Lift off!
Hello from Italy!
Well I'm here. I made it safely and it only took… a really long time, lol!
26Jan2005
We arrived at bush intercontinental airport at about 1pm and after parking and finding our way to international departures I immediately saw a few familiar faces waiting there already. We went ahead and checked my suitcase and I am glad we did because as I was getting to the counter the line started growing and by the time I was finished checking my bag it was really long. After I finished checking my bag we sat down and started waiting. My flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until 4:30 and we didn’t have to check in until 3:30 and at this point it was only around 1:30-1:45ish. So mom, dad, and I sat there and waited. Meanwhile more people from the group started showing up and checking their bags and there was a long period of phone calls to tell friends and family goodbye. We were mostly waiting for the program coordinator to show up because she had some emergency information cards she was supposed to give to the group and she wasn’t allowed through security because she wasn’t getting on a plane so that’s why were waiting for her. After about an hour and a half of chatting with mom and dad, phone calls to family, and just general waiting she finally arrived and I got my emergency information card and that was it. At this point I was kind of tired of waiting in the outer area and was getting antsy to do something, go somewhere, anything. So it was about 3pm and I decided to beat the long line to the security and told mom and dad goodbye. After taking off my shoes, coat, belt, etc. and having my bag x-rayed twice, I finally went up the escalator and waived goodbye to my parents one last time.
Once I got to the upper level I wandered around through the shops until I saw a group of people I knew that were already settled into the waiting area at the gate. We talked and laughed and had a good time and after a little while I went and got some food and then almost as soon as I was finished it was time to board the plane.
We started to get on and move our way through the plane and I eventually found where I was supposed to be sitting. I was lucky and had gotten a window seat and I was really excited about that. However, some girls that were with us in the row behind me had brought an awful lot of stuff to carry-on with them and there was no room in the overhead compartments for my very heavy bag and jacket… I was not thrilled about this. So I crammed into my seat and shoved my backpack down between my legs and sat extremely uncomfortably while the two guys next to me settled into their seats. The guy to my immediate left was Beau and next to him was Jason. And we were all healthy men in our early 20s so needless to say it was a little tight. So we did our best to get comfortable, made our introductions and chatted a little before and during take-off. Once we got in the air and were able to move around the cabin freely Beau discovered that his roommate to be in Italy was a few rows back and had a seat empty next to him, so he went ahead and moved back there leaving an empty seat between me and Jason. Thank goodness! Jason was able to cram my jacket into one of the overhead compartments and we put both of our carry-ons in the now available seat between us and things became much more comfortable. We actually had room to spread out a little… well as much as you can on a plane anyway. Well some movies started almost immediately and very soon after we took off we started flying into darkness. So I settled into my seat and decided to watch a movie that I had actually been wanting to see called Without A Paddle. It was pretty funny and killed about 2 hours of the projected 10 hour flight. After it was over I watched the last 20 minutes of the second James Bond movie with Pierce Brosnan and when that was over most of the other movies were too. So people started milling about the plain and a group of us all decided to go to the restroom at the same time so we were all talking and looking out the little window at New York City below us all lit up. After I used the restroom we sat back down and about that time they decided to serve dinner. My options were mushroom ravioli and chicken something or other so I decided on the chicken. It came with rice and green beans and a little salad cover in shrimp and some orange sauce. I ate the chicken. It was pretty good and the roll was pretty good too. After dinner there weren’t anymore movies on so I sat back and listened to my new mp3 player for a while. I tried to sleep a little but it didn’t do any good because the plane was extremely uncomfortable because there were no vents and they had the heat on pretty high. So I decided to watch a movie on my laptop and that killed another 2 hours. After the movie about the first 6 hours had gone by, and they had gone by pretty quickly, but we were starting to get a little restless. I played solitaire on the little TV’s in the plane for a while and soon after a girl named Jennifer who was with our group came over and moved across the aisle into Jason’s seat (he had gone to sit and talk to some friends) and we met and chatted for about an hour about lots of different things. She’s very sweet and is the only person in our entire group who speaks Italian almost fluently. Then Jason came back and she moved back to her seat and I played more solitaire until they brought out breakfast.
Well I'm here. I made it safely and it only took… a really long time, lol!
26Jan2005
We arrived at bush intercontinental airport at about 1pm and after parking and finding our way to international departures I immediately saw a few familiar faces waiting there already. We went ahead and checked my suitcase and I am glad we did because as I was getting to the counter the line started growing and by the time I was finished checking my bag it was really long. After I finished checking my bag we sat down and started waiting. My flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until 4:30 and we didn’t have to check in until 3:30 and at this point it was only around 1:30-1:45ish. So mom, dad, and I sat there and waited. Meanwhile more people from the group started showing up and checking their bags and there was a long period of phone calls to tell friends and family goodbye. We were mostly waiting for the program coordinator to show up because she had some emergency information cards she was supposed to give to the group and she wasn’t allowed through security because she wasn’t getting on a plane so that’s why were waiting for her. After about an hour and a half of chatting with mom and dad, phone calls to family, and just general waiting she finally arrived and I got my emergency information card and that was it. At this point I was kind of tired of waiting in the outer area and was getting antsy to do something, go somewhere, anything. So it was about 3pm and I decided to beat the long line to the security and told mom and dad goodbye. After taking off my shoes, coat, belt, etc. and having my bag x-rayed twice, I finally went up the escalator and waived goodbye to my parents one last time.
Once I got to the upper level I wandered around through the shops until I saw a group of people I knew that were already settled into the waiting area at the gate. We talked and laughed and had a good time and after a little while I went and got some food and then almost as soon as I was finished it was time to board the plane.
We started to get on and move our way through the plane and I eventually found where I was supposed to be sitting. I was lucky and had gotten a window seat and I was really excited about that. However, some girls that were with us in the row behind me had brought an awful lot of stuff to carry-on with them and there was no room in the overhead compartments for my very heavy bag and jacket… I was not thrilled about this. So I crammed into my seat and shoved my backpack down between my legs and sat extremely uncomfortably while the two guys next to me settled into their seats. The guy to my immediate left was Beau and next to him was Jason. And we were all healthy men in our early 20s so needless to say it was a little tight. So we did our best to get comfortable, made our introductions and chatted a little before and during take-off. Once we got in the air and were able to move around the cabin freely Beau discovered that his roommate to be in Italy was a few rows back and had a seat empty next to him, so he went ahead and moved back there leaving an empty seat between me and Jason. Thank goodness! Jason was able to cram my jacket into one of the overhead compartments and we put both of our carry-ons in the now available seat between us and things became much more comfortable. We actually had room to spread out a little… well as much as you can on a plane anyway. Well some movies started almost immediately and very soon after we took off we started flying into darkness. So I settled into my seat and decided to watch a movie that I had actually been wanting to see called Without A Paddle. It was pretty funny and killed about 2 hours of the projected 10 hour flight. After it was over I watched the last 20 minutes of the second James Bond movie with Pierce Brosnan and when that was over most of the other movies were too. So people started milling about the plain and a group of us all decided to go to the restroom at the same time so we were all talking and looking out the little window at New York City below us all lit up. After I used the restroom we sat back down and about that time they decided to serve dinner. My options were mushroom ravioli and chicken something or other so I decided on the chicken. It came with rice and green beans and a little salad cover in shrimp and some orange sauce. I ate the chicken. It was pretty good and the roll was pretty good too. After dinner there weren’t anymore movies on so I sat back and listened to my new mp3 player for a while. I tried to sleep a little but it didn’t do any good because the plane was extremely uncomfortable because there were no vents and they had the heat on pretty high. So I decided to watch a movie on my laptop and that killed another 2 hours. After the movie about the first 6 hours had gone by, and they had gone by pretty quickly, but we were starting to get a little restless. I played solitaire on the little TV’s in the plane for a while and soon after a girl named Jennifer who was with our group came over and moved across the aisle into Jason’s seat (he had gone to sit and talk to some friends) and we met and chatted for about an hour about lots of different things. She’s very sweet and is the only person in our entire group who speaks Italian almost fluently. Then Jason came back and she moved back to her seat and I played more solitaire until they brought out breakfast.
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27Jan2005
At some point on the flight it had switched over to the 27th, but I’m not entirely sure and I don’t feel like doing the math at all. So anyway we ate breakfast. It consisted of a roll, jelly, a little bag of granola, yogurt, a fruit cup, orange juice and water. I ate everything. And I’m glad I did as you’ll soon find out. Well at this point we were flying over land again and were going to hit the sunlight before long so I listened to more music and played more solitaire and waited to see something. About the time we were flying over franc the sun was coming up and I saw the Eiffel Tower in the distance being lit up in pink haze by the sunrise. It was pretty cool. Soon after we landed way outside Paris and after we gathered our belongings, we proceeded to wait to get off the plane.
We finally made our way out of the plane and ended up waiting on the ground outside the plane for about 15 minutes while the bus dropped off the first load of people and came around to get us. It was freezing! Eventually we ended up getting on the bus though and made out way to the airport. Once we got inside we wondered through the maze like gate following one of the professors who had apparently been there before. We went through the ticketing and security and finally found our gate and sat down to wait some more. The airport was very interesting and I took some pictures of the different architectural details while we were waiting. Our fight ended up being delayed an hour so I had plenty of time to wander around and take them as well as bag sitting while other people in the group explored and so on. Finally we were called to board the plane and so we gathered our bags and headed to the plane.
It turned out that Jennifer was sitting right behind me and a woman from Manhattan was sitting two seats over from me. Jennifer was going to trade seats with whoever sat next to me so we could talk more, but no one ever showed up and she never got the chance. However up until take-off I chatted with the woman from Manhattan. She was very friendly and talkative and interested in what I was doing and where I was going. She was amazed that I was from Texas because she said I didn’t have a southern accent that she could hear. Interesting. Well I did manage to nap on and off in the plane on the way to Roma, (Rome) but it wasn’t exactly comfortable. At some point the drink cart came by and the woman poked me to tell me I had just missed it, lol! That was nice of her. This flight was a little more comfortable because I could adjust my own a.c. and between napping I caught glimpses of the Swiss Alps which were amazing, and group of mountains that I think were in northern Italy which were extremely beautiful and very interesting looking. We were supposed to get lunch on the flight but for whatever reason no one did so that’s the first meal we missed. Finally we landed in Rome and this time we exited into an actual gate.
Things went pretty quickly in Roma. The group got together pretty fast and then we got our bags and met the rest of the group who had traveled over on their own. We all got our luggage and headed out to the bus where I helped the poor guy loading all of our luggage onto a van. Everyone was kind of dropping it off their luggage behind it and this one guy was loading it up all alone looking a little distraught, so I helped pitch them up to him until we had them all on. I assumed I was going to be the last person on the bus at this point, but once I got on and they did role we discovered that 3 people were missing, 3 people I knew, so I went with one of the professors back into the airport to look for them. We finally found them all and two of them hadn’t gotten their baggage for some reason. I believe they were still in Paris, and are supposed to be delivered in the next day or two.
We finally got on our way with the bus ride and again I did some napping. However, not before we saw a police car go by that was a LAMBOURGHINI! We were all in complete shock at that site and joked about how we doubted there were any people that tried to outrun those cops. I sat next to a girl named Brittany on the bus and we chatted for a little bit, but mostly we both slept. 3 hours later we arrived in Castiglion Fiorentino. We were supposed to stop at a halfway point on the bus ride for a restroom break and a bite to eat, but somehow that stop didn’t happen, so that made two meals we missed. (Now you know why it’s good that I ate my entire breakfast) well when we got off everyone’s baggage that had ended up on the bus was piled and they loaded it up on a truck while the group took the short walk into town to the center. (the bus was too bug to go into the town on the narrow streets) well the truck made its first trip but there were still bags left so I volunteered to wait with a girl named Anne who works at the center and we watched the luggage and waited for the truck to come back around. She was from California and had been in the same program that I’m in 4 years ago, and decided to come back and work for them here. So we talked and she told me a lot of interesting things about the town and the center etc. and finally the truck came back. So we helped the 2 guys with the truck load up the rest of the bags and then Anne and I walked back to the center. It was freezing outside and it had been snowing and at this point it was about 6:30 I think.
We got to the center a few minutes later (it was supposed to be a 10 minute walk they told us, but it was real like 3) and I grabbed my luggage and Anne showed me to my room. I met me roommates Daniel and Wesley and then it was downstairs for our first meeting. We had a meeting that lasted about 45 minutes and went over some general information about check-in and dinner. And then as soon as the meeting was over we went to dinner. And oh my gosh, the food was delicious! I mean absolutely amazing! It had been talked up quite a bit to us back in the states and we were all quite impressed to realize that it was living up to its name. We had pasta first, with kind of a broccoli pepperoni sauce and it was fantastic. Then the main course was salad, chicken, and potatoes and they were probably the best potatoes I have ever had. The chicken was extraordinary and the salad was pretty good too.
After dinner I decided to use the computer lab and try to talk to JereBeth a little if I could but my battery was low from watching the movie on the plane and soon died. At this point I discovered that I didn’t have an adapter that I needed to charge it and I was getting pretty upset. I wrote an e-mail to JB explaining what had happened (since we kind of got cut off) and then to my parents telling them I was safe. I didn’t have my address book on the school computers so I had to just send the e-mail to those three because they were the only ones I knew. At this point I didn’t really know what to do so I decided to go see about checking in. well I was able to, but just by the skin of my teeth. Our program coordinator had told us that we could pay some of the fees with a credit card, but that turned out to be false information and I spent pretty much all the cash I had on checking-in. while I was checking in I was talking to one of the professors who is here and we were discussing my problem with the laptop. The problem was that I didn’t have an adapter for my power chord that turned a 3 prong chord into a 2 prong chord that I could use with my Italian converters. He suggested I simply break off the 3rd prong to use here and just get a new one when I get back to the States. I hadn’t thought about that, but it sounded like it was worth a try because I didn’t know if I was going to be able to find an adapter like that over here and I didn’t want to be without my laptop at all if possible.
Well I gave it a shot and lucky for me it worked, so I’m good to go for now as far as my laptop goes. I ended up being able to talk to JB for a few hours before going to bed for the night.
At some point on the flight it had switched over to the 27th, but I’m not entirely sure and I don’t feel like doing the math at all. So anyway we ate breakfast. It consisted of a roll, jelly, a little bag of granola, yogurt, a fruit cup, orange juice and water. I ate everything. And I’m glad I did as you’ll soon find out. Well at this point we were flying over land again and were going to hit the sunlight before long so I listened to more music and played more solitaire and waited to see something. About the time we were flying over franc the sun was coming up and I saw the Eiffel Tower in the distance being lit up in pink haze by the sunrise. It was pretty cool. Soon after we landed way outside Paris and after we gathered our belongings, we proceeded to wait to get off the plane.
We finally made our way out of the plane and ended up waiting on the ground outside the plane for about 15 minutes while the bus dropped off the first load of people and came around to get us. It was freezing! Eventually we ended up getting on the bus though and made out way to the airport. Once we got inside we wondered through the maze like gate following one of the professors who had apparently been there before. We went through the ticketing and security and finally found our gate and sat down to wait some more. The airport was very interesting and I took some pictures of the different architectural details while we were waiting. Our fight ended up being delayed an hour so I had plenty of time to wander around and take them as well as bag sitting while other people in the group explored and so on. Finally we were called to board the plane and so we gathered our bags and headed to the plane.
It turned out that Jennifer was sitting right behind me and a woman from Manhattan was sitting two seats over from me. Jennifer was going to trade seats with whoever sat next to me so we could talk more, but no one ever showed up and she never got the chance. However up until take-off I chatted with the woman from Manhattan. She was very friendly and talkative and interested in what I was doing and where I was going. She was amazed that I was from Texas because she said I didn’t have a southern accent that she could hear. Interesting. Well I did manage to nap on and off in the plane on the way to Roma, (Rome) but it wasn’t exactly comfortable. At some point the drink cart came by and the woman poked me to tell me I had just missed it, lol! That was nice of her. This flight was a little more comfortable because I could adjust my own a.c. and between napping I caught glimpses of the Swiss Alps which were amazing, and group of mountains that I think were in northern Italy which were extremely beautiful and very interesting looking. We were supposed to get lunch on the flight but for whatever reason no one did so that’s the first meal we missed. Finally we landed in Rome and this time we exited into an actual gate.
Things went pretty quickly in Roma. The group got together pretty fast and then we got our bags and met the rest of the group who had traveled over on their own. We all got our luggage and headed out to the bus where I helped the poor guy loading all of our luggage onto a van. Everyone was kind of dropping it off their luggage behind it and this one guy was loading it up all alone looking a little distraught, so I helped pitch them up to him until we had them all on. I assumed I was going to be the last person on the bus at this point, but once I got on and they did role we discovered that 3 people were missing, 3 people I knew, so I went with one of the professors back into the airport to look for them. We finally found them all and two of them hadn’t gotten their baggage for some reason. I believe they were still in Paris, and are supposed to be delivered in the next day or two.
We finally got on our way with the bus ride and again I did some napping. However, not before we saw a police car go by that was a LAMBOURGHINI! We were all in complete shock at that site and joked about how we doubted there were any people that tried to outrun those cops. I sat next to a girl named Brittany on the bus and we chatted for a little bit, but mostly we both slept. 3 hours later we arrived in Castiglion Fiorentino. We were supposed to stop at a halfway point on the bus ride for a restroom break and a bite to eat, but somehow that stop didn’t happen, so that made two meals we missed. (Now you know why it’s good that I ate my entire breakfast) well when we got off everyone’s baggage that had ended up on the bus was piled and they loaded it up on a truck while the group took the short walk into town to the center. (the bus was too bug to go into the town on the narrow streets) well the truck made its first trip but there were still bags left so I volunteered to wait with a girl named Anne who works at the center and we watched the luggage and waited for the truck to come back around. She was from California and had been in the same program that I’m in 4 years ago, and decided to come back and work for them here. So we talked and she told me a lot of interesting things about the town and the center etc. and finally the truck came back. So we helped the 2 guys with the truck load up the rest of the bags and then Anne and I walked back to the center. It was freezing outside and it had been snowing and at this point it was about 6:30 I think.
We got to the center a few minutes later (it was supposed to be a 10 minute walk they told us, but it was real like 3) and I grabbed my luggage and Anne showed me to my room. I met me roommates Daniel and Wesley and then it was downstairs for our first meeting. We had a meeting that lasted about 45 minutes and went over some general information about check-in and dinner. And then as soon as the meeting was over we went to dinner. And oh my gosh, the food was delicious! I mean absolutely amazing! It had been talked up quite a bit to us back in the states and we were all quite impressed to realize that it was living up to its name. We had pasta first, with kind of a broccoli pepperoni sauce and it was fantastic. Then the main course was salad, chicken, and potatoes and they were probably the best potatoes I have ever had. The chicken was extraordinary and the salad was pretty good too.
After dinner I decided to use the computer lab and try to talk to JereBeth a little if I could but my battery was low from watching the movie on the plane and soon died. At this point I discovered that I didn’t have an adapter that I needed to charge it and I was getting pretty upset. I wrote an e-mail to JB explaining what had happened (since we kind of got cut off) and then to my parents telling them I was safe. I didn’t have my address book on the school computers so I had to just send the e-mail to those three because they were the only ones I knew. At this point I didn’t really know what to do so I decided to go see about checking in. well I was able to, but just by the skin of my teeth. Our program coordinator had told us that we could pay some of the fees with a credit card, but that turned out to be false information and I spent pretty much all the cash I had on checking-in. while I was checking in I was talking to one of the professors who is here and we were discussing my problem with the laptop. The problem was that I didn’t have an adapter for my power chord that turned a 3 prong chord into a 2 prong chord that I could use with my Italian converters. He suggested I simply break off the 3rd prong to use here and just get a new one when I get back to the States. I hadn’t thought about that, but it sounded like it was worth a try because I didn’t know if I was going to be able to find an adapter like that over here and I didn’t want to be without my laptop at all if possible.
Well I gave it a shot and lucky for me it worked, so I’m good to go for now as far as my laptop goes. I ended up being able to talk to JB for a few hours before going to bed for the night.
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28Jan2005
well we were supposed to have breakfast today from 8:30 – 9:30 but my roommates had come in after 2am (they went to one of the local bars and had some fun) and I was exhausted so we all slept through till about 9:45am. Well we got up because we had a meeting at 10, so we went down there and heard more orientational type stuff and afterwards we split up into groups to go on a tour of Castiglion Fiorentino. I took tons of pictures on the tour and some people from the group were messing with me about it, but I don’t care, I want as many as I can get to remember this experience. The city was beautiful and we saw a lot of very friendly people. Apparently they love us in this city and it really showed.
After the tour we had another meeting then lunch and then some free time.
Lunch was again phenomenal. We had some type of pea or bean soup that was pretty good, sausage wrapped in a croissant type thing, quiche, and salad again. Oh and we had fruit for desert with all of our meals so far. Well after lunch I was still wrecked from the traveling so I crashed for 3 hours and then took a shower. I was a little late to the next meeting because of my shower but it was okay.
After that meeting we had about a half hour to kill before a short movie and then dinner. So I joined up with two other people who needed two go to the ATM’s and we hiked our way to them and I got to take out some Euro. Then we came back and sat through a half our film about Florence, which is going to be our first field trip next week. After that was dinner which was yet again a delicious experience., We had another pasta with carrots and zucchini then the main course was another salad, spinach and what we think was turkey and it was all spectacular. (Well I didn’t eat the spinach, but the rest was) I decided that while over here I am going to try to be more open to trying new things, and I haven’t always known exactly what I am eating, but so far I haven’t regretted it at all. Once again we had fruit for dessert. After dinner I went back to my room and my roommate and I tried to address my cell phone issues. (He just so happened to work for t-mobile for like the last year or two as a dealer) But we were in my room and I didn’t have internet access and it was getting late so we decided to worry about it later. We were invited to go out to the bar and I decided to go this time, but before we got there the group we were with decided to go to a different pub instead. When we got there we were pretty much the only people around so we talked to the bartenders a little and some of the people in the group got some drinks and then we looked around the pub. It was a really cool place. When you first walked in it was kind of like you were on a pirate ship or something in the bar area because they had nets and oars and big ship steering wheels hung up and it just had the ship atmosphere. The whole place was kind of underground cut into the mountain and as you went back there were a series of smaller rooms that had different themes. One had like Russian looking artwork and one was something I don’t remember now and then the second to the last was very Americanized with an American flag, and western artwork and so we decided to sit there. The funny thing about the whole experience was that there were TV’s in every room but they were blaring American music and American music videos. It was interesting, lol. After I while we were talking and one of the girls went back to the bar to get another drink and when she came back she brought a local girl with her that she had met and we all talked to her and she spoke a little English. So for the next hour to an hour and a half we all chatted with her and her boyfriend and tried to understand their Italian and they tried to understand our English, but after about that hour and a half I was getting a little antsy. I didn’t really understand any of the Italian, I’m afraid I really don’t have a flair for languages at all. I am not picking up any of it… and the people I was with were starting to drink a little more and were getting loud so I left and said goodbye and came back to the center, well I was going to get on the internet and try to talk to anyone online, but the internet has been down. Therefore I am writing this entry in word as we speak and will transfer it when I get a chance. The internet has actually started working again, but the two laptop connections are currently being used so I will get online and take care of business when it’s my turn. For right now though I do believe I have finished telling everything about the last 3 days and my back is getting a little sore so I think I shall end here. I love you all and I am having a great time, and I can’t wait t o see what else is still to come. Please feel free to e-mail me if you like, I will check it whenever I can, and also feel free to go and look at the pictures I am posting on the picture site. Goodbye for now!
well we were supposed to have breakfast today from 8:30 – 9:30 but my roommates had come in after 2am (they went to one of the local bars and had some fun) and I was exhausted so we all slept through till about 9:45am. Well we got up because we had a meeting at 10, so we went down there and heard more orientational type stuff and afterwards we split up into groups to go on a tour of Castiglion Fiorentino. I took tons of pictures on the tour and some people from the group were messing with me about it, but I don’t care, I want as many as I can get to remember this experience. The city was beautiful and we saw a lot of very friendly people. Apparently they love us in this city and it really showed.
After the tour we had another meeting then lunch and then some free time.
Lunch was again phenomenal. We had some type of pea or bean soup that was pretty good, sausage wrapped in a croissant type thing, quiche, and salad again. Oh and we had fruit for desert with all of our meals so far. Well after lunch I was still wrecked from the traveling so I crashed for 3 hours and then took a shower. I was a little late to the next meeting because of my shower but it was okay.
After that meeting we had about a half hour to kill before a short movie and then dinner. So I joined up with two other people who needed two go to the ATM’s and we hiked our way to them and I got to take out some Euro. Then we came back and sat through a half our film about Florence, which is going to be our first field trip next week. After that was dinner which was yet again a delicious experience., We had another pasta with carrots and zucchini then the main course was another salad, spinach and what we think was turkey and it was all spectacular. (Well I didn’t eat the spinach, but the rest was) I decided that while over here I am going to try to be more open to trying new things, and I haven’t always known exactly what I am eating, but so far I haven’t regretted it at all. Once again we had fruit for dessert. After dinner I went back to my room and my roommate and I tried to address my cell phone issues. (He just so happened to work for t-mobile for like the last year or two as a dealer) But we were in my room and I didn’t have internet access and it was getting late so we decided to worry about it later. We were invited to go out to the bar and I decided to go this time, but before we got there the group we were with decided to go to a different pub instead. When we got there we were pretty much the only people around so we talked to the bartenders a little and some of the people in the group got some drinks and then we looked around the pub. It was a really cool place. When you first walked in it was kind of like you were on a pirate ship or something in the bar area because they had nets and oars and big ship steering wheels hung up and it just had the ship atmosphere. The whole place was kind of underground cut into the mountain and as you went back there were a series of smaller rooms that had different themes. One had like Russian looking artwork and one was something I don’t remember now and then the second to the last was very Americanized with an American flag, and western artwork and so we decided to sit there. The funny thing about the whole experience was that there were TV’s in every room but they were blaring American music and American music videos. It was interesting, lol. After I while we were talking and one of the girls went back to the bar to get another drink and when she came back she brought a local girl with her that she had met and we all talked to her and she spoke a little English. So for the next hour to an hour and a half we all chatted with her and her boyfriend and tried to understand their Italian and they tried to understand our English, but after about that hour and a half I was getting a little antsy. I didn’t really understand any of the Italian, I’m afraid I really don’t have a flair for languages at all. I am not picking up any of it… and the people I was with were starting to drink a little more and were getting loud so I left and said goodbye and came back to the center, well I was going to get on the internet and try to talk to anyone online, but the internet has been down. Therefore I am writing this entry in word as we speak and will transfer it when I get a chance. The internet has actually started working again, but the two laptop connections are currently being used so I will get online and take care of business when it’s my turn. For right now though I do believe I have finished telling everything about the last 3 days and my back is getting a little sore so I think I shall end here. I love you all and I am having a great time, and I can’t wait t o see what else is still to come. Please feel free to e-mail me if you like, I will check it whenever I can, and also feel free to go and look at the pictures I am posting on the picture site. Goodbye for now!
posted by c|young | 1:29 AM
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