The beginning

Today I left for my adventure to Lugano, Switzerland. It began with my plane ride at 6pm from Dulles, Washington D.C. I woke up bright and early and was eager to continue my packing at home. Trying to shove 4 months of life into2 suitcases was an adventure in itself. Eventually I completed my packing, or so I thought. I arrived at the airport with my mom and dad and slowly met a couple people going on the trip, which excited me even more. Me, Corey, and my new friend steph waited as Claire had tried to check her 75lb bag! Then ended up having to switch her clothes into another bag and check a third bag for 150$. We boarded the plan right around 6 and I was happy to be sitting in the isle and next to Claire! We landed around 8 am Switzerland time, in Zurich. Carrying my bags was IMPOSSIBLE. I was dying walking through the airport. We all became friends quickly because we had to help one another with our bags. From Zurich, we took a 3-hour bus ride to Lugarno, the snow slowed us down. When pulling into Lugarno, I woke up from my nap and was STUNNED by the beautiful surroundings. The Alps would be right outside my window and there were palm trees everywhere!!!! When we arrived in the Villa Monterina, we had to carry our bags up a huge hill in the mix snow ad rain(which is nothing compared to the rest of lugano). Lauren and me roomed together. Our room had 2 beds a sink and 1 amour between the two of us! We were then served lunch, which was huge! We were served a big salad, delicious lasagna, and then a slice of pie. After lunch our teacher, David Brinberg, took all 40 of us through the pouring rain through the town of Lugarno. The stairs that we have to climb everywhere we go is a bit of a shock. The town is beautiful and looks like something out of a storybook. After finding the university (USI), our teacher left us on our own to explore, and basically find our own way back. Later that night we were served dinner, which was carrots, potatoes, and cordon bleu. YUM! The rest of the night the students spent time getting ready for our first night out. We decided that for our first night we would go to a small bar called peter pan pub. It was small, and the locals probably didn’t appreciate 40 American students taking over their space, but we had fun!