Arrivederci, Roma!

So I ended up getting 15 minutes of sleep (yay!) and getting all my packing done way in advance of our 9am departure time. Around 7:30 I headed back over to the Vatican for the last time (everything was still closed...) and sent out my first batch of postcards (should be arriving soon - keep checking your mailboxes!) because I had already purchased Vatican postage (1.60 euro to send a postcard???) and had to send it from there. But it was still too early to even get breakfast or anything, so I headed back to the hotel for the final time.

We ended up getting to Perugia at 12:48pm; I got some much needed rest during the two and a half hour bus ride. [Note of advice: when traveling, make sure beforehand that you are fully capable of handling your luggage. I fail at transporting my stuff anywhereee.] From the bus station, we took cabs (love it when transportation is paid for) to the hotel we'll be staying at, Hotel Priori. Elgin Eckert, our academic alliance at the Umbra Institute was in our cab, and she's SUCH a cool person. She's originally from Germany but then went to grad school at Harvard and was a TF for Professoressa DiFabio, and now she works here as Associate Director for Academic Programming at the Umbra Institute, which is this awesome place that basically is the academic base for a bunch of study abroad programs in Perugia. 

We soon found out that in addition to being really cool, Elgin is kind of a force of nature. When we arrived at Hotel Priori, we divided ourselves into groups for rooms, but when Luciana, Rachel, Hannah and I walked into our "quad" we barely fit. There were bunk beds basically right next to another two beds pushed together, a tiny bathroom, and not quite enough oxygen to go around. Elgin literally said, "You're not staying in this hellhole" as she was walking out the door, and within 5 minutes we were dragging our luggage down the hall to another room. This time it was two adjoining doubles. Slightly more breathing room, but still no air, darker, and sketchier. But whatever, we'd get by. Luciana had just started unpacking her stuff when I pulled back the covers on my bed to find not 1, not 2, but *3* insects (all different varieties, I may add. At least they keep things interesting) crawling around having a grand old time on my pillow. Now, running on 15 minutes of sleep, a day of dragging heavy suitcases around (though at least they made it to the destination this time) while my cold has been dragging me around, and the whole being-in-a-foreign-country thing all combined to make me not so happy with that situation. Fortunately, a half second chat with our TF, Paola, and Elgin meant a transfer to another room, and this one is lovely. I'm rooming with Rachel, who is soo sweet, plus we're both super language-y people (she's also studied Italian, Spanish and French!) so it should be tons of fun. Our room is on the first floor (#151, nice and easy to remember since that's my address at home!) overlooking the breakfast terrace and the generally stunning landscape of Perugia :D

Elgin took us on a "practical walking tour" in the afternoon - supermarket (called the Coop. We can never quite escape Harvard...), pharmacy, cheap places to eat, church, school supply stores, etc. Useful stuff, but I was tired, so I probably won't remember and will end up getting lost. Oh well. Later in the evening we went out to dinner with the faculty of the Umbra Institute at La Cambusa, a pizzeria right near the hotel (with great pizza). The entire faculty is American transplants to Italy, so their Italian is super easy to understand, and they're all really awesome people with such a passion for everything Italian. YAY.

Also, Perugia is GORGEOUS. *HOW* is this country so beautiful?! And this is just the perfect city for study abroad. It's a city with two universities, so it's a little bit of a college town and it's a lot smaller than Rome, so I don't feel nearly as stressed about getting around and seeing things and can really just enjoy being here. We got our course syllabus for the next 3 weeks at the Umbra Institute and I think it's going to be great: we have class twice a day, grammar/literature with the Harvard faculty from 10-1 and then a cultural lecture or outing from 3-4:45. Lots of Roman history and Renaissance art and Dante and Petrarch and the advanced section of the class will finally start meeting and there are no bugs in this room and YAY!

So all in all, a successful start to our stay in Perugia! SO excited for the next 3 weeks here!! :)

Day's Recap:
Days spent in Rome: 5ish
Days spent in Perugia: 1ish
Hours spent traveling: 2.5
Suitcases lost in transit: 0!
Bugs found in bed: 3
Hotel rooms moved out of within 10 minutes: 2
Excitement level: 329082309 :)

Baci (like the Perugina chocolates - had my first one today!),
Michelina