The Arrival

And So It Begins!

Waking up on August 12th was a very exciting day, and a very long one. I woke up and finished my packing and then was off to the airport. Arriving at the airport I was able to eat Panda Express (my favorite fast food restaurant) one last time before hoping on my ten hour flight to Rome, Italy. After getting everything situated, we were in the sky in no time. My goal was to catch some shut eye, but of course that didn't turn out as planned. I experienced my first encounter with language barrier when I asked the lady who was going to sit next to me if she would rather have an isle seat, so my friend Sam could sit by me. She looked at me with a confused expression on her face, and I could tell she didn't catch what I was saying. I didn't bother explaining and she took the seat next to me. As the flight when on and a couple movies later my new neighbor on the flight turned out to be actually quite entertaining and helpful. Even though it was a little bit of a challenge to make out some of the things she was saying, we had a good talk and she provided me with some recommendations on trips I should do while in Italy.  

After ten hours of movies, trying to sleep, some microwave meals and a nice Italian lady to talk to our plane landed in Rome around eight o'clock. My little friend wanted a hug and then I met up with the group. The airport surprised me and was a lot similar to the Atlanta airport, but then again how different could an airport be. Things changed quickly when our professor got his back pack stolen. We have all been told how some Italians are magician like when it comes to stealing stuff, and now within ten minutes at the airport we had witnessed it on one of our own. Professor Tudor's backpack was taken from him when he put it down for a split second, then turned back around to find it was gone. The crazy thing was that we were all grouped together in the same location, and whoever took it managed to slip by getting it without anyone noticing. You can bet I had my hands on my wallet, passport, and phone the rest of the time at the airport. After all of this we were on our bus and heading towards Montepulciano, which would be our home for the next seven weeks. 

We Made It

This is the view we see from our bedroom every morning. I have never seen roof tops like this before, but they look really cool and add that Italian feel. It is neat to witness how some of the locals go about there day by hanging their clothes out to dry on there long rope drying racks outside. 

After a 2 hour bus ride of some of the most spectacular views we pulled up to the bus station in Montepulciano where we were taken to our rooms. It was so cool to drive up to our apartment in a bus that barely fit the street roads, and to just get a glimpse of our new environment. Our apartment is called Tofanini and is located a hundred meters from the Piazza Grande, which is the heart of the town. The process getting to our room included three heavy wooden doors, and a couple set of stairs. Once we got to our floor, which was located on the second level we got to check out our massive room. I found it interesting how it was like a combination of these small rooms and no one big family room like back in the States. Our room had a magnificent view that looked like it could have been photoshopped. The kitchen was big which was good for me and we had two full bathrooms which was awesome.  No washer or dryer, but we did had a little rope out our window to put wet clothes on to dry, which is how they do it around here I guess. If they fall from where the rope is I don't think I would ever see them again and personally I don't want everyone below me seeing my underwear hanging out to dry. 

As I checked out the bathroom I noticed that we had this interesting contraption in it. It took me and my suite mates a while to figure out that is was a back massager... and no we haven't used it yet. I don't know if everyone has this, or if its some Italian household necessity, but its here and who knows we may use it.

Life In The Town

So I have told you all about my journey to get to where I am, now it is time to dive into all that I have done so far while being here. I really don't know where to begin. I guess I'll start with my first stop to get something to eat in the town. Me and my friends starting to walk around and saw all these small and unique places to stop and eat. Of course, the first place we stop at is this really good steak place where you are suppose to make reservations way ahead of time to be able to eat there. We stopped at the particular spot because there was six of us and we saw a perfect window table location set for six. Right as we stepped in and started to put our things down the guy was yelling, "NO, NO, NO", and was making like X signs with his hands. We then went to this little pizza/bar place right near there where we meant our soon to be long friend named Domingo. We sat downstairs in this cellar looking room and figured why not order our first beer LEGALLY! It was a cool feeling and of course I ordered a nice pizza too. We learned something as soon as we paid that you aren't suppose to tip. Sam gave Domingo a euro and the man lost it. He gave us biscotti and bread for free. We had no idea that we didn't need to tip, but he was nice to us, so no harm done. We went back there another day and he brought us out bread with olive oil and some assortment of meats. I got a chance to experience an Italian opera at the Piazza Grande right outside the cathedral of Ippolito Scalza. Although I didn't understand a single word that was said, it was my first opera ever and something that I will never forget. One thing I do remember though, is that one of the actors had this bizarre looking gown thing on, that made it seem like he was not wearing any pants!

No Ice?!

I remember one the weirdest things for me was the first time I wanted a water at one of the restaurants, because normally a glass of water is free, but not here.  This was new for me and guess what? No ice cubes either.  I can honestly say with is now being Wednesday night here that one of the things I am surprisingly missing are my ice cubes. Also, another observation I made was the fact that the soft drinks just come in a can and no refills! One of the professors said the only place your going to get free refills in Italy is at the HardRock Cafe. We have found that the best strategy to get water is by taking the big 1.5 liter water bottles that they give to us at dinner back to our apartments where we can fill them up, and constantly reuse them. 

Why I Am Obsessed With Food

Coming on this study abroad I can honestly say one of the things I was most excited about was the food. I love food and eat around 4000 calories a day when I am back at home. This place is absolutely amazing when it comes to taste and freshness. I don't think I have had a bad meal so far and I must say Italian food is my favorite, even back in the states my diet consists of a lot of pasta and pizza. The dinners at night that we get as a group are very filling and give me a taste of the Italian culture every time. Every meal is started off with some sort of pasta, then followed by a main dish and then dessert. 

Above are two pictures of some of the different foods I got to try. The first one was a zucchini, prosciutto, olive oil and mozzarella sandwich with a cappuccino to drink. The other picture on the right was a salami and cheese panini.  

To Be Continued..

Overall the first week was full of some mild culture shock and a lot of new experiences. One of the things I left out was I witnessed an Italian holiday on Tuesday. I saw locals playing violins in the street and a lot of the little shops and places to eat were closed down for the day. I am looking forward to next week as we get to experience the Bravio delle Botti Festival. After next week I heard the town will calm down a bit and be less crowded. We will be ending this week with a day off on Friday and then Orvieto Saturday, which I will post about next week. Until then thanks for reading and buona giornatal!