First Week: Planes, Trains and Automobiles. And Jetlag.

Buongiorno!

Well, we finally made it to Italy. It is now just the end of day 2. And I gotta tell you.... I'm just exhausted.

It has been a blur of activity since we got here. I can honestly say that I underestimated how scary it is to be in a foreign country and not be able to speak or understand the language. As a matter of fact, just today Natasha and I went to the grocery store and bought a bunch of stuff since our bags are still lost. And we spent forever in line and we finally got to the front. I went first and the cashier started going off in italian, angrily gesturing at the bag of apricots I had bought. Finally I understood that he needed me to weigh them. So I ran back to the produce section and had to enlist the help of an impatient man and his son using hand gestures to help me with the measuring machine. I held up the entire line for a good ten minutes and I don't think they were happy. I felt bad!!

All in all, though, it's beautiful here!! And although I'm a little homesick, I'm so glad I took the opportunity to come on this trip.

Here are a few pictures of my adventures so far:

The Piazza De Ferrari. It's the center of Old Genoa and our group's main meeting point.

The HUGE calzone we had for lunch. So delicious!!

The awesome key to our apartment!!

On our way to a fancy restaurant for our welcome dinner with our Italian foster mom.

Actually, the restaurant we ate in was housed in a building that was built in yhe 15th century! It was gorgeous. Giuliana (our italian foster mom) told us a story about how they found the building and restored it. There is a room called the anniversary room. It's built over a 15th century well and the floor is glass. The room is actually in a little cave and all that fits is a little 2 person table, lit by candlelight. It is simply gorgous!! I wanted to get a picture of it, but it was occupado. :(

Anyway, it's one in the morning here so I'd better get some sleep.

Talk to you guys soon! Ciao ciao!