Transition

I feel like I spend so much of my time waiting! I waited to apply to Orvieto in the fall, waited to hear back from the Global Ed office to see if I was accepted, waited for the fall semester to end so the spring semester could begin, and now I'm still waiting at home. And there's still over two and a half weeks left before I leave! Thankfully, Anna came up from Gordon to visit me this weekend. Slowly, my friends from home have all returned from college - Sarah was the last to leave on Wednesday. So it was nice to see Anna because I feel like I've spent my days alone at my house or at the middle school with my Dad.  As much as I love my family, it feels weird to be alone and not surrounded by people my own age all the time. Because Gordon is the complete opposite... I feel like I'm always with a million different people that are the same age as me. 

Anyways, this week was strange because I said bye to Sarah before she left for Ecuador (she'll be there for 18 months for her church) which was sad but then I spent the weekend with Anna which was nice. We went ice skating on Lily Pond, which is a few minutes away from my house. I feel like ice skating is one of those things that I always forget how to do for the first few minutes or so, but then I remember how to do it. This always used to happen to me when I threw the discus. I'd get in the ring when it was my turn to throw, I'd lift the discus up and think, "Wait... how do I do this again?" But then I'd remember, obviously. Ice skating is the same way for me, because I always slip and slide around like a robot but then I slowly remember how to skate again. I mean I don't skate very well, but it's not as awkward and awful as the first few minutes were.

Saying bye to Sarah :(

Anna being cute

Trying to be casual... although I may or may not look like a kid stuffed in a snowsuit :)

Anyways, now that the weekend is over, I have a week full of babysitting starting at 6:30am as I get the kids ready for school and bring them to all of their activities. Then on Friday night I'll drive down to Gordon to hang out with some more friends until Monday or Tuesday. Then hopefully when I come back next week, I'll have a few more days of subbing. Then FINALLY the week after that, it will be time to leave for Orvieto! And that's it! Just as this is a weird time of transition, it also feels like the biggest countdown of my life. 

An update on how my Italian skills are coming along... they're not. I thought that when my mom brought home all of those "Learn Italian in 15 Minutes a Day" books, I would be fluent by now. But not only do I have a huge stack of unread books on my dresser, I have about $5 in library fines because those books were checked out like three weeks ago. But then again... I still have 3 weeks left so there's still time to learn! 

As much as I think about leaving all of the time, I wish it didn't feel like such a countdown. Sometimes I'll stop myself and think that I should appreciate this time at home while I'm here. I don't want to feel like I wasted this whole two months just waiting around (but of course it wasn't wasted since I finished all 6 seasons of Gossip Girl. I think we all know that's a big accomplishment). It's weird that I have an idea of what Italy will be like and what my experience will be like, but I could be (and probably will be) totally wrong! Just as I try to imagine what the food will be like, the people, my classes, and just living in Orvieto in general, it will probably be nothing like what I'm expecting (in a good way!). 

And I'm sure that in a few months when I return, I'll be like "Why did I write that post? Why was I nervous? Why did I spend so much time just waiting around?" I think that about high school all the time: "Why did I spend so much time worrying when everything turned out fine?"