Having been preoccupied with exams, I have had very little time to think about my trip to Cortona, Italy on Wednesday! With my last biology exam on Tuesday, the transition from the life of a college student in Athens to Cortona will be quick.
Being a pre-med biological sciences major entails a heavy class load and little opportunity to study abroad and actually receive credit. When I realized the Viticulture and Enology program offered upper-level elective credit for my major I was thrilled. Not only am I able to drink wine in Italy and appreciate the food culture of the Mediterranean region, but I am getting class credit for it! The other night I had a dream that solely consisted of eating gelato and pizza while sipping on Tuscan wine. The fact that this will very soon be a reality is beyond exciting (especially now when taking a coffee break from finals flashcard flipping is considered ‘exciting’).
I have taken 3 semesters of Italian and my dad speaks the Neapolitan dialect so hopefully the language barrier will not be too intimidating. While 4 weeks may not seem like a long time, I am hoping to majorly improve my Italian and become more comfortable speaking to the locals. It will be a challenge not to use English as a crutch since I’ve heard many of the people in Cortona know and speak some English, but I am determined to make my Italian ancestors proud and give the native tongue my best shot.
Packing is a whole other story. I compiled a packing list for the trip and right now I am at 62 basic items. Obviously, packing light is not my forte. Moving out of my place in Athens and packing for a month long trip on top of finals is proving to be challenging. However, most of the big stuff is taken care of. My Euros arrived from the bank and were picked up and my international credit card will be here on Monday. I still have some last minute items to grab such as my notebook for class and a light rain jacket since the weather forecast is showing some signs of showers this week. But other than that, all I have to do is put everything in my suitcase and hope that 1.) it all fits and 2.) I can physically carry it (apparently Cortona’s cobblestone streets are not entirely suitcase-wheel friendly). I also just finished up my first class assignment for the trip. My presentation on Petit Manseng grapes, a grape grown around the Lazio region of Italy, is saved and ready to go. Mental note: make sure my flashdrive gets packed.
I have been checking the weather weekly to get an idea of what the temperature will be when we arrive, and when I checked this week and saw the weather forecast for days that I will actually be there, I got the chills. Waves of nervousness and excitement come and go. But as I get closer to leaving, I am getting more and more excited. I am ready to be done with exams and off to Italy!
Arrivederci America, ciao Italia!