a bit of random babbling

I don't really have anything in particular to share but I am in a blogging mood and therefore I am just going to go for it and chit-chat about various things.


Friday
Friday morning I had my university class (which remains continues to be amazing I might add) and then I headed home for the afternoon (after picking up magical medicine at the pharmacy). I did some homework, watched some tv online, organized my room, etc. Nothing particularly amazing. Until! I had a fabulous night with my host family! 
After dinner, host mamma and I made some chamomile tea with orange zest and honey (amazing by the way!)  and looked through some magazines together. She told me about all sorts of cool places to go in Italy and all the beautiful hotels they have stayed at and all the therapeutic natural hot springs nearby. I must say.... it would be awfully nice to live the life they live!! They've been so many places!! Fiji, Bali, Hawaii, all sorts of other islands, Morocco, Egypt, France, Spain, the U.S., Switzerland, Mexico, Greece, everyone you'd ever want to go - they've been there! 
Then I meandered into the living room to sit with host dad and broskies who were watching the History Channel. There was a show all about the Air France flight, the Concorde, that burned and crashed in 2000. It was very sad..... I didn't really even know anything about it but now I am pretty well educated and it pretty much broke my heart to see interviews of people who were minding their own business and driving to work when suddenly there was a plane in flames 30 meters above their car.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_4590
Speaking of flights, we are working on fixing my flight home. When I came here, we bought a round-trip ticket from September to the summer, but we weren't sure when I would be coming home so we booked the flight as far out as we could which is April 14th or so. Unfortunately, all the cheapest seats (equivalent to what we bought at first) for all the flights for the week of May 17th (when I would like to come home) are sold out. All of them! All week! So not only do we need to pay the $200 fee for changing the ticket, we need to pay almost another $300 to cover the price difference in tickets! How absurd!!!!! 
I am feeling funny about going home.... I want to be home and I want to work and be with friends and family but I am going to be so heartbroken to leave here..... I told my host family when I was thinking of leaving and they all looked so shocked because they thought I would be here until June..... I am torn!! I wouldn't have anything to do here because I won't have much money left.... and I want to be home in Vermont... I guess no matter when I go home I will be heartbroken..... I think I will come back to Florence for a month or so as a graduation present to myself in a year and a half (WHAT?!?! Can you believe that?!?! A year and a half!!!) Or maybe I will come work here for a bit!! Only time will tell I suppose! 
As for jobs at home... I am hoping to work at the Reservoir a decent amount like last summer and I am looking for other options just in case I can't get enough hours there. I have emailed probably close to 20 restaurants with my resume and cover letter and so far I have one option and a possible interview in May. Sigh. Real life. Yuck. On another job-related note - Gabe accepted a job working in the Lincoln Labs at MIT!!!! Congrats!! Its a pretty incredible opportunity.... even if it does mean he will be living in Worcester for the summer.... a little upsetting, but worth it in the long run!! (He will be here in Italialand in precisely 10 days!).
I think tomorrow I will do some futzing and some shopping.... It's supposed to be AMAZING. And I want to think about something to cook for my host family for dinner this week..... And I want to find some dresses for my birthday and Isadora's bridal shower which I need to finish planning.... Oh the to-do lists!!!! 


A domani!!! Baci e abbracci! 


P.S. Booked a flight to London to see Alessandra!! The day I get home from Barcelona and Madrid with Breana I am turning right back around at the Pisa airport and heading to England!! 

new life plan.

If you can dream it, you can do it.  --Walt Disney 

When I was little, I wanted to be a ballerina. Then I found out my hips were double-jointed and was informed by an evil doctor that I would never be able to live my dream.

When I was in high school, I was positive I wanted to go to college and then move on to medical school because there was nothing I wanted more than to be a pediatrician. Then I got to Smith College.

Upon arriving at Smith, I abandoned the idea of becoming a traditional doctor because far more intriguing was the idea of becoming a midwife and an acupuncturist. I combined this with my love of the anthropology department and decided that a good fit was to major in anthropology and specialize in medical anthropology.

I still love this idea and it is indeed the degree with which I am going to graduate. That being said, I have one dream at this point, and it is a dream so intense and incredible that when I start to think about it - really think and dream and plan - I start to shake a little, my pulse races and I even cried a bit yesterday.

The one thing I want is to own a restaurant.

I want this so badly that I am considering dropping my education internship this spring in Italy so that I can find courses in Italy in restaurant management. Either way, I plan on taking courses next summer, possibly during senior year, and upon graduating so that I have some knowledge of management. It seems perfectly feasible to spend a few years working in restaurants, a job which I adore, with the goal of attaining assistant manager at a local, well-loved establishment. Waitressing is something I enjoy a great deal. I love the rush and the business, I love learning about the food coming from the kitchen and I love chatting with customers, ensuring their return.

My dream is an elaborate one. I want to open a taproom/bistro where I brew my own beer and cider, and bring in many other local beers on tap as well. I want as much locally grown food as possible and in addition to pub fare (burgers and wings are a must-have), I want funky and intriguing snacks, salads and entrees to appeal to everyone. I want a dark yet fun and enticing atmosphere. I want regulars who come the same time each week and order the same beer with the same burger. This is something I would kill for....

Talk about college being worth it.... I have the opportunity to spend 4 years learning about things I love, finding a passion even if its unrelated to my major.... I can then attend a few classes while working at a variety of restaurants.... all en route to establishing something of my very own....

And what if this dream actually came true?

My boyfriend, someone who has more faith in me than God (he would rather I say Sir Isaac Newton), strongly believes this is a dream I could achieve by the age of 22. If I can take out a loan, and save my own money, and (fingers crossed) receive some assistance from Obama's small business act, it is feasible. I have begun to make connections in the restaurant business and if I can continue to immerse myself and I can find a perfect piece of real estate for the right price.... get help from the right people, come up with the right name and the best menu....

Hey, it could happen.....

Any advice? Suggestions? Ideas? Connections? All is welcome and needed!!!

BACI!

Dreams do not vanish so long as people do not abandon them. --Phantom F. Harlock

Sometimes dreams alter the course of an entire life.  --Judith Duerk