countdown to liftoff

Behold my first proud purchase for my trip to Europe.




Less than 48 hours from now, I'll be on a plane to Rome, launching my long-awaited, highly anticipated European adventure. I've been planning this trip since my sophomore year of high school, and it has finally arrived -- so I thought I'd go all out on the backpack. Admire it's pink-and-plaidness, ladies and gentlemen.

After much deliberation, I have decided to name my blog THE EURO QUO. If you're interested in finding out how I chose the name (it took me literally four months), read on -- if not, just continue being amazed at my glorious knapsack.

My thought process stemmed from quotidien -- most probably from a recent lunch I had with my father at le pain quotidien, my personal belgian bakery/café chain of choice. The word "quotidian" may have some banal undertones, but I think it pretty well wraps up what I'm going for with this year in Europe. I want to become absorbed in the essence of the everyday, to appreciate the minute, yet essential, details that distinguish them from one another and from Americans. I want to be immersed so deeply that these distinctions become quotidian.

But quotidian is a mouthful, not to mention painfully pretentious sounding, so I went with an abbreviated version that calls to mind the status quo, translation: things as they are. Even though sticking to the status quo may conjure up images of succumbing to the man (or High School Musical, depending on your taste in made-for-TV movies), but I as a stranger in a foreign culture, learning, adapting, and adopting the status quo is part of the learning experience.

And thus the journey begins -- alla prossima, amici.