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!