Airports and Introductions

I am not sure how exactly but I managed to fit 3 months worth of stuff in 2 suitcases!  Clothes, Bedding, Toiletries, School Books& Supplies, everything… 

I flew out of Newark Thursday night, was in London early Friday morning (1am-4am NJ/PA time vs. 6am-9am UK time),  and made it into Venice a few hours later (6:30am NJ/PA time vs. 12:30pm Italy time).  The airports were surprisingly easy to navigate, but flight delays, security checks, and crying babies made it a very long night. 

It turned out that there were five of us SBI students on the same flight from London to Venice; of course we had no idea until we met on bus back to campus lol.   We ate lunch (Amazing) and spent the rest of the day unpacking, and exploring the neighborhood a little.  The boys were volunteered to be the bellhops and kindly carried all the luggage the correct rooms (a great feat considering the boy to girl ratio and the all the stairs they had to climb repeatedly).  There are 20 students here for the semester (13 girls and 7 boys) each of whom brought 2-3 large suitcases.  Thank you boys.  Do not ask me everyone’s names yet.  I hope to know them by the end of the week.  They are an interesting bunch of people for sure, all sorts of interests and personalities.  I found out that most of them already know 3 or 4 other students here this semester because they go to the same colleges back home so it feels like a gathering of already formed communities rather than a group of people striving to build a new one.  I hope that changes.  It is a little strange to be a complete stranger amidst all the groups (there is only one other person who came in knowing no one).

There are 3-5 people staying in each room.  I have 3 roommates and we have what they call “the princess palace”  aka: the room atop the rather long spiral staircase (three stories high).  If you run all the way down you get kind of dizzy.  It is fun.  I just hope no one sprains their ankle.  It would stink to use crutches on these stairs.   The other rooms are down hallways that branch off of the staircase.  Ours is the biggest room on campus (we can literally do cartwheels in three different directions without hitting any of our furniture).  It has a beautiful view of the neighbor’s vineyard and of one of the town soccer fields against a pristine backdrop of the snowcapped Alps.

Today (Saturday) is our first full day in Italy.  Everyone is definitely feeling the jet lag.  The espresso at breakfast helped a little lol.  No one but me had ever had espresso before so they all took a whole mug full thinking it was normal coffee like they would get in the states and boy were they surprised. They did not expect it to be that strong but most of them they drank it all.  They were so jittery but so tired.  It was interesting to watch.  The staff had a  good laugh over it.  

During orientation we got our schedules.  It looks like we have some awesome weeks ahead of us J  After lunch we walked around the corner to the fountain to get drinking water for the next few days.  Than this afternoon we got our dollars exchanged for euros and took a train into town.  The architecture is amazing!  I love the bright colors, stone buildings, and cobblestone streets.  I cannot wait to see more.

In patient expectation, Stacy