Day 3 and 4

Yesterday we went to the small city of Viterbo with one of the guides from our school.  He took us on a tour of the city including MANY churches.  The quote of the day was "I have a big surprise for you all, another beautiful church!" (said by our guide Masimo in an itialian accent, of course).  We also had another very filling three course meal there and I had my first caffe (italian coffee).  It is a shot of expresso that they serve you after your meal with one pack of sugar to pour in it.  I didn't really like it, but I have found a new love for cappuccinos!  We also went to a big market in the center of the city where they sell clothes, purses, bathing suits, jewlery, shoes, pots and pans, and many other little things.  Luckily, the fashion in these small towns is not like in Florence, Rome and Milan so I have yet to buy anything other than food.  Mom you should be proud.
When we got back from the trip to Viterbo all 30 of us went to the town center where the bar is and hung out for the night.  They were having an Italian actor there to the bar so it seemed like the entire town was gathered around taking pictures and hanging out.  It was a lot of fun, but a long day.  We probably walked 6 or 7 miles around the town and then my friends and I went for a run when we came back to Tuscania so I was exhausted.

Today was our day off so 28 of us went to a lake about 15 minutes away.  I'm not sure what the name of the lake was, but it was on top of a volcano or something like that.  The sand was not sand...it was black ash that was ground up and looked like black sand.  It was very different, but so beautiful and we had a ton of fun together.  It is extremely hot here, so it was nice to be by the lake and in the water with friends.  We did learn to never trust transportation systems in Italy!  First our bus making us wait 3 hours the first day and then breaking down and making us wait another 3 on the first day we got here.  Then today our driver brought us to the lake at 2 and was supposed to pick us up at 6.  When he got here he told us he needed to change it to 7 and we said that was fine, but then 7 rolled around and we got a phone call saying he wouldn't be there 'till 7:30...then he called again and said he would be there at 8.  Finally he showed up at 8:20 to take us back to the hotel and we had to pay 10 euros each for the trip.  It was surprising that this happened again because both means of transportation were set up by our school advisor here, but apparently we need to tell them an hour before the time we actually want to leave so it will be fine if they are late.

A few of my friends and I just went down to the town center to get some crepes and we are eating them now so pictures of these two days will come a little later when I download them.

Hope everyone is surviving hurricane Irene.  I've seen pictures and it doesn't look too pretty!
Good luck and I miss everyone :)

Day 1 & 2

Hi Everyone!

I landed safely in Rome yesterday around 9:30am Italian time.  We then had to wait until 1pm for other flights to arrive before we took the bus to our hotel in Tuscania.  Unfortunately our bus broke down around 2pm and we were stuck at a gas station on the side of the road until 5!  So that is how I spent my first day in Italy.  We finally made it to our hotel in Tuscania and got a short tour of the town and then went out to dinner.  The dinner was great.  We were served a three course meal with spaghetti, then chicken and potatoes, and my favorite, a brownie lava cake type dessert.  By the time I went to sleep I had been awake for 33 hours straight.  It was definitely a long day and I was very anxious to go to bed.  

I am staying in a hotel room (it is the only hotel in the town) with another student named Elizabeth.  We each have our own little twin bed, which is very very stiff and uncomfortable and of course there is no air conditioning anywhere here so it is definitely a lot different than a hotel at home, but that was expected.  

The weather has been between 95 and 100 so far and there is no wind at all so that is taking some getting used to for all of us.  Especially because we walk everywhere here.  

Today we ate breakfast in the hotel and then went to see the Lorenzo de'Medici school in Tuscania.  We met our Italian teacher for the week and he took us on a more in depth tour of the small town.  We were dismissed at 11 for a break until 2 so we went to the local grocery store (if you can even call it that) to get some fruit to keep in our room.  It is very different than at home and we made the mistake of buying sparkling water instead of regular because all of the labels are in Italian and we can't read them.  

We have a sit down Italian language class from 2-5 tonight.  Then we have the rest of the night to go get dinner on our own and then we are all going to the bar.  When I say bar, I don't mean like at home, or in Boston.  The bars here are basically outside tables where you can sit down with your friends and talk and order drinks.  You won't catch anyone dancing or making a fool of themselves while falling over drunk like in the US.  Even though most people at the bars are our age, or younger here.  

So thats what my first two days looked like.  I miss everyone back home and can't believe I won't be waterskiing at the lake this weekend.  I know Florence will be much more exciting than this tiny little secluded town, but I can't help but miss home, the lake, and seeing all my friends and family!  

This is the potatoes and chicken. (second course)

and the lava cake dessert.

This is a fountain in the middle of the town,  Tuscania.

This is a picture of the back side of our hotel. 

Here is a famous old church in Tuscania.  I thought it looked like my church at home a little bit. Especially the way the inside is painted below.  

Here is just a picture I took of the street we were walking down so you could see what the old architecture looks like.  All of these pictures are from the ancient half of the town.  There is also a more modern half where our hotel, the market, and a lot more housing is located.