Regardless of how fun it might seem... Don't do it. Regardless of how many people agree with you.. Don't do it. And even if your best friend begs you... Never go out and get drunk the night before an international flight. Looking back, I'm wondering how the hell did everyone agree with me. The car was scheduled to pick me up at 4:45 am for a 7 am flight. I walk into the house at 2:30. I made sure I didn't get drunk but even a couple drinks did do me in. I had already packed, I was ready. All I had to do was change my clothes and walk out the door. So I set my alarm and lay down for a bit. But my door bell wakes me up, not my alarm. I look at the alarm and of course my alarm is set, but it's set on vibrate. I look at the time, 5 O CLOCK! I rush out the door and thank god the driver is still there! I apologize profusely. and even from that small exchange I can tell he hates me. I rush around my house and I am out the door in 10 minutes. I'm pretty proud of myself, but Rini, my driver refuses to talk to me. It's funny cause out of the two of us, he's the one making money from all of this. He should be happy I got in the car! But, he hates me... and his way of getting back at me for being late (mind you only about 20 minutes tops... geez) he speeds down the empty road going 100 miles per hour. No kidding. I'm sure I'm going to die on my way to the airport. It's freakin 5 in the morning! No need to drive like this! So I sit in the back quiet and just pray, please God just get me to the airport safe and I hope I never see Mr. Rini ever again. I safely get to the airport and approach the kiosk and then I look around me... something is missing... My computer bag!! Shit!! I left it in the car with crazy ass Rini! I immediately call. Over and over again, but Rini refuses to pick up my phone. I can see him now racing down La Cienega looking at his phone and my bag in the back seat laughing his head off. Now it's time for me to board the plane... I have no option. I got to go. I board the plane with no computer, no ipod, no book, no nothing. I'm just praying more then anything my bag is ok and freakin Rini doesn't do anything with it.

Once I arrive in New York I call Rini again but this time I get the main headquarters and Charlie tells me my bag is safely with him. So my bag is driven over to a friends house and sent to me in italy. First disaster solved.

I wait around my gate and notice there are so many freakin people! I ask a couple next to me, are all these people for the same flight? They have no idea, and like the voice of God, it's annouced that the flight was over sold ( how the hell does that happen) and are offering first class to Milan. I imediately take the first class overnight flight to Milan but I don't anticipate the 5 hour lay over before I get to Naples. Awesome, no fun bag, how the hell am I going to get through 5 hours? Who knows, but I do. I finally arrive in Naples and guess what? My bag does not appear on the conveyer belt. So now American Black Girl in Italy has no fun bag and apparently no clothes. I'm in Italy in flip flops and my purse. That's it! and Mrs. AlItalia has no information for me regarding the bag, all she can say is that it's lost and once it's found I will get a freaking phone call! At this point I can't believe this is happening so I really have no reaction for her and just travel to the bus station to get to the train station so I can get to Sorrento. I'm so tired I can really careless about being in Italy, I just want to get to my destination.

Now, my destination... Ah... the Marscesa's my saviors. This family, heaven. I don't think I have ever met people so nice and welcoming. Immediately, they are open to me like I am a long lost cousin. Anna and Pepe, mamma and papa, don't speak a lick of english but they immediately are concerned about my bag and call the airport. Pina and Lia, thier daughters, both speak english. Lia's husband, John Luigi is excited when he hears I speak Spanish and continues to repeat what everyone says in Spanish so I can understand... the only problem is John Luigi speaks way better spanish then I do so I am even more lost! The son, Antino, is gorgeous and my age, but he has a girlfriend Vivanna, and he must be in love cause he doesn't even look at me twice. That fantasy is gone... I have a beautiful room with a twin bed, my own entrance, my own bathroom and a beautiful balcony looking over lemon trees. This is way more then I expected.

The next morning, I travel through the small town to my class. Sorrento is very small. Gorgeaous small town but is busy like New York, tons of cars, tons of pedestrians and they say this isn't crowded. In July it get's nasty. In my class I am the only person. It's great cuase I get the italian teacher all to myself but the problem is I really don't have much option to meet people. That was the main reason why I decided to study italian. But oh well... I make due.

Italian is a much harder language then I expected. It's beautiful once you figure out how to speak it but the rr's and the pronunciaton of c's, e's, and i's are nothing like english. I try to speak the language whereever I go but the people just smile and laugh at me like I am a young child learning my words for the first time.

This beautiful beach town is getting it's own taste of global warming. In the morning, it's beautiful and then in the middle of the day it begins to pour, I mean pour rain. Remember, I have no clothes! So I'm stuck in flip flops and a skirt that Pina was nice enough to lend me! So I run to store to store and buy the most hideous clothes. Right now it's not about style it's about covering my ass up and making I don't fall in the rain. At this point, I just want to cry. Why did I decide to come here? I can't write, computer isn't here. My love affair didn't even have a chance to begin because cute Antino has a girlfriend, and I have no friends, I'm the only person in my class and we must not forget I have no clothes, and now a black girl is in the middle of the rain, in a foreign country with no flat iron or a hair stylist. Why? Why? Why? Why the hell did I come?

That night I truck my wet, smelly, non matching ass back to the house and fall asleep. Anna comes screaming towards my door "Erica, Erica, bagalio" Ahhh... my bag is here!!! I try to warn Pepe in my best version of englitalian that the bag is freakin heavy... I had to pay an extra $100 just to get it here. Of course he doesn't understand and he grunts and he pulls the bag in the house from the rain. Immidiately my spirits lift now that I have my belongings. I stay up with Pepe and Anna and watch the news and together we drink Fragalino, a strawberry wine, which is to die for. Ahh... my trip is beginning to look up from here...at least I hope.