I did it!!!

This week marks the 3rd Anniversary of my move to Italy (August 29th). This is amazing because there has been soooo many times that I thought I would never make it this long. Why is it a surprise that I’m still here? The reasons can be grouped in two general categories, a big problem at work or being homesick. Somehow I made it through and now I start what is supposed to be another 2 years here. Let’s see how that goes.
I still think about how many phases I’ve gone through. The first phase was exploring Italy. Taking little trips whenever I could around Puglia and random trips to other large towns up North. Then there was the time spent with Paola and doing little else. Now I’m in a phase where I’m hanging out in Brindisi almost exclusively and with the same people almost all the time. It’s definitely strange. I’m still learning about them and they are still learning new things about me. Who would have thunk that it would take 2.5 years of being here that I would then melt in and be making friends? I expected it to be like this after 6 months. Expectations can be way to high when you move someplace new.