vita quotidiana.

On Saturday there was an AUR BBQ at the school, it was raining throughout the morning, but when I left the sun was shining! By the time I got off the tram, it was a complete downpour! Gotta love Rome in the winter! The BBQ was a lot of fun! I got a free meal and met some fabulous people.

After being at the BBQ for about 2 hours Brittany, Stephen, and I decided to go find the Spanish Steps. Brittany is an avid watcher of the travel channel and heard that the number one McDonalds in the world was by the Spanish Steps, so that was our side mission. Along the way we saw the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain again. We successfuly found the McDonalds but sadly the salad bar with squid that Brittany wanted so much was no where to be seen, so we decided to not eat there. We then hiked all the way up the Spanish Steps and took in the beautiful view it provided.

Afterward we decided to walk towards somewhere with food so we ended up walking down a street that had all the really expensive stores. Armani, Hugo Boss, Tiffanys, Chanel...I definitely just walked past them. I like flea markets much much cheaper. Eventually we made our way to Piazza del Popolo, which had some really pretty statutes, churches, and obelisks. Pretty much everything you'd expect to find in a Piazza.

We ended up getting dinner right by our school, I had a broccoli, cheese, and some kind of meat pizza. It was super good! I'm sure I'll be going there more often. I then went home and had my first experience at the supermercato. I got a bunch of food to eat at home, along with really cheap wine, and grissini al rosmarino. Grissini al rosmarino is a rosemary bread stick, but they are hard and sooooo good! I'm definitely obsessed.

Today we went to the Porta Portese market. It's every Sunday and is literally a block from my apartment. The market is HUGE!!! You could wander for days! This is definitely where I will be stocking up on cheap scarves and boots! Yay cheap shopping! After walking around in the rain I came back to my apartment and passed out for a few hours. I do love to nap! :]

Tonight Viviana and I went to a club called Caruso Caffè. It was a lot of fun. We got to dance to Spanish and Cuban music. After being there for an hour or so we realized that this club is also a gay bar which explained why there were soooo many stylish guys! Hahaha!

Well tomorrow my classes start! I have Masterpieces of Italian Opera and Environmental Science! Should be a good day!

Buona notte!

Roma Roma Roma.

I'm here!!!!

Gahhhh!!!! I can't even begin to describe how much I love Rome!! Yes, it is only my second day, but it already feels like I've been here forever.

I made all my flights and even got business class to Roma! Gotta love that! I got to almost fully recline!

So after we arrived in the airport I ended up waiting around for 3 hours for transportation to the apartments, as they could only take 4 or 5 students at a time! But at least I met some interesting people, airports can be a great bonding location. :]

I finally got called for a van and off we went....of course I was the last one in my van to get drop off too. Oh well. Anyways, I got to my apartment which is located on Viale Trastevere. It's one of the main roads in Rome, where the Tram runs, thus very easy to get around. The guy who dropped us off said it's the best section to live in out of the AUR apartments! Yay!

Our apartment is built for 5 people, but there's only 4 of us. The other 3 girls I'm rooming with go to the University of Maryland and knew each other beforehand. Since they knew each other, I got one of the single bedrooms. I'm definitely okay with that. All in all, I really like our apartment. The showers a bit small, but besides that I can handle it! Plus I have a balcony thing! :D

Soo I got all my stuff moved in and then decided to go on a neighborhood tour. This meant I had to find my way to the school. Luckily for me in our welcome packets their was directions from each apartment. So a tram and a bus ride later I was at the school. I only got turned around once, which I thought was pretty good. :] The neighborhood tour was about an hour long and we just bussed and trammed and walked to various places around the school.

When I got back me and my roommates decided to cook pasta! Our stove is gas run and you have to light it with a match, so after a few tries I figured it out and we were in business. We had tortellini which was SUPER good! Did I mention I love Italian food?

After dinner we decided to go out. We met up with some people that live above us that also go to Maryland with my roommates. We went to an American bar called the Drunken ship in Campo dei fiori. They were having a welcome night for students. It was extremely packed and loud, so we only stayed there for an hour or so before taking a cab to another bar called On The Rox. We stayed there for about an hour and then walked back to our apartment. When it was all said and done we got back at 3:30 and I didn't go to sleep until 5. Oops! I fail.

This morning I had orientation at 11:00 so I dragged myself out of bed and went to school. Orientation consisted of a presentation, getting my student ID card, applying for a permit to stay and getting an Italian cell phone.

After orientation my friend Stephen and I climbed to the 4th floor (Italian, which is 5th floor American) and went out on the terrace. There was a BEAUTIFUL view of Rome. We then decided to find a Tabacchi to get a bus pass. They were all closed due to siesta, so we decided to go to downtown Rome instead. We ended up walking for about 5 hours. In that time we came across the Pantheon, piazza navonna, castel sant'angelo and eventually decided to walk to St. Peter's. On our way we had ham and cheese pizza, which was AMAZING! The pizza here is soooo much better! We finished up at walking through St. Peter's and decided to head back towards the school, because there was a trip to the Colosseum which some of the resident students.

After getting back to the school the group walked to a fountain which had a gorgeous view of the city. Also, they were filming some kind of movie and had a bunch of lights and cameras pointed at the fountain. We then took a bus to piazza de venezia where we walked to the Colosseum. On the way we saw the forum, the arch of constaintine, and the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II. The rain started to pick up so most of the students went back to their apartments. Stephen, Viviana, Edgar, Carina, and I decided to walk around some more. We went to the Trevi Fountain with on again off again rain and then decided to head back after the rain started to pick up even more.

In Rome winter = rain. Not snow like in the midwest. I'll take it though. After that I got home and talked to the parentals on skype. It was definitely a great day!

I still can't believe that I actually LIVE here!!! Soo Amazing!

I will post pictures tomorrow! I'll give you a little preview with the view from my apartment:


Oh and also, to all my fabulous friends who are going down under or who are down under note that a thumbs up is the equivalent of the middle finger in Australia. Random information I pick up!

I promise all my posts won't be this long!!

Ciao!

i'm leaving on a jet plane.

All my bags are packed and I'm ready to go.....

WOW!!!! I leave TODAY for Rome!!!! I can't even believe it's here!! Or that I'm actually packed! :] Thanks Kels!

In the past few days I have just been relaxing with family and friends, getting in as much face time as possible before I leave. Yesterday I went to 'Up In The Air' which is a fantastic movie! If you have yet to see it, do it!!!

So here's the plan for today...

Minneapolis to Atlanta -- 6:15 AM - 10:05 AM
Atlanta to Rome -- 3:45 PM - 8:30 AM

Let's hope I can get on both my flights!!!!


Well the next time I post I'll be in Roma! Love you all!!! :]

yay! i'm not homeless!

Just a quick update!

Awhile ago I got a check in the mail for the amount of my second housing payment from the bank in Texas where the check was sent. I was really confused as to why I had gotten it, and immediately started to worry that my housing wasn't paid for! Needless to say it would not be a good start to the trip to arrive in Rome and have no place to live!!!

BUT,

Today I finally got it all figured out! My housing is indeed all paid for and the check was legit sooo I'm officially $1, 368 dollars richer!!! HECK YES!! I don't know why this happened but I'll definitely take it! Think of all the gelato I can get! I love it when things work out!

this one's for Steph!

Soo the countdown is officially at 6 days!! Dang!

Have I started packing?

.....not really.

My goal is to really work on it in the next two days! So far this week has been full of get togethers and goodbyes. My "twins" turned 21!! So needless to say we had to have a celebration. They grow up sooo fast!! :]

I checked my flights yesterday and all is looking good! There's 64 open seats to Atlanta and 132 open seats to Rome!! Plus on my international flight there's 28 open in business class, SOO hopefully I will be arriving to Rome in style! :D

I'm definitely starting to get super excited! Up until this point it didn't really seem real that I was going to be living in Roma!

Here's my gorgeous cat! I will miss her dearly!

I'll definitely post in the days to come!

getting close.

Hello all!

I'm officially done with all my traveling before I leave! Both the cabin and Oregon were perfect! I enjoyed going to the tropical temperatures of 30/40 degrees while in Oregon! :]

Here's a picture of the orchards by my grandma's house! Pretty pretty!

So the countdown now sits at 14 days! WOW! There is a lot to get done! My days will be filled with packing, preparing, and spending as much time as possible with friends and family! Tonight Kels and I are going to a camera class, which hopefully will be beneficial to my photog skills! I'll keep you posted!

Ciao!