Que Bello, Perugia!

My first couple days in Perugia have been busy and amazing. I was pretty jet-lagged when I got here, having slept only 3 hours the night before en route to Rome, and losing my bags along the way didn't help anything. Well, I didn't lose my bags. The damn airline did. And I still don't have them, as of Monday afternoon (Jan 7). It hasn't been so bad thus far not having my luggage, but it is starting to get annoying at this point. I hope the bags get here by Friday!

On a happier note, Perugia is gorgeous. It's such an interesting mixture of antiquity and modernity. I read this in a pamphlet somewhere, and it is so true- Italians agree with Shakespeare and believe that "life is a stage." They take their clothing and how they appear to others very seriously. I knew they were fashionable people before I came, but geeze. They are also willing to pay a lot of money to look nice. Me, not so much.

Oh, and they know how to eat, and well. Everything here is fresh and oftentimes organic. It really does taste different and better. I can already tell I'm going to hate coming back to eat American food. This stuff is way too good! The best place we've eaten so far is at a little grocer called Parma. This place is known for its paninis, or sandwiches. They're really patient there and are willing to work with Umbra students who don't know much Italian (which is a very good thing!) Fresh smoked salmon, homemade ciabatta bread, pesto sauce, and asagio cheese made my first Parma experience quite memorable. Seriously the best sandwich I've ever had.

I'm going to post some pictures of the town so you can all see what I see when I walk around and get to and from class. My apartment is in a great location and is about a 5 -10 minute walk to all of the 3 school buildings. I got lucky, most people have a 15-20 min. walk to school and downtown. Plus, it's pretty fancy. We have a little terrace that overlooks a courtyard and nice, big rooms. The kitchen is tiny though! About the size of the bathroom downstairs in the basement at home. We'll get cozy cooking!!

I'm going to post this now to see if I know what I'm doing before going any further. The pictures don't seem to be going in the places I tell them to.