I Miss You, Macbook...

As Rome seems to be cursed when it comes to electronics, my Macbook's battery has died as this Wednesday. It doesn't charge, and I'm about 95% sure that it needs a replacement. I took it to one of the Apple service centers in Rome, and it should be getting fixed as we speak. The public Italian holiday, All Saints Day, may be delaying my plans and my reunion with my beloved computer.

Regardless, I am thankful that there is a reliable service center here in Rome. Additional blog posts will be delayed for at least a few days, as will most communication other than through my iPod and the studio lab computers.

Thankfully, some nights Naeemah lets me borrow her computer to do some homework and to catch up. I appreciate it greatly. Hopefully I won't have to mooch off of people for too much longer.

Oh, and happy Halloween to all of those in the United States! Halloween isn't really popular here other than in clubs and bars, and with some of the children. All Saints Day and All Souls Day are a much bigger deal here (yet we still have class?).
Hope everyone had a great Halloween weekend. Hopefully I'll be reunited soon.

La Belle Vie à la Plage

View of Old Nice and beach from above

Bonjour mes amis! It's been a little while since I've written here. This past weekend Clarissa, Rachel, and I went to Nice in Southern France, which is right along the French Riviera, or in French, Côte d'Azur. We left Thursday night on an overnight train to Genova, in Italy, and ended up on three different trains by the time we actually got there. We got into Nice at least 11am, and walked around until we found our hotel, Hôtel Helvètique. It was on one of the main roads in Nice, Rue de l'Hôtel des Postes. The woman at the desk was very sweet, and we decided to explore until our room was ready. We went directly to Vieux Nice, the older district of town. We saw the flower market where they sell fresh flowers, fruits, vegetables, and spices daily. Everything looked so fresh. We stopped at a cafe for lunch, and I had fresh jus d'orange and a croque madame. It was my first French cafe experience, and I loved it.

Croque Madame
 

Cascade

Being in France for two days made me realize that I really would love to go back. I feel like I belong there more, and its more what I expected Europe to be. It's much cleaner, and as much as I love the history here in Rome, I've always been closely tied with more traditional Western Europe like England, France, or Germany. Oh, the things we learn while abroad. It also doesn't feel like the entire country is in political turmoil like in Italy. Maybe it was just because we were in beach town, but it still felt more stable to me.
After our cafe experience, we decided to walk up to the Château which was originally built in 1517 in the hills of Nice. Most of the original structure was gone, but it yielded amazing views of Nice and of the ocean. The water in the ocean is truly blue, almost aqua. It was absolutely breath-taking. We also saw Cascade, which is a waterfall above the Château. It was also very beautiful, and we could also see a rainbow because the sun was so bright. We meandered around the Château for a few hours. We saw Nice's port as well as some of the only remaining parts of the Château. The Château had mosaics all over the floor and on some of the remaining walls. They were very well preserved, and many told stories of what Nice and France were like back then. Many had to do with water and ships, as Nice is along the water and was once a major port.

Ratatouille with blush wine and fresh bread

We eventually walked back to the hotel and finally checked in in the early afternoon. I realized that speaking and understanding French wasn't as hard as I thought as I thought it would be, even though its been years since I've taken it. I was able to order food and speak with some of the people at the hotel mostly in French. Clarissa was much better at it, but I held my own. Once we got to the room, we accidentally napped for about three hours. I guess all of the traveling by train and a stressful week in studio got the better of us. The room was basic, but very nice. We eventually did go out to dinner, and I made sure to order as many French specialties as possible, if sitting at an outdoor cafe wasn't enough. I ended up getting ratatouille, petits farcis niçois, and mousse chocolat for dinner. The petits farcis niçois is a speciality of Nice, and it was basically beef and veal paté on various vegetables. It was quite good. The ratatouille was essentially a vegetable stew, but I just had to try it. Its one of those French dishes you always hear about (the Disney movie not helping with this) but have most likely never tried.

On Saturday, we had a full agenda. We spent the morning and early afternoon shopping (its France, of course), but not before grabbing a delicious French breakfast. We ended up at Brioche Dorée, which is a popular chain in France. I got a chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) and pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant). We shopped at one of the main malls in Nice. We ended up with some nice French clothes, including a beret for me. We also bought some souvenirs from Vieux Nice. I bought a salt grinder that was crafted and painted in Nice, while also buying a mug and some lavendar soap. Nice is known for lightning bugs (I don't know why, but ceramic ones were all over their merchandise) and lavendar.

Beau Rivage

Later in the day, we finally made our way to the beach. It was a pebble beach, and most of them were dark gray in color. There were a lot of random colored ones too, which made me wonder what kind of rock/mineral it was and where the colored pebbles came from. Clarissa and I went in the water first, and it was kinda cold, but it ended up being pretty refreshing. It was still pretty warm during the day, so the water felt nice. The water was so blue and clear too. I'm used to the Jersey shore where the water is brown and murky. We also watched the sunset over the water. It was really pretty, and it was amazing watching how the sun sparkled on all of the pebbles and on the water. I will have such high expectations when visiting beaches now. I guess only being able to see the Jersey shore does have its advantages.

Trilogie de Crème Brûlée

After the beach, we walked down the Promenade des Anglais. It essentially ended up being a tourist street with a lot of overpriced cafes and casinos, but it was still interesting to see. I found it interesting that the casinos basically look exactly like they do in Atlantic City. Europeans always classier than us? I don't think so. We walked around and looked at some of the gardens that were near the road. We walked around Vieux Nice and found a cafe called Côte Sud. Our goal for the night was to find crème brûlée for dessert. We were successful, and I had moules farcies (stuffed mussels) for dinner. I figured since we were on the Mediterranean coast that their seafood had to be pretty good. It was delicious, though I have no idea what the mussels were actually stuffed with. Knowing the French, it might be better that I don't know. The crème brûlée we ordered was actually a set of three different flavors - one regular, one chocolate, and one we weren't sure. All were so good. It was totally worth every euro cent.

Our train left around 9am the next morning, so we didn't really see much of Nice that day. We were on the train for most of the day. I did experience a high speed train for the first time. The shortened travel time was nice, but the fast speed tends to give one a headache, especially when going through tunnels. The scenery on the way home was nice too, we had views of the Mediterranean and the Alps. The next night and day after we got back to Rome were mainly filled with studio, finishing up the last drawings of the Arturbain competition, and phase one of our studio project.

Yesterday, Cait, Clarissa and I celebrated our freedom from homework by going to the zoo in Rome, technically called Fondazione Bioparco di Roma, or a giardino zoologico. Much cooler sounding than just "zoo." It was a really nice zoo, especially for its size. They had a lot of animals you'd expect - giraffes, lions, tigers, bears, elephants. We went to see the seals, and it was their feeding time. I've rarely seen animals with so much character. One seal sat contently while the zookeeper gave him a checkup, and he waited patiently for his fish. However, the other seal strongly reminded me of a poorly trained puppy. He kept trying to sneak fish from the bucket, and would sit with huge puppy dog eyes hoping for fish. He also wouldn't sit still and was flopping everywhere to avoid his checkup. It was hilarious, and so adorable. It made the entire trip to the zoo worth it. We were also able to go through the reptile house and the aviary before the zoo closed. It was a successful outing after cartography. We also stumbled upon a huge dog park that was also within the Villa Borghese gardens. It was refreshing seeing so many people with their dogs... kinda makes me wish I had one here.

The rest of this week has been pretty chill, and today we discovered our Hill Towns field trip (which we knew nothing about to begin with) was cancelled/never existed, so we all scrambled to make travel plans. Clarissa, Cait, Justin, Naeemah, Rose and I all booked tickets to Prague, and all have an apartment to stay in for the weekend. It should be a good time, other than the fact that I can't speak Czech. I hear its beautiful there, but I guess I'll find out. My camera is currently malfunctioning, and it takes weird fuzzy pictures. I've ordered a new one from Wales (its ten times cooler just because its from the U.K., just saying) that is coming to me through the Royal Mail. It's currently in Milan according to the Royal Mail website, so hopefully I'll get it in the mail soon. This has made me realize how the pound to dollar conversion is even worse than the euro (and really, actually a lot worse), and how terrible Italy's postal system is. Shipping here takes so long, when in the U.S. a package from California could arrive in Pennsylvania in two days. Its already been five, and its still in northern Italy. Its a lot better than I expected, but still. I suppose the best things come to those who wait.

That's all for now. A presto!

I'll leave you with a picture of Nice. :)

Layers of History

I figured it was about time I actually wrote something about Rome, since all I've really talked about was my traveling adventures outside of Rome. As much as Oktoberfest was amazing, I don't want to look like a crazy alcoholic. Anyway, our architecture classes here are really starting to get us walking around the city and seeing how much it really has to offer. In cartography, Allan is teaching us how you can understand Rome's history just by reading maps and being able to read building language. We're learning how to identify papal coats of arms and periods of architecture so can we easily date buildings and the surrounding area. Its amazing how much he can talk about an area just by looking at a building for a few minutes. In our analysis and studio classes, we're learning how to translate ancient architecture to modern-day, which honestly, is pretty useful being that I've found most of our architectural history classes kind of pointless up until now. We've been learning about the Renaissance, and how we can apply the same techniques they did in their buildings, and apply it to a modern style. We're using this idea in our studio projects as one of our major goals is contextualism in an ancient Roman urban fabric. We're also doing a competition for the first phase, so our professors want our projects to have a lot of thought behind them. The competition is called the Arturbain competition, and its a French competition. If we win, we would win some money and a trip to Paris. I'm not expecting anything, but our site is pretty challenging and interesting to work with. I also really enjoy the juxtaposition between modern architecture and ancient structures, so I'm excited to see where all of our projects go.

Main nave of San Clemente

We've had quite a few walks throughout Rome the past few weeks. Last week we walked down one of the old salt routes and found some of the ancient aqueducts that still exist in Rome today. The one we looked at empties into the Trevi fountain, which is one of the major landmarks in Rome. This past Wednesday, we went to San Clemente, a church near the Colosseum. The nave was very ornate, and clearly Baroque in the main area. Funnily enough, knowing the ceiling was Baroque won me a free cappuccino from my professor. It was worth it. The detailing in the church was very beautiful. The church was done with a technique called spoglia, which is essentially taking materials from several places and using them to build a new structure. If you look closely, this church has a lot of random bits of marble and other materials that are clearly from other ruins.
We weren't supposed to take pictures, but I decided I wanted to anyway. I figured as long as I wasn't making noise or using the flash that I wasn't really hurting anything (and I didn't see any scary Italian guards either...). We also visited the 4th century mausoleum that is under the nave of the church. It was much more basic down there, and the architecture was completely different. We're all realizing how you really can tell a building's story from looking at its architecture. So many buildings in Rome have been partially demolished and have had parts added and subtracted dozens of times. If you look closely enough, we can tell what happened when, and sometimes even why. It's a pretty fascinating thought.

Trajan's Markets

We also visited Trajan's Markets and Forum, which was quite a change of pace from San Clemente. The architecture here is clearly ancient, but its easy to tell what used to remain. They've transformed some of the main areas into a display for modern furniture. It was rather strange seeing such modern material in an ancient space, but the contrast was also pretty interesting. The bottom half of Trajan's markets is from ancient times. However, there is an entire layer that was built on top in medieval times. In Rome, it seems that builders usually just built on top of what remained instead of demolishing or reusing what already had existed. Its probably why Rome has such a dense culture and is such a unique city. Nothing looks the same, and most of the time, buildings don't match, and usually they had an entirely different look and function hundreds of years before.

Morning light

We had another walk today, and it was for cartography where we were following one of the prehistoric paths of Rome, defined by the seven hills. First we went into Santa Maria Maggiore, a huge church at the center of a piazza near where our route was. It was one of the pope's favorite churches and was near his villa, so the church got its own piazza. Its beautiful inside and outside, so I guess I can't blame him. We went to Santa Maria Maggiore early in the morning, so the light was coming through the stained glass windows perfectly on all of the marble columns. It was truly a beautiful sight, and its easy to see why so many of these church spaces are considered heavenly or ephemeral.

Our walk led us through some of the less pretty parts of Rome. Some of the streets were really worn down. A lot of the buildings in this area have a lot of history. You see where windows were filled in, and new windows were erected in a different place, or indentations where stairs once were, and a random opening that used to be a door. There are so many ways to be able to tell how Rome once was, whether its clues in the architecture or clues in the papal stone carvings or the detailing. I guess I'm starting to understand why they have us study in Rome. We'd never be able to do anything like that back in the United States. Our architecture just isn't old enough.

Nave of Basilica Santa Prassede

We went to another Basilica along the way on our walk. Its called Basilica di Santa Prassede. It ranged from having a medieval style to having Renaissance paintings and a Baroque baldacchino. The paintings were very ornate with a lot of Christian symbolism, ranging from the Holy Mother to the twelve apostles, to the evangelists. There was a service going on while we were in there, in one of the smaller rooms off of the main apse. They were singing, and for some reason, the sound was truly beautiful. I don't know if I just liked the song, or thought it sounded really nice in such a grand space. We also saw one of the smaller prayer rooms that were totally covered in mosaics. I've never seen mosaics that were so intact before, let alone an entire room of them.

This basilica was also a spoglia church. The floor was made from stolen columns, and a lot of the entablatures didn't match either. Though its not perfect, I feel that having such a random selection of material gives the space more character, and shows how much history is truly there.

I think that's all for now. I enjoy seeing so many types of churches. I hope we get to see more. We're visiting Rome's original port, Ostia Antica, tomorrow, and I should be visiting France next weekend. It all should be a lot of fun, and it should all be really interesting to see.

Ciao, a presto.

School Begins

Musei Capitolini, Piranesi awards ceremony

Well, the Piranesi Prix di Rome competition is officially over. We had presentations last Friday, and we had the awards ceremony at the Musei Capitolini at Capitoline Hill on Saturday. The museum was beautiful, though we didn't get to see much of it. We also had to go through security to get in, which was interesting. Made us feel official.

The awards ceremony was interesting. It was mostly in Italian, which wasn't too helpful. I was able to understand bits and pieces. It was nice being able to see all of the participants in one room, and apparently more international students (American, Romanian, and Russian) participated than national, aka Italian students. I thought that was pretty neat, having so many nationalities designing together. Despite some organizational issues with my group, the experience overall was nice. It was refreshing knowing how other design students around the world work, as its fairly different from how we think in America. My group actually did win some sort of prize, but as the awards were given in Italian, I'm not actually sure what we won. It was probably an honorable mention of some kind, though.

On Saturday night, a group of us decided to try to find a bar that was showing the Penn State vs. Alabama game (9:30pm our time). We found a place called La Bonticella that is an American Pennsylvania sports bar. They had all kinds of Pennsylvania sports paraphernalia, and it was a nice, cozy space. We had some Peroni drafts and free peanuts (the container of which said 'Giovanni's nuts'). Though we lost rather badly, it was still a nice night and the bar had a really nice atmosphere. Not to mention we ran into newlyweds and a one-year anniversary couple. It was too cute. It was also nice to spend a night with some other Americans and chat about your experiences in Rome.

We went to a Sunday flea market in Trastevere as well. Its at least 3 kilometers long, and a lot of the stuff they sell is pretty reasonable. I got a pair of shoes for 4 euro, and I plan to go back again. Some of the shop venders do try to rip you off and most of them don't respect personal space, but that's really just how it is here. We're just not really accustomed to that in America.

Allan Ceen's Studio Urbis

The past two days we have officially started a normal class schedule. We've now had each of our classes at least once. They all seem really interesting. Our analysis class seems to tie into our studio. In our studio, we're doing a French competition. At first I freaked out at the thought of another competition, but this one seems much better. I think we're designing a university, and our site is in Via Trinitatis near the Spanish Steps in Rome. We should be having a site visit sometime this week, so there will be more pictures to come with that. Our cartography professor, Allan Ceen, is a real character. He's a great professor though, and you can tell he's quite knowledgeable. Our first assignment was to find his studio (Studio Urbis) from our studio at Via della Gatta (yes, that translates to Street of the Cat). He gave us a map and an assignment paper and basically told us to go, avoiding all main traffic roads (which I suspect was to make the assignment a bit harder, honestly) and drawing our path as we go. It was actually quite fun, exploring Rome alone and being able to take everything in. A lot of the back streets are quaint, even if you do run the risk of being hit by a Vespa. Given the nature of the class, it seemed like a fit assignment to start with.
Allan Ceen brought another interesting fact to our attention that I really hadn't given much thought to. He gave us a brief history of Rome during the first class, and a lot of the core ideas of Roman government (Republic, Senate, etc) are all used in American government. I feel like I really should have already known that, but I didn't. Rome, an ancient city, has tons of similarities with our country. He was saying how Rome has lost some of these ideals since the Roman Empire, as it fell over a thousand years ago, and how it is refreshing to see the United States operating with similar ideas. As Americans, we usually feel isolated from most of Europe since we are such a new country, but that connection was pretty meaningful to me.

Well, that is all we've really been up to. Our travel plans for this weekend are uncertain, but we're considering going to somewhere else in Italy. Next weekend we will be venturing to Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest with bus2alps. It should be a great time, and I am excited for Bavarian pretzels and some German beer steins.

I'll be sure to keep this updated (yes, I'm talking to you, Julie) once we have more experiences. Living in Italy finally doesn't seem so strange. I really enjoy cooking with fresh food, especially handmade pastas, fresh fruit and vegetables, and fresh meats. American preservatives will not be a nice change when we go home. I'm trying to speak a bit more Italian, though I usually panic when it actually comes to speaking to Italians. I know most of the basic language, I just need to make myself use it. I'm sure I will in time. I don't think I'll ever get used to the traffic, though.
Well, ciao for now. I'll leave you all with a nice photo of my group (gruppo 14) from Piranesi in the Italian students' apartment in Tivoli.

Tourist Attractions

Another few days in Roma. We've done some very tourist-y sightseeing in the past few days, that is when we aren't being shuffled from one place to another for this competition we're doing.

We decided to eat at a cafe before our outing. We had bruschetta as an appetizer, which is the first time I've ever eaten the dish. I don't really like tomatoes, but this was delicious. We actually got the appetizer, primo piatto, secondo piatto, and a dessert all for a 10 euro special. We shall make a return visit.

Bruschetta, which is some tomatoes on toasted bread with olive oil and spices.

The soda here is even different. It tastes much better, for one, because they use natural flavors with no preservatives. You wouldn't think that would make a difference, but it does. The orange soda in the photo was made with real oranges. It tasted basically like slightly carbonated orange juice. Delizioso.

That same day we had one destination we had to see: the Pantheon. I've never been to Europe, and whenever I think of Italy, I think of wine, cheese, the Colosseum, and the Pantheon. On our way to the Pantheon, we ended up in the Piazza Navona. Since I've been in Italy, I haven't really fully believed that I was here. It seemed that I was just in a really cute town somewhere. Walking into the Piazza Navona convinced me. Its absolutely enormous, and its so gorgeous. The fact that all of those statues and the details in the buildings has lasted for so many years is just amazing. I was also instantly reminded of Dr. Craig Zabel's class and his love for Bernini and the Fountain of the Four Rivers.

Piazza Navona

Fountain of the Four Rivers

After spending some time there, we finally reached the Pantheon. It was crowded, but I think it always is. I never realized how big the Pantheon actually is. I've seen tons of pictures of it (thank you, Jamie Cooper) but never realized just how large it actually is. Its also pretty cool that when we leave class everyday that we see the Pantheon the second we walk out the door.
It truly is remarkable how the Pantheon is essentially intact compared to what it was thousands of years ago. I suppose its because it was used as a church. They still had an altar and pews set up. No idea if they use them, though.

Interior... tons of people

Love the oculus and the light. Will be making a trip to the Pantheon when it rains too.

Exterior

We also happened upon an Italian church when we were near the Pantheon. It was called Chiesa di Santa Maria Maddalena I think. I've never heard of it, but the interior was very well decorated and intricate. It was all the original marble and gold leaf. I don't really go to church, but I'd go to mass just to be able to sit in that church. Its weird to think that Italians are used to going to church in places so ephemeral and beautiful.

Interior of the church

We also happened across the Trevi Fountain too. We had no idea we were so close to it. We stopped at a pharmacy too (farmacia). They're nothing like CVS from the States. Everything is locked away in cabinets, and pharmacists (called chemists here) have you get basically everything for you - anything from tylonel to typical prescription drugs. They're also expensive. A lot of our prescription drugs aren't even legal here. I got medication for mosquito bites, which apparently are monster mosquitoes judging by the size of the bites. The medication basically looked like ammonia-flavored lip gloss. It worked well, though.

Trevi Fountain

The sculptures were very majestic, but its a pretty crowded tourist spot. It was hard to really get a good view of it. I want to try to go at night and see it illuminated, and possibly have a bit more space.

Living in Italy is definitely an experience. The cashier at the supermarket got visibly angry because we didn't give exact change. At least I'm assuming she was annoyed. She looked angry and seemed to be saying some very angry words in Italian. Not appreciated. Being able to walk to get gelato or go to an open market for fresh fruit, vegetables, and pasta is great, though. Making fresh beef with peppers and onions for dinner is delicious. I've already tried three flavors of gelato (fragola, cioccolato, tiramisu) and am aiming to try all flavors before I leave. Its nothing compared to American ice cream. Its just so creamy, and its probably better for you too.

I really would like to see the Colosseum and Spanish Steps. I'm sure I'll see them eventually. We found one of the shopping streets (Via del Corso) where we found an H&M. Its basically the same as in America, but its cooler because it's in Italy.

We also went to a festival along the river one night. They had all of these little tables, chairs, and cushions set up alone the river in Trastevere. Clarissa, Naeemah, Rachel, and I all sat and had some wine and chatted. It was a very quiet yet enjoyable night. I wish I could do that every night. They even had little stalls set up for shopping. It seems to be a summer festival, and because it is officially September (already?!), I'm pretty sure its over now. It was nice while it lasted, though. I'm excited to see if there are more celebrations and festivals in Rome and Europe as a whole.

That's all for now. Ciao, a presto!

That will be all for now. Ciao :)

Arrival

We are finally in Rome, Italy as of 9:37am Rome time. The flight had its ups and downs, but overall it was pretty smooth. We had some pretty scary turbulence halfway through which isn't really my preference. Though it was amusing to find out that Italians apparently always clap when a plane lands.

The airport in Rome wasn't as scary as I assumed it would be. Most of the signs are in both English and Italian, and we actually all got our luggage and none was lost. On the way to our dorms, seeing Rome was not at all what I expected. The areas we've been in still remind me of an American city without all of the skyscrapers. Some parts are modern, yet some definitely show the history here. I did notice three Chinese restaurants and a Japanese restaurant on the way though - pretty typical for a city.

Our living quarters are nice. We have a view of a large courtyard and have a floor with seven rooms, with a shared bathroom, living space, and kitchen. I'll be satisfied once I completely unpack my room and find an adapter/converter for my laptop and camera.

We went to an Italian market (supermarket) today and got some basic food and toiletries. It was interesting seeing all of the food that Italians normally buy. Most of the toiletries were American... probably a good way to try to rip off tourists. Can't say I blame them. We bought large (1.5liter) bottles of water for 29 euro cents. Score. If only they had that in the States... though usually in the States tap water tastes a lot better.

It is hot here. I finally had adjusted to the temperatures at home and here, its over 90 degrees, 34 degrees Celsius. Most of the clothes I have are probably going to be uncomfortable... not to mention will make me look American.

Finally being here has calmed my nerves a bit, though I still need to adjust. Some things I still don't know how I feel about them. I'm sure we'll all adjust sooner or later.

Pictures in the next post.

Tomorrow?!

Ok so, I officially have way too much stuff. I seem to be a pro at stressing myself out too. I have two open suitcases, one a carry-on and one checked, sitting in my family room. I keep realizing I need more things that I would never even think of needing here, but no place to put them. Hopefully, everything will magically find itself a place eventually.

Honestly, right now, I'm a bit too anxious and nervous to be excited. I've never been on a flight longer than three hours, and I've never been to Europe either. It's going to take some serious adjusting. I'm sure I'll figure it out in time. I don't think I ever fully believed I'd actually be studying abroad until these past few days. After visiting State College for the weekend, I realized that I'd be leaving when everyone else was starting classes. It was great to see everyone, but it was a bittersweet feeling when I left.

It also feels strange still being home when mostly everyone is away at school. Usually I'd be with them. I know after tomorrow I won't have as much time to think about it, but it's still odd. I realized on Sunday how much I'm going to truly miss everyone in State College, especially Eric and everyone in studio who I would normally see everyday. We shall keep in contact through email, facebook, skype, and even awesome video chatting on Google+ if I can figure out how it works. Don't forget about me, please. I'll be back in December. I'll miss all of you so much.

Tomorrow I'll be meeting up with Clarissa, Rachel, and Kyle at the Philadelphia Airport to fly to Rome. It feels so weird. It always seemed like Rome was ages away, even when we were applying for our visas and setting up finances. I'll probably be leaving for the airport around 2pm, and will end up sitting there waiting forever. Better safe than sorry, I guess. However, that just gives me a few more hours tomorrow to obsess and wonder about what I should be packing. Wonderful. I'll be happy when I arrive in Rome and am basically settled into the dorms where we will be living.

In just a bit over 24 hours, we'll be embarking on a semester-long adventure. Hopefully, the adjusting process doesn't give me an ulcer. It will be in the 90s in Rome for a while, and to think, I was starting to enjoy the constant 70-80 degree weather here. Oh well. The next time I write here I will be in Rome, Italy for the next 3.5 months.

So Close

There are officially nine days until we are off to Rome. Its crazy. I have no idea where the summer went.

It still doesn't feel like I'll be in another country in a little over a week. We finally received our visas a few weeks ago. They're very official looking, and are even in Italian. Shame my passport picture is so awful looking. I realized I really need to start figuring out what to pack, and how I really won't be able to bring a lot with me. I think I have all of the supplies I need, and I need to tackle my clothes next.

 I have too much stuff.

Living in another country is going to be such a new experience, even in the airport. I'll be surrounded by Italian language and culture, not to mention I'll stick out like a sore thumb. I'll be tripling the amount of places I've seen in a mere four months. I have a train pass for France and Switzerland, and am considering one for Germany as well. I feel like once I get to visit all of these places that it will be hard to leave.

I went to the bookstore the other day and got tour books for Rome and Europe. They seem helpful and very overwhelming. Maybe they're useful, maybe not. I guess I'll find out. I've actually always wondered if what was published in those tour books was how it actually was. I even have an Italian phrase book, but I feel like I'll learn more Italian trying to navigate (probably more like stumble) through Rome.

I don't really have much more to say. I'm scared to death, and really have no idea what I need or what to pack. I'm excited too. I've never been overseas or to Europe before, so the new experiences will start the second I get off of the plane. I'll probably spend the ten hour flight reading as much as I can about Rome.

Nine more days until I am in a new world for four months of my life.

Quickly Approaching...

This is my new blog for all Rome-related adventures. Let's see if I actually keep up with it.

As of last Friday, there is less than two months until we'll all be in Rome. It still hasn't really sunk in yet, but I'm fairly sure it won't until I'm standing in the airport in Rome.
I'm still in the middle of the preparation process - filling out visa forms, health insurance, course selection.

Keep checking back. Hopefully I'll be recording my experiences in Rome in this blog during the fall semester!