After my weekend in Liverpool, all I could think about was my upcoming trip to visit back home. The girls were going to school and I to the gym every day, and I started going through all my clothes and everything I have here in Italy to try and figure out what I wanted to bring home. I quickly filled up one suitcase of things I don’t need here anymore and things I know I’m not going to use or wear for the remainder of my time here. The week before I went home I was really sick, and convinced myself I caught the Swine Flu while traveling to and from Liverpool! Rosa was also sick so luckily her mom came to the house everyday to take care of us both. She made me do all these weird things and home remedies but by Saturday I was feeling a lot better! My good friend Lucia’s birthday party was that night and although I was just getting over being sick there was no way I could miss her party! Marco picked me up at about 7:30 and we headed over to Lucia’s house. I ended up having a great time at her party and it was so great to interact with people my age. I also have to say that it was really refreshing to be at a party where there was absolutely no alcohol or drugs, just a bunch of kids my age having a good, sober time. I honestly can’t remember the last time I’ve been to a birthday party where the host actually sat down to open her presents, everyone sang ‘Happy Birthday’, and we all shared cake. It was really great. Goes to show that Americans just want to get drunk all the time! For Lucia’s birthday I made her a mix CD of some of my favorite songs. For the next two days I just got everything ready to head back to North Carolina. Finally I was on my way home on Tuesday December 8th. I flew from Naples to Turin to Paris to Boston to Raleigh, and my parents and younger brother Kyle were there to pick me up. Our first stop after the airport was Cracker Barrel because all I wanted was some good southern food but they were closed for a private party! We went to Applebee’s instead. We finally arrived home in Jacksonville close to midnight, and I was so excited to see my little baby Cooper (my cat, who my parents are watching while I’m in Italy). Cooper sometimes thinks she is a dog and when I came home it was definitely one of her ‘dog’ moments – she was all over me! I was so happy that she remembered me! I kept thinking to myself that no matter how much I love to travel, no matter where I’ve been and what I’ve seen, it’s so great to come down that same familiar road and step into my parent’s house, that familiar environment, that same familiar smell…. There truly is no place like home!
I had a really great visit at home. Wednesday night Chris and Shannon (my brother and his wife) came over for dinner – I was so excited to see Chris, because I hadn’t seen him in over a year since he came home from Iraq after I already left for Italy. We had a delicious dinner and spent the night talking and laughing and drinking and playing Guitar Hero and just having a great time. On Thursday I met Mom out in town and we did some shopping, had lunch with her boss, and I went to her work to see everyone. My mom is so proud of me and everyone she works with basically knows my entire life story even if I’ve never met them! It’s cute :) On Friday I slept in (as much as I could…I was still on Italy time) and then got my stuff together and headed down to Wilmington! I had plans to stay the weekend in Wilmington with my younger brother (who lives in my old apartment) and visit with all my closest friends. My first stop when I got in town was Old Chicago, the sports bar I worked at for two years before going to Italy. It was so weird to be back in that environment! Some people were so happy to see me, others were saying ‘hey Liz, were’ve you been!?’ I quickly realized that a lot of people might not know I’ve been living and working in Italy for the past seven months and I tried to come up with a way to approach the subject or answer their questions without sounding like I was bragging. One of my regulars came in while I was there and said ‘hey, do you still work here!?’ it was just too funny! After visiting the OC, I went to my (Kyle’s) apartment and freshened up, and when Kyle got home from work we headed together to the Carolina Ale House where I met up with my good friends Scott, Sarah Beth, Anna, and Leslie. We had a great dinner and it was so good to be back together with my closest friends. After some debating we decided to head downtown for ‘one drink’. I should have known that ‘one drink’ would turn into many drinks and many shots and lots of bar-hopping until 2 AM! Oh, Wilmington…you don’t know what you do to me! Saturday morning I was up bright and early because my mom was coming in from Jacksonville for a day of shopping. I was so excited to go to stores like Target and Forever 21 and stock up on all the stuff that I can’t find in Italy. After a long day I had to get ready to go out for another great night with my friends. Mom was nice enough to pick up Sarah and drive the two of us downtown on her way back to Jacksonville. Sarah (my very best friend since freshman year of college) and I had dinner at Front Street Brewery and then headed over to Rum Runners to ‘wait’ until it was ‘late enough’ to go out. We are silly, I know :) After spending a good amount of time at Rum Runners, we came up with the bright idea to go visit Dan, my ex-boyfriend, at the bar he works at. I debated it because I didn’t know if that was the best circumstance for us to see each other in. After all, last time we were together in person, we were head-over-heels for each other. I slammed back a couple of shots and we headed over to see him anyways. It was good to see him but definitely a bit awkward. I immediately regretted showing up at his work, but, oh well. We then headed to Goodfellas to meet up with everyone I used to work with at Old Chicago. Once again it was great to see everyone and all my drinks were catching up to me and we got a little crazy at Goodfellas! Sarah then left to go to Rhino, and I talked a couple of the girls into coming to The Whiskey with me so I could see some of my friends that I lived with in the dorms. Somehow we lost track of time and I missed a million of Sarah’s calls and never met back up with her as we had planned, but I ended up staying downtown way too late and got a cab ride home with a couple of my guy friends. Sunday morning I was up bright and early again to go to lunch at Old Chicago, which Mama Duck (my friend Jennifer) organized for all us girls. I was so excited to relax at OC and watch football! I’ve missed football so much while being in Italy! Me and Anna ended up staying at Old Chicago long after the other girls were gone, and after a while we were dying for a change of scenery so we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for a couple more drinks and dinner. It was getting late quick and I said my farewells, then stopped by Sarah’s house to give her her presents and relax a bit with her. The next morning I got up and headed back to Jacksonville to relax with my family for the next couple of days. Monday night my mom and I went over to Chris and Shannon’s house for dinner and I got to meet their new dog, Hurley. Tuesday I just relaxed all day, packing and organizing my stuff. I brought a lot of clothes home from Italy that I don’t need there; originally I packed a lot of my really nice clothes but they never get worn because I rarely go out! I usually carry my laptop and laptop charger and makeup and toiletries in my carry-on bag, but this time I decided to pack everything in my suitcases because this was going to be such a quick trip that I didn’t want to deal with a heavy carry-on bag. This seemingly small decision would bring me much regret and heartache in the days to come! Mom drove me to the Raleigh airport where we said our farewells and I had a smooth flight to Philadelphia. In Philly I had a short layover and then boarded my flight to Paris. I occupied myself for the eight-hour flight with movies, my book, my iPod, and sleeping. The nightmare then began: I woke up as we were landing in Paris amongst a huge snow storm! Our plane was a little late arriving and all I was worried about was catching my connecting flight to Naples, which was supposed to leave only about 30 minutes later. As soon as I got off the plane I started sprinting to the monitors to find out which gate I needed to get to for my connecting flight. I arrived at the monitors tired and out-of-breath, only to find: CANCELLED! Every single outbound flight from Paris was cancelled. Are you kidding me!? I was expecting to be back in Naples in only 2 hours, and now who knows how long it will take! I spent an hour at the AirFrance desk, where finally they hooked me up with a flight to Milan at 2:30 (it was only 9am at this time), a connecting flight from Milan to Naples, and free lunch while I waited. I made my way to the gate and passed out for a few hours. When I woke up, I got my free lunch and got in touch with my mom and Rosa to tell them what was going on. I fell asleep again and woke up right at 2:30, the exact time my flight was supposed to be leaving. I started freaking out but noticed that everyone around me was still sleeping, reading, waiting, whatever. I looked around and realized I was at the wrong gate, so I made my way to the correct gate, only to find that our flight was delayed due to the snow. We ended up boarding 2 hours later, at about 4:30. I fell asleep as soon as I got in my seat, and woke up 2 hours later on the runway. I was so happy that I slept through the entire thing, until the guy sitting next to me told me we were STILL in Paris, and hadn’t even taken off yet! This snow storm was really terrible. I looked at my watch and realized that since I was delayed a total of four hours, there was no way I’d be able to make my connecting flight to Naples that evening. When we finally got to Milan, there was a group of about 15 people who were in my same situation (who were supposed to be on the morning flight from Paris to Naples but were re-routed to Milan and now missed their new flight to Naples.) We were informed that all flights to Naples for the rest of the evening were full and that we would all be put into a hotel and have a flight to Naples in the morning. I was so exhausted and frustrated at this point that I just started to cry…everything got even worse when I realized my luggage hadn’t made it to Milan. After two days of traveling, two days of wearing the same clothes, cancellations and delays and sleeping in airports, I was just at my breaking point. But, I got myself together and got on the shuttle with the rest of my group and we headed to the hotel. They gave all of us dinner for free and I had a great conversation with everyone at my table. Besides me, there was an American guy who was in the Navy and stationed at the US Naval Base in Naples; a French couple who lives in Paris who were going to Naples for a week of sightseeing; and a business man from Naples who had been on a work trip in Germany. We enjoyed good conversation in a delightful mix of Italian, English, and French over a couple bottles of wine and dinner. Finally around midnight I headed up to my room, where I was completely satisfied to find a fresh king-sized bed, a huge shower, and huge flat screen TV – the works! This was definitely a perk to my nightmare of an experience. I hated not having any toiletries, but I was able to get shampoo and soap and a toothbrush and toothpaste from reception. I took a long hot shower, watched some TV, and passed out for a couple of hours, only to be woken up at 4:30 because the shuttle was coming to get us a 5am. I put the same old clothes back on and headed downstairs, where we all loaded onto the shuttle and finally were on a plane back to Naples. I was informed that my luggage would be arriving in Naples a couple hours after I got there, so once we landed I decided to wait for it, only to find out that the flight it was supposed to be on had been cancelled. After talking with Baggage Assistance, they told me my luggage would definitely arrive sometime that day, and that they would call me as soon as it got there. I jumped in a taxi to head home and was so thankful to finally be back, 3 days later, luggage or no luggage! I talked with Rosa and Bruno for a bit, and then passed out until 4pm when I woke up and took Chiara to her swimming lesson. Still no news of my luggage, and we had plans to attend Bruno’s brother’s wedding the next day (Saturday the 19th). When we got back to the house I had a huge breakdown; Crying is something I do best when I’m overly exhausted and frustrated. I only had a couple hours of sleep at a time for the past three days, and here I was virtually without any clothes, toiletries, shoes, nothing. Not even my computer. Rosa did a great job of comforting, let me get on her computer, showed me all her makeup, let me borrow an outfit for the wedding, and cooked me dinner. I felt a little better by the time I went to bed, but every time I turned around to get something and realized it wasn’t there, I got super upset again. I started to take out my contacts but realized I didn’t have the contact case so I had to get some plastic cups. Then I went to put on my brand new eyeglasses but realized they were in my suitcase. I started to lay out my clothes and jewelry for the wedding the next day, but realized all my jewelry was in my suitcase, including a ring my grandmother gave me. I just gave up and went to sleep. The next morning I woke up early, planning to get ready and go with the family to the wedding, but as soon as I woke up I felt absolutely terrible and decided to stay in bed. Rosa came in my room to ask if I was coming, and I grumbled a ‘no’, and went back to sleep. At 1:30pm I woke up, finally caught up on sleep, and called my mom. I was absolutely pitiful – had no clothes, no money, my phone was out of credit, everyone was gone at the wedding. My mom talked (or yelled) some sense into me and I finally got my act together. I took a shower and dug out my gym sneakers and some old jeans and borrowed one of Rosa’s jacket; I went to the nearest Tabacchi and put credit on my phone and asked them where the nearest ATM was and had them call me a cab; I went to the ATM and withdrew some money and hopped in the cab and headed to the airport. I was determined to find out what the hell happened to my luggage and refused to leave the airport unless I had my luggage with me. When I finally got there, it was the same scene all over again. All flights from Paris cancelled, everyone without their luggage. Complete chaos. Basically they told me that my luggage was still in Paris and it would get here when it could; everything out of Paris was cancelled so it might take some time. I headed home with my head down. That night, when the family finally got home from the wedding, I could tell Rosa was upset with me. This created a completely awkward environment in the house and I felt like I was walking on eggshells for the next couple of days. I have to admit I reconsidered if I wanted to even stay here for four more months. I didn’t have any of my things, and it would be impossible to find replacements for them in Naples…additionally, my host family now hated me for being such a drama queen and bailing on the wedding, and I was just completely miserable. On Sunday I moped around the house all day, didn’t really talk to anyone, and just tried to stay out of the way. Monday morning I woke up refreshed, and ready to tackle whatever obstacles were in my way. I went to the store and bought a couple of absolute necessities, found an eye doctor and bought a contact lens case, etc. I got on Rosa’s computer and got in touch with AlItalia, AirFrance, Delta. I called the Naples airport continually. My mom was also getting in contact with companies all over the world, emailing and calling and faxing. Me and Rosa sat down and had a talk, and I felt 100% better afterwards. I know they were hurt that I completely blew them off for the wedding, I was just being stubborn and acting once again like it was MY world and everyone else was just living in it. Monday came and went without any news. Tuesday came and went without any news. I was beginning to face the reality of the possibility that my luggage may be lost forever, and made a list with approximate costs of all items in my suitcases. That was a pretty depressing thing to do! Tuesday night my mom called and said a lady she works with has a sister who is a stewardess who got in touch with someone who said my luggage might be in Naples but with different tags on it, and they gave me the new tag numbers. Wednesday evening, exactly one week after I left home, Rosa drove me to the airport so I could really find out what was going on. The employees in the Baggage Assistance area seemed so annoyed with everything that was happening to everyone that they eventually just let us look in all the storage rooms and baggage claim areas to see if our luggage was there. My eyes scanned the room and my heart jumped when I saw it: 2 red suitcases, sitting together in a pile of luggage in a far corner of the room. I started sprinting as if I just spotted my husband coming home from war! I reached the bags and realized that yes, YES, they were MINE! My babies! My luggage! All my clothes and shoes and toiletries and makeup and jewelry and all the new stuff I bought at home and all the Christmas presents I bought for everyone and all the Christmas presents I received and….AH! I was completely ecstatic. The workers had to confirm that the luggage was in fact mine, and I walked out of that chaos with the biggest smile on my face. Definitely the best Christmas present ever. That evening the mood in the house was improved by a million percent. I unpacked all my things, organized my stuff and started getting in the mood for Christmas! I had been so upset about the nightmare I experienced coming back to Italy and losing my luggage that I had completely forgotten Christmas was coming so soon!
Christmas in Italy was an amazing experience and something that I will never forget. The morning of Christmas Eve we got up pretty early to run last minute errands and prepare the house for dinner that evening. Our guests for dinner (besides the 5 of us) were Bruno’s brother Massimo and Massimo’s wife AnnaMaria and their 3 kids, Rosa’s mom and aunt, and Rosa’s sister Mary. We had a wonderful dinner and then exchanged presents, and I was so shocked when I opened my gift to find a beautiful watch from Rosa and Bruno. I truly was not expecting something so extravagant from them, but was very pleased and thankful! The girls loved the gifts I bought them in America – a snow globe, a ‘Learn your ABC’s’ book, and some very cute clothes. After everything died down, Mary and I went with her boyfriend and some friends to church for midnight mass and then to a friend’s house to play ‘Mercanta in fiera’, a type of traditional Neapolitan card game that everyone gets together to play during the holidays. It was quite an experience, watching the game being played! We didn’t leave until after 4 in the morning and we were absolutely exhausted! When we finally got home we saw that Babbo Natale (Santa Claus) had already brought presents for the little ones :) Christmas day I woke up to giggles and screams of delight as Chiara and Vittoria saw everything that Santa brought them. It was so great to be around young children on Christmas, it really makes everything seem more magical! After a relaxing Christmas morning, we got ready and went to Bruno’s parents’ house for lunch. We stayed there well into the evening, and after a few more stops to visit other members of the family, we finally came home. This past week resumed as usual but the girls were still on break from school so they stayed here at the house with me every day. New Year’s Eve we were running around town and preparing to have people over once more to celebrate 2010. Our guests this time included Bruno’s parents, his brother Salvatore and Salvatore’s wife Francesca, their daughter and Francesca’s mom, Rosa’s mom, Rosa’s sister Giuliana and her husband Antonio and their two children, and Rosa’s sister Mary. We had another amazing meal and celebrated all night, watched a countdown on TV and toasted champagne at midnight, and then went out on the terrace to watch all the fireworks and set off some of our own. There had been fireworks and bombs going off in Naples all day, but at midnight the sight was absolutely magical. It seems like there were fireworks being set off from every single balcony in the entire city of Naples, and we could see all of them! When I finally got into bed around 3am, I could still hear them.
This past month has been an absolute whirlwind of experiences and wonderful times and I feel so relaxed right now as I write this, knowing that we’ve made it to 2010 and feeling that everything truly does work itself out. Through all the ups and downs I’ve had, I’ve learned to work on solving the problem or take some other route if it was unsolvable. The whole nightmare of losing my luggage helped me learn about myself. I was terribly upset…NOT because of the clothes and shoes…those things can be replaced…but because of the time and effort and money that all of those things represent. I finally snapped out of the drama that Monday morning and realized I should be thankful that I’m alive and healthy. Everyday there are houses that burn down and families that lose everything. Sometimes there are plane crashes. There are children in third world countries that didn’t even get to celebrate Christmas or New Years. Through every struggle we face, we learn something new about ourselves and grow from it. It’s kind of like peeling back the layers of an onion…with everything I go through, I peel back the layers of myself, in search of the REAL me. In search of what makes Elizabeth, Elizabeth. Dealing with ups and downs of traveling and coping without the comforts of home in a foreign country and handling situations with my host family and being homesick on Christmas are all things that are helping me discover who I truly am. When I first got the idea to become an Au Pair, I thought it would be simply to go travel to another country and play with children and then come home after a while. I definitely didn’t think it would involve all this other stuff. But on top of that, it’s not just my experience as an Au Pair that is helping me grow – I think it’s the simple fact that I graduated college and turned 22 years old in May, and this is all me discovering myself as a woman. This is me growing up :)
On this New Year’s Day, at the turn of the decade, I would like to wish my family and dear friends nothing but happiness, health, and success in 2010. The year 2009 was definitely a memorable one – I graduated from UNCW and began my experience in Italy – but I think 2010 has a lot in store and will be even better. I get so excited thinking about everything the future holds. Let’s all think about everything we’ve been through in the past year…for the good things, be thankful and rejoice, and for the hard times, learn and grow. This world and this life can be crazy sometimes, but if you peel back some of the layers (just like that onion), you will discover what a beautiful life it truly is. CHEERS!
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