The beginnings

Day 1
Dallas to Chicago, guy that talks too much, Cowboys loss, no Amex, driver’s license or insurance card. Oh shit. Thankfully I can still pay for my overpriced airport meal and beer.

Onto Brussels. Watch Up! Weird movie. Wait for “dinner” to be served. A chicken branded concoction of synthetic blends. Meh. Sleep fitfully for the next 4 hours. Sunlight over the clouds. Dreary in Belgium. Stumble off plane, go through wrong security checkpoint.. Bad move #2. Keep your composure. Find right security checkpoint. Thank God for 4 ½ hr. layover. Read enthralling book. Maybe 4 hours is a little excessive. Time is starting to warp. Need coffee.

Onto plane #3. Friendly and hot stewardesses. Score! A meal is being served? And its good? Leave it to the Euros to provide a sweeter gastronomic sensation on a 1 hr flight than I experienced on my Transantlantic flight. Look out the window. Dolomites covered in snow on a bluebird day? Should have brought my skis!

Thud. Venice. Luggage all together. Pleasantly surprised. Bus ticket to train station. Cue typical American tourist…now. Train station. Bum asks for change to which I flatly refuse. My disgust with bums is now transcontinental and knows no limits. Board train. Sit across from older Italian man. No words exchanged. Space is tight. No skis was a good call. Finally, Bassano. How long has it been? Two busses for everyone seeking their first adventure. Patience is thin.

Campus. Lots of new people. Name tags would have been a good idea. Dinner is served. Pasta. Hopes not high for the rest of the semester. Bed. Last 31 hours have been a total blur.

Day 2

7:40 Beep beep beep. Alarm. Throw on clothes. Head down to breakfast. Bread, yogurt, granola. Where’s my patchouli oil? Leave sated. Orientation time. Late arrivers. Everyone laughs at their expense. Breaks up the monotony. Campus tour. Lunch. More pasta. Walk around town. Small, quaint, and typically European. Mountains in the background, blue skies. Awesome. Back to campus. Hello “Italian for Travelers.” Should be fluent in no time. Break. Time for accounting. Cue Italian students laughing at the new Americans. Crazy accounting teacher. Should be interesting. Finished for the day. Tired. Can’t nap. Dinner. Empty room. Two busloads went to the “mall.” Can you really need that much? Oh well.

Drinking sounds good. On a Tuesday? Screw it I’m in Italy. No rules right? Place is full. Order first pitcher of wine with three others. Nice and dry. They know my tastes. Good conversation flowing. Time for pitcher #2. What’s this, free dessert? I love Italian hospitality. People turn up their noses at this new fangled idea. I laugh. Speak some broken German with the Italian bar tender. I have now created a bond. I’m in! Closing time. Saunter back to campus. 2 AM? Class in six hours? Time for some Vitamin B12. Going to be a semester full of late nights and early mornings.