Leaving on a jet plane...maybe?

Flying to Barcelona from Venice just could not be complete with out some typical italian transportation problems!! since i had a horrible time finding my hostel in venice from the bus station on thursday, i allowed plenty of time to find my way back friday morning. of course working backwards i found it in a jiffy and soon enough i was at the airport at 8 am for my 12 pm flight.

luckily my friend karem was there helping katelyn (travel mate from rome) check in because her bags were so heavy. karem kept me company, and helped me figure out what was going on when it was 10:45 and i still had no desk to check in with (i was slightly freaking out). i got to the airport at 8, when check in didn´t start until 11 (just one hour before take off, and security was a really long line. ah!) anyways....once i´m inside i see my flight is delayed 30 min. no big deal. at 12:30 we get on the little shuttle and go on the runway to our plane. but we wait in the shuttle for 5 min and then the driver comes on and says they are fixing something and it will be 10 minutes so he drives us back to the gate. then it´s a 1:30 departure, then 2:30, 3:10, 3:40... it was ridiculous. i was tired from being up so early and was planning on napping on the plane, but i feared that would never come.

at 3:50 they board us (about time) but at 4:05 they say we won't be leaving for 25 more minutes. a little after 6 i make it to barcelona, and by 7 pm i´m on a train into the city. i get off too early, drop my jacket into the tracks, hurrily throw down my bags and lay on the ground to reach down and get it, and debate where i am. i realize i shouldn/t have gotten off after wondering around the station and follow directions to plaza catalunya, which turns out to be the same (exactly) train i had just departed. i transfer to the metro for one stop and am on the ramblas, wondering trying to find my hostel. their directions at this point were "we´re just a short walk from the metro" but i had no idea where. after going to the end of the street and asking 2 different sets of police officers for help, i made it to my hostel, only to find out the website double booked my bed. my friend amanda left me a note since she wasn't in, and he went to work on making room for me in her room. i called my friend kim and amanda was with them (she'd accidentally thrown her phone away in pisa yesterday. ah!) so i met up with kim, kyle, jarrett, dan, amanda, brian and howie and we got the best gelato i've ever had. dulce de leche and chocolate. by far, way better than italian gelato.

although my welcome to spain wasn't on time or easy, once i got here i fell in love. me encanta espana!

Finnissimo...

Thursday was our last day in Paderno. Most of us took 1 pm buses to either the train station or the airport, so after lunch the circle drive filled with huge bags and hugging people. I think I was the first one to start crying, causing other people to either cry themselves or run away because they didn't want to start crying. On the bus, my friend Andrew started playing "I will remember you" which did not help those of us who helped keep Kleenax in business.

Our bus driver, for whatever reason, stopped multiple times and got off the bus. Yes. In the middle of the highway he pulled over. And at the airport when we were almost there, he just got out. Maybe he was asking for directions. I don't really know. We all made a mad dash to the checked luggage area. I left one very heavy bag while I travel.

I got lost trying to find my hostel. I was on the right street, just the wrong end. I went into a cafe and a british man who spoke italian translated directions from the bartender (who had to get a map out to instruct me. oh confusing). i ended up getting lost (little bridges vs. connectors that aren't bridges. ah!) but after sweating enough for a football team, my 25 kg of luggage and I found our hostel.

The woman at the front desk was helpful and friendly. I told her how I'd been studying abroad and she asked if i took italian, so when she was giving me directions and explaining Venice, she spoke everything in english and then repeated it in italian.

I met up with friends to stroll and shop on the Rialto bridge and eat gelato. I happened to hear a familiar voice from a restaurant and peeked my head in to find some guys from school. We joined them for dinner, but the jazz music made me tired and I headed back to my lovely hostel to catch some sleep before my flight to Barcelona on Friday.

Ciao, Paderno

The clock's ticking down on my last hours in Paderno. It's 11 am and I leave at 1 pm for Venice. Although I started out intensely disliking this place, it has become a home and all the students are one dysfunctional family. It's not like I'll ever come back to Paderno either. And if I did, it wouldn't be the same because it's the people I've been here with that have created the experience.

I suppose it is a good time to go, though, while I'm still enjoying myself and can leave with happy memories. I'm actually a bit jealous of all the people talking about how tonight they'll be sleeping in their own beds, eating noncafeteria food and seeing friends and family. It seems natural now that the program is over to go home, but I am still excited for Spain and southern France.

I'm mostly finished packing...although it's been quite a process. I've had to throw out more clothes than I planned, but it's just not worth it to bring them back when I've worn them so excessively here. The main problem is my winter coat. Since I wore it here in January, I didn't have to worry about packing it. I may end up throwing out other t-shirts and random things as the week progresses if my back can't handle it.

The bus is dropping us off at the Venice airport, which provides me the lovely opportunity to drop off my messenger bag (packed absolutely to the brim) and leave it there while I travel.

Friday I fly to Barcelona for 2 nights, take a train to Madrid for 2 nights and then fly to Nice, France for 2 nights. On May 5 I take a train back to Venice and spend the night there before flying home May 6. My flight leaves Venice at 11:30 am to London, where I have a layover before heading to Houston. I have three hours in Houston to clear customs before catching my flight back to Kansas City, where I will arrive at 11:10 pm. I'm leaving at 11:30 am and arrive at 11:10 pm, and we must not forget the 7 hour time change...which means I'll be travelling for 19 hours. Agh!

I am so excited to come home in 8 days!!!! I'll be staying in KC a few days before heading to Lawrence in time for Stop Day.

Can't wait to see you all!!

Benissimo

We had our last formal dinner on April 21. The food was better than the second but not quite as amazing as the first. The place was a villa with an outdoor terrace. It was actually a little chilly and drizzly, so it's a shame the weather wasn't nicer. We had appetizers and apertifs (the chosen drinks were orange, kiwi and fruit... most likely combined with wine.) The fried zucchini and mini pizzas were phenomenal.

After mingling we went to the dining room. Our first feast was amazing asparagus and cheese crepes (which were really more like omelletes) and some weird pasta (i opted for seconds of the crepes instead of the brown mushroom looking entree). The main course was beef and potatoes (more delicate than the American counterpart.) Dessert was vanilla creme with chocolate sauce. The dessert wine matched the creme amazingly and I finally understood why it's important to match wines with foods because it brings out so much more flavor.

After we ate, the program coordinators gave thank you speeches to the faculty and staff and presented some of the yearbook awards (no, i did not join the yearbook staff and when you see the book you will understand. it is basically a stapled excel document.)

I'm not sure how this happened, and in such a classy establishment, but someone started playing music over the speakers, including "Who let the dogs out?" (up for debate, is the following line "who, who, who?" or "woof, woof, woof") The combination of our last dinner, impending departure of the country and multiple glasses of wine led to a mini dance floor. And the directors actually laughted and didn't care.

After we arrived back in Paderno everyone met up at the Piazza (it was Thursday so the Orchidea was closed) and then some of us took the 30 minute walk to Crespano to go to Guisseppe Verde (although we didn't have to walk back because we've gotten good at getting rides home from nice Italians.)

When in Rome...

I've been a little lax on updating. Sorry. I have a lot of catching up to do.

Went to Rome for the last travel weekend, April 14-17. We left a day before conclave started so we weren't able to see the Sistine Chapel (the girl I went with was too cheap to even pay for the Vatican Museum too, so I missed out on a lot.) I really enjoyed Vatican City. Katelyn and I waited in a very long line to get special edition stamps they only make when a pope dies. After that we waited in another long line to see the pope's grave (his body was actually in pope john 23's tomb because he's being beatified, i think.) We entered St. Peter's Basilica just as an English speaking guide started a free tour. Yes!!! After Vatican City we went to the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain.

Saturday was raining, when we had all our outdoor stuff. We went to the Colosseum, Roman Ruins, the Forum, Pantheon. I wasn't expecting much from the Colossuem but it was more impressive than I anticipated.

Sunday we planned on going to a market, but the weather was so horrible by the time we arrived all the vendors were shutting down because the lighting was so crazy.

Happy Birthday

This special birthday shout out goes to the lovely little sis Abby (or as I affectionately call her, beavis). I hope you have a kick-ass day, the weather is nice enough to blare your music with the windows rolled down and that you have an excellent work out. Happy Birthday!
Love,
Quacks

Whaddya know?

My cousin Maggie called it.

Britney Spears Has Baby on the Way
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer

NEW YORK - Britney Spears, the one-time teenybopper who sang "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman," has apparently completed the transition with news that she's pregnant.

In a posting on her Web site, Spears told fans that she and husband, Kevin Federline, were expecting their first child together. Her publicist, Sonia Muckle, confirmed the singer's pregnancy Tuesday but refused to provide additional details.