"I love Americans, but let me tell you what's wrong with America"

Enlighten me, please.

I thought spending the weekend in an English speaking country would be similar to a slice of home (well, in many ways it was). Ironically I've never been more acutely aware of the fact that I was an American in a foreign country. The title of this post is a direct quote from a conversation I had with a British guy while waiting in a line to get into a club. He then proceeded to tell me what was wrong with America. Apparently we're a consumer driven society (pot calling the kettle black, pumpkin) and our government is manipulating us and we don't even know it (If we're speaking frankly he looked like he could be in the British version of Reefer Madness. Hey if he's gonna stereotype Americans I get to stereotype dreadlocked-paranoid-conspiracy theory believing strangers). He then started ranting about how he couldn't believe George W. Bush was elected president and how could Americans allow this to happen (for such a trendy city, he was way behind on the trends. Bush rants went out of style years ago...duh!). About two minutes into his rant my friend Jen says "you know he isn't president anymore, right? You know he hasn't been for two years, right?" Then he proceeded to lecture us about our political system, which he seemed to have no real grasp of (at this point I struck up a conversation with someone else less critical of my homeland). He ended his rant, quite earnestly, with "I want to visit America so badly though! Where should I go?" So, yeah, that was interesting. We also met a girl at our hostel and when she found out we were American she said, direct quote, "Wow, you're real life Americans?" Like maybe Americans were unicorns and she thought we didn't exist. Then she wondered aloud why Americans would come to England because British people hate Americans...Well, I guess I missed that memo. All the Brits I knew before my trip to London are delightful, and I'm pretty sure they like me. My new friend from the club seems to be the exception.

These experience in no way detracted from my experience in London, in fact I think they almost enhanced it. The rest of the weekend was amazing! London is a great city. So big and full of excitement and life. It's a little reminiscent of New York, but not quite.  

Kelly, Laura and I (my traveling posse) flew into Heathrow on Thursday night. Heathrow is such a nice airport. So clean! So efficient! Take note, Fiumicino. We made it through passport control, and 15 questions about my life and visit to London, and we were off to the hostel. We took the tube. Also so clean! And efficient! And no homeless person peeing in the corner! Take note, New York. We made it to our hostel around 11:30. We were sharing 15 bed room with a bunch of strangers. It was not as sketchy as I thought, but the room was tiny. I crawled up to the top of the triple bunk bed I was assigned to sleep in and tried to sleep. I wasn't very successful. It's hard to sleep in a room with that many people. The next morning we headed for the London Eye, which was visible from our hostel. It wasn't too far away and because we knew nothing about London we didn't realize how close we really were to all the sights. I took about 45 pictures of Big Ben in from various angles and close ups.

Big Ben!

So majestic!

London Eye

We also took a ride on the London Eye. It's a giant ferris wheel with great views of London. It's also very tall and every time it shook a little I had a mild panic attack. I also had to sit towards the top of the wheel and I couldn't look down without getting queasy. Heights are not my thing.

view of parliament and Big Ben from the Eye

Laura, me and Kelly on the London Eye

After our adventure on the London Eye, we were ravenous. So we picked a Random restaurant and ordered fish and chips. I'm still kicking myself for not taking a picture. It was not what I expected. I thought it would be fried fish sticks, but alas it was an entire fried fish sans head or tail. It was really good though! And I usually don't like fish, so I was pleased.

My friend Jen who also goes to Villanova and is in my sorority is studying in London this semester so she met up with us at the restaurant and hung out with us for most of the weekend. It was so great to have someone who kind of knew their way around. It made a huge difference in quality of experience. We didn't know what we were looking for in Brussels so we just wandered around, but in London we had someone who knew exactly where to go.


After we finished our fish and chips we headed to Buckingham Palace to say hi to the Queen. The Palace is gorgeous. I would love to see the inside of it. I don't know if that's even possible, but it would be awesome.

Hey Liz!

I waved, he was clearly waving back with his eyes

We spent the rest of the day just wandering around London. We went to Piccadilly Circus, which is kind of like the Times Square of London, except much smaller. We visited a souvenir shop that had all things Britain, England, London and everything in between. I bought myself a Prince William shot glass (they didn't have Harry, I looked). I was also tempted to buy a William and Kate commemorative item, just because of the sheer absurdity of it, but I couldn't decide between a plate, coffee mug, teaspoon or ash tray. But I did find the most amazing hat ever! (don't worry mom, I'm fiscally responsible and didn't buy it).

I'll save the Queen!

Jen and I with the Cool Brittania Bear

We went to the main shopping street, the name is slipping my mind, with some of the most amazing shopping I've ever seen in my life. London is such a trendy city. In every store we went into I saw so many great things. We also stopped at Starbucks. I had a latte. It was amazing. Life was grand. I could go back to Italy happy.

American coffee beverages!

After all the walking and shopping we had been doing all day, our feet were killing us. No, I think I was dying because of the pain in my feet. I felt like I had walked the entire length of the British Isles. We went to Chipotle for dinner. Most satisfying Chipotle experience of my life. Except for that one time I dressed up like a burrito and got a free burrito. So, almost the most satisfying Chipotle experience of my life. We limped back to the hostel, threw on some going out clothes and headed to Jen's apartment so we could experience the London nightlife I had seen in all of my friend's Facebook albums who studied abroad last semester. In line for the club is where I met my friend from earlier in the post. When we got to the door, I was carded and when the bouncer saw my California license he made several Arnold Shwarzenegger jokes. I didn't have the heart to tell him he also wasn't in office anymore. Once in the club we danced and danced, then danced some more. It was a blast. Afterward I serenaded the streets of London with my rendition of "What's My Name" by Rihanna and Drake. People seemed to be enjoying it...or laughing at me and screaming obscenities. Either, or. We took a cab back to the London Eye and figured we would walk from there. DAD STOP READING HERE...It was really late at night and we got kind of lost trying to find the hostel, but we knew were in the proper vicinity. It started raining and our feet were throbbing and we were just wandering around in a strange  foreign city. You know, everything your parents tell you not to do. After what seemed like 2 hours (but was actually about 30 minutes) DAD YOU CAN START READING AGAIN...We safely found the hostel. I had no problem sleeping that night.

We woke up the next morning to make it to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard. It is quite the ordeal and we didn't get there early enough to get a good spot in front of the Palace to see the actual changing of the guard. We did get to see them march in on foot and on horse.

So much pomp and circumstance

WHERE ARE THE TALL FURRY HATS?!?!?!

After the guards and horses passed we left to go to Harrod's. Which was amazing. It's like a department store on steroids. We were in there for what felt like hours and we didn't even get close to seeing the whole thing. I'll have to go back again someday, when I'm not a broke college student studying abroad. After Harrod's we went back to the hostel for a much needed power nap. Except I couldn't sleep, which would come back to bite me in the ass on Monday morning. And so we headed out again to Jen's apartment and then out to a club with a ridiculous cover charge and the world's most overpriced drinks. But they were playing great music, so we danced and danced and kept dancing. We managed to find the bus that stopped right by our hostel. Again, I had no problems sleeping.

The next morning we were off to Heathrow for our flight home. Customs at Fiumicino was literally a giant clusterfudge of people trying to get through. Goodbye efficiency, it was nice while it lasted. We had to sprint to make our train back to Perugia, but we made it. It felt good to be back in my apartment in my own bed that was not 12 feet off of the ground.

Because it's not London without the red phonebooth

Ciao!

You're Understandable

Another week has come and gone here in Perugia. Time is a weird concept when studying abroad. I measure my time here by the weekends and what I'm doing that weekend. It's not the best way to keep track of the semester as it takes a lot away from it, but the days seem to run together here. When I try to recall an event I have to place it in the context of what was going on the weekend. "Oh, it was the Wednesday before we left for Brussels" or "The day we got back from Florence." I've been in Italy for about 5 weeks now, which is hard to believe. My professors are starting to talk about midterms, which begin in a week. I cannot believe I'm already at the midterm of my semester abroad. I feel like I haven't done anything in any of my classes that I can be tested on. I'm sure this false sense of comfort will bite me in the ass during midterms week, but for now I'm enjoying my (false?) sense of comfort. 

This past week was pretty uneventful. My friend turned 21 so we spent most of the week celebrating. I felt bad because she wanted all the crazy 21st birthday accessories like a light up tiara, sash, flashing button, shot glass necklace, etc. But, unsurprisingly, you cannot find such accessories in Italy. Though a flashing buon compleanno tiara would have been awesome. No one besides the Americans seemed to care that she was turning 21. Again, understandable but I feel like turning 21 is one of those landmarks in every American's life that is over-celebrated. It made me glad I was in the States for my 21st.

This week also marked the third time I went to tandem. Tandem is a cultural exchange event where the American students spend time with Italian students and alternate speaking in English and Italian. It's a great way to practice speaking Italian and meet new people. I'm always hesitant to go. I don't know why because every time I've gone has been great and I've met a lot of interesting people. Anyway, this week the people I was talking with told me that my Italian, while not perfect, was understandable! They said if I keep learning vocabulary I'll get even better. It was a great moment in my life. My broken Italian is understandable! Then they made fun of me because I can't roll my R's. But I'll take any victory I can get.

Next weekend I'm going to London! I'm very excited! As much as I'm "understandable" in Italian, it will be nice to be completely understood in English. Also, I realized that they will probably have a Starbucks in London! I don't miss Starbucks that much but I do miss American coffee! For a culture that prides itself on enjoying everything and taking their sweet time, the Italians throw back coffee like it was a shot of tequila. Their coffee dates can last for hours, but the coffee in question will be gone within the first 2 minutes of their conversation. I just want a cup of coffee that takes more than 3 sips to finish. An iced coffee would be appreciated too. My friend Laura and I were joking about what the chances of finding a Dunkin' Donuts in London were. We're dying for Dunkin's iced coffee. I also miss American breakfast. Breakfast in Italy is usually a pastry and a coffee, if even that. First thing I'm eating when I get home (or first breakfast opportunity): eggs, bacon, toast and hash browns with a giant mug of coffee. If you want to join, I'll be at Tomboy's in Manhattan Beach on May 1st. Look for the person in the corner shoveling food into her mouth. Don't expect any conversation or pleasantries.

Well, I'm off to enjoy a lazy Sunday.

Ciao!

Brussels and Hoes

This past weekend I ventured out of Italy for my first international adventure. I spent the weekend in Brussels, Belgium with my friends Kelly and Laura and it was delightful. The decision to spend the weekend in Brussels was a rather impromptu one. One of my roommates had done some research about Brussels and found an article titled "Top 10 Things to do in Brussels Besides Drink Beer" (For the record, drink beer was number 1 on the list). It looked like an interesting city and they have a theme park called Mini Europe which is filled with to scale miniatures of various landmarks around Europe. This sounded like a dream come true for me because I love mini things, especially when scaled in size to the original. Seriously, one of my favorite aisles in Target is the travel toiletries because everything is miniaturized. So, we booked our flights and hostels about a week ago and started to get excited.

Sadly I spent the beginning of last week in bed with some sort of stomach bug. I feel like everything is more glamorous when it's done in a foreign country. It turns out, vomiting is just as awful no matter how beautiful or exotic the locale is. I only missed a day of classes, and it was a mild 24 hour bug, but miserable nonetheless. I self medicated with water and season 5 of Friends and was feeling better in no time.

Our flight left Friday morning out of Rome at 8:45 and there was no way we could make it down there in time so we had to leave Thursday and spend the night in a hostel right by the airport. It was nothing to exciting, just a place to sleep. Friday morning we were up bright and early to catch the bus to the airport. Our flight was delayed a little, but nothing too bad. We flew into an airport 45 minutes outside of Brussels because Ryanair is cheap and doesn't believe in major airports. However there was a coach bus to and from the city, so that was easy enough. We managed to find our hotel successfully. It was a really smooth journey and the hotel was pretty nice for the price (free breakfast!). We put our stuff in the room and set off to explore the city.

The city is gorgeous. It has a very French feel to it, but it has so many different cultures and I heard tons of different languages as we walked around. Every menu is in four languages (French, German, English and Spanish) and there were restaurants with every type of ethnic food. All the waiters, shopkeepers and vendors seemed to speak a minimum of four languages. It made me feel like an idiot for struggling to speak even two languages. I've resolved to improve my Italian, if only so that I don't feel so linguistically inadequate when compared to seemingly all of Europe. It was also very disorienting to hear so many different languages. When I came to Italy it was weird to hear people speak Italian because I wasn't used to hearing it everywhere I went. In Brussels it was disorienting to hear people speaking something other than Italian. I would occasionally overhear some people speaking Italian and I would get weirdly excited. It was a strange comfort. When we would watch TV, it was all in French. To me, French sounds like the same 4 sounds repeated in different patterns. All I wanted to do was speak Italian! It was strange and oddly gratifying to realize how ingrained the Italian language is becoming in my mind. I've decided to rededicate myself to semi-mastering Italian.

Anyway, we spent most of Friday just wandering the city and taking pictures. The weather was pretty miserable. Cloudy, drizzly and windy all weekend but I've lived in worse.

Center Place - The Main town Square

More of the Main Square

The best part of the city was the main square called Center Place. It couldn't get a photo of the entire square because it was too big for my camera, but these are some of the pictures I managed to take. The detail on the buildings is crazy. In the summer there are tables outside of all the cafes and flowers everywhere. It was still pretty in the freezing rain though.

Saturday we woke up pretty early so we could venture over to Mini Europe for a few hours of comical pictures with miniature landmarks. The buildings might be miniature, but my excitement was ginormous. We took the metro, managed to not get lost and we were at Mini Europe!

Only problem, IT WAS CLOSED UNTIL MID MARCH! I'm still recovering from the grief I experienced. This was pretty much the entire reason I came to Brussels and it was CLOSED.

Mini Europe - OF LIES

You can't see my face, but I'm crying a little bit

My world felt shattered, hope seemed lost but there was a small silver lining to this miserable, dark cloud. The Atomium! It's outer-space looking contraption that was built for the World's Fair.

The Atomium

The mini adventure that could have been

We went in and rode an elevator the the top where we got some great views of the city and of Mini Europe (of LIES).

The photos don't do the city Justice

There were also some cool exhibits in the Atomium about the World Fair and Space. It was really cool, but the only thing that could mend my broken heart was a Belgian waffle (A.K.A. the other reason I wanted to visit Brussels).

With chocolate, strawberries and whipped cream

It doesn't know what's about to happen

Mmmm, tastes like adult onset diabetes!

It was amazing! I felt like I was going to toss my waffle after I finished, but it delicious. The whipped cream was fresh and the chocolate was warm and the waffle soaked it up like a sponge. The strawberries are fruit, so obviously it was a light, healthy snack!

It was a waffle massacre

I didn't manage to finish the whipped cream, but I ate the entire waffle and stopped short of licking the container it came in.








After Waffle-fest '11, I needed to move because if I sat still I feared I would fall into a sugar coma and never wake up. We had read about a family operated brewery nearby that had self-guided tours that ended with a beer tasting (A.K.A. the other, other reason I wanted to visit Brussels). The Brewery was very interesting. I learned a lot about how beer is made. This Brewery specialized in making a type of beer called lambic that is low in carbonation and has a sour taste to it.

The bouquet was a bit robust...oh, wrong alchohol

After we finished the tour we got to try two different types of beer. The first type was a standard lambic beer. It had a sour taste. It wasn't disgusting, but I won't be buying bottles of it anytime soon.

Cherry-flavored-sour-beer.

The second beer was a lambic that was flavored with cherries. It was unlike any beverage I have ever consumed, let alone beer. It had a fruity sour taste to it. It didn't taste like any beer I've ever tried. Again, not gross but I'm not dying to drink it again.





After our brewery adventure we shopped for Belgium chocolate (not a reason I went to Brussels, but a delightful addition). We stopped at the hotel for a quick break from all the walking, grabbed a quick dinner and then head off to find a pub where we could try more beer. I guess Belgium is knows for their light beers (I could be making that up) but I prefer light beer so I was interested in trying some different versions. TripAdvisor (don't judge me! It's my new favorite website!) kept talking about this pub with a name I cannot pronounce or spell. We tried twice to find a table, but had no success so I guess it's popular for a reason. We ended up walking across the street to another pub that looked popular. It was filled with a bunch of people from various parts of The UK watching a soccer game and yelling. So we grabbed a table and ordered two blonde beers and a sweet amber beer. I liked the amber beer best.

After a few drinks we headed back to the hotel because we had a long day of traveling ahead. The trip back to Italy went smoothly (It was wonderful to hear Italian again!). It was 65 degrees in Rome and absolutely gorgeous. I wish I could have stayed and enjoyed it. The only hitch in the entire weekend (besides the Mini Europe travesty) was that our train broke down on the way to Perugia so we ended up getting back about 2 hours later than intended. But we made it back safely and with most of our sanity in tact, so I can't complain.

I know this post is long, but it was a great experience and I just wanted to share as much of it as possible. I've decided I'm going to try and blog more frequently, even if it's just a short blurb about my day or an experience I have. Not every day can be an epic multi-country adventure (no matter how much I wish that was the case).

Stay tuned for more adventures! I'll be heading to London in about two weeks!

Ciao!

small Italian children in adorable puffy jackets

One of the first things I noticed when I stepped off the plane in Rome was how adorable Italian kids are. Have you ever heard a small child speak Italian? It will melt your heart and make you squeal inappropriately (maybe that's just me?). There's always so much happiness in their voices and they speak slowly enough so that I can understand everything they say! Now imagine that adorable image and take it to the next level of preciousness: puffy jackets and beanies. Adorable! I wish I had a picture, but I thought randomly taking pictures of young children was kind of creepy.

The people in Italy dress themselves and their children like they were preparing to brave the arctic tundra. The coldest it's been since I arrived as been in the low 30s. It's usually in the mid to high 40s, but there's no way to know that by looking at what everyone is wearing. They even dress their dogs in sweaters. People in Perugia take their dogs everywhere. They also rarely use leashes, so sometimes I'll see a dog roaming the streets 20 feet ahead of their owner. It's something I would rarely see in the US. Also, no one here picks up after their dog. No one. There is dog crap all over the place. In the middle of the street, on major public sidewalks and in large piazzas. But, the real hot spot for dogs to relieve themselves seems to be right outside my apartment building. I have yet to step into anything but all of my roommates have fallen victim. On my way to classes I often see a city worker sweeping up dog poo. I think that might be his official job.

Another thing that has puzzled me during my time in Perugia, besides scattered dog scat, is the concept of paying for water at a restaurant. I know that this is common practice all over Europe, but it annoys me to no end. America got it right with the free water at restaurants. Also, if you order a coffee or a pastry and decide to sit down and enjoy it at a table, you'll be charged a sitting fee. What!?!?! Yes, you have to pay to sit down! Again, it's common practice throughout Europe, but that doesn't mean it doesn't piss me off.

And don't even get me started on the transportation strikes. There was a train strike this past weekend, that had been premeditated for almost two weeks. Yes, they plan their strikes. They usually last 24 hours and there often exactly during the times you want or need to travel. What are they trying to accomplish with the strike? "We want better wages so we're striking for 24 hours!" Does that work? I'm honestly curious as to how effective it is. My theory is that they want a day off. In which case, it is a little bit brilliant and probably (more than) a little bit corrupt.

*Sigh* cultural differences...

Wait, it hasn't been a month already?

Almost every person I've talked to about studying abroad has told me that the time would fly by. I've been here for about 10 days and I have to say it feels like a lot longer. It doesn't feel longer in the sense that I'm completely settled in or I know my way around or that I feel like I belong here. Just in the sense that the week has gone really slowly. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I feel like I'm living in some alternate reality. I wake up in the morning and have to remind myself that I'm in Italy. It's a very strange feeling. However, classes start tomorrow and I'm hoping that once I have my schedule as it will be for the rest of my time here that I am able to settle in fully and time will probably start to fly.

Also, I have been so tired the entire time I've been here. Often times I feel like falling asleep in the middle of the day or in the middle of a meal. I blame jet lag, but my roommates say I have to stop using that as a crutch. Someone told me that for every hour of time change you need a day to recover. It'll be nine days tomorrow so I'm hoping I wake up and am magically healed of all jet lag and ready to go.

Anyway, the last week has been spent getting acquainted with Perugia and practicing my Italian. I had Italian class every day from 9 until 12 and then again at 1:30. My professor is an Italian man named Francesco and he is hilarious. He always tells me "hai la tua testa fra le nuvole" or "you've got your head in the clouds." To be fair, I often am spacing out whenever he calls on me (tuition money hard at work!) but I've been learning a lot. The morning was spent reviewing grammar and in the afternoon we learned practical skills like grocery shopping, ordering coffee, traveling and eating at a restaurant. The practical lessons were incredibly helpful and have proved themselves useful many times over already. We actually went to the supermarket to learn about grocery shopping in Italy. We took the Minimetro which is one of Perugia's forms of public transportation. I'm pretty sure it's called the Minimetro because it's so adorable you want to put it in your pocket. I didn't take any pictures of it (yet) but I had to find a picture on google image to illustrate its preciousness.

ADORABLE!

This picture does not do it justice. You just have to ride on it to experience it. It's like riding the monorail at Disneyland but infinitely better. I'm looking for excuses to ride it again just because it's so wonderful. I'll be sure to more fully document my next minimetro adventure




Shopping at the grocery store was pretty much similar to any grocery store in the US. The main difference was there was an entire aisle devoted to pasta. I didn't realize there were so many types of pasta. My favorite moment was when I found Mr. Clean in Italian. Something about it struck me as hilarious.

Mastro Lindo!

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. Yesterday I went on a tour of the city and it was nice to see more of the area. Zach, one of the Umbra staff members, was our guide and he provided a lot of interesting stories and tidbits about Perugia. If anything I got some gorgeous photos of the city and the views and a great workout.

Even the Boring Buildings are Awesome

The Main Fountain

The Outskirts of Perugia

Today we went to a farm to learn about olive oil and how to make fresh pasta. I have to say that Italy knows how to make olive oil. Even the bottle we bought for 3 euro at the grocery store is far superior than the crap they have in the US. Did you know olive oil is supposed kind of taste like olives? I didn't. You can imagine how great the fresh olive oil at the farm was.

Rolling Out the Pasta

She's a Pro

The pasta making presentation was interesting and fun. I didn't get a chance to make any of my own pasta. This is probably for the best because I could see it ending with someone accidentally getting smacked in the head with a rolling pin. We did get to take some of the fresh made pasta home and my roommates and I will be having it for dinner tomorrow night

 
We also spent some time with our program coordinators talking about our experiences so far in Perugia and our expectations for the semester. It was a little too Kumbaya-esque at some points, but they offered some good pieces of advice about adjusting to different customs and practicing our Italian.



In other exciting news, I booked my flight to Paris for April! I'm so excited! Sadly the trip is still 3 months away so I'm in the process of planning some more weekend adventures. I'm hoping to make it to London, Spain (Madrid or Barcelona), Prague and hopefully Switzerland along with exploring Italy more. My parents will be coming to visit for two weeks in March and two of my best friends from Villanova will be coming to spend spring break with me.

Italian Who Wants to be a Millionaire is on, so I'm off to practice my Italian

Ciao!

The First Few Days

I'm all moved into my apartment. It's not too fancy, but it's cozy and wonderful. We have a washing machine and even better, we have wireless internet! We got so lucky!

The Kitchen

The apartment has two singles and a double room. Since Lauren and Melissa were already friends they were gracious enough to volunteer to take the double. The two singles vary quite vastly in size. One is pretty much a closet and the other one is bigger than the living room. Kylie and I flipped a euro for the bigger room and I won. It's pretty sweet, but Kylie's room is connected to Lauren and Melissa's so I feel somewhat secluded. Luckily the apartment is so small that we can all sit in our own rooms and have a conversation. The woman who lives below us is 90 years old and mostly deaf. we've decided to befriend her in the hopes she'll teach us how to cook authentic Italian meals. Or just cook them for us. This morning she was watching mass on her television so loudly that we could hear it in our apartment.

My Bed

My Closet and Desk

After we moved in we went to grab a bite before our placement tests. As we walked to the school we realized that the town seemed really quiet for the middle of the day. We realized that it was pausa. Pretty much all the stores close from about 1:00 - 4:00 so everyone can go home and eat a big lunch and take a siesta. I knew this already, but I don't think I realized how serious they were about their naps. Three hours of the day devoted to eating and rest? Yes, please.

The Italian Countryside from Perugia.

The walk to school is about 5 minutes, entirely uphill. After we arrived at the school I realized how horribly out of shape I am. Since the first day I've walked up this hill an average of 5-7 times a day. If I don't have buns of steel when I leave, I'll be pissed.

Buns-O-Steel!

The placement test wasn't too bad. There was a written exam and an oral exam. I managed to cobble together some broken Italian sentences for my oral exam. It worked because I placed into the class I need for credit.

After the placement test was finished we had another meeting for orientation and afterward we had the night to do what we pleased. I bought towels so that I could shower and we went to the grocery store to stock up on some food. Then I went to dinner with my friends from Villanova, Laura and Kelly. We went to a Pizzeria. We somehow managed to order and successfully ask for the check.

After that my roommates went out and I decided to stay in and fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow. I'm pretty jet lagged. Unfortunately I woke up at 5am so it wasn't as good a night's sleep as I had hoped for.

I went on a walking tour of the city at 12:30 and then had an orientation meeting at 2pm where they went over the basics of the program and answered questions. Afterward my roommates and I walked around the city for a while. I got some gelato and we walked through old Perugia. Old Perugia is actually a giant fortress where they used to hide the Pope during the 1300s. It's pretty much an underground city. It's crazy and kind of creepy. Around 4 we headed back to school for an open house-type thing. I entered a raffle to win a free trip to Morocco. We'll see what happens.

Pope Fortress!

Tomorrow I being my week of intensive Italian classes. Hopefully after the week is over I'll feel more confident in my Italian and have learned more about the city.

That's all for now.

Ciao!

Oh hey Italy!

I made it! I'm exhausted but I made it!

My flight to JFK was spent nodding in and out of sleep. I met a delightful woman who was on her way to Egypt (and I thought I had a long day of flying). Once in New York I was left to move my 3 bags from one terminal to another. I rented a luggage cart, loaded it up and headed for the airport tram. One stop later and I was in the international terminal checking in for my flight to Zurich. Once I checked in and made it through security I had about 4 hours until my flight boarded. I walked to the gate and saw a group of college looking students. They noticed me awkwardly staring and asked if I was heading to Perugia. I answered yes and we all introduced ourselves. Then I promptly forgot most of their names (I blame lack of sleep). My friend Laura from Villanova arrived and we had Panda Express for dinner and hung out. We spent the time until our flight chatting with our future classmates and trying to get to know each other. After what seemed like days we were boarding the plane!

Let me say that if anyone ever needs to fly international, Swiss air is not a bad way to go. It was so nice. I never want to fly domestic again. Or until I have to. Whichever comes first. There was a nice plaid motif going on with the seats and blankets. I had an aisle seat (thank god!) in the last row of the plane. After we took off I watched a few TV shows on the personal TV in the seat back in front of me (for free! Take that Delta Airlines!). We were served a pretty decent dinner and the drink carts came by what seemed like every 15-20 minutes. After dinner the flight attendants passed out eye masks and ear plugs and I passed out. When I woke up it was morning. I almost missed breakfast, but I managed to shake down one of the flight attendants for a croissant and a cup of coffee. I spent the rest of the flight listening to my ipod and reading about Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds romantic New Years Eve.

We landed in Zurich and made it through customs (My first passport stamp! I'm still not sure why no one else was as excited as me). The only parts of Switzerland I saw were through the windows, but wow, it's gorgeous. I mean, it's stunning. We could see the snow covered mountain tops and I think I saw the Matterhorn (note: I didn't. Let me have my moment). I was hungry so I bought a sandwhich and a bottle of water. It was pretty much daylight robbery as far as I'm concerned, but I was hungry so I paid for it. Then we boarded our flight to Rome. It was only a short hour flight, so before I knew it we were in Rome! CRAZINESS! I still haven't comprehended the fact that yes, I'm in Italy and yes, I'll be here for the next four months. We grabbed our luggage and met the Umbra (the school I'm attending) staff. We ended up waiting at the airport for almost an hour because there were several students with flight delays who were supposed to be on our bus. I spent the time hanging out with Laura and playing the airport game (making up back stories for the people in the airport. Thanks Modern Family!) and chatting with my classmates. I converted my U.S. dollars to Euro and when I came back we were mobilizing to the buses to leave for Perugia. It was about 4pm when we got on the bus. I tried to stay awake to look at the scenery, but nearly 24 hours of travel had taken its toll on me and I passed out. When I woke up we were in Perugia.

We stayed in a hotel last night. I shared a room with my the girl who I'll be living with all semester (shout out to Kylie!). Our other two roommates were in the room next to us (hey Lauren and Melissa!). I squeezed in a shower and we rushed down to dinner. We were kind of late so the four of us sat in a table in the corner by ourselves. It allowed for roommate bonding so we didn't mind. We had pasta, salad, roasted chicken and DELICIOUS potatoes for dinner. Unfortunately I was so tired that I was pretty full after the pasta, so I didn't eat much of the potatoes or chicken (what's wrong with me? I'm always hungry). However, I did make room for dessert: chocolate mousse. which was fantastic. Perugia is known for its chocolate. They have a chocolate festival every October and are famous for their version of a Hershey kiss (I can't remember the Italian name for it, I'm still learning). After that my roommates and I spent some time playing cards and drinking wine. It was quiet night. I fell asleep around 1am because I was wide awake for some odd reason.

This morning I had breakfast with my roommates (the coffee is fantastic here, as to be expected). In about an hour we're leaving to go to our apartment. I'm excited to see how it looks. We've been imagining it in our minds. So far we think we all have our own master suite, a walk-in waterfall shower and a personal butler named Massimo. Sadly, I think our fantasies will be far from filled. The street we live on is called Via Bella or Beautiful Street. I hope the Italians don't enjoy ironically naming their streets, or I'll be screwed.

This afternoon I'm taking the placement test for Italian. I'm hoping I get a chance to study a little beforehand because my Italian is rusty. The rest of the weekend is filled with walking tours and orientations about Perugia and city life. I'll be getting a cell phone on Sunday afternoon (Mom, I'll call when I get a chance). Classes start on Monday, but the first week of classes is all intensive Italian. Grammar in the morning and functional Italian in the afternoon. Thank god, because I need all the practice I can get. Regularly scheduled classes start on the 17th. My class schedule is pretty sweet! I have time for a siesta everyday!

That's pretty much it for now. I need to go pack so we can meet our ride to our apartment. Pictures to come, once I actually take some pictures. Internet access might be spotty for a few days, but I'll be so busy I don't think I'll have time to do anything but settle in.

Here's to the start of a great adventure!

Ciao!

Away We Go!

My flight leaves in 8 hours! I'll fly from LAX to JFK then from JFK to Zurich, Switzerland and then off to Rome! I'm about 95% packed and I successfully taught my parents how to skype. Now, I'm really tired but way too anxious to sleep.

I've been waiting for this day since I decided to study abroad in Italy. Originally I wanted to study in New Zealand, but then I had a dream I was studying abroad in Italy and it was a pretty awesome dream. After that my decision was made (I swear I'm not crazy).

After deciding to spend my semester in Italy I had to figure out what city I wanted to study in. I originally picked Florence. I'd heard great things about it and it wasn't as big as Rome. Then I met with my study abroad advisor. He asked me what I wanted to get out of my semester in Italy. I didn't really know what to say. I figured "a vacation under the ruse of 'studying'"was inappropriate so I answered "Oh, I don't know...It would be cool to be fluent in Italian" (side note: I have two years of Italian under my belt. Sadly I feel like I don't remember a thing. I'm optimistic though!). He informed me that I would become decent in Italian pretty much anywhere I went, but fluent wouldn't happen in Florence. He also pointed out that it's a big art history and studio art city and I told him that was probably a bad thing because I once drew a horse with claws. So he suggested some cities, but he was really excited about this Perugia program. So I left the meeting under the instructions to look over all the options and come back in a week with my decision. Siena looked cool, Ferrara had it's charms, but I was really feeling Perugia. So it was decided. I would spend the spring semester in Perugia, Italy.

Half the fun has been explaining to people where exactly Perugia is. It's usually the same conversation:
Me: I'm actually studying abroad next semester
Person: Oh that's so great! Where are you going?
Me: Italy. I'm so excited!
Person: That's great! Where in Italy? Rome? Florence? Venice?
Me: No, Perugia.
Person: Oh how fun...where's that?
Me: It's about half way between Florence and Rome. Right in the middle of the country
Person: That's so great. You'll have so much fun. You'll basically get to live off of wine and pasta.
Me: Yeah, that's the plan.
and on and on and on. Slight variations here and there, but mostly the same conversation.

Well, I'm going to try and sleep now. Hopefully I'll update pretty regularly with tales and pictures of my adventures.

Ciao!