Adventures to tell you: first day of classes, excursion to the Italian grocery store, and the city for dead people.
I’m taking two classes while here in Orvieto. I won’t bore you with too much information about them. On Orvieto class days, we attend one class in the morning from 9:00 to 11:30 and then the other from 2:00 to 4:30. So today, I did that. Some class days are fields trips, and we travel to other places in Italy. Jetlag wasn’t on my side in class today. By 3 o’clock, my eyelids kept wanting to close on me. On field trip days, I promise I’ll be much more attentive.
For lunch today, I went to the Italian grocery store for the first time. It was quite an experience! I browsed for a very long time before checking out because I couldn’t read anything. My mission was to buy food to make sandwiches for lunch. I found cheese that looked great in the package and then the only American chip brand, Pringles. Then it was time for meat. I wanted good turkey, just like I eat at home, but that meant communicating with the little Italy man behind the counter. After watching a few Italian ladies make their requests and asking Katie for some tips (Katie is one of my friends from SMU that speaks a little Italian), I figured out what I needed to say. I practiced a few times. Then I felt good about my Italian order. When my number was called, I confidently said, “Due l’etto tracchino.” (Two somethings of turkey. “L’etto” was the word everyone else was using to tell the man how much meat they wanted, so I used it too. Katie used it before me and got what she wanted.)
The man understood! He said “turkey” and quickly went to grab the turkey and slice it for me. Watching him the whole time, I realized I said it right and was so proud! When he finished, the amount he sliced was exactly what I needed. Enough to make several sandwiches. The little man then turned around, ready to package the meat. Then, heaven forbid, he asked me a question in Italian! I was completely frazzled and had no idea what he said. Perhaps I made my Italian meat request so perfectly that he thought I was a native. Probably not. Feeling completely dumb and with no one there to help me (Katie had already walked outside), I replied, “Yes!” and gave him a thumbs up.
I guess he got the picture. He gave me my meat. Next time, Katie, you’re staying with me the whole entire time.
Caroline (my roommate) and I with our new groceries.
Sam- Guess what? Italy has vanilla Chupa Chups!
I spotted them in the grocery store as I was checking out.
This afternoon after my second class, the professors took the students to one of the few tourist sights in Orvieto: the Etruscan Necropolis. It is the “city of the dead.” Basically in Etruscan culture, dead people were so important that their burial sites were planned out like cities. This Etruscan necropolis, created nearly 25 centuries ago, was made up of many tombs laid out in a grid. The necropolis was very organized with paths connecting all the tombs in the area. My professor said more of the city was still underground and had not been excavated. How about that for some kulture?
That's me standing in one of the tombs.
View from the hill where Orvieto sits.
Later today we have a big group dinner, and then it’s Rome tomorrow. Our day starts at 5:45 am tomorrow. More on Rome tomorrow!
