I left Boston on Tuesday at 11am and arrived in Atlanta around 1:45pm. The flight down was great, lots of leg room and I got to sleep for a bit. I had 3+ hours to kill in Atlanta so I grabbed some lunch and surfed the web for a bit.
I was flying standby so I was not sure if I had a confirmed seat from Atlanta to Milan, but low and behold my name came over the loud speaker and I got a seat! It was your average international flight- annoying woman behind me pulling my seat, children running down the asile (SO CUTE THOUGH), not able to sleep for extended periods of time...haha but I don't care because I am in Italy now!!
I am so fortunate because my cousin Giovanna, her husband Massimo, and their adorable 7 month old baby Davide came and picked me up from Malpensa airport!!!! They could not have been kinder and helped take away so much anxiety! Not to mention it was so awesome to be around a little babe! Davide was so cute and playful and always had his eyes wide open absorbing everything going on around him.
Our first stop was to my apartment where I will be staying while in Italy. Carla, the woman who lives in the apartment, met us downstairs and you could immediately tell she was a very nice person. It was actually her birthday yesterday when I arrived! Needless to say I wish I had known and would have brought some flowers or something! Anyways, our apartment is on the 4th floor in the building...if anyone recalls when I live din Siena we were on the 5th floor, 90 stairs up, so this makes me feel riiight at home! haha...I will post some pictures below of the apartment. My room is huge and has an extra bed in it, perfect for my love Abbey in Firenze to come visit :)
After Massimo dragged my two 50lb suitcaes up 4 flights of stairs.............haha bless his soul!....they brought me to the centro commerciale (mall) in town and helped me buy an Italian cell phone. (My number is (+39) 3200722212 for the record, but more importantly my skype name is juliadomenicadillon). We bought the cell phone in an electronics store and then had to go upstairs to the WIND store (cell phone company) to get it activated and figure out minutes and stuff. There were 3 guys in front of us in line and one woman working. The first two were fine and didn't take long at the register. The third, however, was a sales associates nightmare! haha we must have been waiting in line (with poor Davide playing with his toys but getting restful) for a half an hour!!!! It was literally the same question he was asking over 6 times. Obnoxious. I felt bad for the woman working and even worse for Giovanna and Massimo who were so helpful to me and patient! After sorting out the cell, we went down a floor and did a little grocery shopping! I got apples, grapes, a baguette, yogurt, mozzarella and some meat to make sandwiches....hello Italia! I sniped a small fruit market around the corner from our apartment and this morning Carla showed me a small store that sells wonderful bread and meat, so I know I will be eating well. I love being in Italia and buying less at a time and going more often. I am always way more healthy here than at home haha.
This morning we woke up and walked to the center of Corsico which is very close to where we live. It's a cute area with stores, cafes, a fountain in the center and cobblestone :) Pictures to come. I still need to learn how to navigate around here of course but I will head out once I rest up a bit more and explore! We went to the City Hall and Carla registered with them to let them know that she was hosting me. The worker we dealt with was incredibly nice!
It is just too weird to be back here! and I mean that in the best sense. I just forgot how different everything and everyone is here, but it's great and I cannot wait to get started at the school! I briefly met Anna Maria, the teacher I will be working with, and she was very nice. It is great to finally be with her and Carla and know them beyond an email address. I don't have to start work until Monday so I have some time to get settled and rest on up! I believe tomorrow afternnon/evening I will be heading into Milano with my cousin Patrizia! She will show me the ropes. I haven't been speaking english since I have been here, just a few words here or there, so I am getting more comfortable and will be on my way to getting a LOT better with the language!
I'm going to try and take a little nap because the jet lag finally hit me! I was on a second wind last night and didn't get to bed very early. I will say that it is pretty noisy where we live at times....like garbage and recycling trucks thrashing barrels around in the morning haha but it's okay I can certainly deal with that!!
Anyways, boring post of the logistics but I am here safe and sound and hope all my family and friends have an awesome week!
