First Days in Roma

Ciao!

Well, I am still a little tired, but getting over the jetlag quickly.  I probably should have gone to bed before 4am last night, but more about that later.

Here is a photo of our room--kind of little, but cute!  The top photo is the view out the window of my hall.  Sooo beautiful!

When we got here, we unpacked and started running from orientation event to orientation event.  Thursday morning, we woke up VERY well rested since we went to bed at 11pm and didn't hit the town.  We went downstairs to the cafe on campus for breakfast, which has really inexpensive breakfast items, and I waltz on up to the counter to ask for a croissant and a glass of milk, cause that sounds delicious.  The man behind the counter tells me that of course he can get me a glass of milk.  He proceeds to pour me this thick, creamy solid-looking substance.  I decided to just give it back and ask him for a glass of non-fat milk.  He laughed at me and told me that didn't exist.  I'm learning a lot here.

After my failed attempt at breakfast, we started our jam-packed day.  We had sessions about academics, and we had a survival Italian class.  So, I took Italian for three quarters so I guess they thought it was OK to put me in the highest level of Italian here, with about 8 other people.  I couldn't even remember how to introduce myself in Italian.  The teacher asked something that required me to count, and I answered her IN FRENCH.  I was failing so hard.  Luckily, when we went out last night, the more I used my Italian, the more it all came back to me.  Now I'm pretty confident getting around Rome.  Below are some photos from convocation last night with my friends Jenny and Olivia who are both Thetas with me at SCU.  The school served Prosecco!  We are living la dolce vita here a Roma.

Last night, we hit the town.  We took the bus.  Let me just tell you, the Italian bus system is an experience.  #1. we always have a bus pass, but we never swipe them.  If the police check tickets, you will at least have them, but no one seems to check it and we don't love declining balances....#2. You never know when the bus is going to show up.  You could wait 40 minutes for the bus and then two buses could show up at once.  Everything is so laid back here, no one seems too concerned about being in a rush.  It's frustrating and relaxing all at once.  Once we got off the bus and switched to another bus outside the Vatican, we headed toward the river.

We walked down to the Tiber River.  I tripped up the stairs, but what else is new.  Along the river, in August, Rome puts on the "Lungo il Tevere", which means along the river.  It's a bunch of booths selling food, fruit, clothes, books, etc.  Every few tents is a bar, and they all have different themes.   One was a Mexican bar/restaurant, one was themed like a beach, complete with sand.  There was live music of all kinds.  It was pretty fun.  We stopped along the river for a bit, and sat down to grab a drink, but eventually walked the entire length of the festival to find a gelato!  I tried the banana. Delicious.

One of the tips we got from the staff here at school was to look for authentic bars and restaurants, not just overpriced tourist traps.  The trick is to head to a busy area and then walk a few blocks down random alleys and streets to find where the Italians are out and about.  We found this great bar and sat outside for a couple hours enjoying the nightlife.  There were three or four bars/restaurants in this alley, so it was packed with locals.

Next we headed to this pretty famous American bar, named Scholars (like us, obviously), in the Centro Storico neighborhood.  I have a bunch of friends who have recommended it, and it seemed like every American in Rome was there at some point in the night.  We got there ridiculously late in the evening, but I walked in to find THE VANDERBILT FOOTBALL GAME PLAYING.  I was in heaven.  When we got home, I was ready to sleep forever. Below is a photo from the Sant'Agnese Church in Piazza Navona late last night as we walked around town.

This morning, we had more talks and orientation events.  The US Embassy came to give a talk on safety abroad.  It was more of a scare-the-kids talk.  He loved telling stories about the various ways we could die in Rome, and included that the embassy can't bail you out of jail, but luckily they can come visit within 48 hours of your arrest and can put in a request that you not be mistreated.  It was very comforting...  Tonight we are going to a group dinner put on by the school out in our neighborhood of Monte Mario.  I'm excited!  I'm sure I'll have plenty of sassy things to update tomorrow!

Buona Sera! (Good evening!), It's 6pm here in Roma!