So it has obviously been a while since I have written in this journal, so there is a lot to catch you up on.
Since the last time I wrote in the blog I have had to quit school due to lack of funds.
We have sold out house in Minnesota.
My brother has rented an apartment and moved out, taking 2 of our cats with him.
We had to give our 2 dogs away. Sad, I know, but they are in great places so I am not worried. I know they will be happy where they are.
We are bringing our other 4 cats with us to Italy.
The city that we have finally decided on living in and going to school in is Perugia. It is in the providence of Umbria. We have enrolled in the Universita Per Stranieri. (The university for foreigners). We start July 1st, but due to difficulties getting our visas (which I will go further into) we are having to arrive in Italy on the 4th and start school late.
We have a flat rented not far from the Universita. It is a two level flat, with 2 beds, fully furnished and a balcony. It is really small though, but we only plan to be there to sleep.
There is too much to explore to be inside our flat all day long. About a week after we arrive in Perugia, they are holding the Umbria Jazz
Festival featuring acts such as The Count Basie Orchestra, Scott Hamilton, Tony Bennett, Diana Ross, Cassandra Wilson, George Benson, Al Jarreau, and last but certainly not least, Sir Elton John. WOW! Unfortunately the tickets have long since been sold out and they run around 500 dollars a piece. However, that does not mean we don't have a shot of running into them... 
Later in October, Perugia is holding the world chocolate festival. A woman's heaven.... For more info on this, click here. Perugia's Chocolate Fest. .
So back to present time. Right now we have been living in and out of hotels in Minnesota and Illinois for about a month. Since our house sold at the end of May we have needed a place to stay, but they also had to accept pets. Let me tell you how much trouble it is to fine nice places to stay that accept cats. Anyway. Last Friday we came to Chicago to turn in our applications for our student visas. Here is where the problems started piling up.
My school acceptance letter has not come in the mail yet, even though they sent it priority. They faxed a copy over to the Italian consulate, but I don't know if that will do.
Then, our housing agreement said that we were renting our flat for a whole -1 day. Yes, you did read that right. The dates were from July 1st, 2005 to June 30th, 2005. Of course they meant to put June 30th, 2006, but we had to have proof of that. So of course we have to call Italy and have them fax over a copy with the correct dates.
Then.....The consulate wants to have more information about the classes we are taking, and also our acceptance letters from the school state that they have received our "Requests" to attend their school. Even though we have paid and have proof of that, the consulate wants a letter saying that we have been accepted. So we have had to call Italy and ask them to fax over copies saying that we have been accepted. The lady in Italy says that it is not normal for them to send that, and that she will ask her boss and fax it over asap....
That was 2 days ago and we still have yet to see that fax. Mind you our plane for Italy leaves this Sunday and we need to have our visas by Friday. YIKES! Hopefully they will come thru and we will get them in time.
So until then, we still, wait, and keep going to the consulate every morning to get an update. Although there is a lot to do here in Chicago, we don't have any extra money to spend so we just hang in our hotel and wait. I will post on here what happens. Til then here are pictures of Perugia. Enjoy!
Since the last time I wrote in the blog I have had to quit school due to lack of funds.
We have sold out house in Minnesota.
My brother has rented an apartment and moved out, taking 2 of our cats with him.
We had to give our 2 dogs away. Sad, I know, but they are in great places so I am not worried. I know they will be happy where they are.
We are bringing our other 4 cats with us to Italy.
The city that we have finally decided on living in and going to school in is Perugia. It is in the providence of Umbria. We have enrolled in the Universita Per Stranieri. (The university for foreigners). We start July 1st, but due to difficulties getting our visas (which I will go further into) we are having to arrive in Italy on the 4th and start school late.
We have a flat rented not far from the Universita. It is a two level flat, with 2 beds, fully furnished and a balcony. It is really small though, but we only plan to be there to sleep.
There is too much to explore to be inside our flat all day long. About a week after we arrive in Perugia, they are holding the Umbria Jazz
Festival featuring acts such as The Count Basie Orchestra, Scott Hamilton, Tony Bennett, Diana Ross, Cassandra Wilson, George Benson, Al Jarreau, and last but certainly not least, Sir Elton John. WOW! Unfortunately the tickets have long since been sold out and they run around 500 dollars a piece. However, that does not mean we don't have a shot of running into them... 
Later in October, Perugia is holding the world chocolate festival. A woman's heaven.... For more info on this, click here. Perugia's Chocolate Fest. .
So back to present time. Right now we have been living in and out of hotels in Minnesota and Illinois for about a month. Since our house sold at the end of May we have needed a place to stay, but they also had to accept pets. Let me tell you how much trouble it is to fine nice places to stay that accept cats. Anyway. Last Friday we came to Chicago to turn in our applications for our student visas. Here is where the problems started piling up.
My school acceptance letter has not come in the mail yet, even though they sent it priority. They faxed a copy over to the Italian consulate, but I don't know if that will do.
Then, our housing agreement said that we were renting our flat for a whole -1 day. Yes, you did read that right. The dates were from July 1st, 2005 to June 30th, 2005. Of course they meant to put June 30th, 2006, but we had to have proof of that. So of course we have to call Italy and have them fax over a copy with the correct dates.
Then.....The consulate wants to have more information about the classes we are taking, and also our acceptance letters from the school state that they have received our "Requests" to attend their school. Even though we have paid and have proof of that, the consulate wants a letter saying that we have been accepted. So we have had to call Italy and ask them to fax over copies saying that we have been accepted. The lady in Italy says that it is not normal for them to send that, and that she will ask her boss and fax it over asap....
That was 2 days ago and we still have yet to see that fax. Mind you our plane for Italy leaves this Sunday and we need to have our visas by Friday. YIKES! Hopefully they will come thru and we will get them in time.
So until then, we still, wait, and keep going to the consulate every morning to get an update. Although there is a lot to do here in Chicago, we don't have any extra money to spend so we just hang in our hotel and wait. I will post on here what happens. Til then here are pictures of Perugia. Enjoy!
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