Italian Garbage

Okay can I just say, and then I will tell you of my last two days traveling, Italian garbage trucks and Italian garbage men are the loudest I've ever heard in my whole life! Haha Before I get going on that whole story, let me tell you of my travels :)
So after exchanging money I found my gate and then hunted for a seat. I finally found one facing the windows next to a family with four children (about to board a 9 hour flight to Germany mind you)! I sat down and got myself organized and thats when it really hit me that I was leaving and the last time I'm going to see everyone for two and a half months, was Jess at my parents house and my family and John after I got through security and could only wave and blow kisses (shut up, and yes I totally did). So..needless to say Amanda got teared-up sitting there waiting for the plane. thats when the mom of the family sitting next to me starting talking to me. She asked if I was staying in Germany, what I was going for and if I was traveling alone, to which I said yes and then got a little more depressed because I was alone and I was traveling alone to a place where Ive never met anyone and I barely know the language. I snapped myself out of it and continued talking to her and her husband until families with small children could board. Then I started talking to this older lady to the left of me. she mentioned visiting grandchildren while in the states and how she was flying to Europe now because she was moving from Australia to Spain. She was very young and hip looking. I was thankful for the conversation so I did not sit in silence and start wallowing again.
Once on the plane, I got everything settled. I had a window seat and then there was one person sitting to my left. He sat down and no kidding fell asleep instantly I was a little jealous. So I decide to pass the time, and I have a lot of it, by writting some of this blog in word or watching a movie on my computer, only to find that I left my power cord at home. Crapit! so I put my computer and everything away sadly and pull out 1984 but I was already squirmy thank goodness it was dinner time. My little plane buddy woke up and over dinner i learned that his name is Leo and he is actually on his way home from studying abroad for a year in the states. Then he was able to fall right asleep, again, jealous. While they played the other Boleyn Girl, I tried to sleep but was unfortunately quite unsuccessful. i did however mildly doze off during Dan in Real Life.
The plane flight was horribly uneventful which I guess is a good thing. We landed in Frankfurt at about 9:00am which I found out a little while later is 2:00am in Dallas. Haha. I found this out after I woke up my parents and then John. Oops. :)
My layover in Germany was three and a half hours long. and they didn't even announce what gate my flight was leaving from until thirty minutes prior to departure time. So I sat around Frankfurt airport, sleepy, hungry and a little stressed. It was quite an educational experience though because I learned:
1. When queuing Germans feel the need to stand practically on top of one another.
2. Very frew Germans (at least at the airport) speak anything other than German.
3. They like to walk VERY quickly and eat very slowly.
4. And none of them have friends in the states. NO one knows how to call a US #.
I was almost in tears because I could not get my phone to call my parents or John. But I did finally, obviously I woke them up around 3:30am. After I talked to them, I wandered around for a bit and finally just went and sat at a gate with no departures listed. I was so sleepy but feared falling asleep because of my bags. So I got creative and fashioned a way to hold onto both my bags (computer bag and 21" rolling carry-on) and sleep. I sat down in this chair and rolled my carry-on under my legs, so it kind of propped up my knees and my legs hung down the side. then took the buckle strap and put that around my leg so no one could just slide it out from under me. Then put my computer bag in my lap and one arm through the arm strap and kinda just held it. I leaned my head against the wall, and my sleeping position was complete! It was actually quite comfortable even though I'm sure I looked like a doof. but I never fell asleep completely just dozed off a bit. Finally it was time for my flight to Florence. they took us to the smallest plane I've ever seen. It's a good thing I was so tired or I for sure would have been crazy claustrophobic. The flight was only an hour and fifteen minutes (if that), so basically we were only taking off or landing, no lie. We land in Florence, and I want to jump for joy because we're getting off the smallest plane in history...only to find that we walk into the smallest airport in history! but we got our bags really quickly and it was easy to navigate even with my limited Italian. I was really nervous, aside from the claustrophobia, there were a TON of people in this one small baggage claim room and this (airport)guy kept asking me questions in Italian that I didn't understand. It was nerve-racking. I felt so lost, completely out of my element. So I walk out of the baggage claim area and there are about twenty people standing around with signs (like names and stuff) and I don't see my name or Abroadco or anything. Once again, Amanda starts sweating. but then this cute dark haired lady asks me what my name is (in English), I see she has a piece of paper in her hands. It's Nikki! My Abroadco advisor. I was so happy. We talked for a littel while as we waited for the next girl, Jessica, to arrive. then we were off! In this small white taxi, that all drove too close together and much too fast when given the opportunity. We picked up two more girls from the train station (Kathryn and Missy) and then headed to campus, where we got our apartment keys! Now to get to the apartment? Seriously??
An Italian boy about our age, maybe a little older lead the way. Mind you we still have all our bags and Florence is stone streets and narrow sidewalks, if you're lucky enough to get sidewalks on the particular street you are walking down. So it was pretty much the most exhausting trip ever. My lovely dad called while I was hauling my luggage all over Florence and I just know I was a total grump. (But I talked to him about an hour later and was in a much better mood.) My apartment is so Italian quaint. there will be a video tour up in a few days, don't you worry! It's five of us girls, my roommate Missy who is in Abroadco with me and then three other girls from Virginia who are fashion majors! Jessica, another Abroadco girl, lives in the apartment above ours with five girls we don't know yet. It's really great though, and my roommates are quite fun!
Oh!
So like eight years ago I was going to tell you about my first morning in Florence.
Picture this:
Comfy bed, cool breeze through the window, some wine the night before so you're sleeping oh so well! Oh did I mention it is 6:00am?? Yeah. All the sudden my poor unsuspecting ears are horribly offended by the loud clanging angry garbage truck and shouting Italian garbage men. I stick my head out the window only to find ten or so garbage bins along the side of my street and the garbage truck about three buildings away. Are you kidding me?? It's that far away and that loud? And it hasn't even gotten to our side of the street yet. Oh. We're in for some fun. So I shut our windows in a flash and crawl back in bed and hope for the best.