I am finally blogging!

Ciao from Roma! I am sorry it took me so long to get this up and running but we do not have internet here (still dont) and so it is hard to blog. 

Rome

The city of Rome is absolutely stunning, unbelievable, and I still cannot believe the scenery. If you have never been here, you must make go before you die. I have never been more content to get lost; every corner holds a new adventure. Every church, no matter how small, is a treasure trove filled with art and architecture. There is so much to see. Seriously there is something for everyone. I have loved everything I have seen so far (and I have seen a lot). My friend Shane is studying here for the semester and he is an enthusiastic history major which is like having your own personal tour guide with jokes. It’s awesome. The ruins are in the middle of the city, just chillin. It’s crazy that those pieces of stone have been there for sooo long!

Roommates and apartment

I have five roomies. Maile, who I knew from Saint Joe’s. She is sociology and marketing major from right outside of Boston. Kaylin, an advertising and public relations major from Pittsburg/Williamsburg who goes to Michigan State. She is a huge Steelers fan so she is so excited about the superbowl! Julie is also an advertising major and is from Michigan and goes to Michigan State. Kelsey is a business major from Michigan who goes to Michigan State. Arianna is from California and is a communications major. They are all super fun and nice and cool and we are having a grand old time thus far.

Okay, our apartment is SPECTACULAR and I am not just saying this, no joke we got the best apartment that the university offers. Everyone that comes over leaves complaining that they got the shaft with their living accommodations. We live on Via della Pignia, which is a block away from the Cat ruins/Sanctuary, the Pantheon, The church of Gesu and the church of St. Ignatius. We also live right next to all of the cool bars and clubs. We live 15 to 20 min. away from campus (walking) and cross a gorgeous bridge to get to school everyday.

 There are three bedrooms (a single, a double, and a triple). I landed myself in a triple with Maile and Kaylin. It’s probably the size of my living room in Great Falls. Then we have a huge living room/dining with 15 to 18 foot ceilings. Guess what!? The ceiling is a hand painted, gorgeous, piece of art. Unbelievable. Then we have a little kitchen and a long hallway with a huge bookcase filled with books. We have a walking closet and a laundry room. Its pretty sweet!

Traffic

The traffic here is unreal. Not congestion wise, but its flow. Cars zip along at very high speeds with no regard to pedestrians, especially the mopeds which are not required to stop at red lights. Walking here is certainly an adjestment because you have to look both ways three times and take a step out and then check again. You also have to cross very quickly because the time to cross is short (despite the fact that Italians walk SO slowly.. they move like snails). Italians have no concept of time. There are bus schedules but everyone knows they are a joke because the buses are usually 30 min. behind. Today there was a bus strike so there weren’t any buses! The open their shops when the feel like it and take absurdly long lunch breaks. They are especially slow on Mondays, after a leisurely weekend.  This is one thing that I would never be able to adjust to (its one of the reasons why I tell my mom South Carolina is an adjustment).  

Love

I do not know if I would call it love…more like lusty passion but Italians here are NOT afraid to show affection. No matter what time of day or night couples eat each other’s faces off in very public places. It also does not matter what age the couple is, from 13 year olds to 75 year olds making out in public is an everyday norm. I still stare (I cant help it!) but eventually I think I will see it as a normal occurrence. At least they know how to keep the fire alive! Italian babies are the most adorable little things ever because they dress to the nines. 3-year-old girls are seen in little leather boots and funky tights with a little chic coat, hat and gloves just like their mothers and the boys wear little pea coats! So cute (I’ve tried taking pictures multiple times but my creeper status is not pro enough and I have not been able to snag a good enough one to post).

Classes

I am not taking the classes that I originally signed up for so here are my finalized classes:

Mystic Saints and Sinners- this class looks promising. It is a theology class that will focus on different individuals that have played a role in church history. It is partially on site meaning we will actually be going into the city to the churches or monuments we will be learning about the topic at hand. The teacher is French and very strict, seriously though she does not mess around. P.s- the class is all girls, which I thought to be interesting.

Political and Philosophical debates on Freedom, Equality, and Democracy- this is my favorite class thus far. The students in the class are literally from all over the country with tons of different accents. It will be a study and discussion of different types of government. Due to the different backgrounds I have already begun to see many different opinions and ways of thinking (don’t get me wrong we still have that one ignorant obnoxious American in the back of the class who in the process of defending capitalism offends the people in the classroom). The teacher is British, from London and has the cutest accent. He is very open-minded and loves listening to us talk therefore it is a very open and relaxed environment, perfect for awesome discussion.

The philosophy of Art and Beauty- I am going to be honest this class makes me physically uncomfortable. The teacher will literally ask you the most abstract questions and then call you out without giving you time to think, very on the spot, you better bullshit quick… and that’s exactly what comes out of everyone’s mouth most of the time. It’s pretty sweet learning about art in a philosophical context though. And the teacher’s accent is amusing. She is Italian and very… hippyesque in the way she talks (she likes to repeat the answer you give her in a drawn out way).

Genocide- This class is going to be interesting, the material is slightly dry but the ideas we are discussing are relatively new concepts to history and political science so there are a lot of new ideas to think about and analyze. I am a pioneer! The teacher is funny, the first class he gave us an article on how to drink coffee in Italy (VERY different from in the US).

Food and agriculture- This class is going to be everything I wanted! Hooray! It’s amusing because it’s a mix between a class I would love and a class my mom would love. Its half plant talk and half food talk. It will be interesting.

Language

So far I have been struggling with the language, which I did not think would happen. I have the hardest time when Maile and I go shopping because I do not know the shopping lingo. I am also used to people speaking to me in Italian at a much slower pace. I have made many friends with elderly Italian men (one was so pumped we were able to communicate we kissed me on the cheeks four times and squeeze hugged me until I couldn’t breathe). The Italian women tend to be a lot grouchier. The fashion here is unreal. Everyone dresses adorable everyday and the Italian men are so fancy! It’s so funny to see them carrying their wives shopping bags, and enthusiastically participating in their shopping adventures.

January is the sale month here. January and July are when everything is marked down, so I bought a killer pair of Italian leather boots for a great price!

Culture Shock

When I first got here I was really overwhelmed by everything and extremely scared. Everything was so new and different and being alone in a huge city seemed impossible. The first few days were definitely trying but I got over the hump and things started to look up and now I am trying to settle into a routine. I still have moments where I miss a comfort from home but I am getting better.

Things that I have had to get used to include: not being able to drink coffee past 10 a.m, not having really hot water to shower with (its lukewarm, I actually have to shave my legs on different days because I am to cold to do it all at once), the small everything (you name it, Italy’s is smaller than the U.S), weird American music in EVERY store, saying goodbye to anyone you are remotely close to and the strict recycling rules. We have three trash bins here and a recycling bin, the homeless people with puppies, oh and the PDA.  

Things that I in no way miss: High fructose corn syrup (the coke here has none!), fast food (even though Maile ate at mcd’s with Kelsey), a drinking age, processed food, typical rude American behavior, ugly sweatshirts and sweatpants aka slobs, my car (I love walking to wherever I need to go), trashy t.v (except Jersey shore is filming here in April… uhoh).

Nightlife

The nightlife here is not that much different than in the US. There is an American pub down the street where we can watch all major US sporting events and they have karaoke. I made friends with the little guy who cleans the tables there which is fun because he always makes point to have a conversation with me.  There is also a bar called the drunken ship which is wild. There is crazy music and beerpong and these huge pitchers of jungle juice. This is the traveler’s bar of Rome so you will always meet someone with a different background here. We also went to an ice bar. I guess there are only a limited few in the world. It was fun, but overrated. The whole this is made out of ice and you sit on fur and drink out of ice cups but it is so tiny and cold that you cant stay in there long. O and it’s a vodka bar so you can only order exotic vodka’s. Besides this we haven’t been to any crazy clubs or anything yet but I will keep everyone posted. Oh and unlike the US here there is nothing open past 12 for drunk food so one night we stumbled upon a little pizza place (its called very Italian pizza…) and we cannot get enough of it after we leave the bars. What a blessing.

We have met a couple groups of really cool people while we are out and continue to hang out with them, which is nice. There are a lot of kids from Notre Dame and Michigan State here. 

Anyways those are some random tidbits! enjoy