First Post!

Well Nico set this up, but I beat him to the first post!!

Our trip here went as well as could be expected. Everything was on time and as far as I know, no one lost their luggage! We were all extremely tired and in need of a shower when we arrived but quite excited. We unloaded our stuff and settled into our rooms. We had a tour of the campus and some uninteresting meetings and then a convocation mass with our chaplain Msgr. Fucinaro, who works at the Vatican as a lawyer in Canon Law. Then we had a very nice dinner in the Mensa (which means table in Italian, but is also what we call the cafeteria) complete with wine, and went to bed. The next day we went Rome to get a short walking tour of Rome given by the professors and RAs. Each tour was different but we all saw some of the more famous landmarks in Rome like the Victor Emmanuel monument, the Pantheon, and the Forum. We also learned how to cross an Italian street, which requires a lot of faith in the driver's skill. You basically have to look for a little break in the traffic and just go for it. But there are two schools of thought on whether you should look the driver in the eye to let them know you're there or whether doing so is a sign of weakness on your part. My guide said meeting the driver's eyes helps them know you're there and it is then understood that they will stop for you or else go around you. The last stop of everyone's tour was St. Peter's. We celebrated a Latin Mass with Msgr. Fucinaro and then returned to campus. It was awesome to see some of the famous statues in St. Peter's like the Baldachino by Bernini and the Pieta by Michelangelo.
On Friday we had hours and hours of meetings to familiarize us with the student life on this campus and to go over rules etc. Then after dinner me and my roommates left for Rome and an adventure, as we had never traveled to Rome without help. We got there just fine and navigated the confusing streets to the Piazza Navona where the fountain of the four waters is located. We went to a restaurant there where we were helped by a really nice waiter who let us speak Italian to him even though he knew english. Then we made our way back in the rain and after getting lost in a little town near campus, we managed to get back with help from some patient pizzaria workers.

I won't tell you every little detail of everyday from now on, but I though it would be fun to know about the first few. It's quite rainy here and I'm sorry mom, but you were right. My shoes, will definitely not be white, and judging by how much walking we've done already, they'll be ready to retire by the time I get home. We've been having a good time with the children of the prefessors that live on campus. Today we had a tea party with Hannah who's about 6 and her little sister. They are such fun little girls and their a treat to have around. I know Nico's trying to get some videos up so you can see us in action, but they take quite a long time to load and since the internet here isn't amazing, it may take awhile.

There's much more to say, but I'll leave it for later. We're having a great time and are anxious and excited for classes to start tomorrow.

I'll post again soon,

Love,
Ange

Departure

The following videos chronicle the various stages of our journey to campus from Minnesota (at 5:00 a.m.) to Dui Santi (at 10:00 ish a.m. on the following day). There is more to come, but video takes forever to upload. Enjoy: