Update from Italy!

I cannot believe that I am already halfway through my study abroad experience . I have been in Alba, Italy for about a month and a half and have loved every minute of it! First, the housing! The school have 5 apartments around town where all of the students live. I am sharing my apartment with 4 other girls. We have a 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a nice roomy kitchen and laundry room. We also are located only about a 5 minute walk from the St. Mary’s Campus Center in Alba and only about 7 minutes from Via Maestra (the main street). It is very neat living in a town in Europe, and even cooler to have an apartment to call your own; no dorms, no communal bathrooms, just great friends and a nice apartment!!

Besides the cool living arrangements, we have the GREATEST meal plan ever! Monday through Friday we eat lunch at the community cafeteria. They always have fresh pasta, meat, fruits, vegetables, salads, pizzas, bread, dessert and more, and you can get whatever you are craving that day! For weekend lunch and dinner everyday of the week, we have vouchers for 6 restaurants in Alba. You get to order from the menu at each restaurant and the food is delicious!

There are 21 of us in Alba this semester, and we all feel like we have become part of the town and the culture. By setting us up to live in apartments and eat in the local restaurants, the college has done a fantastic job prepping us to experience the true life of the Italian in Alba.

Also, the school is taking us on so many great field trips around the Piedmont Region (Alba is one town in the region). They took us on a bus tour of a bunch of neighboring towns, all of which were perfectly picturesque. We have gotten to go to two different local wineries and a school that specializes in teaching students about the wine business, so we could have a behind the scenes look at their huge wine industry. We had the chance to visit the Ferrero Rocher Chocolate factory and attend a two day religious conference in the city of Cuneo.  We have trips lined up to visit cinema museums in turing, go to a film festival, visit famous churches, and attend a few concerts!

Don’t worry, I am taking classes, and also traveling a lot with my friends, but I will save that for my next post!

Ciao!