Last days in Perugia

This is my last Sunday in Perugia, and I'm a bit torn up about it. This past week we didn't have any classes, so it was really nice to be able to relax and hang out with friends. This past week was what the school called with "Week of Special Events." Each night had a different event where students could show off the things they have been working on all semester. Tuesday night was an art show, Wednesday night was a reading for the creative writing students, and Thursday was a night for presentations from various classes.

The international marketing class that I took had a service learning component. A new travel company called AltraUmbria came to our school in need of revamping their website. Our class was to write a paper and give a presentation giving our recommendations for improvement. The groups within my marketing class were competing to present in front of the staff of AltraUmbria this past Thursday night. My group didn't work on our presentation at all. We didn't even have an introduction! I'm not a very nervous public speaker, but I had nothing prepared, so at one point I wasn't making any sense at all. I even used the phrase "peacock sailing." I'm not even sure what I meant to say, but obviously it didn't come out correctly. For whatever reason, my group won. We still are confused on how it happened. We did a lot better the second time around, but it was still very unprepared. Apparently the lady at AltraUmbria liked it, so I'll have to check back in a few months to see if there are any changes.

The weather in Perugia has been pretty chilly, but this weekend, our last weekend in Perugia, it has been absolutely beautiful! Yesterday a group of us had a picnic. It was so nice to soak up some sun. But of course, in true nature of my pale skin...it soaked up a little too much sun. Now I have a rockin' farmer's tan. It was pretty funny going out last night with a sleeveless shirt on!

Last night, we went to a discoteca. It's about 20 minutes out of Perugia, so you have to take a bus there and back. The bus leaves the city center around 1:00 and buses don't start running back until 4:00. We walk in and you can feel the heat from people dancing. It was really packed, but a big group of us went, so it was a lot of fun. Italian men can be a bit creepy, but thankfully we have great guy friends that kept an eye out for us. I caught the 4:30 bus back home, and I was so sweaty that there was no way I could possibly go to sleep like that. I took a shower, which gave me a second wind. As I get out, I see the sun is rising, so I grab my roommate Jenny and we decided to watch the sun rise.

It was really cool to go into our "backyard" and look out on the Italian landscape as the sun came up. It was then that it really hit me about leaving this place and these people that I have become so close with. Although I am really excited for summer in Austin and to return to my friends, I've really made a home for myself here, and it's going to be really strange leaving it. I am so thankful for this experience, and I'm glad I have a month left in Italy to digest everything that has happened this last semester.