I'm leavin' on a jet plane!

Well, here I am! After over a year of planning and anticipation, I am finally sitting in the airport in Charlotte waiting to go to Italy! I wanted to start a blog for two reasons: to keep everyone informed and up-to-date on all of my adventures in Italy and various parts of Europe and also as a way to document all the many memories I know I will make along the way!

So, here is the train of events that will occur over the next 36 hours: First, I will fly from Charlotte to JFK in New York where I will switch planes for one headed to Pisa, Italy! I will land in Pisa at 10:55 am on August 31. And that's Italian time. I believe there is a 6 hour time difference, with Italy being ahead. From Pisa, I will board a train for Manarola which is in Cinque Terre, an area of five fishing villages along the Mediterranean coast. Here I will meet up with my partner in crime, Brittany Vanhal. She is not only a fellow student in my PT class at Elon, but one of my best friends in the class! We are very excited to be experiencing this together. She and her family have been in Europe for several days now. I believe they were just in Switzerland! We will be in Manarola until Sunday September 2, when we will take a train back to Pisa, and meet our clinical director from EduGlobal at a piazza across from the train station. How cute is that! He will then drive us up to our clinic site in Gavinana, which is located on a mountain. I can give more updates about the area once I arrive. And for those interested, we will be driving a Puegeot from Pisa :)

I will upload tons of pictures as often as I can. I don't know the Internet situation yet, so that will determine how often I post and give y'all updates.

Thank you so much to everyone who is praying for me during this next chapter in my life. I have never done anything like this before and I am so excited for this opportunity that God has blessed me with. If anyone has a request for a souvenir, let me know! I already have 2 bids for fancy Italian cars :) I love all of y'all so much and thank you for being a part of my life. I'm so glad I get to share this experience with everyone.

1 hour til departure! I think it's time for Starbucks :) Ciao!