Safe inside my first hostel

At last, after leaving LAX on Jan. 18th at 350pm, I made it to Florence on Jan. 19th at 245pm. The first flight was direct from LAX to Charles De Gaulle in Paris. It was a slightly painful, very bumpy, and very long. I have never been on a flight longer than 5.5 hours, plus the plane itself was not what I am used to. It is a lot larger than most planes that are flown around the US and they also cram in as many seats as possible. I guess culture shock started on the plane? Aside from the negatives, I watched the movie The Help during the flight and it was amazing. I really wish I would have read the book now... anyways once the flight was coming to an end, my mood went from cranky to excited. After landing in Paris, Alex and I were faced with the glorious task of trying to figure out where the heck we were supposed to go! Oh and I got my first stamp ever and of course it would be from Paris :]

CDG is a ridiculously large and oddly set up airport however, we managed to find our way and take this tiny little tram to our tiny little terminal that isn't even connected to the main airport? While going through security this man who worked at the airport was trying to guess what language everyone spoke before he directed them to a security line. He looks at me and says "hola?" and I wanted to laugh out loud but I looked at him and shook my head no. His next guess what "good morning?" I found it humorous and flattering that he thought I wasn't American right away. Anyways, our second flight was on this tiny little airplane that we walked onto and had no room to do anything other than lean forward and sleep...which we did since we didn't sleep on our first flight.

We finally landed in Florence and got our luggage then braced ourselves for what we thought was going to be a terrible customs process....there was none. Our stamp from CDG was good enough and there was no one even there! Being the nervous people that we are...we went up to the information desk to ask them about it, they laughed and said we were fine. (Dumb americans I know) From there we got in a taxi that drove us to our hostel. We drove past the Duomo and my mouth dropped, I was not expecting it to be so grand and smack in the middle of everything. I am looking forward to exploring it tomorrow... 400 steps to the top :] At last, down this tiny little street we reached our destination. Turns out the building is over 500 years old, which explains why later that night our shower was leaking into the room below us.

Overall, the first day has been very stressful due to all of the flying and confusing airports and my lovely stomach deciding that it needed to get sick which sparked some anxiety which lead me to write this blog as a way to reflect on how important it is to push yourself and be outside your comfort zone. I know that once Alex and I start exploring the city, getting more comfortable and acquainted, and once our program actually begins, I will forget why I was even anxious in the first place. Every feeling felt on this trip is important and I plan on embracing and tackling them all.

I will post pictures here soon.

Ciao!