Ciao to everybody there.... So,you all are coming here in Perugia.GREAT! Ops,sorry....I'm Michele,and I live in Perugia. My girlfriend is from Maryland and she came to study Italian too.So I can understand if you're worried to find a good accomodation...and everything else. Well....I'm here and I'll be glad to help you if you will need anything. I wish you good times here in Italy...ciao
Katie here, I am writing from an Internet Cafe in Perugia and it is so great here. Thanks to this message board and the power of the internet (and Claire's intrepid advice) Erika from the boards is sitting right next to me!
Say hi Erika: "Perugia is great, we are having a great time and I am glad to have met Katie, my partner in crime for the year" says Erika from the computer next to me! (I promise! ;-)
Got here Friday night after 16 hours of travel and have been staying the hostel. Was so lucky as I got my year long study visa just one day before I flew out of New York! It was crazy but I am so happy to have it. I am also very fortunate because my first night here I met a German girl who had done the same course we did and knew someone who had a bedroom to let for the month of october! Was so relieved as that meant I did not have to do a mad hunt for an apt. but now have time to look for something proper. Can you believe in less than 4 hours of arriving in Perugia, I had an apt., had a great pizza, and some great wine and new friends!
Claire, you are right, Perugia is so charming. The city is so beautiful. I am staying on the Corso Cavour for now and am really glad I didnt give all my money to an agency. Erika is going to walk me through what I need to get for the permesso di soggiorno and I think I will go there tomorrow for the first time of what will probably be many visits! (Erika has been there 4 times already!) We will take the placement test on wednesday...will let you know how it goes.
In short, it is fabulous here, if anyone is in Perugia (Michele?) and wants to meet up or has any questions about this whole thing, email me.
Claire, thanks again for all your advice! I can't wait to buy you a glass of vino here and say thank you in person!
Ciao Katie, I'm so glad you're so excited about living here in Perugia.You're right,it's really a pretty town, for its historycal buildings, its landscape, and also its UNI for foreigners. Yes,thanks to you all because made us more open minded than before. Yes, Italy is beautiful, Italian people are good and interesting persons (usually), but there are also many other wonderful countries and people abroad. By the way.... Do you like italian food and a good glass of wine? Why don't your girlfriend and you come to make me a visit? I own a restaurant in the centre of the town,just up to S.Ercolano' s stairs. So close to Corso Cavour. The name of the restaurant is ALTEREGO! Wait for you, Ciao
MIchele
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Katie and Erika, I'm so glad you found Perugia, each other, accommodation and, hopefully sooner rather than later, your PDS!
Make sure you keep us all updated about your experiences and your adventures. I'll be expecting that when I arrive it will be you who is showing me around!
Michele, how wonderful that a local has joined our discussion. We will have to make it our mission to visit your restaurant.
So happy to hear that everything has been easier than you thought it would be on your arrival in PG. It certainly hasn't taken long for PG to work its charm on you! I'm not really surprised as I remember my first days in PG (many years ago!) and how I just wandered around the streets open mouthed at all the fascinating things I was seeing. And, yes, I found my home in PG through people I met on the 3rd or 4th day. I'm still friends with my landlady and visit her with delight when I'm there.
Good luck with the room hunting for November on, Katie. You'll be able to relax a bit about the search and I've no doubt that you'll find something suitable for the long winter months that await you. Erika, have you found a comfortable nest? Good luck, too, for the placement tests on Wednesday.
Michele, how thoughtful of you to post your best wishes and offer of support if necessary. It's always reassuring for us parents to think that there is someone locally who can help out with some advice - it is a daunting task for foreigners to understand the layers of Italian culture and life (not to mention the bureaucracy)
Keep us posted about how you're going with the test, the accommodation and anything else you think might help others interested in studying in this wonderful city!
Thanks to everyone for the kind words..this will be quick but I promise more soon...all is well, but I wanted to warn anyone who is budgeting their trip to UPG that the school raised their prices unannounced! It is now 300 Euros a month instead of 233 for the language and culture course. The good news is that if you pay for all three months at once, you only pay 750 euros. Other than that unpleasant surprise and the joys of inscritizione (paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork!) all is good. One cool thing which yàll may or may not know about is that anyone can attend lectures at the Univerista di Perugia free. That means if your Italian is good enough you could sit in on classes with other Italians and learn about history, philosophy, whatever you want. Today I sat in on a microbiology course with my Italian friend and learned the italian words for sexual and asexual reproduction of funghi and spores. Good times.
Michele, I will definitely swing by Alterego. Thanks for the invite!
Hey Katie, great that you're sharing such info with us. Need to ask, is there such thing as registration fee or whatever extra fee that needs to be paid when enrolling? I looked in their online guide and could not find info on that. I'm going on the ministry scholarship, so I have to pay according to monthly fee, I'm just gonna put aside 500 Euro for the uni part for my 3 mths. Can you girls roughly tell me if 300 - 350 Euro is enough for a mth's expenditure.. (excluding rental n bills). Also, if I budget 300 for a room per mth (a room all to myself), is that do-able?
Sorry to ask so many questions.... I'm just about to start doing my budgeting now for all my needs. and it's killing me already. haha
You said you're living in Corso Cavour right? Well, do you know Sant'Ercolano stairs? On the top of this street you're in via Oberdan, right?Good.Turn left and straight on for 20 mt.The restaurant is on your left (in front of the Erboristeria). The Entry is small and I figure you'll be surprised when you will be inside! Come,I look forward to make you try our food and wines. You know, 2 years ago I started a artistic project in the restaurant named "ZEN GARDEN PROJECT", and since last wednesday an American artist made the new installation! HEr name is LISA WADE. Make us a visit, you will enjoy it.
Hi, Thank you Saint Bambi for this very useful tip on your discussion about Perugia! I enjoyed reading all of it! Specially Katie, it was really exciting following your plans and then the actual arrival! I´am glad that you like it! I´am one of those that are planning to study in Italy. Have studied few weeks in Sicily this summer and want to stay in one place a little longer (there was actually an american girl in Sicily, Cefalu, named Katie, it wasn´t you by any chance??) I´am slightly older that most of you , 37 now (don´t know how it happened though..) and was wondering if there are any others 30+ students in Perugia?? I have also done some research on different schools. Siena University does not do long term courses from next year, but I found a school Dante Alighieri in Castelraimondo and they offer a good price: 740 euro for the course, accomodation and all activites. Have anyone heard of it?
There are plenty of over 30's at the Uni for Foreigners, Margareta,and also at the Italian University. This is one of the factors which makes Perugia so attractive a proposition - there's something or someone there for everyone! It is easy to get to from almost everywhere and is the centre of an excellent transport hub so that it is easy to go seeing and doing things.
I haven't heard of the Dante Alighieri school in Castelraimondo but I am sure it is very good.
You might like to think of the following factors when you come to choose a place to study Italian:
1) Has it got a good reputation? 2) Is it affordable and with plenty of available student accommodation? 3) Is there a big enough student body to allow for all sorts of people of different ages, nationalities, language ability, interests etc ? 4) Does it offer a varied programme with a mix of courses for varying levels of student language ability? 5) Is the town/city where it is located large enough to offer a variety of cultural and fun activities and options on a regular basis but small enough to allow the student to feel part of a community. (The larger the city the more impersonal people tend to be so you need an environment where you feel comfortable talking in your new target language.) 6)
[QUOTE]Originally posted by valda: There are plenty of over 30's at the Uni for Foreigners, Margareta,and also at the Italian University. This is one of the factors which makes Perugia so attractive a proposition - there's something or someone there for everyone! It is easy to get to from almost everywhere and is the centre of an excellent transport hub so that it is easy to go seeing and doing things.
I haven't heard of the Dante Alighieri school in Castelraimondo but I am sure it is very good.
You might like to think of the following factors when you come to choose a place to study Italian:
1) Has it got a good reputation? 2) Is it affordable and with plenty of available student accommodation? 3) Is there a big enough student body to allow for all sorts of people of different ages, nationalities, language ability, interests etc ? 4) Does it offer a varied programme with a mix of courses for varying levels of student language ability? 5) Is the town/city where it is located large enough to offer a variety of cultural and fun activities and options on a regular basis but small enough to allow the student to feel part of a community. (The larger the city the more impersonal people tend to be so you need an environment where you feel comfortable talking in your new target language.) 6)Is there a good transport network to allow easy access to other interesting places?
Good luck for your search for the perfect language school for you!
Wow, what a thread we have going here. I actually ran into a the French girl who posted here the other day, Aurora--what a surreal and sweet meeting! Michele, thanks for the directions...will go a presto!
As far as budgeting, I would say 900 Euros a month all inclusive (300 euros for the Uni fees if you dont have a scholarship, about 300 for rent,and then 300 food, money to go out etc.) is reasonable, if not an extravagant lifestyle. This is roughly the budget I am on and it works for me...basically, like anywhere, how much you want to go out to bars are clubs. Go out more than a few nights a week and you can quickly go over budget, but do not fret.
This allows for 10 euros a day, which means you could still eat out one meal or have a a few glasses of wine and perhaps pasta for lunch and be fine. Wine here is cheap 3-5 euros for a bottle in a store, about 14-18 at an enoteca (wine bar), and usually about 3 euros in a bar or pub. Take away food (paninos, kebabs, the ever yummy piadine) is usally about 3 euros. Rent in the center for a single room in a 3 bedroom apartment can be anywhere from 250-350 euros. Do not forget you need to usually put down a months rent or two as a deposit. Definitely, definitely try to live with Italians. It is the only way to learn the language for the little things, like the verb "to iron" or the word for hangers!
Okay, hope that was a bit more specific. Compared to New York, Perugia is a bargain, so although my money is going faster that I would like (Sai come! Isnt that always how it goes!) In NYC, for example, you could easily pay 12 dollars just for a glass of wine and drop a grand a month on rent!
Everything is good here, let me know if yall have more questions.
Just an update now that I've actually made it to Perugia...
I've met up with Kathleen (Ladiekadie) and we have been out a lots of times together. Perugia is the ultimate student town. Even in the depths of winter there is a crowd of students hanging out on the steps of the Duomo at 2am on a Tuesday!
The classes at the Uni are really good. I'm in the Third Level, and we are doing a lot of consolidation of grammar we should already know (which of course I don't, never having studied Italian before!) My class, which only has about 17 people in it as it's the middle of winter, is full of people from all over the world - Aussies, Germans, Swedes, Russians, Brazilians, Paraguayans - to name but a few. Italian is often our only common language and you have no choice but to use it. My Italian is improving in leaps and bounds, although would be better if I studied more (but with so much other stuff to do here who wants to STUDY?!?!)
Perugia is definitely THE place to be. All my cousins who have had to move away from Perugia for work are all desperate to come back. I also met a couple of Aussie backpackers in the supermarket today who are "just" passing through Perugia on their way to Tuscany, and are absolutely enchanted with the place.
So, if there's anyone out there wanting a really cool Italian Experience, I can only say - Perugia should be in your itinerary!
Aurore, pour les francophones l'italien n'est vraiment pas un problème - Le seul problème que j'avais à Pérouse, c'est que j'avais beaucoup d'amis du Maghreb et de l'Afrique noire francophone ... qui voulaient parler français.
I'll continue in English so everyone understands - I really enjoyed Perugia when I studied there ... almost 20 years ago. Despite some Perugians who are a bit haughty, but polite. I did have Italian friends who had friends there - a big help. My first night in Perugia was an evening out for pizza, wine and conversation with the Perugian friend (a professor at the Italian University) and a girl from Paris whom I met on the train from there - from Montréal it was much cheaper to fly to Paris - who is still a friend.
A major benefit of Perugia is that it is about half way between Florence and Rome, so if you feel the need to immerse yourself in the life of a larger city, it is easy to do so. I do confess I'd find Reggio Calabria rather out of the way, and the local dialect spoken by the townsfolk is far removed from standard Italian, unlike Umbrian.
I also studied in the beautiful town of Udine, in Frioul (Université de Montréal had bursaries for both Udine and Perugia) but there again, Friulan is a language in its own right, not really understandable for someone with university Italian - though everyone does speak a sort of Venetian Italian as well.
Posts: 868 | Location: Montréal | Registered: 29 January 2006
What an awesome forum! I can't tell you how long I've been scouring the internet to find fellow Perugia students, and now I've finally found what I've been looking for! I'm not sure if anyone checks this forum anymore, but if anybody happens to see my post, I would love to hear about your experiences in Perugia this past year. I will be going to the Uni per stranieri in Perugia for the one month intensive course in July. I am getting really excited about the trip, but like all of you before me, I'm also getting nervous about finding an accomodation. Now that many of you have had the experience of living in Perugia, do you have any specific apartments or landlords/ladies you would reccomend? Since July is one of the busiest tourist months I'm a little worried about just showing up and finding a place once I'm in Perugia. There's also that big Umbria Jazz festival all July (I can't wait!), which might make finding a place to sleep more difficult. But if I knew of a few good places to check out as soon as I arrived, I'd feel much more comfortable just getting a hostel for the first few nights and then booking an apartment as soon as I could.
Anyway, I hope everyone is having or did have an awesome time in Perugia! I'm hoping maybe we can revive this board and maybe the alumni can reminisce while us newbies can pick up some good advice and Perugia wisdom!
Ciao, Curtis
Posts: 2 | Location: Indianapolis, IN USA | Registered: 28 May 2006
Yes, we've all lived the dream, and had a great time! One of my friends from PG is actually to Verona to visit me on Tuesday - can't wait!
First thing I'll comment on is your choice to do an intensive course. I did an ordinary course of 20 hours a week and I can tell you it was exhausting! Unless there is a specific reason why you have to do an intensive course I'd urge you to reconsider. Doing an ordinary course will allow you a bit more free time to get out, explore Perugia, be with the friends you'll make, and use your Italian outside the classroom (and also have fun at Umbria Jazz!)
Accommodation can be a matter of your comfort zone and your budget. I personally think that all my friends who found accommodation through Atena got ripped off. They paid too much for mediocre accommodation. However, the advantage was that they were mostly housed with other foreigners and this was great for going out, doing daytrips together etc. My friends who found their own accommodation with Italian students (and there won't be many Italian students around in July) paid less, spoke better Italian, but didn't get out and about as much. There always seem to be "want ads" for tenants in Perugia though, and I've never heard of anyone having trouble finding their own accommodation. Sorry I can't suggest any particular landlords.
I hope this helps. You'll have a great time in PG, it's an awesome town.
