The weeks and days leading up to leaving for Italy I was not excited in the way you would think of as if you were going on vacation and I was not necessarily worried to get on a plane by myself to fly around the world. I was not concerned about not knowing the wonderful people that had invited to come teach and I started to think that I was kicking the homesick/fraddy cat thing I have fought since I was, um...about 10.
I am so so so blessed to have a posse of friends and a very supportive family that "know" me and know what happens when I leave (whether I am flying one hour away or 24 hours away) so I was being prayed over and lifted up with supportive texts, talks and emails leading up to departure.
I have to say, I was feeling pretty good...
dare I say BRAVE?
That was until we pulled up to the curb at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX. The moment the car was put into park something shifted and I started arm wrestling with the devil. he knows my weakness and that fuels him. (and yes, I know I should have used an upper case H at the beginning of that last sentence but I am not going to give the devil that.)
This may sound pathetic but I am just going to tell it like it is because I know that I am not the only one to go through junk like this and I want to give you the ups and downs because it helps me go through it, sort it all out and then I can look back at this to see the outcome. If you want to skip through all this blah blah blah and look at the photos, no "probelmo" (that is me speaking Italian right there)
I will spare you the snotty details (thank goodness I had my little tissue cozy in my backpack) and tell you that once I got to my gate (two hours early) I managed to stop crying (sorta) and stayed tear free all the way to Paris. 11 hours without a tear and some pretty good sleep. I was good to go.
So I thought.
DANG IT!
This should have been the point when I took myself into the bathroom, looked into the mirror and said STOP IT, but I didn't. I did however continue to pray, pray again and pray more for strength, for focus, for more strength and also to stop crying because my eyes were ready to burn out of their sockets. I just needed to get on a plane, get my seatbelt on and I would be better. Short 2 hour flight to Firenze (that is Florence to us) and I would be ready to start this amazing adventure and opportunity of a lifetime.
Little did I know that there was another battle on the horizon and let me tell you this in ALL HONESTY and with absolutely no exaggeration (Folks, I can't make this stuff up.) When I got on the plane that was going to take me from Paris to Florence, I sat down buckled myself in, took a deep breath, said another prayer and then looked at the super white Air France "bag" that was in the seat pocket and thought, I am going to doodle on that bag and put it in my planner.
NOPE.
to be continued....
Okay, one photo because I must introduce you to my amazing and wonderful new friends and hosts, Paolo and Franca.