The First Week

 Hello Blog People!

This week has been very busy so far. There has been a lot of excitement and a lot of learning happening on this side of the world. I'll do a little recap for ya, since this week is pretty special.

I arrived on Monday, which I've already said a little about, and that was just a long day. A lot happened on Tuesday. First of all, I had my first breakfast at Villa Aurora. I learned how to use the coffee machine that is free for students in the morning. It's basically a coffee vending machine, which is very good, though it takes a while to figure out what you want since all the options are in Italian. But cappuccino is still spelled the same. Go figure ;). In the morning I explored the grounds with a few friends, and we met one of the gardeners. We learned that Villa Aurora likes to grow some of their own produce that they use in the cafeteria, such as eggplants, basil, and varieties of tomatoes. They even have some fruit trees that are small, but we eventually will get fruit from them. It was interesting to see how this added to the eco-friendly emphasis in Italy. After, I had an interview with a few of the teachers.  They asked me what my goals were for the year, what hobbies I had, if I was pursuing a minor, etc. It only lasted 5 minutes. After my interview, I met a few new friends who had arrived that morning. This whole week was filled with many new faces and an attempt to remember and match names to the faces. It will get easier with time and when classes start. 

After lunch, I gathered a group of around 15 people to go into Florence for some shopping. Many people had to get shampoo, conditioner, baskets for their rooms, and other various items they did not bring with them. This was also the way to get Italian SIM cards so that we could have working cellular. I was determined to find some baskets (which I did find and I'm very excited about them. I got 4!), but also just to explore the town. We all had to figure out how to use the tram system, though once you figured it out it's quite easy. The tram is 1.70 euros for 90 minutes, and once you buy it, you stamp it on the tram and just start riding. At this point, the group split into at least three groups, and I and 5 other girls traveled into town. We had to use our maps to figure out how to find the shops Villa Aurora recommended. That was stressful at times. Part of the reason we were going into town was to get SIM cards for cellular service. So looking at a map was difficult unless you had wifi. We rode about 8 stops from Villa Aurora (which is at the end of the line) to the Valfonda stop (which is close to downtown Florence and the famous Duomo). The center was crowded, but we got to see a lot of cool little shops. I did get my Italian SIM card while I was in town (FYI, a new phone number coming soon). We headed back to campus after a few hours, exhausted and hungry.

We got back and went to dinner. I felt so tired after walking around all day, plus adjusting to the jet lag. It was a lot. I met some new friends in the evening who had arrived at some point during the day. My three closest friends are all roommates in the room next to mine: Aubrey, Natalie, and Emily. Also, the first of my two roommates came on Tuesday evening. Her name is Fabiola, and she is a film major from Mexico. We both are romantics and like to keep the room clean, so I think that we will be a good fit. She's super sweet. We are still waiting for our third roommate to come. We are expecting her next week. 

Wednesday started off with an orientation meeting. We met some of the faculty, including the deans, learned some of the rules of the school, and got an overload of information. We had the afternoon free, so I showed some of the newcomers the way around the city for the second day in a row. This time the group was a bit smaller and filled with different people. We explored a few new shops at the Dalmazia stop and then had to head downtown again to help a friend with her ESIM card dilemma. We got back in time to pack our breakfast for our trip the next day. After we had dinner, we went back to the dorm for an organized movie night. We watched Luca because the town in the movie is similar to the towns that we would be visiting the next day. The school also served some gelato/popsicles, so that was a selling point to get there. I forgot how cute that movie was, and it was so strange to think we would be visiting a town like that the next day. 

Thursday was the day of our first trip. There is so much to say about Le Cinque Terre that it will be its own post, but I will give some highlights until then. There were moments that I would stop and just say to Aubrey or Natalie "I cannot believe that we are here. We are in Italy!" Everything was beautiful and just...incredible. Le Cinque Terre means "the five lands (or towns)". It's a group of five coastal towns that are connected by a small train system. There are also hiking trails that go through the cliffs if you are up for an adventure (we did not do that). They have a lot of tourism in each of the towns, though more are more popular than others. Each small town has its own charm. For example, Monterosso is known for having the most "sandy" beaches for swimming. A trail outside of Manarola has a classic and beautiful view of the town. 

This was such a fun trip because we all got to explore on our own. Once we got on the train headed for the towns, we got to go at our own speed through each one. The freedom was a little intimidating at first, but my friends and I made a plan for the day, and that helped us have a little bit more fun. Seeing each town for the first time and doing something a little different in each helped add a unique factor to each. And it was fun to see our fellow ACA students randomly in each town and ask what they had done. Plus the food was delicious. Throughout the day, I had a cappuccino, focaccia with pesto (pesto originated in this region of Italy, so we HAD to try it), and my first Italian gelato. I got mango and it was DELICIOUS! I honestly should have gotten more than a small cup. In the late afternoon, we started to head back to campus. everyone was exhausted. Most slept on the bus because of how tired they were. 

Today (Friday) has not been as busy as any of the others. I woke up at 5 a.m. to call some of my friends back at college. It was good to see their faces, hear their voices, and catch up with them a little. It is hard to talk with the time difference, but we all can make it work if we have to. The students who will be staying all year had a meeting to fill out forms requesting us to stay in the country for the school year. It's just something that has to be done, along with already having our student visas. After the meeting, I took a nap (Honestly. I was that tired), and started looking at planning some trips with my friends. It is overwhelming, but I'm excited to see the places where we end up. Each of us has connections to someone in some part of Europe, so we will see if any of those pan out into weekend trips. In the afternoon, I went and got gelato with a friend. I highly recommend fondente cioccolato (dark chocolate) gelato. It is rich and just so good. I rested in the afternoon and cleaned my room for Sabbath. My first vespers was very interesting. Our speaker spoke French, but no one understood that. So Antoinetta, the ACA director, translated the speaker into Italian, and then all the students had little one-way radio-like contraptions and we listened to another leader named Melissa translate the Italian into English for us. It felt very overwhelming to be hearing three languages all at one time. My head hurt by the end of the service. BUT, big bonus, there was cake after vespers. I know that it's just because it's opening ceremony weekend and it's special, but it was still nice to have. 

Tomorrow we have church, where the school will present all the ACA students to the church body, and a few other Opening Ceremony events. I am looking forward to resting, even if that is just sleeping for a long long time. 

I'm looking forward to seeing what church looks like here, and for next week when we start classes. I'm eager to learn the language and understand and communicate with people. (Sidenote: I will never take advantage of the fact that I can read signs in public. It is so hard to look around and not be able to understand what anything says. UGH!). My friends are also eager, and I hope that we encourage each other as we learn and that continuing conversations with each other helps us grow. I have also had to adjust to the use of military time. I think that will take a while to figure out, and it's important because all events and classes are communicated to us by a 24-hour clock. That hurts my brain on a regular basis.

Anyway, thank you for reading this. Leave any questions for me in the comments because I would love to answer them. 

Ciao,

Ellie