My journey on this study abroad started off mundane, just as I would hope a travel day to be. It took a turn, however, in my sleep.
My first flight of three legs went smoothly, taking me from Austin to Washington D.C. in a flight accompanied by a kind grandma and a three year old kicking me in the back as I slept. I made my connecting flight to my second leg, Zürich, Switzerland, with no issues and even got a bagel on the way! I thought it would be smart to take a Benadryl to fall asleep for my first ever overnight flight, so when I got to my seat I took my medicine and hit the hay. When I woke up an hour later, we were still on the ground (which meant that my connecting flight the next morning would possibly leave without me). I asked a flight attendant, but she said all was well…all was not well. When we landed, my third leg connecting me to Milan had already taken off and I was rebooked for a 1pm flight while my original flight was at 9am. I knew this would cut things close given that we were supposed to be in Milan at 10:30am, or at the UNA Hotel by then. I contacted IES abroad and got in contact to a wonderful lady while stranded in Switzerland, but it was a struggle because the second I landed in Europe I realized the international plan I had set up for cellular data was not working. Connected to the Zürich airport wifi for its four hour allotted time, I contacted my parents frantically trying to figure out how to solve this massive issue. When the four hours of free wifi ended, I was MIA. In this time of franticness I met my first Bulgarian friend while awaiting our delayed flight to Milan and we shared our hatred for delayed flights and our love of Switzerland. After being two more hours delayed, our plane finally arrived and we flew off to Milan.
Looking back I am grateful for my stressed arrival in to Milan and the misshapen journey I was forced to take to get there. I discovered the glory of Swiss chocolate (which is my newfound obsession), I met a wonderful friend from Bulgaria of all places, I was exposed to people who spoke German, Italian, English and French which inspired me to learn multiple languages, and made me self aware of my dependency on cellular data among other things I usually take for granted. Once in Milan I saw the oh so beautiful Duomo and fell in love with a city so marvelous I can’t imagine ever leaving.
