An Introduction and Pictures of Our New Home Away from Home!!!

Greetings from Atlanta, GA.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kevin Cline and I am one of the writers for this blog. I am a Senior at Faulkner University with a major in Youth and Family Ministry. I will be one of the few people giving you the inside look of what is going on with the group while we are in Europe. I hope that you will check this blog for news updates as I will try to update it regularly with pictures, videos, stories and messages from all the travelers while keeping you updated with news that you need to hear. I hope to make it feel like you are right there with us. Also, if you want even more stories and news from Italy, you can check out the links posted on the right side of this blog that leads to my and some of the other travelers private blogs. We hope you enjoy the blog and please stay tuned.


Today, Johnathan Edwards, posted a set of pictures of our home away from home: CITERNA, ITALY. Take a look:











These are just a few of the wonderful things in Citerna. We can't wait to get going. We are within 24 hours before we leave. Be praying for us.

In and because of Him,
Your brother in Christ
KC
Συνέκδημος υμων
(THE FELLOW TRAVELER OF YOU)

Gustav Update

The most recent information on Hurricane Gustav indicates that it will pass substantially to the west of Montgomery, with Louisiana taking the brunt of it. Although of course we are all concerned for the people of New Orleans and its surrounding area, this is a good thing as far as our flights Tuesday are concerned. At the moment, it seems that unless there is some unexpected change in the hurricane's path, our Tuesday morning flight out of Montgomery will not be affected by the storm.

Please continue to pray for the success of our trip and for all who have been and will be affected by the hurricane. Scores of people have already died in the Caribbean because of it.

Updated hurricane information is available at the Weather Channel's website.

Photographs of the Hotel Sobaria

Our group will be staying at the Hotel Sobaria in the hill town of Citerna on the Umbria/Tuscany border. Students will stay on the lower floors (one each for men and women), and faculty will be on the top floor.

For more photographs of the hotel, click here.

Hurricane Gustav Contingency Plan

There is a chance that Hurricane Gustav could interfere with the travel itineraries of the thirteen of us who are scheduled to leave from Montgomery Tuesday morning. However, we probably will not know until Monday whether our flight from Montgomery to Memphis will be canceled.

We do have a contingency plan in place. We are making reservations for two 15-passenger vans that, if necessary, will take the Montgomery group up to Henderson Monday afternoon. Freed-Hardeman can house the group Monday night, and we can then proceed to Memphis Tuesday morning to catch the next leg of the flight to Detroit.

Students leaving from Montgomery need to be prepared to come to campus, packed for departure, on Monday morning if Northwest Airlines issues a weather alert for Montgomery. We will immediately notify everyone as soon as an alert goes out.

In the meantime, pray for all those in the path of the hurricane.

Introduction

I've created this blog to serve as a more-or-less official record of the study abroad trip to Citerna, Italy, in the fall of 2008. A total of 42 students and three professors from Faulkner University and Freed-Hardeman University will be participating.

We are set to leave the U.S. on Tuesday, September 2, and arrive in Rome the following day. This blog will contain information about the group's activities and excursions.