Continuation of the experience–semcmahon

So once we got to the hotel we only took a few minutes to settle in before going out to the town.  We wandered around on foot for a few hours.  We went to the center market first.  The streets are amazing.  Italians aren’t so worried about making sure the road names are marked as far as we can tell.  The roads are made of brick.  Two-way streets are only as wide as what would be our single lane back home and people walk down the middle of the streets in what I assume is the downtown area.   The buildings are old and beautiful.  As far as we can tell wine/drinks, gelato (ice cream) and pizza are the staple foods since there is at least one shop on every block for each.  We grabbed a bite for lunch and wandered around and around.  Found some neat alleys with cool graffiti and vehicles.   We had gotten downtown around 1pm which is when everywhere closes up until 4pm for the equivalent of a Spanish siesta…I really should find out what exactly they call it.  So we main just walked around in awe of the structures and levels of the Italian town.  We were in search of a grocery store for water and various necessities…the alimentari (grocery stores) here are very small (like everything else) but seem to hold quite a lot.  Probably one of the most interesting parts of the trip so far is trying to navigate and communicate with knowing very little of the language.  Most of the shop owners seem to know very little English.  Grey remembered his dictionary on our first outing so we kinda figured some of it out.  Eventually (many pictures later), we went back to the hotel to check out the internet situation.  We found out that there was only one computer in their supposed “lab” and both Grey and Barbara were having trouble connecting.  We figured out this morning a way to use the wireless so we should be all right.  Grey and I sat and wrote and tried to figure out some more Italian while Barbara took a call.  Around 7ish, we went back into town to find something for supper.  We had seen a little restaurant on one of the streets earlier so we decided to go check it out.  It turned out that the restaurant was bigger than we once thought and we decided to sit in its outside square that is hidden from the street.  It took us a while to decode the menu.  We decided to stick to the pizza for the night.  Even that was kinda a surprise to see what we were getting because we couldn’t find all the ingredients in our dictionaries (I remembered mine and probably will have it from now on).  I decided to try something with potato on it like Josh had said I should.  It was called Bomba (sausage, cheese, potato and something black that we couldn’t identify).  Barbara had one with olives, ham, red sauce, and something like cabbage (I liked hers best since we all shared bites).  By the way, the portion was quite big–a whole pizza that covered a large plate.  I think Grey was the only one to finish his pizza, which had sausage and 2 types of cheese.  He also tried Fanta here which I like better because it has a lighter taste.  Barbara had bubbly water (which is normal for her) and let us try it.  I guess most drink it with meals because it helps with digestion.  We had interesting conversations about how Native American history ties in with the building of Homestake mine and about many other things Barbara was curious about.  I’m hoping to find time soon to search around for a Catholic Mass for us to attend this weekend.  I love the sound of the Italian language so I wouldn’t mind sitting through an authentic Italian Mass.  I found out that my debit Visa works here when I used it at this restaurant.  We didn’t get done at the restaurant until 9 or so.  We went back to the hotel.  On the way we saw many bars just getting started.  I am sorry that this got posted before I was quite finished.  I will be putting up more pictures and things when I have a few more minutes.  Right now (7:30pm of July 11) we are getting ready to meet the governor of this area for dinner.  So gotta go.

We’re here near L’Aquila at Gran Sasso Lab–semcmahon

So we made it.  Riding on the airplane for the first time was an interesting experience.  Our first flight to Cincinatti was delayed in take-off for about a 1/2 hour because a light or something on top of the plane had to be fixed.  I have decided that I hate take-off and landing but the view of the ground from the sky is amazing.  I took some pictures of the view and will try to insert them. 

Clouds from plane

Grey and I aboard flight 32

Barbara and I before the flight

 

Here is a pic of the French mountains

Barbara’s making sure Grey and I take plenty of pictures with ourselves in them.  We took a couple group ones once we got onto the 767 plane for Italy.  When we got off our first flight they were already boarding for the Italy one so we hopped right over.   The flight stayed right on schedule.  Watched a movie, at some chicken and grits, talked, slept a little.  Woke up to see the French landscape.  It’s amazing the difference in farming techniques compared the the U.S.  Their plots here are whatever shape fits the landscape whereas at home we usually have squares.  Some of the crops are similar…wheat or some sort of hay.  One thing that has really interested me is how the Gran Sasso mountains are covered in trees but they all look like they’re in rows.  I’m curious as to how that came about.

Anyway, after landing, we went through customs and got our luggage and found Augusto who drove us to the hotel.  I took many pictures along the way of Rome.  It was hard to capture everything because the speed limit is higher in Italy and many times there were walls rising up around us.  It is amazing how narrow the roads are and yet the locals speed around them as if it were nothing.  Augusto pointed out many places along the way.  I will put several pictures in here of our trip to the hotel.  There is much graffiti in certain parts of town but it is much prettier than the stuff we find at home.  The villages in the sides of the mountains are very cute…they look like they are coming from the mountainside and they look like they could all be one long connected building.

roadway on the way out of Rome buildings by the road

Roadside buildings

view of the mountains as we drive to L'Aquila

Our stay so far in L’Aquila has been great.  I will have to post more later on our early adventures around the area but for now I hope this will ease some of your hunger about details of our trip.  Love all,

Sarah

hello peoples:)–by Grey

 I suppose I’m excited about a number of things. Foremost, I think, is the completely novel experience of a new country and climate. I’ve been around the continental United States, a fair bit, but the only other country I’ve had the pleasure to visit has been Canada, and the region I visited was not so different from that of my own home.

  I’m also really excited to see and experience a new culture and belief system. Quite ecstatic about that bit. lol

  At this point I’m still waiting to meet my traveling companions, Sarah and Barbara. but, I really can’t wait to get acquainted:)

I’m not to sure about the work, or whatever they would call it, in the mine/facility. I’m excited to see and learn about it, but what I expect to see is rather limited at this point to light reading. I’ve tried to keep away from pictures as much as possible, so as not to ruin the experience. Sounds a little odd when I write it down, but hey..what ya gonna do:|

well thats about it, I hope to garner a better understanding of what kinds of experiments are being conducted in the deep places of the earth, and the people who put in the time and thought to keep them going. Excited is the word.

 …and as a last thought, the chance to sample truly Italian cuisine really does rouse my interest. lol.

Sarah McMahon’s Bio

I recently graduated from West Central High School and plan to attend SDSU in the fall for engineering.  I’m excited to have been chosen to participate in the Princeton-Gran Sasso exchange.  It’ll be fun to be learning in the lab and I hope to carry away some information that will aid me as I study engineering these next few years.  I can’t wait to meet Grey and the Italian students in this summer school.