Today I have begun posting entries from the journal I kept while I studied abroad in Orvieto, Ital in the summer of 2008. I will post journal entries, pictures, and scanned documents of treasures I tucked away into the pages of the journal. I hope remembering this journey page by page will inspire me to plan another trip and once again find the freedom in traveling to another country…
I can’t believe I’m drunk on the second night here! I had so much fun today! I woke up late because my alarm didn’t go off, so I awoke to the sound of the church bells from across the street at 10:57am. I woke up earlier but went back to sleep. I got ready then two of my roommates and I all went to the Pentecost Ceremony. This dove was in this pretty cage and pushed down this wire with 1,000 explosions in the square then the bird was given to the most recent bride. It was really cool and there we met the rest of the Orvieto kids. I saw Red and Jay. Jay’s flight was delayed 2 hours yesterday so that’s why we didn’t see him at the airport. Red and I swapped phone numbers and it’s really cool because they’re roomies! I’m glad they’re roomies because they’re both really cool. After the ceremony we all split up. There were about 10 people in our group and we went to a cheap Pizzeria. Jay and one of his other roomies sat next to me and I was at the end of the table. We all got spaghetti and water. It was $8 a piece. The bill was interesting because there was no tax. What the menu said was how much it was so it was super easy to split the bill when it came and we didn’t have to worry about it before hand. I’d been worried about that but one of the girls explained it and was right so that’s a good tip to know. Afterwards we decided to go Flat Viewing. That’s what we called going to see each other’s sweet Italian apartments. LoL We went to everyone’s place. I really think we lucked out in our flat because there are only four of us girls and we’re in the downtown area and our flat feels very “European” according to one of the girls. Some of the other places were tiny or overcrowded. Three of the five places we went to visit had AMAZING views! I took 148 pictures before we started drinking. There are lots of cats here. At 11:30 in the morning we had to meet for the ceremony. At 5:30 we decided we wanted dinner and wine. Jay, V, and I went to my place to get the pasta and sauce I’d gotten yesterday. My pasta and Red’s fed 14 people! We’d acquired some more throughout the day. After dinner we played a drinking game called King’s Cup and had SO much fun! It was funny how drunk people got and how quickly and also how much wine we all had! There were bottles and bottles and bottles lined up in their kitchen that were just empty. Everyone kept saying how they drink X amount of whatever kind of hard liquor so wine will be no problem and they’ll need to drink at least four bottles by themselves before they feel it. FYI, WRONG! LoL no. I know I’m a lightweight so I had nothing to prove and was fine but some of the other people were smashed. I’m worried Red might cheat on his girlfriend. I’m glad I have Boyfriend and don’t have to worry about stuff like that! I would never cheat on him and love him so much I would never think to! I think he is the one!!! YAY ITALIA!
How do I start? This experience has already changed me… I will return more confident and independent than ever before. Today I stood in the BigCity airport with no family, friends, cell phone, computer, or any way of getting help from those people who care for me. At first it was a scary feeling until I embraced the adventure. On the flight from BigCity to Newark, NJ a girl from Scotland named K sat next to me. Turns out, she’s not only an accomplished world traveler, she also went to the college in HomeTown and loves the city! We combined just enough talking, laughing, and looking out the window to make the trip pass quickly. Before we parted I gave her a HomeTown key chain I’d gotten with my dad for just such occasions. We met again in the airport randomly and quickly spend even more hours chatting about differences and similarities of our religions (me as a Catholic and her as a Born Again Christian). The experience was enlightening and confirmed my thoughts that this trip will be a spiritual one for me. (K and I became Facebook friends and still talk and she is still an amazing world traveler!)
The sun setting in Newark as I left the United States for the first time.
On my way to boarding the plane to ROME!!! I met two girls from my program. AE and KN. We met up again after a long, long flight. I finally achieved my life goal of experiencing the line between darkness and dawn. It was as elusive and incredible as I’ve always dreamed. Before the sun went up all the way, we flew for a long time over the northern Atlantic Ocean. I don’t know if it was a sea of ice or clouds which was so beautiful…either way I feel blessed to have experienced it. When we finally landed it was nice to have two people to go through customs with and to wait with at the baggage claim. I’d made a sign that said “College Orvieto” on the back of a blue paper and waved it around while I walked. that was how we acquired the sisters and finally Wl. He was representing for all the men. He was excellent when leading us around and asking directions. He was also a big help lifting all the girls’ overweight bags into the overhead storage bins for when we got on the trains. We had to catch two trains to get to Orvieto…
Orvieto Train Station
More later, so tired….
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