Opening Weekend and Independence Day Abroad

After settling into the apartment a bit, we decided to go venture for some food around the early Italian time of 7:30. The architecture and layout are so much different than any city I’m used to, though through pictures I knew what I was getting into. Our apartment is a few narrow winding streets from a main subsidiary to Corso Vannucci, the main tourist center that is lined with restaurants with tables sitting in the middle of the street, various shops and of course Gelatto. Despite this easily being the widest street in the city (which is not much of a competition), there are no cars here. It is just a mass of people, and even so it is sometimes difficult to push through. Directly ahead is the city square and the Fontane Maggiore in front of a cathedral. We found a little Pizzeria on a side street, where I got a slice of pizza for a true welcoming to Italian culture and a beer just for shits and gigs…hey, I can. From there we just sort of wandered around trying to take everything in, spot some useful landmarks, and get a better feel for our new home.

At last everyone met up at one of the apartments where we were free to socialize and get to know each other without the strain of meetings or fresh feelings of jet lag. The robot, yelling “CONSUME!” and Madison’s remarkable ability to not hold back on saying any word without a D were just a few memories I’ll always hold of the ridiculous game that kicked off our epic first night. Given that it was a Saturday night, we decided to see what the night life was like. The steps outside the cathedral were flooded with all the “cool kids” sitting around and presumably people watching as much as we were. The rest is kind of a blur; running on around 30 hours without sleep, walking around in a new city, and with a group of new friends that were quickly becoming very close, had me convinced it was a dream that I was about to wake up from.

Despite the interesting events of the previous night, we all showed up bright and ready for our orientation and tour of Perugia. Our tour guide was a quirky food history professor…yes, that really exists. He’s been living here for about 12 years and was very helpful, both in practical knowledge and ridiculous tidbits. A quick stop to a tiny grocery store gave us some food for the apartment, thankfully. Perugia did not disappoint with the beginning of another absolutely amazing night. We went to an upscale restaurant with an awe inspiring view of the valley between Perugia and Assisi, all on the Clemson University tab for the Welcoming Dinner. There were incredible red and white house wines, and we proceeded to knock down bottle after bottle between all of us. The food was fantastic as well, with courses of risotto, lamb, and an apple tart with lemon custard. After dinner we regrouped back at good old Delicious Street. After some ridiculousness, we decided to start a legit league: The Clemson University Umbra Institue Beer Olympics (CUUIBO), elected a commish, team captains, and held a draft complete with official announcements, posed handshake pictures, and fake draft hats/jerseys. Given that we wanted to have the same amount of guys and girls on a team, I strategically fell to Mr. Irrelevant to join Team “My Girlfriend Called Me A Pedophile And I Said That’s A Pretty Big Word For A Three Year Old.” Quite the surprising fall in draft stock, but I look forward to proving all the haters wrong.

Literally as soon as quiet hours hit at 23:00 we shut up, got our shit together and hit up a bar. We found Elfo’s Pub off the beaten path, complete with a life sized face in hole cut out of Will Ferrell as Elf. I had my first German beer, a Weihenstephaner Weiss. The rest of the group was a bit more ambitious, taking down 4 beer towers for 88 Euro and a free fifth one for bringing in so much business.

My Italian was put to the test as we met a group of people who spoke Spanish, Italian, and a little English, some better than others. They were a group of friends from Spain and Sardegna, an Italian island off the coast off the Tyrrhenian Sea. Between my limited Italian skills, J-Byrd’s Spanish, and a common interest in music from Blink 182 to Avenged Sevenfold even to the Aquabats, we had about an hour long conversation until it was finally time to call it quits and head home by 4 AM. The walk back was eerily quiet, the entire town square was empty and I only saw one other person, unloading some cargo from a storefront on an offshoot of Corso Vanucci. Luckily we did not have class until 2 PM the first day, built to allow us time to return to Perugia from weekend travels, so I still got a full 8 hours of sleep regardless. What a memorable Fourth of July and a kickoff to my time here. Unbelievable.