Opening Tour - 9/7-9/17

It is Thursday the seventeenth of September and we just finished our first day of classes. I have not been able to write with all of the adventures we’ve been going on taking up all of my time these days. But let me try to explain how awesome the last ten days have been.
On the seventh I brought my bags to the airport and met up with all of my friends from school. We wandered around Rome visiting the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, and the Trevi Fountain, just to name a few. For dinner about nine of us went to a small restaurant behind the Pantheon and met the owner, Michaelangelo, who brought us out free glasses of “Sexy Wine.” It was some kind of sparkling white wine with strawberries and raspberries in it. Simply put it was delicious. The following day we visited the Jesuit house, the Cathedral of Saint Ignatius, and headed off on a bus to Naples. In Naples we boarded a ferry to Palermo. The accommodations were tiny. The showers were not built for Americans of my size. That evening we stayed up playing some card games, sipping on lemon granite (gruh-nee-tay), which was basically a delicious Italian slushee. Our wake up call was for five o’clock in the morning. All of the students dragged themselves to the main deck and we watched as we pulled into the harbor in Palermo. It was gorgeous watching the sun rise off the coast of Sicily. Our running joke – which probably isn’t so funny – was that all of our planes had gone down over the Atlantic and we were in heaven. We’re still saying that while we’re in Florence.
In Palermo we had guided tours through the city visiting the third largest opera house in Europe, Teatro Massimo, the Duomo of Monreale, and a nature and bird reserve known as “Lo Zingaro.” Here at the reserve we had a chance to go for a swim, and swim we did. Thirty minutes into our beach time rain began to pour down on us. Naturally, I stayed and swam with about seven other friends. The hail started getting intense so we headed for shelter in one of the natural caves on the side of the little bay. We huddled together in there for a few moments, saw lightning outside and decided to head in. but my friend Paul and I couldn’t go in just yet. We climbed up on a big rock and did a front flip into the ocean. Ok, now we could go in.
From Palermo we traveled to Selinunte and Segesta where we visited the ruins of some pretty extraordinary ruins. Never too tired, we took a short bus ride up the coast and crashed down on a delicious buffet with fresh tomatoes, sardines, mozzarella, bruschetta, octopus, and best of all, canoli! Not only did we get amazing food, but we were right on the water where ten of us swam out to a rock that was only covered by about an inch of water. We played king of the rock and you can guess who won that one. That’s right, this guy! I deemed myself King Doom, and all had to bow before me.
Anyways, we kept on going to the next hotel which was an actual castle in Agrigento. While in Agrigento we visited il Valle dei Templi, or Valley of the Temples. These were really neat as they had thousand year old olive trees still producing olives, and the temples were still in exquisite shape. I decided to pick a prickly pear and try one. I just had to. Then, I had to deal with all of the little slivers in my fingers. I guess there’s a price to pay for being adventurous.
The school saved the best hotel for last. It was a four star hotel in Santa Tecla (Acireale) complete with ocean view balconies, a beautiful lobby, ocean front property, and an infinity pool that went out towards the Mediterranean. We all had to pick our jaws up off the floor. That evening, I knew what I had to do: start a dance party by the pool. We enjoyed a delicious buffet meal and as we were walking from the buffet we could hear bass booming from outside. The hotel had hired a DJ for the night and I went straight for the dance floor. In no time every student and the entire faculty were down either enjoying each other’s company or in the party dancing. After about 2 hours of dancing I became a little too sweaty and had to cool down, and with a pool right there what better way to cool down than a dip? Emily Yu and I both jumped in with our clothes on and were told to get out by some of the school faculty, but the hotel owners were loving every second of this party and taking pictures of us having the greatest times of our lives. About two hours of dancing later, everyone was in the pool and we weren’t getting in trouble. All in all, we danced for about six hours nonstop. I’ve heard from multiple sources that this was one of the best nights they’ve had at Gonzaga and I’m with them. It was so much fun! After two more days of touring (hiking Mt. Etna, Europe’s tallest active volcano, visiting the small town of Taormina, getting free scuba lessons, and lounging out by the pool) we were off to Florence.
So here I am, trying to unpack and get to know this beautiful city I will be calling home for the next eight months. I’ll keep you all updated on my adventures!

Arrival to Rome

September 7th, 2009
As I awoke this morning, I had no idea it was only three A.M. and I had passed out last night at only five P.M. The last thing I could remember was reading Voyage of the Dawn Treader, assigned for my philosophy class. When the reality that I had slept for ten hours and was not about to fall back to sleep set in, I thought I was doomed. What could I do for five hours before the breakfast buffet opened that would simultaneously keep my mind off my growling stomach and keep me from going crazy? Naturally, I attempted to watch TV. It was broken. I then tried to sleep again. Not happening. I looked back on my journey yesterday – all of my bags made the connections, I watched about six movies on the plane, slept a bit – nothing exciting. All in all, about 30 minutes passed and just when I thought I’d lose it a brilliant idea crossed my mind. “Why don’t you try reading your book, dummy.” It was a revelation. I laid back for a solid five hours, reading without interruption. When I finished the last word I realized the breakfast buffet was open so I hopped into a pair of jeans, threw a shirt on, and spiraled down the four flights of stairs. I was just about to ask the front desk where the buffet was when the other man being helped said my name.
“Is there something wrong? I’m Spencer Townley,” I inquired.
“Ah, very nice to meet you,” the man offered his hand, “I’m Dr. Burke.”
It was the dean of the Florence program, thank God and not Interpol or some crazy assassin – I’ve been watching the Bourne series too much.
We spoke for a moment, he pointed me in the direction of the buffet, and as I stepped in the peach colored room, lined with fruits, cereals, hams, cheeses, breads, and juices, I nearly lost my breath. I was so happy to see real food for the first tim in what seemed to be ages! I calmed myself so as not to end up overeating and feeling like hell. As I sat down with my plate of fruit and ham, Dr. Burke walked in and introduced me to his wife and they joined me for breakfast. Conversation was at first light. Then I found after admitting my desire to work for the State Department, that at our orientation on the eighteenth, the consul general at the American Embassy will be present! And, Dr. Burke mentioned, it would be a great time to meet and talk with some of the employees.
Overall, life is good here in Rome. Friends are on their way, my belly is full, and we are about to embark on our grandest adventure yet!