Residence di Ercole

Va bene. So yesterday I checked into my apartment building which is actually quite nice. My apartment has two rooms with two beds each plus a bathroom and kitchen and living room. The girls I live with, Ashley, Charlotte, and Giulianna, all go to UCSB and are so friendly and nice. I feel quite comfortable with them as well as many of the other UC students.

We've been exploring the city both on our own and with the study center leaders. Peggy, the head lady, is just so sweet and she speaks to us slowly so we can actually understand! La città is molto bella and the food is delicioso. Last night we had a UC welcome dinner which lasted for 3 hours! Food just kept on coming. Plus wine was provided--which was just so weird!

Today we filed for our residence permits, learned about housing, and we're going out on our own to buy cell phones. Housing I'm pretty sure will prove challenging, but I'll manage. The architecture of the city is amazing with archways everywhere. I'm excited to go out and meet some people! I realize this post is completely scattered but I don't have wireless and so I'm using the computer at the study center and there's people waiting. Anyways, so I'm doing really well. These first few days are mostly for us to orient ourselves with the city and to mingle with each other and such. So it's still pretty relaxed before the crazy apartment search gets started!

I still can't believe I'm here but I'm so glad. It's just so different and beautiful. I'm so excited to meet people and travel and start classes and get settled!

Using skype might be difficult because I won't get WiFi at my apartment, but I'll see what I can do. Talk to you soon!