I got up at 5:00am on Saturday and the met at Palazza Galenga at 6:00. The bus ride to Napoli took about five hours with a break at the half way point for breakfast. I slept pretty much the whole time. I tried to stay awake because the country is all so beautful, but I haven't gotten much sleep this week, so I suppose it was a good chance to catch up. Napoli was...OK. Its got some really great things to see and do, but we got there right before siesta began, and left just a little while after it ended, so everything was closed while we were there. I spent the day with Tony, Satoshi, Jordan, Winter, and Phil. We had Margherita Pizza and I finished an entire one by myself. Winter and Jordan have managed to rename everyone from our program, which is really hilarious. Some of the names include Will (winter), Gordon (jordan), Patrick (phillip), Tommy (tony), Elizabeth (me), Brad (brenton), and Logan (luke).
After Napoli, we took the bus to Pompei, which was totally awesome! I really enjoyed it. The ruins are all really amazing and the city is a lot bigger than I had expected. Its really impressive that so much has remained for 2,000 years. Our hotel was really nice, and was a good break from my apartment. I even had air conditioning!!! I had a roommate named Brixa (silent x) from India. She was really nice, which was also a nice break from my apartment in Perugia.
On Sunday we went to Capri. Our wake up was at 6:00, and we left at 7:00. We got to Capri at about 10:00, which included the ferry trip. We then took a boat tour around the island, which was beautiful and only took about an hour. For part of the tour we stopped at the Blue Grotto. It was soo beautiful inside! We took small boats into the cave through this tiny opening that was so small we had to lay down to go through it. The inside of the cave is light only by the light that comes through the water from the outside of the cave, which is what makes the cave blue. The ride was oly a few minutes, but definitely worth it.
We spent the rest of the day at the beach! It was wonderful and really felt like summertime! The weather was perfect, and so was the water. I forgot it was going to be salty when I got in because it was so clear, so it suprised me when I got water in my mouth. Haha. We swam for a really long time, and then layed on the beach, and then swam some more, and then layed on the beach for a little while longer. It was a really wonderful break from school. I'm definitely a bit sunburned, but not too bad. A little bit on my face, and then my lower back where Kathy seemed to forget to put any sunscreen. Whoops I guess?
This week is going to be really hectic. In fact, I need to go do some homework right now.
Oh, and the police busted a huge al-Qaeda training post right outside of Perugia. I heard about it earlier today, but because I don't read or watch Italian news, I'm not sure exactly how Italy is responding to it. I'll read some later this week, cause it will take me a while. But here's a bit about it from the BBC... ciao...
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Italy police raid 'terror school'
Italian policemen involved in the Perugia raid
Italian police put a laptop seized in the raid on display
Police in central Italy say they have uncovered a bomb school for Islamist militants after raiding a mosque in Perugia and making three arrests.
Evidence of training in explosives and poisons, and instructions on flying a Boeing 747 were reportedly found.
Police said the suspected cell had links to a group associated with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
They seized the imam and two other men, all Moroccans, and have a warrant for a fourth man believed to be abroad.
We have discovered and neutralised a real 'terror school'
Carlo De Stefano
anti-terrorism police head
The three detainees refused to reply to questions when they were brought before a local magistrate.
Twenty foreign students were also arrested in a related dawn raid and police said that those without residence permits would be deported.
Perugia, a popular tourist destination because of its medieval and Renaissance palaces, is home to Italy's University for Foreigners, where hundreds of students from the Middle East are enrolled in university courses in Italian and other subjects.
The discovery of the alleged terrorist training centre is a matter for serious concern to the Italian authorities, the BBC's David Willey reports from Rome.
Italian Interior Minister Giuliano Amato said it was now necessary to pay close attention to mosques being used for activities unrelated to religion.
Chemicals
The suspects were running an "in-depth operation of instruction and training in the use of weapons and combat techniques suitable for terrorist acts", police said.
Police cars stand outside the Ponte Felcino mosque
The Ponte Felcino mosque is located in a suburb of Perugia
Chemicals - including acids and cyanide - were found in the mosque's cellar and equipment for remote detonation of explosives was also discovered, they added.
"The investigation has shown that... there was a continued training for terrorist activity," anti-terrorism police head Carlo De Stefano said.
"We have discovered and neutralised a real 'terror school,' which was part of a widespread terrorism system made up of small cells that act on their own."
According to the police, the Perugia cell had contacts with two members of the Moroccan Islamic Combat Group arrested around two years ago in Belgium.
The group is believed to have ties to al-Qaeda and has been linked to the 2004 Madrid bombings and 2003 attacks in Casablanca.
The detained men were named as imam Korchi el Moustapha, 41, Mohamed el Jari, 47, and Driss Safika, 46.
'Quiet community'
Officers are reported to have spent two years investigating activities at the mosque.
Between daily prayers, the small mosque at Ponte Felcino doubled as a training camp, a police statement said.
The imam allegedly held courses, showed propaganda messages and made fiery sermons inciting a small group of disciples, some of them children, to join a Holy War.
Map of Italy showing Perugia
The director of the Cultural Institute of the Italian Islamic Community, Sheikh Abdul Adid Palazzi, told BBC News that he was not surprised to hear of the arrests.
"It is the top of the iceberg in our country - like in the rest of Western Europe. Most mosques are controlled by extremist pro-terror organisations - 90% of mosques," he said.
"And I think the percentage is more or less the same in Italy, Britain, France and Germany."
However the imam at the central mosque in Perugia, which has a 10,000-strong Muslim community, said the Ponte Felcino group had not appeared dangerous.
"Generally it's a quiet community," Abdel Qader told Italian news agency Ansa.
"A few made some noise over the international situation but those were just words. We trust justice... and if any [of the suspects] has made a mistake, he will have to pay."
'' -BBC
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