Timor Romana
My first major vacation of my adult life (as defined by the fact that I have a "job") is rapidly approaching, and I am filled with a sense of anticipation. The anticipation is shot through with outright fear - fear, I tell you! Now, usually I am not even remotely worried about travel because quite frankly, there's very little that can happen that can't be remedied. But before this trip I've been inundated with tales of Italian perils. Thankfully none of it is of the "losing a kidney and waking up in a bathtub full of ice" variety but it has been rather uniformly bleak. Mostly they've been warnings about keeping an eye out for pickpockets. Having lived in Egypt for several years I am not entirely unfamiliar with this sort of thing, but it's been awhile since it was a concern for me and with all these voices telling me to be careful I am a little worried. It doesn't help that I don't speak the langauge at all, mind you, but with this trusty phrase book I'm bound to be ok. Right?