So the trip begins!! - Not.

I should be going through security at JFK about now, but instead I’m sitting by the fire at home, drinking a cup of Russian tea (so good!) and activating my new credit card.  Fun! 

After a couple weeks of Holiday celebrations and saying goodbye to friends and family, I’m finally all packed up and ready to hit the road—ok, air—to Florence! Unfortunately, there have been a few kinks in the plan. For those of you who haven’t heard, my visa has had a hard time making its way to me.  I have been waiting patiently, along with my Italian comrades, Alex and Madison, for word from the Italian consulate in Philadelphia so that we can work out a new plan.  Right now, we know that our passports and visas are on their way to us and will be arriving at HPU tomorrow morning.  Unfortunately, our lovely travel agent, Sally (what a great name), is having trouble getting our flights changed to the times we would like and we may be delayed until Friday.  

So as it stands, this week has been rather anti-climactic.  All the buildup to this day turned out to be a rather unfortunate disappointment.  Thanks to all of the people and who are working on our problems right now (High Point University, SACI, Advantage Travel, Mom and Rob), however, we will still be making the trip across the pond very soon.  We are keeping our heads up!

On a lighter note, I finally took enough stuff out of my suitcase to make it under the weight limit!  Casualties include:  

• rain boots 
• one sweater 
• 6 nail polishes (that’s embarrassing)
• face wash
• Brita water bottle
• dress shoes
• a couple light jackets

Thanks to my step-dad, Rob, who bought me a pair of underwear that you can wear for weeks without washing, I only had to pack that one little panty!  HA. You know I’m kidding—there’s no way I’m wearing one pair of underwear for four months.   

So, for now, I’m still not sure when I’ll be leaving on that jet plane….but hey! More time to figure out how to get those shoes in my suitcase!