(Nearly) Sunrise at LAX

I’m waiting at LAX at 4:35 AM. The good part about having the first flight is, no lines. The bad part? No sleep the night before a long trip, which will inevitably be followed by some serious jet lag.

Living in Florence seems like a dream. And in less than 24 hours, it will become my reality. Over the past three years that I’ve been a student at CSULB, I’ve been constantly on the move, it seems. from Long Beach to Santa Barbara, traveling to Europe a few times, and volunteering in Costa Rica. I have been presented with many wonderful opportunities as a student, and I rarely let an opportunity pass by unexplored.

I’m both unbelievably nervous and excited for the next 6 months.

Things I’m nervous about:

1) Language. I barely speak Italian and I’m about to move to Florence. Probably should have used Rosetta Stone more this past month, but now there’s nothing left to do but memorize key phrases such as mi sono persa (I’m lost).

2) Forgetting something important

3) Cold weather

But, mostly I’m excited! For the food, for the culture, for the beautiful city that will be my home for the next four months.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

-H. Jackson Brown Jr.

And in that spirit, I’m off to Europe. Ciao!