First Major post

Hi everyone-



I have been in Perugia for a little over four days now. The Italian lifestyle is taking a bit of getting used to, but I'm really enjoying it here.

We have been going around non stop for the past four days. Between orientation and taking some intense Italian classes, we haven't had much time to see all that Perugia has to offer. Pictures will be posted soon, I promise!

Perugia is absolutely beautiful. There is a huge Plaza that everyone hangs out in -either to eat lunch or sit on the steps of the massive church here. As I walk to class, I have the Italian countryside on my right. It's amazing. On another note, Perugia is all hills. Steep, steep, hills. I wake up everyday with sore muscles. However, each day is getting a bit better with that.

It's very overwhelming here. The language barrier is alot to handle, as well as the lack of things that we take for granted-internet, toasters, tv, microwave, coffee makers, even heat! Italians conserve heat and electricity alot and regulate both heavily.

Ashley and I are actually going to be moving out of the apartment that the school put us in. It was a single room with a bathroom..kind of like a glorified dorm room. You slept and cooked in the same room-not good! When we started seeing other people's apartments and hearing what other people had in theirs, we realized ours wasn't typical. Tomorrow we're going to tour some other ones!

I haven't been able to sample too much of the food just yet, but from what I have, it definately doesn't disappoint. The pizza is amazing. The gelato is amazing. And the sandwiches are amazing. We had piadinis today-grilled flatbread sandwiches-with prosciutto and mozzarella. They were so good!!!! There are alot of foods that aren't here that are sold in America. You won't find any mac and cheese, Eggos, bagels...any of the packaged stuff they make really. However, I am still surprised to see Pringles and M&M's all over!

Perugia has a clear view of the Italian Alps, which is absolutely amazing. Because of classes and orientation, I don't have much of a list of things I've seen yet. The one cool thing we were able to walk around was the underground tunnels of Perugia. While I can't tell you what year this was, one of the Popes seized Perugia and forced all of the Perugians to live underground for over 100 years. The Pope built his castle on top of these tunnels and didn't let anyone leave. There is a really extensive network under the city. It's pretty creepy to realize these people had to live underground, considering there was no electricity or really anything when it happened.

Going out in Perugia is so much fun! Almost all, actually, probably all of the bars cater to Americans. They have Rock Band and Kareoke and all that stuff that we are used to at home!

There are alot of little nuances that are interesting about the Italian culture that I'm getting used to. Besides not having alot of the amenities that we use at home-Italians just do things a whole lot different than we do! Getting coffee, for example. We order a coffee and pick a size cup and go on our way. Here, you either stand at a bar and drink it out of a china cup, or you can pay to sit down and drink it. Otherwise, you can take it to go, but they put it in the tiniest styrofoam cups and it's kinda funny. Most shops close down around eight (dinnertime). Also, alot of shops close from 1-4:30, which is their siesta. Then, at around 5:30 EVERYONE comes out and walks around!

I'll write more soon! Love and miss everyone!