Umbria

Happy Fall Everyone!

Time is flying by! I cannot believe that I have been in Italy for over two months already. I have definitely settled into my life here and enjoy every minute of being here. However, I am definitely starting to miss home. I wish I was there to see the leaves change, dress up for Halloween, and watch football on Sunday afternoons while eating lots of chips and dip. But, I am making fabulous memories here instead and I will be home soon enough.

These past few weeks have been so incredibly busy! On Sunday October 19th, API took us to the region of Umbria, which is the region directly north of Lazio, the region that Tuscania is in. We first traveled to the town of Assisi, which is home of San Francesco. San Francesco was a man during the 12th century who dramatically changed the direction of the church. He preached for poverty and saw the joy that can be found in God, not just fear. Many, many people make pilgrimages to the town of Assisi, and it is certainly full of beauty. We visited many of the famous churches in the town and walked through the winding streets.


After spending some time in Assisi, we traveled to Perugia. Fortunately (and unfortunately) it was the weekend of the Perugian chocolate festival and the town was teeming with people. We were very excited about all of the chocolate, but we were not excited about the crowds and the high prices. Also, it was in Perugia where we attempted to fulfill our craving for Mexican food…it was a bad idea. We walked into this “authentic Mexican restaurant” and ordered cokes, nachos, and enchiladas. After about ten minutes of waiting we thought that it was odd that we could not hear cooking taking place in the kitchen a few yards away from us. A few moments later we heard the soft humming of a microwave…yes a microwave. So, about 30 seconds later we received our tiny bowl of stale chips with a few strands of microwaved cheese atop. Then, our “enchiladas” came out, which turned out to be tacos. We left very confused and upset at our (expensive) “Mexican” experience. It was awful but at least none of us got sick! But at least we can laugh at it now! After our amazing lunch we walked, well shuffled, in the streets past the expensive chocolate stands. The streets were so crowded that we could barely move. We stopped at this one stand for a long time because these men were carving sculptures out of chocolate and whatever chocolate fell away we could eat! It was awesome! Overall, we were a little disappointed with Perugia because of we were exhausted from all of the people. However, the beauty of the city was obvious, but it was little hard to appreciate it with so many people.