My Two Year Anniversary with Italy

I arrived in Italy August 6, 2010 after 36 hours of travel hell with two big bags and absolutely no clue what I was doing. I remember arriving at Andrea's house in a cab, ready to collapse and in no way ready to speak Italian or try to communicate with him or anyone else. He fed me my first meal in Italy - some sort of amazing pasta I'm sure but don't quite remember - then I managed to stay in a jet lag/pasta coma for a few days.

Very first night in Florence. Nancy, Tullio, me, Andrea
(at 5 a.m. in the morning)

I remember meeting Nancy that first day and walking around Florence with her listening to her stories and making mental notes of the streets. Then in the following months wandering around aimlessly getting lost, meeting locals, using horrific Italian and being blissfully happy. I was living on my own, finding work in a foreign place and making new friends. The streets became more familiar, the language more recognizable and the people more like family.

In two years a lot has happened. There's no possible way I could describe every change or list every event that has taken place. I can't begin to explain to you how much I have learned about myself and my limits, grown and changed in these two years. They have been the absolute happiest, hardest, and most unsure yet exciting time of my entire life. I've been challenged daily with being a half a world away from my family and friends, not living in my culture and not being 100 percent understood. But I have also felt the pure joy of seeing the Ponte Vecchio every single day while walking across "my bridge" on my way to work, doing my everyday shopping in the shadows of the Pantheon, and riding on the back of a motorcycle through the vineyards in Chianti after a three-hour lunch with a lovely Italian man.

I have been through my honeymoon stage with Italy and come out of it feeling like a local - being able to point out the many reasons why Italy is incredible, as well as the just as many reasons why it's not. I can now look at this country for what it is, take the bad with the good and still keep plugging along.

It would take a book to explain it all so instead, I will quickly put it into some numbers for the sake of time and laziness.

So after 734 days, here are just a few approximations.

The Number of Times I've:

Been asked, "Why did you come to Italy?"              550

Heard, "Sei bellissima!" on the street                       200

Hung my laundry out to dry                                      195

Crossed "my bridge"                                                 700

Eaten pizza                                                                100

Used a microwave                                                       2

Riden on the back of a scooter or motorcycle             250

Craved mexican food                                                   600

Driven a car                                                                 4

Had dreams about being home                                      50

Felt like I'm living in a movie                                         600

Fallen in love                                                               1

Cried my heart out                                                       40

Felt absolutely alone                                                  300

Felt absolutely loved                                                  300

Felt like the luckiest person alive                          every single day