Il Colosseo... and other things.

So I went to the Colosseum today! It was amazing. For something you see all the time on TV and in pictures you think that it's sort of big, but then you see it and you're staring at it like

Almost as crazy as 1.21 gigawatts.

Sadly though, it was raining the whole time we were there. And chilly. Not a super awesome Colosseum expedition but we may be going back tomorrow to see it, the Forum, and some other historical monument whose name escapes me. And it's supposed to be sunny. So we shall see.

I went to my first Italian mass the other day. Well, sort of.

After searching endlessly for the mass times, I finally found one that said it started at 10:30. So we get there at 10:35. Not enough to miss most of the service, right? 

Apparently the mass actually started at 10 and we were just incredibly late watching the Italians say the Our Father in a different language and me and my roommates standing there like stooges. Sooo maybe next time there will hopefully be a translation. Or a cue card. Or something.

Went to a flea market after that and bought some sandals. Tonight I'll be getting some dinner and walking around... and of course, putting all the calories I worked off walking back into my body by eating gelato.

#americanforeignstudentproblems

Week one complete!

...only five weeks to go.

I just realized the other day that I will be spending literally every moment in the next five weeks with the same 18 or 19 people. I'm still not sure how to feel about it.

I mean, I'm sure it will be great because it's an opportunity to make new friends and all that. It has been so far. But I'm sure it will get a little crazy when I want time by myself. Though, since I am pretty sure everyone else in the apartment is sleeping right now, this isn't so bad.

That's another thing. Not that I don't love my roommates, but whose idea was it to put 6 girls together? It's been okay so far but really? I'm glad our apartment is big otherwise I'd be going insane.

All in all though everything is great. Went to a place called Ostia Antica the other day, which is an ancient Roman city (now in preserved ruins). With earthquakes and weather in general, the city isn't quite what it was say, ten or 20 years ago. I can only imagine what it would look like in 20 more years.

Time is going so fast. I feel like I just got here yesterday and already a whole week is gone.

Actually, no, it feels like I've been here a while. Probably because I've been so crazy busy the last few days. Sure, I've had free time. But I don't think there has been a day yet where I've just sat down, stayed in, and relaxed.

Not that I don't mind exploring or going on excursions or whatever. Because that's fun too.

I think I need to go back to sleep. This post is going nowhere.

Day 3... and first day of classes.

You know what I miss? Washcloths. They don't exist here.

This morning started off (POURING) sort of early. A couple of my roommates and I went to a nearby cafe for drinks. Cafes, first of all, are all over the place. You can literally find one at every block if you tried hard enough. Same with pizzerias. You can also stand at cafes. If you sit, there's something called a "tavola fee" - meaning, if you have to sit down somewhere, you'll get charged. On the bright side, it's in place of a tip.

It's so nice being in a touristey area, because since we all forget most of our Italian, it's hard to order and, in return, it's hard for them to understand what we're trying to say when we sound like bumbling fools. I'm sure once we start remembering things, it will be much easier. And people won't look at us funny.

Really though, I feel like we walk around with a huge sign on our foreheads that says "AMERICAN." Just saying.

We started our classes today. Conversation and the next level in Italian. Talk about diving into the culture head first.

My roommates and I also made dinner for the first time. Call me a sheltered American, but gas stoves are a pain in the butt. But after messing with it for half an hour we got it to work and I made linguine with marinara. Nomnomnomnom.

Recycling is a pain in the butt too. There are four different colored bags, each one recycles something. One's for food, one's for paper, etc. And each one gets taken a different day of the week. It's actually quite interesting.

Alas, I must go. Not sure when I'll post again - I don't know if anything is going on until Friday (unless, that is, it's something spontaneous). Friday we are taking a day trip to a place called Ostia Antica, an ancient Roman port town. Should be fantastic (and of course, an opportunity for me to take a bagillion pictures). Saturday a group of us may possibly go to Ostia's beach, but I personally would rather not bring my camera. I'll be really pumped to dip my feet into the Mediterranean though.

Hope all is well with you, America. I miss you and your chicken nuggets. And your washcloths.

Il giorno di la tourista.

...that means "the day of the tourist." Meaning myself. Because I felt like a dopey American tourist today.

The morning started out with standing at a bar on a corner cafe asking for espresso. Not gonna lie, if you thought espresso in America was strong, this is MUCH worse. I didn't finish it and the guy gave me a really funny look when I left.

Whoops.

After our orientation and lunch in a cute little cafe (most cafes in Italy have outside seating), we went on a 3 hour tour of Rome. And to be honest, I'm not even sure if we got to the whole city. Monuments and historical sites EVERYWHERE. We visited like 8 different churches but only went inside about 3(?) of them. My favorite was St. Ignatius.

Gorgeous outside, and even better inside.

Take that, Sistine Chapel.

So, this is the ceiling of the St. Ignatius church. I'm not sure if you can tell from this picture, but it's pretty much 3D right? The ceiling is actually flat and it's all an optical illusion. They actually had another one further into the church. If you take a few steps away and look up, this is what it will look like:

Not so 3D anymore.

We saw what was mostly in the historical section of Rome. Basically everything I wanted to see in Rome besides the Vatican and the Colosseum. But we are getting our own tour of the Colosseum and the Vatican museums, so I think I can handle waiting.

After dying from our 3 hour tour, we came back home and people from the host school taught us how to use our apartment. We have like 4 different recycling bags because they're crazy here and recycle a LOT. And we had these weird bugs in one of our bathrooms and there were a lot of minor problems for maintenance to fix.

We had an orientation dinner after that. The restaurant gave us 10 different kinds of appetizers anywhere from cooked onions to bruschettas to cheese and tomatoes (which actually isn't that bad). And that was all before our actual pasta dish. And dessert. In Italy they don't believe in rushing you out of a restaurant (which is awesome) and they also believe in having a full course dinner with antipasti (appetizers), pasta, the main course, and dessert. But to balance it out they don't eat a lot during the day.

A few of my classmates and I went to get gelato afterwards. It wasn't the best, but it was still pretty amazing.

And then we ran home in the rain. Without umbrellas. In skirts and nice clothing.

So that was basically my day. Long, yet I'm still not very tired. The jet lag is pretty much gone which is fantastic. Tomorrow I'm going to a fresh fruit market with some friends and then going off to my first day of Italian class. 

...and I forget almost everything. So it will be an interesting experience.

Ciao, y'all.

And the journey begins...

What I learned about long distance flights:
- The food isn't extremely bad...
- They at least give you good movie choices. (I watched Captain America AND Beauty and the Beast. Aww yeah.)
- The flight attendants (and everyone else in the airport, for that matter) are very, very miserable people.

Oh yeah, and I really don't like long distance flights.

On the bright side, I got to watch good movies, a flight attendant reminded me faintly of Robert Downey Jr., and the kid sitting beside me looked like a mix of Bruno Mars and this kid that was in one of my classes last semester. Actually I have no idea how that's on the bright side. It's just kinda there.

I really wish I would've taken my camera today when I was going on excursions with some people in the group. We ate our first real Italian pizza - there was a really thin layer of cheese and you could taste the olive oil. Then we went walking around, saw a football (soccer ball, in 'Merrican terms) among other trash floating in a river (disgusting, really) and possibly a bagillion places selling pizza and booze. We even saw the Colosseum from a distance but then it started to rain so we had to go back. Sad, sad times.

Tonight there's a dinner and then I'm probably collapsing on my bed until tomorrow morning. Literally collapsing. Jet lag's no fun. And the plane was so crampy I couldn't get comfortable.

I decided today that taking a flight first class will be put on my bucket list for that reason.

Really though, words can't describe how blessed I feel to have this opportunity. It will be the start of something fantastic, I can just feel it.

Hope all you readers in 'Merrica are well. And if you aren't, you should be.

I usually like planes, but...

16 hours on a plane doesn't quite sound enthralling. By any means.

First of all, there's all the crap you have to get through first. Like bag checking and security.

 This about sums it up for me.

Don't get me wrong, the actual flight itself isn't too bad. I like flying. Except, of course, when there's turbulence.

via Pinterest

Not to mention, I really hate sitting next to people I don't know. It can be really awkward sitting right next to someone who falls asleep next to you and their limbs are all up in your personal seat space. Kinda like this:

via Pinterest

Poor soul.

And of course the obvious reason.

Motherf'ing snakes on a motherf'ing plane.

via Pinterest

Just kidding. Sort of.

I'm looking forward to it at the same time though, in all seriousness. I bought The Hunger Games (so I can finally see what all the book fuss is about) and seriously hoping the airline can give me something to watch. Being bored and uncomfortable with so many people you don't know can be pretty intense.

Meanwhile, I still have things to do, packing to finish, and friends to see. Sounds like a long list, but in reality I'm just doing something like this:

But then again, I log on to Pinterest or some other thing, and see pictures like this:

And it makes everything alright.

Rest easy, all. I'll write again when I have something else to say. Or, in the case of today, I'm just ignoring my responsibilities.........

XO

Preparations

So it's official. I leave for Italy in 8 days.

EIGHT. DAYS.

Where did the time go? Beats me. I feel like I just got home like, two days ago. When really it was two weeks ago.

After trying to purchase the ticket all day yesterday (and using 3 different cards because the first two wouldn't work) I finally got to booking a weekend trip for the island of Capri, Sorrento, and Pompeii. My inner Humanities nerd is freaking out. But really, it's much more than historical - black sand beaches, wine tasting, private boat tours... this weekend has it all. Basically almost everything I wanted to do will be in that weekend.

Of course, there's still a couple places on my list, and without realizing it, my weekends are filling up fast.

First, the Vatican. Of course, I won't really have to worry about that because
a) we'll be living practically RIGHT NEXT TO IT.
and b) we're getting a tour of the Vatican Museum while we're there. Like, what?

Second (and probably most obvious), Calabria. The region my grandpa was born in. I don't really care if I have to travel on my own to get there, I plan on getting my butt there somehow.

Third would be, well, anywhere I can get to within my budget. Even though we'll already be in Roma itself.

But I still have a lot to do in the week I have left. I have to pick up my euros, get out and buy things for the trip (because I think toothpaste is pretty darn important), and of course see everyone I possibly can before leaving. Oh, and eating American food.

yup.

I would say apple pie... but I don't really like apple pie...

But now I must go. I have some phone calls to make before I go to lunch with the best friend I haven't seen since January. Then possibly either going to see the Hunger Games or (what I would prefer) seeing The Avengers... for the third time. Because I have an obsession with that movie...

Or maybe just these two...