Ciao! from Italia!

We made it to Italy after a long day of travels. First the flight out of KC got delayed. Then we finally headed off to DC--which took about 2 1/2 hours. We had a layover for about 5 hours there, and then headed off to Rome. We got into Rome as the sun was rising-it was absolutely gorgeous.

After the 8 1/2 hour flight, we landed and were funneled out of the airport to the bus. 1 1/2 hours later, we arrived in Orvieto. Although we hadn't slept for about a day, everyone was too excited to go to sleep (not to mention it was about 10 am our time, 3 am your time, so sleeping wasn't an option if we wanted to avoid jet lag...)

Upon arrival we were all taken to our apartments- ours is about a 2 minute walk from the school and the Duomo -prime location! It's a lot larger than I expected- small kitchen, large living room and dining area, outdoor patio, 3 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. The only bad thing about Italy so far is the roads..errr..sidewalks..?? Cars drive everywhere! our door opens up and bam! a car drives by.. we have to poke our head out to make sure nothing is coming. It's not like Manhattan-cars don't stop for you!

 The Duomo-right next to our school

We were served a free lunch and wine after we got settled in, got our first taste of Italian cuisine! Delicioso!

After they stuffed us, they knew we were tired--so they fed us an espresso. Talk about strong! But I took our professor's advice and put a lot of sugar in it. Kept me awake, that's for sure! After lunch we wandered around and took in Orvieto in all it's beauty.  So far, all we had been in contact with had spoken english.. then we went to dinner. This is when we had our first run in with the language barrier.. but we made it through with our chopped Italian and enjoyed our pizza and watched some TV. (btw kevin and garric, jersey shore here is still in english.. but the subtitles are in Italian! haha)

Today we did our orientation and paperwork and were dismissed to hit up the local farmers market that comes every Thursday and Saturday. It was pretty intimidating at first, a lot of fast Italian speakers going on.. So first we observed.. then we dove in. We got some fresh fruits, delicious cow cheese like nothing I've ever tasted, some meat, and bread. After lunch we took a walk around the whole city, I felt like I was in a dream. Everything is so beautiful. There is a path that goes all the way around the city-about 3 1/2 miles.. I would attempt to run it as part of my work out regimine, but it's pretty hilly.. Maybe by the end of the 4 months..

 Farmer's Market in Palazzo Publico

Tonight we are going to a local resturant owned by the chef that is going to teach us how to cook! His students, who are also American, are going to cook for us. Should be a good time! I'll let you know how the food is :)

Anyway, I think that's long enough for today-just filled you in on the last three days of my life-loving it.

Buiongorno!

Ashley