Week Two and I'm fluent!

Ciao regazzi (look at me, I’m practically fluent),

Well, I can officially say that I have been in Rome a week now, but oddly enough it feels like I have been here for months!  It has been an extremely crazy week, but nonetheless, a blast getting to know the Eternal City. 

I have been continuing to settle into my home stay and get to know my host better.  She is a great resource as my friends and I are preparing to figure out where we want to travel.  We’ve made a tentative schedule, but so far the only trip booked is to Florence this weekend.  I’ve heard that it is absolutely stunning (and pictures will be on the way once we return), but I’m excited for my first Italian adventure! 

So now for the question everyone seems to want to know:

Q.  What is the coolest part about being in Rome?

A.  The classes.  Yes, the food is good, the views are downright amazing, and I know it is somewhat of a nerdy response, but the classes are extremely cool.  I’m taking four classes: Intensive Italian, Art and Architecture of Ancient Rome, Business Ethics, and International Marketing.  Okay, up until this semester I would say that I liked most of my classes throughout my time in college, but I think that this semester is the first time that I can say I am thoroughly excited for all of my classes.  I’ll explain why…

Italian Class

For Italian, we are learning the language in a way I’ve never experienced before.  Instead of conquering grammar and then learning to speak it, we are doing the inverse.  This past week, I’ve been in Italian class for fifteen hours and have learned how to introduce myself, order food (extremely important for me), count numbers, and many other tasks.  Along the way we have learned how to conjugate verbs for the first, second, and third singular persons, but have yet to conquer plural and other tenses.  The kicker: we get a coffee/gelato break during class.  Welcome to Rome?  I think so.

[Me with my first Gelato in Rome on my break]

Art and Architecture of Ancient Rome

Close your eyes and imagine Dori from Finding Nemo.  This is my professor for Art and Architecture of Ancient Rome.  I kid you not, she is just as energetic as her, but the coolest part is that I don’t think I’ve ever met someone so passionate about what she does.  She was so excited about Ancient Roman Wall Paintings in Ostia, Italy that it made me excited to go see them.  Wait a minute…What is an Ancient Wall Painting?  This similar situation occurred multiple times throughout the class, so even though it isn’t the most interesting of topics, I feel like this will be the perfect example of a class being awesome because of the teacher.  The kicker: We only meet in the classroom two more times, for the midterm and the final.

Business Ethics and International Marketing

As a business minor, I was very excited when I heard that business classes were going to be taught in Italy, let alone the fact that they were going to be taught by Dr. Abela.  Both classes are smaller than five students and are very much steered in whatever topics we are interested in.  For the Business Ethics class we are analyzing Ethics from the philosophical standpoint but are the also applying it to fictional case studies.  The International Marketing class is built solely on case studies but is extremely interesting because they all have to do with business conducted in Italy. 

The kicker: Since the Business Ethics is so small, we are meeting in a café.  So legit.

Despite how interesting all of the classes sound, I am willingly stating that it might be one of the most academically challenging semesters as well.  Most of the classes are heavily weighted toward the midterm and final.  On top of this, there is a massive amount of reading involved, but when you can do your reading in Campo di Fiori or in front of the Vatican, I realize there is not much room to complain. 

Highs and Lows

Highs:

Just walking through rome.  I know that it is so cliché, but you can literally get lost in the alleys of Rome for hours and not be bored.  The streets are so pretty and the stores are so interesting that it sparks your imagination for hours.

My Classes: Refer above.

My Italian:  Because I love food, I base every example I am able to off of it.  Last Monday when I went out into the city, I attempted to order a mozzarella e prosciutto Panini in Italian.  I can safely say that I completely butchered it.  How do I know?  The shop owner answered me back in broken English: “This one you want?”  I begrudgingly said yes, paid, and walked out.  When they answer you in English, it means that they don’t even want to attempt to converse with you in Italian because they know you won’t understand.  Tonight though, I went into a store to buy a sandwich and dessert.  People on the streets most likely thought that I was a loon, because for the five minutes walking to the shop, I took myself through the conversation to reassure myself that I knew the words, but sure enough I walked in, found what I wanted, pointed to it, and asked “Vorrei questo?”  (which means “May I have that?”)  Sure I am not ordering a four-course meal with an aged bottle of red wine, but at least I can survive.

Lows:

Everything here closes on Sunday: When I say that everything is shut down, I mean everything is shut down.  I live in a pretty hopping part of town and after walking for thirty minutes around lunchtime today; I found one pizza shop open.  Not even their equivalent to Safeway was open.  It’s just frustrating, especially to a man with an empty stomach.

The Italian Language: I know that I said this in the last entry, but one of the most frustrating things is walking down the street and hearing no English.  It sounds extremely menial and obvious, but it is something you take for granted in the States.  Passing by people and not understanding a word anyone says is extremely isolating, but it’s starting to slowly get better as I ascertain more of the language.  I’ve come to realize that it will never result in a big victory, but the small victories build up.  Example: On day one of Italian I found a coffee shop somewhat close to school, but was unable to understand anything the shop owner said to me while I ordered my coffee.  After playing an awkward game of charades and blurting out the three Italian words I knew, I ordered my coffee.  A week later though, I was able to actually introduce myself and have a small conversation with her. 

I guess I am actually learning something after all.

Goal for next week: Be able to drink an espresso without cringing

Funniest Moment of the Week: After a long day of walking around Rome on Saturday, my friend Erin and I had to go to the ATM to withdrawal money.  It was around nine at night, so the bank was closed, but you had to insert your debit card outside of the building in order to enter the building to access the ATM.  She puts her card in, we go inside, withdrawal money and go to exit the building.  Neither her nor I can read any Italian and so we come to the conclusion that the only way out is to press this button.  But we don’t know if it is actually a button to open/unlick the door, or an alarm.  We took our chances and figured out that it was to open the door, but we laughed the whole way home. 

[My friend Erin next to the alarm/button to open the door]

Oh ya…and we toured the Vatican on Sunday.  Just so you know, the pictures do it absolutely no justice.   

[Outside the Vatican] 

[A statue outside the Vatican]  

[Inside the Vatican] 

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

“You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself

any direction you choose.

You're on your own.

And you know what you know.

And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go.”

-Dr. Seuss

On the final day of high school, Mrs. Sander, my AP English teacher read this aloud to us.  At the time it didn’t really mean much, but as I look back on the last two and a half years since that moment, I now realize how applicable that poem is in all stages of my life.  As I begin this experience abroad, it is uncanny to me how even a few days can flip your world upside down.  I’ve already learned so many things and can’t even imagine the state I’ll be in when I get off this crazy ride.  But until then, you can just walk along with me in this journey, watching as I attempt to adjust to the unique and vibrant culture. 

The first day that we arrived, we went through customs, which was a complete joke at best.  We waited in line for no longer than 30 seconds, walked up to a man that resembled a custodian, who looked at me and then at my passport, and then back to me stamped it and I was on my way.  No customs report.  He didn’t even ask me any questions.  But was nonetheless a great entrance to Roma. 

We were then brisked off into a taxi, which drove erratically into the city.  I should have known from then that it was going to be a whirlwind of a trip.  He dropped us off, we tipped him (which apparently you aren’t supposed to do in Italy) and stepped foot into the beautiful campus I am privileged enough to call home for the next four months.  I battled sleep deprivation, coupled with jet lag for the remainder of the day, but because it was the first night as a group, we went to a restaurant near the Coliseum called Le Naumachie.  It was amazing.  The pasta, bread, wine, and company was a great start to the trip, but was completely overshadowed by the amazing rest I was able to get that night. 

[The Coliseum at night is ABSOLUTELY stunning]

Later in the weekend we were given an extremely awesome opportunity to not only visit the Vatican, but also go to the Mass of the Epiphany.  We left extremely early to make it to the Vatican on time to get good seats, but it was great because the group of us started chatting with the nuns behind us who were from Brazil.  I personally bonded with Sr. Linda who was a hoot and a half trying to help me understand the Mass before it began.  It was in Latin.  There was absolutely NO chance that I was going to understand it, but it was still an amazing experience.

[Sr. Linda was the bomb.  Even though I had to speak to 

her in a combination of English and Spanish, we still bonded]

Tonight was the first night that I am at my home stay, so I promise that pictures will be coming soon.  Even though I have been here less than a few hours, it is starting to feel like home.  I have my own bedroom, bathroom, and balcony and am living with a 38-year-old woman who designs Italian movie sets.  I had dinner with her tonight and while her English is somewhat choppy, it was great to talk about Italy with someone who actually lives here and has witnessed things I have only seen on the newsstands.

When I was at school in DC one of my favorite parts about my room (Shout out to 110) was our tradition of us all coming home after an exhausting/exciting/whatever-it-may-have-been-kind-of-day and going our highs and lows.  Therefore, I will continue the tradition abroad:


High(s): The Food.  For those of you who are unaware, I will eat about anything.  Good or bad, it doesn’t really matter as long as it feeds my metabolism, which burns food faster than I can digest it.  I have eaten everything from pasta and pizza to veal and I have yet to have a bad meal.  I can’t wait to keep trying food from around the city on my unending quest to find bad food (It’s impossible).

The Coffee.  I cannot believe that I am admitting this to the Internet community, but I did try the coffee and I did actually like it.  The Espresso educed a small heart attack, but the cappuccino was much, much better.  We’ll see where it goes from here.

[This was not the best coffee I have had thus far, but it was my first.  

It on the Alitalia flight over to Rome and was great!] 

Low: My lack of knowledge of the beautiful Italian language.  Before I came abroad, I decided to challenge myself not only studying in a country where I have had no previous background on the language or culture, but also choosing to live with a host family.  While some looked at me like I had three heads, I was up for the challenge. 

Being in America where you speak the English language, you take for granted how hard even the simplest of tasks are.  I had to go into an electronics shop to ask how to convert my Mac for the adapters here. 

Mac? Voltage?  adapter?  How do you even begin to salvage this situation?!

It’s something that at home I could have easily done, but really struggled with here.  Thankfully, I have friends here with experience in the language that I am able to use as crutches until I develop my own Italian.  While it is a low, it won’t be for long because we start Italian class tomorrow, so hopefully…I’ll be fluent in no time!

Goal for the week: Simply, learn more Italian.  (Which isn’t hard when you know less than five words!)

This is the first week of classes, so I’ll update again soon, but until then, Ciao regazzi!