Czech Pleazzzzzzze

So far it's been another great week in good ol' Roma. It's slowly starting to sink in that I actually get to live here for the next few months and I'm so excited to discover more of this never-ending city and meet more of the interesting locals.

As wonderful as this little city is, I'm so excited for my first weekend trip.....PRAGUE. From what I've heard, seen and googled it looks like a city that's got it all. In my google adventures some even go as far as to say it's the new Amsterdam...so it should be pretty fun.

I don't know as much about this city as some others on my list but from what I do know, these are my top three things I need to see.

1. John Lennon Wall...self explanatory
2. Prague Castle...one of the biggest and oldest castles in all of Europe...filled with jewelzzzz too
3. Barbie Museum...don't judge

Our hostel seems like it's going to be in a good locale, pretty close to most of the places we want to walk in the city. But after booking, we found out that our hostel offers some very unusual amenities such as free beer for two hours (not sure whether roofies are included or cost extra), free entry to a topless bar?? as well as a small amount of crowns to spend there, k great. I also found out yesterday that the horror movie Hostel was based on a hostel in Prague so needless to say, I'm a little scared for my first experience. Luckily I have seen many a horror movie and have an expansive knowledge of what to do in those situations so I would totally survive, at least until the sequel, but I digress. 

Also, apparently one of the big 'clubs' in Prague has 5 dance floors, and one ONLY plays 90s music. Guess where I'll be all night. Maybe I can find a nice Czech boy to bring me back to my jr. high days and slow dance with to some *NSYNC, BSB, or B SPEARS.

So it should be an amazing weekend filled with adventures, stories, pictures and history, czech ya later!!!!!

A Hodgepodge of Thoughts and Observances

On Apartment Life:


Keys
     I never thought I'd miss the stupid Chi-O keypad with the code that I either couldn't remember or didn't work, but I really do. I hate keys. I especially hate having to use four keys when I'm trying to come home after a night on the town.
     First I have to use a key to open the big white gate that leads into our apartment. Then I have to use a key which looks exactly the same as the first one to get inside my apartment complex. After I walk up five flights of stairs I use the third key to get into a doorway that leads to two other doors, one of which is the door to my apartment which, you guessed it, I need to use my final key to open. If I'm ever about to get taken, I'm screwed because I'll never make it to my apartment in time.

Refrigerator/Freezer
     I'm thankful to have a fridge/freezer that keeps my food cold, but there is a limit to how cold I want my stuff. For example, my roomies put a bottle of wine in our freezer and it froze and exploded, forcing them to drink a wine slushie that evening.
     All I simply wanted to do was keep my bag of apples cool and crispy in the fridge. However, my apples were toward the back of the fridge and were frozen solid when I went to grab them. I really wanted an apple though so I thought I'd just leave it out an hour or so to thaw and then eat it, I was sadly mistaken.

Our fridge needs to stop being an overachiever

Showering

    Another very interesting experience over here. We have one of those standing showers with a curtain that goes around you and starts to cling to you when you're trying to shower. Also water leaks all over the floor if you keep the shower handle thing in the holder (I'm sure how to describe it except for the handle thing you use in a sit down shower??). So you have to take the handle out of the holder and use it to rinse off. Then you turn it off and shampoo. Turn back on, rinse. Turn off, use conditioner. Turn on, rinse. Turn off, soap up. Turn on, rinse. I figure I'll end up saving enough water over these four months to make up for the half hour showers I would take at home.

But some of the best things about apartment life are my awesome roomiezzz and all the fun we have (omg luv u gurliezzz). But seriously, they're all really chill and cool and we make awesome family dinners together like this one.

We can cook!!

On Shopping at Simply Market

Cheese

     Cheese is pretty big here, they have lots of it and use it on everything, which I am totally fine with it. In the words of Elise Chambers "all you need is carbs and cheese". The only problem is I do not yet speak Italian which makes buying cheese (as well as most other foods) kinda difficult. For example, the other day we were shopping and my roommate Gina asked what kind of cheese we bought and informed us that hers was formaggio. We had a little chuckle as we informed her that formaggio was the Italian word for cheese, not a type of cheese. So I purchased my cheese by the classic method of finding a cheap one and smelling it. I found a cheap one that smelled pretty good and it ended up being parmesean so win for me. 

Nutella

    There's not really a story behind this one I just wanted to add it to tell the world how much I LOVE nutella. Like seriously obssessed. In addition to the wine collection we have on our cabinets we are also starting a nutella jar collection. Pictures of that to come.

That's really it for now. We went to the weekly market earlier outside our apt, but it's been cold and rainy so we've just been chilling all day.

Oh, one more thing. The Italian phrase for good luck is "in bocca al lupo" which translates to "in the mouth of the wolf"??? And apparently the correct response is "crepi il lupo" which translates something along the lines of "kill the wolf"?? I don't really understand this one yet but I'll figure it out.

So to my Bears tonight, In bocca al lupo

...Crepi il packers

I'll be seeing you at Scholars. Ciao Ciao.

Wait...I actually have school?

Despite the many adventures I have been having thus far, I do indeed have to go to class during my stay in Rome (don't worry mom & dad). However, even though I have to go to class, it's not real class, so I'm totally fine with it. Here's a break down of my schedule, be jealous.

Italian Class- I have this class four times a week with our adorable teacher Laura pronouced La-ow (like ow that hurt)-ra. Thank god I took spanish before, otherwise I'd be totally lost right now. But so far so good, and I actually have a few phrases down that I can use out and about.

Layers of Rome- Probably going to be my favorite class while I'm here. I'm already a history nerd to begin with, and this class just takes it to a whole new level. Unlike those of you who had to take a history gen ed and sit in the lovely Follinger Auditorium, I get to learn history at the actual sites where they occured. For instance, we had class on Tiber Island (which is a tiny island in the middle of the Tiber River that I pass everydayy going to class) this past Thursday to learn all about the history and founding of Rome as well as the major significance the island had, and still has to this day. Many of you are probably falling asleep now, so I will save the history lesson for my visitors when I tour guide them around Rome. Also I'm obsessed with our professor (but more on that another time).

Society and Culture- I have this class two days a week for an hour and a half each time. In this class we learn about how the attitudes and beliefs of previous generations of Italians still impact their society and politics today (for example, their lack of nationalism). I could also go out about all the cool things we learned in there too, but I'll save some of that for another post.

Food & Media- This is the class that I'm gonna try and spin during interviews to relate to advertising and all that jazz. In this class, we're going to learn about the differences between Italian food advertising and the US. We also have to write a blog about some of the different food we encounter (so get excited for more delicious looking Italian meals). Finally towards the end of the semester we get to make our own documentary and visit an Italian tv station which is similar to the Food Network!

Last class, drumroll plzzzzz...

FOOD AND CULTURE!!!!!!!!- Another AMazZzInG (can you tell how much I mean it by my use of different size letters?) class. We get to learn all about slow food movement and the intricacies and social meanings of various foods in Italy, learn about wine through wine tasting classes, visit a vineyard as well as a slow food movement farm, and have cooking classes where we learn how to cook things from chicken/fish, to pasta, to desserts. Oh we also have a group weekend trip to Cilento, a city farther south along the coast, it looks beautiful. That everyone, is what I like to call a WIN!!

Cilento

I'm a tad under the weather tonight so I'm staying in, but I might try and do another post to catch everyone up on my week outside of class aka the more exciting stuff and start a segment about a topic I know I'm excited for...people watching (it needs a catchy title though so I'm open to suggestions).

Ciao for now brown cowzzzzz!

Living the Roman Life

So now for a recap of the past few days:

Lazy CrAzY Sunday

So our crazy sunday started at 10am (which was a little difficult after clubbing at Gildas) when we met downstairs in our apartment and were greeted by our program directors and some local Italian students. The activity for that morning was to go shopping at the markets with the students to get ingredients for a recipe.

They taught us how to cook tiramisu (which was sooo good) and a pasta with an egg, parmasean cheese, salt, and bacon sauce (also very good, but the multitude of raw eggs made some of us a little sick).

tiramisu

After that we decided to go to Ikea to get some stuff for our apartment (garbage cans, pillows, mirrors, candles, etc), little did we know the adventure that awaited us. 

Journey to Ikea

1. Take tram from our apartment to Largo Argentina (where we get off for school)
2. Take bus from there to the bus terminal
3. Walk from bus terminal to metro station
4. Get on metro line A. (Unless you are us, in which case you get on line b, realize your not on the right train, get off, wait for the next train to go back, and then get on line A)
5. Take that to the very last stop (which is by the airport)
6. Take a bus from there
7. Get off when you see the Ikea sign, cross a highway, and walk through a giant parking lot
8. Get lost in Ikea because you don't understand Italian and get lost on the showroom floors

It was a great experience though, being on our own, following directions, and having to communicate with the locals for help along the way. When we left Ikea at dusk we were greeted by some unusual winged friends...a swarm of BATS!!!!

Bats, not birds and this was after they dive bombed us while leaving

Yay Ikea

So we had to do the entire direction list backwards on our way home. We were exhausted and stressed form our long day and worried we weren't going to be able to make it out for the bears game. On our bus ride to the tram station, one of my roommates, Gina, spotted some of our group members walking down the street to the pub we were supposed to meet at and we made to the BEST decision ever to get off right there and bring our Ikea bags with us to the pub. 

The pub was this adorable little Irish places called Scolars, and it was a night break from all the Italian we had to deal with all day (we were able to speak English in the bar no probs). So we got some beers, ordered some food, watched a great football game and even did some karaoke

Corinne and I at the pub!!

Monday- Back to school, back to school to prove to dad I'm not a fool!

So Monday was our first day of class. We had orientation from 10-11:30 and then a break until our class started at three. So on our break some of our group members decided to roam around Rome. We walked a few minutes and crossed the Tiber and found the Vatican and wandered around St. Peter's Square.

St. Peter's Basillica behind us

On the bridge crossing the Tiber

After that, we were getting pretty hungry so we found a little pizza place and got some delicious pizza. Then we decided that we needed to have our first gelato experience of the trip and we wandered over to the Parthenon and found the best gelato place ever. So we sat on the steps of the fountain next to the Parthenon and ate our gelato while one of the boys tried to feed the pigeons his leftover cone (which Mags got a great video of) Sidenote: Pigeons are EVERYWHERE and not afraid of people

We still had an hour left so we walked to the Trevi Fountain, but we lost Maggie, Gina and Melissa on the way when they stopped to take a picture with a pink vespa (of all things). The Trevi probably one of my favorite spots in Rome so far. 

We were exhausted from our hectic weekend so we just stayed in last night but went at to dinner to an adorable restaurant in Trastevere that we found when we were wandering around

Some the girls out to dinner

Today was more class and wandering around. I think all of my classes are gonna be really interesting, I can't wait!!!

I will never again complain about 5 dollar cover

Quick Post, but Saturday was our first night out on the town in Roma, very interesting night. We all pregamed together in one of the girl's apartment and took taxi's to a club called Gildas.

Roommates on the first night out!

That first night out was definitely an experience in cultural differences between Rome and good 'ol Chambana. Cover at this club was like 15 euro, which is insane considering I think its stupid when we have to pay 5 dollar cover at school. So naturally I did what I always do, tried to run past the cover guy when he wasn't looking. BIG no-no. The security guard saw me, grabbed my shoulder, and proceeded to make me leave the club, no questions asked. Luckily I can be charming and persuasive and quickly got back in after talking to the doorman, unfortunately though I had to pay cover (hell naw am I going back there again).

However I was the first of many in our group that were kicked out/ran away from the security guard to avoid getting kicked out (silly amuricanz). We eventually left the club and wandered home after getting lost for almost two hours. Don't worry though to anyone who might come visit me. I'm learning my way around the city fairly quickly and I will charge a low price for my tour guiding skillz.

Anyway, these past two days have been crazy busy and I have so many more updates but I'm in desperate need of sleep so it's gonna have to wait. Ciao a tutti!!

Surreality

Let me just start by saying I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS MY LIFE RIGHT NOW!!!! 


Recap of my past 24 hours:

Last night around 6 we headed from our apartments in Trastevere to the a student bar/cafe near our school (in the heart of Rome) for a little happy hour with our group and some free beverages. After a knocking back a few Euro beers and I headed out with some people in our group for some roaming around Rome.

We wandered around little cobblestone alleys with lights and balconies, through piazzas (including Piazza Navona which is beautiful), and eventually found the Parthenon. Yea no big, I go to school by the Parthenon.

Jet lag set in quick though so we decided to tram it in early back to the apartments to save our first big night for tonight.

This morning we got up and met at the cafe again for some Italian coffee... espresso. It was intense, most of us had to chase it with a pack of sugar, but we're told we'll love it by the time we're done.

After that we went to visit school.

Me and Mags at school

After that we had a delicious lunch of a pasta dish and then some chicken. However, I later found out that what I though were chicken chunks in the pasta sauce was in fact RABBIT. Oh well too late now. 

Food Porn

After lunch it was time for our Scavenger Hunt Around Rome. Yea that's right. We were split into five different groups, given a map and 13 places to find and after that we were on our own. We all took off sprinting, running around asking random Italians for directions. The 2 & 1/2 hour adventure was so surreal. Here we were wandering in every direction in one of the oldest cities in the world that was going to be our home for the next four months.

At one point while reading the map and walking at the same time (which obviously is difficult for me) I ran into a pole, typical. No worries, I'm alive. I figure it will be the first of many clumsy moments, especially with all of the cobblestone streets and confusing cross walks.

But anyway back to our challenge. We went everywhere in Rome, little piazzas, the American Embassy, the Spanish steps, Via Nationale, past the Colessuem, and around random ruins which seem to appear everywhere in this city. My group ended up winning!!! We got 9 out of 13, mostly in thanks to our of our group members Gina who knew some Italian. She would ask the questions and the rest of us would chime in with some "grazies" and "ciaos". Our prize was each a bag full of biscuits, croissants, and Nutella...mmmmmm.

Sideways Nutella

So after purchasing the necessary hairdryers and straighteners from the electronics store we headed back to the apartment, cooked some pasta and are now getting ready to all go out for our first night in Roma!!!! Stories to come later....

Ciao Roma!!!!

So these past 24 hours have been insane but totally worth it. We got to the airport around 1230 only to find out our flight was delayed due to a volcano in Sicily?!? No fear, it only ended up being a little less than two hours and we were in the air in no time.

Now normally I am not a fan of flying but this flight was a welcome change of pace. The beverage cart came around a few times and I helped myself to a few glasses of vino (thats wine in Italian, see I'll be fluent in no time). Then came dinner which looked janky but tasted great. Then they put on the Social Network (great movie) and I took my tylenol pm, fell asleep, and woke up a little less than an hour before landing. 

After landing and getting our bags all 32 of filed out of the airport one by one with all our bags and caused quite the scene. Since our program is majority girls, we all had at least three pieces of luggage and it was more than the storage compartments in the bus could handle so we had to squeeze all the extra luggage into the aisles.

Then we finally got to our apartments which is where I am writing now. These apartments are sweet by the way. Nicer than I ever imagined and probably nicer than a lot of apartments in Champaign.

My room

View from our balcony

Our kitchen

So that's all for now. Trevs, I promise I will keep it interesting, I'm just too tired right now.

Arrivederci!!

Ciao Bellas!

Welcome to the chronicles of my semester in Roma. There's a 50/50 chance I will either never write in this, or use it as often as that three month period I was obsessed with my Xanga (minus the melodramatic angst about wanting my driver's permit). If it's the latter, I hope to fill this 'blog' with my adventures, anecdotes, advice, etc. from what is sure to be the most interesting four months of my life to date.