A World of Change

Welcome to my blog! Now that I'm officially a graduate and don't start life in the "real world" until October, I've decided to take a trip to a totally new place without bringing much money, not having a place to stay, not having a job, and knowing absolutely no one.

I chose to live in Florence, Italy for a few reasons. First, I chose Italy because I took some Italian at Iowa and still know quite a bit. In any other country I'd be completely starting from scratch. Second, I've already been to Florence for a few days during spring break of 2006. I did all of the "touristy" stuff like see Michaelangelo's "David", the Uffizi Gallery with "The Birth of Venus", the famous Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio bridge. I'm sure I will still be enveloped by all of this during my time in Florence and experience it again, but because I've seen it all before I can start looking for a job and a place to live right away without being overwhelmed with excitement.

I leave at 9pm on Wednesday, May 20th from Chicago to London. Then it's London to Dublin and Dublin to Pisa, where I get in at 11:45pm on May 21st, Italy time. I'll either take a train or a bus from Pisa to Florence and let the adventure begin! The real reason I'm in a rush to get to Florence is to see the Giro d'Italia cycling race. It's the second biggest bike race in the world and also the 100th anniversary of it this year, so I'm pumped to see that come through in the afternoon on Friday the 22nd.

After that the real challenge begins. I have been talking to a few people on kijiji.it, which is like an Italian version of Craigslist, about a place to stay and I am meeting with a few during that first weekend I am there. Hopefully it all goes well and I can get settled in an apartment somewhere.

I'm also going to keep track of how much money I'm spending on my trip and update it here, so that I can if I've truly "made it" in Italy. My definition of making it and surviving would be finding a job and not ending up in the red in terms of money spent. Should be fun. So far with my one-way plane tickets, Italian SIM card for my phone, and ISIC student travel card, I've spent $358.65.

My Uncle Tom and Aunt Kathy are also working hard and contacting some people they know in Italy to try and help me find a place to work, I'm crossing my fingers that something works out. I am really free to go anywhere, even if it isn't in Florence. So if anybody knows anyone in Italy, hook a guy up!

That's it for now! I'll try to keep this blog updated every three or four days that I'm there and include a few pictures along the way. Next update I should have many things figured out as well as some great pictures of the Giro d'Italia and Lance Armstrong! Take care everyone!