Day 1 - Everything went wrong... until I got to Italy

Good news is, I DID make it to Italy.  Lets just refer to day 1 as a fiasco which in my book just might go down in infamy as  “the day of stress and waiting.”  I got picked up by a shuttle five minutes after I was supposed to be at the airport, the second woman we picked up took 30 minutes to get ready so we were extra late, I rushed through security and bashed my knee on a table which in turn led to my hobbling down the terminal at super speed to catch a 10:45 plane which wound up delayed until 2:00, the power completely went out in our terminal for about 10 minutes so security swarmed the area to make sure it wasn't a terrorist attack, we had to run for our flight to Rome (which the airlines delayed an hour and a half just for us) but then we wound up sitting on the runway for the next three hours because it was snowing, and I ate three mediocre meals within a 36 hour time-frame.  On our flight to Newark, while I definitely could have done without the turbulence, our landing was unlike anything I had previously experienced on an airplane.  Sinking into the clouds at the beginning of our decline, we were completely immersed in clouds of chalk-white, so dense that it was impossible to see anything past the tip of the wing.  As we descended, the clouds progressed in hue from white to steely grey, pale pink, and finally a bright, firey orange that eventually cleared enough to show the snow-covered buildings and ground only a mere hundred yards below us.  That was pretty awesome.

Once I got to Rome, the first interaction I had with an Italian happened when a woman tried to talk to me about my cowboy boots.  Guess that's a bit of a novelty here.  We took a two hour bus ride to the city of Castiglion Fiorentino, passing villas, vineyards, and snow-capped mountain peaks.  I tried to stay awake in order to enjoy all of the architecture and culture we were passing, by I was just too tired and eventually drifted away until we got to Santa Chiara, the building in which I will be living, eating, and going to classes for the next three months.  After unpacking, it was time for a short tour of the city and then dinner.  If I didn't know that every day I would be walking up 45 degree inclines (if you don't know what that means, get out a protractor) I would be scared of how fantastic the food is.  We get served a three course meal with bread every lunch and dinner plus there is a bar in our cafeteria where we can buy wines by the bottle, beer, and even some liquor.  I split a bottle of chianti with four friends and, needless to say, immensely enjoyed my meal.  While most people went back to their rooms to try to connect to the internet or go to sleep, I went with some friends to explore the city.  Though we got lost multiple times and couldn't read the map, our little adventure made me appreciate my decision to come here so much more.  The architecture is old, fantastic, and exactly what you would imagine a tiny European town to be.  Small, cobblestone streets that cars zoom down, little doors, all of which are unlocked, situated in just about any arbitrary fashion, churches and piazzas, even a library which was once a jail.  Of course, I did all of this exploration at night, and apparently all of the restaurant owners are on holiday, so I have not actually seen much of the commerce or culture of the city yet but I am sure I will.

I think that's plenty to start y'all off with so until next time, 

Ciao

Becca