Ciao, Rhody!

So, I'm sure you know that I'm leaving the country soon for a study abroad experience in Italy for the fall semester. I'll be on a plane to London in eight days and settling into life as an Italian immigrant in eleven. Weird, right? You have no idea.

My very first apartment will be in another country on another continent with people I haven't yet met. I won't have an address and I won't know my roommates until Orientation in Viareggio. On the up side? I received my tickets, health card, luggage tags, and pre-departure package in the mail yesterday, including an itinerary for the trip. Guess where I'll be staying in London? PARK INN HYDE PARK HOTEL! Yeah, that's right. ANTM, anyone? I know, I'm a freak.

But seriously, guys. This is going to be the experience of a lifetime and I can't wait to get started! Let's start with the fact that this is the second time in my life that I'll have left the United States, but the first time that I'm going to be thousands of miles away from everyone and everything I know (with the exception of Derek, who will be in Florence with me, and Alyssa and Dustin, who will both be in Rome). I mean, I've met one person from my program (today!)and I'm sure we'll be tearing it up in Italy, but when you think about it, that's a whole lot of country to explore when you know practically no one. And you know what? That's probably the most exciting part. I don't know anyone there. I don't know any Italian. I don't have any idea how I'm going to survive completely on my own in a foreign country. And all the while, I'm so excited to be diving head-first into a cross-cultural experience. It's time to sink or swim.