Italy in Miami

Look what I got from Miami!

Just kidding. This engineering marvel, and several others of its kind, were next door to the Consulate office, in a dealership called "the Collection." (Look it up, it is also rad.) I wasn't even allowed to sit in it, because I was wearing blue jeans. But hey, I did get one of these!

Ta-da! One shiny new Italian Student Visa. As previously mentioned, all applicants seeking an Italian Visa of any kind were required to appear in person to the General Consulate of Italy in Coral Gables, Miami. While we dropped off all the necessary documents (and then some) to the Consulate after Christmas, we opted to take the safe route and go pick it up ourselves. Lucky for me going to Miami is one of my favorite things ever.

Daddy and I drove down Thursday morning, after the nightmare that was registering for classes online, and arrived in the late afternoon. (Three classes: marketing, corporate finance, and business strategy!) The first thing we did, of course, was get un café Cubano, otherwise known was two ounces of liquid gold. I tried to explain what it was to my friends, when we were skype chatting the night before, and it was difficult to pinpoint exactly what it tastes like, other than saying that the heavens open up above you and angels shower you with glitter and pour sugar-powered-electricity into your veins. Let's just say that Italy has a very high standard to live up to.

Thursday night, I helped my amazing namesake, Aunt Lynne, make picadillo, and then struggled through my daily Italian Duolingo lesson. For some reason, plurals and possessives always get me. Friday morning, we got up at the crack of 0800 to get to the office when they opened at 0900. I slipped past the guard, went up the elevator, stood in line, gave them my name, and they handed my ticket into their amazing country, and I was relieved this challenge had been finally been surmounted. I am going for sure now!

So, to celebrate, we did what any rational person going to Italy would do: we got fantastic pizza. We went to a hole-in-the-wall pizza place called Pummarola Pastificio & Pizzeria. Their claim to fame is that they import mozzarella di bufala every week from Italy! We got a classic margherita, a spicy salami, and a creama di tartufo pizza. The first two were very good, but the third one had mushrooms, truffle oil, Italian ham, and mozzarella, and oh dear sweet baby Jesus I had a cafecito experience with this one. I had no idea mushrooms, or pizza in general, could taste like that. Unfortunately, the tricycle-riding delivery guy just told me that they can't deliver to Tampa. (Because yes, I did call him and ask.)

All in all, Miami was a great success. Other successes include getting a USAA MasterCard with "chip" technology, which will be more widely accepted in Italy than an American Express. Also, we added a small international data and voice plan to my iPhone, but it is only to be used in emergency situations. I still get charged for voice and text, and the data plan is a tiny 40 MB. I am going to look into a pay-as-you-go phone in Italy. So those issues were put to rest, for now.

Now all that is left is to pack my bags, say my goodbyes, and get on the plane! Actually that's not true at all, there is a long list of things to do before then, but I wont bore you all with the details; as if I don't do that already. As we left Miami, my Aunt was giving me some last-minute advice, and as she hugged me again, she told me I would go and come back different, but in a good way. I was hoping the only different I would be would be a pant size bigger, so what does she mean? Only time, and a detailed documentation, will tell.

Also! Shout out to my fellow ex-pat and foreign correspondent, Brendan, who was off to Shanghai today! Be safe, share lots of pictures, learn so much, eat crazy things, let people touch your beard, and show the world how crazy amazing awesome you are! All my love and the best of luck!