My new home

Ciao!!!

I am learning so much italian already!!! There is so much to say about Perugia already.  I have quickly fallen in love with the city.  It is up on a large hill and overlooks the rest of the city.  The students live in Perugia center on top of the hill which is more of a mini mountain.  The city is surrounded with walls so you can't really get out haha.  It is so beautiful and historic.  I posted the pictures on facebook if you guys want to see what the architecture is like...definitely medieval.

My apartment is 30 seconds from the Umbra Institute.  It is literally two doors down.  I love it.  It is smaller than a lot of the other ones that I have seen so far but it is very cute.  My roommates are awesome.  I have four.  My actual roommate is from UMASS Amherst and we get along really well.  We all went out last night and had a lot of fun at a local cafe (bar).  So far no culture shock and I don't think I will have one.  I already feel like this is home it is just big enough for me and I am so happy I chose to study here.  There are hardly any tourists so we have been immediately immersed in italian language and culture.  I am getting used to the Euros.  Right now I am working on my permit to stay which will end up being very expensive...about 160 American dollars.

I have talked to a lot of Italians already...or at least tried to converse.  They are so helpful and friendly and not as creepy as I thought they would be, but don't get me wrong I wouldn't ever walk alone.  Perugia doesn't have a lot of crime like more touristy places like Florence and Rome, but we are always conscientious of our surroundings.

I have discovered many things about Italians right away:
1.  They love women.  LOVEEE them.  They are very touchy and get all up in your business really fast but they are usually harmless.  They are used to Italian ladies which ignore them so we just ignore them as well, well usually.
2.  They hate the American government but they like Obama...(came to the conclusion about this after two Italian men said this to me at the bar last night).  Although some have dreamed of coming to America it is not a very well liked country at all BUT they are very open to us trying to learn their culture and language.  Since we have been trying to use their language they have been very helpful and nice to us but they can tell right away we are americanos.
3.  They can close their stores whenever they want.  It is absurd, but I wish this was so in America. We never know when we should eat.

Perugia center is a college town.  It is made up of mostly students living there either to study italian, etc.  The locals love us and cater towards us.  It is a lot bigger city than I thought it would be, but I have much to see.  I am looking forward to riding the mini metro, a transportation system in the sky, that was just finished 2 years ago.  It is amazing that all of these places are built into an old medieval city.  It looks old and ancient but it is charming and updated in it's doors.  The Christmas lights are still up as well and white lights hang throughout it.  There is also a random ferris wheel and merry-go-round left over from the Winter festival I suppose.

You will be glad to know that I feel very safe in my apartment and that in certain places we have internet off and on.  I bought an Italian phone to talk to friends in Italy and for emergencies but skype and aim and facebook have been free and easy to access.  Whenever I am on (sarej135) skype me and I will most likely answer because I am in range of internet and can chat with you!

We made our first dinner last night.  Pasta and this really good sauce and off course wine.  Red and white.  It really can be cheaper than water.  Fortunately we can drink the water here so I have been trying to not waste money on that.  It is more expensive here but mostly because we are in a city.  We are going to check out the equivalent of a target like store when we take the train this week.

Buona notte or Buona cerra! I have intense Italian this week and next week my other electives start. Love you all!!!!