Welcome! 3 days until Take-Off!

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Hey everybody!

For those of you who do not know me, my name is Stan DeVore. Or Bryan DeVore. Whatever. It's pretty much the same thing. My full name is Stanley Bryan DeVore but people call me by different names. So you can call me whatever you'd like. My nickname for the purpose of the blog is "Goofy Stan". Just so you know.

But anyways, the purpose of this blog is to track my trip to Italy from May 27th, 2011 to June 27th, 2011. There is no guarantee that I will be posting an entry every single day (because I am not sure of the access I will have there), but I will try. I am sorry to disappoint you if I do not. But... if you are going to cry about it, you can always go back and re-read a previous day's blog and pretend like it is that day's and that I just did the exact same thing both days.

I am staying with the Sasso family, with my host buddy being Paolo Sasso. He is apparently 6' 5" and will make me look like a shrimp. I'll be sure to get some photos of him and his family on here at some point. The Sasso's live in Rovigo, Italy, which if you look at the map I can put on here (I think), is only about an hour away from Venice, Italy (so I'll be in the northern part). The schools in Italy aren't released for another two weeks, so (even though I am graduated) I will be going to attend school for a while with him. Hooray.

Actually I think it will be pretty fun seeing how an Italian school will be. By the way, I only have taken 4 years of high-school Spanish and a years worth of independent study French, but I don't know a bit of Italian (except lasagna, spaghetti, rigatoni, manicotti, ravioli, linguini, and other foods.) So, over the next few weeks, I will also hopefully be taking a rapid course in Italian, and will perhaps be able to speak it quite a bit by the time I return. No promises though. The closest I have ever gotten to speaking Italian (or Italian culture for that matter) is as Truffaldino, in my school's production "The Servant of Two Masters." I have included a picture of me there. Not the typical Italian look nowadays though.

More about me (just in case you don't know me well, which most of you do), I am a grade-A "cool nerd" and I am attending the University of Wyoming next fall as a freshman (I plan on double-majoring in Physiology and Spanish!). I can juggle, do the rubiks cube, and I wear Hawaiian shirts every Friday (at least during the school year). I don't know if i will wear them in Italy though since I've heard it's not the best thing to wear shirts that identify you as American...

I live mainly in Eaton, CO with my dad Fred, my step-mom Kim, my sister Brianna, and my step-brother Jared. I also live with my mom Shawna, and my step-dad Jeff in Fort Collins, CO. I also have a step-sister Ashlyn and a step-brother Damon that do not live at either place, but are off doing their own things. Crazy kids. I have included pictures of both sides of the family.

Since I grew up in Wyoming, I am a huge University of Wyoming fan. So if I make a degrading comment towards CSU (our rivals in the border-war) and you happen to be a Rams fan, don't stop reading my blog. It's all in good fun.

Well anyways, I have 3 days to go until I leave for Italy. My flight path from Denver, CO to Rovigo, Italy is this:
Denver, CO-----------Chicago, IL------------Madrid, Spain-------------Venice, Italy (where I will be picked up by the family and taken to Rovigo. I hope.)

So that's all can think of saying for today.... If i think of anything I'm sure I'll make another post before I go!

-Stan / Bryan DeVore

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Photos

Brin, Ashlyn, Jared, Kim, my Dad and I
Here is a photo of my dad's side of the family. There is an extra person in the picture, Rachel (far left), who is not part of my family, but according to my parents, she will be eventually since they swear we will get married some day... No offense Shoopie, but that's what they say.

Mom, Damon, Jeff, Brianna, Me
Here is the best photo of my mom's side of the family :)

Me!
Ok, so here is me. In this picture, I am a European traveller in Ritero Park, Madrid. I thought it'd be appropriate to put a picture of me as a traveller in a travelling blog. Agree?

Truffaldino
Here is the closest I've ever gotten to Italian. I kept an Italian accent as my role of Truffaldino in the play "The Servant of two Masters"

Comments

[Molly Maguire]

It's OK if you don't know Italian
Brett managed to navigate Italia perfectly by speaking Spanish and listening carefully when people spoke Italian back to him. I think it's all about the mas despacio! Enjoy Italy. It remains one of my all-time favorite places.