Ciao!
Saturday was our first full day in Italy, and it was jam packed with things to do. We had to wake up pretty early so that we could leave the hotel around 9 to our apartment, or should I say house? The car took us along winding roads that are so steep, and then we had to get out of the car with all of our bags and walk down this really steep hill to our house. Since we have 8 people, we have a 3 story house that has a bottom apartment by itself that me and a girl named Jessica are living. It has its own kitchen and bathroom, but the kitchen smells really bad if we open the bureau part that its in, so we have decided not to use it. We do have a fridge though which is really nice because the fridge upstairs is really small, and wouldnt fit everything that we need. We have our own living room as well, and a separate entrance too. Ill put pictures of the place up later but the upstairs portion has a full kitchen, 2 dining areas, 2 rooms on that floor with a bathroom, and then the 3rd floor has 3 single bedrooms and a full bath, and then there is a basement living room, kitchen cupboard, full bathroom, and a bedroom with 2 beds and a dresser. Its really nice there, and although not the same standards of things that we have in the US, it is still pretty well stocked with the necessities.
After unpacking, we took a walk around the town to try to find our way to different things, like the supermercado and the Conti, which is like household everythings. We saw tons of pizza places and gelaterias, and we went to one pizza store for lunch which was 1 euro for a 5" by 5" sized pizza which is pretty cheap. The food here is so good and even the pizza was fresh and had a different taste to it because of the cheese they use. Its so weird to see caffe's with a fully stocked bar behind them, and it seems that almost every store has a bar as a part of it.
We had our first orientation meeting at 2, and they basically explained how the program works with classes, and the different things they had in the city that we could use, like a laundromat and running tracks. There are tons of supermarkets in the city, but when you go in, you realize that you can't get everything at one place, so you have to go to 3-4 places before your able to find what you need. Everything also closes every day from 1-4 for "La Pausa" which is like the Spanish siesta, so we have to plan everything knowing that most places won't be open for a large chunk of time. There is an open market every day except Sundays which we have not been to yet, but plan on attending for fresh vegetables and fruits instead of the mercado's. There is a small marcado next to the school which has fresh bread and meats and cheeses, and then there is a back room with household items. But again, there isn't everything you need so we have to search around.
Everything in Perugia is pretty close to eachother. They gave us a map of the area which makes it look very big, but in reality things are really packed together, and there are only a few streets with anything on them as far as shops go. Our apartment is about 4 minutes of walking time away from the school, and about 5 minutes from the main Piazza with a fountain and a large church. Thats also where the bars and night areas are.
Saturday night, for dinner, we went to an outside restaurant called The Lunabar Ferrari. It was so delicious and really cheap as well. Three of us split an 8 euro bottle of white Umbrain wine which was really light and was mild compard to other wines. Then Sarah and I split a margherita pizza, which was the size of a very large frisbee, and the crust was so thin which is the way I like it. Then, my roommates Jessica, Sarah, Devon and I went out around 11:30 pm to find a bar or club to go to. We ended up sitting on The Steps, which are the steps in the main Piazza that face the Church. There were hundreds of college aged kids there just hanging out, and drinking. There is no open container law here, so we got a beer each and sat on the steps people watching for a while. Then we went to a place called Shamrocks Bar which had a round center bar and a stage to dance on. It was packed with creepy older Italian men, but it was fun none the less. We got free drinks all night because the bartender just kept getting the guys to pay, and then we would walk away. It was a Playboy themed party apparently, so they kept coming around and putting bowties and bunny tails on everyone. We saw some Umbra students there so we hung out with them, and then left around 2am. It was a really fun night, but really tiring none the less.
Yesterday I had to get up early to take a written exam to place me into an Italian class, which I think I did okay on. It doesn't really matter though, just shows how much you know Italian. We went to The LunaBar for a free breakfast that we got with a coupon. They gave us croissants, or cornetto(i) as they are called here, with Nutella in the middle. It was absolutley delicious, and we also got a cappuccino which was good too. They invited us to a party they are having on Tuesday which is tropical themed, and the one on Friday which is cosmopolitan themed. We are planning on going to both of them, and those will be our two nights out this week. At 12 we had a safety meeting in the Church, and the chief of police from Florence came and talked to us for a long time about how not to get mugged in Italy, and how to be safe. He was really entertaining, but he spoke for a long time about some pretty basically known things, so it was a little repetative. After that, I had an oral exam for my placement test, where I had to talk to two people about my life and some hobbies, just so they get a good understanding of what we know. I was nervous so I didnt do as well as I could have, but I guess having to take a lower level class than I was going to was a better idea because then I can really know the language, and become fluent in it.
For dinner we decided to have an apartment dinner and talk about house rules and make a chart for who cleans when. Jessica and I took over cooking, and we just made simple noodles and fresh tomato sauce, which was delicious. I think I'll end up having to cook a lot because some people want to learn how to make things, and I know more than most of the people. Everyone really liked it so I was proud of making it. I added my own mozarella to mine, and some basil so it made it a little brighter.
Today, we had our first day of intensive Italian classes. The entire program got split up into groups depending on skill level, and my class went over basic conjugations and reviewing some vocab that we learned in our previous classes. The classes this week go from 9-10:30, 15 minute pausa, then from 10:45 to 12 of class time, and then we are split up again in the afternoon to do survival classes, which means that we have to go and practice what we learned, and things that are necessary to know in the first few days that we are in Italy. I think today we are learning about silverware and eating in a restaurant, and tomorrow we are going to a grocery store to do something there. My time to do that is from 3:30 to 5 pm.
Tonight, I think were having tacos, which Sarah and Devon are making if they can find a butcher for ground beef. Its amazing how some of the things that we find so easily in a supermarket in the states are almost impossible to find here. Most things are also so deceiving because they look cheap compared to US prices, but then when you take it home, its smaller than we expected. Jessica and I bought toothpaste to share, and thought we were getting a good deal, only to find that the bottle is almost half the size of a tube you would get in the States.
This weekend Sarah, Jessica, Devon and I are going to Cortona on Saturday for the day, and then coming back by 5 in order to go on a Umbra guided walk around the town, where the guide will tell us the history of the city, but more importantly some fun things to do and see. I'm excited for Cortona, and it's only a 45 minute train ride there so a great place to go for the day.
Ciao!
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