My First Week in Paderno

Hi all! I have survived my first week in Paderno del Grappa. The flight over was extremely long.. and I was incredibly antsy to get here. Other than the six-hour layover in JFK it was not too painful. Once we arrived on campus, Istituti Filippin, we had a campus tour along with having some time to get settled into our rooms. That evening there was a short mall trip to pick up the essentials that we forgot/did not have room to bring in our suitcases. That was definitely an experience, and my first interaction with the Italians. It was definitely an eye opener.. I thought that most Italians here would speak English along with being able to help with questions. Looking for products in a store filled with Italian labels, completely different products, and natives speaking no English was complete culture shock. I have never taken an Italian class before, and I know at most five Italian phrases. It was definitely my first challenge I had come upon, but with the help from all of the classmates we all found what we needed.

Classes started the following day, and ended up being very similar to classes back home (with smaller amounts of students). However, we only had two days of classes this week due to LIFE, a leadership seminar. It was extremely rewarding and I came out with many different pointers that I am going to be able to use throughout the rest of my life. I am very glad that I chose to participate in this activity, which ended up being a full two and a half day process.

For other exciting news, our class has gone to the local Pizzeria a few times, which is absolutely delicious! Luckily, the menu was in English because the pepperoni in the states is not the same at all.. in fact in Italy it is a pepper pizza. Along with this, I tried my first Italian gelato last night, and it was as everyone says, AMAZING. Although I could not read the flavors, because they were in Italian, I ended up making a good choice and chose a mint, and also a berry flavor.

Another exciting event has started happening.. our class has begun discussing travels plans! Tomorrow, a lot of us are climbing Mt. Grappa and hang-gliding down. As much as I do not like heights I am very excited for this! For other traveling news, next weekend about fifty of us are adventuring to Cinque Terre, which I have always wanted to go to! Even more exciting.. the following weekend is Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany! I cannot wait for all of the adventures that are awaiting these upcoming three months.

This picture is of Kailyn, Ana, and myself in front of the campus sign.

This next picture is of the campus, as well as Mt. Grappa

This last picture is of Paderno del Grappa