in rome

I am in an internet point in rome right now. its really expensive for internet.

i will post pics of my last week in perugia soon. last night i said bye to everyone i had met. it was kind of sad. my roommates and photography class had alot of fun together.

my experience in rome will be entirely different i think.

my photography teacher really liked my work over the semester. she said that she hoped i would continue in the states.

last week

so i got sick this past week. flu-like symptoms. it sucked.

i'm at my art show right now. my friend mel came into town.

more when i get to rome.

archaeology and the tuscan sun

this past weekend I explored Perugia and took a day trip to Cortona

there was a train strike from Thursday 9pm to Friday 9pm that put a damper on my travelisng situation. so i just decided to stay in perugia and explore.

thursday night i went to a bar to see my friend lauren sing with two american guys we met a couple weeks ago. it was fun and good to see a concert for the first time since the states.

friday I went to the local archaeology museum that had a bunch of cool artifacts from all the way back in the 6th cent BCE. also most of the stuff they had there had been found in perugia. it was a good size place and i was the only one in there for a while. i got scared in one room when i entered because the lights all of sudden came on when i entered.


the courtyard of the museum


funerary urns from the museum

saturday I took a day trip by myself to cortona. its a small tuscan town about 45 min by train away from perugia. you may have heard of it from the movie and book "Under the Tuscan Sun". what I didnt know is that the train station was at the bottom of the hill and the town was on top, so I had to figure out how to get up there. once I made it up, I went to a museum, ate the best panino i have had here, just chilled in the city. it was fun going and navigating an italian town by myself.


view from Cortona

then sunday lauren, jackson, and I went on a walking tour of Perugia. jackson led since he had lived here for 5 months. i finished taking my photos for my class and we went to a photograhpy exhibit put on by the city. it was really cool because they had b&w pictures of the city from 1900. so I was able to see places that I walk by everyday from 1900. we also were walking by a house when we heard a women yelling and breaking stuff. it was kind of funny.

this is my last week in perugia. I have a final assignment due in photography and a final in food on thursday. after the final we are having a party and then on friday all the art students are putting on a show. so my photographs will be dispalyed for my fellow students. then saturday I will go to Rome by train and start my second program.

everyone is talking about going home to the US and is making me think that. but then I remember that I'm staying here for 4 more weeks. Thanks for eveyone who reads this and I miss yall!

Ciao ragazzi!

some of my photos from my photography class taken with my digital camera (so not good quality)
http://utexas.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2281438&l=6cab5&id=7905232

photos from the weekend:
http://utexas.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2284846&l=90ff8&id=7905232

past week

Some fun things happened this past week,

On Monday we went to an opera house that had been converted to a movie theater to see a movie. On Mondays they have American movie night, so we saw Zodiac in English.

Then Tuesday and Wednesday, I had home cooked meals. One of them was American breakfast. It was the first time I have had American food here. We have French toast (I guess thats not American), eggs, hashbrowns, and sausage.

This weekend I want to travel somewhere but dont know where. And it makes it a little harder beacuse the train workers are on strike from Thursday 9pm to Friday 9pm.

It is starting to get hot here. Outside its not really that bad, considering its not Texas heat and humid. Its inside thats bad because there is no A/C. So sleeping is pretty bad too.

In school news, I got an A on both my photo assignment and food cultures test.

Ciao

change of plans

so i actually decided to stay in Perugia this weekend. i wanted to save money and just take a break from traveling.

thus i spent my first weekend fully in Perugia. at night the city is nuts. the main street (Corso Venucchi) and the main piazza and steps (Piazza IV Novembre) are crowed with people. so many people (mostly college students) everywhere til really late at night. its insane.

so only two more weeks in Perugia taking classes. I'm only three weeks in and I miss so many people from home and UT. Lauren (LC) and I reminisce.

But since I didnt go anywhere this weekend - no new pics, me dispiace.

Arrivederci!

this week

so i had my first photography project and test in food cultures this week. we'll see how they turn out next week.

this weekend i am going to pompeii and sorrento. im really excited about pompeii and the ruins.

check in with yall later.

ps: non-southerns are fascinated by the world yall

caio

cinque terre

I had a full weekend. Friday in Tuscany for a field trip with my food class, Saturday in Cinque Terre, and Sunday in Florence.

Friday:
We left at 6:30 am for out field trip. We stop a cheese farm and factory, a winery, and then went to a farmhouse. At the farmhouse we cooked a 7 course meal which we subsequently ate. It included bruschette, spinach and parmesan ravoli, some bread/tomato soup, gnocchi with ragu, fried potatoes, chicken, and tiramisu. It was wonderful! Then we went to Florence and checked in at our hotel.




Saturday:
We went to Cinque Terre early in the morning. There we hiked between the five cities for a total of 5 hours. The views were so beautiful that pictures dont even do justice - most beautiful place I've been. One minute you feel like you are hiking through the rainforest, then the Italian coast, then through Colorado, then through a Central American town, then an African jungle. Just great. And while on the trail I ran into 3 guys I know from BYX at UT, it was so random but good. I knew they were backpacking through Europe but not where. Then we relaxed on the beach and I swam in the Mediteraenean!






Sunday:
We explored Florence and I was able to actually go in some museums. We went through the Bargello which had Donatello's David and some minor works of Michaelango. Then we went to the Duomo Museum which housed alot of old pieces from the duomo. It had the Ghiberti's bronze doors, Michaelango's Pieta, and Donatello's Mary Magdalene. There was also John the Baptist's finger - weird. Then we went inside the actual duomo - breathtaking with the high ceilings and art. Then we got on the wrong train home and went 4 hours out of the way - only bad thing about the weekend.





all my pics from the weekend:
http://utexas.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2277207&l=5e35c&id=7905232

http://utexas.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2277224&l=0e3d8&id=7905232

this weekend

I have a full weekend ahead of me.

Tomorrow I am going on a field trip for my food class. We are going into the Tuscan country, visiting a chesse factory, wine plant, and then cooking a Tuscan meal together. Then some friends and I are going to hike through Cinque Terre (The five villages) on Saturday. All the villages are on the coast. Then on Sunday we are going to do Florence again but hopefully get into the museums.



Ciao, yall!

all my photos

Here are the links to my photo albums:
perugia 1:
http://utexas.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2270961&l=20ee7&id=7905232

florence and pisa:
http://utexas.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2274169&l=9f3bf&id=7905232

perugia 2:
http://utexas.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2274169&l=9f3bf&id=7905232

so you dont have to be on facebook to view them

the rest of the weekend

The rest of Saturday:
After Florence, we went to Pisa. We wanted to go to Bologna but it was too expensive. In Pisa of course we saw the leaning tower of Pisa.



Then we got back to Florence and went out the people we met from TCU. On Sunday my roommates went shopping in the market and we went back to Perugia.

The trip this past weekend really made me miss Perugia. It feels more like home after going to Florence and Pisa. Also both those cities were overrun with tourists and all the vendors speak English.

Yesterday in photography, we learned how to develop film. It was interesting and now I know how to make negatives.

Also there is this feature on my blog where you can can leave comments on my posts. Its at the very bottom of the post. This is an easy way for you to talk to me without sending an email.
Ciao, raggazzi!

one week

Okay so I've realized I can't blog about everyday, so I will just do highlights from now on.

In terms of class, I have taken two rolls of film and will learn to develop it today. Also in my food cultures class I gave a presentation and we learned about wine and wine tasting.

On Friday my roommates and I decided to go to Florence for the weekend. We hopped on the train and got there Friday night. While on the train we ran into some people from our program from TCU (shout out to LoNix). When we got to Florence we started looking for a hotel/hostel since we didnt book one in advance. On the third try it worked out.

So on Saturday we went to the Piazza della Signoria which has a bunch of statues including the fake David. They were great.



Then we went to the Medici Chapel, but unfortunately no cameras were allowed so I have no pics. But it was amazing! There are three parts: the crypt, the Chapel of the Princes, and the New Sacristy. Walking into the Chapel was breathtaking. The high ceiling and dome and murals and everything in there was surreal. If you can look up pics of the chapel and the sacristy - they were great.

Well I gotta go to class, but I will update later about the rest of the weekend. Ciao.