Arrivato a Genoa!

So 2nd time around must be a charm.. especially when the Lord has favor on your trip! My flight to Philly was a breeze, just a few screaming children and 2 hours later, I was there. Thank you Lord for no delays and one less thing for my stress levels to think about.

I was able to catch up via skype with mom, dad, Nicole, and Andy during my 3 hour lay over... thank goodness for Internet and it's awesomeness!

Next step in my journey would involve testing my 4 semesters of Italian to it's limits... I was one of 5 or 6 Americans flying to Rome out of about 280 people... therefore I would need to pull my Italian off the shelf, dust it off and give it a whirl. It began with a man, short, dark greasy hair, D&G glasses, Prada bag, and a wicked tan left over from vacationing in Los Angeles. He would soon strike up a conversation with me and although his English was much better than my Italian, he kindly allowed me to practice my Italian on him. I learned how Italians crave to get their hands on Abercrombie & Fitch... this is their "must-have American wear"! What!? You come from the country where beautiful leather and countless fabulous designers have changed fashion as we know it and you come to America for A&F!??? Ok... I'm confused! Anyways, we soon parted ways and my trip to Rome was about to begin! 2 Italian women, 3 movies, 2 meals and 10 hours later... we landed in Roma!!

C'est bellissimo! The ground was covered in green vineyards as the plane made it's descent. I couldn't believe I was landing in Italia... home of my heritage, place of my dreams, and my home for the next four months! After God's favor in placing the right people at the right time in my way... I made it through security, customs, passport check, and to my next gate all in ITALIA!

But of course, it wouldn't be right to get to Genova, my final destination, without a small delay! So.. 35 minutes later than planned, we boarded a bus to take us to the airplane. Guess who sits next to me on this flight... a FIFA agent from Spain! Just there on business... scouting out players at the game taking place in Genova this very evening!

My taxi cab driver was a trip... he spoke a tiny bit of English! But that was fine with me because I had more practice ahead of me... We talked about why I was visiting, about architecture of Genoa, about driving and the reason he drove slow was the price of gas now (huh?). He was full of things to talk about, but 30 minutes later... I see the piaggio (villa)!!! I'm here!!!!!! Thank you Lord!

Upon being here... the villa is amazing.... I made it just in time to eat lunch, run to Italian class, and hop in a cab to go back to the aeroporto for Whitney's lost bags that were finally waiting for her! Genova is beautiful... quaint. People drive like CRAZY and the roads are only made to fit one "MINI CAR" each way... scary! But I'm learning my way around, practicing my Italiano and getting to know Genova! I will update soon with pictures, sorry mom and dad... I haven't caught a break to take any! :) But, I hope this helps for now! Love and miss everyone...