Ciao Tutti!!

Ah! In Italy. The journey was an interesting experience, but I made it!
Some deets of the trip and the week following:
Flights in the US were uneventful.

   On the flight from St. Louis to Frankfurt I was politely asked by a man (who barely spoke English) to switch so he could sit next to his girlfriend for the 8 hour flight. Of course I said yes.. However, that meant that I sat in the aisle seat. (I was originally in a window seat where I could have leaned and slept for the entire flight) I moved next to a German couple that did not speak a lick English. Sidenote: Props to US Airways - I had the choice of about 10 movies, 5 TV shows and music to start and stop as I wanted. It was perfect. When I got tired I'd pause my movie for a while. Well done.

   THHHEN... Frankfurt. My flight got in in plenty of time to get to my next gate for Bologna. However, not knowing more than 5 words in German I went to the wrong terminal and THROUGH security. For some reason I set off the alarm and was then taken to the side, then frisked. The woman was German.
She had no filter whatsoever and not the best English. Cool. After frisking me;

"Are you an athlete?" said the woman.
"Yes," I said. 
"What do you do?"
"I run and play a few sports."
"I can tell. You have very strong legs. Like man."
I was speechless....

   That's not all - Another woman pulled me aside to inspect my laptop. Whatever it wasn't a big deal other than the fact that I was in the WRONG terminal! I was given directions to the correct terminal and hurried along because I 'didn't have much time'. I walked as fast as I could and got through security no problem. Of course it was 100% unnecessary of me to hurry. I had 2 hours until my flight departed.

A HUGE gathering of people near a hotel on one of the main
roads caught our attention. It was the INTER soccer team
leaving the hotel to go to the BOLOGNA- INTER soccer game.
The first of the season.

Getting a taxi was easy and the female driver was very helpful (I spoke only in Italian. Yay!)

I got to the hotel - got to my room and just took it all in for a few minutes. Then walked around a HUGE market of clothes and random things nearby.

Being by myself was not much fun ... so being myself i walked by a room in my hall and heard a girl speaking English. Hoping she was in my program I slipped a note under her door. It was a success! Maried came to my room and invited me to walk around with a few other girls from our program.

Monday - Nothing too exciting. Met everyone in the program. Hung out - I've had some AMAZING meals and AMAZING gelato.

Tuesday- Friday... a BLURRRR. We had a few meetings and stuff for the program, but apartment hunting has taken over. The first call was definitely the most difficult to make, but after the first the calls just kept happening! I saw 20 apartments in 3 days. Some GREAT - others HORRIBLE. At this point I just want a place to live that I feel comfortable!

Saturday - Totally free day. Well other than the viewing of an apartment this morning. I realllly liked it! Cross you fingers. Then I went to the Giardini Margherita with Alex (from LA) and Tati (from Brazil). Before making the 30min hike to the park we bought some fruit and fresh mozzarella at a quaint market nearby. It was perfect. The break from the apartment search was definitely needed for all.

BAD DAY for this bird :(

Delicious picnic in the park! 

One of the neat buildings in the center of
Piazza Maggiore.

Hope everything is great back in the US for EVERYONE! Love, Julia