Love by Lecce: Week 1

I have decided this series will be called Love by Lecce à la Love by Meagan. I will be posting every Friday that I possibly can. I will also be posting some project posts required by my school of me that will showcase the city I am in and the people that live here!

Thursday-Friday
These were my travel days and oh boy was I tired. With the nine hour time change I was so jet lagged and ready to sleep for the next month. Everything went well though, I made all my connecting flights (From San Francisco to Washington, D.C., D.C. to Rome, Rome to Brindisi, and then a bus to Lecce) and although Lecce is not the easiest city to get to, it was so worth the hours of travel! When I arrived in Lecce Friday night, my host family picked me up and took me to the main historical center of the city and then to a bar where we got drinks and sat around talking for a while. I got to quickly see the beautiful Baroque architecture that Lecce does so well!

Saturday
Saturday was my first actual full day and it was so fun! I met one of my roommates, Coleman, who is from New Jersey but goes to the Ohio State University. He invited me to dinner with the rest of the students from Ohio State and we got dinner at a restaurant called Apollo. The Ohio students have already been here for a month and some are staying for another month while others are staying for two more weeks, and others yet left after four weeks! The dinner at Apollo was delicious and we watched the Germany vs. Italy game (which ended in a sad loss for Italy) while we ate. I got gelato after dinner which was delicious! Many more Oregon students arrived Saturday evening and we met up with one and showed him around a bit before heading back to our homes and apartments.

Sunday
Sunday we all headed to Torre dell'Orso, a beach a bit more south in Italy than Lecce, where we spent the day in the very warm water, laying in the sun, and exploring the coast. I was so happy to find that water that isn't the Pacific Ocean or a lake is so warm and comfortable to swim around in. The beach was so busy which I was surprised by but it was fun to be surrounded by so many locals.

Monday
Monday was the Fourth of July! Also my first day of school, of course. At school, the new students took a placement test to determine what class we would end up in for the next two months. We also took a tour of some of the important places to know in Lecce and had a conversational placement exam before heading home. School is from 9-1 each weekday so a bit long, but not unbearable! For the Fourth, all of the students went over to our friends' apartment and ate hamburgers. After eating and drinking a bit we headed out to one of the smaller piazzas to have fun. The night went well into the early hours of the next day but was such a fun and low key way to spend the 4th abroad. Four of us ended the night on a rooftop (that we were apparently not supposed to be on and can no longer go to) which was so peaceful and beautiful and one of those "moments" that you hear about study abroad.

Tuesday
Tuesday was our second day of school, the Oregon students were all placed in the beginner's Italian class where we joined a handful of Ohio students who had already been in that class. We met our teachers for grammar and conversation who bring life to the class and keep up engaged for the four hour period that we are studying. Later in the evening, Oregon students got to take a cooking class (which we will take each Tuesday this month, and then Thursday of the last week of this month) where we made pasta from scratch as well as a "pepperoni" and potato with cheese bake paired with a white wine. It was so interesting to be taught by professional chefs and a sommelier who were so lively and passionate about cooking. I love cooking so this is definitely going to be a good course for me! Something I learned Tuesday: no one ever tells you how TIRED you get during study abroad! My feet were hurting so so bad. Worth it for the food and wine though.

Wednesday
Wednesday we continued with classes and I discovered during our lunch break that the dog at the panini shop is the cutest thing I've ever seen. I slept a bit this day, read a bit, did some homework, and wrote a blog post during "siesta," Italy's unofficial/official national nap time, which I super appreciate being built into the day. We ended off Wednesday by going to a restaurant called Doppiozero where I got chicken fillet.

Thursday
Thursday was a lighter day. I've been trying to catch up on my sleep since it is so hot here and I haven't been sleeping terribly well. During the lunch break my friend Sophie and I went to a nearby café and got a mini pizza and a Puglian cake which I forget the name of (will keep you updated if I figure it out). We learned the parts of the body (even each individual finger!) during school which was something we hadn't learned in my Italian classes previously, and we played a fun game to boost our memory of each part. After school Sophie and I got crepes at a cafe near her apartment and then I walked home, ate some lunch with Coleman and my host family, and retreated to my room to write this post, read a bit, and finish up my homework. This week definitely tired me out!

As a note, this was the anatomy vocab game

Friday
That's today! Will report next week on what I do today. Thanks for reading! Let me know in the comments where your dream location abroad is!