Roma.

 Two days ago (Saturday) I was wandering around St. Peter’s Basilica and I was thinking about ...how I travel.

So the plan was for me to get Daniel on his flight, then meet up with Uncle George, and we would head to meet my dad. Well, I had to leave baggage claim before I had my bags to help Daniel try to make his flight and as we walked through I told him to look for UG, we both did, and neither of us saw him...so I helped Daniel get to where he needed to be. Then at that point I needed to find my luggage, so I headed to Delta because we missed our flight from ATL I didn’t know if the luggage had made it. So I waited outside for the shuttle to T5 and met two old men who had been in Rome for two days and had so many problems they were leaving. They were so nice to me and funny; they were from Oregon and one had been in the Korean War and had been stationed in Alabama when he was in the Army.

We finally got the shuttle and walked into the T5 terminal and it was completely empty. No lie. There was absolutely no one there. So I said goodbye to them and walked back...it was a hike. So at this point, I walked to the arrivals section and walked around for about 20 minutes and saw a sign for left baggage and got pretty excited because that’s what I needed...when I got there, I realized the translation error, it was checked baggage, like a place to store your baggage. At this point I’ve been looking for my luggage and UG for about 2 hours and I’m tired and discouraged. Communication has been extremely difficult, I've been up forever and the airport was confusing...I just wanted to find someone I know, so I headed to St. Peters to meet my dad.

Well, I didn’t know how to get there. I went to the train station and saw a sign that said TOURTIST and knew that they would speak English (I had been having problems with the language barrier up to this point). They did and said that it would be 15 euro to take the train to St. Peter’s plus I’d have to take the metro or I could take their shuttle for 30 euro. At this point I am not feeling adventurous at all, so I paid an arm and leg and took the shuttle. I was hanging on the hope of seeing my dad and having him help me figure everything out, so when I arrived at St. Peters and walked around the first time and didn’t see him I was a little discouraged. However, we were supposed to meet on the hour and it was a quarter after. I kept on walking around just in case (and it was cold when I sat down). I did that for another hour and then decided I need to get back to the airport.

At this point, I am in the Vatican City by myself, I don’t speak Italian, I don’t know anyone in Rome, I don’t know how to get in touch with my family, so the plan is...figure out how to get back to the airport and buy a ticket to Cantania which I know is close to my home and figure out how to get home from there. So I walk down one street and remember that I was given $50 for Christmas from the Silers (my only cash) and figure that if I’m going to get to the airport I’ll need some euro, so I found a place to exchange it. Well, the place that I exchanged it I met Luca, who ended up saving me. I asked him to tell me how to get the airport and he wrote down a bunch of street names and told me where to go. He was nice and helpful, but I didn’t understand exactly what he said, so I ended up getting lost. It took me awhile to get lost, and after that I asked someone else for directions and he gave me directions to the St. Peter’s train station. I made it there and someone came up to me and asked me a question in Italian (something that happened more than once) and I said “I don’t speak Italian, sorry..” and saw that there was no one else besides these people who had questions and everything was in Italian and I was going off of what this guy said, so if I missed my stop I would be even worse off because I would really have no clue where I was, so I decided to go back and see if the place that exchanged money would take my debit card and then get a taxi to the airport.

I walked back in and told Luca that I got lost and told him my new plan and he said that a taxi would be very, very expensive and said he could close his shop for 2 minutes to point me in the right direction. So, he walked me to the street the metro was on and explained how to get to Termini Station and when I looked confused he asked if I could wait 2 hours and then he would take me. At that point I had nothing to do but get lost so I said yes; I had previously asked if he knew of a place to get on the internet and he said that this street would probably have a place to do that. So I set off to find a place to get internet and he went back to work. At this point, I am hopeful that I will get home, but hungry. So I head to a “Bar” which I had discovered are sandwich shops and got a sandwich, I am not sure what it was, but it was good. I asked about the internet and was introduced to Massimo, he spoke very good English (!!!) he was home on Christmas break from some college in NYC. So we talked about NYC for a little while then his dad gave me directions to an internet café.

AND I MADE IT. It was 1.5 euro for an hour, so I got on skype and was able to talk to my mom!!! She had been so worried because they hadn’t been able to get in touch with me or Daniel; Uncle George bought a refundable ticket to go look for us inside security, they had called Delta, talked to the police, you name it, they had done it (EXCEPT STICK TO THE PLAN!). So, my mom gave me dad’s phone number and we came up with a new meeting place. Then we just talked for a little while; there is no way to describe how I felt after getting in touch with my mom. I was never scared for my safety (my dad was) or scared that I would be able to get home, but I was tired, alone, and discouraged. I almost cried on three separate occasions, but didn’t because I didn’t want to be an easy target :P So, I went back to St. Peter’s and enjoyed it because I was no longer looking for anyone. The Christmas tree is HUGE. It was incredible. There really are no words to do it justice, I am pretty sure it is bigger than the tree in Rockefeller Center; although the one there is decorated prettier. Then I walk back to meet Luca. I told him that I was able to get in touch with my parents and asked him to take me to Termini Station. He was so nice, he did and let me use his phone to call my dad...so long day over, I found my dad and Uncle George! They invited Luca to dinner, but he declined so we dropped our stuff at the hotel and I decided to go to sleep. And that, is how I travel.

...I would be happy never to travel that way again though. What I have learned from this situation that I already should have known: have some sort of contact information; if at all possible a cell phone; STICK TO THE PLAN (I didn’t learn that, my dad and UG did)...things that were reinforced: you can control your attitude, even if you can’t control the situation (at one point I was counting my blessings and singing Christmas songs); I am capable; asking for help is a good idea.