Day #1 in Orvieto!

This is a frantic journal entry/post because I only have internet for a little bit! I'm sure I'll fix this up a bit once a reread it - but this should give you a brief idea of what's been going on so far. :) 

February 23, 2012

After hours in the airport, over nine hours of flying, and then another six hours of waiting in the airport for the rest of our group, driving through the “industrial” part of Rome seems like heaven. Even the telephone poles, roads, and occasional strip malls barely take away the beauty of the landscape – rolling green hills, fluffy little trees, and the sun streaming through dark rainclouds. Even these glowing rainclouds emphasize the beauty of the landscape! I’ve never seen anything this beautiful before! It’s hard to believe that I’ll be living here for four months. I’ve been up for over thirty hours not without sleep – unless you count a 20-minute nap on the plane. My brain feels fuzzy and my eyes are all puffy, but part of me still feels alert and excited to start living in Orvieto! Even though we aren’t supposed to sleep now, the rock of this huge bus is putting me to sleep…

All of my luggage made it and my flights went smoothly. Laura and I watched Baby Mama, which was funny as usual. I know this seems obvious, but it was weird to walk off the plane and into the airport and only hear Italian voices. We were laughing because we continued to say, “excuse me,” “sorry,” and “thank you” in English without even realizing that our first reaction to speak in English isn’t the normal thing to do. As we looked for the baggage claim, a man quickly began to talk to ys in Italian, to which the four of us (myself, Laura, Christabel, and Katie) stared at him without any expression. He immediately switched to English and asked, “Are these the bags that came from Dublin?” We answered yes and when he walked away, I asked Laura How did he know we are American?!?  We then proceeded with our bags, where a group of individuals were waiting to pick up friends, family, clients, etc. A man walked up to me and said, “Are you Megan?” to which I was like HOW DID YOU KNOW? He chuckled and listed off the 3 names of my companions as well. Just as we were hoping, Professor Doll was ready and waiting for us – and apparently he already knew our names!

The rest of the 7 hours waiting in the airport was a blur. Meeting up with the rest of the faces (both old faces and new), waiting, waiting, waiting, bathroom breaks, and snack breaks. Now we are on the bus where I write this now, with plans to arrive in our temporary home in Orvieto (before the monastery renovation is complete), have supper, and call home. Tomorrow will be a day to explore the town.

Our RA Hanna told us that if you see sheep, its good luck if you “pick them up and put them in your pocket.” I’ve seen a few sheep on the drive to Orvieto, all fluffy and milling around in pastures. They definitely seem like they would be good luck. If only it was easy to pluck them up out of the landscape and take them with me in my pocket!

Everyone was sleeping on the bus but I was the first to wake up from my nap. Professor Doll pointed out the window to what looked like a village of lights up on a hill. It seriously looked like a castle in the clouds. There was fog running through the hilltop and this made it look even more magical – as if the gleaming grey rainclouds weren’t enough! It was so coll. I tried to take a few pictures on my iPhone but they didn’t do it justice – my first glimpse of Orvieto. The coach bus winded up the mountain through a narrow street, higher and higher we went as the view of the countryside looked more and more like something from a fairytale. We finally entered the palazzo where the bus came to stop in front of the cathedral and we hurried to drag our suitcases through the cobblestone sidewalks, just as it began to pour. We were assigned rooms in the guesthouse (all the rooms were so unique and has different hooks, dresses, bedding, etc). Becky and I have a room with three beds. All the rooms have their own bathrooms. 

We didn’t spend much time unpacking before we walked through town to the family restaurant that would be our dining hall for the semester. We were introduced to the family and they served us pizza. We each had our own cheese pizza that was bigger than the dinner plates – and it was DELICIOUS. The best sauce I’ve even had (except for your spaghetti sauce, Grammy). We then had “Nutella pizza” for dessert while the father in the family sang and entertained us with a few songs. After a filling and lengthy (but wonderful) meal, we weaved through the streets once more before returning to our rooms! A bed has never felt so comfy. I’ve been away or 33 hours straight and I’m falling asleep to the sound of some catfights outside. Apparently there are a lot of cats here. I’ve already seen 3!