My weekend in the Netherlands (so far!)

So I wrote this fantastically detailed e-mail to my parents about what I have been up to so I decided I should write a blog about it!

Friday morning I got up at 6 in the morning or so and rushed around to get things ready for my trip since I had not packed (I did not plan well. I know this now!) I got to the station in time and made it to the airport with plenty of time (Thank God!) because there was this crazy couple who kept cutting lines and things just go slowly in Italy. The flight was only 2 hours but unfortunately the woman next to me has probably never even heard of deodorant.. so that was gross. Anyway I get to the airport and Marc was waiting with Jelle, who I have not seen in 6 years, to take me to Amsterdam to look around! The city was really interesting and I got to walk by the red light district (ahahahaha). I had some traditional dutch french fries along with a chicken burger, which was amazing. We did a bit more walking and catching up before we hopped the train to Marc's town where his dad picked me up and Marc biked home. Literally everyone rides their bike here and it's safe to do because drivers are more respectful! I saw a 70 year old with a basket on her bike just riding along and it made me think how I totally want to do that when I'm 70. Marc's house is really neat and I love the modern feel :-D The room I am staying in is Texas themed and made me feel at home. Friday night we went to Marc's girlfriend Mariela's house where we had a dutch barbecue in the nice cool weather. Saturday I woke up,ate a traditional dutch breakfast and finally got to eat some peanut butter before going to Rotterdam to see the city and walk around the market. I had some fried fish and french fries because dutch people love their fried food! Everyone really is tall... I feel like a midget but it's ok cause they are really nice. Saturday afternoon Marc, his family, and I went to Dordricht to ride the flausterboot (not sure on the spelling.. but it means whispering boat) to tour the city since it's on a set of canals very similar to Venice. It was beautiful! Saturday night I got to experience bike riding to a bar (and back..) but it was really fun to go out and see dutch people sing songs from the musical Grease! Sunday morning we got up early and went to church but I couldn't understand much since it was in dutch. We came back and had a wonderful lunch of different kinds of fruit after going to see the windmills! I really would like to live in a windmill now.. or have my dentist's office there. I got to take a nap when we got back and then had a delicious cheese & bread meal :-) I went to a park with Marc & his girlfriend and got to pet a beagle! Sunday night we went to visit Marc's friend who has having a birthday and it was nice to just hang around with some people from another country. Monday was fun because I got all dressed up in my "Nederland" gear and headed to the airport. Unfortunately my flight was delayed by 3 hours (whooo!) so I got to have a nice glass of wine waiting for my plane to arrive like a true Italian. When I finally got back to Rome I was very very tired, feeling much taller, and realized just how hot Rome is >.< Good thing is Tuesday (yesterday) was a holiday in Rome so I got to visit different beautiful parks, see the statue of the ecstasy of St. Teresa at the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria (please google it!). I still have no sense of direction in the city and wonder if I ever will.. Hmmmm...

10 days in Italy, 33 days left

Hey there readers (mostly my family),

I am currently cooking some pasta because that's the most popular food item around here. I always thought it was just a stereotype that Italians only eat pasta and pizza (sometimes with meat and cheese). It is completely correct.. I love Italian food but by the time I come home I may not want any for a while, which is why I'm so glad I had Mexican food last night! So Friday we went to Tivoli, the pictures are on my facebook and the gardents/fountains/view were AMAZING. Our tour guide was a very cute old man named Maurizio that I now want to be best friends with.. Anyway I was exhausted but Friday night we went to go see the England soccer (football in Italy) game at Villa Borghese (spelling?). It was huge and watching it with guys from Britain made it pretty funny.. The next morning we caught a train (after missing one) to Sperlonga. That is one gorgeous beach! Too bad it rained.. but it was fun and I got to hear one of the English guys say "muppets" which.. is pretty hilarious. It was a tiring day but very very fun. Yesterday was very fun because I got to see a lot of sites/art/statues (one museum) and got to see a play in English for free! Tonight I have a night out on the town and I'm trying to keep myself from being homesick :-(

Good thing is I do love the Italian language! and the gelato.. but funny thing is Italians don't use salad dressing :-(

My First Italian Blog.. but in English

I packed too much.. of course, what else? My bag was 51.5 lbs until I emptied pills, peanut butter, and extra converters. Good thing is once I did that my bag only weighed 49 lbs (mwahahahahah). I got no sleep 2 nights ago because I was stressing about every little thing. I was grumpy yesterday morning and pretty mean to everywhere I came in contact with (Sorry Mom & Dad!). After trying to check in online (and later found out I couldn't for some strange reason) I got so frustrated and decided to check in at the airport. Even though I was on a "united" flight it was operated by Air Canada so I had to go there to check in. I ate lunch with mom &dad at the same place we ate before Mel left for Spain 2 years ago. I found out I was going to be in the middle seat all the way on my 8 1/2 hour flight but after a failed attempt to change that I accepted it. After eating lunch and saying goodbye I headed through security to the gate and found the people who were standing around the gate check-in counter were angry because their flight to Montreal was canceled (because the engine failed.. full restores my faith in planes!) I am just glad it didn't happen in the air. I sat in a sitcom type boarding gate.. no joke, imagine: a nun texting, 2 small children running around screaming, and 3 women gabbing on the phone. Oh yeah and there was a guy who literally was yelling into his phone. i started reading Eat, Pray, Love which is a true story about a women's self discovering search in Italy, India, & Indonesia (the 3 Is on a self discovery.. haha) Well I thought it would be appropriate since it discusses the fabulous food in Italy. The author reminded me of me because she said her 2 majors are in conversation & food with a concentration in gelato.. yup! So anyway the flight was pretty nice despite some turbulence and there were the cool touch TVs which no one seemed to think was quite as cool as I did.. After landing in Canada, which is a very cold place, and going through customs I waited at the gate for a pretty long time eating chex mix. They did feed me dinner on the flight which was all right as far as dinner on an aircraft can be. Even my middle seat was literally the middle of the entire aircraft, a husband and wife were supposed to be on either side of me so the woman let me switch with her (which was nice) but I guess I still would have rather had a window seat.. maybe on the way back :-D The flight was ok.. way too long but I did sleep some which is more than I expected. Once I landed I felt pretty gross though :-/ I met up with some other people from the Arcadia program (1 is my roommate here) and we headed out to our apartments. Ours is ADORABLE and pretty big actually. I will be taking pictures and posting them later but it's really nice and it has wifi :-) After I unpacked, took a shower, brushed my teeth, and took out my contacts I began to felt like a clean human being for once (hah!). We waited until the rest of our group and Geraldine came to get us then we went for gelato. My first gelato in Italy? FANTASTIC! I got chocolate and mint chocolate chip :-) yummm... Anyway then we walked.. a pretty far way - not sure how far right now to the arcadia center (the school is across the street) to meet the director of the program which was fine and all but I was SO tired & thirsty. She did give us some fresh lavendar from her adorable garden on the terrace. We walked a ways to go to dinner, which consisted of some interesting italian food (but no pasta yet :-( ) then we took a taxi back to the apartment since we could no longer drag our legs anywhere. We tried going to the supermarket but it closed (I am used to Kroger...) so then we got lost for a few minutes but eventually found our way back. Now I am back in my room thinking I am already ready for bed and it is only 9:22 PM Roma time. Until next time, which will probably be in 2 days.. I know this is a lot for just the trip over here and the first day!

Oh and the 3 most Italian things I saw: Geraldine reacting with "Mamma Mia!" when our van driver almost ran into someone, a man honking from a vespa saying "Ciao Bella" at us, and an old lady standing in her kitchen with an open window (we are across the side street from her) wearing old lady pjs making pasta & talking on the phone loudly.

Ciao,
Mary

2 days left!

Hi there :-D

So I will be leaving in exactly 2 days. First I have a flight from Houston to Toronto (or as my dad says "toRONTO") and then I have a flight from Toronto to Rome. I am a little nervous because of the thunderstorms that might be going on when I am supposed to leave. If I miss my connection in Toronto I have no clue what to do! But before I leave I still have 2 more nights of volunteering with vacation bible school and lots of packing/preparing to do. I already have tons of music on my iPod and I found out that on my flight from Toronto to Rome I will have my own personal touch screen TV & outlet for my computer. I am bringing my laptop and I will also have several new books that I just bought. I hope this is enough to keep me occupied for the 12 hours (total) I will be flying because I have never been on a flight for this long in my life. I am also getting a little nervous about the packing part - how do you pack for a 6 week trip!? I know that I will be able to laundry there but I keep thinking "oh I might need just 1 more _____." Pretty soon I will have 20 of everything and a suitcase that is way too heavy (I guess that's why they give you a weight limit right?)

Anyway, I got an e-mail from the program manager with the orientation/summer schedule which is pretty exciting! I won't be posting what some of the surprises are because I'd rather make you read what I post in Italy :-D. I won't be posting the address where I will be in Rome because that just seems dangerous and I think sending letters would be too much of a hassle; however, feel free to e-mail me (mcamp@trinity.edu) or facebook message me while I'm there. I have a feeling I will get homesick considering this will be the longest I have gone without seeing my parents except for college.

My next blog I post will be one in Italy :-)

Ciao,
Mary