Ciao!

Hi Everyone!

This is my blog for my study abroad adventure in Italy! You can all check back here every couple of days to read about my exciting adventures, entertaining stories, and to see if I'm still alive (kidding!). Anyway, I'm going to try and share this with as many of you as I can, but please forward the blog address to anyone I may have missed or someone whose e-mail address I don't have.

Now that we have the basics covered, I'd like to recount the day before I departed (which is also, for those of you who have glanced at the date, today!).

1. I woke up at 7:30 to the barking of my dogs. I decided that although I will miss my boys greatly, I will enjoy some interrupted deep sleep in the early mornings.

2. As I walk into the rec room to check my mail on the computer, I am momentarily confused as to why there are piles of clothes skewed about.

3. Mother pokes her head in the room and encourages me to stop wasting time and pick up my check from work, as we have a lot of packing to do.

4. I then remember I am leaving for Europe for three months.

5. I then realize it is only 8:00, and inform my family that I am going back to bed until at least 10:30. This is followed from a loud sigh from mother which was meant to say "i do not approve of sleeping in so late, and you will never get anything done at this rate. stop being lazy."

6. Wake up at 10:30, this time aware of what day it is and where I am leaving for the next day.

7. Do a lot of boring things such as picking up check, depositing said check and driving around in my car.

8. At approximately 12:30, packing commences with father.

9. After griping and groaning my father informs me at approx. 2:00 that I should have mother pick me up a small pair of scissors. After laughing on the phone, we decide to not anger the only man that can fit everything into my suitcase and buy the item which he claims i so desperately need incase "you need to cut something."

10. After several more trips to Target and lots of down time where Kim said, "Jordan, I don't know what you're doing but it certainly isn't packing," and me responding "yes, I know," packing finally commences at 5:30 pm. Everyone is proud, tired and very irritated.

Father is now preparing a lovely meal for our family, Jake and his mom, and two very rude girls who invited themselves over and for whom I have great dislike for. Sarcasm, obviously, and said girls are two of my best friends who to my great happiness have come home for the weekend.

With all that said (and done!) I am truly very excited and very grateful that I get to embark on this journey. I also realize that previous statement was very corny and somewhat sentimental. I apologize. But, hopefully everything goes OK tomorrow (and Jake and I get upgraded to first class on our flight) and I look forward to reporting from Geneva, Switzerland sometime tomorrow!

Ciao,

Jordan

(See, the cool thing about "Ciao" is that it means both goodbye AND hello in italian! Foreign languages are so very awesome).