I thought by now, with T-minus six hours to go until my flight takes off, I would be ready for this. Apparently I was wrong, judging from how I am writing this very last minute blog entry mere hours before I leave to Florence. I’m not saying I’m a procrastinator though-I meant, I thought that I would be mentally prepared to study abroad by now.

My name is Tiffany, and I am currently a junior studying communications at Penn State University. This spring semester (you know, the one starting right about now), I will be spending in Firenze, Italia. I’ve been meaning to do this first blog entry for a few weeks now, but I’ve been waiting until I could form a coherent thought about the fact that I am leaving for four months. It’s not as easy as you might think!

I’ve been traveling to Europe for years, so I can’t begin to imagine how people who have never been out of the country, or even on a plane might be feeling right now. My mother loves to travel so I’ve spent the past several years visiting major cities all over France, England, Italy, and other countries in that general area of Europe. I specifically chose Florence to study abroad in because it was one of the most beautiful cities I had been to (I had only gotten to spend one day in it!) and because it was so rich in history and art (art nerd over here). So, you would think that as I’ve already been to Florence and I travel annually, this shouldn’t be anything too crazy for me, but it is. I may be a well travelled tourist, but I was always just a tourist nonetheless. It’s going to be so different as somebody actually living there. I have a million different thoughts racing through my mind right now, ranging from “Should I pack a second suitcase? I need my shoes.” to “What if I lost at the airport?” and back to “But really, I NEED my shoes”. An abridged version would include-

• Should I pack more stuff? They said travel light and I’m trying but I swear I’m leaving too much behind
• I don’t even speak Italian. They said Spanish was close and I’ll learn, but what if I don’t?!
• I cannot WAIT for Italian leather shoes.
• And weather that is warmer than a State College winter
• And food. Oh yes, the food.
• I really hope I don’t get pick-pocketed. Or lost. Or Taken.
• They keep sending us messages about how Italian men are going to catcall outrageously-this makes me very nervous. I’m not known for keeping my mouth shut…
• But I get to visit Venice and Rome again! And go to all the cities I haven’t been to yet!
• I’m so excited to meet new people
• I hope I don’t blow all the money I have too soon, euros are’t dollars…
• I hope the days I get homesick aren’t too rough
• But seriously, do I bring the second suitcase for my shoes or not?

So, you get the idea, sort of. Throughout my next four months in Italy, I’ll be blogging about my experiences frequently. Whether you’re a prospective study abroad student or a family member who misses me-or even just someone who wants to laugh at all the mistakes I’m going to inevitably make-I hope you enjoy these posts. They’ll be much more interesting as I settle in and start experiencing Europe for real, but until then-I have to go figure out my shoe situation!

Location: Lancaster, PA