Getting Ready!!

Hello all!

I'd love for you to join me in my adventures across the sea for my very first time. I've been to Mexico and New York, but these are the furthest I've been from home. And my studies at UC Irvine have been the longest I've been from home. But now it's time for a new chapter in my life.

I think for my next adventure, I'll study abroad in Italy; what do you think?


For the last month or so, I've been preparing myself and my old room in my mom's house for my departure. I've had a rather large, and somewhat beneficial, yard sale - although there will have to be another. I've gutted out my room so that my mom can start renting it out. (ps. Shameless plug: If you are looking for a nice room with utilities included, room in the kitchen and fridge, your own bathroom and love pets, my mom is renting my room for less than what you are searching for. Let her know.)

Also, thank you to a few good friends who've made generous donations to my "Help Lizz Get to and From Italy Fund"  :)  since my plane ticket was a good $1650! Phew! That's NOT including the price of the program itself, of course, which is much more. Also not including the costs of my medical bills which finally started arriving four months after I requested the bills. Those are also not pretty numbers.

Since the loans which make this summer's travels possible are so much, I decided to create as many "layovers" as possible on my way to and from the program in Italy. My mom, brother and youngest niece will be driving me down to Orange County to pick up my sister tomorrow morning. We will have lunch, say our goodbyes, and I will leave from LAX on an 11:30pm flight to ... wait for it! ... New York! I will arrive at JFK the next morning around 8am and spend time in The Big Apple until my departure flight at 7pm. A friend from the house I lived in at UCI last year, Ben, will be accompanying me, as well as a friend of his that is also doing the Italy Program. From JFK, we travel for a two hour layover in Paris, and finally arrive in Florence, Italy Monday, July 25 where we will be picked up with some other students and head to Arezzo, the heart of Tuscany.

Upon my return home, I will leave from the Florence airport August 27 around 10am and stop in Paris from 12:05pm until our final eleven hour flight to LAX at 10:40am Aug 28. I will arrive in LA around 1pm and get home-home (SLO County) probably sometime that evening. Phew!!


I suppose I should inform you what the program is. In a small Tuscan town called Arezzo, I will be studying the acting/mask form of Comedia dell Arte for five weeks. On the Saturdays of the trip, there will be a day trip to Florence, Siena, Casentino, and an overnight trip to Rome! If you are curious as to what Comedia dell Arte is, continue reading my blog and you will probably find out more than you ever wanted to know.  :)

Also, feel absolutely free to comment on my blog.
There will also be TONS of pictures, of course!

-Lizz, almost under the Tuscan sun  :)


P.s. Some people wanted to know my address abroad. This is valid until August 25th. No packages though; it's not guaranteed I will receive it.

Accademia dell' Arte
Villa Godiola
Loc. San Fabiano 9
Arezzo, Italia 52100