Before I leave...

Hey everybody,
So I thought that it would be a good idea to keep a blog while I'm in Europe so that I can fill everyone in on what's going on without having to tell everyone individually. Since I will be in various countries and doing various exciting things I think that it's a good idea to keep you all updated. My good friend, the lovely Meagan Lum has taken to blogging on her travels and I think it is a fabulous idea (thanks Megs). So here goes:

Consider this the first blog.
Well I leave in exactly ten days and I don't think it is humanly possible for anyone to be more excited than I am. I am even excited about the 16 hours (which will probably end up being much longer than that) that I am going to spend travelling to what I know will be my new favorite place in the world.

So I begin preparing for my trip today... buying the necessary things like a suitcase, voltage converters and stationary for letters. Even these dull errands seem exciting because it takes me one step closer to my European adventure.

So the itinerary looks a little something like this: I leave YVR around 8ish PM on January 15th and begin a 9hour overnight flight to Heathrow Airport in the UK. I have a 5 hour layover (enough time to find a Starbucks I hope) before I hop on another plane to arrive in Rome's Fiumicino airport. Even the airport sounds romantic and full of culture! I can't wait to try out some Italian however dreadful it may be. I will then hop in a cab (and make sure they don't rip me off since I've heard thats what cabs do to travellers) and head to the house of the de Cunto family which is located on the Via Ugo Balzani (you can google map it). Close to the family's house is a cimitero which sounds glamorous but is actually a cemetary. I feel like the Italian language is one giant euphemism. Everything sounds more wonderful than it is because of the language that came from Dante's Florence and eventually evolved from a dialect into the Italian language we know now. So back to my soon-to-be neighborhood. The underground and train station are very close which will be very helpful. As is the Universita delgi studi di Roma la Sapienza which is beautiful no doubt. I will also not be far from a small river of which I don't know the name. All is very exciting... I can't wait to spend my days walking around the ancient city I have studied for so long.

So as for my days, I will be living with the family and basically just helping them all learn English. The mother's name is Gioia and I expect we will be great friends- she seems very warm and excited to meet me. She is a biologist and her husband is an Air Force officer. Both of them have very busy lives but are excited to meet me. They have three sons- two 13 yr old twins and an 18 yr old. Alessandro and Lucrezia are the boys- Ale and Lucri for short. Basically my job is to help them with their homework and light housekeeping only four hours a day. So I will have almost the whole day to explore!! I also get pocket money which I'm hoping will allow me to not spend any of my savings while I'm in Rome (fingers crossed).

So thats basically all I can tell you until I arrive in Roma and have adventures to speak of. Clearly I will have lots to tell you but I want emails from Canada too!! So send me updates on your lives too. Oh and I have Skype so if you have a headset or a mic on your computer then we can have phone dates!!! The best email to reach me at is katerin@uvic.ca

Ciao miei amici!!!
Kate