an airline gave me socks and i wore them

oh yes. i got socks from british airways, along with a sleep mask, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and other random entertaining things. It was fun.

london was good. the airport was like a big circle mall or something. only four hours there was not too bad. last plane ride.. i slept the whole time. wonderful. woke up when we were pretty much in pisa. yayyy. the first night, me and mom got wayyyyy lost walking around. however, we found the leaning tower of pisa during that confusion. it is SO cool! the next day i had a bacardi breezer for lunch with my margherita pizza and it was superb. i heart lime and rum, apparently. we went shopping in the piazza and i bought my first watch from a street vendor type guy, and my first real italian leather bag. it is amazing. its my new favorite thing. its red. woohoo red! then a long confusing trip to venice... oh my goodness. hotel shuttle, train, another train... sitting in a hallway and mom falling on her butt (funniest thing EVER), then a boat, then a taxi. and finally, here we are in beauuuutiful venezia. at our russian palace hotel. we found a house we love and are going to buy, cause i decided. tomorrow we are going to get drinks and cheese and sit on a bench by the water. i cant wait. :)

this european keyboard is way confusing... it took me like 10 minutes to find the at symbol for my email address... goodness.

overall, its been fun, but stressful at times. were exhausted and slept til 1:30 in the afternoon our first morning here. be proud of my mom... i am! :) our luggage is heavy. and now i know why people say to pack lightly when you come to europe. sadly, i thought i had packed somewhat lightly by only bringing 4 pairs of shoes for 6 weeks (what was i thinking!? ill have to buy some here). now ive learned... packing lightly means one tiny suitcase with like... feathers in it or something. silly americans... we have too much stuff.

anywho.. i like rum now. my buddy the bartender at our last hotel made me a delicious drink with like 5 strawberries and 3 ice cubes and all the rest rum. it was a tad strong, yet very delicious. we made friends with two old men from germany... wolfgang and peter.... hahahaha. and i am totally serious. they thought we were funny. peter asked me if i knew who mozart was. silly man. he thinks were so stupid. he didnt believe that i learned about napolean and elba in school... haha.

thats all for now... wont be on for a while probably. we changed our plans.. mom is skipping florence and were spending an extra day here and an extra day in rome... we cant have 8 hour travel days every other day.. it is way too exhausting! but i have some awesome pictures already and cant wait until i can upload them to show you! but that will happen after i start school here. yayyy school. i cant believe im saying that... ha! ok.. off to ..somewhere else. the bar or bed probably? oh.. and some little kids told us where a bar was today. haha. everyone here loves alcohol. its so funny. ok... deuces, mia amici!

t-minus one day til liftoff

so i leave tomorrow for italy. ohhhh geez. i haven't packed yet, and it's already 5:45 pm. in about 12 hours i will be boarding a plane to take me to a foreign country. foreign is right. i did take a year of italian, and we may have studied the culture a little bit, and i have talked to people who have been to italy before... however, it is as foreign to me as the moon is. i have no idea what to expect. i know it will be hot, and people keep telling me i'm going to have an amazing time. isn't that funny... just because i'm going to a different country, it is automatically assumed that i'm going to have a wonderful time. what if i don't have a good time?? ok, pessimism is coming out.. sorry. i'll stop.

despite my enormous fears of going to a foreign country with a different language, different food, different culture, with a bunch of people i don't know, and to study something i have no confidence about studying... i really am very excited. i can't wait to be in a place that i dont recognize. where i won't run into people i know. where no one has any preconceived ideas about who i am or what i like or don't like or anything. it's gonna be great.

me and jesus are going to have a glorious time.. i know it. in all my fears about going, he has been right beside me, comforting me. his word has given me peace by reminding me that i will never be alone. jesus called so many people to be his messengers and to carry the good news to people. and the not so good news.. when countries were misbehaving, God sent all sorts of people to tell them they're wrong. what a job, huh? "hey um... i know you don't believe in God, but He talked to me and told me to come here and tell you that you're doing wrong things and He doesn't like it, and if you don't stop, you're going to have to deal with His wrath." umm talk about a party foul! so much for dont shoot the messenger, huh? now, this is not to say i'm going to italy to tell people theyre wrong. but i know that i am going as a light for my savior. i dont know how many of the people that i'm going with, if any, are christians. i dont know how many of them have even heard of Jesus. but my prayer has been that God will help me build relationships with people i'm going with, because i don't know anyone, and that He will let me be a light for Him. I want Him to live inside of me and let me shine. Shine like stars in the universe. mmm i can't wait!! please be praying for safety in travel for me and my mom. give me patience and understanding and endurance. and help me be bold. i love my Jesus and i want the world to know!!