{"id":6618,"date":"2022-02-25T13:50:58","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T18:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/?p=6618"},"modified":"2022-02-25T13:50:58","modified_gmt":"2022-02-25T18:50:58","slug":"ciao-italia-two-weeks-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/?p=6618","title":{"rendered":"Ciao, Italia: Two Weeks In"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Kristi Rolf<\/span><\/p>\n

Last month I wrote about my preparations for my semester abroad in Perugia, Italy. Now I\u2019m finally at the Umbra Institute and ready to update Brackety-Ack readers on how this Maroon is spending her semester!<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite my limited travel experience, I managed to navigate through three airports and made it to Perugia on February 4<\/span>th<\/span>. On Saturday I moved into my apartment in the <\/span>centro storico<\/span><\/i> (historic center). Opening the shutters of my apartment windows to reveal the view of the bustling street below was surreal. I couldn\u2019t shake the feeling that I had been transported into a movie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On Sunday we participated in a quintessentially Italian orientation activity: a trip to the Umbrian countryside for an <\/span>agriturismo<\/span><\/i> lunch (a similar concept to farm-to-table dining in the U.S.). After four hours and four courses, I can safely say it was the best and longest meal of my entire life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The following weeks have been a whirlwind of exploring Perugia, learning the rhythms of Italian life, and adjusting to classes. Amidst all the excitement of living in another country, it\u2019s easy to forget that I\u2019m here to study. Luckily, the Umbra Institute only holds classes four days a week to give students time to travel and make the most of our three months in Italy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I am in love with the availability of public transportation here, something that\u2019s rare in suburban America where I grew up. So far, my favorite way to travel is a uniquely Perugian system called the Minimetr<\/span>\u00f2. These tiny train cars carry passengers up and down a rail line that extends from the historic center of Perugia to the modern outskirts of the city. The <\/span>Minimetr<\/span>\u00f2 is the best way to get to soccer games, the outdoor market on Saturdays, and the large supermarket at the final stop.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are many moments where I feel like I\u2019m living someone else\u2019s life. Every single day I see something, a building, a view, or maybe a tiny shop that stops me in my tracks because it\u2019s so beautiful or fascinating. But I\u2019ve had plenty of unglamorous moments, too. Homesickness was in full effect during the first two weeks, making me miss my friends and routines at Roanoke College in particular. On top of that, my clumsy attempts at communicating in a foreign language are always humbling.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m still learning what I can and can\u2019t find in the grocery stores, haven\u2019t yet memorized what recycling goes in which bin, and am making slow progress in using the Italian language in public. Nine more weeks in Italy means countless more challenges like these but I\u2019m getting more comfortable with being uncomfortable and am excited for many more memories and gorgeous views.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Kristi Rolf Last month I wrote about my preparations for my semester abroad in Perugia, Italy. Now I\u2019m finally at the Umbra Institute and ready to update Brackety-Ack readers on how this Maroon is spending her semester! Despite my limited travel experience, I managed to navigate through three airports and made it to Perugia…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6619,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,6],"tags":[23],"class_list":["post-6618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-wellness","category-lifestyle","tag-summer2019"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}