I made it to Italy! Wooohooo! :)
Customs in Rome was a joke. I don't know if they just didn't want to deal with 40 of us at once but we all just walked through without declaring a thing. Pretty sure that's illegal or something. No one stopped us though and we just kept walking. We were all just happy that we didn't have to wait in another line!
Random notes about Italy so far:
The internet is kind of shotty here so blog posts may be intermittent.
Traveling here could be described as the perfect disaster. And by that, I mean everything that could have gone wrong did, but we got here fine anyways. Lots of layovers due to snow in Newark and we sat on the runway for a few hours just chilling. Power outages and fire alarms going off in the airport. It was interesting to say the least.
On the flight to Rome when I wasn't sleeping I got to see the moon out of the plane window. Before we landed we saw the Alps from the plane. Absolutely breathtaking! The seat next to me was empty on the longer flight to Rome (8.5 hours) so I got to lay down and take a nice nap. Got lots of sleep so hopefully the jet lag wont be too bad.
When we got to Rome we took a bus (2.5 hours) to Castiglion Fiorintino and we walked up the hill with our carry on bags. Thankfully the larger bags were taken in a truck to the center for us, because the hill would have been pailful with a 60lb bag. The center is right next to a Catholic church where there is a bell tower- thankfully my room is on the opposite side of the building so I am not awakened by the bells!
We took a tour of the town and one of the "RA's" showed us all the little shops, cafes, restaurants, bars, etc. There is a little bar next to the school that me and one of my room mates are thinking about going to tonight, but we haven't decided quite yet!
I just took my shoes off for the first time since I put them yesterday. It feels so good to not be wearing them anymore! We boarded the plane Wednesday morning and we arrived at the school at 4PM Thursday afternoon. Traveling for so long, but totally worth it!
Tomorrow morning there is a market down the street that we're going to go to after breakfast. Supposedly there is fresh fruits, meat, little souvenirs, leather goods, and lots of other fun stuff. Then we have orientation at 9:45... then I believe we get to do whatever we want the rest of the day, which means EXPLORING!! :)
The town that we are staying in is absolutely beautiful. It looks straight out of an Italian movie. Or if you've seen "Eat Pray Love" or "Letters to Juliet" that's exactly what it looks like. Beautiful weather when we got here. It was about 50 degrees in Rome, but it's a lot colder here in Castiglion Fiorintino because it's at a higher altitude.
Obligatory photos of my living quarters... look how tiny my shower is!
-My bathroom and shower are teeny tiny!
-Not a lot of large cars. I actually haven't even seen a single truck yet. Lots of smart cars, Fiats, and Mercedes.
-Sheep are everywhere.
-Lots of grape vineyards.
-The street that the school opens up onto is about 10 feet wide and people drive down it going 30mph and we're expected to walk on it. I am more than likely going to have a near-death car accident experience this semester.
Lots of pictures will be taken starting tomorrow!! Be prepared friends- Facebook is going to be ridiculous with all the photos I'll be taking!
Current level of excitement: Through the roof! :)
So excited for you Jen! You are going to have an awesome time!
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