Lists

Well, here are those lists I promised you all! While I am home now (yay) I wrote these up during my last full day in Florence - Thursday - while I was sitting sort of near the river during my good-bye walk. They actually turned into three - things I won't miss, things I will miss, and things I was looking forward to. Without further ado...

Things I Won't Miss about Florence
- Having to forever watch my step in case there was evidence of dogs on the ground - many people do not clean up after their own dogs!
- Being accosted by random unpleasant smells while walking along the streets
- Sidewalks that are glorified curbs and therefore really difficult to navigate when sharing them with people and the narrow streets with cars, buses, bicycles, and motorinos.
- Things just not functioning - the university, the trains, the list goes on
- Feeling like my guard was always up in order to protect myself in a foreign country
- Not having a kitchen in which I could store food and cook whenever I wanted - this was the downside of the fact that my host family provided me with so many meals
- The unfamiliar system of schooling, replete with deciding things at the last second, having to wait on the day of an exam for everyone else to go ahead of me, and always wondering if something unexpected and inconvenient would arise
- The constant threat of one-day strikes - be the the train or the bus - and the uncertainty caused by wondering if they would truly be striking or not
- Having to buy everything in euros. I never paid attention to the exchange rate because I had to buy things no matter what! I'm much more fond of the dollar's exchange rate with my bank account.
- Walking through a cloud of smoke every time I exited a building, or being stuck behind someone smoking on the sidewalk.
- Guys trying to sell me things on the street all the time - purses, sunglasses, umbrellas if it's raining, pictures, and so on and so forth

Things I Will Miss about Florence
- My host family
- My host mother's (Cristina's) cooking
- My "host dog" - Briciolo
- My rather comfy Florence bed
- Days where the sky was beautiful and pleasant and blue
- Piazzale Michelangelo and its view
- Gelato, Italian wine (cheaper than soda!), and the food in general
- Easy access to beautiful destinations in Italy
- The atmosphere around the Ponte Vecchio and the river at night
- Walking by the Duomo as a matter of daily routine
- The scenery in general - cypress trees, beautiful hills, and the gorgeous country even just outside Florence

Things I'm Looking Forward To
(or was looking forward to and am enjoying now)
- Watching TLC and the Food Network
- Free, unlimited internet (free to me anyway!)
- Quality time with family and friends - I learned to value it so much more this year!
- Snuggling with my David
- Trips planned this summer with family - I'm so lucky!
- Working on planning the wedding
- Going back to Georgetown - its atmosphere, its people, its classes and much more
- Shopping at CVS
- Familiar stores to shop for clothes etc (Target among others)
- More ethnic food choices - Thai, better sushi, better Mexican, etc
- Listening to the radio while driving - and driving in general
(I drove for the first time in nine months today, crazy!)

So there you have it - maybe that gives you a snapshot of where my head has been during this transition. In the next couple days, I hope to post about my trip home and about how being home has actually been. Tomorrow I am going to New Jersey to see David for the first time since January 3! Needless to say I'm just a tad excited to finally spend some quality time with him again... Hope you enjoyed the lists!