grand opening weekend!

Oh my, I can’t begin to describe how tired I am, but I also won’t get a chance to explain WHY I am as tired as I am if I don’t blog tonight. Where to begin? Who know the weekend that wore me out the most so far would be the weekend I stayed in Sansepolcro? This weekend was the grand opening of the Palazzo Alberti, home of Meredith College in Italy, OFFICIALLY! I feel honored to be one of the “immortal nine” as we like to refer to ourselves as, and while it has been tiring to remain charming it has been truly amazing to meet so many alumni and friends of the college.

While I would love to tell the story of the night before all of our guests arrived, I must condense it for the sake of its ridiculousness. We all decided we would enjoy ourselves and the company of one another one more time before the madness began so we went to KCafe. I discovered a guy I had noticed, who works at the bar with his girlfriend and to make the story short we caused a scene in one of the most popular bars in the city! No, no girlfriends of crushes were hurt in this story but it was too funny not to mention, even I am not telling it in its entirety.

Saturday morning as soon we were out of the bed we began to prepare to for the day’s activities. I quickly learned where the flower shop was, and how fast a palazzo can be cleaned with teamwork. We all pitched in and did exactly as directed by Dr. Webb before picking up our guests. Ellen Goode, a professor and wonderful women, brought with her a whole bag of goodies for me, so I was beyond happy to see her. I am now happy to say I now have a beautiful Canon powershot camera and lots of orbit. My dad even slipped in his favorite, Winterfresh and a CD of his music for me! The holey pajamas are currently being worn, and while the hole is too big to even keep my legs warm, I am happy to have received them! Back to what is REALLY important…
After everyone arrived, they came here for an open house and we got to meet all of the wonderful guests that came for the grand opening. This included president Hartford, Dr. Jackson and some other important faces from campus. It was nice to know how much this all means to these people, because this place has already become a second home for us young women. I have realized all of the hard work that has been put into making this all possible, so seeing this weekend finally arrive was exciting, even in the midst of a lot of school work! We visited on of St. Francis’ favorite city with everyone and I had another “moment.” Over the hills and on top of a mountain there were three crosses. I was reminded of how lucky I am to be here! When we returned from Montecasele it was time to attach myself to a chair for the rest of the evening to work on my paper. After four or five hours of work I went to bed so that when I woke up Sunday for the 5K race in San Justino I would be able to run it.

Sunday marked the day of my first ever run in an official race. A 5K, and in Italy which makes it even better! Nicole and I signed up to run and after the Swabb’s arrival less than twenty-four hours before, they chose to run with us too (the Swabb’s are here to teach the science and society class). It was hard to compare a race in Italy to one in the US when I had only been in track meets in the US. This race started with the smaller children’s races in which they ran about 200 meters. I was questioning whether I should have just signed up for that race right before we began. Finally it was time for all the big kids to begin the race. Now before I go any further let me clarify two things. One is that I was not in the 14k competitive race, but the non-competitive 5k race. A girl has to work her way up, you must understand. Second of all I must clarify that apparently being time for the “big kid race” included boys around the age of 12. The reason I know this age was included was because for the first four kilometers of the race, I was in fact racing a 10 to 12 year old little boy. During the third kilometer we were running side my side and I turn to notice that he is looking at me as if he wants to really race me. It was fun to run with him but by the last kilometer he had gotten ahead. Ill blame my “older legs” for beating him, but it is surely to not happen with the next young boy. One thing I will say I know they don’t do in races in the US is give away free cheese to everyone who ran. After the race, we turned in our numbers and each got a bag of goodies which included a one pound slab of cheese. Let’s just say, it was all worth it. Incase you were wondering the man who won the competitive 14 kilometer race was a Kenyan man that came in about three minutes after me making his time only 40 minutes. How people go that fast, I will never know.

Once we found John Rose amongst the crowd, we rushed back to the Palazzo to prepare for a big Sunday lunch with all of the trustees and friends of the college. I was very excited that all the girls in the house were invited. We got a chance to learn about all of the people that had come, and of course eat an amazing meal that was way too large. After eating with amazing people, we rushed back to the palazzo to add finishing touches and tie the ribbon on the door to be cut. It was finally here, and I am so glad I got to be a part of it all! The mayor of Sansepolcro, the natio, and president Hartford were there to cut the ribbon with Dr. Webb and Sarah Andreini (the assistant director for the program) close by. After the ribbon cutting and a presentation by the flagmen and drummers (similar to the Ballestra), the entire town was invited into our home. There were people everywhere! It was madness. I enjoyed seeing so many people interested in the program, and the palazzo. It’s great that now the whole town will know that the palazzo is our home and we are with Meredith College. I’m hoping it means less funny looks and more hellos and questions from people in the streets! The night finished off with a beautiful concert from a choir, our own Chelsea Stith and her piano teacher, and good friends to the program singing opera. It has been a great weekend and I am so thankful for our extension for our art history paper because I’m not sure I could have done such things tonight! It’s hard to be charming all day long after a 5K. Buono notte <3