Europe - Part 2 - Comerio, Varese

    Soon after I got my bags, I went outside to find the driver who was going to come pick me up. First, I could not find him. By the way, I felt like a celebrity walking out and so many people holding name cards. I then saw this tall, handsome guy. Our eyes met, he gave me this warm smile like he knew it was me he came to receive, and boom, my first Italian guy crush! :) He spoke very little English, and I felt like a little girl eager to make him talk to me. His name was Yuri.
    He dropped me to my hotel. Crystal Hotel is this tiny Best Western Hotel located in downtown Varese. It was probably 7pm when I reached the hotel. The room was tiny but cute. I freshened up and went to this restaurant called Orchidia where I ate my first Italian pizza.

     It was a very different experience for me to sit in a restaurant in a different country, all by myself. Everyone around me spoke in Italian. Varese is a very small town and people can easily figure out if you are an outsider. Well ofcourse and I don't look Italian also! After a glass of vino bianco, and a huge pizza (which is not cut for you like in the US, and served as a whole), I had yummy chocolate dulce. That day I learned that it is ok to enjoy a nice meal by yourself. I remember feeling sad everytime I had to eat lunch by myself in the university, but this time felt different. I felt sad and strong at the same time. I never imagined that I would be alone in Italy, but then I never imagined I would have the strength to be alone in Italy.

     The next day I went to our office in Comerio. It was awesome. The view was breathtaking. Work was busy. Met a lot of new people. It is a very different feeling to work in a place where most people are talking in a language that you cannot understand. However, I learned to get over that. I could see how a lot of people would consider that rude and shut themselves down. But, I realized that we do the same back in India. I made more effort to interact with my co-workers. I made sure that I talked slowly so they could understand me and I learned to be patient as it took them more time to make a sentence in English. Some of my co-workers even told me that they liked talking to me coz they could understand me better and that I did not make them feel uncomfortable. It felt good. I made a lot of good relationships.

  My week continued with work and good food. The second week I was there, one of the directors from US was also visiting Comerio for another project . He had lived there as an Expat for 2 years and he knew the town inside out. The day before he was leaving, he took me to Laveno for dinner and there it was: Lago Maggiore (Lake Maggiore is a magical glacial lake anchoring the mountains which step up into the Italian Alps)

     We reached there right during sunset. I cried when I saw that view. It was the most breathtaking view I have ever seen in my life. I was grateful to God to give me this opportunity. The last two years of my life were very difficult. Your first heart break is the most difficult, coz you think it is the end of the world. But when you see something so magnificent, you realize how much there is to life than crying over someone who will never make you feel like what I felt when I saw this sunset.
     That is when I realized a lot about my past and a lot about myself and a lot about what I want in the future. I realized I want to be with someone who will make me feel like what I felt when I saw this sunset.....

Europe - Part 1 - On the way to Milan

    So I recently got a chance to go to Europe, partly for work and partly for pleasure. I was in Italy for two weeks and then went to Spain and France. This trip symbolized and meant a lot to me. After having my heart broken recently, I needed this. I needed to go away to a place I have never been to and meet people from all over the world.
    Lets start from my flight experience. I will tell this to the world. NEVER FLY DELTA. DELTA= Does Not Ever Leave The Airport. My flight from Chicago to NYC was delayed and I thought I would miss my flight to Milan. I did manage to catch my flight, only to realize that due to 1. Technical issues 2. Weather issues 3. Engine issues, the flight got canceled. Delta was so poorly managed. I finally got a hotel room at 1 in the morning. My flight was rescheduled for the next day. The flight AGAIN got canceled due to engine issues. They then rescheduled it from 6pm to 10pm. Suddenly at 10pm they realized that they did not have the crew. They then called out every passenger's name (200 passengers) to give them food coupons when all the restaurants on the airport were closed. Finally at 3 am they found another crew and our flight took off. On my way to Milan, I was sitting next to this really nice guy who was Italian and works as a music professor in Arizona State University. He made me listen to some very cool classical music (as I have no knowledge about it). He was going to Milan to perform in a concert and he made me listen to the piece he was going to play. It was awesome!
    I finally reach Milan. I had a HUGE smile on my face and could not believe I was in ITALY! Never had I imagined I would get such an opportunity. Immigration was a breeze. It was surprising that there was no customs (unlike the rigorous US customs). My bag arrived very quickly, however, it was torn. Did I mention, I HATE DELTA?