There are going to be more as I add them, I'm actually only up to the second full day or something. But here are some links!
http://www3.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1412777011/a=1893583011_1893583011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
AND
http://www3.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1412768011/a=1893583011_1893583011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
I haven't had internet, but I've been keeping up with entries on my computer nonetheless. Here is a rather long entry for your reading pleasure.
I’m sorry I haven’t been able to update! Our apartment is new to the program so we are currently without internet. We’ve heard that we’ll get it by the end of the week, but we’ve also heard that it’ll be by the end of the month. I’d believe the end of the month. We do have access to both the campus computers (all two of them) and the campus wireless, but currently we just don’t have the time to use them for more than 15 minutes. In any case, I’ll get started on telling you what’s going on! To do so, I will separate my recounting into several different big events:
En Route (9/7-8/09):
The entire airport experience was much too anxiety-ridden. I was worried about getting through security with all of my medical supplies, and I was even more worried about getting my luggage when I got to Alba. Security wasn’t too bad. Everyone was very understanding and helpful—even if the personal in France was confused. Which is only to be expected with the language barrier.
I managed to be right in front of Jessy in the check-in line, which was pretty spectacular. We talked for a bit, then split apart while she wandered with her family and I got food with my parents. My dad wasn’t too bad, but my mom kept trying to be annoying. That was no surprise, considering she is a “mixer” as my dad says. She likes to provoke people to see what happens. I don’t usually handle her well when she does that, but I was horrible that day. I didn’t want to deal with her like that when I was worried about getting on the plane with everything I needed. I met up with both Jessy and Bryan before getting in the security line and we went through together. I was held up while waiting for a female personal to pat me down. Bryan and Jessy were awesome about it and waited for me. My poor parents—they could see Bryan and Jessy hanging about waiting, but they couldn’t see me. As soon as I was done I waved and gave them a thumbs up and continued on my way.
I ended up getting sat next to this girl named Stephanie. She’s pretty great and we had a pretty good time talking and gossiping on the ride, and watching on-flight movies and TV. I am not ashamed to say that we managed to get a glass of wine with our dinner, and I am further not ashamed to say that that glass managed to get me a tiny bit tipsy. I like being a light weight; I don’t feel like I need to drink much. Which means I wake up in the morning feeling quite fine. I ended up watching both Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and The Hangover. I fell asleep during The Hangover which made the entire movie much too confusing when I woke up. I don’t think I’m going to watch it again.
In any case, we landed in Paris about 5 minutes early. We had about an hour to get to the next plane for boarding. That wasn’t enough time so we ended up sprinting through the airport to get to the next terminal and just barely made it in time. To do so we cut in line for security. I again got held up, but still managed to get through before others. Yay for cutting in line!
The next part of the flight wasn’t too bad and nothing bad happened. I was once again seat buddies with Stephanie, but we didn’t talk much. We were both too tired to do much else than sit there. I may or may not have had gas and may or may not have released it while waiting to get off the plane… while standing in front of a man of the French persuasion. I wouldn’t feel bad about this if it had actually happened (because girls do not release gas) because I am only some stupid and rude Americana.
I managed to get all of my luggage, as did everyone else, and then met up with Dan Blair, R.A. He’s a pretty cool d00d, which I will get to later, I suppose. We got on the bus and went to Alba. I tried really hard to stay awake to avoid jet-lag, but I failed in this endeavor. I only slept for about 20 minutes, but those 20 minutes hurt me, they hurt me real bad.
It’s amazing how alike Italy and America are. There are Ikea’s, there is graffiti, there is green grass and busy cities. It’s also amazing how different they are. We drove through farm land, where every field is divided by a line of trees. No fences, just trees. It was amazing. There are falling over farm-houses, those stereotypical roofs with those stereotypical curved tiles… And the graphics on the signs—America is like Times New Roman to Italy’s Tahoma. It’s great and curvy and round. Even the city of Alba is round. Well, hexagonal anyways. We arrived around 2 pm, local time (4 am US time). No naps to avoid jet-lag, but lots of unpacking. Which leads me to… a description of our apartment!
Apartment:
There are three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and two balconies. Two of the bedrooms house two girls each. The third bedroom, which is actually a converted living room, houses three girls, including myself. Which makes a total of seven girls in one apartment. I’m glad to be living with all girls and with all of my good girl friends, but… Goodness I wish I wasn’t with six other girls. It gets pretty loud sometimes, especially considering the apartment is so big and echo-y. We’re working on that, however. Dan is finding out whether or not we can hang tapestries to kill some of the noise and to see if the program can get us some carpets to put down. Once we get those things I think life will be much quieter.
Our bedroom, since it is a converted living room, is pretty sparse. We have three (cot-like) Ikea beds, a dresser, and three bed stands. We actually kidnapped a drawer-stand-thing from the bathroom for Jessy’s bed stand. There just isn’t enough storage space for all of our stuff without it. In fact there still isn’t enough storage space with it. We’re hoping to get desks or a bookshelf sometime soon to accommodate for this.
The biggest issue is that we don’t have internet. I talked about that above, so I won’t continue on that thread, but it is extremely obnoxious.
Otherwise, the kitchen is huge and has a gas stove/oven. I’ve been making tea (which I got at the BJs like market across the street) on it using a pot just like my mom and aunts do. That makes everything feel a little homey-er.
First Evening (9/8/09):
It’s really hard to remember the first evening. Dealing with jet-lag and whatnot makes my memory a little sparse. I know we had a meeting, but I fell asleep during it. Then we went to dinner at a ristorante. What that ristorante was called escapes me for the moment, but we got these huge personal pizzas. Mozzarella, I’m so glad I live with you now! Afterwards, we went out to celebrate the first night and so that we wouldn’t fall asleep too early. We went to this awesome little café called VinCafe and got a bottle of wine to share between five of us. As a part of the service we got a plate of assorted brusscheta, which was absolutely delicious. A bunch of people from our group walked by so we went with them to an Irish pub and I hung about while the rest of them got their drank on and had a beer with a new friend named Kyle.
I met Kyle because he was complaining about how boys always have to buy drinks for the ladies. I told him that if he’d buy me a drink I’d buy him a drink. This worked out quite well since we are both thrifty and we bought each other the cheapest glass of beer.
I ended up only spending about 13 Euro for that night, which was quite impressive considering some people spent up to 75 or 50. In my case, I decided that since it was the first night I might as well treat myself to some treats. It surprises me how different my idea of treats is when compared to someone else’s. In any case, some people went to a discotechque and Jessy and I just headed back to the apartment. Jessy fell asleep really quickly, but I didn’t. Around midnight I head the rest of the girls come in and I ended up staying up with Stephanie to share tea and talk. It was a pretty good time and I’m really glad that we’re clicking so well.
And on that note I will finish this entry. I have to write about today, but I’m so exhausted. And I’m waking up at 7 (in five hours) to meet up with Bryan to go shopping at the Market. I’m going to try to get a chair for the balcony off our room so I can sit there at night and do my thing. There are one or two more things I think I might look for but I can’t quite remember what they are at the moment. I’m entirely too sleepy. So, good night my sweet readers (or good evening, perhaps)!
***
First Day (9/9/09):
We went to lunch at the Communale Cafeteria today, which was pretty good. Penne pasta with tomato sauce, fried turkey, zucchini and watermelon. Delicious. After lunch we had some down time, so I… well I can’t quite remember what I did, but I did not manage to get to the campus center to check the interwebs, which was disappointed. I didn’t manage to nap either, for some reason. Oh, I remember! Stephanie and I went to the small market across the street and got some snacks to keep our bellies full.
The market is called INS Mercato, and it is like a mini BJs. They seem to buy in bulk and then sell everything extremely cheaply. The ladies there don’t like us, probably because we are pazzi americani, but eh. Whatevs.
That afternoon we went on a walking tour of Alba and visited the churches and learned about the history of the town. It was a Roman city, once upon a time, but was originally founded by people who were Celtic or something. I was still fighting off jet-lag and not getting enough sleep the night before so I didn’t pay too much attention.
The insides of the churches are majestic. The art is beautiful, the architecture is wonderful. Everything is so gaudy, probably because they are all a mix of baroque, renaissance, and gothic styles. It’s hard to explain, so I’ll just post pictures when I get a chance.
We then had dinner at a restaurant where we had Russian salad, some kind of prosuttio salad, ravioli, pasta with ragu sauce, and lemon cake with a regional specialty whose name I’ve forgotten. It’s a mix between a chocolate cake and pudding. I have to say I wasn’t overly impressed with it, but I really enjoyed the lemon cake.
The food here is as amazing as everyone paints it. It is, however, kind of greasy. I feel like everything is cooked in or with butter which isn’t doing wonders for anyone’s body. It is a pasta heavy menu, which means a large intake of starches, again not particularly good, but you walk every where so the starches get worked off. Also, I’ve never even heard of Russian salad before but it seems like everywhere has it. It’s basically potato salad with tuna fish. I think it may be my favorite dish so far, but there are a lot more dishes to try.
OH GOODNESS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THIS RESTAURANT: his name is FRANCESCO! He is angelic and beautiful and embodies everything right in the world. ‘Nuff said. Ok, one more thing. DB was sitting near us and we mentioned how beautiful Francesco was, and then he paid attention to us whenever Francesco walked by. He said that he could hear the clicks as all our heads turned to stare at him. Even Bryan was drooling as he walked by.
Second Evening:
I went out to a bar, Mary Maddens, with the girls on this night. It’s an Irish Pub, which serves Guiness, which means this town could be the happy home of my father. We met up with DB, and sat with him for a while. Eventually the others went to find some of the boys so I sat with DB to keep him company. I’m really glad to have found someone who likes all of the dorky things I like, and we talked about old TV shows, Brit Wit, and books. Around 11 o’clock I got sick of waiting for everyone to come back down so I got up to go home, brushing off offers to walk me home so I wouldn’t get lost. I saw everyone up on a balcony above the bar, so I yelled at them to buzz me in, since we don’t know which button rings in the boy’s apartment. There’s an older bartended who works at Mary Maddens, and he saw me fail at getting anyone’s attention. He motioned at me to follow him and took me into the back of the bar and led me to an elevator that would take me upstairs.
He kept telling me that the elevator was “Vecchio! Vecchio!” He’s a pretty nice guy who told us that Mary Maddens could be our home, which is adorable. We’ve been seeing him around town lately and he always says hello. The latest time he was on a bike, and he just seemed so care-free. It was like he was strolling, but riding a bike. It was adorable. Also, he’s a huge guy. Like, his fingers are the size of sausages. I haven’t seen anyone as big as him yet and it’s kind of shocking to see an Italian his size. Everyone else is so slim and slender.
After stopping at the boy’s apartment, I headed home. Of course I got lost, but I had my trusty map so I used it to find the campus center. Eventually I made it back to the apartment and tried to go to bed. Again, I was woken up by people coming home and I ended up staying up until 4 just hanging out and talking.
***
Second Day (9/10/09):
There was a meeting in the morning which was pretty silly. Pretty much just respect your apartment, yourself, your roommates, your classmates, your neighbors, so on so forth. Not much to say about that. I managed to lose my meal vouchers, so I had to borrow one from Bryan for lunch. Lunch was, as usual, a success.
After a break during which we did more grocery shopping, we head out into wine country. That trip was exhausting, so I don’t even want to think about it. The purpose was just to show us some of the towns in the area so we could come back later and see things. I took a lot of pictures, so just check those out when I post them. They tell a much better picture.
Dinner was at the wonderful Vincafe, where we had wine the first night. I had Russian salad and ravioli. I also tried some of Jessy’s veal appetizer. It was good, but not good enough to justify the veal industry. The sauce on top, however, was good enough to justify… well not the veal industry, but it was amazing.
Third Evening:
Some people came to our apartment for drinks. We were all going to call it an early night since no one had really gotten a good night of sleep yet. Stephanie and I left a little before 11 to go use the computers. I hadn’t had a chance to talk to Patrick yet, so I got to talk to him on Skype using the common computer. That was really really nice. I felt bad because a lot of people were in the computer lab when I talked to him so I kept getting distracted. Oh well, I’m sure I’ll get more chances to talk to him soon.
We came back to an empty apartment and tried to brush up our Italian because we were taking a placement test in the morning. Since it was a little after midnight, we decided to have a glass of wine before bed while studying. That was probably a bad idea because we both fell asleep while studying. However, we did get almost 10 hours of sleep because of that, so I’m pretty happy with the outcome. Also, the wine we had was 99 euro cents at INS—and it was delicious. I hope that all the wine here is delicious, no matter how much it costs. It seems to be that way.
So, we came back to an empty apartment because everyone else had gone out to the bars. Apparently, while they were at McLeods, Jessy saw FRANCESCO and talked to him. She invited him to meet up with us at Mary Maddens tonight which means I will be hitting the bars. I must see his pretty face again! Oh, my darling FRANCESCO. I’m really excited to see everyone flirt with him and who will win his heart.
***
Third Day (9/11/09):
Not much to report on this day. We took our Italian placement tests, which went relatively well. They were a lot easier than expected. Translating from Italian to English was pretty simple, but English to Italian was harder. I saw the different forms that I needed to conjugate the verbs to, but I just couldn’t remember how to. We talked to Dino (the Italian professor) about getting a review session and I think things will go pretty well.
Since I lost my vouchers, I skipped lunch. I got new vouchers, but I will have to give up a meal every week until I make up for them. I’m not too worried about that because we have groceries in the house, so I can eat lunch at home during the weekends and make up for it. I just need to find the lost vouchers so I can give them back to the school. Since I haven’t found them yet, I don’t think I will find them. Again, I’m all set up so I’m not too worried about it.
The afternoon was filled with updating my entries and sleeping. I really needed the sleep. I also went to the Campus Center to use the interwebs following which I tried to find a shower curtain. I’m not sure if I mentioned this, but we don’t have a shower curtain. We’ve been trying to find one but haven’t had any luck. The most recent attempt was in this little hardware shop under our apartment. I couldn’t really communicate with the proprietor, but she was a really nice lady who could understand my bad Italian and gestures. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any shower curtains, but they did have all sorts of paint and things to paint on. And tape, lots and lots of tape. Now that I’ve been in the store I’ve realized that it’s actually a paint store, but it’s still really cute and wonderful.
Following this was more sleeping and bonding with apartment-mates. Then was dinner, filled with fried bread, meat, seafood salad, ravioli, and spaghetti. The meals here are so big. It’s amazing I haven’t put on like ten bajillion pounds by now. Bryan Miller has started running, and has invited me to run with him… but I think walking around will provide enough exercise for me. I think I might try running by myself, but I need to learn the city better.
Fourth Evening:
Tonight we went to an apartment and had a small party. Before going to the party I stopped by the Campus Center, hoping to talk to my sweetie again. Didn’t happen, but I wasn’t too upset. After getting told to quiet down, we headed to Mary Maddens to meet up with FRANCESCO! I didn’t stay long because I wanted to go to bed. There is a market on Thursdays and Saturdays. I want to see if I can find some cute black flats and some chairs for our balconies.
***
Fourth Day (9/12):
Today was probably the best day I’ve had in Alba so far. I woke up around 7:30 because I had a low blood sugar. I decided to go to the market, so I jumped in the shower. As I was grabbing something to eat before hitting up the market, Dani got up, too, and I waited for her and we went to the market.
My god, it was amazing. There were clothes everywhere, lots of household supplies, sewing needs, and food. We didn’t look long at the food because we didn’t need any, but we did linger at the clothes booths. Everything is so awkward and beautiful. I love comparing how fashion styles differ between here and the states. I think every Italian I see manages to be adorable, even if in an unfamiliar style. I absolutely adore every piece of clothing they own.
In anycase, we still couldn’t find a shower curtain for our shower. We did find jam jars to use as big cups, one of the things our apartment was missing. Dani also got these adorable little coffee cups (tazze de café) with pictures of old movie starts on them. I found an adorable little dress at one of the stands and I couldn’t resist it. It has a bedazzled neckline and is a grey blue color. Dani said it matched my eyes. We also found some adorable undies that had pictures of elephants on them for 1 euro. That’s actually about $1.50, but oh goodness they were so totally worth it. I’m currently washing them so I can wear them later this week. OH and we got cappuccinos and croissants for breakfast. I got a Nutella croissant since we live near the Nutella factory. It was so worth it.
We had to rush back to the apartment to put down our purchases before lunch. We ate at a place called Akash, and it wasn’t too bad. It took too long to get our food, but I feel like that’s something you have to get used to. After lunch, I headed to the campus center, after which we went shoe shopping. I didn’t bring my black flats with me because they are falling apart. Which means I need to buy a new pair. Steph, Arielle, and I spent all afternoon trying to find a pair that actually fit me. Most stores don’t carry my size (10 USA, 40 Italian) so that was problematic. I ended up finding a pair of red shoes at a place near our house that were a size too small, but on sale for 20 euro.
Shopping that afternoon was such an ego boost. I was able to communicate with everyone I talked to through a mixture of English, Italian, and miming. Most people understood the little Italian I used, and that was a huge compliment. I even was able to barter with one of the shopkeepers!
We had more “fun” at the campus center, which was actually fun. We were all treated to gelato. I got Strawberry, but I wish I had got Viola. Viola means violet, which I suppose is what the flavor was. This guy, James, got it and let me taste it. It was delicious; Dani described it as tasting like a cloud on a lazy summer afternoon. One of those big, white, fluffy ones. That was exactly how it tasted.
We had dinner at some restaurant. I don’t remember what it was called and I have to say I was underwhelmed by the food. I’ve come to expect much better than bland pasta with rotisserie chicken and french fries.
Fifth Evening:
I got to wear my new dress and shoes out tonight. I was so cute, not to be egotistical. I guess it’s not egotistical if it’s true. We tried to go to Dani’s “secret bar” but some people had already been there or something. So, we headed to Mary Maddens.
God, I love that bar. The drinks, as at every bar, are over priced but everyone there is extremely nice. I talked to Roberto, the bartender, and he told me to come in during the week and I could practice my Italian with him. He also told me that he gets one day a week off, either Wednesday or Tuesday. He seemed sad because he doesn’t have much of a life outside of work. It’s weird to see someone have a schedule like that: everyone I know who works works has the evening and weekends off. It’s so bizarre to think that someone could just not have a life outside of work. Dani was saying she wanted to find out more about Roberto and try to understand the contradiction of coming into contact with so many people and not having any friends.
I also got to talk to the little old lady who’s married to the older, huge man. Her name is Laura and she likes it when people dance. I met the other bartender, Yosef, or Joseph. I couldn’t really tell through his accent. He seems pretty nice, too.
There really wasn’t much worth of note from last night. There were, of course, the usual scandals, but they’re not worth much mention.
I managed to Skype with Patrick (and Emily and Kate!) on my way back home, which was, as it always is, nice. When everyone came in, they told me how some Italians tried to pick a fight with them. No one managed to throw a punch, but I’m sure it was still really scary. I stayed up to wash the dishes because I didn’t want my housemate, Ashley, feel like she had to do them all the time. She spent all of yesterday cleaning up the apartment, since we finally got a shower curtain. She’s a sweetie pie and I don’t want her to feel like she does everything.
Anyways that was my night.
***
I love this town. It’s full of historical things, like the churches, and there are roman ruins scattered around the town. There was a road, the gates to the city, foundations, and all sorts of stuff. I was going to go to the archeological museum today and learn more about it, but as soon as I got back to the apartment after lunch, I realized that I just needed a day to relax and sit around. I might run over to INS to pick up some household items, but we’ll see.
In anycase, ruins are totally awesome. Seeing ruins everyday is even more awesome.
I also love how Italians walk and drive. Some people know where they’re going and what they’re doing so they just walk. They walk through traffic and expect the speeding cars to just stop for them. And let me be the first to say that those cars stop and they stop fast. The first couple of days I was here, I was grumpy and tired. I didn’t care about traffic so once I noticed how the Italians walked through traffic I started doing it myself. I’m pretty good at it now. Sometimes it feels like nothing scares me. Even just being able to walk like I belong here makes me feel comfortable. I even know how to get to and from places. Have absolutely no idea the names of any of the places except for churches, but I know my way to and from them. Even if I don’t know the exact route I can figure it out now. The first couple of days were rough because the streets are laid out funny, but I’ve got it down now.
I have a couple of landmarks that I know how to get to and from, several different ways. Those would be the Chiesa de San Loren, the Chiesa de San Dominico, the Campus Center, and Mary Maddens. I’m getting pretty good at all of this. I really like living here and I don’t think I ever want to leave. I think everyone should just live here with me. We’ll get a cute little apartment and it will be glorious forever.
Uhg, this town is just so beautiful.
In any case, I'm uploading my pictures to snapfish, will post a link to them later.
I leave tomorrow. There were things I was going to post but I've been packing and eating Indian food and Cheesecake. Meaning I'm pretty sleepy. At least I'm pretty much done packing. And my late night anxieties turned into Clothes Culling time, which was good.
In any case, I'll put some stuff up later. Maybe pictures of my baggage and some of me giving thumbs up or something.
Oh god security and planes and such!
Packing!
So, I have a lot of paperwork. For the actual travel and for my medical condition. Obviously I have copies of everything so that my parents can have copies. If I have a problem, I can call them and they can see what I'm seeing. Also, if I lose something they can send me a copy. I have two folders, one for non-essential paperwork and one for ready retrieval to carry in my carry-on. Here is a picture of the second one!
I've also packed three months worth of diabetes supplies. Here is a picture of that!
Each bag is a month's supply. One set of bags is going in my carry on. One is going into one of my checked bags, and the other into the other checked bag. So basically, there will be a months worth of supplies in each of my bags. Even if one of them gets lost, I'll have another two months to get me through. If both of my checked bags get lost, I'll have a month's supply in my carry on. So, I'll be more or less set until I can get more.
I know that these bags aren't like all high tech and stuff like the actual supplies, but they're see-through. Which means if the airport people need to see them they don't need to take them apart to see what's in them. It's all out in the open. The nicest thing about these bags is that they aren't too big. I can put one set into my carry and still fit other things into it, like my computer and some clothes. Yesss, I rule!
Actually, interwebs is going slow right now. I'll add the pictures later. They're pretty awesome, though!
EDIT:
added pictures, hope they work!
Getting stuff ready to go:
1. Medical crap. I has teh diabetus, meaning I have to carry all sorts of medical supplies over with me. I'm not going to keep any in my checked baggage, instead will be carrying it in my carry on. This makes for two problems:
a. Getting everything packed and ok for the plane.
b. Making sure no one tackles me because of all the needles I'll be carrying.
Solutions:
a. Getting supplies that are smaller and easier to pack and only taking a months worth with me and having my parents mail the rest to me.
b. Getting a letter of medical from my doctor and prescriptions to prove I need it all.
Another problem I have with teh diabetus is that what if I have an emergency while I'm over there? To solve that, I have my emergency prescriptions. I also talked to the direction of the program who is friends with a doctor over there. He speaks english and will be able to get me help if it comes to that. Also, I've heard good things about the medical system and will have both the insurance that the program includes as well as my mom's insurance. Which is a good thing. I also have a list of hospitals and pharmacies in the area.
2. Finances. I'm probably going to get a credit card to go along with my debit card for emergencies. The way my parents are talking it seems like they assume that I'll actually use it. Actually, Bryan brought up a good point about credit cards being more secure than debit cards for buying things (like plane or train tickets and hostel rooms) online. In any case, I'm still trying to figure out which kind to get. My mom is shoving things in my face from Bank and Discover. I need to find out more about conversion fees and tax rebates and what not before I decide. I guess I should also take interest rates and other stuff into account, too. Uhg. In any case, both credit and debit cards will be in my wallet.
I need to go to the Bank and let them know that I'll be out of the country. And get Euros. I don't know how many I'll get. I was thinking 200 would be enough, but I've heard between 500-700 is good. I'm not sure how I feel about carrying that much money on me.
3. Waiting. It's less than a month away from when I go. I don't want to wait anymoooooooooooore!
Visa and Passport en route from school!
Oh, so I guess I'll tell you about some of the cool things the program does for you, if you can figure out how to take advantage of them.
1. If you have your passport (which, I mean, you should have before you even start applying to the program), a passport sized photo, and a filled out visa application (a copy of which is provided on Blackboard. Copy it, putting in your own personal information) then the school will send out a big bunch of visa applications and get it taken care of for you. If you get it all turned in on time. Which I did! Nahnahnah. In any case, that's pretty awesome because getting a visa is a hassle.
2. They pay for your flight over. At least for the fall semester. Assuming they have enough money to pay for it. They almost didn't offer this for us, but then finally we heard back and airline ticket was free for me!
3. The cost for the entire program (including room and board, classes, and "field trips") is the same as tuition, plus a $1,000 fee. Hell yeah! I beg you to find a better (financial) offer than that.
Other than that, I finally got settled with my new pump. It's pretty awesome and I'm excited to start using it.
uhg less than a month away! I can't wait!
So, today I met up with Daniela, Jessy, and Frank (who will not be on the Alba trip, but rather in Oxford) at Bryan's house. We started mapping out our travel plans, which was reassuring. We only made one definite plan, which is to go to the UK, visit Oxford friends/see London and then, in the case of Jessy and I (hopefully) go on to Dublin and hang out there for a couple of days. We will then all fly out to Amsterdam for a few days and then go back home. The Alba program offers one week with nothing going on (kind of like our fall break) and we're going to do this then. It's just a general plan that will probably be changed all around.
Other trips I'm considering:
-Paris with Bryan and Frank on the first Friday of either October or November. There's some exhibit Frank wants to see, but I mostly want to go to Paris.
-Madrid with Dani
Places in Italy I will see even if I have to resort to street walking to pay for them:
-Venice
-Rome
-Florence (and Pisa! because Bryan and I have to do this /makes arm gesture)
-Naples
-Milan
-ELBA
The program has field trips to some of these cities, but for the ones that aren't offered, I'm going to have to finance myself. Which sucks, but is totally worth it.
Other noteworthy happenings on this adventure:
We decided to go shopping for clothes for the trip. Italians like to dress up (or so we've been informed) and therefore this means we have to get super awesome clothes so we aren't out of place. Nice clothes are a necessity. In any case, we ended up going to Ten Car Pile Up. I've only been there once before, but I still want to own everything in that store. Gah, I wish I had more monies. I'm going to have to go there one day and buy a dress. It will happen.
We then went to the Schezuan House, which is a chinese restaurant off of York Road. My grandmother used to love their food, so we used to go there a lot. It was really weird to drive by their condo building and be in that restaurant. It's ok chinese food, but I can't not love it because of the associations I have with it.
We also hit up the Towson Mall. Stopped by Levi's and was jealous of the clothes they had in. Then went on to Forever XXI and H&M. Gah want clothesssssssssssss. I didn't really find anything that I had to have or was cheap enough, though. Le sigh, so is life. I really want to get some cute shirt/blouses to wear to restaurants/bars. I was told, however, that the market in Alba has a pretty good selection of blouses and that I shouldn't worry too much. I ended up hanging out with Bryan and Frank most of the time. They were good for helping me find what I was looking for and holding my bag when I decided to throw on a shirt real quick. I think Jess and Dani will probably end up hanging out a lot, but I think I have a steady buddy in Bryan. I always feel awkward when there are groups of more than two, so it's nice to know that I can have a shopping buddy in Bryan. Like, I know that we'll all hang out together and it'll be great. But if there's anytime that I let myself fall behind, Bryan will be there to help me out. I don't know if that makes any sense, but it does in my head.
Also, I'm pretty set on using planes to travel around. Like, the trains look awesome. I've never been on a train, not that I can remember anyways. I'm so excited to get on a train! But, planes are cheaper and faster, so I'll probably be using those. Frank showed me a website (http://www.ryanair.com) that has hella cheap flights. Hello 3 euro flight!
In other news, my parents bought me a camera and it's really nice. I've been playing with it for the past couple of days and I've pretty much got the hang of it. So, these posts will have pictures to accompany them, hurrah! I could include some from today's adventures but I'm too lazy to do that.
FInances are doing ok. My dad got me a job at his company, which is $9/hr and a guaranteed 24hrs a week. Which is schweet! I also am considering selling some of my old stuff to get some extra spending money. I need to talk to my dad about it first, but I think I could probably get at least $150 from one thing, and i could probably throw together some craft things and sell those. We'll see what happens. My mom just informed me that she will reinstate my allowance, and is actually going to increase it while I'm gone. I hate having an allowance, but it will be nice to have the extra cash at my disposal. If things go well, I should be able to go over with about $1,500. That isn't very much, but it's a lot better than what I was expecting ($600). I'll actually be able to do at least some traveling, which I wasn't expecting to be able to do. There's so much I want to see and experience, though. I guess I'll just have to make going across the pond happen sometime in the future a reality!
I guess the last thing to talk about is the issue of boys. In my case, one boy. He is very pretty and friendly and has been seeing me exclusively for almost a year now. We've decided to stay together while I'm gone. A part of me is iffy about this decision, but the most of me is relieved to know that he'll be there to listen to my excitement with a forced grin on his face and to greet me when I get home with a hug, and probably some form of pda not appropriate for children. This is only an issue for this blog because there will probably be a mixture of exciting adventures and accounts of how much I miss my boy. This is a disclaimer for those latter bits. I apologize, but you will just have to deal.
With love,
K
PS We finally got flight information, health insurance information, and class information! Yay!
I'm taking Italian 201, Psychology of Food, Music History, and a class on the Decameron.
So excitedddddd want it to be September 7th naoi plz!
We got the dates of arrival and departure! Leaving here: September 6th. Leaving there: December 16 (+/- 1 day).
Woooo, I get to see Patrick on our anniversary! That is exciting :D
In other news, I finally got a new battery for my computer and several things that I (or my parents) deemed needed:
-2 scarves to cover my head in churches
-sunglasses (why I needed another pair, I have no idea, but I won't complain)
-raincoat that has a zip out lining
-purse that is thick enough to not get "slashed", big enough to fit an outfit, diabetes supplies, and zips
And um that's it so far.
Things I still need:
-Toiletry bags (one for toiletries and one for diabetes supplies)
-New pump
-light rain coat
-first aid kit
Oh god, this is all shit and stuff. If you have any suggestions of things I should have to take over let me know!
Hello my friends!
As many of you know, I was accepted into a study aboard program way back when in April. In actuality, I don't know much about the program: we get to live in apartments, get vouchers for restaurants, and only have class 4 days a week. Which all sound pretty darn schweet. Also, since it's run out of St. Mary's, I don't have to worry about transferring credits! That's pretty cool, in my opinion.
Anyways, so I'm going to this little town in North West Italy, called Alba (not Elba, I am not being exiled in the manner of Napoleon). It's famous for it's wine and truffles (watch No Reservations, the guy selling illegal truffles says he gets them from Alba!) and music. In the winter there's a truffle festival, and in the spring is the wine festival, and in the summer is the music festival. I'll be there for the wine festival.
There isn't a lot of information on the internets about Alba, but here's a webpage with a little bit of info about it. There are all sorts of beautiful pictures online, so I suggest doing a google search if you want to see some pretty pictures.
In any case, that's about what I know about Alba. OH there's a place called the "Vin Cafe" (I think) where people hang out.
I am a huge fan of lists, so I'm going to start a list of things I need to get before I go.
LIST TO GROW
-Rain Coat
-Passport Cover
-First Aid kit