Just the beginning

So it has been a crazy last few days. Yesterday was the first day of my program. Mom left in the early afternoon on the train and I think all went well with that, we managed to get her to the station after at frist getting on the wrong bus.
That afternoon I met all the pepole on my program and the directors, as well as got to see where we are going to have class. There are 11 girls including myself and 4 boys - total of 15. Most everyone is from UO except 2 girls from Seatte, 1 from Minnesota and another boy from Washington I think. Our school building is right across from the main bus stop area in Siena, also right near a park and soccer field. It is on the second floor above a bank and the whole buliding used to be an old palace. There is a small library, a few rooms for classes, 3 computers and another hang out room. It seems nice and is open all during the week for us to go there and hang out except it is closed on the weekends. We have a site director (Silvia) and housing coordinatior (Claudia) and a visiting professor. We havent met the italian professors yet. After orientation yesterday a bunch of us went to dinner in the Piazzo del Campo, the main square in Siena and very famous in Italy. We still look like and act like tourists but we had fun getting to know eachother and practicing pouring the wine during dinner without spilling all over the tablecloth - we did this with little success.
Today we moved out of the hotel and had more orientation at our school. We learned about the excursions we will be taking throughout the term - to places like Florence, Rome, Bologna, Rimini and near by wineries. I signed up for an extra class which meets 5 times and teaches us how to cook Tuscan dishes.
We had pizza for lunch and then had a walking tour of Siena. We learned where the grocery store was, the post office, the best atm machines, best gelato and more. This afternoon everyone is moving into apartments. Everyone on the program is rooming with at least one other student from the program. All the girls are in apartements very close to eachother - in the same neighborhood within the city walls on the south end near the University of Siena. The boys have an apartment outside the city walls and have to take the bus. I am living in a place called miniresidence with a girl named Katie. She is a junior from UO as well. We share a room that overlooks the street, we have our own bathroom and desks and the washing machine is across the hall. We live in a dorm - type place in that our room is at the end of the hall of 6 rooms or so. All the rooms share a general tv area room and a kitchen that looks a bit like one you would see in an office building breakroom. that will be interesting. But I definitely lucked out. The other students living here are Italian and are currently on break for Easter. There are a mix of girls and boys. Not only do we have laundry here but wireless internet and the cleaning lady comes every friday to clean our rooms. Plus it is about a one minute walk to the Campo. We are just down the street behind it.
I am very excited for eveything - class starts tuesday because of the holiday. We have a group dinner tonight and then the rest of the weekend free. Probably going to mass on Sunday at the Duomo to take in the scene. It is sunny today and Im beginning to feel a little more adjusted.
I will upload pictures as soon as I figure out how...did I mention Im currently using the main lobby computer because our landlord is home for the holiday and said we could use it no problem. His name is Fabio....haha

Ciao for now!