Napoli

Oh my FREAKING HOT. I really hope that its not going to be like this the rest of my time here. It is the kind of hot that paralyzes and prevents you from doing anything. Just walking around downtown this morning drained me, so here I sit, drenched in sweat wondering how to make the most of sightseeing in this heat. It's 37 degrees celcius, which is about 100 farenheit, and it is so humid that your clothes stick to you immediately after putting them on. Gross.

It's been awhile since I've blogged anything, so let's see... where did I leave off... oh yes, sitting in the Lacy on Rinke's computer contemplating staying in France for a year. I am still contemplating that, but have actually moved on to seeing if it can work, which involves getting a temporary visa and seeing if I will be able to change my return flight. "Yes, ma'am I would like to change my return flight from two weeks from now to a year from now" ... "no, no I swear I'm not crazy." I can't wait to see how that conversation is going to go.
So before I left the mission, I got an email from my uncles friend Christine in Paris, stating that she would love to have me stay. At first I was mostly exstatic at the thought of saving the 140 dollars that I would have spent on a hostel, but in the end I was blown away by her hospitality, and truely have a new friend in Paris. She took the time to actually meet me at the train station, show me around to places that not all the tourists go, explain all of the public transportation systems and how to navigate them, and on top of it cook for me every night and make me coffee and toast every morning! She was AMAZING. Plus we had many good conversations and some good laughs, and she helped me expand on my French a little. I couldn't have asked for more.
So on the day that I was supposed to leave, I woke up to an email titled "Flight cancellation" I was informed that because of a workers strike at the Orly airport, my flight no longer existed. So I went through all the hoops to see if I could change flights, and the soonest one that I found was for 3 days later, so I went ahead and opted to have the money refunded. Before searching for alterior ways to get to Napoli, I seriously considered just cancelling it all together, but after finding out that my flight out of Napoli was non-refundable, I reconsidered. So I ended up finding a bus ticket for the same price as what I paid for the flight... the only downside being spending 24 hours on a bus. According to the man on the phone, there was a few seats left on one leaving that night, so I paid and started packing. I said my goodbyes and took the 45 minute tube ride across town to the bus terminal, where the lady behind the counter politely informed me that there was no bus leaving for Napoli, and that I was booked for one the following night. So I ended up getting another day in Paris, but actually lost a day due to having to rearrange everything. So the next day we went for a long walk and saw a few more sights that I hadn't seen before we said our goodbyes for the second time.
The bus ride was not the most fun experience in the world, and it ended up being 26 hours due to a connecting bus being late. I didn't sleep at all, and I was too tired and grumpy to appreciate the countryside as we were passing it. However, I can now say that I've been to Milan, Parma, Balogna, Florence, and Rome... even if it was just for a few minutes at the bus station :) By the time I got off the bus and walked the 2.5 km to the hostel with a 50 pound pack on, I was officially dead. But not dead enough to not want a beer, so I went with a fellow Hostel mate to a local outdoor bar and had probably the best beer of my life. So now I'm updated for the most part... YAY. And I'm happy to have a new friend from Taiwan, and one from Hong Kong. PEACE.