Since Italy

Sorry its been so long since anything was written in here, we definitely got tired of doing it and especially when the internet place near our house closed for almost a month, it was a real pain to do internet cheaply and easily. So now the program is over and I'm traveling with Luke in Eastern Europe. The program was sweet, and I saw a lot of really cool things, which I would like to write down but I'll be home soon enough to explain it all in person.

So now I'm with Luke and we've spent two days in Budapest, which was sweet. We saw a bunch, payed with their silly fake money, took a Turkish bath, it was a good time. Yesterday we got to Vienna, which managed to make me gasp with all the amazing buildings and art, more than anywhere else I've been this summer. We got to see the whole city at night, which we both agreed was for the best, because the whole town lights up and looks amazing. At around 1:30 we'll be heading for Prague and stay there for a few days and then head back to Roma for another two, and then its back home on the 10th.

So yeah, all's well, we haven't been robbed and nobody has tried to knife our guts so things seem to be working out great.

I might be able to do another post sometime in Italy again, but if not I'll see everyone soon.

Jordan

Florence etc.

So on Saturday we decided to go to Florence to see the sights and art and everything. However, we were really smart and also decided to stay out all night and get only about an hour of sleep prior to waking up at 5 in the morning. To say the least, we were incredibly tired. What was really funny though, is that a friend that was going with us, was so tired that he didn't make it on the train in time because he missed the bus stop for the train station, so we didn't end up seeing him until about 11:30, only 2 hours after we'd already been there. We also barely made it on the train as well, because most of the group forgot to validate their ticket, and Winter got on and the doors closed, which gave us all a heart attack, but he pried them open and we got on right as the train took off. The train ride was really nice, we had a compartment to ourselves, although we did have to pay an extra 7 euro each, considering it was an intercity train, which means its faster. We all slept a lot and woke up in Florence ready to go.

The first thing we did once we got there, other than eating an American breakfast at McDonald's, was find the Galleria dell'Academia, which houses an amazing amount of frescoes, sculptures, musical instruments from the Royal Florentine family, and also that David statue, but who really cares about that, right? Yeah, it was the real deal, and pretty incredible. All of the art was amazing and because we got there so early, we barely had to wait in line to get in. Next up we went down to the Duomo, which has the largest dome of its time, also the largest dome to ever be built without scaffolding, needless to say it was pretty impressive. We then met up with Tony, finally, and then head around town, seeing incredible artwork and sculpture everywhere. I'm a little disappointed we never went into the Ufizzi, which is Italy's most renowned art museum, but oh well, I'm pretty positive I'll be heading back before I come home.

We ended up staying in Florence for a good eight hours, although there was definitely more to see. Also, we took some amazing pictures from the weekend, which should be up shortly. After our trip back, we were all exhausted, but managed to meet up again for dinner later on that night, as well as turn in homework to our professor at around 10. After two really long days though, it was no surprise for me to wake up at 2:30 this afternoon

So, everything here is going relatively easy. Our professor from UO for July took off at the end of the month and we had a new one come in at the start of August. I moved up a level, but don't really like it, so I'll be heading back down tomorrow. A lot of stores are starting to close for the holidays, including the internet place right by our house, which I just bout 20 hours with, and won't open again until the 30th, which really sucks. I think we might start planning a trip to Greece some time soon, and maybe to another Italian turisty town, as well as start making plans for what to do after school is over. I'd like to head north or east, but also want to go to England, so we'll see what's easy.

That's about all so far, check in again for more excitement, as well as pictures to come from this weekend and more.

Jordan

Italian Project!

This is for Logan

You wanted mutants so here they are!







and the last one is a tricky one. may take a few seconds for you to get it but the joke is there.

Check it out!

check out our load of new pics on our flickr site! Our trip to Capri was pretty awesome. We took a tour around the island on a boat and stopped at a small cave that we had to go into with little three man boats. There are a couple of pics from that in the Flickr.

Umbria Jazz and the Third Week

Its been a little while since I've written something so this might be a little long.

So Umbria Jazz is now over and its really sad. This whole week has definitely been a lot quieter and easier to get through the streets, but its a sad reminder of how much fun the jazz festival was.

Oh well! we just ended the third week of class and its going pretty well. The mornings are still way too early and a little boring, but the afternoon classes make up for it. We didn't have class today, which was very nice, although it does mean we'll have to make up the hours. Bleh! Also, next week we have midterm written and oral exams as well as a term project all due within two or three days. It might be a little difficult but hey, it'll also be the easiest 12 language credits ever.

Winter, our friends Katrina and Phil, and I took a trip for class last weekend that was going to be to this little town that was hosting a huge festival, but the trains weren't running when we wanted to go so we ended up going to this other town close to the lake. It was a total disaster though because no one was there and the lake was definitely not in walking distance, so it just ended up being a nice, hot hike around a city with no one around. But we did eat McDonalds!!! What a real Italian cultural experience that was.

Good news though! We're going on vacation!!!! Napoli, Pompei, and Capri this weekend. Apparently Napoli has had a long garbage strike for the last month or even more, so that oughta be exciting. Capri and Pompei are going to be incredible though, I'm pretty excited. The one bummer about the trip is that we have to wake up and get to the University at 6 AM. But, there's a nice five hour bus ride to get to Napoli, and I think I know how to sleep on a bus.

I'm kind of astounded at how much better Italian is going and how much I'm actually able to comprehend and speak, with practically no hesitation. Its pretty amazing how in almost a month I can speak to new people and carry on a real conversation rather than just "My name is..." "I'm from..." "I like...". Also, one of the coolest things about learning Italian so far was when we signed up for our trip this weekend, the travel agent spoke entirely in Italian and all three of us left the office saying, "Was it me or did you understand every word that guy said?"

Alright, now that that dissertation is over, I'm gonna go make some brunch. Pictures and video will be up soon from Umbria Jazz as well as Magione and our trip this weekend.

Jordan

Phone update

I'm really sorry, all this phone confusion has been my doing.

Our number is (328)577-9656 however I'm unsure whether the country code for Italy is 039 or just 39. I do know Perugia is 075. Later tonight Winter or I will try to talk to people on Skype and then test the numbers and then we can finally get all of this sorted out.

Sorry gang, hang in there!

J-Dub Double Feature

I don't know why our phone isn't working yet. I guess we just don't know the right number for people to call. I think Im going to buy Skype minutes and try to use those.

All in all everything is going great here. Jazz festival is really awesome and we should probably have some more video of people up soon so keep checking in. Until then enjoy this video!

The Phone is Good to Go!!!!!!!!!!

We can now send and receive calls!!!

Our number is 039 (Italy's country code) 075 (Perugia's city code) (338) 577-9656. If that doesn't work let us know.

What might work best is if we call and hang up and y'all call us back. Remember the 9 hour difference for you west coasters and 6 for the easterners.

Maybe we can finally talk sometime this week, but whos knows, Umbria Jazz is pretty amazing.

Ci vediamo,
Jordan

Some Video of Funk Off Last Night

La Finesettimana e la Comincia d'Umbria Jazz Fest

So the first week of class is over and it looks like things are going to go pretty well. We have class together and also with quite a few kids from the UO program, which is pretty sweet. On Monday and Tuesday we have class only from 8-11 and then the rest of the day off, Wednesday is 8-11 a one hour meeting with the resident director from the program, then 5-7, Thursday is the worst day with 8-11 and 3-7, and then finally on Friday we only have 10-12, which is a nice break after Thursday. So far it seems like the afternoons are going to be much better, our teacher then is really cool and teaches really well. However, our morning teacher leaves a little to be desired, it's as if she just talks and talks and talks, but doesn't seem to say a whole lot. Right now we're primarily reviewing, so maybe things will change once we get into newer stuff.

The Umbria Jazz Fest started last night and this place has exploded. Perugia doesn't stop partying every night until late, but now that the the Jazz Fest started its ridiculous. The main street in town, Corso Vannucci, which is already a busy and crowded street, was swarming with people well past 4 last night. Its pretty awesome. Pictures and video soon to come.

In other news, Winter and I bought a phone finally and we'll put the number on here soon. The deal is, we can receive calls for free, and have 200 free minutes and texts to other people in town with the same plan, but its € o.12 a minute to call people in town without our plan and € 0.35 a minute to call home. Soooo...if poeple at home get a phone card and call us it'll be much cheaper for everyone. Also, we can call home and hang up and then you guys can return the call and it'll be free for us.

Thats about all the news so far, I'm sure there'll be plenty more to report soon.

Ciao!
Jordan Illingworth Merryweather XIV

More pictures

finally got my laptop hooked up so more pictures will be up soon! enjoy!


winter

Gelato!

Per Kitty Meow Meow Meow

Apartment tour video!

and a pic of my awesome diary!

Vino for dinner?

oh and by the way a bottle of wine costs like one euro so i think it might be close to Drinking Time since no class tomorrow. pictures to come of our sweet ass diaries.

winter

No classe oggi...allora, facciamo la spesa

So this morning we got up early at 6:45, which I haven't had to do since maybe before highschool, and trekked down the hill to get to class on time. Although once we met up with some more people, we soon realized it wasn't going to take nearly as much time to get to class, so we can maybe sleep in a little longer next time.

Once we did get down the hill, we waited outside the building and watched everyone from our class level make it down as well. We waited a little while and then learned after trying to communicate with a woman with maybe 3000 keys, that our building was going to be closed for the day and that we wouldn't be having class that day, a key piece of info our Resident Director failed to impart upon us. It turns out that the placement test we took in the States before arriving was being administered this morning and we wouldn't have class until Wednesday, now that everyone is getting placed in their classes.

Sooooo....now that we didn't have to go to class and the grocery marts were finally open, we decided to head to the Coop right by our house and do a little food shopping; call us crazy but we might try and save a little cash on this trip after all. The store opens at 9 and I think half of Perugia decided that was the best time to go, because this place was packed. Also, it was nothing like the size of a market at home, which made it that much more "friendly". Winter and I bought a little there and decided to bail, and then go to another little market even closer to home to finish up buying all of our necessities. We got some great ingredients and will be cooking like kings in no time.

Earlier on we did a little school shopping as well and bought some sweet little diary books for the assignments we have to do for the UO staff. Now I think we may just try to occupy our time the rest of the day, maybe do a little phone shopping so we can actually talk to people at home, and then cook up a feast later tonight, and enjoy the Perugia night, now that we don't have school tomorrow morning.

Until next time,
JCon

our apartment rules

so we ended up getting our apartment last night and we were pleasently surprised to find out that it was huge and had a good kitchen and a frig and everything. so that was awesome. we live right next to the centro of perugia and all the markets and food stores are really close by as well as the place where we actually have classes. we settled in last night and made some pasta and watched formula 1 racing in italian. not a bad first night.

our other two room mates moved in today and apparently we are now the "veterans" of the group according to our teacher which was pretty cool to hear. we have been leading people all over the city today and showing them where their apartments and all the shops are.

internet is also right across the street from our doorway. awesome. like literally right across the street and keep in mind the streets are like 10 feet wide. so that was pretty cool.

another cool thing is that as we were leaving our apartment today the girl that had just moved out a day before came up the stairs with her mom and asked if we could let her in so she could show her mom where she lived for a month. she was really nice and told us about some cool places we could go in the city. it was kind of a cool coincidence. nothing much else to report on this end. i may have a found an internet place with WiFi so i can take my laptop there and upload all of our pictures so far. word. talk to you all later.

Winter Kruger Kirschbaum Milner XII

More lost videos!

this was from our first morning after actually sleeping. YAY!

a few more pics are up and hopefully i will be able to take my laptop down to a smaller internet cafe that i found so i can hook it up and upload all the pics we have taken so far.

Siamo in Perugia

We finally made it here!!! We got to Perugia at around 11 or so this morning and got in contact with our professoressa and have just been cruising the town since. It's so amazing, beautiful sights and tiny little streets with wild Italian drivers that will run you down if you're not careful. There's a huge street called Corso Vanucci named after Perugia's most famous artist and its the one level street in the whole town, and because of this its where everyone comes to meet and greet, called "La Passegiata". It's pretty awesome.

We just wanted to check in and let everyone at home know we're here and safe, but now its pizza time.

Allora....we'll write again soon.

Jordan Allabaster Baxter IV

Updates!

Ok so first of all I have a video from our train ride from the airport to the train station.



this was the first day we were in Italy.

some other cool pics are on our flick site which is just to the right of this post there is a link.






and we finally made it to perugia. got a place to stay for the night and we get our apartment tomorrow night at 7. everything is awesome and i'll update some more tomorrow. just letting everyone know we are all right.

winter

Ciao a tutti!

Hey everybody! we are sitting in an internet cafè just down the street from the Basilica de San Francesco in the town of Assisi in Umbria.

We got to Rome yesterday and rested at the train station. got some food and were harassed by old men wanting to get us an overpriced hotel room. we had already been up for almost 40 hours with about 2-4 hours of really crappy sleep on the plane rides over so we decided to buy a train ticket into Umbria and make the trip another 3 hours longer.

got into Assisi and immediately got a hotel room at the Hotel Moderno. Italian was a little rough but we got through it. We went upstairs, took showers, and passed out until about 6 30 this morning, Italian time. This morning we got up and had breakfast, which was included in the price of the room, and walked about a mile or so to the north side of Assisi. So here we are. Its a little hard to upload pictures and video on this computer so we will upload the rest of our pictures and videos a little later. Leave us comments! Talk to you guys later.


Inverno Aprello II

Magical Twin Prop Flying Machine

Even though the props were moving pretty slow we still made it to PDX in 25 minutes! Take that I-5!

Winter James Archibald III Junior

Sitting in the Ol' Airport

nothing better than not having slept since 11 o'clock yesterday morning and sitting close to some random christian lady rambling on to complete strangers about her faith and their walk with the lord. good stuff. see you in portland.


WiGi

PS sorry this video sucks but it was streamed across crappy internet when we recorded it. poo.

Zero Hour

We've reached the point where its almost departure time, and its anxious city here in ol' apartment 14. We're both really excited but too nervous and anxious too really feel awesome. We've packed and re-packed over and over, read and re-read, I just wanna be there already. Just a few more hours and its go time. One cigar down, who knows how many more to go...

P.S. I had to get a new backpack, but it rules so much harder than the other one, and fits way more stuff, so I'm pretty glad I got it.

Rome here we come!

Love,
Jordan C.

Backpacks!

Just went and picked up Jordan's backpack! Now we have to go test pack them to make sure we can bring as much as we need. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to take my laptop and my camera. I think that I will probably just carry my camera bag with me for the first couple of days. Should be fine.

Keep checking in!

Winter

Breakfast and Backbacks!

Well, we leave in a few days and my shiny red backpack came in last Friday, so now that its 1:30 in the afternoon and just about breakfast time, I guess we better head to REI and get some gear, after eating a scrumptious meal of course. Just a few more days and it'll be Rome time, I'm stoked, and I never say stoked.

This is Jordan C. Conger Esq. signing off, til next time our intrepid readers!

This is a test...

So this is going to be our blog to let everyone know how we are doing over in ol' Italia. We will try to update it as much as possible with pictures, video and witty banter. Hope you guys are ready. I know we are.

Winter Archibald Gibbs III, signing off.