Buon giorno!

Hey famiglia,
A hearty greeting from Italy! We don't have frequent, consistent, or dependable email access, so this post may be either short, interrupted, or nonexistent by the time I send it. Anyway, I've been here for two weeks, and we just got back from a weekend trip to Naples and Pompeii. Highlights of the trip so far:

• San Demetrio Corone (the small town where we are all living) is perched in the Calabrian hills just as the toe of the boot is forming - it's about twenty minutes from the Ionian Sea, and probably about forty from the Tyrrenian (?) Sea. It was settled by Albanians fleeing their country in the 15th century, and against all odds in this day and age, people still speak it. Though they are dyed-to-the-wool Catholics and Italians, they are quick to point out why their culture is different. The local church, for example, is topped with a Greek Orthodox cross, and contains Byzantine icons inside. The mass is performed partly in Italian, and partly in Greek, and their priests can be married. I have no idea how they swing that deal with the Vatican, but apparently that's how it is.
• I love the random encounters with local people - the other day I walked up into the winding streets of the old medieval quarters, and an old man named Carlo invited me to come pick some figs - delicious, juicy, sinful figs - from his trees.
• Pompeii is a totally haunting experience - especially the preserved volcanic castings of writhing bodies that were preserved by Vesuvius's lava. Some cover their mouths and noses in an effort to avoid breathing in the fumes that eventually killed them. Others form a protective shield around their children. Bone-chilling, but beautiful.

And some lowlights:

• My luggage didn't get to San Demetrio until five days after I did. I had a really quick connection between Manchester, England, and London (also England), and I don't think my luggage made it. Unfortunately, though, BMI only paid for my stuff to be flown from Naples to a nearby (2 hours away) airport. So I had to hire someone to get it, to the tune of $100.
• This group of students is way too big, and only a handful are interested in the slightest about absorbing the language and culture. It's also extremely poorly managed (rules that are not enforced, little to no information given about important things).
• The classes, too, are unfortunately very disappointing. This, again, has to do with not managing details very well. The director of the program, for example, wrote all of the course syllabi, but others - not used to such things as administering quizzes and creating conversation activities (very American things) - are teaching the courses.

OK, I should sign off now. More later, most likely. Love you all!