Living the questions, one moment at a time.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

And I'm Off! (Tomorrow)

My blogging has been sparse this week, as it is time for midterms! I already took two, and have one more tomorrow. The light at the end of the tunnel? Spring break!

For those of you who want to stalk my plans, tomorrow night (Thursday) I leave for Rome. We are staying overnight and flying to Krakow, Poland early Friday morning. We are in Poland until Sunday night (including a visit to Auschwitz) before taking a train to Prague, Czech Republic.

Prague is for Monday and Tuesday. Early Wednesday morning, we're on a train to Vienna, Austria. Vienna until Friday night, then on to Salzburg (and the Sound of Music!) before coming back to Italy on Sunday.

It's going to be a whirlwind trip, but it combines place I've always wanted to see, so I am excited. I just need to get through the stress of the next twenty-four hours! 

I have decided that I will not be taking my computer (too much to worry about), so I will blog about each location separately when I return, using my journal entries. See you in 1.5 weeks!! Feel free to keep in touch, I will still be reading emails!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Carnevale!


Where could you ride a water taxi, spray silly string and throw confetti, and not be judged on the ridiculous mask you’re wearing? In Venice!

Carnevale was this past weekend, and we knew from the start that we wanted to go. It was quite the process getting there (5am wakeup, 6:40 train to Florence, another three hour bus ride to Venice, not returning to Florence until 3am) but the experience was more than worth the trek.

I was surprisingly excited at the prospect of being able to look like a complete idiot. Mission accomplished. When we arrived, I bought a beautifully decorated mask with a giant red feather and lots of glitter. It wasn’t a cheap flimsy mask; these are made to last!



My two friends and I decided to start off our day by going to Murano, one of Venice’s islands. This island is known for glass-blowing, and has many shops devoted to stunning glass products. I can’t even explain how beautiful all of the pieces were. I can’t imagine the work that goes into each individual item. We were able to catch a bit of a demonstration (before we were told we had to pay 5 euro to watch the rest), and I picked up a gift for my mom and myself! I bought a really pretty blue glass ring. It's hard to describe, but I'll have to post a picture.

The water taxis were the coolest! Venice is a city on islands essentially. There are no roads in the normal sense of the word. The “roads” in Venice are waterways. I am not sure if I would want to have to take a boat to get to my front door, but that’s what makes this city so fabulously unique! The water taxis that we took around the city are boats that act like buses. There are actually “boat stops” at different points! The boat pulls up to the dock (or “stop”) and lets people on and off before continuing. Our route from the city center to Murano took about an hour, but the boat ride was half the fun!





In the early evening, we made our way back to Piazza San Marco (Venice's famous main square) . It was CRAZY in the best sense of the word. People were throwing confetti around spraying silly string. Carnevale is kind of like the Italian version of Halloween, but still so different. Some people spend an incredible amount of money on elaborate costumes. There are tons of invitation-only balls as well (we weren't invited...darn). Here are some of the interesting people we ran into:


Random Italians jumped in...I think one of them was Willy Wonka



These lovely group of Italians deserves special mention: the flip-flops! The were hilarious. They kept wrapping each other in tape. We chatted them up. Apparently last year they dressed as air fresheners, and the year before they were dice! 


And the magical boat ride back. Bye Venice!



Friday, February 17, 2012

Italian Culture 101

I can't believe I've been here for 1.5 months already! Time really flies. In this spirit of passing time, I am going to provide a crash course in Italian culture. These are some things I've learned in class, from Italians themselves, and simply through my own experiences.

1) Italians don't understand each other. (Sometimes). 
This may sound weird, but it can be true. Italy as a united country is actually younger than the United States (Italian unification happened about 150 years ago). Therefore, before unification, the country was essentially over a dozen smaller states that were like their own countries. The effects of this now are that Italy is home to many different dialects. This isn't like the United States where people may have accents but can still understand each other. For example, I met an Italian a few weeks back who told me that his best friend, who is from Southern Italy, literally cannot understand his grandmother who lives in Venice! Naples also has a very distinct dialect. It's amazing that Italian is actually a "new" language in that it has only really been spoken since unification. I just find this whole concept fascinating.

2) Yes and No(Yes)
This tidbit comes from Antonella, my wonderful sociology professor. Say an Italian man asks you out to dinner. If you say yes, then that means yes. If you say no, it should mean no, right? Wrong! To an Italian boy, "no" really means, "she actually means yes, I just have to be persistent." And apparently, they can be very persistent! Not in a bad way, it's just the culture. Antonella joked with the guys in my class as to what they think the response "no" means. Let's just say, I don't think they would be as forward..

3) "La Bella Figura"
This concept can be difficult for outsiders to understand. Essentially, it is a phrase that describes presentation, or how a person presents himself or herself to the world. This does not necessarily refer to facial beauty, however. Italians are very concerned with looking presentable at all times, both physically and socially. "Bella Figura" means being schooled in social graces involved in interacting with others by exhibiting manners, gentleness, and wit. The physical portion means putting your best face forward (no one walks the streets in pajamas around here!)

4) Slow and Steady
I think I may have touched upon this before, but I love how Italians eat! Here, if you are out at a restaurant, you are never, ever rushed out. In the US, I feel like waiters always come up to you towards the end and say, "Do you want anything else?" Even when they then proceed to add "but take your time," I always feel like I'm hogging the table if I don't leave soon after. In Italy, a restaurant table is yours for the night. Besides when they are bringing out the courses, waiters don't check on you. They leave their customers to themselves. We actually have to ask for the check when we're ready. You can expect to spend at least 2 hours (at the least) at dinner when you go out.

5) And For Something That Would Make the American Po-Po Cringe....
Open containers GALORE. I was out last night, and literally hundreds of people were walking around the beautiful historic center with open bottles, glasses, and plastic cups (and no, they were not filled with water). Not to mention that no one ever gets carded. However, there's a paradox. On my first ever dinner out with my friends here over a month ago, we asked the waiter if we could take our empty wine bottle home as a token of remembrance of our first night. He said yes, but to "hide it in our coats" because apparently walking around with an empty wine bottle breaks some kind of law. I have no idea what this law is, but one of my friends joked that it may have more to do with the fact that you can throw it at someone than the fact that there was alcohol inside. (There could be some truth to this though, who knows).

And there's your crash course for the day! I'm sure I will add more to the list as time goes on.

Here's a picture from my Valentine's Day dinner the other night that I had forgotten to post. I love the colors!


I am heading to Venice early tomorrow morning for Carnavale! It's one of the biggest festivals in the world, so expect lots of stories and pictures!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Buon San Valentino

Okay, so I don't love Valentine's Day. I have always loved getting chocolates and cards from Jules, however! I think one of the reasons for my slight dislike of V-Day revolves around how commercialized it is in the United States. Can't we just love every day? Why do we need a special holiday for it? (This is coming from a girl who loves sappy romantic movies).

Rant over. That being said, my Valentine's Day in Italy was a very special one. It isn't overdone here. There are the sweets in the windows (but there are everyday) and the flowers, but nothing extreme. However, that probably isn't the case a few towns over, where Saint Valentine is the patron saint! In Perugia, there was this little cart giving away free Baci chocolate! You can be sure that I hit it up multiple times.

In the evening, I went to a wonderful dinner with five of my friends here. We decided that we were going to splurge a bit and made reservations. It was SO worth it! I got this pasta/broccoli/sausage dish, delicious lentil soup, and pear strudel for dessert. Everything was amazing! And the wine was some of the best I've tasted since being here. It was a great night to celebrate new friendships.

I had my Italian midterm today, so not much else to report from this week. I had my second meeting with Ernesto and the family, and I love them more each time!

A funny story from my internship this week: My fourth years had just taken a test, and were correcting it as a class when I came in on Monday. One of the girls asked me for suggestions on how she could further improve her English composition (even though she got an A on it!) I can tell she really wants to learn the language like a native speaker. The reason she is so good at English already is because she watches American television shows! Turns out, her two favorite shows are also two of my favorites (Grey's Anatomy and Gossip Girl). She watches them in English, without subtitles. I found that incredible. It also explains why she knows some idiomatic expressions that she wouldn't know from English class. It's amazing how music, shows, and other forms of media spread throughout the world! Makes everything feel a lot smaller, as I've realized since coming here.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Lucca and Pisa

I was excited to go away with my friends Gretchen and Leti to Lucca this weekend. Lucca is a small city about three hours away from Perugia (by train). It is characterized by an extremely old wall that surrounds it. This wall was built for protection, but now serves as a beautiful place to jog, ride bikes, and just relax. It is lined with benches and parks. We couldn't see any of this on Saturday night when we arrived, because it was dark by the time we got there. However, when we set out to explore Sunday morning, these were some of the beautiful sights: 
Clock tower



This was really scary from a distance at night!




Panorama shot...this used to be an ampitheater! 

When we set out on Sunday morning, Lucca had one of the most peaceful atmospheres I've come across yet. Hardly anyone was out, the sun was shining, and the air felt wonderful. Pictures say a thousand words in this case.

Here are some pictures from the wall! When we got off the train to walk to our bed and breakfast, we actually had to walk THROUGH the wall! Check it out!
This led to the cool tunnel!

Former jail?

Mountains in the background


And not to mention, our "hostel," which was actually a bed and breakfast, felt like a medieval home! This picture doesn't do it justice, but you can see the the decoration.

After a morning in Lucca, we took the train to Pisa. All that's really in Pisa is the leaning tower. But it's something that everyone here has to see. And yes, it REALLY leans. Quite visibly.
Cliche tourist shot.
After a train delay, we made it home last night. I have an Italian midterm on Thursday, so a lot of this week will be spent studying. But don't worry, more to come!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Taste of Home

As I promised yesterday, I said I would talk about a special family.

A few weeks ago, I was accepted into a program as a part of one of my classes. The program is called "The Family Project." With another girl from my class, I will be visiting an Italian family once a week until the middle of April to form a close relationship with them. Essentially, we will be researching four different topics for class (like gender roles, immigration, or whatever we choose) and getting authentic Italian perspectives on our topics from this family. Of course, it isn't all work, as I learned during my and Leti's first visit with our family yesterday.

We take the bus to the family's apartment with Julie, a young staff member from Umbra who was to accompany us the first time (so we didn't get lost). The family had participated in this project in a past semester, and are friends of my professor. I have heard that they are absolutely hilarious and "quite the characters," but nothing prepared me for how incredibly welcoming they were! We entered to an Italian kiss greeting and enthusiastic barks from Charlie (the little dog!) Ernesto, the dad, and Clelia, the mom, speak very little English, so we were excited to practice! In Italian, they explained to us that it is perfectly okay to ask them to "repeat" something, and that language is more about understanding than speaking, so as long as we can convey our ideas in creative ways, grammatical perfection is irrelevant. Very profound. Ernesto proceeded to jokingly make fun of Clelia's enthusiastic hand gestures while speaking by frantically waving his hands around his head. Typical. :)

Francesca, their fourteen-year-old daughter, was the cutest and wasted no time whipping out her travel guide about New York soon after we arrived. It's funny, because I have a similar guidebook to her country. She said it is her "dream" to go to New York City. It's my dream to be here right now. I really hope that happens for her! I am excited to get to know Francesca better; she is so poised and well-spoken!

Even a month in, I am still consistently amazed by the overwhelmingly welcoming attitude that so many people have here. I am looking at the situation from the family's point of view. Here are two foreign students invading their house for a "class project" once a week. They have no idea who we are. And yet. There are kisses on the cheek. There is tea and an unlimited supply of cookies. There are questions and answers and laughing and stories and memories. And this was just our first meeting.

I am sure I'll have a lot more stories about my "family" in the coming weeks! We're going to their house again this Tuesday. In other news, I am heading to Lucca and Pisa (yes, leaning tower) tomorrow for the night! Pictures to come!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Odds and Ends


This has been a really busy week. For the first time, I felt swamped with work. To top it all off, (besides the fact that the Pats lost), I was sick on Tuesday. Intense aches, along with a fever at one point. I was really nervous that it would turn into something miserable, but luckily I slept it off and was fine on Wednesday! Figures that I haven't had a cold in two years, but get sick in Italy. Oh well, dodged a major sickness bullet! 

Early Monday morning, I had my first day of my internship with my second class. These kids are fourth year students (17-18 years old). I guess I shouldn't call them "kids" since some of them are less than two years younger than me. Anyway, it is a much smaller class than my class with Lucia. This class also seemed slightly less enthusiastic initially than my younger class. When I first walked in, they made me nervous (not going to lie here!) However, it's amazing how things change when you connect with people more personally. As soon as I was helping pairs of students practice for their English proficiency exam (a big test they have coming up), they were asking me all sorts of questions and telling me stories! I think that in this culture, "reserved" and shy sometimes comes of as standoff-ish even when the students are actually nice. I left feeling like I had really helped them practice, and they were feeling a lot more comfortable by the end of the lesson.

Tuesday, I was back with Lucia's class! I really love these kids. I had organized a lesson around "education vocabulary." Essentially, Lucia wanted me to expose the kids to some "slang" words in America related to education. For example, one of the words I taught the kids was "cramming." (We've all done some of that at some point!) There is no word in Italian for "cramming" for a test. The kids were adorable when they heard the word; they thought it was the coolest thing ever! They then started using it in conversation, which was funny. At the end, I introduced Pictionary (which they also hadn't heard of) for our new words! Each team had to draw a picture of the vocab word, and their team had to guess the word. By the end, they were cheering and were so into it! A few students even stayed after to ask me more questions about the words and life in general. I noticed a huge difference between this week and last week in their comfort levels around me. They seemed way less nervous when trying to practice their English this week. Several of them have already asked me if I'm on Facebook! Some things are just universal. I think I have a lot of "friends" in my future...

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post...I'll have a special story to tell about an Italian family I'll be spending a lot of time with. :)

Monday, February 6, 2012

God Speaks Every Language

As I've gotten more comfortable in Italy, I've had my first experiences at church in this country. Being Catholic, I obviously have no shortage of options; there's a church on almost every block. The difficulty is figuring out Mass times, which churches are simply historic (and therefore don't conduct regular mass), and so forth. 

Those of you who are also Catholic will follow this post quite well. Even if you are not, you may have been to a Mass before for whatever reason. Catholicism is highly ritualistic. Throughout the world, Catholic masses are essentially the same as far as liturgy goes. I've never gone to church in another country before, so I didn't quite know what to expect. I'm sure many of you wouldn't know either. Join with me as I walk you through my first experience! 

First of all, I should start by saying that while I mentioned the ritualistic nature, this is definitely not to say that EVERYTHING was the same. In fact, beyond the concept of listening to a whole service in Italian, there were a few moments when I had no clue what was happening. 

I decided to go to mass at the Duomo (Cathedral of San Lorenzo). One reason for this was simply convenience. The church is a thirty second walk from Umbra. Also, they have a 6pm mass, which is perfect when I come back from traveling. 

I wore moderately dressy clothes my first time, as I wasn't sure how strictly Italians adhere to the "dress nice for church" idea. Apparently, they adhere to it just as much as Cape Codders. As in, not a whole lot. (Mom, Joey and I joke that we can actually pick out the tourists based on which couples have their kids in matching sundresses).  I mean, everyone looks nice in Italy, but there are definitely the teenagers in jeans. Good to know that I won't feel badly if I'm rushing off a train to make it in time. 

Anyway, so mass starts and I don't recognize any of the hymns, but they played guitar and I loved it. The first interesting part came when the priest SANG the entire gospel reading! It was talent, I don't know how he did it because the musicians were playing the music he was singing to. They must rehearse or something. I don't know if this makes sense, but imagine reading a paragraph but having to sing it out instead of normally reading it. That's what he was doing! 

After understanding a surprisingly substantial portion of the ten minute long sermon (I picked out some key phrases, like "blessings of living fully"), it was on to the eucharist portion of the mass. While sitting during the offertory, I suddenly panicked when I realized a huge oversight on my part: I had not looked up how to say simple religious phrases in Italian, namely, "Peace be with you." (When shaking hands with others at the sign of peace). I compensated by listening to what everyone else said when it first started, and then saying it softly so hopefully they understood! I'm hoping that giving my best smile was enough (although I probably screamed American after that). Luckily, "Amen" is the same in English and Italian. So I was safe there. 

In the end, I understood a lot. It was incredible, just looking up at the ceiling and realizing that I am sitting in a church built in the 14th century. How many people from all walks of life have sat in my pew? How many of them have looked at the same ceiling covered in beautiful paintings? The remains of a few popes are actually buried at this particular church, AND they have what they believe is Mary's wedding ring. Wow. I get to go here? 

Being in a different country is actually increasing my faith extensively. God really is God, no matter where I am. Sometimes, I struggle with this idea a bit for whatever reason. I "feel" differently when I'm in one place or another (see my last post). I definitely miss fully comprehending a sermon, or Sundays at Christ the King on Cape Cod. But in the end, everyone in the cathedral was praying to the same God. Language doesn't matter.  God speaks every language. 




Sunday, February 5, 2012

Narnia...or Assisi


This is essentially the first weekend since I’ve been here that I haven’t gone on a sizeable trip. I will be traveling almost every weekend for the rest of the semester, so I thought I should take a rest. I was particularly exhausted this past week, and I’m sure it was due to constantly being on the go. This was a perfect time to recharge my batteries.

Friday, I went with three girls to the Perugia Chocolate Factory. Amazing to see the process of how chocolate was made. I never knew it was so complex! There is extracting the cocoa, making the actual chocolate, wrapping it…The chocolate was wrapped by these really cool machines. They were already getting started on HUGE chocolate Easter eggs! We got to take pictures of the largest chocolate ever made (in the Guinness Book of Word Records).


We also received a TON of free samples on the tour. I was expecting maybe one little piece of chocolate, but there were trays and trays, and we could take as much as we wanted! I definitely filled my pockets (although one family rudely took a whole bowl so I didn’t feel badly at all!) It was a really fun day. It figures that we were in Italy, and yet McDonalds was the only restaurant in walking distance of the factory. Hello fries!

Yesterday, the same group and I took a day trip to Assisi. Assisi is about a twenty-minute train ride from Perugia. Pretty easy. However, the day started off a little haphazardly when none of us could find each other (we had a meeting point, but somehow we all were confused as to where the meeting place was). Half of the group didn’t have their phones, so we couldn’t easily get in contact. Essentially, I made my way to the train station, figuring that if all else failed, I could go to Assisi myself (which I planned on doing anyway if no one was around this weekend). Luckily, we all re-found each other (two of the girls had already boarded an earlier train to Assisi, but in the end we met up with them). Missing the first train would have bothered me a lot more in earlier times, but I am developing an intense “go with the flow” kind of mentality. I took this opportunity to read my guidebook and do some people watching at the station (in particular, there was a drunk at the station bar at 11:00am. Interesting).

When we arrived in Assisi, we took a taxi to the top (where the basilica is). I have to mention first of all the temperature. It was bitter cold. The coldest its been. Again, this could have been a major downer. However, we kept our positive attitudes and, with boots completely soaked through, walked the beautiful side streets of Assisi.


What began as a day trip turned into one of my favorite trips so far (I know I say that about everything). I can absolutely see why people find God and meditate in Assisi. It is so difficult to describe the peacefulness. Have any of you ever seen the Chronicles of Narnia? When the four children first step into snowy Narnia, there is a quietness and magic about it. The snow was lightly falling throughout our day in Assisi; the roads were virtually abandoned, and we had unbelievable views of Tuscany. It felt like stepping into a fairytale.


The houses in Assisi looked like something out of a children’s book. I almost expected fairies to pop out.



After a delicious lunch (next to an adorable baby with the cutest red cheeks) we made the trek to the basilica. The tomb of Saint Francis is here, and it was just generally stunning.





Inside, there is an upper and lower basilica. All of the chapels felt like secret passageways; just when you thought you had seen everything, there was a little hallway to the left or right and you had a whole new underground church to explore! This happened to me a few times during our visit. I loved finding the extra peaceful spots.

One of the most special moments of the day was when I paid a donation to have a mass said for my dad at the basilica. I don’t know when the mass will be (the monk said they don’t know for sure yet) but it’s really amazing to think that that will be happening at some point. Probably the best place in the world to have a mass. Again, as with Saint Peter’s, it was a really nice place to reflect for a little while. 

All of my spiritual reflections have stirred up a lot of emotions. I promised in my first post that I would be honest about my feelings and experiences. In the name of honesty, the end of my week was not particularly great. I felt oddly sensitive and vulnerable in a way. I have not felt very much homesickness since my first days here; in fact, I have been shocked as to how quickly I adjusted to Italian life on the whole. (As I talked about in my first ever post, I was the little girl who couldn’t even leave Mom at preschool without having a breakdown). However, the feeling started creeping up on me a few days back. It’s not the “I’m going to burst into tears every ten seconds” kind of panicky homesickness that I had in my first hours in Italy. It’s a bit more subtle. I’m not even totally sure what I’m homesick for. While I miss my family very much, they are going to be visiting in April. For some reason, the idea that they are going to be able to experience a bit of what I’m experiencing has really diminished my homesickness for actual “home.” It’s more of the, “Oh my goodness, I’ve been in a foreign country for a month” kind of homesickness. This weekend is the first time I’ve really sat still long enough to think about it. Things are going on without me; Joey has travel basketball games without me cheering in the stands (and they’re still undefeated, 11-0!), Robbie is really growing up and getting ready for college. My best friends have lives and families and school. My favorite American TV shows are still playing, my stuffed animals are sitting on my bed at home, and the waves are still churning at my favorite beach spots. It may sound strange, but I guess I half expected some cataclysmic event to happen in my absence. But in the end, life goes on.

I’m the one who’s changing.

They aren’t necessarily lightning bolt changes. I don’t go to bed at night and wake up a different person. It will take awhile to fully process these changes, and I know there are many more to come. Having to navigate and adapt and make new friends is certainly a confidence boost. As I discussed a bit in my post about spontaneity, my love for adventure is reaching a new high. There is no “routine” abroad. It is impossible to get stuck in any sort of rut, even when I’m having a not so great day. I can’t really put my finger on what’s different, but something definitely is.

On the topic of changes, I have just sealed the deal on my housing for my senior year. I am going to be living with one of my best friends, and I couldn’t be more excited about the arrangement. Jen and I have formed a particularly close bond since she lived two doors down from me during our freshman year at UMass. She has been extremely diligent about sending me frequent messages since I’ve been away to keep me in the loop, whether about her weekend or about her nursing rotation on the pediatrics floor. Her frequent presence as my housemate will be the perfect way to end my college career. (I’m trying not to think about the end). In a way, studying abroad is the prelude to a time of intense change in my life. College is sort of an in-between period; when I leave, I will REALLY be a grown-up. Terrifying, and yet my time in Italy is giving me an exciting taste as to what my life can turn out to be. 



Thursday, February 2, 2012

Snowpocolypse


Stay indoors! Hide your children! The people of Perugia are in a panic! Why, might you ask? War? Famine? None of the above! It is snowing in Italy!


I don’t know why I just used so many exclamation points; snow is exactly what I was trying to get away from. At least my California roommate displayed some form of excitement, as exhibited by her shrieks when we woke up (she has never really seen snow). By “snow” we’re talking about a half an inch if that (it didn’t stick in some places). The snow that actually stuck is now slush. But amount does not matter to the Perugians. It is chaos!

Where's the road?!


This morning, I was particularly amused on my walk to school. The road Umbra is on had been barricaded (with a “Caution: Snow” sign). However, as I discovered early on, Italians don’t have a whole lot of regard for rules of the road. I literally observed a man drive right up to the barricade, get out of his car, move the barricade to the side of the road, and continue driving as if it hadn’t ever been there. I shouldn’t have been too surprised. Almost a month ago, on our bus ride from the Rome airport to Perugia, we were stopped at a rest stop when we saw a young Italian family smushed into a small two-door car. By smushed, I’m talking parents and two kids in the front, and five kids in the back. The little girl in the front was sitting on the dashboard. No one batted an eyelash. Good to know we’re all riding safely!
A barrier so intense that it can be moved!


Anyway, the snow presented some intense obstacles as I went about my day.  For one, I decided it would be a great idea to wear my beautiful, black, Florentine boots that I bought last weekend. Note to self: these are NOT snow boots. (But hey, beauty is pain, right? Or in this case, a potential hazard). My train of thought was that they would repel water (which was true, so point for me. Everyone else’s shoes were soaked through). This one pro did not outweigh my general embarrassment on my walk home, when I did that whole “Oh no, I’m falling backwards” thing multiple times (and barely caught myself). Right as I was about to wipe out, a man grabbed my elbow and saved my life. We proceeded to go on a date. (Just kidding. But he did save me!) A sheepish “grazie” was all I could muster. I didn’t feel too badly though; I witnessed several wipe-outs.

Beyond the snow issues, the week has gone by very quickly. I am traveling almost every weekend for the rest of the semester. However, I am spending this upcoming weekend here in Perugia. More on that in the coming days. For now, it’s a full day of classes ahead. Ciao!