I guessed Italy would be full of smoking people, pick pockets, and hot weather, short shorts, English restaurants.  I turned out to be right and wrong.  These factors really deepened on where we were.

For example Rome was supper hot because of all the extra cars, people, and little trees,  Where as Siena was much cooler because its not a tourist spot and people don’t drive much there. I was also informed that the session plays a big part in the weather I just happened to show up at the hottest part, but the funny thing is that the first day I showed up it was raining, the first few nights it was cold, but then it got hot; Real hot! One day at 9 am it was already 95 with 90% humidity!

Pick pockets were really only in tourist areas and on trains.  Not so much where I was staying.

But no matter where you were people were smoking everywhere!  I even had a waitress say I will get your bill in two minutes after I have a cigarette.

People were not wearing shot shorts,  Yes some where,  but most would  wear pants Like the heat did not bother them.

Most restaurants had very little English.  Good thing my program taught how to order in a restaurant in Italian!

I think I interacted a lot with my new culture,  I tried to speak Italian every chance I got,  I joined in on activities such as the palio,  I interacted with strangers, etc

I have mix emotions about coming home.  I really am home sick now and would love to see my family and pets, but it is like I am losing my second family here in Italy  so I am also sad to be leaving.  I defiantly want to come back and say hello and all my teachers again, stay in contact with my new friends, etc.

Over all I would recommend going to Italy especially In this program!

Goodbye, Siena! I will see you again someday!

We are at the end of our last week.  It is a bitter sweet moment,  I am excited to go home, but I am going to hate leaving the amazing city of Siena!

Here is just a couple of things I have noticed around Italy that is a little strange that I thought I might share with you on my last week.

The lights are very strange, most bathroom lights are outside of the bathroom or you have to have a card or chip to put into a socket to keep the lights on.  Toilets you can decided how much water you want to flush its not a set amount.

All stores usually close around 7-8 PM which is very strange to me.  This does not go for everyone,  but I have met a lot of people who are rude to my friend Sierra and I just because we were american,  On the other hand we did have people that were exceptionally nice to us and went out of their way to help us!

This week I have taken all my finals,  watched some spectacular presentations,  packed up my apartment, and now it is time to go.  Nothing special has really happened this week just the test.

On our last night we had a huge celebration with all our classmates and our teachers.  They took us out to dinner and we stayed out till around 2 am!  At this celebration we had 4 different languages at once!  Those being English, ASL, Italian, LIS (Italian sign.)  All of us knowing a little bit of each language we were able to communicate and have a great time!

I will truly miss every one of my teachers, advisers, and new friends.

My advisers!      

Rita deaf culture teacher, Sierra, and I.

Laura my LIS teacher and I

Whew… I have walked around so much the past few days, but it was all worth it. We have left Dublin today and we are currently in Waterford until tomorrow. We did so much in Dublin, but I am also glad to start exploring other aspects of the country. On the fifth day, the Literature group visited this one Big House called Newbridge House and Farm. From what I remember, this house was built in the 18th century, and it was the house with the largest park in at least Dublin. There was a lot to take in, so my memory is a little fuzzy. After touring the house, we explored the farmhouse. The most impressive thing by far was the Georgian carriage. There are only four left, and this was one of them. There were also a lot of farm animals, including a peacock. I was actually able to get the peacock to follow me by feeding it potato chips. I just hope it doesn’t follow me to Galway…

The next day, we went to the National Museum, which was amazing! The bottom floor was dedicated to Bronze Age Ireland, so it included a number of bowls, jewelry, and different tools. In one wing, it was about the transition to Christianity that Ireland went through, along with some info about writing. The other side of this floor had information about human sacrifice. There were four different bog bodies, showing amazing preservation. Two of the bodies still had their hair, which was ginger. On the top floor, there were displays about vikings, medieval Ireland, ancient Egypt, and some Greco items. After exploring all of this, we went over to the art museum. There were a lot of amazing paintings, but their main focus was on Sean Kissane, who is a modern artist. I have to be honest, his art style is definitely not my style. I really don’t understand modern art, but at least I’m not the only one.

After the leaving in Dublin, we arrived in Waterford and took a tour of the Waterford Crystal factory. Here, we saw what all goes into making a Waterford crystal item. First, the crystal is heated up and molded into the shape that it needs to be. Then, it’s placed in a kiln overnight where it is then taken out the next day and ground down to smoothness. An inspector checks each piece to make sure that there are no air bubbles. From there, the crystal is ground into its design and later carved more intricately. I now understand why it is so expensive. I also learned how so many trophies are made using this stuff, including the New Year ball! Afterwards, we checked out the store, but everything was way out of my budget. Tomorrow, we head out to Cork, and I am excited to see what that’s like!

This first week (and a half) has been an absolute roller coaster of emotions for me! I am truly enjoying my environment and all the changes that have come with living in a city, but to be honest, it hasn’t been all butterflies and rainbows! For example, in our cultural orientation we learned about the “U-Curve of culture shock” and how after a while you may feel a tad homesick..this has definitely rang true for me. However, it not so much feelings of wanting to go home, but rather wanting everyone that I love to be here and joining me on this awesome adventure!

I also am having to adjust immensely to the heat. Growing up in the Pacific northwest, we get excited over 80 degree weather with limited clouds! So adding humidity to the climate has been interesting…sweat seems to be inevitable, especially when I take the metro (all the heat gets trapped underground, with no breeze). Nevertheless, I love not having to wear layers of clothing.

Other than a few minor adjustments, my first week here has been filled with sight seeing, exploration, good food, and great people! Just yesterday we returned from a weekend trip in Valencia (about 4 hours south of spain by bus) and it was incredible. Gorgeous beaches, much less crowds, tons of shopping, and I made a few more friends from the program that I hope to continue to hang out with not only here, but back in the states as well!

This upcoming week is packed with lots of activities, so I look forward for week 2’s entry.

Adios!

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This week has been so much fun! It was a little rough at the beginning of the week trying to figure out my  housing changes but now I am so much more comfortable in the place that I am in. This week we already had our first midterms – crazy doing a full load of classes in only 5 weeks. After tests were done this week we had a weekend excursion to Mexico City which was absolutely amazing. We left on Friday morning and saw 3 museums and then were able to explore a bit. I loved seeing the Frida Kahlo museum – something I have always been interested in. Saturday went the same way and then today we went and saw pyramids and it was so beautiful. We were able to climb to the top of tallest one and it had an amazing view. Excited for what the next week has in store. 

This week has been a little easier to adjust emotionally. My classes are still easy, but they’re picking up the pace a little. I went to the doctor on Wednesday because I had been having fever and stomach pains and really just NOT feeling right. Turns out I have a bad stomach infection. So looks like a week of tons of medication and not being able to eat most foods! I’m glad I got on medicine right away because this weekend we went to Mexico City. Anyways, before that, on Tuesday this week I went to the regional museum of Queretaro and loved it. I got in free with my student ID. Anyways, more on Mexico city. It definitely is kind of expensive, but also definitely kind of worth it. I saw tons of museums and shops and markets and churches and plazas and more. Enough to last me a lifetime. I had my own room which was nice… the only thing was that my toilet was IN my shower… LITERALLY IN IT!! Haha so confusing and weird for me. My favorite part of the trip was going to Teotihuacan and seeing all of the pyramids and the ruins. I climbed to the very top of the tallest pyramid and it was sooo gratifying! I’m really glad I decided to go for it. Coming home I am super duper exhausted and super duper burnt. Even my lips are red and burnt. I guess it figures that I would get a little sun while standing on top of the Pyramid of the Sun…

Started my classes and the first one is sooo super easy. I hope that they pick up soon. I watched a Korean soap opera with my host family, with Spanish subtitles of course. I thought it wwould be much hotter here than it actually is. Although there is definitely more thunder than I thought. Its honestly exhaisting just being here and adjusting. My body has been feeling weird, but I’m sure that’s normal. I definitely miss my family and my boyfriend but I do like it here. The one thing that I’ve noticed is that my house is really hard to find. And even the taxis have a hard time finding it. In the morning when I go to school I walk 10ish minutes to the bus stop, then take the bus for 10-15min and finish it off by walking about 10-15min from the bus stop the university… its so far! This weekend on Saturday we went to Pena Bernal. It was super beautiful and I bought three wonderful paintings for only 20 pesos each (WOW!). Tomorrow I am moving to a new house so a new adventure is one the horizon. Hopefully one with less mosquitoes to attack me…but that might be wishful thinking.

There is so much that went into pre-departure, that it seemed discouraging at times. I was worried that by the time I finished stressing out about leaving, I wouldn’t even have the energy to go anywhere! Luckily, I survived all of the tedious planning and packing (and repacking) , endless airport lines, and what seemed like never-ending flights — and now I’m in London! Wait what? I’m super excited to be here finally, but jet-lag is no joke. Hopefully I get my energy back soon, so I can make the best of this experience.

Attempting to arrange plans so that my travel to London was efficient proved to be a harder task then anticipated. I not only packed my bag once, but three times more towards my impending flight, each time realizing that I need to take out items I really didn’t need. I also managed to go to the store 6+ times in need of items that I neglected to retrieve my first time around within 4 days of my flight out to London.

After getting to the Airport it would seem that the journey was still managing to be difficult. Getting through security for once had been easy, only taking a mere 15 minutes to complete. However when arriving at our gate my travelling partner and I learned we would not be seated next to one another on either of our flights, and had to sit in the middle both times next to individuals we didn’t know. With this too, I met a fellow of mindful cheer, that told me of his family and dreams of further travel. I learned he had two kids,  little  boy and a little girl, he was journeying to Lebanon to see his family for the first time in 5 years; he proved to be of excellent company.

Overall the workings, and flight towards London was  manageable, further pictures and stories of London are soon to come!

Courtney T.