First Day of Classes

We are having our first day of classes today. It's insane, none of these buildings have air conditioning so they leave windows open and you get this incredible view while your having class. I finally got my key situation resolved. This town is so trusting they have spare keys inside a small door in the foyer of the apartments. I'm not sure how I feel about that but my key problem is fixed!

My roommate and I went down to the Conad (the big supermarket) to grab some stuff like dish soap and toilet paper. There's a mini-market really close to our apartment but it's a little more expensive. I was going to get pasta to make for lunch but decided not to since dinner will be such a huge process. I have to start taking pictures of my dinner because it is so amazing. Last night for dessert we had what I think was chocolate mousse with whipped creme and a pastry straw type thing. I don't know how I'm going to eat like that every night. Thankfully I spend every day walking all up and down the city. It's like hiking Kennesaw Mountain all day. I don't know how I can gain weight when I don't spend much money on food and I'm walking everywhere.

Back to dinner though. We start off with bread and then usually get pasta; last night we had linguine with pesto. Then we have a meat, the first night was beef with a garnish of arugula and last night we had pork and sausage. Then we have the potatoes. The potatoes are amazing. The first night we had potatoes that were roasted with rosemary. So good! Everyone was talking about them for the next two days. Last night we had whipped potatoes which were again, amazing. Then we have a type of vegetable. Last night was green beans and the first night was spinach. And then dessert. Every night. I'm full after my pasta, how am I supposed to eat the rest of it?

I can't complain about not having enough food at dinner though. It's definitely amazing. It looks like it might rain today so I might hide out in my room and avoid it. I don't want to be walking on cobblestones when it starts to pour.

Two Days In...

I’ve only been here two days but I’m already homesick. We didn’t get off to a bang like I was hoping. We’ve mostly spent this weekend getting ready for the barrel race and getting our apartments in order. We were given a set of keys with two keys to a set, one to the outside door and one to the actual apartment. Well, as Murphy’s Law would have it, the key to the actual apartment doesn’t work, so I’m waiting until Monday to get it fixed. But tonight I was separated from my roommate for a solid two hours. We looked everywhere for her. I swear I have been up and down and all over Montepulciano no less than eight times today. It wasn’t that bad, we ended up people watching for about thirty or forty-five minutes and I had some delicious gelato.

It’s absolutely beautiful here. I’m ready to start classes though and putting to use my new Italian. I hope I’m going to be pretty fluent by the time I get back home. That would be impressive. Tonight there are parties everywhere because of the Wine Barrel Race Sunday. I can here the music even now, at almost one in the morning. The apartments here lack air-conditioning so I’ve taken to leaving the windows open at night because it’s so cool. I end up hearing everything but it’s really interesting. It’s so funny to hear some songs in Italian and some in English. Like Lady Gaga or the fact that they played “Video Killed the Radio Star.” Awesome.

I miss everyone but I’ll talk to you all soon. If you don’t have Skype, get it. My username is Sarahlea87. It’s free and I can see your beautiful faces!

Love you and miss you all.

Day of Departure

I'm so nervous I could barely eat breakfast. I can only imagine that if I manage to eat lunch, it will only be about the size of a quarter. When I get nervous like this I can't eat and I can't hide my nervousness. It's terrible, people must think I have an eating disorder or psychosis. I'm not very comfortable on a plane but hopefully I'll nod off at some point. It's a long flight and I'm bringing a book, it shouldn't be too bad. Maybe I should bring two books? This is why I hate reading so fast sometimes, you just burn through the books too fast, then you have nothing to read. Did I mention that when I get nervous, I also ramble on? Just in case you couldn't tell.

I'm doing checks over my packing and cleaning what I can of my house so El Gordito (or Enrique) can mess it up again. Say "see you later" Enrique!

3 days away and counting...

I am so nervous. We had the cookout at my mom's house yesterday and there was such a good turnout. I was so impressed that people cared enough to come say bye. I think the food helped too, but what do I know? I'm still not packed but I'm working on it. Just like I'm working on so many last minute things, like laundry and cleaning and homework, all that good stuff that we all love to do. I've notified my bank that I'm going out of the country three times so if they cut me off I just don't know what I'll do. I borrowed luggage from my grandma, and I bought a power adapter. Too bad my hair dryer kicked the bucket. I just can't bring myself to buy one three days before I leave. My hair doesn't look that awful when it air dries, I hope? Lauren has been such a great help on telling me what I'll need and what I can leave behind. I don't need to be the most stylish person there, I just hope that I don't need to do too much laundry.

I've had so many people tell me that I'm so lucky. And after having to think way harder on it than I should, I finally realized that they are completely right. I have a wonderful family, great friends, a good job that is insisting on my return to them as well as an amazing boyfriend and each and every one of them is in full support of this trip. I'm so amazed that I have actually made this trip happen and can not say thank you enough to everyone who has made what feels like the impossible attainable. This is the part where I get all sorts of mushy and say I am grateful to everyone for their support and well wishes. Thank you so much for being so good to me and making me believe I can do this. I'll try to write again before I leave, hopefully I'll have time! Keep me in your thoughts and prayers!