Confused about "to"

In lesson 5.4, a package being sent "to America" is stated as ". . . in America." Why do we use "in" for "to" and not "a" as in ". . .a America"? And what about if I want to say "I want to go to the store" or " Something is happening to me." Is it "in" or "a"?

Hello, Chuck. I'll try to explain as best I know it. When you are refering to a continent, country, territory, province, state or a large island, then you use "in". So Vado in Texas for I'm going to Texas. When refering to cities, towns or small islands you use "a". So vado a Dallas for I'm going to Dallas. For other places it's more "a" then "in". You'll need to memorize the nouns that require "in". For example: Vado al ristorante. I'm going to the restaurant. But vado in ufficio for I'm going to the office. I was once told that the hardest part of learning a new language are all those small words, such as: to, in, at, for, from, on ...... Good Luck, Charlie

Grazie, Carlo