get it here too. but i love the duke one. i love calling duke home, i love being at duke

-duke classes, surprisingly, but im excited about the courses im taking next sem

-dancing!!! gah dancing

-food points. quenchers. the gym.

-making a scrapbook for this semester... or at least something to keep all this stuff in!

okay im procrastinating. ♥

i'm here, i'm now, i'm ready.

Fernando (barista in villa ulivi cafe) told me this morning that "i look beautiful today" in italian. i almost cried. i overslept from having stayed up pretty late reading 1984 and finishing my money and banking problem set. I got up at 8 am, the normal time i leave for school. if your problem set isnt turned into before 9 am (when class starts), you cant turn it in. I woke UP at 8 am. the bus comes three times in the hour, the third time, you'll be late. the first time... is at like 8:06.

i showered and got ready for school in 15 minutes. it was pretty incredible...but i was a wreck, no make up, didnt do my hair, and i was hardly awake. and fernando told me i looked beautiful.

mary jo posted on my wall this morning that there are only 16 days before i come home. i hadnt done the math yet (for various reasons), and my heart lurched. i thought i was going to be studying abroad for a semester??... did someone lie and it was actually just a quick little vacation? my head is so mixed up in last minute plans (which im very excited about), tons of work (though i think this week was worse that next week is going to be, but not as bad as finals week will be), and mixed emotions about going home.

i told emily this morning that im scared about going back to all my problems in the States. i'm scared things wont work out the way i want them to. I've sorta formed my own little world here. There are only a few other people in it here with me (i'm starting to think im a little shy, something i dont think ive ever come to terms with before, in the context of making friends at least...or maybe ive just become more shy). anyway, i like my little world here. i like my little routine. i like walking home from campus with my ipod plugged in because the bus never comes when it says it's going to. i love the lights on the streets of florence. i love pugi. i love the croissants and coffee and hot chocolate from the villa ulivi cafe. i love the library overlooking florence. i love my little room in my nice apartment.

throughout the semester ive had random cases of dying to be home. but now that it's finally and rapidly approaching i want to hide under the covers of my cozy italian bed and stay here forever. im scared about next semester. im scared about figuring out a career / after college plans / next summer. im scared about how my relationships have changed. i dont want to deal with any of it. i want my view of the states to stay frozen, and for me to continue in my little world here.

im not ready. i cant even pretend to be. im not even angry at my upcoming finals, ill do them forever if they could let me stay.

hopefully ill reach a better point. i do have two weeks. god. two weeks.

other news:

-i like this commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8. Im sharing it with my fascism class today when i present on 1984, haha.

-i dont feel stressed at all. and didnt get stressed once this week. then again my face betrays me (im broken out), which is funny, that you can even feel not stressed, but know you are. but at least my good mood is still overpowering, even if it cant overpower my break outs. but i must admit, if i was at duke, id be breaking down and out (hahahaha)

-im excited about this weekend. im writing a paper, but im also having lots of fun... it's the last weekend before finals and i figure better this weekend than next.

aight, fifty pages left in 1984. finishing a paper tonight. and writing two italian orals. let's go!

ready, set, here we go.

Today we learned how to order food in italian.

Now, reread that sentence, placing the emphasis on the word "today."

I'm trying not to count how many days I have left here because it's making me super sad, but, domenico, this wouldve been very beneficial at the beginning of the school year.

speaking of domenico, he asked me today if i was going to continue to study italian. my heart lurched. why do i have an innate desire to please every professor Ive ever had? i hate disappointing people. mostly i just wish i could go to school and do my thang. actually that's really not true, i like when professors are proud of me. haha. i just said "i don't know. i am studying so many things. we'll see." i felt bad. trust me, domenico, id love to continue to learn italian! id love to do a lot of things though..

tonight is going to be an all-nighter... or a whenever i give up-er. ive been working on my money and banking problem set all week and it's eating me for breakfast. i spent five hours on one problem and i still dont think i have it. the TA taught that chapter last week and doesnt speak any english, and for the first time, surprisingly, the textbook is completely useless. there are five of these... and theyre not a huge part of our grade, but it really scares me about the final. im going to have to talk to prof gallo about this junk because i cant figure out how to learn it. we're legitimately getting into the banking part of this course (whaaa?), and it's kinda a foreign language to me...but this one isn't similar to spanish.

as for that, finishing up 1984, which im giving a presentation on tomorrow. it is amazing how memorized i have it. i mean we did spend almost an entire semester on it with Carstenn (i wonder how he's doing...). but it's just insane. like i cant tell you prior, but once i read it, i remember it instantly, and not only do i remember it instantly, i remember it by word. by quote "where extinct animals walked." "we are the dead."...not to mention the language of Newspeak.

other than that, doing italian assignments like crazy, but i will tell you, i am excellent at memorizing things. I wrote out what i wanted to say in my writing composition test today. ten minutes before class I read it consistently until class started. I think i got it word for word on the exam. pretty impressive: up next i have to write domenico a letter from the future and make a presentation about anything i want (i think im going to do what im excited about going home for).

Becca! work!

ciao

ps kyle and i talked for one whole hour yesterday and it was pretty glorious. ha.

Catch a boat to England, baby, maybe to Spain..

I realized today that I'm pretty sick of my classes. Surprisingly, I'm not stressed out about all the work i have to do (you'd be super surprised if you took a look at my to-do list), but mostly just annoyed... this is the point when i feel like school gets int he way of me getting the work done.... add in all of my theories i've developed lately and you just have an annoyed Becca trying to get back to the library so she can be alone with her work and thoughts.

Granted, I'm still not entirely sure how everything is going to get done this week.

As for my theories, trust me, I'm dying to share... Unfortunately, I'm not sure I want all of this posted on the internet (never know where this stuff might pop up when I'm rich and famous, hehe), but I've learned a lot this semester... Kyle and I talked about it forever ago... Learning abroad vs learning in study abroad... it's still developing obvi, and may be for the rest of my life, but I feel like I have enough rubbish stuffed in my head right now that I could write a book on them. The theories of Becca. Catherine and I realized we've come up with a whole lot of really good ideas about the ways things should be run, too. The Ideas of Becca and Catherine.

My theories are mostly about people.... students, in particular... and then europeans. Then i have theories about europe in general, studying abroad, studying, myself, life, being young.

Once I came up with a theory about NYU students it continued to develop right before my very eyes. It was like, as soon as I thought it, I started seeing it everywhere, and saw it take on complex forms that made me reevaluate my theory, adjust it, and encompass more into it. And then of course, college students in general... and then college students who decide to study abroad.

europe theories are about different types of people and then probably the way things are run, overall. It was very interesting to see that you could take a train for a few hours and be in a completely different place run completely differently. I want to be like "dude, have you seen how theyre doing it five hours from here?" but mostly i think my ideas will remain in my head.

I guess that's okay though. I can't decide how I've changed, or how I've grown, or any of that has even grown. Mostly that will be for you all to determine, I suppose.

Mostly I feel like the same ole' me, in a place that has opened by mind to so many new things that I don't really know what to do with all, but write... and i can't have this stuff on the internet...

So I think I'll do my Money and Banking Problem Set instead.

hehe, Bec

ps i dont know how people eat the croissants from the cafe without making a mess and getting them all over themselves because i sure do..... so flaky and delicious though! :)