Back to Reality...again

I keep thinking to myself, what was it that I forgot to do...and I realized that I didn't conclude my story about Italy. The reason Italy got so short-changed on the blog side of things is that I felt very much at home there. I was doing non-tourist things like playing soccer, going on a run one morning (I have never voluntarily run an hour before--Bene was a good trainer to keep me going so long.), eating ice cream, enjoying the views, cooking, watching movies, hanging out.... Normal stuff. I did go see a few cities in my month in Perugia--Orvieto, Assisi, Gubbio, Cortona, Rome, city on Lake Trasimeno, and Rimini. Bene may have another opinion about having a guest in the apt for one month when we only originally planned on just over 2 weeks, but I think it worked out beautifully. I found things to do while he was in class, he could study a bit and afterwards we would hang out. My obsession with watching World Cup games started in Italy. Once started, it cannot stop until the final! Today is the Germany vs. Argentina game and I am going over to a friend's house to cheer on Germany (the family is Argentinien). Never in my life have I sat down to watch so much sport on TV.

My trip back to Paris was somewhat eventful. Luckily, my fears about the "punctual" Italian train schedule were not realized. All my connections worked out and I even ran into someone I knew from Perugia when I got off the train in Florence. Small world. I had booked my overnight train to land me at Paris-Bercy exactly 1 hour before I was supposed to be at the airport for check-in. It should have been enough time. I now officially hate flying through Charles du Gaulle airport. Bercy, although listed among the main train stations, is nothing more than a large metro stop. Except that the metro is across the street. All I had to do was catch the metro to Chalet-les-Halles, change to an RER to the airport and then take a shuttle bus to my terminal. Sounds simple, right? Now add in the fact that there was no ticket seller in the metro station and the machine would not take anything but credit cards. After standing in line for 5 minutes none of mine worked. Went back to the train station to get one there. No machine would take a 10 Euro bill--who carries 10 Euros in coins?? Back to the metro and tried to buy just a metro pass and get my airport ticket later. Had to ask another tourist for 20 cents because no one had change. Got a ticket from some scalpers who luckily let me pay the normal price and not what they had marked it up to be. Once in the metro I had a difficult time finding my track--it was like a maze. Make it to my transfer point and still no ticket person in sight--and this time no machines as well. Time: 20 minutes behind schedule. Finally I gave up. Catching my flight was more important. So I got on the next RER out knowing that i didn't have a ticket to go that far. Armed with my 10 Euro bill ready to explain my situation, I nervously sat on the train for 30 minutes. Now I was late. At the end station I thought I was in the clear until I saw the turnstiles. It was not my intention to ride Schwarz on the train. I wanted to buy a ticket. I tried on multiple machines. No luck. So did I feel bad about jumping the turnstile? Only slightly. In the end I made it to my check-in counter after everyone else on my flight, but 30 minutes late wasn't that big of a deal. Much later and I would have had a problem. I boarded about 15 minutes after arriving at the gate.

Back at home nothing too exciting is going on. Life has moved on without me. As it always does. I managed to pick up some shifts at camp to slowly start filling my bank account again. Almost ran it dry. Other than rent, gas and food, I am not spending a whole lot. Next on the list is applying to medical schools. First the US and then the UK. To be honest I think I am leaning towards the UK. Stay tuned for more travel news from Germany and Greece starting the end of July! Bis Dann!