Milano Highlights

Today is the day!! My mom is officially on her way to Geneva. In less than six hours, we will be reunited!! It's been 167 days since I've seen her in person and I am just so excited! Je suis très contente!

In the meantime, enjoy these pictures from my quick weekend in Milano!

Highlights: Duomo and Teatro alla Scala

Sunset

The weather here has been gorgeous lately. Perfect fall temperatures, sunny days, and awesome sunsets. Here are some unedited pictures from two nights ago. I was using my 55-250 mm lens (which basically means it zooms in farther than normal). I haven't used it very often...hence the subpar photos. I really need to practice more! But my bad camera skills don't take away from the unreal colors. God is such an artist!

Travel

“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese

"Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living." – Miriam Beard

“Every place I have ever visited changed my life in some way, either spiritually, emotionally or intellectually. Isn’t that the point of travel?” - Anonymous

I love these quotes. I never realized how much traveling would change me. When you are forced to live in a strange place with people you have never met, you learn a lot. About yourself, about the world around you, and about the people around you. It's a never-ending journey. And I love it. I'm constantly learning new things and having new experiences. Life sure would be boring if I did the same thing every day. Wherever you are, I hope you do something different today, no matter how insignificant it may seem. Here's to new adventures! 

Balance

As an au pair, I feel like I always have to have on my happy face. If I'm not smiling, the family asks if I'm okay. If I want to go to bed early, they ask if I am sick. If I spend a Saturday alone in my room reading or watching Gilmore Girls, they ask if something is wrong. It's like I am never allowed to just be me and have real emotions. I can't be anti-social or tired or sick of the weather.

It's a little overwhelming sometimes. I am generally a happy, optimistic, glass-half-full kind of gal. But sometimes, it's refreshing to be alone. Or to get mad at the constant rain. Or go to bed at 8 PM. I'm only human.

This life is a balancing act. I'm trying to navigate my way through this one day at a time. Somedays it's easy. Others, not so much. Living with a new family, and getting paid by them, is a challenge. I am here to do a job. But I am still a person with feelings.

This post really doesn't have a point. I'm just airing out my thoughts. Life in a foreign country is not always so glamorous. It's still life. It still has its ups and downs. And no matter where you are, you still have to find the balance.

Life Update

Hello friends!! It's been a while! Sometimes life just happens and then you realize you haven't blogged in two weeks. Oops! But I think it's better to live life than to get caught up documenting every detail. So that's the excuse I'm going with. To make up for my absence, here is an update on what's been going on lately:

Life has been pretty normal here. Lot of picking up the girls from school, teaching English, playing games, doing puzzles, etc. Filomena (the oldest; she's 10) and I have formed such a precious friendship and I really enjoy being with her. Her English is improving and my Italian is as well.

I've made some new friends: one from California and one from Italy. It's been fun hanging out with new people and experiencing new things together. And if you know me, you know I love Italians. So it's a win-win situation!

I've been going to French classes for a few weeks now and I'm slowly getting better. My teacher actually lived in Atlanta for five years. How random is that?! The language is difficult for me because it's so different from Spanish and Italian. There are so many silent letters! And pronouncing the letter r?? Forget it. I do it on accident but I can't do it when I try. (For those of you who don't know, it's a sound that comes from the back of your throat. It's totally different from the way we pronounce it in English and totally different from the rolling sound in Spanish or Italian.)

I'm understanding more and more Italian. I'm exposed to it every day (which I love!) so it's getting easier. Speaking it is a different story. I know a lot of words but I'm working on making them into sentences. Daniele, my Italian friend, is helping me. We practiced conjugating a few verbs on the way home from French class today and I'm pretty sure I butchered them. At least I'm assuming that's why he was laughing...

I'm learning how to drive a stick-shift. I'm getting better but I still have problems starting on hills. I avoid them at all costs. I also avoid stopping if I can. I have definitely rolled through some stop signs just so I don't have to put it in first gear. But everybody here does it so I'm not too worried. There aren't any police in this tiny town. Let me just say, though, that I miss my automatic car. A lot.

My best friend, Melissa, is currently living in Bangladesh. She's blogging about her adventures here. It's been really cool to be abroad at the same time. It's been great to share what God's doing in each of our situations. She is super entertaining so check it out!

And in 21 short days...my mom will be here!!!! I'm so so so so so excited to see her in person and hug the heck out of her. We're starting to plan what we want to do in each city. We're going to Modena (to visit my Italian family!!), Firenze, Luss (a little town outside of Glasgow), and Paris. And Geneva, of course. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!!