I Made It!

WOW, I finally made it here! Long day of travel for us. The flight from Chicago to Rome was greaaaat. There were only a few people from SMU on the flight, one of them being Evan White who was actually sitting right behind me. We were on a 767 (2-3-2) and I was on the isle seat of one of the sides, and whoever was supposed to be sitting next to me didn't show up so I had the whole section to myself. GLORIOUS. I could lay against the window and spread my feet across both seats since they're Regan-sized (read: short). Sad news though because it wasn't one of the newer planes with the personal TVs in every seatback so no TV for me. Instead I read a bunch of magazines and did some iPod'age before popping the TylenolPM and crashing. Once we got to Rome, it took FOREVER to get through the cattle call that was customs. Ridiculous. Then getting luggage was even more of a joy. Americans are crazy about their luggage. If it's not there within 5 minutes, hell breaks loose. Literally.

After we got our bags, we got on a bus and rode it for 2 hours to get up to Orvieto which is northwest of Rome. It was a religious holiday in town for Corpus Christi de Domini (or something like that...my Italian is brutal) so they had a "parade" through the streets. And here is my first Italian discovery: Parade in Italy is no parade in America. They all looked like they were going to a funeral. And they were celebrating a miracle of God. Go figure.

We walked around the town to get to know the town, then ate some lunch. Pizza was fantastic -- so fresh. It's like Olivella's times a gillion. LEGIT. (Or for you Lubbock people, it's like Stella's times a gillion.) Then we napped. Obviously. We were exhausted. That night we took another little tour over to the Duomo (church) and saw some incredible views around the edges of the city. Orvieto is a small town that sits on top of a hill (not a Lubbock hill, a REAL hill) with a huge wall guarding it all the way around. The surrounding landscape is just like you'd think of Italy - beautiful green slopes, plots of farm land for olives, grapes, and other food, even a castle out in the middle.

Today we went on a few other tours and saw some great sites in the city, and just explored the town a bit more. I have some great pictures I'll post soon. Hill, Nicole and I found this amazing coffee shop with free internet (hence, me posting) that we're making our study home for the rest of the trip. We had our first class today. YIKES. I'm taking Post-WW2 European Cinema and the readings are a bit much. But most of the group is taking it, too so we can suffer together. We take the class in a dungeon-like room in the basement of our hotel that we stay at. It's kinda cool though.

We leave for Pompeii in a couple of days where we begin our Art History class that everyone takes (basically, just the site-seeing class). Then it's back to Orvieto for the rest of the trip. We have free days throughout the trip too and so far Hill, Nicole, and I have planned one for Florence, Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre, and Capri.

We're having an amazing time already and the weather is absolutely beautiful here. Sunny and clear both days, so far! I'll update as much as I can to let you know what I'm up to. Please email me anytime you want! I want to hear about everyone's summer, too. Hope everyone is doing well -- We'll talk soon.

Peace out,

Regs.