A New Adventure

From Atlanta to Rome

Since I have arrived in Italy it has been the most amazing, and different experience I've been through in a while. When I first arrived to the airport with my family, and we were about to part ways for the first time in a long time. I also wasn't sure what to expect on this trip so I was a little scared at first simply because I have never even been on an airplane before by myself or even been out of the country until this moment.

 The flight from Atlanta to Rome was long and the plane was filled with a lot of families and people who didn't really seem to care there were others on the plane. I thought it was entertaining but I was also mad and wanted to sleep but I knew that wasn't going to happen.

From sitting in the window seat I got to see the sun rise in a different perspective and despite only getting 30 minutes of sleep the entire flight and loud passengers having the opportunity to see the sunset this way was incredible.

Ciao Montepulciano!

We finally made it! After being stuck at the Rome airport for an extra 3 hours after we landed (because one of our professors got his bag stolen) and a 2 hour bus ride we finally arrived in Montepulciano. 

During the bus ride to Monepulciano I was admiring the Tuscan countryside and at first it didn't look so different than northern California in the Napa Valley/Sonoma area. The land is dry and not much around besides wineries which is very similar to that area of California. I was disappointed at first until we arrived and made our way into the town and at that moment I realized It was something that I had imagined Italy to look like. Yeah the walk from our house all the way up to the top of the hill is  terrible everyday the positive side of it is the view once you're in the city. Its also crazy to think that every day I'm walking 10,000 or more steps and at home I usually walk half of that while I'm at work for 9 hours. Its definitely and adjustment to have to walk everywhere even just to get to the grocery store. 

Speaking of grocery store there's only one main supermarket here in Montepulciano called Conad, and it's a 15 minute walk from our house. So the first full day here we decided to figure out where this grocery store is and make the journey. My First thought when I arrived at Conad was there is a lot of people in a very small area. I was trying to get to the bread section and the guy was standing in the middle restocking everything and people were just reaching over and around him. But as for me and coming from America I felt it would be rude to reach over the employee to grab something but the Italians on the other hand had no problem doing that. 

Besides trying to get around without bumping into people and being rude I didn't understand where anything was and the main things I needed to buy. Everything was in Italian and I wasn't used to the different products they had there compared to at home. There's not really any chips, no regular turkey meat or ham, but the one thing they do have a lot of is TONS of different pasta and tomatoes, tomatoes, and more tomato products. 

After the mayhem at the grocery store we finally got home and as I'm unloading my grocery bag it falls on the ground and I break my bottle of Pesto. How tragic right?  Not sure why but I was really irritated at the fact I did that and I kept talking about it until we went back to Conad to get more groceries. I also decided to buy coffee at the super market and attempt to make coffee at my apartment since I usually can't function in the mornings without it. I even had to sit down and YouTube how to use it because I had never seen something like it before.

 My first attempt at trying to make a pot of coffee was a fail because I made it so strong It tasted like espresso and so I had to pour out the entire thing because that's not what I was aiming for. The coffee here also tastes extremely odd compared to the kind at home so ever since then I just haven't had any coffee besides going to the cafe's to grab a cup. This has been a huge adjustment for me considering I have coffee every morning when I'm up early at home. Besides a few minor set backs and learning how to do different things than back at home it's definitely been a great experience to far and I'm excited to see what this trip has in store for me!