First Impressions

The view from the patio of
the Hotel Tiziano, where we spent
our first few nights.

So let's see. I survived the plane ride over between two Italian men. I almost lost my carry on bag in the airport, but I retrieved it. I made it through customs (they didn't even open our passports), and I found my group!
The first two nights we were in a hotel. We kept busy with group orientation, walking tours, and exploring the city. The third day we moved into our apartment. It is rather large, has nice wood floors, and is completely furnished by Ikea. It is way nicer than what I expected!

The view down my beautiful
street, Giulio Cesare in the
Prati neighborhood.

The first few days of my trip, I was just getting information thrown at me: places, squares, piazzas that I'm constantly getting lost in and discovering and walking in circles around and recognizing landmarks and trying to remember where I live; people that I'm trying to keep track of and remember their names and their schools and if we have much in common; new words and phrases that I'm trying to translate and decipher and remember and pronounce.

Now that it's been almost a week, I feel like I'm starting to settle down.
I'm starting to recognize street names and important buildings, and sometimes I even know where I am. I've been successful enough to get kicked out of St. Peter's Square by the polizia late at night. I've stumbled upon crazy buildings like Castel Sant'Angelo while trying to find my school. I've found the nearest ATM (bancomat) to my apartment, as well as the supermercato, gelateria, and some friendly restaurants in my neighborhood. I've also successfully ridden the metro to a few places.

These are things I now have the
pleasure of seeing every day.

I've fallen into groups of people that I find myself hanging out with more often than not. I know them and already feel comfortable around them. There are other people that I'm still talking to and enjoying getting to know. And then there are a few people that it is harder to get to know for whatever reason.

I've tried, and sometimes failed, to have conversations with the locals. If they know some English, it can go pretty well. If they only speak Italian, I have to rely on their hand gestures. I've learned a few key words and phrases, like "canino" (puppy!), "vorrei..." (I would like..), and "no parlo Italiano," (I don't speak Italian). However, I've found most of the people incredibly friendly and willing to work with us Americans. HOWEVER, I'm still very excited to start taking my most helpful Italian class!

The view from our free portion
of the beach in Sperlonga

When we aren't taking care of paperwork or school documents or permits of stay, we've mostly been walking around and exploring. It's awesome, but it's tiring! Therefore, we rewarded ourselves with the beach. Today we went to Sperlonga, which we heard was the cleanest beach around Rome. It was about a 20 minute metro ride, then an hour long train ride, then a 20 minute bus ride. It was a really nice beach! The water was so clear and a great temperature. We sat in the free part so we didn’t have to pay, but it was a nice way to relax.



Tomorrow is a day of rest and birthday cake for one of my roommates before classes start Monday. I’m excited to get into the groove of a schedule. So far, this trip still feels like a short vacation.