Insomnia vs. Jet Lag

Frankfurt, Germany: I was surprisingly calm this morning (yesterday morning?) when I woke up. Just a few little knots forming in my stomach as we got closer to O’Hare (thank you Mel and Linda for driving us in!). There were some tears right before security and then suddenly, I’m on my own. No phone, no internet, no familiar faces. This is so weird.

The flight from Chicago to Frankfurt took about eight hours. I didn’t freak out during take-off. I don’t know if I’ve gotten over my fear of flying or if I’m just too excited about going to Florence, but whatever works. We flew over Michigan, Canada, the Atlantic Ocean, Ireland, England, Belgium, and then into Germany. Each seat had a little touch screen to watch movies/television, play games, or listen to music or books (think of the suitcase space I could have saved if I had known about this handy little screen ahead of time! Oh well), and it displayed the travel trajectory of the plane, how fast we were going, how much longer we had to sit in those itty bitty seats (actually, I’m jealous of my carry-on. There wasn’t enough room in the back, so it got to fly first class). Airplane food is like caf food at the end of the term when you’re out of dining dollars and have to use up the rest of your meals. And it’s difficult to eat yogurt with a spork.

Boarding the plane in Germany

We landed in Frankfurt at 5:04 AM local time (10:04 PM back home). I spent the last twenty minutes or so craning my neck to look out the window. I love seeing city lights at nighttime. Unfortunately, it is way too early in the morning and raining, so there’s not much to see. Airport security is nowhere near as tight as in the US and all of the signs are translated into English. If I had any motivation right now, I’d go stare at the bathroom signs until I learned the German words for male and female. But that would be kinda creepy and I’m saving my energy to fight to stay awake later. On the bright side: FREE COFFEE (with two packets of sugar because I don’t usually drink coffee).

Right outside the airport in Florence

Florence, Italy: We landed in Florence just before 11 AM. I’m kind of glad it was dark and rainy in Frankfurt, because it made seeing Florence for the first time that much better. The sky was all hazy and as we were landing, I saw the silhouette of the Duomo (I will learn how to pronounce that) in the distance. It took my breath away. I cannot begin to describe how beautiful this city is, and even when I am able to start posting pictures, I won’t be able to do it justice. Narrow cobblestone streets (quiet except for a car that will randomly go speeding by—and I mean speeding—every once in a while), storefronts stacked on top of each other (it looks like there’s apartments/gardens on every rooftop), and ARCHITECTURE (I had to resist the urge to hug the Cathedral. I had a feeling that my antics would be frowned upon). I felt woozy, but that might have been from lack of sleep (I’ve been up since 8 AM Midwestern time on January 7^th and took a small two-ish hour catnap around 1:30 PM Florence time. You do the math; I’m too tired to figure it out).

First thing I learned: Pay attention when it comes to money. The flat rate from the airport to the hotel was supposed to be 20 Euros (plus luggage), but the taxi driver insisted that today was a holiday and it could be 2 Euros extra (what holiday is it? Unless he counts Sunday as a holiday). After dropping everything off at the hotel where we’ll be staying until Tuesday, we took a walk down to sit on the steps of the Duomo (I’m pretty sure I’m getting these buildings right). I bought a bottle of water for 1 Euro, handed over a 5 Euro bill, and had to ask for my change back because he went right on serving the next person in line. On the plus side, no sales tax!

Second thing I learned: No toilet paper. Luckily, I brought a ton of tissues for the expected tears, so that’s covered for now. Until Tuesday, I’m staying at the Hotel Duca D’Aosta (I’m too tired to sit up and double check the spelling on that) in a room with four other girls. We have five beds, one desk, one television, a dresser, a bathroom with two toilets, and doors that don’t latch unless they’re locked. I’m already glad that I brought an extra blanket. It’ll be nice to move in with our host families just to be able to unpack.

We finally found toilet paper in a hall closet...on our last day

Tonight the entire group is meeting up for dinner and then we’re supposed to take a short walking tour of the city. We’ll see how many of us stay awake for that. Classes start tomorrow morning at 9 AM, but thankfully we’re in the same building for now. Tomorrow afternoon is Orientation. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I’m in this GORGEOUS city and that I’ll be here for the next ten weeks. I keep waiting to wake up, but this is REAL!