For the good life...

Buongiorno!

So it's 5 something in the morning here & let me explain why I am writing now...

After class today we all hung out at school to chat with people from home on the internet (even though we have it in our apartment now) then me & Lo brought Ashley over to see our place. Since we are going out for the rest of the week we decided it was our night of down time. We have alot of free time because we don't have homework, jealous?? Anyways, we watched Mamma Mia & all fell asleep in my big comfy bed. Oops. We were supposed to eat dinner with our roommates and the other girls in our building. So then we end up sleeping basically all night. So of course we wake up now and get online. Great. Tomorrow will be an interesting day.

Sidenote: someone please send me a shotgun to shoot the german shepard next door!! It keeps barking at nothing in the middle of the night.

So we started school on Monday morning at IDEA Verona, which is connected to Don Bosco High school. I guess it's one of the best high school's in the city, but it's so weird seeing kids running around the courtyard on lunch break.

The first day of class everyone taking Italian 101 had class together. We had three hours of learning the basics with a half hour break in the middle. Our teacher, Enrica, won't speak English to us & won't let us speak English to her. It's definitely an interesting experience!! After class me, Lo, Ashley & Alex went to Piazza Bra to eat lunch and stop by the bank. We went to our new favorite place the Hippo. And when Matt came there on his own to eat the hostess automatically brought him to our table because we were all American, we all thought it was pretty funny. Anways after that Ashley & I had to head to the postoffice to declare that we are offically here! It was 2 hours of standing around because we were last....I hate doing stuff like that. But, in case you didn't know, Italians never hurry. They take their time doing literally everything...that will take some getting used to. After that we went to Vodaphone to get new phone plans so we can at least text each other for free. Guess what? That took MORE than two hours....fantastic. We learned the hard way not to do things like that in groups of 15 people. But finally we all got new SIM cards & can text away for free!

After all of that we went grocery shopping for the first time! The grocery stores here are called PAM...and close at 8. So naturally we got kicked out because we are used to Walmart 24/7 on every street corner. But we got food to keep us alive for the next couple of days at least. A group of us girls decided instead of going out & spending money we would have a wine night together. That way we got to see someone else's apartment and get to know each other better. Everyone brought a bottle of wine and we sat around a big living room(complete with beer pong table for future pregames) talking all night. We also don't think they have 30 cases here like at home, so I'll let you know if that beerpong ever works out. On the way home from wine night me, Lo, Ashley, Mia & Maura stopped for a photoshoot in front of some old, pretty building. I'll post pictures once I upload them because they turned out so cute!!

Day 2 of class: They split the Italian 1 students into two classrooms. My new teacher is Giai and she is awesome! Today we broke everything down to the very basics so that we have a good foundation to work off of. But we still can't speak any English. It will be interesting to see if my other classes are in Italian as well. Once I get better I'll write some beautiful italian sentences for you. We went to the snack shop over our break today & I had the most delicious croissant with chocolate inside & broke down to finally buy my first Coke here. Usually caffine does nothing for me but that woke me up! All of that was only 1.50euro. I forsee an unhealthy habit forming...

Lo and I came home for lunch though after class & I made pizza bread with my ingredients from the store. We don't have a toaster so I have to toast my bread on the stove every day. But I see it as an opportunity to practice my future trophy wife skills and become a master at creativity in the kitchen...I'll let you know how it goes.

This afternoon we had tutoring for 2 more hours. Tutoring was basically the same as class except for we had Enrica again and we filled out worksheets and talked to her & each other in what little broken Italian we know. Which brings us back up to the present and why I am still awake. I'll probably just get up soon and shower for the day...

Here's what's to come: I'm soo excited because trips start this weekend!! Well Wednesday and Thursday we are going back to Campus because its Crazy Wednesday with 50eurocent drinks & then euro drinks on Tbursday. Then on Saturday & Sunday we travel around Italy going on castle visits!! It's also our friend Court's 21st so we are going to celebrate, while eating dinner in a castle...pretty awesome huh?! Then next weekend we planned a ski trip in the Italian Alps through school so we could all go on the same day! We get instructors to go around with us all day teaching us what to do and where to do! Then the weekend after that I'm going to Florence to visit my little Katie!! Don't worry I found a travel buddy. After that a group of us girls are going to Milan for Friday & Saturday because on Sunday we have another group castle trip. And finally the weekend after that a bunch of us are going to Venice for Carnival aka Mardi Gras!! And finally the weekend after that I'm trying to meet up with the girls (Katie, Britt, & Haley) in Rome! So the next 6 weekends are booked full with very exciting trips!! I'm exuding excitement right now!!

AND I forgot to tell you in my previous post about one of the most unique things about my experience so far! I didn't get to describe the apartment but once I get pictures I'll show you. But I live with 4 other people. Lauren, my roommate, Kim & Jessica, two other girls from U of I, and Daria from VERONA! She doesn't speak much English & we don't speak much Italian but as we learn we will get to know her better. She's such a sweetheart but she's been busy because they have finals right now! I can't believe I forgot to tell you about her!

Also last but not least...things that will take some getting used to. Water not being FREE!! And having to pay for bags at the grocery store...how weird is that?? But so far the adustments have been easy & we are falling into schedule easily minus this little sleep mishap. But eventually we will get used to the time difference. I still feel like I'm on vacation though, and I'm not sure when all of this crazy experience will actually feel real!! Oh well I"m loving every single second of it either way!

Okay well I'm off for now but I'll keep you posted on all of my adventures!