Oh Italy..

Well.  I made it.  I finally made it to the country that I’ve been looking forward to going back to since I last left 6 years ago.  For those who don’t know, I was here for a summer when I was 17 years old.  My Dad sent me to a city close to Bergamo and I worked in a factory and just lived a somewhat Italian lifestyle while I was there.  I didn’t enjoy it all that much when I was here because I was more upset that I was forced away from all my friends for so long. 

Ever since I left though, I’ve always had a desire to come back.  The incredibly-relaxed lifestyle here is something that I love.  The long delicious meals, liters and liters of wine, and the open-friendliness of these small cities, is something to fall in love with.

Anyways, it’s been 14 days since my last post, so I’ll go ahead and sum up the end of my Germany trip real quick.  So, the last two weeks went by very fast.  But I was able to enjoy myself knocking of a big list of things I wanted to do in Hamburg before I left, including - eating a sushi buffet, at a Tapas restaurant, Tex’s BBQ, Jim Block, and of course playing Beer Pong at Thomas Read one last time.  I loved my time in Hamburg and I will never forget the friends that I made over my last 5 and a half months.  I went to a city that I had honestly never really even heard of - in a country that I didn’t learn the language - and basically just had one of the best times of my life.  I learned a new language (oh by the way, I took a test towards the end of December, and I got my results back just before I left.. I got a 2 (which is actually a really good score, haha)) - I learned how to eat like a German, I met people from all over the world that will always have a place to visit if ever in Texas (and hopefully vice versa when I’m traveling around the world), I allowed myself to try new things and made sure that I never said ‘no’ to something just to say ‘no’.  And well ya, I just had an incredible time and I have to thank my family, God, and all my friends that I met in Germany for making that happen.  I just hope Italy will be as amazing an experience.  Anyways, instead of continuing on and on - I’ll let a bunch of pictures show how my last day in Hamburg went.

So it started off with a nice lunch at Tex’s BBQ.  Awesome

Then about 20 of us met up in the school Residence.  Here’s me and my favorite Mexicans and Peruvian living in Hamburg.

Me and Thomas represent.. ALTONA!

I learned this form in Conestoga 325

Alex and Kejdi lost this one.  But sent us home losers later

Igor is my BBF (Best Brazilian Friend)

Oh Stephanie, I’m going to miss you!

We have different defensive strategies

I’m going to miss these group of guys.  Especially Hans, the English-speaking Taiwanese man

Anyways.  I got back home at about 6 that morning, and woke up at 8 to get ready to go to the airport.  I was taking the plane with my new Italian friend Luisa, and we had a good time talking about how excited we were about going to Italy.  I spent the afternoon with Stefano in Bergamo - and then I took a 2 hour train down to Bologna.  I arrived at my apartment which is absolutely huge!  I have a pretty big room, and it’s the smallest one in the flat.  Anyways, I share the flat with two British girls and an Italian guy.  Everyone seems like a good time, and so far I’m really liking the school.

I’ll talk more about the school, the culture, and just life here in Italy on the next post -because this one seems to be getting a little long.  Before I go, here’s a picture of me making tortellini.  Yes.  I have already taken a cooking class in the short time that I’ve been here.  It was so awesome.  Well - Arrivederci Tutti!  God Bless!

20 January 2011 · Comments