Ciao from Italia!

Ciao! Ciao! Ciao!

HUF Fall 2010 has officially begun. The trip started out on Thursday, September 16th at Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans. I flew out of New Orleans at 11:15. My parents and Mia (grandmother) dropped me off and surrounded me with prayer before I left. I got on my first flight to Atlanta and I flew DELTA airlines. The flight was about an hour and a half and I sat next to an electrician from New York. He was coming from Venice, LA where he was working on dredges and flying to Virginia to work on another set in that region. We had a very nice conversation about his family; however, it was a tad sad at times because due to the demanding travel time of his job, he is divorced and his wife and two daughters live in New York. The up side to this flight was it went by fairly quickly because I had good conversation with a nice person and I got to minister to him as well. God is definitely everywhere. I met up with most of my group in the Atlanta airport at about 1:50. From there we flew to New York to the JFK airport. On the New York flight I rode next to my friend Emily Betts. For those of you that know her, she is absolutely hilarious. Needless to say, the flight to New York was enjoyable. Not to mention, we circled and made a pretzel in the air due to bad weather. So, a hour and a half flight turned into a 2 hour and 30 minute flight.  We arrived in New York at 7:15 instead of 5:50. When we arrived in New York, we met up with the rest of our group. We all decided to have one last American meal and we chose Chili's. (No Mom, I did not get the Burger Bites.) I ate at a table with Emily Ford (a sister in ZP), Hannah Cochran (the Cochran's sweet daughter), Taylor (HUF mate in Chi Sigs), Alex Higginbotham (HUF mate in BOX and we have been friends since Katrina), and Andrew (HUF mate in BOX). We had a great time and absolutely laughed our stomachs into pain. After dinner, we visited and got to know each other better and then boarded our international for a great 8 hour flight to Pisa, Italy. Mallory Dell ( a sister in ZP and Honors Symposium friend) and I sat by eachother on the international flight. We both were ecstatic when we figured out we were sitting by eachother. Mallory and I talked about a lot and just caught up from not really talking this summer. Swapping summer stories was a blast. The rest of the flight was movies. "The Karate Kid", "The Bounty Hunter", and "Optimum Solace"; I only watched "The Karate Kid" and then the rest of the time I tried to go to sleep. However, my attempts failed. In an eight hour flight, I think I slept successfully for an hour. I am anxious to see how jet lag effects me. After we landed in Pisa at 1:30 pm which is 6:30 am USA time, we got off and got our luggage (no one's luggage got lost; praise!) ; we were greeted by Kyle, and then rode the bus to Florence. After reaching Florence, we got out of the bus and walked the hill to the villa. (Jenna, the villa hill is not a bad hike at all!) A HUGE bonus of the trip was our luggage was driven up to the villa and we didn't have to carry it! We are definitely spoiled. Upon entering the villa, Robbie and Mona welcomed up with open arms! We sat in the classroom and got our room arrangements and etiquette for dinner a la Mona! After the boys helped us move all of our luggage into our rooms, we went down to lunch. Lunch is pasta (which you eat before you eat any other food on the table), then you put your pasta bowl under your empty plate and then proceed to fill your empty plate with meat, fruit, salad, bread, and NUTELLA! :) After lunch we came into our rooms and checked Facebook, took pictures, and called parents. Right now, I am waiting for the dinner bell. Until then, be blessed and talk to you soon! Miss all of you so much!