We made it safely!

Hey guys, just wanted to let you all know that we made it to Lugano safely! My last few days in America were filled with friends, family, and packing. Special thanks to everyone who came over to say bye to me and hang out with me while I packed! The morning I was leaving, Annie, Sarah, and Yasmin all came over and literally packed the rest of my stuff for me. It was awesome. I just handed them stuff I needed to bring and they made room for it somehow, THANKS GUYS! Don’t know how I would have stuffed those two suitcases, giant hiking bag, and purse without you…. And then they were sweet enough to come with my mom to see me off at the airport. Such a great goodbye! And I really appreciated the help lugging my stuff around. Until Yasmin almost left the airport with my winter coat.. Good thing I remembered as soon as I left them and just did a quick turnaround and Yasmin actually RAN to bring it back to me! I know you wouldn’t do that for everyone, thanks boo :)

I made it through security and everything with no problems thank goodness! We were a bit nervous that my carry-on was too big, but luckily they let me take it on. I just had to take the full backpack out of it in order for it to fit in the overhead compartment… Once we made it to our gate though I was set on getting Chipotle as my last meal. Unfortunately though it was in a completely different part of the airport and no one wanted to take a bus with me to go get it. So disappointing. Guess Chipotle will have to wait another 4 months.

The plane took off 30 minutes late and then the flight was about 8 hours long. I started off watching Pitch Perfect which I hadn’t seen so that was cool. The only problem was that I have been spoiled flying with my family in Economy Plus and forgot how little leg room I get for my long legs. Especially when I have my purse and biggest boots down at my feet. I was crunched up in a ball for a bit of the flight. Because of my discomfort, I was having some trouble sleeping. Finally I decided to pop a Melatonin in to help. Waited a bit… legs were still cramping too bad and couldn’t sleep. Then decided to pop another.. 30 minutes later I was out. Unfortunately only for like an hour and a half. Then I was up and ready to go!

We landed in Zurich airport and immediately got on a charter bus for three hours to Lugano. On the plane I was in the middle seat of the middle section and on the bus I was in the aisle seat.. so this all equals pretty much no sleep. I’ve been up for 26 hours now and got a total of like 2.5 hours sleep. Let’s just say we are all living in a state of delirium. Finally we got to Lugano and dragged our luggage up a hill to the Montarino Hotel & Hostel which will be our home for the next 4 months. I was fortunate enough to get one of the nicer rooms with two other girls. We have a spacious room with two huge windows with beautiful views of the city and lake. I will post pictures soon! We ate lunch at the Montarino (which they made nice and American for us- a chicken patty, potatoes, and peas) and then explored the town of Lugano for a couple of hours. We also walked to our campus, which is apparently 1-2 miles away, so I don’t know where everyone is getting their info when they say I’m going to gain weight. With all of this exercise I’m going to be in great shape! Oh and did I mention that we’re going on a six hour hike up a mountain tomorrow…

So it’s 6:15 pm here now and I’m finally going to take a shower and then we have dinner at 7:30 pm. Miss everyone already and I’ll continue to keep you updated!!

Steph