40 is the new 30.

this summer i celebrated my 40th birthday.

growing up, 40 seemed so old!

but now of course 40 is the new 30...right?

before leaving milan for the summer, my co-workers joined me in celebrating!

they also generously donated to my friends in laos, allowing me to send a check for over $800 to assist michael in continuing to educate those in need in that country.

many thanks go out to everyone who came out to celebrate and contributed to this cause.  a special thanks to jackie, jenna and caitlin who helped to organize this little fiesta!

i woke to a million selfies of this one on my phone.

jackie made this amazing cake!

#40by40

when i moved to italy in 2011 i never would've imagined the amount of travel and experiences i would be fortunate enough to have in the subsequent years.

living here, i spend my money differently than i did in the us. 

less things, more experiences. 

and so, instead of buying tons of stuff, i travel. 

with my 40th birthday looming in 2017, i set out a goal of visiting 40 countries by my 40th birthday. 

with my trip to romania in may, the goal was met!

here's my list of the 40 countries i've visited!

europe

1. austria

2. belgium

3. croatia

4. czech republic

5. denmark

6. england

7. france

8. germany

9. hungary

10. iceland

11. ireland

12. italy

13. luxembourg

14. norway

15. poland

16. portugal

17. romania

18. san marino

19. scotland

20. slovakia

21. slovenia

22. spain

23. sweden

24. switzerland

25. the netherlands

26. the vatican

27. turkey

asia

28. cambodia

29. laos

30. oman

31. philippines

32. thailand

33. united arab emirates

34. vietnam

north america

35. canada

36. mexico

37. the bahamas

38. usa

africa

39. egypt

40. morocco

here's to 40 more! 

a solution to our problems!

living in a foreign country has its quirks.

and discovering those quirks makes expat life so very interesting.

so let's discuss our current 'quirk' that many of my teacher friends are contemplating.

unless you have a doorman or you are at home 24/7, you can not have packages delivered to your apartment.

so, we've been sending packages to our school.

and, we've been told to stop.

boh.

i mean, i guess it was getting a bit out of hand. i've heard rumors of a toilet seat and even a hot tub.

yes, you read that right!

and they are taking the security of the school seriously these days (of course) and hundreds of packages a week is a lot to deal with.

but how will we live without being able to order anything we want on a whim?

well, it seems that amazon has a solution for at least some of these first world problems.

part of their delivery options now include a service called amazon locker.

all around milan businesses have been set up with these bright yellow lockers.

amazon ships your package to the locker and you receive a code via email to retrieve your package.

i tried it out this week.

and it was AWESOME!

when checking out, look for an option under your stored address(es) that allows you to choose another location. it should look something like this:

i selected the amazon locker, named tamara (they all have names), at the pam supermarket on viale sabotino.

but there are plenty of options all around the city.

some locations in central milan

you can enter your code or scan the barcode off your phone.

and the locker with your package pops open!

it was so cool! and so easy!

#highlyrecommend

you have to pick up your package within 3 days or it is sent back to amazon and you're account is credited back.

so, while not everything comes from amazon, a lot sure does!

have you tried amazon locker? let me know what you think!

the *expat* reaction to trump.

happy new year's readers!

here's a post that's been sitting in draft form for a bit. if any of my italian readers find mistakes in my translations of the headlines, please let me know!

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i was happy to be alone.

i put my earbuds in and kept to myself.

i wanted to blend into the background.

if someone heard me speaking english, they might identify me as an american.

and i was embarrassed.

you see, it was the morning after the US election, and while it hadn't been determined officially, we woke up to see several important states swinging red.

trouble was on the horizon.

i felt sick the entire day.

there were some tears being fought back at lunch table among my coworkers.

i should probably tell you that the typical expat, one who packs up their whole life and moves to the opposite side of the world has a pretty open mind. they believe in diversity and acceptance and freedom and choice.

because it is these things that make our lives in a different country possible.

i was asked that day by an italian..."how did this happen?"

and now the most common question is "what do you think about trump?"

ugh.

here are some of the headlines from the italian papers after trump was declared president-elect.

"President for all"

"The fist of Trump"

"America turns a page: But what is behind the surprise triumph of the anarchic Trump?"

The delusion of New York
Hillary: The country is divided.

many of my coworkers lived in europe under the bush presidency and said the view of americans was different and that difference was clearly felt.

so we shall see what the future brings.

i hope for the best.

but i am worried.

how will trump's decision making affect the world? and how will that transfer to my daily life as an american abroad?

only time will tell.

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are you an expat? i'd love to hear about your experiences during and after the election!