It has been three days since my group arrived in the small town of Urbino Italy, and it is absolutely beautiful.

We are staying at the dorms for the University of Urbino which are located approximately half a mile from the fortress-like town. In central Urbino, the streets are narrow, the apartments are tiny, and everything is made of coarse, sun-bleached brick.

Urbino is quite small both in terms of population and geography. However, the university students add a spark to the ancient town. The University of Urbino hosts approximately 20,000 students during the school year, which will be coming to an end in the next few days.

So far, everyone we have met has been both helpful and kind. After our second day, an Italian student asked some of the American students to play soccer with them in an indoor gym. Despite my limited knowledge of the sport as well as horrendous foot-eye coordination, I still had a blast and scored my first and, probably, my last soccer goal.

Our group made friends with the soccer players and hung out with a few of them after our “interpreter meet and greet party.”

Tomorrow a few of us are going to the beach, which I am extremely excited about because I haven’t been to a beach in about two years. Moreover, it is extremely hot in this part of Italy!

Moving on, the bus leaves at 9AM so I better get to sleep.

Good luck and goodnight.