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Published: August 20th 2011
Buongiorno regazzi!
We are here! We are safe! The sirens are loud; the trains are crowded; the mattresses are small; the fashion is stylin’; we had 2 marvelous glasses of wine at lunch – each😊 the architecture is breath-taking; the drinking water is room temperature; there are buses, bikes, and people everywhere; we will now have to pay (sometimes) to use a public restroom; absolutely nothing is open; the company, language, and culture are amazing – all of the above most definitely makes us feel calm, refreshed, and at home.😊
God took great care of us on our journey. All flights were on time, no baggage was lost; things went smoothly. We have been experiencing a strange and amazing sense of comfort and reassurance that we are in the right place as we’ve been traveling the last couple of days. It was so awesome to feel calm, cool, and collected as we arrived – been there, done that, this is easy. 😊 For those of you who know the story of customs on the way home in 2006, getting through Rome was a piece of cake!
Our travels in the last two days took us from our family and friends in Minnesota to the Chicago O’Hare airport, where we made many phone calls and sent out various text messages (don’t you just love getting messages from us?!). We also ate McDonald’s for the last time (although, there is one at the train station in Florence, if you must know), played cribbage, and had a blast getting our first glimpse of Italy as we watched people gather at the terminal. I knew it must be fate when I heard live Italian for the first time in years and got goose bumps!
We met our new best friend on the flight from Chicago to Rome: Anna. She is an amazing woman, currently living in Sicily and working for the Department of Defense. I sat in awe of her life as I learned she has been teaching and living abroad for the last 30 years, starting in Germany, but working the majority of her life in our beloved Italia. She was full of pearls of wisdom, and offered great information, ideas, and assurance as we told her our story. God blessed us with a great connection, and we weren’t even in the air yet! I wanted to scoop her up and take her with us as we headed to baggage claim in Rome, but a hug and contact information had to do. Can’t wait to zip down and visit you in Sicily, Anna!
No words can describe our feelings as we got off the train in Firenze, although, I will admit, the beginning moments were the most stressful of our trip thus far as getting off that train was ATROCIOUS. (That’s for you, Boyd.) However, stepping onto the ground at Santa Maria Novella, glancing around the station, and, finally, meeting each other’s eyes in excitement – nothing will ever beat that moment. WE ARE FINALLY HERE!
Margo’s wisdom and advice proved to be useful (as usual) – we took a taxi from the train station to our dear friend Tommaso’s apartment. The only hiccup in our trip was the cinque minuti we waited at his doorsteps, fearful that he had left and we’d be waiting a long time – or wait, did we get his address right – or shoot, how can we get a hold of anyone without a phone? Within moments, however, Tommaso was at the door – he had gone biking – he greeted us with kisses and hugs and scooted us in to our new home for the next two weeks.
I knew again we were in the right place when SEVERAL plants welcomed us into our new resting place. Mom, you’d love it! (Side-note, my mom is now taking care of the 17 plants that were living with us at our home in Esko…I wonder how many plants we will get up to here?) Tommaso, and his wonderful flat-mate, Monica, have certainly taken great care of us during our first few hours in Florence. After two much needed showers, we ate our first meal (pasta and bread, of course!) and began to settle down from all the traveling. Tommaso and Monica were incredibly great and understanding as they ushered us down the hall to rest.
Basically, we went to bed at 4 PM (meaning 9 AM Central Time) after about 21 hours of travel and conversation, with the intention of getting up later to enjoy the evening, but, instead, slept right through it. We woke up about an hour ago, and while Phil has managed to fall back asleep (and snore, might I add…)…my mind is too busy racing with excitement to shut my eyes again. Later today (Saturday, August 20th) we will go to the police station to “check in”…try to find a place to set up our phones…send an email to our family and friends…and enjoy our very first full day in our new lives across the world. AHHH!!
Things I’m looking forward to the most right now: getting a bike; learning and being challenged by the language – I want to be fluent someday; the wine and atmosphere; taking classes and teaching my new group of kiddos.
Things Phil is looking forward to the most right now (and I quote): The food. Ha ha.
We couldn’t have made it this far without the amazing love and support from all of you, our dear, dear family and friends, and of course, our amazing God. Please take a few moments every now and then to think about us, read our random blog postings (don’t worry, not all of them will be this long…although, I’m sure many of you know how long-winded I am…), catch us on Facebook, SKYPE with us (gina.mogen), and/or shoot us an e-mail. It means so much (and will mean so, so much) to keep in touch as best we can and to continue growing and sharing our lives with all of you. That said, we CAN’T WAIT to hear from you!
All of our very best to you and yours, we’ll be in touch again. Ci vediamo a dopo – we’ll see you when we see you. Ciao ciao, regazzi. 😊
**Quick update** We went for a walk in the neighborhood to take it all in, which proved to be wonderful and exhausting. We only made it about an hour before I knew we needed to go home again and rest – I’m tired!!! I had a good morning/afternoon nap, and have now been up for a few hours organizing…if you know me well, you know that organizing relaxes me…Here I am, ready to post our first entry and then head out for some pizza! Love to all, ciao ciao!
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Allison Foster
non-member comment
Congrats!
Congrats on making your arrival. Sounds like you are having a blast. I'm glad to hear you are at peace and at home already. God Bless!