Earthquakes!

Many of you may have heard about the recent earthquake that happened in Italy (not far from where we are in Colorno). It was quite unexpected for the people here and very scary, especially due to the damage it did to homes and to a precious supply of aged parmigiano reggiano cheese. Apparently, they lost thousands of dollars of inventory and that isn't even the saddest part. The cheese is aged over years and it's time that you cannot get back or fix. The people work so hard for products like that and it's really terrible to lose them. Everyone has been on edge not knowing what to expect or if this will happen again so our first day of school was definitely eventful when it comes to this.

We were sitting down for orientation when, all of a sudden, our tables and chairs started to shake. Now, I felt the freak earthquake occurrence in New York not long ago but this was definitely much stronger. We had to evacuate the building and, by Italian law, you must be outside for at least one hour because inspections have to take place in order for the building to be deemed safe. I have to say, despite the reason, it was such a gorgeous day for us to have to sit outside for a while. I actually kind of giggled at all the aspiring chefs concentrated in one spot:

When we finally got let back into the building, yet another small earthquake happened so it was back outside for us again. This time, we went in search of lunch and found a cute little panini shop. I'm telling you, even something as simple as prosciutto and fontina on bread is delectable here:

As I said before, the worst meal in Italy will probably surpass the best meal back home. 

Due to all the confusion and chaos, they actually let us go for the day instead of waiting around all afternoon. Thankfully, everyone and everything was fine so we all were totally excited to have a free day! We decided to go rent bikes and head out on a ride. It's so cool here because you rent a bike for one euro a day but you can keep it for however long you'd like and simply pay the balance at the end of your time using it. I can't even tell you how excited that made me! Once we all got squared away, we bought some wine, salumi, cheese and fruit for a picnic and headed out to explore the town. What we rode by was absolutely beautiful. I only wish photos really captured the essence of it all:

We rode for quite a while and each of us was just in awe of the place we're calling home right now. We got back to our apartments, showered and went out for dinner at one of the few restaurants down the street. We drank a lovely rose and toasted to our first official, yet unofficial, day of school. Not too shabby...