First Day of Classes

This morning I woke up at 5:00AM- definitely not by choice. I talked to some friends on the internet and then went and got breakfast with my roommate at a pasterria. Then we walked to the co-co (grocery store) and we bought munchies/ things to eat when they don't serve us lunch.

After that I wandered aimlessly through town taking pictures for an hour or two. I really feel like my photos are doing a disservice to how beautiful Italy is. I really wish I had taken some kind of photography class before I had come over here. I ended up at the bookstore and bought some school supplies since I didn't bring any over.

At 12:30 we had lunch which was Risotto pasta and then some strange casserole items. One of them seriously looked like a spinach brownie. It looked... interesting.

After lunch we had a group meeting with all the TAMU students and they told us about our field trip to Florence on Wednesday. We're going to take a tour of the town and afterwards (from 1-5PM) we have time to wander around on our own.

CARC 311 (the different art classes) were cancelled today because its the first week, so I actually didn't have any classes today. There were too many people signed up for photography and only two people signed up for jewelry making. They were going to cancel the class because there weren't enough people signed up. I figured that I'm going to be taking a million and a half photos anyway so I switched into jewelry making so the photography class would be small enough and there could actually be a jewelry making class.

After that there was a lot more wandering around the village with friends and going into random shops.

Overall today was a great day! Did lots of stuff and took lots of pictures. I'm really loving it here! It's so beautiful!

Probably going to shower and go to bed. I hope my friends back in the states have fun at the basketball game vs Texas tonight!

Current mood: Content... and sleepy :)

Day in Arezzo!

Today was our first day taking the train somewhere. We went to Arezzo, which is the closest city to Castiglion Fiorentino. It's about ten minutes away by train.

Before we left we got breakfast at a little pasterria in town. The walk to the train station was about 25 minutes- at least its downhill on the way there.

Two of my roommates and I at the train station:

Ruins of Roman amphitheater.

We had a tour of the city by a local that spoke English. It lasted about an hour and a half and we saw all the sites. We went to an amazingly beautiful cathedral that dated back to the 1300s. We also went to the town square and saw the ruins of a Roman amphitheater that was built in the time of Caesar.

Arezzo.

One of my roommates and I enjoying our first Italian gelato!

We had an experience (to say the least) trying to find an electronics store in Arezzo. A woman at the gelato shop (we had our first gelato today) told us where to find it. We thought it was going to be just a couple of blocks away. But an hour and asking several Italians later we finally found it. Euronics.. hardest store to find ever!! But worth it- we got our straighteners since American ones don't work even with an adaptor and converter.

We took a celebration photo when we finally found the place... we were so excited... and tired from walking! Haha!

After that we went to a little grocery shop in Arezzo and I found Diet Pepsi! So excited! Almost didn't find it because it was really different looking.

We caught the train back and made it without any hitches. The only bad part was walking about a mile and a half uphill... that was not the highlight of the day. But it was worth it when we got to the top and had a delicious dinner. Pasta, chicken, veggies, and pineapple upside-down cake.

Don't really know what I'm doing for the night. It's already 10:15PM here. May go out with the roomies, but not sure. I may go to bed early and wake up early in the morning. We're going to a really delicious pasterria in the morning down at the bottom of the hill so I need all my energy for the walk back up!

First full day in Italy!

Today was amazing!

I couldn't sleep in because the jet lag woke me up at 5:30 this morning and I couldn't go back to sleep. I got online and used the internet when it was working great because everyone else was still asleep.

At 7:00, Katie and I went to a little bakery to get breakfast. I had a pastry of some kind. It was delicious. The man there was really nice and worked with us because we didn't speak a lick of Italian. We'll definitely be more prepared next time we go back.

After breakfast we walked around the town for about an hour. There was a market in Piazza Girabaldi. They were selling fresh produce, souvenirs and other random things. At about 8:00 we noticed that all the school-aged kids were emerging and pretty much took over the town. They were everywhere. It was funny because they were just like kids in America. There were cliques, you could tell boys were flirting with girls and some kids were outcasts- it was all the same, just in another language.

Tank in Piazza Girabaldi.

At 9:45 we had an orientation class about the general area and the program. We took another little tour of the town and we went up to the top of the hill where there are 13th century castle ruins. The view from everywhere is amazing! It's like walking into a picture!

After that we had lunch and I took a nap. I was exhausted from waking up so early! Hopefully I'll be able to sleep a little longer tomorrow because we have a long day. After my nap we had a meeting about traveling in Europe and using the train system. Hopefully it isn't going to be as complicated as I think. I got a little practice when I was in Washington, D.C. in high school, but that was a long time ago... and in English! Hah!

After that we went and walked around the town some more. We went to the pharmaccia and I bought post cards, random Italian candy, and Nutella! We had to talk to the man in the shop again, but he was really nice and he tried his best to talk to us. The people in the town are really good with the student at the center and generally know that we don't know any Italian. They're great and try to help us with the language barrier.

My first nutella purchase in Italy!

After that we had a "survival Italian" class and learned some general phrases that definitely would have been helpful earlier in the day! :-p

Then we had dinner, which was delicious! Pasta and meatballs and veggies. Everything is served family-style in a big dining room downstairs.

In a little bit my roommates and I are going to the "Velvet Underground"- a bar close by the school. Italians use bars for more than just drinking- they gather there to socialize and gossip and just hang out. It should be interesting to see all the locals interacting with each other.

Well I'm off! Gonna clean up before we go out!

Ciao from Italia!!

I made it to Italy! Wooohooo! :)

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.

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!

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!

Random notes about Italy so far:

-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! :)

All packed up!

I packed up all my stuff today. Fits nicely (yet snugly) into a big suitcase and my carry-on backpack. I was momentarily worried nothing was going to fit. You should all be super impressed with my packing skills. If you knew everything that was in there you'd be amazed!

I've been told by Chris to get my fill of ESPN before I head over to Europe so I've been watching a lot of basketball these past few days. Just one of the several things that I'm going to miss while abroad. I just keep reminding myself that there are going to be so many amazing things to make up for the things I'll be missing. Like authentic Italian gelato! Be jealous! :)

What I'm doing tomorrow (my last day in Texas):

-Visiting my grandma (Muna) one last time and taking her and her old lady friends cupcakes

-Printing pictures of my friends and family to put on the wall in my room

-Saying goodbye to my sister

-Cleaning out my truck (it's being sold as soon as I leave)

-Getting my fill on calling and texting my friends (because I won't be able to for four months)

Going to enjoy these last two nights at home and in my own room!

Stress level: Trying not to think about the fact that I'm leaving in 36 hours.

3 days left!

3 days until I leave for Italy!

Tonight was the send-off dinner with my family and friends. Saying goodbye to my siblings and Megan is the hardest thing I've had to do in a long time. Can't believe I'm going to be without Megan for four months, longest I've ever gone without seeing her! :(

Going to pack everything up tomorrow so I am all ready to leave and can relax.

Current stress level: Moderate

Italy 'To-Do' List

Fourteen days until I leave for Italy!!

I finally have all of my grad school apps in, so now I'm finally focused solely on getting ready to leave.

I'm currently making a list of things I want to do while I'm there. Of course the list includes taking the stereotypical picture with the leaning Tower of Pisa and riding a gondola in Venice. I am going to have such an amazing time and come back with more pictures than I know what to do with.

Some of the other things on my list so far:

-Visit St Peter's Basilica

-Boat ride around Capri and visit La Grotta Azzurra

-Visit the ruins of Mt Vesuvius

-Rent a vespa & ride around Italy

-See Sistine Chapel

-Throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain

-See the "Last Supper" Painting

-Tour Vatican City

-Hike trails of Cinque Terre

Still need to figure out what we're going to do when Kristin comes to visit for Spring Break and what I want to do when my mom and sister come over to Europe. I'm thinking Greece, France, Germany or England with my family. Really need to figure this out already.