I'm Alive!
Hello all! This is the first time I've been able to get on the internet since I left San Diego... life without internet and without a cell phone has been strange!
Let me update you on my life a little bit:
It took about 15 hours to actually get from San Diego to Rome. It was exhausting. [to the left: I was bored and there were some ice crystals on my window. hence, cool picture.] Luckily, there were about 30 kids in my program on my flight from Dulles to Rome, so we were the stupid Americans caravaning around the airport within minutes of our arrival. We had to wait for about an hour for the program people to actually get there, and then we all took taxis to our respective apartments. I happened to find one of my housemates so we shared a 45 Euro ride to our apartment, which was an adventure - the people who drive in this city are fucking INSANE. Anyway, we lugged our suitcases up to the elevator, went up to the 10th floor, and walked in our apartment... which is amazing. It's huge, we have huge bedrooms [there's 5 of us], a huge kitchen, a huge living room AND an awesome balcony. We got hooked up big time apparently; we were told we have one of the nicest apartments in our program. Pictures soon.Four hours of rock-hard sleep later, I woke up, met my fifth housemate, and the five of us talked for a while, unpacked, and went to sleep for the night around midnight.
Most of us didn't sleep well at all, but we woke up around 7.45am because someone was coming to our apartment to show up how to work things at 8.30. We got dressed and left about an hour before we had to be at the UC Center, and attempted to navigate the streets of Rome. An hour and a 16-stop bus ride later, we arrived at our stop [in the rain, mind you], proceeded to get very lost [Rome isn't exactly laid out in a grid], and arrived just in time thanks to some kind strangers.Orientation was pretty unremarkable. We got a ton of information, a tour of the city around the UC Center, a delicious eggplant parmesan panino, and some tedious forms to fill out. Oh! During our lunch break, we were free to roam around a bit and we went to Piazza Navona [see above & below], which is just as beautiful in person as all the prints and paintings of it I studied all last quarter. 
It was SO surreal to walk around Rome. I seriously felt like I was at Universal Studios or something, like the walls were painted cardboard that would fall over if I pushed on them. The buildings here are gorgeous. It's so ridiculous to be driving through the city and then BAM there's the Colosseum, don't even worry about it, BAM there's the Forum, BAM there's all this ruins just right in the middle of the city, next to businesses and apartments, like they just fell out of the sky. It's just amazing; I feel like I'm completely immersed in culture. I don't believe I'm really here. I wish you all could be here and experience this place.
It was SO surreal to walk around Rome. I seriously felt like I was at Universal Studios or something, like the walls were painted cardboard that would fall over if I pushed on them. The buildings here are gorgeous. It's so ridiculous to be driving through the city and then BAM there's the Colosseum, don't even worry about it, BAM there's the Forum, BAM there's all this ruins just right in the middle of the city, next to businesses and apartments, like they just fell out of the sky. It's just amazing; I feel like I'm completely immersed in culture. I don't believe I'm really here. I wish you all could be here and experience this place.
January 18, 2008 at 11:06 AM
Test -test
I got your e-mail, and we'll see if this new-fangled (to me) thing works.
Do I sign here or does my nickname automatically work?
Love you. top