A Day to Endure

No pictures, just a quick update. Yesterday was the craziest day ever. I woke up early at 6am, caught the 6:30 shuttle to the train station, said bye to Mom and Dad. Mom was teary, as usual.

I arrived in Rome without problem. I bought the ticket at the Fiumicino station because I was dumb and did not notice that my Eurail was first class (enabling me to get on basically any train). What a waste of money. Then I got to the Roma Termini station, where everything was a madhouse. There were people everywhere, trains waiting at the platforms, red times next to all the trains. Everything was delayed, including my 8:50 train to Venice. Great, I thought, how will I meet Adam and Casey?

I waited for about 4 and a half hours, just seeing my train get further delayed, each time without a platform listed. Then I looked up around 11:30 and saw the tiles for my train were spinning. Yes! Time to go! They all went black instead. My train literally disappeared. There was tons of confusion, as all these people with 8:50 train tickets flooded the information desk. I managed to get on the 11:30 train to Venice, which did not leave the station until 1:20 pm (about 15 minutes before I was supposed to meet the Hammonds).

I was on a hot car with all these Italian people who were shouting and banging on the windows for them to turn the air on. I have learned while here that the less you move and the less you think about being hot, the more manageable it is. So I just sat there quietly, waiting for it to pass. A grandpa sat next to me with a large nose, kind face, and hairy arms. Across from me sat a man who belonged in the original Italian mafia, dressed in a button down black shirt with thin stripes, tanned, bald with a ring of white hair, drawn lips, and square sunglasses. He even had the whispery voice when he answered his cell phone.

The train kept stopping in cities and even in tunnels. I can not tell you how many stupid tunnels we stopped in! It was in one of these tunnels that I realized that I was not on the express train I had paid to reserve, but was rather on a slow train. The trip took 7 hours.

Upon arriving at the train station, I did not see Adam and Casey. This was not that surprising, as I was there a full 7 hours after I had planned. I waited for about an hour, and then saw an American couple. I had been praying, Lord you are in control of everything; show me what you desire, give me a way. I walked up to this couple and asked them if they knew about the campgrounds, where I knew the Hammonds were staying. Unfortunately there were 3 campgrounds, and I did not know which. They were from Florida, the first Floridians I had met. I ended up getting a hotel room with them. We had a lot of fun, actually.

The cool God confirmations kept coming through the night. After I came back from the bathroom in my PJs (standard European wear for me: my faded blue Denver Broncos shirt that I do not even know how I own and capri pj pants), Alex, the guy, went "What is that shirt?" He glanced over at Katrina, who was wearing a nearly identical shirt. Both shirts are faded, hole-ridden, and neither of us are Broncos fans. But they are our favorites, so we love wearing them. Then later, I find out that Alex went to Orange Park, and he knows the Cassidys (including Casey) and was really good friends with Kelly.

Things are working out. I am meeting the Hammonds at the station in 30 minutes, and then we will hopefully manage to keep tabs on each other from there. I have gotten a taste of Europe on my own though, and it is crazy. I will keep you all posted when I can.