Saturday and Sunday: Travel
While traveling is nothing new to me, traveling across the ocean isn’t an easy task to do without my parents. My flight on Saturday left from Pittsburgh, PA around 1:30 pm, taking me to Detroit, MI, then to Paris, France, and finally my last destination: Naples, Italy. By the time I arrived in Italy, it was already noon on Sunday! An hour bus ride with some other girls from the University of Akron and some girls from Virginia Commonwealth University got us to our new home for the next five weeks: Sorrento, Italy. This city is right along the coast and is so beautiful, the pictures don’t do it justice. Once unpacked and settled, the other girls from Akron decided to meet up for dinner. Of course I did it right on the first night with some delicious pizza with buffalo mozzarella.
Monday: Orientation and Exploring
One of the hardest things to accept is the fact that even though I am in Italy, I still have school. On Monday we had orientation for school, a lunch by the water, and a walking tour of Sorrento. After the tour, Akron’s student leader, Emily, took us to an area on the water called Regina Giovanni. This place had such amazing views, and the water felt wonderful! How did I decide to get into the water? I jumped off a cliff! Being in a new country is definitely bringing out the wild side! After you jumped in, you could swim underneath a bridge that leads to a large cove surrounded by rocks and nature. I have seen a lot of things in my life, but never anything as beautiful. Being able to spend the day relaxing, having fun, and getting to know the other girls here was amazing. We even had some photo shoots, hence the pictures of me sitting on rocks and the fun picture of my new friend Victoria and I.
Tuesday: Classes and Exploring
Reality came back to me on Tuesday morning when I woke up and realized I had to go to class. While History of the Mafia is obviously not a boring class, it is three hours of straight lecture. But before I had to go sit in a hot room with no air conditioning, I decided to walk down the streets of Sorrento, soaking in the sun and looking for the post office to mail my postcards! Even the side streets here are beautiful.
Wednesday: Beach Day
Luckily, I have days off of class, so I slept in and enjoyed relaxation on Wednesday. My roommate, Erin, however, wasn’t lucky enough to be off. So while she was at class, I read a book out on our balcony. Once she was done, we and some other friends of ours from Virginia went to a beach to swim and got some sun. Erin and I took pictures with my Akron flag that I brought because who doesn’t love the Zips?
We also had our friend Kia take pictures of Erin, me, Victoria, and Thea while we swam.
Thursday: Class and Gelato
Yet another day spent in class. The hardest part of it is that we have such beautiful views out of our window! How are we supposed to focus with a scenic picture like that right there?
Later on after class, Erin and I, along with our friends Victoria and Stephanie, went out for gelato! Here’s a picture of my delicious Tiramisu and Dark Chocolate flavors with Stephanie:
Friday: Class and Homework
Friday was very uneventful, if you can consider living in Italy uneventful. I had Archaeology class in the morning, then sat around and did homework for most of my afternoon. Of course, I also got a good nap in as well. The sunset from our terrace is so beautiful, I had to make sure I got a picture of it on Friday!
Saturday: Island of Capri
Saturday was spent as a trip to the Island of Capri where all the rich Europeans and celebrities are rumored to vacation. We took a boat tour around the island to start the day and everything was so beautiful! Anything on and off the island took my breath away!
Sunday: Relaxing and Potluck
Sunday is definitely for family here in Italy. Since all of our families are so far away, the students decided to get together and have a potluck dinner together.