“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).
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.
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!
