Slowly but surely, I'm becoming American once more

I have a small confession to make...

I've been back in the US for over 2 weeks. I came back as planned on May 10, thankfully dodging any interference from the volcanic ash that I was so worried about.

No longer can I use the lack of internet as an excuse to not update my blog. I am constantly connected to the internet - even more so than before due to my new Blackberry.

So my updates will become more regular and I will bring this blog up to date on all my traveling that transpired over the last 6 months or so.

Until then, I'm planning on making a half-hearted effort to find a summer job and readjusting to life in my native country.

I've already been made painfully aware of the fact that I am no longer in Italy by many different events. I miss the blunt approach the Italians have to life - when I spoke to my friends here, they initially found me to be brutally honest. Needless to say both parties had some adjusting to do.
I can't look at the "Italian food" served in the US, let alone eat it. No pizza for the next few months until I can forget what authentic pizza tastes like. And don't get me started on how dismayed I am that I can't buy alcohol for myself yet. How am I supposed to get my wine?!

But for all the cultural differences, I love my home country. And I can't complain that I no longer have to worry about communication errors when going to the doctors or ordering at restaurants. Plus, seeing my friends and family again continues to be a treat each day.

Now that I'm back I can clearly see huge changes in who I am and what I want out of life - all for the better, I think. But more on that later. And more pictures and stories of my travels.

I'm back on blogger but who knows when I'll be back in the US...

It has been 4 months since I've posted - I must apologize profusely for my absence from the web...

To bring you all up to speed with my life in Europe, here is a quick summary of where I am now:

I am still studying in Siena, Italy (Tuscany). The differences between this semester and last are staggering - I am no longer living in an apartment with American room mates, but in a homestay with an Italian family (and none of them speak a word of English). Unfortunately this means I have no internet access at home, thus making it a real challenge to post here. Other than that, it is warm outside (FINALLY!) which means I no longer have to wear 3 layers when I leave the house!

I've been on the move a lot, traveling across the country. In the near future I intend to post pictures and stories about all the places I've been (including places like Prague, Vienna, Northern Italy, etc.).

But sadly I will be leaving in 3 weeks to return to the US. Or at least, that's when my flight is scheduled - my flight that will be going through London's Heathrow airport. If you've been following the global news, you may have noticed a little hitch in European travel as of late...

For those of you who haven't heard, a volcano erupted last week in southern Iceland. The ash from this has been causing flight delays for almost a week now - especially in London - with no definite end in sight. The volcano is still spewing ash and scientists fear another eruption down the road (in a few weeks or a few months, no one really knows).

Some airports reopened (at least some of their flights) today, but a new ash cloud that is moving in could set all progress back to square one again. This may mean that I could end up stuck in Rome if my flight is canceled.

I know, poor Taylor, stranded in one of the most amazing cities on Earth...
I have to admit, I'll use any excuse I can to spend more time in Italy - but unfortunately doing so wouldn't bode well for my dwindling bank account.

But for now, there's nothing I can do except stay optimistic and enjoy my last few weeks in beautiful (and mostly sunny) Siena.

A day at the races

Yesterday I went to the horse races at the Del Mar Racetrack with two of my friends. I hardly ever bet, but I've been going to the races every year with my family since I was little. So I gave myself a 20 dollar limit, and didn't plan on leaving with much money - on the rare occasion I place a winning bet, I typically don't win more than 80 cents. This may be because I pay little attention to the odds of each horse and base all my bets on the horses with the coolest sounding names - yeah, I know...it's a foolproof system.

By the fifth race, I was down to 8 dollars. Imagine my surprise when I won on three different horses! I ended up winning 35 dollars off a 4 dollar bet. Now, I'm aware this isn't a huge winning, but for me, its the most money I've ever won off anything. Needless to say, my friend and I were jumping up and down while yelling with excitement. I do have to thank the following horses: Kiss the Cooke, Snow on Christmas, and Heavenly n' Free (the long shot).

Unfortunately, I did bet a bit more after that, but I did leave with 22 dollars...2 more than I had started with! In my opinion, it was an incredibly successful day at the races.

Tech support employees rub me the wrong way

I understand that some jobs, particularly ones that deal with customer service, can be demanding and difficult. I get that. But I now have a problem with tech support employees.

UGH!

I called my laptop manufacturer today in an attempt to fix my wireless internet. I was on hold for a good while, then explained my problem (which is being UNABLE to connect to the internet) to a tech support employee, who then asked for all of my information and the computer's information. I spent 30 minutes talking with this man about my problem and listening to him repeat my email address 3 times to make sure he had the correct spelling before he finally says: "Well ma'am, the warranty has run out on your computer, so if you want to receive any further assistance from us today, you will need to buy a 14 day warranty for $49.99."

Ok.
1. Don't you think he should have told me that I could not receive any help from him after he already had my warranty information after 10 minutes of talking to me?
2. I am not going to pay $49.99 for him to tell me that I possibly have one silly little setting switched off.
3. What "further assistance" is he offering? I received absolutely NO HELP from him. To offer "further assistance" implies that I had somehow been assisted already.

So in response to this I politely say: "Alright, well I think I'd rather take my computer into a repair shop near me, but thank you."

He then has the balls to say: "Alright ma'am, if you like, you can always visit our website for troubleshooting."

Is that a joke? The whole reason I'm calling is because I CANNOT CONNECT TO THE INTERNET - which he is fully aware of.

"Well, I can't do that seeing as I can't connect to the internet," I say, in a suddenly less cheery and less polite tone.

"Oh, yes and I understand that ma'am. Is there anything else I can do for you today?"

"No, thank you."

Damn it, Taylor! Don't thank the man for doing absolutely nothing to help you and wasting your time!

I really have a problem being rude to others - especially people I don't know at all. Typically I think this is a good trait, because most things aren't worth getting into an argument. However, its times like these when I am frustrated and irritated that I wish I could be just a little more forceful.

Hopefully the Italians will teach me that.

I hate cleaning...for good reason.

Today as I slid into my boiling hot car, and my legs were burned by the hot leather seat, I thought to myself "Summer weather has definitely started".

So in preparation for the summer, I cleaned out my dresser and closet in hopes of finding bathing suits from summers past so that I wouldn't need to spend money on a new one this summer. While I did discover 4 perfectly good bathing suits, I also discovered a lot of my clothes from high school when I had absolutely no body fat and could squeeze into a size 3. Now let me say, I am skinny and small and have a good body. I am confident in my image. BUT pretty much all women can find something they don't like about themselves or some excuse to hate their body; and for me, trying on those size 3 jeans again didn't do anything for my self-esteem. I just hope that one day, when I'm older, I don't find my current size 5's - that would most likely throw me into a mid-life crisis.

So here I am, boxing up my jeans that remind me of a...skinnier time... Soon they will be given away to some girl who will also, one day, grow up to hate those awful size 3's for reminding her of the effects of time.

Hello summer time.

Travel Tip: Cheap Flights

So as of late, I've been doing a lot of searching for cheap flights to various places: Italy, Sacramento, San Francisco, Tahoe, etc. Now, after spending much time trying to find good deals on flights, I've found a few (logical but sometimes overlooked) tips that I'd like to share here to help you out.

1. USE MULTIPLE TRAVEL SITES

Now if there's one thing I've learned about finding the cheapest flights on the web, its this: search the same trip through as many different flight search engines you can find. Not all the prices are the same on each website - certain websites list more flights and airlines than others, thus offering you a bigger price range.

2. TRAVEL DURING THE WEEK

You can save a good chunk of money if you can manage to travel during the middle of the week, rather than the weekend when a considerably larger amount of people are traveling so prices for flights are higher.


3. DON'T BE PICKY

If you're on a budget, you can't afford to be picky and write off extremely cheap flights. So what if the airplane is uncomfortable and the service is mediocre? If it's cheap and gets you safely from Point A to Point B, suck it up and save some money.

New dress...same old routine

I cracked today. I cracked and I bought a relatively expensive (by the standards of a college student) dress that I've been wanting since I first tried it on 2 days ago. I have never looked better than how I look in this dress.

Unfortunately I have absolutely no where - no special, fancy occasion - to wear this dress.

Yes, yes. I know, to many people this would seem frivolous. But I know some women must be able to understand why I HAD to buy this dress. The unwritten law of shopping says that if you find a dress that makes you look absolutely gorgeous and it is not horribly overpriced, you must buy it. Not purchasing such an item would be a crime against oneself.

So I have a lovely new dress, now I just need to find a gala to go to.