sorry cuppycakes!

this blog has, admittedly, been very low on my priority list since my arrival in messina. but, armed with a slew of awesome pictures of a totally touching art exhibition in catania, i will change that... tomorrow. this is, unfortunately, just a quick update to let you know i am here and safe. the girls are great. the family is lovely. i'm eating tons of things i usually don't, and i'm taking great pictures. i have also spent most of my internet time chatting with my wonderful boyfriend, so tomorrow i will dedicate more time to you. while you wait, you can view a quick album dedicated to my day in catania. it's just an auto-upload from iphoto, nothing much... descriptions will be posted here tomorrow.
ciao

silver linings

well, of course, my flight would get delayed. so i will be attempting to leave tomorrow at the same time. though, for the inconvenience they did bump me up to first class for my eight hour flight... which should be pretty awesome. all-in-all, even though this put a damper on my meeting with ayana and will postpone my trip to scicli, i'm pleased. an extra day with my boyfriend and a first class seat for my terribly long flight? sounds pretty nice to me.

utter madness.

i know i have already written a post about how i have so little time and so much to do... well, yeah... you can just cut that and paste here about twenty times. i now have less than one week and i have accomplished pretty much nothing. i have today off from work, so i am going to buckle down and try and knock out most of this stuff so i can enjoy my last few days with my boyfriend... but this impending travel date is pretty overwhelming. i mean, there is less than three weeks between nathalie booking my ticket and the day i am supposed to leave. and at the time that i first saw the ticket, i was thinking i had PLENTY of time. nuh-uh. not so. granted, i did put in quite a bit of time tinkering around with this blog last week, but knowing my procrastinator ways i wouldn't have been doing anything to get ready for my trip anyway.
so, cross your fingers for me- and if you see me on facebook, twitter, etc over the next few days, hound me about whether i've gotten my work done first.
ciao cuppycakes

another sigh of relief

i just subscribed to a podcast to help me learn some italian. the possibility of not being able to communicate with those around me has been weighing heavy on my mind as i try to envision what my time in italy will be like. though, i can't really say why. i did extremely well with foreign language in school, and when dealing with non-english-speaking customers at work i am never uneasy and feel like i can still communicate well. but, i suppose it's just my worrisome nature. anyway, the podcast is from learn italian pod and i have downloaded the five minutes a day series. after listening to a couple, i realized that i don't have anything to worry about. my knowledge of spanish is extremely handy- i recognized the meaning of many of the words and phrases due to their similarity to spanish. so, i believe that with some time spent just immersing myself in the language i will pick it up pretty well. with only three months there, i can't say i'll be coming back a fluent speaker of italian, but i feel confident that by the time august 12th rolls around i will be fairly comfortable in an italian-speaking situation.
wish me "buona fortuna"

whew.

all i can say right now is "whew!" i just an e-mail update about my passport! my application has been approved and my passport is being printed! my passport has probably been the number cause of stress for me over the past few weeks. i am extremely anxiety-prone, so i of course had all of these visions of may 14th arriving, and my passport still not being here. over the past year or so it has seemed that every time i try to take a step forward i get knocked back at the last moment. and in the case of me going to italy (which a part of me will still plan on not actually happening until i am really there) my passport has been the main (foreseeable) hang-up. now that i know it will get here in plenty of time, it's becoming a lot easier for me to accept and feel excited about my trip. everything seems to be coming together, and i feel like it's almost time for me to be able to take a deep and proclaim my departure from summerville, sc.

the good and the bad.

i've always preferred the bad news first, so that's how i'll give it to ya. i checked my passport status online this morning. it's still being processed! ah! i am scheduled to leave so soon! *see countdown in the sidebar. it gave a number to call if you were traveling in seven days or less, so if i see no progress between now and then i will definitely be dialing that... but for now i have registered for e-mail notifications and will just be sweating it out i guess.

now for the good news: i just received an e-mail from nathalie, which is always exciting. she was writing to let me know that on sunday, may 16th (which is the day after my arrival) we will be visiting an old baroque city in the south of sicily called scicli. after some google magic (she spelled it differently in her e-mail... you'd be surprised at the difference little letter can make) i easily found some images of it. hopefully i'll be posting some of my own after my visit. it's beautiful, of course. and also classified as an UNESCO world heritage site. she said that while there we will be tasting wine, oil, essenza (essences, i presume) and just visiting the city. i am hesitant about a wine tasting, as i've never had wine, or any alcohol at all for that matter. but still incredibly exciting news! as each day passes i find it's increasingly difficult to focus on anything but italy. i just hope my passport is here in time...

so. much. to. do.

these are going to be two of the most hectic weeks i've had in quite a while. there are so many things i need to do, and even more things that i'd like to do. i will be spending the next three months in a foreign country, so there are some very obvious preparations involved there (packing, packing, packing, spend time with friends/boyfriend/dad, packing, spend time with dad, find necessary items such as a power converter, try and learn a little of the language and culture of italy, packing, etc). but also, while i am gone, my dad is putting this house on the market. so i am trying to tidy up the place, as well organize and take inventory of my belongings that are remaining stateside... just in case.
and, on top of everything, my boyfriend will be moving back to california at about the same that i will be leaving for italia. which means that while i am there we will have a nine hour time difference between us. and also that when i leave there, there will be an indefinite (but definitely long) period of time before i get to see him again. it's terribly difficult to be totally unsure of the next time you will get to see the person you love. i would love to spend the entirety of these next two weeks with him, just hanging out, being us- but there is so. much. to. do.
despite all this however, i still cannot wait to be in messina. it's in the back of my mind all day. i've been ready for a new adventure for what seems like forever now. and, as you can see from my little countdown over in the sidebar, i don't have to wait much longer.
well, enough rambling for now.
buona notte (which is "goodnight" in italian- my phrase for the day) everyone.