Ariccia

Arriving in Ariccia Italy was something out of a dream.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to blog more closely to which the events of the past month and a half have unfolded.  My laptop was infected with viruses unknown to me, so when I had my laptop checked out here for connectivity issues, the viruses reared their ugly little heads.  So I've been with and without a laptop for awhile.

But putting that aside, my experience in the beautiful country of Italy has been nothing less than phenomenal.  Leaving the United States and all I've ever known behind was tough.  We arrived with the dawn touching down at Rome's Fiumicino airport.  Dazed and suffering from complete and total sensory overload we students managed to connect with one another, grab our bags, and meet our program facilitator Cinzia.

Ariccia is a small town in the Province of Rome, located about 45 minutes away by train.  When we arrived, it was early morning-- the sun was rising and the town was waking.  We unpacked, met our program director Linda.  We enjoyed a lunch of porchetta sandwiches, a local speciality, and then continued to get settled into our living quarters.  For the time here in Italy, we girls are living in a Palace.  That's right!  A palace once owned by the Chigi family -- the Palazzo Chigi to be exact!  We live in a portion that has been remodeled into a classroom and full living facility for female students.  We each share a kitchen, common room, and bathroom.  Our bedrooms are divided up between 18 of us.  It truly adds to the study abroad process by living so closely to one another because it really gave us the opportunity to get to know one another.

All in all, this process of being abroad has already pushed me into a new direction with life.  I am learning to appreciate more and enjoy every small detail more tenderly than I ever have before in my life.

More to come!