Better Late Then Never..

Well here I am writing my next post back in the land of the free (water). I added the 'water' to that because water is free here! No more having to pay for water at restaurants and such! Being over there has now made me more cautious about conserving water instead of wasting. It has taken me awhile to write and complete this post because life is picking up here in the States. Spending lots of time with family at home and the cottage! As much as I miss Italy already it truly does feel good to be back in the comfort of my home, family, and friends. But not for long, I leave July 8th to go work at SpringHill camps for the rest of the summer. I don't even consider it work because I love what I do! I get to show 6th-9th grade girls the love of Christ and have fun doing it in activities such as the zip line, blobs, and waterside! I definitely felt the time change for my first week back, the the first couple nights I've woke up at about 4:00am (10:00am Italy time) hungry and ready to start the day. I know secretly my body is tired so I try to go back to bed but have only been able to sleep until roughly 8:00am. It's been cool to be able to digest this adventure in a new light by being separated from my roommates and verbally sharing stories and pictures with people and answering questions. It's not like describing your typical trip to Florida but rather describing a whole new world and culture that few get to discover. The more I talk about it, especially with those who haven't been to Europe, the more I realize how fortunate I was to be able to go the places I did. I wasn't always surrounded with the most thankful people, I'll admit I was probably one of them at times, so it was good to be able to remind myself and others that we are living out so many peoples dream of traveling to Europe and not only that but traveling to various countries within. It's been fun being able to give out my souvenirs and tell stories that may be behind them. Now were just waiting on the last of the souvenirs to arrive, the wine! I didn't want to take the chances of putting it in my suit case and having the cork come out because of the pressure on the plane. Speaking of the plane ride, it wasn't an awful ride back but it definitely felt ridiculously long compared to the flight to Florence which was a night flight. I wish I would have taken a night flight back, it would have gone by faster! I slept on and off, maybe a total of four hours but it was difficult because they kept coming through offering drinks, food, and smokeless cigarettes. There has definitely been moments that I've had since I've been home that are like, hello! You don't live in Italy any more! I'll give you a couple examples; You know you don't live in Italy any more when.. you can look down at your feet and there clean. Not only from walking everywhere but it was even difficult to keep your feet clean after you got outta the shower. Here is another, you know you don't live in Italy any more when..you walk out of your bedroom in your underwear and t-shirt and realize that's not the best idea because your Dad and brothers are home! Now let me explain, near the end of our stay in Florence temperatures were reaching high 90's, high humidity, and no breeze. Living on the top floor apartment with no air conditioning made living conditions very uncomfortable! As a result, since it was an apartment of all girls we starting keeping clothing to a minimum (haha) to try and cool off some. Showering was even almost pointless! We'd take a nice cold shower before bed, get out, get in bed, and start sweating bullets again! The heat and humidity is definitely something I don't miss! Lastly, you know you miss your roommates when your texting each other every detail of your day and skype frequently because your no longer together. If only you all understood the bond we had. I've grown to love blogging over the past few weeks. I wasn't sure how well i'd like it or be able to keep up with it. It's almost as if it's the only thing keeping my adventure from fully coming to a close. I could talk about it forever and a blog can last a lifetime! I'd love to keep blogging but with my job at camp I don't know if I will have the time. I hope you all have been able to live vicariously through me and my adventures throughout Europe! I'm excited to see where life takes me next. Stay tuned! Until next time, ciao! xo-