Today is my second full day in Verona, and I've finally found some time to sit down and write about my trip thus far. Italy is so beautiful, which I'm sure is not a surprise at all. It was a bit of an adventure getting over here. Our flight just barely made it out of O'Hare before it was canceled due to snow. I sat next to a woman who only spoke German, so I felt bad getting up from my seat much to go to the bathroom or anything like that because she didn't understand a word I was saying. Every time I said something to her she just gave me a smile (that was missing a couple of teeth) and nodded her head--even if it wasn't a yes or no question. I think I caught myself with my head nearly on her should a couple times through the night...I'm kind of hoping she didn't notice! The plane ride was smooth for the most part, except for about 4 am when we were directly over the center of the Atlantic Ocean. I was sleeping up until then when the plane hit some horrible turbulence. Now I've felt turbulence before, but this was worse than any I ever felt. I was sure the plane was going down right in the middle of the ocean. I didn't get a whole lot of sleep after that, but we obviously made it safely.
When we arrived in Munich we were already supposed to be boarding our connecting flight. If we hadn't had a guide waiting for our group, we would have never found our way. We all had to check through security again so they had to hold the plane almost a half hour for us. I, of course, practically got strip searched! The metal on my boots kept making the detector go off..so I held up the line a little. No wonder Europeans aren't very fond of us...they must have thought I was an idiot. When we finally got all 24 of us through and were taking out to this tiny jet that was going to take us to Italy. Other than the plane being a little small...it was a beautiful plane ride. We were directly over the Alps almost the entire flight. I don't think I've ever seen anything so amazing.
We were all so excited to finally be in Italy when we landed. That soon wore off when we realized half of our luggage was left in Munich because it couldn't fit on our little plane. One of those suitcases was mine and it just happened to be the one with all of my clothing! Luckily it was delivered to us yesterday morning, so I had packed just enough in my carry on to last me. I also had my other suitcase with toiletries and bedding, so it wasn't unbearable.
Our apartment is interesting. If you've ever been to a hostel, that's kind of the feel ours has. It is surprisingly big with two bedrooms, one and a half baths, a nice size dining room, and a tiny kitchen. Overall, it's not too bad. I live with my friend Kate, so we are trying to get used to it. We hated it the first night, but it's starting to grow on us and we are getting a washer installed soon so that will help. The other drawback of our apartment is that it is the furthest one outside the city. We walked almost an hour, one way, to school today. The weather is about 40-45 degrees, sunny, and mild here so the walk is actually really nice. Plus it is a beautiful view all the way. It's just taking some getting used to, especially since almost everyone lives on the completely other side of the city.
We started our first day of classes today. We will only be taking Italian for the first 2 weeks of class. I am in second level language from 9:30-1:30 Monday-Friday. Our teacher didn't speak any English today, so it was a little more difficult than I was hoping. I was doing better by the end of class though, and I think I will be learning a lot! After our first 2 weeks, I will be taking History of Italian Theater on Monday mornings, Photography on Tuesday mornings, Art History Wednesday mornings, and Business Thursday mornings. I only have Business class about every other Thursday, but when I do will always be done by 1 pm, so I will be able to travel a lot more! I think I've decided to spend my whole 10 days of spring break in Ireland, and make it over to England and Scotland too. I plan on using most of my weekends to make short trips to Florence, Cinque Terre, The Amalfie Coast, Capri, Spain, and other places through Italy. It will be fun to stay and explore Verona more too!
The food has been incredible so far. It's hard getting used to eating so late at night, because Italians usually sit down for a big dinner around 8 or 9 pm. We'll get used to it. Kate and I are cooking tonight. We went and got some fresh pasta on our walk home from school today, and we have a fresh fruit and vegetable stand right outside our front door. It makes for an easy breakfast! I will be taking a cooking class next week, so I will know how to make sauces from scratch and I can't wait.
Overall, my first couple of days here have been incredible! I'm a little jet-lagged, but other than that I have no complaints. I will try to keep this updated more often so the posts won't be a million pages long.
Ciao Ciao!
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