T-Minus 10 days...

Well my bags are packed, my visa picked up, and my host family gifts purchased. The past week and a half has flown by, and all I have left to do is apply to colleges and spend time with my friends and family.




I ended up buying my host dad and grandpa Cubs jerseys, brothers Bears shirts and sweatshirts, mom an Illini t-shirt and Chicago coffee mug, and grandma Chicago oven mitts and a t-shirt. I am still thinking about getting some kind of picture book, so they can see Chicago...Yesterday we went downtown and picked up my Visa, which was probably the single most exciting thing yet. Everything I need is done, and all I have to do now is wait...While I am waiting, I have been googling Cossignano and San Benedetto del Tronto religiously and have found an aerial picture of the Cossignano area. I don't know where my house is located, but I will find out shortly:)

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the metropolis of Cossignano.

Sadly, before I can live in this goregous place, I have to finish my college apps:( Thankfully though I don't have a ton more essays to do...only five which is completely do-able in ten days:)



Lastly, I have been trying to take a photo every day, starting last Sunday until I leave to put in my photo frame...here is what I have so far :)

Sunday-Shopping with my best friends.

Monday-Downtown with my mom.

Three more weeks

In three short weeks from today, I will be getting on a plane and flying across the pond to Italy!! I can't wait, but at the same time I am becoming more aware of how hard it will be to be away from my friends and family for six months.  I also am realizing how much stuff I have to do before I leave! Yesterday, Kassie and I made a huge to-do list of everything that must be done, and it was daunting to say the least.  The list:

1. 
   
   Pack! Do you know how hard it is to try to figure out everything you are going to need for the next six months?! I keep thinking of more and more things I am going to need but my suitcase isn't getting any larger...really its the all the little things that are taking up so much room..and shoes. The shoes take up so much room.
2. 
   
   Buy gifts for my host family! In my family, there are two little boys, Francesco who is eleven and Valerio who is nine. Both of them are aboslutely adorable.  The dad's name is Giovanni and the mom's is Antonella.  The grandparents also live in the house.  I am thinking of getting the boys Cubs jerseys, but I am at a total loss for the mom and grandma...any ideas?
3. 
   
   Apply to college! Nothing too exciting here...just a bunch of applications to fill out before I leave :)
4. 
   
    Fill up my address book! I want to send postcards and have a pen pal or two, so I am trying to get all the addresses I can before I leave:)

My house in Italy:) The upstairs they are turning into my apartment and the grandparents live on the bottom floor.

The rest of the list isn't very exciting, so I'll stop here:)

 With so little time left in the states, I have started to feel a flurry of various emotions all at once-excitement and nervousness, uncertainty, hope, anticipation, and stress. I'm not really sure any of them outweigh any other, they just sprout up within me at various times for various lengths of time. I'm sad to leave behind my friends and family. The people I have grown up with and spent my whole life around. I guess it's just scary because I know this is one of those moments and decisions that will change me. My newfound experiences living in another culture, learning a new language, and forming new relationships will forever alter the path moving forward. There are very few moments in life when you know this is going to happen. Normally, change unfolds for us and we adapt to the outcome, but every once in while when we're ready, we make a big choice for ourselves and navigate a new course in life.