It isn't about where you are...

This past weekend we went on an overnight trip to Puglia. It is a region of Southern italy known for its amazing beaches. Not that the beaches in Calabria aren't absolutely gorgeous (especially compared to those of Narragansett and Rehoboth) but these beaches took your breath away.

We arrived in Puglia Friday afternoon to a view that looked straight out of a movie. I still think that I am living in a green screen. We immediately went to the beach to get our bronze but couldn't spend too much time because we had a special dinner planned at a co-op that makes only organic foods. A place my family would eat at everyday if we lived here.

After walking down a long dirt road and through what most definitely smelled like a horse poop we were surprised to find a gorgeous outdoor patio restaurant. Although after a long day at the beach we were all craving seafood we were still just as happy to feast on appetizers of bruchetta, some random fried dough that reminded me of hushpuppies from eds in rehoboth, and delicious grilled veggies. After that we were served some of the best bolognese I have ever had. Needless to say, I was very satisfied.

The next day we drove throughout Puglia to 3 different beaches. Each more beautiful then the last. The first was a regular sand beach, then a rock beach and then finally a sand beach that appeared more like a lagoon. We had lunches of seafood pasta, grilled veggie salad and a pastry filled with tomato sauce and cheese. Kristina will never be the same after that pastry. We swam all of it off in the clearest, warmest waters i have ever been in.

I loved every minute of being in Puglia, even when I was sweating, cleaning water off the floor of our hotel room from the shower flooding and killing the millions of ants around our room. However, if there's one thing I figured out it isn't about where you are when traveling it is about the people around you. I am very happy to be back in San Demetrio but especially with the people I am in this program with.

There have definitely been moments on this trip where there have been fights and frustration but at the end of the day I can honestly say this is an amazing group of people here. I don't go a day without laughing until I cry or learning something new that makes me appreciate them even more. I know that these friendships will last forever.

I have also learned that even if the view from my balcony isn't of turquoise colored water of the Ionian Sea it doesn't matter. At the end of the day the people of San Demetrio Corone are some of the kindest people I have even come across. They treat us like equals and even when we can't understand what they are saying to us they carry on a conversation with us as if we have lived there our whole lives. After these next two weeks I will honestly miss the people here.

Till the next time I find time to get my butt down the hill xo