Day Five.

Hello.

Today we took it easy. We woke up late (11:30!) and headed to Akash for espresso because we intended to take the change we get from our vouchers (used lunch vouchers) to go to a pasticceria. That didn't work for some reason we still have yet to figure out and so we went to Vin Cafe for lunch. I had an eggplant quiche-type thing. It was really good and just the right amount of food.

Then we went back to the apartment and basically sat around the apartment for the rest of the day. The girls were all planning their Spring Break trip to Barcelona and beyond but I didn't because I plan on going to Greece with Joanna. I might end up going with the girls to Barcelona and then going from Barcelona to Greece and meet Joanna there. Yet to be determined.

Anyway, we hung out, took showers, etc. I updated my resume and read a little. I wanted to do my laundry (the washer is small so I figured I'd do my laundry every week and keep the loads small) but I didn't have detergent and the grocery stores were all closed. Oh well!

Around 7 we went over to the boys' place again and hung out there as they made their Spring Break plans to coordinate with ours. Then we headed to Locanda del L'occa, our last restaurant in the meal plan. It was a complicated procedure to order but we eventually figured it out. I had a cheese crepe and penne pasta. It was pretty good. I've had to adjust my food rating scale to coincide with the notable rise in average meal quality. That's why my descriptions of how good the food is have become less enthusiastic--it's all so good that I can't rave wildly about each meal! That would destroy the use of the enthusiasm!

After dinner we went to a gelatoria near the restaurant and got some gelato. It was almost a mistake because it's so cold out that I felt like I'd never be able to regain the use of my fingers again after eating and holding the cold gelato. However, since the gelato was delicious, it was NOT a mistake to get it.

Then we headed back to the apartment and we intend on watching a movie (10 Things I Hate About You which, oddly enough, I apparently haven't seen?) and going to bed. Tomorrow we don't have much to do but we do need to meet Dan at the Campus Center before noon to get next week's meal vouchers from him. At 2 we're going on a bus tour of the surrounding country and nearby towns and won't be back until 6. I should have some awesome pictures for everyone tomorrow! Not sure what we're doing about dinner.

Stay tuned for beautiful pictures of the Italian countryside!

Update: I feel nauseous.

Day Four - Saturday Antics

So...today was ridiculously awesome. I don't know how much I should share but I think I'll go for full disclosure since nothing TOO graphic happened. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Today started with the market. The Saturday market here is a big thing and it lines most of the main streets. We walked around (apparently missed half of it!) and looked at a lot of stalls. Most of the girls bought scarves and I bought a winter hat and a sweater. Along our way down the streets we met up with the boys and helped them pick out man scarves because they wanted to buy some to fit in with the locals (EVERYONE wears scarves here).

At 12 we met Dan at Akash for lunch. It was a small place but there's a nice upstairs lounge area. I had pasta and the others had paninis. The service was really slow, though, and lunch took FOREVER. After lunch we headed back to our apartment for siesta time and took naps. Some of the girls went running. Then I took a shower and we headed to the travel agency! We had been talking about going on our first trip this next weekend (4th-7th) and decided Rome was a good place to start! We went to the travel agency (they speak English!) and they booked our train tickets FOR NO CHARGE. It was amazingly easy. We had already done research on which trains we wanted to take. We'll take a train from Alba to Asti (about an hour away) Thursday night around 8:30 and we'll get into Rome (after changing in Asti) around 6 the next morning. We'll stay Friday and Saturday night in a hostel in Rome and then we catch another overnight train Sunday night, getting back to Alba right before classes start on Monday. It's going to be amazing! It also was only about $120 round trip.

After booking our tickets we headed to the gelato place for celebration gelato! Very important. I got strawberry and Fio de Leche (Milk flower?) and it was good but not as good as the hazelnut! Kiki had the hazelnut and let me try it. It was delicious. Then we headed back to our apartment to hang and get ready for dinner.

We left for dinner around 7 and went to the boys to hang and drink before dinner (drinks are expensive so the group buys wine at the grocery store and drinks it in their rooms). I discovered I like vodka and pineapple juice well enough. Still didn't drink much, though. I don't really feel the need to.

Dan told us that there was a mix-up with our restaurant (the last one in our meal plan) and they couldn't take us tonight so we went to La Duchessa again. I had a different pizza this time and everyone else tried another one, too. It's ok pizza but not amazing. The place was PACKED, though. Everyone goes out to dinner on Saturday night and the place was full of people, mostly high school kids. Alba is a high school town, making it hard for us to meet people our age. Dinner was good, though, and we headed to a local bar afterwards.

We walked from La Duchessa to the bar (I forget it's name) and it was also PACKED since everyone goes out on Saturday nights and high school kids can drink here so, again, it was full of high school kids. They are ridiculously mature-looking and made us feel bad about ourselves. Oh well. People ordered beers and drinks and we hung out but it was packed and there wasn't much space to stand and it was FREEZING outside. Some people eventually ordered absinthe and apparently enjoyed it a lot. Just a shot--nothing hallucination-envoking.

After the bar we headed back towards our apartment. As we passed an alley, a group of guys walked into us and we sort of yelled "Caio bellos" at them and they started yelling back at us. We slowed down to let them catch up with us (because some people thought that would be fun) and eventually started talking to them (they spoke English). They offered to take us to the discoteque we had been hearing about all night so we followed them back towards the bar. They introduced themselves like 8 times and so did we but I don't think anyone remembers anyone's name.

Anyway, we walked past the bar we had just left and ended up at this Bingo place with a huge group of people outside. We skirted the people and were let inside the Bingo place, followed the guys up a sketchy staircase and came into a pool room. The guys talked to some other guys and money was exchanged for the tickets to the discoteque. The tickets were 12 euro each but the men paid for us. It was awesome. Then we left the creepy Bingo house and went next door, passing by all the people in line and going straight into the disco (apparently the guys we were with were big shit! We all got treated awesomely the whole time we were with them). We got inside, waited a bit for a table so we could put our coats down, and then hit the dance floor. The place was packed and we were a little under-dressed but now we know for next time.

The guys we came with stayed near the table (which was near the DJ) and ended up behind the rope near the DJ so apparently they WERE really important people. Lucky us! Anyway, we headed down onto the dance floor, pushing through the crowd of high school kids and people our age. We found a spot and danced for a while. Then some guys came over and started grinding on us and we were like "Ok, we're in Italy. Italian guys are like this so whatever." Then things started to get a bit handsier and we moved away. The guy on me tried to steal my cellphone (but I caught him) so that was pretty scary. We went back to our coats and hung with the guys we came with and then the St. Mary's guys found us! It was really fun to see them. They had to wait in the line that we got to completely bypass. We headed back on the dance floor with them and the guy who had tried to steal my cellphone came back. I told Greg, one of the St. Mary's guys, about the creeper and he eventually communicated to the guy that he better leave us alone. It was a good moment. Then we danced together (all 9 of us) for a little longer and, eventually, me and three of the other girls headed back to the apartment. Kiki and I were wearing heels so our feet were DEAD.

Anyway, all in all it was a ridiculous night. I realize we weren't really all that safe but it was fun, it was risky, and it all worked out. We looked out for each other the whole time and made sure everyone was together. We also knew that we didn't want to do anything other than go to the discoteque and we didn't want to pay so we didn't get scammed. We put all our important stuff in our pockets when we left our coats (I put my wallet in my shoes) and then watched our pockets to make sure no one stole anything. No one reading this is allowed to worry. By reading this you are at least partially acknowledging that you're living vicariously through me. Well, here is what I'm doing. I won't hide it. I have to make stories!

Tomorrow we're obviously laying low. It's almost 4 am right now so we won't be getting up very early. Might make a late lunch (at a restaurant since the Mensa is still closed) but won't do much else since stores and stuff will be closed. I feel like there was something I had planned to do but I can't remember now. Perhaps it was planning out some more trips. Or doing internship stuff. Or a combination of the two. We're going to the last restaurant for dinner, though. That I know.

Anyway, it was an exciting and full day and I'm pleasantly happy. I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had experiencing it but I doubt you did! =P

Love you all. Goodnight!

Day Three.

Ciao!

Today was a cold and dreary day full of down time, which was nice. I woke up at 9 and took a shower and then headed over to the Campus Center with Kate to make photocopies of my passport around 10ish. After that we walked to Bosca's, a grocery store, and walked around. It was a really impressive grocery store and I'll definitely be back but it was a little overwhelming the first time. I did buy a elephant ear-like pastry outside of the store, though. It was, naturally, delicious.

After that we walked around Alba, finding the train station and a restaurant on our meal plan that we will go to tomorrow night for dinner. We were still early for lunch (the Mensa opens at 12) so we walked around the neighborhood surrounding the Mensa. We wandered down a residential street into the hills and saw ducks, dogs, and chickens. Behind fences, of course.

Around 12 we headed back and then waited outside until it opened. Erica and Jordan had the same idea to come to lunch early so that was fun to have a little group there. It was delicious as always. Towards the end of lunch Dan came in and sat with us so we talked to him for a little bit. He told us about a park nearby where we could run (some people want to start running because of all the eating we're doing. Naturally, I didn't bring my running shoes...).

After lunch we decided to check out the park so we walked there. It being a dreary day, it wasn't all that pretty but it has potential. We walked around (cold!) by the river the park runs next to and it was a nice walk, especially after eating a big lunch. After that we headed back towards our apartment, stopping at a cafe for cappuccinos and hot cocoa. Kate, who ordered the hot cocoa, learned that their idea of hot cocoa here is different than our idea of it. It's basically melted chocolate in a cup. Not my thing.

(OH! I forgot to tell you! In the afternoons the air smells like chocolate because we are so close to the Ferrero factory which makes Nutella and Ferrero Roche and Tic-Tacs!)

After the cafe we went back to the apartment and hung out. I read for a bit and then took a nap. When I woke up people had gone off running and exploring so I hung around reading a bit more and then went to the grocery store for pasta sauce and trash bags. Around 6 we headed over to the boys to hang out and drink wine before dinner.

At 8 we headed to dinner at Osteria Nuova which is our new favorite place. Basically you get a table and they bring you whatever they have that night and it's delicious! We got veal slices (tasted like roast beef) and this salad-type thing that tasted like a thick vegetable soup. Yum! Our main course was gnocchi with alfredo sauce and it was AMAZING. The sauce tasted like a really good White Cheddar Mac and Cheese sauce and then with the gnocchi it was the best thing I've had so far. I've always loved gnocchi. They also brought us dessert of a chocolate pudding bread thing and an orange cake. Definitely coming here a lot. We have to make reservations if all of us go together, though. 10 is a large group here. They have trouble accommodating us in their little stores.

After dinner we headed back to the boys' place and talked for a while. The boys' shared some interesting stories and made us laugh a lot. There were so many good lines and now I've forgotten them all. Oh well. I headed out around 10:30 and walked back to the apartment. The rest of the girls followed in a few minutes.

Tomorrow we have a big day! It's supposed to snow/rain tonight and tomorrow morning but we're still planning on going to the Saturday market. It's a pretty big deal here and takes up the length of the main street (which is long) and extends to other streets. I'm excited to look for stuff. At 12 we're going to lunch at Akash, one of our meal plan restaurants (no Mensa on the weekends) and at 8 we're going to dinner at the last restaurant. At 9 we're going to a series of concerts at a bar near the train station. I think there are three bands playing including one called Go o'Clock. It should be a fun time. Hopefully a FREE fun time! I'll keep you posted.

No pictures today! It was too dreary and nothing photo-worthy really happened except for the cute outfit I wore to dinner and I'm not vain enough to photograph that and then show you all but there IS a picture on Facebook that I'm tagged in, though you don't see much of my outfit in it.

Until tomorrow: buona notte!

Day Two.

Hi again!

Today we didn't do much. It's still Orientation and we're still getting acclimated and sort of overwhelmed by everything so we've been taking it easy.

I got up this morning late because, while I had set my alarm, I hadn't turned it on. So I woke up at 9 instead of 8:30 and had to rush to shower. Unfortunately, the shower has basically no pressure so my shower took forever. I'll budget more time next time...

We met Dan at the Campus Center at 10 for a PowerPoint laying out all the rules we have to abide by while we're here. Most notable are: No food or drink OF ANY KIND in the Campus Center where we will have class for three hours straight...No water? Bitches... Also, if we do have guests, we have to ask permission two weeks in advance and the guest has to pay 12 euro a night PLUS a 100 euro deposit. Yeah...don't come visit me and expect to stay here. My bed is huge, though.

After the presentation we went to lunch at the Mensa again and it was delicious. Lunch is my favorite now. Still have yet to have breakfast. I had a granola bar this morning. Was a little chewy. Anyway, lunch was good.

After lunch we went back to our apartments for a little while and I unpacked. Now the room looks semi-lived in. It will look more so when we go to the market this weekend and buy decorations and such. I would like some pictures and a mirror. Also maybe a tea pot.

At 2 we met Dan and the boys at the Piazza Duomo and went on a walking tour of Alba with a guide from the tourist office. We saw the town hall and many churches, including the cathedral of Alba. The churches were beautiful and all over the place. Apparently Alba has a long history of being home to many sects of monks including Franciscan, Benedictine, and Augustinian. There's also a convent as well.

The Cathedral of Alba.

The altar inside the Cathedral of Alba.

Madonna of the Graces (1377) inside the Baroque church of St. John the Baptist.

At the city hall we learned that Alba was given a gold medal for its efforts in the Italian Resistance movement during WWII. After the armistice between Italy and the Allies in Sept. 1943, northern Germany was still occupied by Nazi forces. The Italians, though, fought the Germans after the armistice, without the support of American liberating troops (they hadn't moved that far north yet). I thought that was cool and that certain people (*cough* Dad *cough*) would be interested.

After our tour (we were freezing by the end!), we went back to our apartment and chilled out. Along the way I stopped at a book store and bought some postcards. I think I did a good job of pretending to be Italian. I only really needed to say "Hi." "Thank you." and "Bye." and since "Hi." and "Bye." are the same word, I had it pretty easy...Back at the apartment I watched Monday's episode of Big Bang Theory, chatted online, and bought a calling plan with Skype so now I can call American home and mobile numbers from Skype which is really cool. Also, I have voicemail on Skype so if someone calls me via Skype and I'm not there, they can leave a message. By the way, my Skype screen name is foxme5 so add me if you'd like to talk.

We met for dinner in the Piazza Duomo at 6:30 and headed to La Duchessa for pizza. Along the way we found a pasticceria (bakery) that looked really good. I want to go back there for breakfast some morning. At La Duchessa we ordered pizza individually and they were each about 10" roud pizzas--large portions, even for dinner. I'm going to get fat... Anyway, we also had dessert since, at this particular restaurant, our vouchers get us 10 euro's worth of food and the pizza was only 4-6 euro. I got a tartuffo bianca (white truffle) dessert which is like a ball of white (not vanilla) ice cream with coffee ice cream inside covered in some sort of white crunchy pieces. It was refreshing but I would have preferred chocolate in the middle rather than coffee.

The group at La Duchessa!

After dinner we went to Mary Madden's, the local Irish pub. Because every town in Italy needs an Irish pub... Anyway, there was a soccer game on (so typical in every Irish pub) and the group ordered beers since it was the cheapest thing. Cocktails there are like 7 euro and beer is like 3,50. I didn't get anything because I'm cheap, don't like beer, and can't justify ordering a $5 drink that I'm either going to take an hour to drink or only drink a quarter of. We stayed for a little bit and then headed back to our apartment.

Tomorrow we're meeting at the Campus Center sometime between 9:30 and 11 to make copies of our passports for the Italian Embassy who needs them for our Visas. Apparently this is a big deal and they've had trouble in the past. There's nothing else planned for the day because Fridays are considered our "free time" (no classes!) so I have no idea what I'll do. Probably go on a walk exploring the city. To be announced.

Anyway, nothing too exciting but we're still getting acclimated and learning our way around the city and the language.

More photos of the churches, etc. on Facebook!

Day One (aka The Longest Day)

Hello everyone!

This starts my adventures in Italy for my Spring semester abroad with St. Mary's College of Maryland's program in Alba, Italy.

It started with my 5:50pm flight from Dulles to Frankfurt. It was about 7 hours and 10 minutes long. I knew one of the girls going on the trip because we had an English class together last semester and I knew she was flying on the same flight so I sought her out at the gate and we stuck together until we got on the plane. I got pretty lucky with a window seat and only one other person in the three-some section--the middle seat was empty. However, I did NOT get so lucky on who sat behind me...There was a three year-old Indian boy (the smallest I've ever seen) sitting behind me who was the most obnoxious thing ever. He would open and repeatedly slam closed the tray on the back of my seat and even climbed on top of the tray and jumped down onto the seat a couple of times. I looked disdainfully at him through the reflection in the window.

View from the window after taking off from Frankfurt.

Needless to say, I didn't sleep much. The movie shown was Fame and it was pretty cute for something so closely resembling High School Musical. We landed in Frankfurt around 7 in the morning and quickly found our way through Frankfurt's not-so-easy airport to our next gate where we immediately picked out the rest of our group who had flown from Philadelphia. We American college students stick out easily. Apparently it's all the North Face outerwear...

Our second flight was much shorter and in a much smaller plane. We had to take a bus out onto the tarmac and get into the plane that way! It was pretty cool. There was snow on the ground all over the Frankfurt airport and it was really pretty. It was really refreshing to be out in the cold, too.

We got to Turin's small airport without much of a hitch but one of the girl's had her bag misplaced but the airline located it and is having it delivered tomorrow. We met up with Dan, our RA (Resident Assistant) and clumsily loaded our baggage into a small bus for the hour-and-a-half trip to Alba. We took pictures along the way and barraged Dan with questions. When we got to Alba we headed to our apartment and dropped off our baggage before heading to lunch.

There are 6 girls and 3 boys total here with St. Mary's, including me. The 6 girls are in an apartment together in three rooms of two. The girl I knew from class (Kate) and I are sharing a room with two large loft beds. It's a really nice room and we have the biggest beds!

View from my window!!!

Kate and (part of) the room.

View from ONE of our TWO balconies (out back).

After leaving our stuff in the apartment, we went to the Mensa for lunch. It's a big public cafeteria that is reminiscent of a middle school cafeteria (middle school children included!) but with way better food. This is where we eat lunches during the week. We all had a prosciutto pasta thing which was really good and filling.

Taken while walking to the Mensa.

Then we walked back to our apartments and I stopped along the way at the grocery store to pick up a few things like pasta, granola bars, water, and a fleece blanket. Back at the apartment, we started to unpack and get our computers hooked up to the internet. And power. The whole power conversion thing is so much more complicated here in Italy than it is in the rest of Europe (where it's hard enough to begin with!). It's not very interesting so I'm not going to elaborate.

Around 4, Dan came and picked us up with the boys and we headed to the Campus Center where our classes are held and the St. Mary's office is. We got a tour of the building and received our cell phones and some other important things. Then we headed back to our apartments to rest and get ready for dinner at 7.

Dinner is paid for with meal vouchers valid at 5 local restaurants. Tonight we went to VinCafe on the main drag. It was delicious and the waiter, because it was our first meal there this semester, just brought us food as a sampling rather than giving us a menu. The main dish was spaghetti with pomodoro sauce and it was really good and really filling. They have large portions and lots of courses so it's hard to not eat too much...It's going to become a problem. Dan ordered two bottles of wine for the 10 of us and I even had a little (for those of you who don't know, I don't really enjoy drinking alcohol because, so far, I haven't found anything I enjoy drinking). It was a very nice start to our semester here in Italy and bespeaks of good things to come!

Now I'm back at the apartment, anxiously awaiting my episode of House to finish streaming so I can watch it and pass out in my big bed. Tomorrow we are meeting at the Campus Center at 10 for a tour of Alba (pictures to follow) and other stuff? No idea. Stay tuned!

Also, for those of you on Facebook, I have more pictures posted there.