Italy -Week 1

We have started settling in already and starting to get into the swing of things!
Friday was our first day of classes. First, we did a silent walk around town which allowed us to observe and to really look and reflect on what we saw while on our walk.  Then, I had some free time to work on a writing assignment and pictures before lunch at 12:30. Lunch is at 12:30 and made by Margahrita every week day. For breakfast, dinner and meals on the weekend we are on our own. Later, we had our first Italian class which went pretty well for the first day. Our instructor's name is Antonio and he is a local here in Sansepolcro. After, we walked to Dr. Banko's house (she is an Alum, former professor at Meredith, and the one who instigated getting the study abroad program in Italy together originally). The fresh plums straight off the tree from their orchard were the best plums I've ever had! She also made us some snacks that were delicious!  (Pictures below!)

The Banko's orchard

Their beautiful house in the countryside! 

View from their house

The food is scrumptious here and I can't wait to try new foods! 

I heard about the fact that Italians always dress nice before coming, and I have found that to be true! Italians know how to dress no matter the occasion. I haven't seen anybody walking around in a t-shirt, sweatpants, and tennis shoes like I often see out in public in the US. 

We walked down to the Tiber River which goes all the way to Rome.

A local bakery that I will be visiting again!

Last night I went out to K Caffe with some other girls and we had some wine and bruschetta and chatted and it was a lot of fun! 

That's all I can think of for now!

Ciao!

Meg

¡Ciao Italia!

Well, we survived the trip to Italy!

I could not sleep on the 9 hour plane trip from Charlotte to Rome and then I barely kept awake during the 3 hour bus ride from Rome to Sansepolcro. Unfortunately, we couldn't just crash when we arrived at the Palazzo Alberti. We all waited to sleep in order to adjust to the time change. Italy is 6 hours ahead of NC. Sooooo... Basically I have been awake approximately 35 hours. Needless to say, I'm about to fall asleep typing this thing! haha

I luckily got a window seat and a native of Naples was sitting next to me. The rest of his family was in the aisle over. They were all super friendly! That is one of my favorite things about traveling is meeting new and interesting people! Oh and people watching in the airport of course.

Here are some pictures of my home away from home in Italy!

I will elaborate more in my next post!

Buonanotte Mondo!

Meg

Tomorrow is August 26th!

Wow! Has this summer flown by or what!? 

Tomorrow is August 26th, 2014... 

and also tomorrow is the day I start my journey to Italy!

I am very excited for the upcoming adventure I am going to share studying abroad with
 11 other lovely MCG's!

My goal is to post maybe once a week, but knowing me that probably won't happen...

I will try to update ya'll as often as I can and I will try to stay on top of pictures!

I haven't quite figured out all the capabilities of my camera and I am currently learning a thing or two about editing photos. 

If anybody has tips feel free to let me know!

While tomorrow may not be a significant day for some people, I know tomorrow will be the start of a life changing experience for me and now, after months of preparation, I'm ready! :)

Let the adventure begin!

-Meg

Ecuador!

I traveled to Ecuador May 18^th- June 2^nd with my friend, Mary Jessup, and we volunteered through an organization called A Broader View. In the midst of Quito, the capital city of Ecuador, there is a much needed facility named ABEI where Mary Jessup and I volunteered. Here, we worked in a daycare-like center for children with disabilities. We also had the opportunity to shadow an occupational therapist at ABEI, which was an excellent experience since both of us want to go into occupational therapy.

Ecuador remains vastly different from what we are accustomed to here in good ‘ole North Carolina. The food, the streets, the driving, the shops, the homes, the dress, and more vary from what we see daily in our culture. 

Here are just a few differences I noticed:
-Popcorn in their soup instead of crackers like we do (which was delicious!)
-Plain white rice with nearly everything
-Road rules are merely suggestions, and I will never drive there because I wouldn't survive.
-Lunch is the biggest meal of the day and always starts with some kind of delicious soup.
-Most things are much cheaper compared to the US
-A lot of families do not own a car; public transportation is mostly used
-The buses are dangerous and jammed pack full of people
-And at the markets you have to bargain so you don't get ripped off!
These are just some of the many differences I noticed between our cultures.


Since pictures are said to say 1,000 words, I figure I'll just add pictures to the rest of this post...enjoy!

The group of volunteers we worked with.

A gorgeous view of Quito, Ecuador in the background

I took this while on a cable car ride over this amazing scenery!

"Mitad del Mundo" (middle of the world) I was at the equator line!

"Virgen de Quito" 

We went to Spanish School for 4 hours every day for a week.

Here is the view from our host family's place

Volcán Cotopaxi

We hiked up the volcano!

Thanks for reading!
Meg

My First Post!

Hello Everybody!

Here is my first post for my travel blog! As most of you know, I will be leaving for Italy in 3 weeks to study abroad through Meredith! I am very excited, but also stressed out about all the things I need to get done between now and August 26^th! This summer has been my busiest yet! I’ve volunteered and traveled to Ecuador, taken the GRE, worked at MAP, started applying to graduate school, moved, babysat, worked on my senior thesis, and I'm currently preparing for the Psychology exit exam I’m going to take before I leave, packing and organizing stuff for Italy, studying Italian, and somehow on top of daily life managed to balance a social life. Overall, it’s been a good, productive summer.

When I created the blog, I intended to write while in Ecuador about my experiences as well…but that didn't turn out exactly how I expected. I will have to make a second post reporting my Ecuador trip with pictures soon! 

Meg