Chapter 1: Pre-Departure

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

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