dual.

It’s so nice to be both an American and an Italian. It means I get two nifty passports.
It means that when the line for non-EU is a mile long, I get to skip it by going to the
EU line with only 3 people in it.

Life is good.

what a way to start the end.

The day has finally come for me to head home. We woke up at 3:30am to begin our
decent down a million stairs, down the cobblestone road, and into the piazza where our
bus and friends were waiting to say good bye.

We arrived at the Catania Airport to checkin only to find that both Charilyne and I had
bags that were overweight. After throwing away some toiletries. I was able to slide
by being 1 pound overweight and was able to have them let Charilyne in, even though she
was 23 lbs overweight. I should really consider being a salesperson. All this smooth
talking in Italy really paid off.

46 minutes after finally clearing through checking in we make it to the security counter.
They stop me as I tried to sneak some contact solution in my check in bag. As she continued
to dig around for my hidden tea/nutella snacks, I began to distract. I need my snacks for
the flight! I won! She stopped searching and the tea made it on board. I know. I am bad.

Then we make it to the gate and we are sitting down taking a breather. I joked with
Charilyne about them going to call our name on the intercom. Not 1 second later we hear
“Attention! Ladies and gentlemen, Gemellaro, Cristina … is needed at gate 14.” We both
just burst out laughing. Apparently, our plane had already boarded and they were waiting
for us. We are famous, what can I say?

We arrive on the plane, find our seats. We just get settled in and the man next to us
throws up all over the floor. Of course, I look to see what the comotion is about to see
his dentures in the midst of the throw up. Great. I felt bad but not as bad as it smelled.
AlItalia, being known for their AMAZING customer service (NOT), just threw down some
newspapers on top of it – instead of cleaning it up.

So I am now midway to Rome and already have an experience I’ll never forget.

P.S. He threw up again as we were landing.

McDonald’s Heaven

Charilyne and I got back from Milo around 8pm and we were craving McDonald’s so bad. We hadn’t had any fast food or even bad food since we got here but we needed it. At that very moment, Heather had texted me asking if we wanted McDonald’s so we took that as a sign that we HAD to go. We decided to walk not knowing it would take about 45 minutes on foot in an ugly side of town. When we saw those golden arches. In the midst of our sweat and out of breathe selves we knew we had made it to fast food heaven.
Ordered myself a large drink, large fries, 2 cheeseburgers…only to find out that if you wanted Ketchup it going to cost an additional .20 euro cents per packet. Grr…
We had all the intentions of walking back to the apartment but we were scared of the dark and decided to take a taxi. That’s my excuse but the truth is I was too full to walk. LOL

scusi.

I decided to take a “passeggio” around town tonight. I went to a lot of stores and window shopped. I walked into Zara and they were having an amazing sale. I found the cutest skirt there for only 9 euros. I went into the dressing room to try it on, but something just wasn’t right. I tugged and tugged at it – no luck. I peeked my head out of the dressing room to call the salesgirl over to ask her if that was how the skirt was supposed to be. She took one look at me and started to laugh. I wasn’t trying on a skirt at all. I was wearing a tube top.

 Dressing room FAIL.

battling the storm. not really.

We battled the storm. Well, not quite a storm, more like an absolutely pleasant day on the Mediterreanan. Michelle, Charilyne, and I went kayaking. I was kind of scared at first. My biggest fear was claustophobia. Those things are itty bitty and I have the longest legs of the bunch. Second biggest fear – dying. Haha! But I was excited to find that I got the hang of it super fast. It was so relaxing. Even though my arms didn’t think so. It was nice to be gliding along with boats and fishy’s. Unfortunetly, past the bay it was a bit choppy so we had to return to the bay, but an hour was plenty for my arms. Plus, the seasickness was starting to kick in. This trip has really made me push my bounds as far as my adventurism. Probably wont be getting on a rollercoaster anytime soon but it’s a start.

I’ve been in Italy for almost 4 weeks and it makes my heart smile so big when we are out and about and locals recognize us. While I was kayaking for my life, the man who took us on the coastal caves tour smiled and waved at me. It’s so nice to be remembered.

Speaking of remembering – I think of all of you daily. See you VERY soon.

Pics are being posted on Facebook.

Many more will be posted once I return.

Lovelovelove

July 26th

massages in caves. i think yes.

Today was great. We spent the day with Michelle – API treated us to massages in a cave. You heard right. In a cave. It was fabulous. It was the closest to AC we’ve gotten. Especially since the heatwave is causing the tempurature to rise to about 40 degrees Celcius (104 degress Farenheit). The no AC is really messing with my head,  can you tell? Its my only complaint thus far. Well, other than that awful day I had last week. We laid out on a lido and just relaxed all day. I needed it.

 

July 25th

the coast.

Our sailing trip got cancelled due to .. well, actually I don’t know why .. but it was totally ok. We got to go on this cute motor boat for the ENTIRE day. We departed from Ortigia and got all the way to Vendicari. We took some amazing swims in the Mediterranean. I swear the water here is so amazingly beautiful. I could see fish swimming right next to me. The water was so clear you can see atleast 5-6 meters down with no problem. Its almost unfair. I wish I could just dump some of it in the Gulf of Mexico so we could enjoy Galveston. Oh well. I got a nice tan going so that makes me feel better. After our long day, we decided to go to Zen, which is a hot spot here in Siracusa. One problem. We got there and for some strange reason it was closed until midnight. So Charilyne and I decided to hang out at a pizzeria. We are so classy. We had french fries and water.

 

July 24

Calabria

I left for Calabria (Catanzaro) this weekend. 6 hour train ride. Not bad since there was AC on the train and I got to enjoy the beautiful ferry ride from Sicily to mainland Italy. I arrived to be greeted by tons of my mother’s family. It was so nice to be in my mother’s homeland. I just took a deep breath. I felt like I was close to her. Basically, just spent the weekend hanging out with my mother’s family and meeting people that had known my mother and me when I was just a wee little 2 year old. Everyone (family included) refer to me “La Americana” which is cool since I am so proud to be an American but I am Italian too. It makes me wonder…if I would have been born in Italy and stayed in Italy in my life would I still be this white and would they still look at me like a foreigner.

I spent one evening with my two cousins. They took me to a park with a live concert. It was cute. I borrowed one of their mothers outfits. It fit me perfectly. I felt so Italian. My fav. part of the evening was when one of my cousins friends (a girl) saw us. She greeted my cousin and gave me a look and left. Then immediately my cousins ex girlfriend calls him, screaming, wanting to know who “the blonde” girl is. The girl seems to have forgotten that my cousin told her that his American cousin was coming, but she still wasn’t buying it. So the rest of the night the girl cried a river (via 100 phone calls and texts) thinking I was my cousins secret date or something. It was quite comical.

6 hour train ride back. Sat next to a 29 year old italian military fella. Complaining that Italy sucked and America was the best. I tried to tell him that every country has their problems. He just thought it was cool that we liked to blow things up in Iraq (which is where he was stationed to help the Americans).

Boys…they never change.

 

July 16-19

worst. day. ever.

So today has to have been the worst day of my entire trip. It started this morning. I woke up not feeling well at all. (Being a girl can really stink sometimes). I got to class late to take a quiz that I absolutely bombed. Yes, I made the worst grade in the entire class. Yes, I am the only Italian speaker. Yes, I am grammatically retarded. I tried to brush that off and headed on a Coastal Caves tour with Michelle and Charilyne. We took a small boat around Ortigia and were able to go inside some amazing caves. God is so talented. J After  the tour, I had gotten a message to contact my work.  I called the US to find out that I had been let go. Literally, one week after marking my 5^th year with the company I was let go. It was devastating. I felt like everything was going wrong – I am over 5,000 miles away and unable to do anything about it. They decided that they wanted to hire someone full time instead of having me since I have had to work part time since returning to school.  I try not to cry on the phone but completely let it all out once I hang up. I called Sue and immediately I felt so much better. She encouraged me so much and immediately started looking for work for me for when I get back. Called Jack and of course like always he encouraged me as well. After stressing and hyperventaliting (as you know I do) I began to realize that everything happens for a reason and that God has taken care of me all of my life. I tried to relax and began packing for my trip to Calabria to visit my mothers family. In the middle of packing I got a call that my paternal Grandmother “Nonna Anna” has fallen terribly ill. So sick that other members of my family were flying in from Italy to be with her because they didn’t know if she’d make it. So I asked if I should postpone my trip to Calabria but my uncle reassured me that going would be fine and that they would call me if anything happened and I could just take a train back to the island. So its 98 degrees. No AC. One small fan. All this stress piling up on me. I spent the majority of the night in the bathroom sick to my stomach. Lets just say today is a day Id like to forget.  Except for the part where Charilyne took me to dinner and to eat Nutella pizza. It was fabulous.

 

July 15th

time for a catch up.

the internet is slow & apparently my phone screens calls. so be patient with me if you are unable to get ahold of me. facebook actually works which is weird because thats usually the first thing to go when the computer decides to freeze. so facebook is always the best way to reach me.

i am just loving italy.

school started last week and i am so lost- gramatically. i can speak it all day long and certainly well enough for people to understand but when i am asked about conditional, pronomi, & other awful grammar terms i completely freeze. i have no idea. so i am actually having to work now (for those of you who joke that i am on vacation lol).

i took a train to Catania to meet my uncle to go to Milo. I spent the day with him and my grandmother. It was very nice. I spent Sat. shopping with my aunt and her girlfriends and we had a blast. I dont know how Ill take all the stuff they got me home but I may need a new suitcase. So spoiled – I know. We then had dinner in Priolo with Antonios family and I tried a nice variety of seafood including black pasta made with octopus ink, shrimp, and fish that still had eyeballs. Yes. It was a big step for me but it was not bad.

I had my first “Taken” moment Sat. night. I got home in Ortigia around midnightish from my family’s. I go to my apt. and I find that everything is dark and locked up. I assume that Charilyne (my roomate) is asleep. I turn on the light and there is no Charilyne. I see her clothes set out on her bed, her purse, her wallet. I call her name. No Charilyne. I start to sweat (not just because its 90 degrees and we have no AC). I fumble around my backpack looking for my cell which I hadnt looked at all day and I have 11 missed call from people here who have never called me. I have 2  texts saying “call me as soon as you get this” from my director. So I start tearing up. I start calling people on my friend list….Come to find out Charilyne was with some friends. She had decided not to change and had taken her wristlet for cash. WHY OH WHY did I watch that movie? haha. Got my blood pumping. Was another 1.5 hours before I could sleep.

We got up early on Sunday and had an API tour of Vendicari Nature Reserve. We had about an hour and half hike along the coast, I totally jumped off a little cliff into the Mediterranean (I am so brave now), spent a few hours at a private BEAUTIFUL beach (“You are such a Pesca”), went to Noto for gelato and then came home. 12 hours later it was nice to relax at home. UNTIL Charilyne saw my back. Apparently applying 30spf sunscreen 2 times and 15spf sunscreen 1 time does now protect me from the sun. My shoulders, neck, and back are BLOODY RED. blah. So Aloe Vera is my new best friend today.

This is a super long blog. Ill try to keep the rest short and sweet. Miss you all and hope that this finds you well.