City of the Dead...

so Wednesday was the most awesome day so far. We got out of class and hoped onto this van/taxi. it was me, stef, danielle, traci, kim, and allison. we drove like 40-45 minutes away to this city...in english its called the city of the dead, or the dying city. i cant remember what it is in italian. but it was awesome. in the late 1600s - like 1693 or something - there was this crazy earthquake and the little town is on top of like this really big hill/mountain. and the main road caved. so they built this bridge, that you can only walk on and if you are crazy enough (which we saw someone who is) drive a moped on it. so you walk really high over this valley on this little bridge (of course there are insane winds and it starts hailing as we are walking across this stinking thing. lol.- its not liek a wooden plank one or anything, so no worries...and you get there....it was liek a ghost town. of course we're walking around and the view was gorgeous. i seriously cant put it into words how amazing this place was....all of a sudden, it starts hailing huge hail balls. of course. so the six of us go running into this doorway to stand on their porch and a woman appears out of nowhere an dis like, youre cold an dhungry...com ein and eat. so we go into her cute little restaurant and she lights a fire. then her daughter comes and they gave us homemade wine which was really good cuz it didnt really taste like wine, so i liked it. lol....and then we ordered bruschetta. they toasted it over the fire. oh my goodness. i was in heaven. and then we had a homemade blueberry tart. sooo good. but we were talking to them in our broken italian. apparently in th ewinter there is only 15 people that live in the town...3-4 families. and we saw 7 of those 15 people in the two hours we were there. haha. but we did some exploring and found these caves-tunnel things and openings to really old etruscan tombs...it was so cool. i seriously cant put it into words what it was like to be there. by far the coolest experience we've had so far. there are no kids there either, they said. so it is getting close to dying out. i mean, theyve been going strong for a couple hundred years without much access to the outside...they have to walk across that crazy bridge whenever they need to buy something they dont have there...craziness. thats why its called the dying city. its so small, and when someone gets hurt or realyl sick, they cant really get out of the city, so they just sorta die there. but there was a really cute church and a gift shop, so i bought some postcards and took lots of pictures. it was awesome.

So yesterday, we took it easy because Wednesday night we were out dancing pretty late. We watched some of the videos we recorded at the dead city, and looked at steph's pictures on her computer. they came out soo good. some people are leaving now for Rome, so it will be a little quieter this weekend, which will be nice. we're going to dinner today, and then to the museum in town with all the etruscan stuff from the area. tomorrow we're definitely doing the day trip to Orvieto (the place they filmed Under the Tuscan Sun - even though we're not in Tuscany at all. lol its in the region they like to call Lazio). We're leaving at like 8:20 and the bus ride should be like an hour and half. we have like 5 minutes to switch buses in town next week, so that should be interesting. then sunday we're going to go to the two churches in town. probably go to the one service in the morning and then walk out to the one that looks like a castle. its quite a walk there, so hopefully the weather will be nicer. I think Kim wants to go horseback riding on Sunday too. Not sure if I want to ride. steph said shed go and watch, but i dont know...i think id get bored, but i'll think about it.....monday we have our final, and it shouldnt be too bad. i was really worried, but she says not to, so va bene. then we're talking about going to the hot springs. and we have our good-bye dinner and we leave on tuesday morning....im not ready! I mean, i want to actually have a closet and dresser and not be living out of a suitcase anymore, but i reall ylike it here. we're talking about coming back from like a thurs to sat in april or may. hanging out and traveling around cuz we love this area.

I cant believe we've been here for almost two weeks. I feel like we just got here, cuz its all still so exciting, but at the same time. We've become Italian and feel like we've leaved here forever. I mean, the Italians. they are so laid back and i love it. but then they have their passions. its awesome. but they're so funny. they just hang outside and chill and talk. same places and same times everyday. and we've begun doing that too. and we know so many people in the town....like we go to the same gelateria every day. right after dinner, at the same time, and then on the way back, we stop and talk to the same group of italian kids. we've completely fallen into the italian lifestyle.

we've also begun planning where we are going to go and when. exciting! we know when we're goign to london, and we kinda know when we're going to ireland. and venice is set, and france is set. still have to figure out when we're going to switzerland, and id like to go to prague. and then theres all the places in italy...perugia, assisi, milano, capri, pompeii. its so cool here. i wish i had more than 4 months to travel! haha.

well, i have to do a little research on bus tickets back for tomorrow, so i will write more probably from florence - will have a whole new place to talk about, the apartment, the school, the museums and the duomo. exciting stuff!

Baci!

To Dar:

I can't find your email address anywhere, so I figured since you posted here, you will probably read this at some point...haha.

thats awesome that you guys are coming to Europe...you'll love it! and whats even better is...i'll be traveling with the school to the french riveria, nice, and monte carlo march 3rd to the 4th or something like that....so maybe i'll see you there!

and you totally should come to florence! that would be pretty sweet. I miss you guys a lot. Friday night, it was like midnight, and i was like...man...they're all eating dinner and then heading over to paul and dars right now...

so i'll look into the trains. we take the train a lot, but i will let you know what is best. i dont have too much time on the computers here and they are kind of slow, but i'll be in florence next week and that should be better...or maybe i'll just go to an internet cafe....

tell everybody at college group that i miss them and I say hi. give them all hugs for me!

ciao!

the first weekend....

so we had class on friday. missed the games, but its ok. im understanding more and more of what she is saying in every class, so its good.

saturday we went to rome. had this really long tour all over the city. we went to the vatican first and went into st. peter's basillica. i finally saw michelangelo's la pieta. amazing. did you know that he started that sculpture when he was 23 and finished it when he was 24. unbelievable. it was cool seeing a lot of the art that ive studied in school. from there we took a bus to the roman forum. and the colesseum. i actually know all about it and can tell my parents what everythign was used for back in the day. it wasnt as erie being there t his time. maybe cuz i was with a big tour and it was really sunny and hot out and lots of people were there....then we finally ate. at like 5. long day with out much food. i was getting a lil dizzy. then we went to this church saint peter in chains. it had the chains that peter (supposedly) when he was arrested after Jesus's death. and it had a huge michelangelo sculpture of moses. and there was some service going on in there, an dyou walk in and these people are singing and these paintings and things. it was amazing.

we were headed to the Trevi Fountain after that (which I absolutely love for some reason) and the Pantheon (which kim is obsessed with) but the two of us were the only ones not staying overnight and had to catch the train home. we didnt end up doing much. tea at Neno's place. but we saw our friends, an dtwo of of them were cousins and their grandfather died, so sad. so nobody really did anything in the town cuz they all know each other, and it was really depressing. yesterday we slept in - and missed a blessing of some horses and a parade! but we met the italian cowboys at lunch. so funny. and the guy that owns the restaurant that we get free food at absolutely loves kim and i now. and so do the hotel people. they had a festival last night. kim got a gigabyte memory card for her camera for like 20 bucks. and we almost bought some chipmunks. then dinner. it was funny. they put a plate of anitpasto in front of me......but it was all sorts of fish! there were clearly tentacles from lil octopus on my plate. nasty...i couldnt eat it. steph ate my shrimp, i did try a piece of bread with salmon on it....and gagged. so gross....but hey, at least im trying new things. the owner of the restaurant is always putting things in front of me to try. he's crazy. i ordered chicken, he gives me steak. tells me to eat more than pasta and chicken. lol.

so today we have class and we have a movie later. hopefully it will be a good one.

we're gonna try to get to the hot springs this week...and this town thats a lil ways away. we have to liek take a bus to one town, an dthen another one to another town, and then walk. its like up on a hill and its called like the town of the dead cuz you cant get there by car, so the peopl ewho live there that get sick, cant get the medicine they really need or something cuz the cars cant get thru. but we saw pictures and it looks really cool. small, almost a ghost town. and its constantly misty for liek no apparent reason.

so thats really all thats new. after rome it we had a lot of down time which was good, finally over the jetlag. refreshed and ready for the next week :-)

Buongiorno!

Hey guys,

ive been writing a lot. (prolly wont be like that one i get to firenze) we have a lot of time here and its such a small town, that when things close for siesta there is not much to do but try to get a computer in the lab or walk around and take pictures. i walked around taking pictures yesterday because it was the first sunny day. it was beautiful. we went back to all the old places they took us to during our walking tour the other night. we called it our Lilo tour. cuz there is this little stray dog, lilo, but he is the friendliest dog ever. he's like the town dog. he only eats meat cuz thats what everybody gives him, so he turns up his nose to liek croissants and stuff. and everybody loves him, so when it gets really cold, he goes into one of the many houses or restaurants that have beds for him (sorry if im repeating stuff, i dont remember what i told people already). well we didnt see him at all on wednesday, and then yesterday we hear his little paws on the cobblestone, and we turn around and are like LILO! and he is like sprinting to us...he ended up staying with us for an hour and a half. he's like, yes this is my town i'll show you it. and we just followed him, or when we want to go one way, and he was going somewhere else, we're like andiamo lilo. this way. and he came. and then hed disappear to hang out with the other dogs, and we're like ciao lilo, and wed be by ourselves, but then he would find us a couple minutes later and come sprinting to us again. hes so funny. he like stops and turns around and waits while you take a picture. so in a ton of my pictures, theres Lilo looking back at us. he's so cute.....but today we did a scavenger hunt. and lilo found my team and stayed with us the whole time. i think thats why we won. we had lilo helping us.

so there is no class later today either, cuz we're doing more games and stuff. its a nice break. the four hour class is pretty intense. and the professor doesnt speak like any english. its fun though. we sing songs. we sang this one song, Una Gatto (A Cat) over and over in class on tuesday. and then wednesday we were listening to italian music...getting cultured basically....and we asked to sing una gatto cuz its so funny, so the tune was stuck in our heads all night. so we start humming and singing the few words we remember, and we were out and had been talking to these italians...and all of a sudden. these five guys that we had been talking to. maybe like 22-years-old start singing the song! we couldn't believe it cuz its such a stupid song. from what i understand of their italian, they said they know it from school when they were little and from an oldies radio station. it was so funny. we didnt know it was like a real song. i actually told my italian professor yesterday in italian about it, she seemed pretty happy. shes a funny lady.

so yesterday we had gnocci for lunch (and kim and i got it for dinner too). its like pasta made out of potato or something. its really good. i enjoyed it. its just very filling. kim got bunny for dinner. kinda freaked me out a little bit. she said it was good. kinda tastes like chicken...she said that you could tell its not chicken but that it sorta has that taste. oh. so before dinner yesterday, we go into this bakery. i got this thing - it was basically like a giant cream puff. so good. an dkim got these chocolate things that she was freaking out over. i think im gonna have to go back and try these chocolate things, but i also want to get a canolli :-)

oh, we also found out about these hot springs. like natural jacuzzis (whoa, never thought about how you spell that before...i got no clue, sorry!). its like a 15-20 minute bus ride, so we're gonna try to get there next week when our class changes to a morning class. someone had pictures from yesterday, and the sun was setting. bella. i have to go there.

so rome is tomorrow...and kim and i are the only two people who aren't spending the night there. it will be nice to be here by ourselves. we want to walk to this like castle thats pretty close by. some of the other kids did it yesterday. its kind of a long walk, but...va bene. and apparently sunday there is this big carnival-festival. so kim and i are excited that we'll actually be here for it. should be fun. we really like it here. we were all talking today about how we would like to retire here since living here is a really nice dream, but probably not possible. lol. so we got gelato again yesterday. they were running out of chocolate, but i had that already lol, so i tried some new stuff. nocciola and fiordelatte. like a nutty one and a vanilla. it was soooo good. but we were sitting there, and theres this like vending machine - like one of those ones where you put liek 25 cents in and get some stupid bouncy ball or something...well this one had cans of peanuts. and cans of olives and random stuff in cans. it was like, you spin the top so you pick what you want and then put in however much euro and you get a can of random food. it was so weird. there was also one with underwear in those plastic containers....really really random. but quite a conversation starter. lol. alright, well im getting really hungry (ho fame jess, hoooo fame!) and we want to look into a train to go to perugia next weekend on saturday. but first, we gotta look and see what there is to do in perugia to see if its worth it....

miss you all!
ci vediamo.

Ciao!

In Italia...

I'm in Italy. Its crazy. Finally got some sleep and I feel better, and am excited to be here. Was so tired before, all the people I'm here with from Marist were annoying me...except for a select few that im friends with. lol.

But things are great now. Our room in the hotel is really cute. its kinda tiny, but the bathroom is huge. and we have this really big tub and our shower head is one of those ones that you have to hold and move around on your own which is interesting to get used to. lol. we missed breakfast, so i cant say how the hotel does with that...but we walked around this morning, and i thought i was taking us to this cafe by the internet place, but we ened up no where near it (haha gonna be interesting in florence). we found a different cafe where my friends brittany and stephanie got coffee and kim and i went into a pizza place. its great cuz brittany and stephanie both know more italian. families speak it. but kim and i hardly know anything so we're in there pointing and gestering and hes like....what do you speak (in italian) and he was like ohhhh english. so we're like you speak english?! cuz nobody does. but he doesn't. but we got the pizza. kim got a pepperoni and i had a bite, pretty good. but mine was GREAT. white pizza with mozzerella and proscheutto (spelling). it was soo good. and the actually had naturale water instead of the fizzy stuff that we had everywhere else we went. lol. so we'll be back, so we're leaving and hes like at the door waving and watching us, an dim like. ci vediamo domani (see you tomorrow) and he just laughed. but we're definitely going back. its so gooood.

But yea, I'm going to rome on saturday! its a field trip with the class im taking. we go early so we can shop and do whatever we want, and then a 4 hour tour thru the pantheon and colessuem and roman forum and stuff. its cool. im excited. we thought about staying overnight and paying for the hostel an dour own way home, but we both will probably be back there with our families when they come up, so we're ok. plus we've been there before. i mean i never made it to the vatican, and i would like to see st. peters. but, va bene. maybe i will ....

hmm..so its monday, and the gelaterias might not be open! I still haven't gotten any, but soon. probably tomorrow. first thing in the morning. haha. well, th eother class just let out and they will probably all be in here looking for a computer soon, so im gonna get going. i'll write more later.

oh wait....i finally feel like im in italy now....cuz last night walking back from the welcome dinner was awesome. it was like being in a movie. small street all lit up with christmas lights and cobblestone with a huge fountain at one of the tiny intersections and people walkin around speaking italian. definitely in italy :-)

Ciao