Finally Here!

Well I have finally arrived in Italy! I am all unpacked and settled, but getting here seems like it took years. Our first flight out of Raleigh...to Charlotte...was a breeze. However, the next flight I was about to board was nothing close to a breeze. The eight hour flight was definitely not the highlight of my travels. Since we had a 5:10 flight out of Charlotte, we were graced with a lovely airplane dinner. I was not expecting anything delicious. We were served chicken, rice, carrots, snap pees, salad, and a brownie. If you know me well enough, you know I only ate the salad. I mean you can't really mess up a salad! Sleeping on the plane was quite miserable. We were in the economy setting so our seats were super close together! Lucky me, I was beside a giant German and older lady. There was no way I could get comfortable enough to fall asleep. After dosing up on some sleeping medicine, I was able to sleep a little over an hour. When I finally realized that I was not going to be able to sleep anymore, I watched the end of Django Unchained! Gilliam - You would love the ending! Sorry I watched the end without you! The rest of the flight, I counted down minutes until we landed in Munich, Germany! The airport in Munich was so clean and technologically advanced. Everything was done with some type of bar code scanner. Since we had been warned that we may have some type of delay or layover in Munich, I was just waiting on it. But surprisingly everything was on time. When we boarded our last flight to Rome, I was so exhausted I feel asleep before I we when took off. I managed to wake up before we landed, just to see the beautiful countryside. I cannot put into words the beauty of the countryside - all the houses spread out and separated by farm land.

                                                        

 Waiting in the airport for the other group was my first experience with Italians. Surprisingly, everyone was dressed up...and I mean dressed up. All the Italian women were wearing some type close fitting pants or jeans with heels or wedges. I have quickly learned that Italians don't slum around. Since we were supposed to wait in the cafe, our group of six scoped out a table, ordered pizza, and sat down. Once the other group arrived, we all exchanged our money. The exchange rate was nothing that I expected. Google exchange does NOT have correct exchange rates. Although, I am not going to complain...I exchanged $100 (American Dollars) for 68 and some change euros. Not exactly what I was expecting, but oh well what can you do? After we all exchanged our money, we boarded the bus for a 3 to 4 hour bus ride to Sansepolcro, Italy!

As we pulled away from the airport, "Thrift Shop" blasted over the radio in the bus. The same song that is so popular in the U.S. is popular here in Italy! It made me think of back home and Gilliam dancing - such a good thought! The majority of the bus ride I spent sleeping. I tried so hard not to fall asleep, but it was inevitable there was no way of getting around sleep. I woke up for the last few minutes of the bus ride. Since Sansepolcro is in the Tuscany part of Italy, the landscape was hilly and green with houses and towns scattered along the road. I had no idea what to except Sansepolcro - the town I would call my home for the next five weeks. When pulled into the town, it was different than I expected. The outskirts of the town hadn't been kept up to well. But that doesn't go without saying that this town is centuries old. The bus pulled up to these walls which I have come to know as the city walls. We walked down the main street inside the city walls also called the "main drag" until we reached these large wooden doors. Behind these doors would be my home for the next five weeks and I had no idea what to expect. I could have never imagined how beautiful and big our palazzo is...like woah! The third floor is the main living for and the student apartment. When you walk up the stairs you can either go left - to the student rooms - or right - to the main sitting room and kitchen. The student apartment has three bedrooms - one of the rooms sleeps three, the other four with an onsuite bath, and the last (my room) sleeps five, but there are only four in our room. The two rooms without baths share the two hall baths. There is also a sitting room with couches. If you turned right, instead of left, you would find yourself in the main sitting area..the ONLY place with a television! If you continued on down the long hallway you find yourself in the dinning room. The dinning room has a long table that seats about twenty. Connected to the dinning room is the commerical kitchen which we are not allowed to enter and the student kitchen where we can store our own food items. 

Shortly after arrival, we were served dinner. We are blessed to have a cook who stocks the student kitchen and makes amazing Italian lunches for us! We had an array of freshly made food - turkey, green beans and tomatoes, vegetable muffins, salad, and some kind of grain salad. After our light dinner, we took a quick walk around the town and then headed back to our room to unpack and get settled! Once we were all settled, a group of the girls decided it would be nice to go have drinks at a local bar/cafe. (Don't worry Dad, I only drank two glasses of wine!) It was so nice to sit around and get to know all the girls on our study abroad trip! On our way back to the palazzo, we decided that we had to stop at the local gelato shop! It was such good decision, the gelato was absolutely amazing!

Today, we had to be ready for orientation at 10 o'clock (that would be 4 a.m. your time). We all met in the classroom and went over the rules and expectations while abroad. After our mini orientation session, we took a walk around the town to see the local grocery stores. It was really nice to get more acquainted with the town. Although, there is no way I am even close to navigating myself around yet. Then we were welcomed back with an AMAZING lunch! Our cook is absolutely fantastic - and no, I am not exaggerating right now! If you didn't know this, the food in Italy is served in courses. First, we were served mini pizzas and salad. Second, pesto spaghetti! The pesto you eat in America cannot compare to the pesto here. The pesto - and all of the food - is so fresh and the sauce was not thick and creamy. There was all the same taste - well actually better - with less of the sauce. I might be going out on a limb here, but I think it was more of an olive oil base. The third course is what the the main course or meal is in the states. It was turkey, greens, and mashed potatoes. So, so, so good! And last, we had some type of custard or yogurt with fresh strawberries! It was so so so good. When writing all of this, you may think I just consumed an enormous amount of food; however, the portions are very different. You don't eat a full bowl of pasta or a large piece of turkey. Instead, you eat a small amount of pasta maybe a fourth of a plate or half of a small bowl. After eating lunch, I was so full but I didn't feel as if I had over eaten! 

Well I am about to start on my homework...until next time.....

I love you all!