Wednesday, August 31, 2011

This is Going to be a Looooong One

First off, to all my friends and family back home: I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU! Instead of telling each and every one of you my life, I've got this for you! I've also only shouted Buon giorno principessa ONCE, so I haven't embarrassed the country too much.

And now, without further ado, a very long post about a very short amount of time.

So I finally made it to Rome after months and months of preparation, packing and stressing. I'm really sorry about the lack of pictures in this post, but my camera hasn't been charged yet so what can you do? There will be some eventually though, I promise.

My flight left Philly on Monday at 6:15. We luckily didn't have any issues with Ms. Irene heading through our area at that point, so we left on time and it was wonderful! At the airport, I was calmed by the fact that I knew a bunch of people going, so everything was good. It was like it was freshman year again and I was on a walk to J&H with roughly forty-seven people. No big. I also met a bunch of people and forgot their names right away, so I figured I was off to a pretty normal start.

The flight was looooong, let me tell you that. We got on the plane with no problem, but there were about twenty-one planes in front of us on the runway, and this figure (for once in my life) I'm not exaggerating. So an eight hour flight grew a little bit longer on the ground. It wasn't too bad though. I spent the time learning some Italian, you know. After take-off I watched The Adjustment Bureau, was disappointed by the ending, ate pasta for dinner, and tried to settle into a nice nap to prevent the Jet Lag.

WRONG. There was a baby situated in front of me. And while nobody threw up this plane ride, I would have almost preferred it to a crying baby. Literally every time I was almost asleep, forget about it. There was one point when I wanted to just keep it in the front of the plane, just to share the wealth. Whatever. My lovely boyfriend provided a nice pillow in the form of a lap and I at least got a nice thirty minutes in or so.

After we landed, the airport didn't look too intimidating. I got my passport stamped finally and somehow avoided customs, but I'm not sure how we pulled that one. No luggage was lost, the sun was shining, and we got right on the van to the Residence. It turns out, my random roommate placement was with two people I knew already, Leann and Sarah! And while I'm sad I missed the chance to meet new people, I am MORE than happy to room with these two. Besides, I'll meet people anyway. Even though my room doesn't allow me to hang up the literal hundred pictures I brought, I love it anyway.

Since I've been here, I've gone to the school and met people. The normal things to do. I've also tried to get a Metro pass and somewhat succeeded, phrase book in hand all the way. Doesn't matter that I have to return it to get a different one, I still count the first interaction with someone who doesn't speak English an event. One thing I CAN pull off in Italian is ordering gelato. LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING. If it weren't for me walking everywhere I would come back a different person. Not good if I'm trying to stay in shape and be a runner. But almost worth it. It's going to be a problem.

Last night, we went to the Piazza del Popolo. It was the first moment that it set in that I was in Rome. It was breathtaking and I didn't even bother trying to record it because it was just one of those lame moments that you need to experience. Thankfully, somebody else did it for me! :) There's a lovely park that I'm going to run in, I know. But Rome may have more hills than Schnecksville, so I might be in for a little treat. After that lovely excursion we came back and had a (legal) glass of wine. It's so weird being legal, but I wholeheartedly approve.

I've been eating a lot of fruits since I've been here and it's great just stopping at the Reading Terminal of our street for a peach (pesca) in the morning. But I know I am really going to have to start eating more than fruit and free food. We'll manage. I can do it.

I have my books, some friends, a spirit of adventure, and the time to have an amazing, amazing, amazing semester.

The only question is, will I have enough energy (jetlagholla), money, and Italian skills to do so?

I'll gladly accept donations. :)