Ciao! I have gone through almost all of my classes as of today and I'm pretty excited about all of them! Yesterday morning I had Elementary Italian. My professor is really sweet. She actually taught Italian for 10 years in the U.S. at Buffalo State and C.W. Post! I think that I am going to catch on to the language pretty easily because there are so many similarities with Spanish, and because I am able to practice the vocabulary around the city everyday! When you learn a language in high school or anywhere in America, it is hard to become fluent because you are not put into an environment where everyone is speaking that language. I'm hoping I will return home with a strong grasp on Italian!
After my early Italian class, some of my roommates and I walked around the area in which our school is located. We got lunch at a Panini place and I got Prosciutto which was delicious:) We found a bookstore where we bought our Italian textbooks, as well as some notebooks. I was happy to find some notebooks for just 1.50 each. At 3:00 I had my film class, Fellini. The class seems like it will be interesting, but maybe just a tad boring because we watch movies and I always get tired around that time haha. But we are going to go on some trips around the city to see where some of the films were made which will be cool.
Last night I got pizza at a pizzeria on my street which was really good. It was kind of like a flat bread with olives and tomatoes baked into it. Later at night we took a walk to the gelatteria down the block and I got nutella flavored gelato :)
Today was another early day with my 9AM History of Architecture class. The class is different than anything I've ever studied before so I'm interested to see how I will like it. I am also just eager to learn about all of the architecture that I'm living amongst. Almost every one of our class sessions is an on-site class so I'm sure it will be a lot of fun!
After my morning class I came back to my apartment to do some grocery shopping. It's really annoying to grocery shop here because you can only get a few things at a time because you have to walk it a few blocks back to your apartment. I found some packages that have enough prosciutto and provolone cheese for about 2 sandwiches which is good. I also got some iced tea, soda, yogurt, and cereal.I figured I would get mostly breakfast foods because I'm often out during the day to get other meals.
At 3 I had my first Ancient Rome class. The professor is really nice and I'm excited for the class to start. I've always loved history but I've never been that interested in ancient history. However I think that being able to see everything as we learn about it will make the subject much more interesting. This class will also be taking a lot of trips around Rome which will be awesome.
Random tidbit: I love how almost all of my professors have commented on my Italian last name, pronounced it correctly, and asked me where my family is from. My Ancient Rome professor told me I should go to Naples and Sicily (where my great grandparents are from). I definitely want to go if I can.
After class I just came home, made pasta for dinner, and relaxed. I'm really excited for this weekend because we decided to just stay in Rome because Northern Italy is expected to get a lot of snow this weekend. I'm excited to explore more parts of the city and try new restaurants. Our advisor from our school suggested we try to go to appertivo. Appertivo is when you can pay about 8 euro for one drink, and all you can eat food. It usually takes place from 7-9pm. Sounds like a deal to me!!
Until next time, xoxo
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Weekend
This weekend was filled with activities! On Saturday we went to the Colosseum and Palentine. We took the Metro to the "Colosseo" stop and the Colosseum is literally right there once you exit the metro stop. It was absolutely incredible. We waited on a pretty lengthy line in order to get inside of the Colosseum. Europeans apparently do not understand lines and therefore everyone was cutting everybody. We eventually made it inside and it was just as cool. The only bad part was that because we didn't have a tour guide or anything, I kind of felt like I didn't know what I was looking at. Hopefully once of my classes will take us there on a trip so I can get a better understanding of it all.
After our day around the Colosseum we came home and relaxed, made some pasta for dinner, and then went out to an Irish Pub called Scholars. A lot of students that are studying in Rome go there so it was refreshing to hear a lot of English:) We stayed out pretty late and so we slept in today. Our ticket to enter the Colosseum, Palentine, and the Roman Forum was valid for 2 days so we thought that we would come back today in order to see the Forum. However, most of the city shuts down on Sundays and we got to the Forum too late to go inside. I wasn't that bummed, because I know that I will go back again when people come to visit and maybe even with some of my classes. Instead, we just walked around a park that's near the Forum. At around 5 o'clock everyone was pretty hungry, but it was very difficult to find an open restaurant. We stumbled upon a tiny little place and I got some pizza. Im eager to find more restaurants so I know where my favorite places are and whatnot. Tonight we just hung out to get ready for classes in the morning. I think we might go to Venice next weekend for Carnevale which will be awesome! I will update this week about my classes!! xoxo
After our day around the Colosseum we came home and relaxed, made some pasta for dinner, and then went out to an Irish Pub called Scholars. A lot of students that are studying in Rome go there so it was refreshing to hear a lot of English:) We stayed out pretty late and so we slept in today. Our ticket to enter the Colosseum, Palentine, and the Roman Forum was valid for 2 days so we thought that we would come back today in order to see the Forum. However, most of the city shuts down on Sundays and we got to the Forum too late to go inside. I wasn't that bummed, because I know that I will go back again when people come to visit and maybe even with some of my classes. Instead, we just walked around a park that's near the Forum. At around 5 o'clock everyone was pretty hungry, but it was very difficult to find an open restaurant. We stumbled upon a tiny little place and I got some pizza. Im eager to find more restaurants so I know where my favorite places are and whatnot. Tonight we just hung out to get ready for classes in the morning. I think we might go to Venice next weekend for Carnevale which will be awesome! I will update this week about my classes!! xoxo
Friday, January 27, 2012
Days 2 and 3
Ciao! Yesterday we went to school for some orientation meetings. School is only about a 5 minute metro ride away from our apartment which is really convenient! Some of our advisors talked about the rules and regulations of the school. Someone from the U.S. Embassy also came to talk about safety and security in Rome. She told us some scary stories which appropriately frightened us all a little bit, and just reminded us to always be extra cautious and to stick together. After the orientation, our advisor took us on a tour of the area around our school. She told us about some shops and restaurants that we can go to in between our classes. Next we walked over to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. It was a beautiful day and I took a lot of great pictures!
After we did some sightseeing we came home and decided to do some grocery shopping. It was interesting trying to figure out all of the Italian equivalents to food we like to eat. I'm hoping that I can find some sort of goldfish/Cheez-it equivalent because they are my favorite:) I bought some pasta, Special K Bars, Nutella, of course some juice and soda. It's going take a little bit to figure out what exactly to buy, how often, and whatnot. Last night we went out to dinner at a restaurant near Campo di Fiori. I had Rigatoni with pesto which was delicious! We had some other orientations early this morning. Of course, there was a public transportation strike this morning so we had to leave a lot earlier than necessary. For now we are just relaxing until tonight. We'll probably go out to dinner again which will be fun!
I'll update this weekend! xoxo
After we did some sightseeing we came home and decided to do some grocery shopping. It was interesting trying to figure out all of the Italian equivalents to food we like to eat. I'm hoping that I can find some sort of goldfish/Cheez-it equivalent because they are my favorite:) I bought some pasta, Special K Bars, Nutella, of course some juice and soda. It's going take a little bit to figure out what exactly to buy, how often, and whatnot. Last night we went out to dinner at a restaurant near Campo di Fiori. I had Rigatoni with pesto which was delicious! We had some other orientations early this morning. Of course, there was a public transportation strike this morning so we had to leave a lot earlier than necessary. For now we are just relaxing until tonight. We'll probably go out to dinner again which will be fun!
I'll update this weekend! xoxo
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
I made it!
Ciao from Roma! I successfully made it to my Roman apartment! These past two dyas have been the longest of my life!
My flight left New York on Tuesday at about 5:30 PM, and I arrived in Rome at about 7:45 am on Wednesday. The flight was okay, I was in and out of sleep but it just felt extremely long (which it was). My legs were killing me by the the time we landed and I couldn't wait to just walk around on my feet. I navigated the airport pretty easily because all of the signs had English translations. I got my passport stamped, waited for my luggage, and then found some other students from my school waiting to meet up with our advisor. At about 9:30 our advisors Barbara and Davide arrived at the airport. They distributed our keys to our apartments and helped us get in taxis to get to our apartment. We arrived about 30 minutes later. However, our taxi driver didn't drop us off at the exact address, so we had to do a little navigating, but eventually we found our place. Next we had to figure out how to get in to our apartment, which took about 3 girls and 12 different keys until we finally got it right. It's definitely going to take lots of practice! Here are some pictures of my apartment:
After we got to our apartment we decided to explore the area. We knew that we lived close to the Vatican so we thought we'd try to find it. We waked a couple of blocks, and we saw St. Peter's Basilica. It was so awesome to see the huge dome just a few blocks away from our apartment. Before we ventured off to the Vatican we ate some lunch at an outdoor pizza place. I got a margherita pizza and the four of us got a bottle of wine to share (because we could.) :) Then we went to the Vatican, took tons of pictures, and went inside the Basilica. The inside is so amazing. It's crazy to think about all of the detailing and hours that went into the design of the Church.
After we explored the Vatica, we went back to our apartment and finished unpacking. Later in the day we got some gelato, and nthe rest of our roommates arrived. We're all so exhausted and are going to bed soon because we have Orientation early in the morning. Arrivederci!
My flight left New York on Tuesday at about 5:30 PM, and I arrived in Rome at about 7:45 am on Wednesday. The flight was okay, I was in and out of sleep but it just felt extremely long (which it was). My legs were killing me by the the time we landed and I couldn't wait to just walk around on my feet. I navigated the airport pretty easily because all of the signs had English translations. I got my passport stamped, waited for my luggage, and then found some other students from my school waiting to meet up with our advisor. At about 9:30 our advisors Barbara and Davide arrived at the airport. They distributed our keys to our apartments and helped us get in taxis to get to our apartment. We arrived about 30 minutes later. However, our taxi driver didn't drop us off at the exact address, so we had to do a little navigating, but eventually we found our place. Next we had to figure out how to get in to our apartment, which took about 3 girls and 12 different keys until we finally got it right. It's definitely going to take lots of practice! Here are some pictures of my apartment:
After we got to our apartment we decided to explore the area. We knew that we lived close to the Vatican so we thought we'd try to find it. We waked a couple of blocks, and we saw St. Peter's Basilica. It was so awesome to see the huge dome just a few blocks away from our apartment. Before we ventured off to the Vatican we ate some lunch at an outdoor pizza place. I got a margherita pizza and the four of us got a bottle of wine to share (because we could.) :) Then we went to the Vatican, took tons of pictures, and went inside the Basilica. The inside is so amazing. It's crazy to think about all of the detailing and hours that went into the design of the Church.
After we explored the Vatica, we went back to our apartment and finished unpacking. Later in the day we got some gelato, and nthe rest of our roommates arrived. We're all so exhausted and are going to bed soon because we have Orientation early in the morning. Arrivederci!
Monday, January 23, 2012
Today's the day!
It is officially January 24th, the day I depart for Rome. I will be spending approximately 4 months studying in Rome at Lorenzo de' Medici. I have spent the past few days trying to fit my life in 2 suitcases. Although it was very difficult and I will most likely be paying some overweight fees, I successfully fit 4 months' worth of clothes, shoes, and other necessities in my new lightweight spinner luggage. The nerves are beginning to kick in...I don't speak Italian, I don't know my future roommates, and well...I'm going to be living in a foreign country for 4 months. Nevertheless I am extremely excited and anxious to arrive in Rome and begin the adventure! Ciao!
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