"In fair Verona, where we lay our scene", I write my very first blog.

Where to start.

No really...I have no idea. Never in a million years would I have thought that I'd be here, in one of the student residences of the University of Verona, writing, of all things, a blog.

Let's be honest. I'm a technophobe. I take ages to answer emails, I forget about MSN. But here I am. And it's all because of you, whoever you are reading my blog right now. If you care enough to be reading this then you're one of the people who I am currently missing very much, one of the people responsible for the current state of my inbox, and I love you for it.

 

I miss you. I want you to know what I've been up to.

So here I am, writing my blog.

I like it here. It's really pretty! I go for walks and only realise hours have past when it starts to get dark. I honestly don't get bored walking in these streets...I get what Shakespeare kept going on about; Verona is the perfect backdrop of a city. Hopefully my own shenanigans will be slightly less tragic and bloody, but I can really see myself living here for the next five months. Just ask my parents, and I quote, concern soon turned to envy. It really is beautiful.

Speaking of my parents, I should really give them a shout-out. They came up with me for the first couple of days (thankfully), and we spent Carnival weekend exploring. It was great. Loads of hilarious, and I mean hilarious, moments. (Oh Ma, by the way, the woman in the bookshop thought you were my friend! I went back today to check out the phrasebook and she was shocked when I told her you're my mother! Thought you'd like to know hehe)

The funniest episode had to be the last meal before they left. The restaurant looked Louis XIV's boudoir. They gave us gold leaf and coloured glass goblets to drink our water in. Nuff said. The waiters were utter CHEESE, and one looked like Macaulay Culkin. And my mother thought she had bought the entire choosing platter of biscuits and proceeded to bag them. She was supposed to choose a couple. Tea came out of my nostrils I was laughing so hard.

The food here is beyond amazing. Sorry Miguel, skim through this part, k? Honestly, Mike you'd be proud of me. The masses of food that I'm managing to stuff down my throat never cease to amaze me.

 

You are looking at the best pizzas I have ever tasted. Yummy yummy in my tummy. I have yet to eat one bad meal, Campus canteen included. Between this and my luggage I'm afraid they're not going to let me back on a plane. Don't get me started on the coffee...

I've met some really nice people so far. The Americans are really friendly! Namely these two guys, Giancarlo and Matteo, both half Italian. My first actual friends! My roommate for this week is an English girl called Polly who is hilarious, I was in fits the second time I spoke to her! AND she's been to Malta and loves it! We played "OK, where's that?" with the photos on her phone. It was nice to see photos of home. Actually, most people are friendly when you mention you're an Erasmus student. It's funny, when I told Matteo that I'm from Malta he was shocked. To him it was on par with talking to someone from Fiji. I can honestly say it's the first time I've ever felt exotic. Strange. Had my first Erasmus party last night; Wa-hey! It was fun, met lots of nice people. Danced so much I woke up stiff. 

Next week the real work starts. Gulp. I had one proper lecture so far. In which the professor warned her Italian students that the textbook would be particularly difficult to understand. Just great. Looks like it's going to be a fun course though, all about archeological digs and stuff. My sister would love it. I might do a class in Creative Writing which would be really fun. (That would be in English though.) 

Oh, and the campus is just as pretty as the rest of the city in case you were wondering! This  on the left is what you see as soon as you go through the gate. There are frescos on the wall!

 Real honest-to-goodness frescos! And a huge lawn! I foresee many grass stains on my jeans...

The funny thing is, I feel really strange here for now. I miss home, but at the same time I'm enjoying myself. I think about my family and friends a lot. Sometimes it makes me sad, but mostly it makes me happy. I am truly blessed to have so many people in my life who I'm sad to be away from.

Anywho, I THINK I have nothing more to say for now. Wow. I wrote a lot. My apologies! I promise the next one won't be so long...it may be soon though. I told you: I miss you.

Krissie