Congratulazioni

       Congratulazioni. (kohn-grah-too-lah-TYSOH-nee). Oooh la la loni! English: Calzone, Italian: Calzoni...  Got it!   Add "oni" to any English word and it will seemingly translate into an Italian word. Voila!...Why couldn't my Pimsleur Italian CD lessons, or my "Easy Italian Phrase Book (770 Basic Phrases to get by)" simply tell me that... I guess it's because ordering peppers on your pizza isn't nearly the same as ordering pepperonis- well, at least to a vegetarian (or a pig). And probably because Italian tortellini dishes aren't comprised of cooked tortoises swimming in Gorgonzola cheese sauce. Or because parents wouldn't feed their children Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for dinner if they were tubular (or Scooby Doo shaped) macaroons- okay I'll stop, you get the point.  
       I'm just trying to get myself ready for Italia.  I've read my "Eyewitness Travel: ITALY" book until my eyelids close and I doze off to sleep with the book over my face.  A giant map of Italy covers my face as I enter dreams about...well, about what the book says on the cover: restaurants, museums, operas, history, villas, wine...mmm wine, art, hotels (more like hostels), churches, shopping (don't tell Papi, he'll figure it out when the American Express bill gets mailed... and of course it was an emergency expense), and lastly architecture. Nah, I didn't really dream about the architecture.
     I've made a million and ten (minus the million) copies of all my important documents just in case I get robbed a million and ten times. I did so because I have been warned a million and ten times that I will be robbed a million and ten times.  I've purchased the necessary items for surviving in the cold- I'll be tested during orientation in the Swiss Alps as to how warm they'll keep me- boots, coats, sweaters...nothing compared to what I've been sporting in Miami during January- bathing suits, flip flops, shorts and sundresses. There's no such thing as a winter wardrobe in Miami...well maybe the occasional long sleeve shirt when it drops to a shocking low of 65 degrees! I've been teaching myself Italian through CD's, attempting to speak some  to relatives to impress them with the 3 same lines I know (it's really about 10 sentences total!)  I've purchased a camera (a thought that scares my friends, family and even myself with how many pictures I'll take over a fourth month span). I've been preparing for quite some time,  yet I feel as if I have prepared nothing at all.  Besides things, I've tried to prepare myself. I don't really know what I need to prepare myself for except the time of my life- and of course safety and all the other things my parents are worried about. I just want to take as much as I can out of this experience. I don't want to be overly ambitious, but like the emperor of the French, Napoleon Bonaparte said "Ability is nothing with opportunity" and this is my privileged opportunity so I will use all my abilities to soak in all I can. (Napoleon is also the first to have been quoted saying (yes, before all those pop songs) "A picture is worth a thousand words"- and that's why I'll take lots of pictures.