Il nostro primo giorno

Our first day at the Palazzo Alberti has come to a close and everyone seems to be adjusting nicely to life in Sansepolcro. Clearly we are still a bit jet-lagged and thus more tired than usual, but aside from that the inhabitants of our beautifully restored home are all doing quite well!

We began the morning with an informal breakfast - some turning up on the earlier end while others had to drag themselves from bed for nourishment. After that it was time for orientation with Dr. Webb, who talked the students through some logistical details of life in the palazzo and in Sansepolcro as well. Her husband, John Rose, and I chipped in with our two cents as needed :) Next we had a bit of technology orientation that didn't go quite as planned, but everyone in the group was a good sport and the delicious pranzo (lunch) that followed was the perfect distraction to our frustration with the misbehaving printer.

As pranzo came to a close, a glance around the dining area led to a decision for some downtime. So from 1:30 to 4 everybody took it easy by napping, unpacking, catching up on emails, etc. I did a little of the latter, then got off the computer and finished putting away my clothes before meeting with John Rose for a computer lesson (he has a hate-hate relationship with his laptop). Then at four in the afternoon the group reassembled for a walk around the town of Sansepolcro designed to orient the students to their surroundings. It was wonderful to wander through old haunts and see shops, cafes, and landmarks that I hadn't seen since December!

After the walk around town Dr. Webb and I chatted over some vino bianco about artwork for different parts of the palazzo and general plans for this week. The students start classes tomorrow, Dr. Webb and I will be working to get things like chore rotation charts, directions for appliances, roommate agreement forms, etc written up and implemented by the end of the week. I won't be helping Sara with the kids until Monday, but I have already gotten to see them twice! Leonardo doesn't look too different (a little taller) since I saw in March, but Ginevra has grown both in height and vocabulary and Veronica is talking and walking like you wouldn't believe! Pictures to come soon ... I'm hoping to eat dinner with them either tomorrow night or the next :)

Tomorrow I'm also going to run some errands to get things I need, like an Italian hairdryer :) There were also things like body wash that I just opted to buy once I got here to save on space and weight in my suitcase, so I'll pick up those as well. And I really need to get a recharge on minutes for my Italian cell phone! When we arrived I had just enough time and battery life to call Sara, get in touch with Dr. Webb, and then call home to say I'd gotten there. I was amazed I had that much though - it hadn't been charged since I last used it in December because I don't have an Italian-to-U.S. converter for my phone charger.

Oh! And something else I'll start doing tomorrow which I am quite excited about is doing a photo shoot of the palazzo! It's mainly for purposes regarding insurance, but the upside is that I can post them on picasa for all to see - and maybe get some good shots for advertising the program to potential attendees back at Meredith.

Thank you much for your prayers and emails! The trip was extremely long, but I traveled with a great group of girls so all went well despite the delays.

Waiting for our first plane (RDU to IAD)

First there was a mechanical difficulty in Dulles: at first we were told it was an issue with the maintenance crew, which we interpreted as a housekeeping kind of problem, but it turned out that the temperature monitor of one of the engines (think: mini fire detector) was not functioning, so that was clearly a problem!

More waiting in Dulles ...

So we ended up sitting on the plane for three hours while the malfunctioning piece was fixed, realizing that if it wasn't resolved we'd be moved to a different flight and who knows what else ... but thankfully, that was not the case! We were at long last in the air and made it safely to Rome only an hour and a half behind schedule - turns out we had been scheduled to arrive an hour ahead before the delay, so in the end we didn't get there that much later than originally planned. In Rome Dr. Webb and John Rose were waiting for us with open arms and bottles of cold water, and then all ten of us hoped on a shuttle train to Roma Termini, the main train station of Rome and, consequently, all of Italy. Two hours and a delicious lunch later we were on another train bound for Arezzo, and then a fifty minute bus ride got us from Arezzo to Sansepolcro at last - it was QUITE the day, but all of us and our luggage made it in one piece so we were very grateful.

The smiles we had on our faces when we saw the palazzo (meaning, the end of travel and carrying luggage) grew even wider as we actually got inside. It's an amazing place! So much hard work had been lovingly put into this place in preparation for our arrival, and it really shows. The palazzo is big enough to accommodate up to 23 students, but since we only have 9 they are happily spread out, mostly in sets of two. I have my own suite, which was a surprise to me! I had thought I'd been sharing a room with at least one student, but it turned out that I not only have my own room, but my own bathroom! And until more Meredith faculty arrive in October, I have an entire wing to myself - Dr. Swab and her husband will be staying in the other room/bathroom suite in this section of the palazzo.

I will try to put up pictures tomorrow evening! Until then, buona serata!