Plan B… No Wait, May As Well Skip Straight to Plan W

“He would get these far off looks in his eye and he would say, ‘Life doesn’t always turn out the way you planned.’ I just wish I had realised at the time he was talking about my life.”

- Lucy, from While You Were Sleeping

So many times in life we have things meticulously planned out only to be thwarted by some unexpected freak occurrence. My plan, when I got to Europe, looked something like this:

May

- *A week in Rome to take in some sights and catch up with Marcus and Trinh

- *Commence language school in Siena from 17^th May - 6^th August

- *Stay in Siena until the 16^th August to see the Palio with a friend who was coming from London for the event

This plan had already been modified in July when I decided to continue studying at the language school until the 21^st since I was sticking around Siena anyway. This week is therefore my last week at the school and the Palio is in two days. However, the friend that I made the plan with in the first place is no longer coming because the friend that he was going to stay with changed his plans! He is in Spain as I type this! Oh well, it’s no tragedy because I have plenty of friends here in Siena to go to the Palio with; it’s just ironic.

August

- *Finish up in Siena 21^st August and head to Switzerland for a week to see Sandy

- *30^th August arrive in Rome to meet Sal (my best friend) and travel around Europe with her for five weeks, stopping to meet up with her parents and brother (who are also dear friends of mine) for her birthday on 6^th September

It’s funny how all your plans can be turned upside-down with the news transmitted by one simple SMS:

“Hey this is Sal on remote island. Fell down mountain & severely twisted ankle. Please pray big time…”

As it turned out she hadn’t just twisted her ankle, she had shattered to smithereens. Translation: no travelling with Sal for five weeks. No meeting up with her family. Suddenly poor Sal was flown home to Australia for a stint as a hermit and I had a giant hole in my itinerary!

At first it was somewhat stressful and a bit sad because I was really looking forward to chatting with my best friend. It’s been a long time since I sat down and talked with someone who knows me like she does. Not to mention, someone I can speak English with at a normal speed and with relaxingly little attention to the quality of my articulation!

You know how they say, ‘Whatever doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger’? Well sometimes what doesn’t kill you is just a royal pain in the natiche! Nevertheless, there can be some positives in this. I was wanting to stay in Italy longer, and now I have the time to do it.

What I’m going to occupy my time with, I don’t yet know exactly, but there are a few options open to me. I will scope them all out and let you know what I come up with!